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Music

Album’s Singles Review: “Doo-Wops and Hooligans” by Bruno Mars

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Doo-Wops and Hooligans
“Doo-Wops and Hooligans” was released as the debut album of Bruno Mars after being featured in songs a number of times and writing songs for other artists. The album was a hit when it reached number 3 in Billboard 200 while a charttopper in United Kingdom. The album contains pop, R&B and reggae songs on it.

Just the Way You Are
“Just the Way You Are” was the first ever solo single by Bruno Mars. It is a beautiful song which starts with uptempo sound to midtempo to its chorus. The song, which is about adoration to the girl the guy loves,  went to number 1 worldwide. It was even reportedly sold over 13 million by IFPI.
Rate: 8.5 out of 10

Grenade
“Grenade” was the second single for “Doo-Wops and Hooligans”. The song’s pace was similar to “Just the Way You Are”. It was about giving love to the girl but never got love back. The song became Bruni Mars his second worldwide number one hit. As reported by IFPI, it already exceeded 10 million, which is such a huge amount.
Rate: 8.25 out of 10

The Lazy Song
“The Lazy Song” was the third release of Bruno Mars’ debut album. It has its reggae influence, with light and relaxing feel. However, I think this song is senseless, and if not for its catchy tune, it is not worth listening to. The song was another hit when it reach number 4 in the US, while it became her third solo number 1 single in UK.
Rate: 7.75 out of 10

Marry You
“Marry You” was released as the fourth single, but not officially released in the US that’s why it onle peaked at number 85 there. In UK, it reached number 11. It has been a huge hit in other countries though, like in Asia. I also found the song as senseless as “The Lazy Song”. It was catchy though and sounds similar to “Forget You” by Cee-lo Green.
Rate: 7.25 out of 10

Count On Me
“Count On Me” was not officially released as a single in many countries, but it was hit in other countries. The acoustic ballad sounds great but it was too cliche.
Rate: 7.5 out of 10

Credits: Billboard / OCC / Wikipedia

Video from YouTube / Bruno Mars

Music

Male Singers With Number 1 Albums in US and UK: Bruno Mars / Ed Sheeran / John Mayer

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Bruno Mars
United States- Bruno Mars had released two albums. His second album “Unorthodox Jukebox” became a number 1 album. His debut album “Doo-Wops & Hooligans” may have peaked at number 3 but it was still a hit. Both albums went double platinum by RIAA.
United Kingdom- Bruno Mars gained success in United Kingdom too. His two albums “Doo-Wops & Hooligans” and “Unorthodox Jukebox” both became number 1 albums. His debut album “Doo-Wops & Hooligans” became a bigger hit with 5x platinum certified by BPI.

Ed Sheeran
United States- Ed Sheeran has two albums under his name. His second album “X” became a number 1 hit and already certified 2x platinum by RIAA. His debut album became a number 5 hit album and already gone platinum.
United Kingdom- Ed Sheeran has been one of the UK’s gem in music. His first two albums were already big hits in the country. His debut album “+” went to number 1 and was certified by BPI with 6x platinum. His second number 1 album was even a bigger hit. It reached 9x platinum and was one of UK’s biggest selling albums and the biggest seller for 2014 and second in 2015. It is a record from  Ed Sheeran.

John Mayer
United States- John Mayer did very well in United States. He scored at least 3 number 1 albums. Those albums were “Heavier Things” (his second album, 3x platinum), “Battle Studies (platinum seller, and “Born and Raised”. He had number two albums too. His debut album “Room for Squares” may only peaked at number 8 but it was his biggest selling album with 4x platinum status from RIAA.
United Kingdom- John Mayer don’t have a number 1 album in United Kingdom but he had two number 4 hits such as “Born and Raised” and “Paradise Valley”, his last two albums. Albums prior to the two albums failed to reach top 40. However, some were still notable.

Credits: Billboard / OCC / Wikipedia

Video from YouTube / Bruno Mars

Music

Battle of Same Song Titles: Billy Joel vs Bruno Mars / Usher vs Blue

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The battle of two sets of songs is too interesting as an iconic singer battles with a current artist, while at the other, an R&B superstar over a British boyband. So check the battle below:

Billy Joel vs Bruno Mars
“Just the Way You Are”

Billy Joel finally scored his breakthrough single through this love song. This song had lots of girls fall in love as it is like a serenade for them. It became a worldwide hit while in the US, it peaked at number 3.

 

Bruno Mars scored a number one hit when this song  reached the top worldwide. According to reports, it sold over 13 million copies. The song has been a theme song for guys who are serenading ladies just like Billy Joel’s song.

Verdict:
Billy Joel- Just the Way You Are
Melody and Lyrics- 3.75 / Success- 3.75 = 7.5

Bruno Mars- Just the Way You Are
Melody and Lyrics- 4.0 / Success- 4.75 = 8.75

Winner: Both were great and big hits but Bruno Mars takes the victory in this battle.

Usher vs Blue
“You Make Me Wanna”

This song was Usher’s earliest hit as it became his first single to become a top 10 hit. It even reached the UK number one while at vice position in the US. The song is about a guy wanting to leave his girlfriend after realizing he loves his bestfriend. The music video is notable for dancing with his clones and the last step of his dance is removing his shoes.

 

Blue is on top of their career when this song was released after the success of “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word” with its original singer, Elton John. The song talks about romance. It charted in several countries including UK, where it went to top 5.

Verdict:
Usher- You Make Me Wanna
Melody and Lyrics- 3.25 / Success- 3.25 = 6.5

Blue- U Make Me Wanna
Melody and Lyrics- 3.0 / Success- 2.75= 5.75

Winner: Usher won against Blue in this battle.

Credits: Billboard / Wikipedia

Video from YouTube

Music, TV Shows

Popular Artists Wins on Grammy Awards

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I have been watching Grammy for several years and it seems the winners tonight don’t seem like who usually wins in Grammy Awards. Popularity is not an assurance to win the Grammys as winners are determined through the decision of the panel of judges. Even the most popular singer in a year don’t even win a minor category. During the 1990’s, the Spice Girls never achieved nominations. While Backstreet Boys and NSYNC who became extremely popular during their heydays never won an award. Britney Spears did not even win an award on her earlier success. She got to win a minor award after several years in the industry.

Justin Bieber never won an award until this year after winning for the song “Where are You Now” as a featured artist.  One Direction was never even nominated despite the critical acclaim in their recent records. Ariana Grande got nominations last year but didn’t receive an award.
With the major categories, Best New Artist, Song of the Year, Album of the Year and Record of the Year, it seems those were not into pop or tennybopper music. But this year, those I predicted to win lost. While some of those that are my choices won. I had written my prediction and choices recently. The reason why I came out with those predictions because Grammys used to choose those who are underrated artists. Popular artists often defeated by less popular artists but it was not the case this year. In fact, with those four major categories, the winners were those popular.
Let’s start with Best New Artist, my choice is Meghan  Trainor. She is even the most mainstreamly successful among those nominated.I predicted James Bay to win, but the winner ended up as Meghan Trainor.
With Song of the Year, I expected and predicted Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright”, however, it went to my choice, Ed Sheeran. Knowing Lamar’s number of nominations, I expected him to win.
The Album of the Year winner is Taylor Swift with “1989”. I expected Chris Stapleton’s “Traveller” as it is generally acclaimed while Taylor shifted to pop music. Anyway, it is Taylor’s second time to win the category.
The Record of the Year winner this year was “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars. I expected D’Angelo to win with “Really Love” but ended up to the upbeat song. My choice though was “Thinking Out Loud”. Good for “Uptown Funk” since it is the number one song of 2015.
Despite not winning the major categories, Kendrick Lamar won multiple awards. Congratulations to all the winners.

Music

My Prediction and Choice Winners for Grammy Awards 2016 (Album of the Year and Record of the Year)

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Another two major categories of Grammy Awards is Album of the Year and Record of the Year. Here’s my choice and prediction to win in these two categories:

Album of the Year
“Sound & Color” by Alabama Shakes
The album is the first US number album by the band. It peaked inside the top 10 in other countries as well.
“To Pimp a Butterfly” by Kendrick Lamar
It went to number one in a number of countries including the US. Currently, it already went platinum.
“Traveller” by Chris Stapleton
Initially debuted at the top 15, the album went to number one after Chris’ performance in CMA. The album was acclaimed by fans and critics.
“1989” by Taylor Swift
The album has been a blockbuster worldwide after scoring hit songs from it and the turning point of Swift becoming a pop star.
“Beauty Behind the Madness” by The Weeknd
The Weeknd already had high chart positions before but this album became his breakthrough. It went to number one and gone multiplatinum.
Choice: “1989”, this is an amazing pop album from a former country singer.
Prediction: “Traveller”, the album has been a highly recommended album.

Record of the Year
“Really Love” by D’Angelo and the Vanguard
The song was highly acclaimed despite not charting in major charts elsewhere.
“Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars
This is the biggest hit worldwide last year after breaking records in sales.
“Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran
One of the two songs also nominated for Song of the Year. This song was a hit globally.
“Blank Space” by Taylor Swift
One of the several nominations of Taylor Swift. Aside from Ed Sheeran, this song was also a nominee for Song of the Year.
“Can’t Feel My Face” by The Weeknd
One of the number one singles of 2015, it is one of the contenders to be the winner.
Choice: “Thinking Out Loud”, he was already nominated multiple times last year without wins, and I want him to win this year.
Prediction: “Really Love”, the song was highly acclaimed by the critics, and Grammy loves underperforming songs.

Catch the Grammy Awards tomorrow to know the winners.

Credits to Wikipedia / Billboard / Grammy

Music

Artists who Wrote Songs for Other Artists Before Achieving Solo Success

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Aside from being singers, there are some of these singers who are really good at song writing. In fact, these artists first wrote songs before becoming successful solo singers.
Here are some of the artists who first became songwriters before achieving solo success as singers:

Sam Smith
Before Sam Smith became successful off his debut album “In the Lonely Hour”, which he also wrote the songs there, Sam Smith first wrote “Latch” by Disclosure, which he sang all of the vocals. But the song “La, La, La” by Naughty Boy became a bigger hit worldwide. Then his solo effort became a success after that.

Jessie J
Before achieving success in 2011 as a singer, Jessie J wrote a song first which was given to other singer. That was the very popular tune “Party in the USA”, performed by Miley Cyrus. After that, she wrote songs for herself.

Sia
Sia was already a singer more than a decade ago but only with her album “1000 Forms of Fear” when she was recognized worldwide as a singer. Before her international solo success, she has co-written numerous songs not just for herself but for other singers too. She was credited for her songwriting for songs performed by Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Kylie Minogue, Beyonce, and more. One of her most successful song written was “Diamonds” by Rihanna.

Bruno Mars
Bruno Mars became successful as a solo singer in 2010 via his debut album “Doo-Wops and Hooligans” and the hit “Just the Way You Are”, from then on, he became a huge superstar. Before that success, he wrote heaps of songs for other artists. Aside from writing and singing for the songs “Nothin’ on You” and “Billionaire”, one of the songs known he wrote was “Long Distance” by Brandy.

Ryan Tedder of One Republic
Ryan Tedder was known as the vocalist of the band One Republic. Before achieving success with his band, Ryan wrote a lot of songs prior which included songs for Leona Lewis, Jennifer Lopez, Hillary Duff, and a lot more. Since then, he became one of the most sought songwriters other artists work with.

Kesha
Kesha is a successful singer as well as a songwriter of her songs and for other artists like Britney Spears. Before her singing career, she wrote the song “This Love” by The Veronicas.

Some facts from Wikipedia

Music

Successful Male Singers Who Wrote for Fellow Successful Singers

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There are many successful male singers today who had written for their fellow artists, which also help build the careers for those artists or at least scored another hit for them. Here are some of these successful male singers who contributed such songs for fellow singers:

Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran is currently one of the wonderful singers today. He had scored big hits off his first and second albums. He had written majority of his songs which has shown his musicianship and talent. Aside from writing his own songs, he also wrote for other artists too. He had written or co-wrote songs for a number of One Direction songs, which included the UK charttopper “Little Things”, as well as Taylor Swift’s hit “Everything Has Changed”, which he was featured too. The most recent one he co-wrote was “Love Yourself” by Justin Bieber and now a huge hit.

Justin Timberlake
He achieved success as a solo artist after being in a successful boyband, NSYNC. He also turned into a songwriter which already showcased on NSYNC’s “Celebrity” album. After going solo, he wrote/co-wrote big hits which included Black Eyed Peas’ “Where’s the Love”, Rihanna’s “Rehab”, and tracks for Madonna, Beyonce, Jay-Z, etc.

Bruno Mars
Bruno Mars is also one of the greatest songwriters today. Aside from writing his own songs, he also wrote/co-wrote songs for other artists which he was also featured. One of these hits were “Billionaire” by Travie McCoy, the first song he was featured “Nothin’ On You” by B.O.B., the recent one “Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson and a lot more. He also wrote “Long Distance” by Brandy.

Sam Smith
Sam Smith was one of the top selling artists nowadays. He created hits for himself, likewise, he wrote for other artists. Aside from the songs he was featured like “La, La, La” and “Latch” which he co-wrote, he also co-wrote the song “Flashlight” which was performed by Jessie J for “Pitch Perfect 2.

Jesse McCartney
Jesse McCartney had some successful songs and some of them was written by him. But he also wrote a song for other artist, which is “Bleeding Love” sung by Leona Lewis.

Some facts from Wikipedia

Music

Singers Who Were Featured Artists Before Solo Success

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To promote an artist, they were first featured in other or established artists’ songs. After their exposure, they released their own works which eventually acheived notable success. Here are some of those artists who accomplished such:

Ashanti
Before scoring her first hit single “Foolish” in 2002, she was first featured in a song by Big Pun called “How We Roll”  The song peaked inside the top 15 of Billboard Hot 100. However, her appearance in Ja Rule’s “Always on Time” achieved remarkable success when it peaked at number one. After that, she scored her first solo number one hit and album, and featured in a ton of songs again.

Christina Milian
Christina Millian gained success after hitting the top 30 of Billboard Hot 100 in 2001 with “AM to PM”, and eventually a top 5 hit with “Dip it Low”. However, she was first seen on Ja Rule’s “Between Me and You” in 2000.

Bruno Mars
Bruno Mars is currently one of the top male artists today for scoring number one hits and millions of records. But before he achieved solo success, we heard him first in the number one B.O.B. hit song “Nothin’ on You” and the worldwide top ten hit “Billionaire”. That seems a good pre-solo career success.

Keri Hilson
Keri Hilson has been featured a number of times before scoring her number 3 hit “Knock You Down”. Her first successful featured artist single was “The Way I Are” by Timbaland from the stellar album “Shock Value” then followed by “Scream” by Timbaland again.

Kesha
We’d known Kesha for her hit single “Tik Tok” and tons of top ten danceable hits. But before her solo success, she was heard in a song which didn’t give much credits to her contrubution in the song “Right Round” by Flo Rida.

Sam Smith
British singer Sam Smith may be enjoying success now, however, before his solo success, he was already heard as featured artist in hit songs like “Latch” by Disclosure and the worldwide hit “La, La, La” by Naughty Boy.

Beyonce
Beyonce is one of the most successful singers nowadays. Everybody knows how successful she is as a solo singer and part of the hit group Destiny’s Child. However, she was first featured in a song “I Got That” by Amil in 2000 when she’s still with Destiny’s Child. Before hit solo single “Crazy in Love” and debut album’s success, she was also featured in Jay-Z’s “03 Bonnie and Clyde”.

Some facts from Wikipedia

Music

10 Songs With “Way”

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There were numerous songs with “way” which talks about either a road or a method of doing something. Sometimes, it is also used in some known expressions.

Here are 10 songs with “way” you may be familiar about:

Janet Jackson- That’s the Way Love Goes
Janet wants love the “way” she wants like how it should go. This song became her biggest hit then and went to number 1 in Billboard Hot 100 where it spent a lot of weeks.

Aerosmith- Walk this Way
Steve Tyler and his gang is showing the “way” for everyone to walk. The song became one of the most popular songs of the band as it hit the top 10.

Bruno Mars- Just the Way You Are
When you are loving everything from the girl and doesn’t need anything from her, this is a perfect song then. This hit remains Bruno’s biggest hit ever based on its sales.

Lady Gaga- Born This Way
Doesn’t matter how you look like or what you are, you’re still beautiful as that’s how God made you. The song became anthemic and went to number 1 worldwide.

Backstreet Boys- I Want it That Way
This song was already listed in one of my list. It was a huge hit in 1999 worldwide.

Usher- My Way
Some people wants to do things just their own “way”. This song is different from the famous Frank Sinatra song. It went to the top 3 in US charts then.

Big Mountain- Baby I Love Your Way
It was like loving everything from the one you love and what he/she do. The song is just remake but even performed better than teh original as it topped the charts in many countries.

Eminem and Rihanna- Love the Way You Lie
Despite getting hurt from the one you are in a relationship with but still loving him/her. This song has been one of the biggest selling digital singles as reported by IFPI.

Fastball- The Way
Some people just take the “way” they are not familiar with but remained happy. This song reminded me of The Beatles based on its tune. It was a radio hit then.

Red Hot Chilli Peppers- By the Way
This song from RHCP became a huge top 2 hit in UK.

Some facts from Wikipedia.

Music

10 Songs With “Rain”

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“Rains” can be a blessing, while it can be a sad moments for others. In songs, “rains” was often related to sadness, which may happen during heart breaks.

Mariah Carey- Through the Rain
You may have failed but you can stand and catch up even when it is “raining”. You can get over and and succeed again. This song was a big hit all over Asia but with moderate reception in US.

Selena Gomez and The Scene- A Year Without Rain
A “year” without rainfall means drought, a rain can refresh one’s body and even the land. Same with love, without it, it seems things are dry. This song gave Selena and pals another top 40 hit.

Prince- Purple Rain
It would be cool for the eyes to see purple “rains”. But this song has more emotional and spiritual impact. The song became one of Prince’s biggest hits.

Madonna- Rain
When love falls like “rain”, it surely be a good feeling. This ballad from Madonna is one of her finest and which made it to top 20 in Billboard.

Paramore- When it Rains
If yout loving it when it “rains”, then listen to this song from Paramore. It might not be released as an official single, but it eas popular online.

Bruno Mars- It Will Rain
It will surely be agonizing when someone that gives you sunlight leaves. With the absence of sunshine, “rain” will fall. This song became Bruno’s fourth solo US top 5.

Billie Myers- Kiss the Rain
When someone misses you, just tell then to go out and kiss the “rain”. This rock and ballad song became Billie’s only big hit, as it hit the top 20 in major countries.

Guns N Roses- November Rain
Such a sad ending of the song. I remember the video back then. It’s video became one of the most memorable in MTV and the song itself, gave GNR a big success.

Ashanti- Rain on Me
It’s like the “rain” is falling on you when someone you love left. This song was one of Ashanti’s top 10 hits in the US.

Mary J. Blige and Ja Rule- Rainy Dayz
“Rains” can be regarded as a blessing MJB and Ja though of it in this Billboard top 20 hit.

Some facts from Wikipedia