New Dami Im music has been released today and I am beyond happy and I totally feel encouraged with this uplifting empowerment song, "Paper Dragon". Dami Im is one absolutely incredible singer and once again she blows me away with her amazing voice! I'm glad to see her return to a more upbeat track, continuing to show her versatility as an artist, and this song is really quite a number. Addicting from the get-go, "Paper Dragon" is about not letting anyone push you down and continuing to fight to get to where you want to be. This is highly relatable to a lot of people, especially during this COVID-19 pandemic, as a lot of people have lost their jobs (me included) and other things that have happened to people has made them feel like they're not good enough (I went through a break-up and there are still some days where I just feel lost and I'm not where I want to be in my life, career, or anything else, but I'm a fighter too and I'll never stop trying). This is one incredible song, that deserves to become a hit!
Accompanying the track is a paper origami-inspired music video that has been directed by Stefano Bertelli at Seen Film Studio with Riccardo Orlandi acting as assistant director. We follow a paper caterpillar that starts life on the leaf of a flower. It soon evolves into a butterfly who goes on a journey through the desert, flying past an awesome snake and landing near a cactus. With no water, it slowly starts to die, but lightning strikes the cactus - which is storing water - and the butterfly gets a drink. I then magically evolves again, this time into a dragon, who flies across the desert powerfully. Throughout there are performance scenes of Dami Im singing the song, wearing a stunning red jumpsuit and looking gorgeous in every scene. She's displayed like a paper sticker, jumping into this awesome paper-like world. At one point the jumpsuit turns to white as she nears the end of this incredible song. With conviction, Dami Im puts her heart into this song and music video, showing how much these words mean to her. I hope that I get to see her perform live on stage one day, as I need to hear this awesome voice live!
Okay, I am shocked I haven't written about this to date, especially since I am a massive fan of INNA's and I've seen her twice, and I've written a lot about her songs, music videos, albums, and I even managed to interview her for CelebMix. So, I thought I better write up about this one today, for my Thursday Revisit since I reviewed her new music video for "Read My Lips" with Farina, this week. This song, "Cola Song", is possibly her most-recent international hit, which is crazy to think of since she has consistently released new music over the years. The song is totally a summer anthem and her voice sounds amazing on this track. It's an addicting grower of a song and has an undeniable Latin flavour to it, thanks to the feature from J Balvin.
The music video has gained over 200 million YouTube views, which is completely crazy and makes some of the scenes iconic to INNA because it has been seen by so many. However, this pure performance music video exudes sex, a visual we are used to from INNA and have seen in the likes of "Amazing", "Sun Is Up", "Déjà Vu", "Club Rocker", and "INNdiA" amongst others. There's not a lot going on, but INNA impresses me with her choreography which she totally knocks out of the park, and we totally need to see her dance more - for sure. Other scenes include her being in the water and also being topless, but most of the scenes show her in a bikini enjoying the beat of the song and enjoying the summer sun. It's definitely a track that is perfect for the summer, but the music video doesn't inspire me, and she has released better music videos both recently and further in the past.
I really do like to just browse through YouTube, sometimes, and a music video will just pop out at me and this is certainly one of these days; I didn't even know that there was a music video to this awesome collaboration! "Fall In Line" by Christina Aguilera and Demi Lovato is full-on powerful! Their voices are some of the strongest in the music industry and they both manage to blow us away on the verses of this song and then they turn it up for their killer harmonies! The track is also highly emotional with the lyrics filled with female empowerment, and it is just super inspiring to all who hear it. What's also shocking is that it wasn't a chart success around the world, hitting number 99 in the UK and number one on the US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles, and 97 in Canada - I mean, seriously? This should'be been top 10 around the world! This is one absolutely amazing collaboration and totally deserves to be heard more.
Accompanying the song is this amazing music video, directed by Luke Gilford. The opening scene sees two children playing in a field together who look like younger versions of Christina Aguilera and Demi Lovato (although there is an 11-year age difference in real life however this music video makes it out like they're the same age), who are taken away by people in black. The song kicks in and we see that both artists are now all-grown-up and living in a containment facility and held prisoner. At times, they are forced to sing on a set - which could relate to the music industry as a whole (especially women) where artists are forced to sing certain songs that are likely to become hits and to also look a certain way and to act sexy on-screen. Christina Aguilera and Demi Lovato make a plan to escape and end up breaking out of their chains and escaping the facility, and finally seeing daylight again and to breathe fresh air. A well-crafted music video with a brilliant concept. They could've added a bit more here and there but they brought it regardless and made a truly unforgettable music video! I could watch this again and again and again!
Today I watched clips from the interview Miley Cyrus did with Joe Rogan, and I thought I might as well keep with the Miley Cyrus theme today. This song, "Mother's Daughter", was released as a single in promotion of her EP, "She Is Coming" - which I simply adored from the first play. I'm sad that this single didn't chart that high, as it is definitely an anthem, but I feel like it's gained more traction this year than last year - when it was released. Is it possible it was just before its time by just a year? Regardless, it's a brilliant song and Miley Cyrus impresses to no end with her vocals and the lyrics. I cannot get enough of this song, for sure!
Directed by Alexandre Moors, this music video is all about women's rights and representation. The concept was created as the anti-abortion "heartbeat bill" in the US started to gain traction. Miley Cyrus is full of energy in this mainly-performance visual. She's wearing red latex which obviously has us remembering Britney Spears' "Oops!... I Did It Again" music video. Intercut throughout her performance visuals are clips of diverse women posing, giving representation like we rarely see. It's just a beautiful statement that shows that everyone is valued in this world. It's highly relatable to a lot of people and I'm so glad to see such a music video. There's also reference to Joan of Arc as she is wearing gold armour. Miley Cyrus' mother, Tish Cyrus, also makes a cameo in the video. Miley Cyrus doesn't shy away from making statements and we so need more visuals that spread representation and education.
Since Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion are still sitting at the top of the UK Singles Chart with "WAP", I decided to review this music video by Paul Woolford, Diplo & Kareen Lomax as "Looking For Me" jumped into the top ten this week and is currently at number eight. The song is a great dance track but it doesn't hit me quite the way other songs in the genre does, it's not really my thing even though I am obsessed with dance music; however, it's great to see dance music hitting the charts.
As for the music video, directed by Double Ninja and produced by Left, it has such a bright and detailed aesthetic. The volcano itself looks so real. Three celestial beings representing the three artists, Paul Woolford, Diplo, and Kareen Lomax, appear down from the sky and starts to use their magic to upturn the volcanic rocks and turn it into bright and colourful flowers before erupting the volcano with paper-like animals which end up living on the new flower volcano area. It's a beautiful music video but I have no idea how it relates to the song itself, it's also quite slow at the beginning too. I was hoping for so much more, but regardless, it is well-animated and it does look so good!
Ever since I started blogging again I've been impatiently waiting to review this music video because this is Relley C's best music video to-date and I absolutely love the narrative, the performance and the incredible song. I previously wrote up about it for CelebMix. This is just well-packaged and a perfect and unforgettable music video. I love it so much and could watch it again and again and again - well, I have been doing just that. The song, "Liar Liar", is taken from her most recent EP, titled "We've All Been There", and it's a stand out track. Relley C's vocals are stunning as she sings about not having time for liars and cheaters in her life - which is something I can totally relate to! Like, liars annoy the hell out of me and I respect people who tell the truth a hell of a lot more (even those not-nice truths) than those who simply lie. Every time I hear the song, now, I can't help but sing it out loud! Total fire!
Accompanying the track is this amazing music video which starts off with a narrative that shows Relley C's love-interest spending time with another girl in their apartment, and Relley C walks in on them, and so after an argument, she chucks him out - good for her. The rest of the music video is mainly performance scenes in the apartment, at a piano, at the recording studio. She looks stunning throughout and she showcases emotion and fierceness, and you can really tell she means every single word!
I have really been listening to all of Thalía's music on Apple Music and I adore this song, "Tú Y Yo" which means "You And Me" in English. The song was released in 2002 and became one of her most popular singles, which is not a surprise as it is mightily catchy and will likely get stuck in your head after the very first play. A remix of the song was later released in extra promotion of the song with a feature from Kumbia Kings.
The music video has a typical '00s style to it, especially when Thalía is walking down the street - I swear many '00s stars had at least one music video where they're doing that. There are various scenes throughout, but most of them are performative, with Thalía giving fierceness and confidence. Other scenes include a guitar scene and a motorbike scene. Throughout the video, she looks stunning, and she's certainly has that star quality aura surrounding her. Love this song, I just wish this music video had more going for it.
INNA just keeps on releasing banger after banger and this one is no different, in collaboration with Farina, titled "Read My Lips". I feel like I've heard this song before like it's a part of INNA's unreleased songs - just like "We Wanna" used to be, the collaboration with Alexandra Stan which also featured Daddy Yankee. As much as I love INNA's songs and as much as I feel like she could sing anything and I would still love it because of her gorgeous voice, I feel that this is disjointed, and I think it's due to it being a collaboration with Farina; I don't think it was the best song for them to collaborate on as Farina's reggaeton style doesn't match the rhythm of the song and INNA's superb dance vocals, but "Read My Lips" still works as a song overall, I am eager to hear remixes of the song to see what the DJs and producers would do to the track.
As for the music video, I am getting Mad Max vibes throughout. Filmed by two different groups (NGM Creative for INNA and NJ Entertainment for Farina) due to the artists being in different countries, this music video is incredible. The visual opens with a goddess-like theme with INNA looking amazing in a black dress where she's sitting on a chair/throne. In contrast, a second scene is shown where INNA is wearing a red dress with a red line splitting her chin and neck in half, vertically. Farina matches with a black outfit that is a lot more provocative, and a separate scene sees her in a goddess-like cream-coloured rope outfit, as the tone of the song changes to match her rap. The middle-performance scene sees INNA in a skin-and-beige-coloured outfit continuing the goddess themes whilst Mad Max-style visuals intercut - almost as if the song is a film soundtrack. With the final scene showing INNA wearing a bright fluffy yellow coat. It's such a high production music video, how is this not a part of a film soundtrack? The dancers are bringing some brilliant choreography, it's just a shame they don't get a full scene. The music video is good, it's just missing a few things that could've elevated it to be better.
For Thursday Revisit, I've decided to review Cardi B's debut single and debut music video, which was released in 2015, just making it into the five-year-old Thursday Revisit rules. I've never seen this video and I'm eager to see what it's like and to compare where she came from to where she is now. The song is a rendition of British rapper Lady Leshurr's "Queen's Speech 4" which went viral, in itself, in 2015 and it's amazing that Cardi B reinvented it for herself, like Lady Leshurr reached across the Atlantic with that track and set Cardi B into motion! Cardi B even mentions Lady Leshurr and her song in this rendition of the song. She goes in hard with her rap, and it's no surprise she's become a star. Prior to the release of this song, she appeared in Love & Hip Hop: New York TV show for its sixth and seventh seasons.
The music video, directed by Renel Jolly, is set in a salon where Cardi B is getting her nails done whilst others are getting their hair done. She also appears as the receptionist, and various characters walk into the salon. There's not a whole lot going on and it's certainly not at the high-budget of her more-recent music videos, and yet she still brings star quality to the visual throughout.
Alongside listening to a lot of Natti Natasha, I've also been listening to Thalía a lot too. I first came across Thalía last October when I attended Inna La Londra (Inna's concert in London), where her opening DJ played one of Thalía's songs and everyone was practically singing along and so I used Shazam to find out what song it was. Now, almost a year later, I'm exploring her back catalogue of songs, which is lengthy, to say the least, and she is such a brilliant singer. It's amazing to see one of the top female Latin artists collaborating with Natti Natasha who has soared withing the Latin music world recently. The music video on YouTube has amassed over 1 billion views, which isn't surprising since both stars have massive fanbases, and I can see this continue to gain more and more views. The song itself charted well throughout Latin America as well as peaking at number five in Spain. The track's title, "No Me Acuerdo" translates into English as "I Don't Remember", and it's about having a night out and waking the next day to her lover who tells her that he's been told she cheated on him but she doesn't remember the rest of the night.
The music video takes the story of the song and recreates it. We start off with Thalía waking up in bed at 4pm, with her lover showing something on a phone, an image of her in the arms of another guy. We then get a flashback to her night before as she tries to remember what happens. We see her partying the night away with Natti Natasha and eyeing up another guy who ends up carrying her on his shoulder - which is where the image from the phone comes from. The ending scene sees her love-interest storming out of the room as she looks at the image on the phone. It's such a good music video and it looks like Thalía and Natti Natasha had such a good time filming this music video.
