Critic Jonni

She's the name everyone is keeping an eye on since Kesha's court hearing. Rita Ora has recently filed a lawsuit to get out of her contract. To which her record company has counter sued. Apparently a mutual agreement outside of the court has took place and is currently finalising. But has this whole Kesha news made Rita Ora that little bit worried? Especially since her record label has a distribution deal with Sony Music. In this video, Rita Ora chooses her poison, is fame money and a hot guy really worth it all? She proves it can all just go to your head.

Rita Ora has featured on my blog many times before, I am a fan of her songs and her voice ever since she first hit the scene on DJ Fresh's song "Hot Right Now". Currently she won't be releasing any more music until the lawsuit is over. Apparently an agreement has been determined and so we probably won't have to wait too long for new music from her, but I guess we'll have to wait and see. The song was written by Kate Nash, Nolan Lambroza and Julia Michaels. Surprising to see Kate Nash, of Foundations fame, named as songwriter. Such a good personal song, I was expecting Rita Ora's name.

Directed by Cameron Duddy, this is a full narrative music video with snippets of a performance piece.

Based around a photographer who wants to make Rita Ora famous, he tempts her to get her photo taken by him, soon enough she becomes something big in a showcase of her modelling pictures, the art gallery is filled with people; she invites one of her old friends, who doesn't fit in with the crowd, but soon wants to show to her that he can too, and so he starts off being photographed as well. Which doesn't appeal to Rita Ora as she doesn't want people getting into the industry without knowing what is what.

There are many different ways people have interpreted the video, the meaning of the video isn't a clear one, the main other interpretation people are coming up with is that the two guys are fighting over Rita Ora, and when they decided they can get on (or are gay for each other, as many speculating people have thought), she decides she doesn't want any of them (let alone a threesome/ménage à trois), she burns her main canvas, and runs away from it all.

Her performance is just as theatrical, it's magical because she means every single word of this song, she wants to get across her message, as well as prove that she is a noteworthy singer, she can sing something much more slower than her upbeat tracks.

Overall the narrative is complete, although confusing to some people, it works perfectly with the song and is totally artistically beautiful. It's well thought out and directed brilliantly, it's something rarely shown, and the message is heard clearly. Rita Ora delivers as she always does, it's a side of Rita Ora we rarely get to see and she performed to the best she could, which made this video outstanding.

Buy on iTunes

This week is all about breaking free of contracts, what with Kesha being stuck in her contract with Dr. Luke and Sony Music; I've decided to do a Music Special called #FreeKesha And Other Stories. My main problem is that, besides JoJo, there isn't any other stories; other than artists applying for bankruptcy and therefore renegotiating contracts, or filing lawsuits to former and current labels over money that is owed to them. Many artists haven't sued due to the cost, and so are stuck in their contracts, which asks them to release albums through the record label, which shelves their albums for unknown reasons. It took a lot of research to come across The LOX, they wanted out of Bad Boy Records, founded by Sean Combs (Puff Daddy/Puffy/Diddy/P. Diddy). They tried to be legally released from their contract, but it wasn't until they created t-shirts and a wave of fans to show their support, that Bad Boy Records finally released them from the contract. This was the sort of route they wanted to go down, but Bad Boy Records had different ideas. This music video may have been done in the 90's, but it works; it's current, even now, and it's true, not only to itself, but to the artists involved.

The LOX are a three piece hip-hop group consisting of Jadakiss, Styles P and Sheek Louch. After finally parting ways with Bad Boy Records, they broke apart and worked on solo albums. Each member has practically made a name for themselves in the music industry, and it wasn't until 2012, that they started releasing music together again. Could The LOX make a worldwide comeback sometime soon? It's quite the question, as soloists they've made it to an extent. Together, they could become bigger, if they put the time and effort into this group, especially if a song like this one is promoted and marketed right. This song features DMX, real name Earl Simmons, who has had a top ten hit in the UK, his stage name is recognisable, and one that hasn't been heard of for a few years, will he be on top of his game once again? We'll have to wait and see. As for Lil' Kim, she is completely unrecognisable to me in this music video. I'm surprised how gorgeous she looks in this video. Real name Kimberly Jones, has had worldwide success too, she is one of those stars who could easily make the perfect comeback, much like Missy Elliott has. This single was written by Jadakiss, Sheek Louch and Styles P.

The song is the group's biggest hit. The accompanying music video is both narrative and performance based, centring around the latter more than the former.

I love the start with the kid throwing the newspapers. Lil' Kim outshines The LOX and DMX on the performance sides of things. However these rappers are doing the best they can with what they've been given.

The narrative is short, and practically shows what we're used to seeing. However it's more relatable than we can imagine. They manage to steal money from high profiled people and spread it out to the people who clearly need it more, after evading the police and changing the look of the car, so it's not identifiable.

The performance side of this video is on point, enough to make me feel the emotion each of the artists are getting across, they mean every word they are rapping and they believe it. It's unsurprising that this was a hit in America. The narrative scenes are too short, they're intercut with the performance scene much too often, leading a distorted video that complicates viewers to a certain extent; that said the narrative is interesting and engaging.

Buy on iTunes

Cover by Amy-Kate Brennan

Channillo and Me: Beginnings
For those of you who don't know, I recently released my book series, The Power Of Creatures, on Channillo.com. I first came across the website, thanks to Twitter. The founder contacted me on Twitter asking if I'd like to write a series for Channillo. After exploring the website, I knew this was my next step after graduating from university, so I applied, and my series officially debuted on 28th January 2016, the day before my birthday.

The only problem I've had is that my friends are unsure of how to subscribe, and so this blog post is to help anyone who is weary or unsure of Channillo. I love this website and I hope you will love it too.

What Is Channillo?
This is a website where people can subscribe to a book series, where weekly or biweekly or monthly a snippet will be released, either a full chapter or part of a chapter, a short story, a poem, an essay or a journal entry. It allows subscribers to read at their own pace, allows authors to keep readers interested in an ongoing series, and builds excitement for readers as they are able to openly discuss the series on social networks.

Channillo supports writers by distributing 80% of revenue to its writers, By subscribing to a seriers, you support that author directly.

Channillo Homepage

Membership
Once you've signed up, you can choose a membership. The three options you can choose from are: a bronze plan, a gold plan and a platinum plan, where you pay a monthly fee. Each one is different and allows you to subscribe to a limited amount of series. I can barely keep up with the four book series that I'm currently reading, so I'm glad I went with a bronze membership.

Channillo Memberships

There is another option if you don't fancy having a direct debit and that is to buy a gift code for yourself. This is a unique idea, where you pay a sum of money for a certain amount of time. Paying this way saves you money and is also split into the three categories Bronze, Gold and Platinum. It is further split into three months, six months, a year and two years. This works well allowing you to subscribe to a series as long as you need to, without being charged monthly. And you save money!

Channillo Gift Codes

NOTE: It may be displayed in American Dollars, but this website isn't exclusive to American readers. Anyone around the world can pay for the memberships or gift code.

Getting Started
Right, now you've signed up, and have a membership, Channillo is now available to you. Go and explore using the home page or the discover page. Find series that are interesting to you, something that you will enjoy. Each series comes with a Series Description, which should influence you into subscribing.

I highly recommend The Power Of Creatures by Jonathan Currinn, unsurprising since it is the series I've released on Channillo, myself.

Series Info for The Power Of Creatures

I'm subscribed to four series, and I'm far behind on all of them. My favourite has to be The Warlock Case Files by Juli Monroe; if I find spare time, I always log onto Channillo and read from this series first before any of the others I'm subscribed to. It never fails to make me laugh, The other series I'm subscribed to are Firewalkers by Taylor Eaton, With Teeth by Jessica (Sita) Sneeringer, and Bad Girls by Amanda Carney.

There is also a most popular feature, which includes Lockheed Elite by Tyler Wandschneider, which I plan to subscribe to when I find time to read more on Channillo. These are the popular series, so not only are they bound to be good, but they're also diverse, there isn't a common theme or genre within the most popular titles, which shows that there is something for everyone on this site.

Your Channel
This is where you can follow your series updates. Have you caught up to a series and waiting for the next chapter, poem, essay, journal entry, short story? Well this is the place you have to keep checking to see if there has been a new one released.

Features
There's many features I love on Channillo. My favourite so far is the Completed button at the end of every chapter, poem, short story, etc. This allows you to keep track of where you are in the series, essentially like your own little bookmark. This allows me to know where I am when I have the time to read the next one from the series.

Profiles. There are profiles for both authors and readers, this is unique and interesting.

Discover, is another favourite feature of mine, when I've caught up with all the series I'm reading, I delve into here and see what series are available, and what I might want to read next. Sometimes I just get lost in the amazing series covers, they're all brilliant with different ideas.

FAQs are avilable on this website, they're clear and precise, allowing you to understand the website more if you're still apprehensive.

Channillo and Me: Future
I am planning to release the next short story in my series: The Power Of Creatures, within the week. My series is going to last six months. Each story is set in a different place and a different time zone. Read more about the series on Channillo.

I am currently writing a series that I'm hoping will be finished at the end of the year. I plan to submit it for Channillo, because I've fallen in love with the site and how it works. I love the idea behind it all, and this series I'm writing would be perfect for their website, it's just finding time in my life to write the series, since I'm stretched too thin over everything that I'm currently doing.

Channillo
This will be the website you'll be telling all you're friends about. This is the website you should be going on right now. Stop reading this blog post and click one of the links, or just type Channillo into Google. Subscribe to The Power Of Creatures. Go and do it now, you won't be disappointed.

Rihanna, Rihanna, Rihanna. Gone are the days when I was actually a fan of hers. Now, I wasn't expecting much from her for this music video, but she actually surprised me, because we get two music videos in one. So now I'm going to have to review two music videos... It's going to be a long night! Both videos are sexual, the first one is less so than the second. Rihanna twerks. grinds and booty shakes to her new song, most of the time all over Drake, who is clearly loving every second of it.

Rihanna, real name Robyn Rihanna Fenty, is a worldwide superstar, let's be honest, the chances of her career spiraling downwards and ending is never going to happen. Although as she gets older she might not bang out chart hit after chart hit, just look at Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Madonna; there are plenty more that are superstars but are suffering in the chart world. I used to love Rihanna when "Umbrella" came out, but it wasn't until "Don't Stop The Music" was released that I fell in love with her music for a couple of years, until she changed style and then I went totally off her. Still, "We Found Love" was the closest she came to making me like her all over again, but it didn't take off in my world. No song from her will beat "Don't Stop The Music", that's my Rihanna tune on any dancefloor! As for Drake, real name Aubrey Drake Graham, he has yet to have a solo number one in the UK, and isn't quite as popular here as he is in other countries. However he is a chart success for a rapper, considering not many do manage to chart consistently well in the UK. This song was written by Jahron Braithwaite, Matthew Samuels, Allen Ritter, Rupert Thomas, Aubrey Graham, Robyn Fenty and Monte Moir.

There isn't a lot to comment on either of these videos, I definitely prefer the first one over the other, but none of them surprises me, or actually makes me want to watch them a second time.

The Director X Music Video

The first music video is directed by Director X, who has been mentioned on my blog multiple times, his videos are usually intriguing and definitely high rated by me, but it annoys me to know that this music video is directed by him, I could deal with someone less known, but why this video Director X, just why?

The music video invites us into a club called The Real Jerk, and it excites me slightly, thinking this music video might be inspired by "Don't Stop The Music". Unfortunately, we are in a totally different club, where twerking and booty shaking is the norm.

Not a lot to comment on, apart from Rihanna dancing in front of a mirror, which I'm pretty sure we've all done often, no? Just me then. I am not a fan of what she is wearing, although I guess it could be a lot worse, and at least she totally works it.

A lot of grinding in this club too, especially against Drake, who is obviously loving every minute of it.

Not a whole lot to this music video, and Director X actually disappoints me, but I guess he didn't have much to go on, especially since the song is inspired by Jamaican songs, and it is a club song and so he manages to relate to the song. Many people will be twerking and grinding in clubs to this song.

Buy on iTunes

The Tim Erem Music Video

The second music video is directed by Tim Erem. A director I am not aware of, as I haven't reviewed a music video from him, until now.

A solely performance piece in a narrative music video, Rihanna looks entirely uncomfortable, and can you blame her with what she is wearing? Going braless is nothing Rihanna hasn't done before in her music videos, she's been wearing even less in some of them, as well as being nude. Yet with this see through top, she might as well have done it totally topless as the top hides nothing, and although set in a home setting, she doesn't look happy at all.

Rihanna just dances little and sings the song, with no emotion, and no intention of performing like we all know she can. This is too exposed, too raw even for Rihanna, and it just fails completely. Drake doesn't help much either and the video doesn't flow quite as well.

I hope never to see this music video again, as it feels cheap, nasty and low budget. This isn't the Rihanna or the Drake that we know and this video shouldn't have been an option, let alone released.

Buy on iTunes

If anyone can relate to Kesha, it's JoJo right? She has already given supported tweets out to Kesha as well as being interviewed about her law suit and how she feels about Kesha's legal battle, even though the situation is much different, it's a similar process. During JoJo's battle, the hashtag #FreeJoJo was trending on Twitter, much like the hashtag for Kesha is; #FreeKesha. JoJo released this online with her EP Agápē, as she was frustrated that she couldn't officially release music. She had recorded plenty of songs and gave plenty of completed albums to her record label, who never got back to her. The record label had changed hands a number of times, leaving it's artists in limbo, it didn't help that the label got dropped from the distributing company. JoJo filed a lawsuit in 2013, and it took a year until she was finally free from her contract with her record company. JoJo looks sexy, relaxed and at home in this music video. The performance side has unimaginable vibes that shows the song means a lot to her.

These are JoJo's tweets in support of Kesha.

When you're part of the creative community, all you want to do is make your art and tell your truth.
— JoJo (@iamjojo) February 19, 2016

I don't know all the facts, of course, but the bottom line is: it is a terrible feeling to not own your voice/ be able to release music.
— JoJo (@iamjojo) February 19, 2016

I felt very alone when I was going through my lawsuit. It was my fans who kept me going. The #freejojo campaign meant everything to me.
— JoJo (@iamjojo) February 19, 2016

Thank you for the incredible, fearless, and clever lawyering of Shinaan Krakowsky and Hayes Michel.
— JoJo (@iamjojo) February 19, 2016

No one will ever know the magnitude of what you accomplished, Shinaan & Hayes, but you guys saved my career&changed the course of my life.
— JoJo (@iamjojo) February 19, 2016

these pictures truly broke my heart today. pic.twitter.com/xnF9wKcAlF
— JoJo (@iamjojo) February 20, 2016

JoJo, real name Joanna Levesque, has finally returned to music after her legal battle with her previous record label, and she is stronger than ever, just listen to these songs and watch the accompanying music video; they're powerful and vocally brilliant: "When Love Hurts", "Save My Soul" and "Say Love". Infinitely catchy songs that have got us all excited for her album. This song was inspired by André 3000, JoJo feels that he is someone to admire. Not a direct tribute. The song was written by Joanna Levesque and Jake Schmuggle.

The video was directed by Embryo. It has a narrative and a performance side, and features Leah LaBelle, Karina Pasian, Francia Raisa, Leven Rambin, Denise Janae and JinJoo Lee.

The narrative is interesting as the guy called André tells her to make herself at home in his loft apartment. We watch as she explores his apartment, before going to an art collection reveal event. Where André reveals JoJo as the main art canvas feature.

The performance throughout is strong, you can tell JoJo is a performer at heart, she believes every song she writes, sings and performs. Her new tour is coming to London for one date, and sold out quickly. I just wish I had tickets for the show, because it'll be one amazing show that shouldn't be missed by anyone.

Overall, a nice uplifting song, for once, by one incredible singer. A relatable music video goes with it, with both a perfect narrative and an amazing performance piece. It works perfectly and I can't fault it, although it is pretty predictable that JoJo would be the main featured art piece.