The Weeknd - Can't Feel My Face



When I first saw this music video, I knew I had to review it on my blog, and yet six months later and here I am, finally getting around to reviewing The Weeknd's song Can't Feel My Face. I have never really liked The Weeknd, and his songs never interested me before this one. This one is much more catchy and shows off his vocal range. The Weeknd proves himself as a performer as well as a singer in this music video, he gets set alight and he still performs to the best of his ability. The Weeknd has set himself on the charts internationally, now he just needs to keep getting the chart hits he clearly deserves.

The Weeknd, real name Abęl Tesfaye, is from Canada and has been releasing music since 2011. He has had a successful career to date, both of his albums have charted highly internationally and most of his singles have charted in various countries, but it wasn't until he released "Earned It" for the Fifth Shades Of Grey soundtrack, that he got thrown into the limelight. This song was written by Ali Payami, Savan Kotecha, Max Martin, Abęl Tesfaye and Peter Svensson. Some big names in the song writing list, so it's no surprise this was a hit for The Weeknd.

Directed by Grant Singer. We have a main performance piece to this music video where The Weeknd is performing to a not so nice crowd.

There's a love interest in the audience, who is the only one enjoying his performance. She is played by Chanel Iman.

A person in the audience throws a lighter at him, which sets him on fire, at which point the audience loves his performance and gets on their feet. For some unknown reason, the fact that he's on fire and still performing makes everyone like the song, doesn't make sense to me.

At the end of the day, it's a great performance based music video, with a very catchy song. However there's a subtle narrative behind although it's not displayed well and doesn't relate to the song that much, if at all, especially since at the end he runs out of the club, still on fire. This video is not only confusing to many, but it fails to connect with the song.
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Chart Mondays: Jonas Blue Featuring Dakota - Fast Car



Lukas Graham is still at number one with "7 Years" and so Chart Mondays is open, once again, to the top 10.  I have chosen to review this music video, as the song is being sung by nearly everyone, and it's actually not the original this time. This song has been covered many times, but tropical house covers of this song is charting all over the world, but this video doesn't feature a fast car, instead a fast motorbike in the desert which is pitted against a horse, they fall in love and don't quite live happily ever after.

Jonas Blue, real name Guy Robin, is an up and coming British producer who has hit the world by storm with this song, although I much prefer the original. I'm not so keen on this tropical house remix it just feels like it's lost all meaning to the song. It features Dakota.... Who? All I can find out is that Dakota is an 'incredible young vocal talent', hopefully more information will be known later. The song is a cover of Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car", written by Tracy Chapman, herself. I'd actually would be interested in her thoughts on this version, see if she likes it as much as everyone else. This version peaked at number two, which beats the original's charting position.

Directed by Anton Newton-Berra, the video is set in the desert, definitely no sign of any fast cars, although it is kind of used as a metaphor for falling in love quickly, as the music video suggests.

I feel the song doesn't go with the video at all, however the video is there to shock you, and it sure did that, I almost cried twice.

I love the idea of the race, clearly the motorcyclist won, and yet she fell off her bike, which was inevitably going to happen, luckily she's still alive and well, but might have bumped her head a bit because she fell in love with her opponent.

They run away together, and I can feel the compassion, some exciting teasing moments which I definitely miss having, and some good cuddling, but this is no life and he is then kidnapped.

She wakes up to find him gone and she searches for him. She finds his horse and finds out he's working behind the checkout at a supermarket. The guy has to make a living, and yet she's upset? She soon gets what she wants though because he's soon riding his horse beside her again.

Overall a full narrative video that doesn't link in with the song all that much. This video could be linked to quite a lot of songs and it would have made no difference, although relatable to an extent it fails to make me want to watch it again.
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Fast Food Rockers - Fast Food Song



Last night this song came on whilst I was out clubbing, and we all still knew all the dance moves to the chorus. This was released when cheesy music was flooding the charts, looking back at all the past cheesy chart hits, it's surprising that they did as well as they did, if anything like this came out now it would have no chance. Bringing the cheese to my blog, the Fast Food Rockers actually made a name for themselves with this song, full of all you're favourite fast food restaurants and dance moves to go along with it.

The Fast Food Rockers were a three piece band consisting of Martin Rycroft, Lucy Meggitt and Ria Scott. They released three singles, and was dropped after their album failed to chart and a disappointing low charting position for their final single, which was a Christmas song. However their charting positions would be considered good nowadays. This song got to number two, held off the top spot by Evanescence with "Bring Me To Life", as if number one was a rock song, and number two was cheesy pop, you will never see this happen in the chart ever again. The other singles "Say Cheese (Smile Please)" and "I Love Christmas" charted at numbers 10 and 25 respectively. This song was written by Mike Stock, Steve Crosby, Sandy Rass, Eric Dikeb, Martin Neumeyer and Bob Patmore. It samples the folk song A Ram Sam Sam, I learned this in nursery, but had totally forgotten about A Ram Sam Sam. This song has been going before it got released and has been adapted for many different countries, and became a hit in those countries.

The music video is complete cheese, even including pvc clothes which doesn't look comfortable at all, but definitely identifies them with the song as they are the normal fast food colours.

The choreography is on point, it gives children something easy to copy, and we were definitely dancing to the chorus like this when we were in the club last night.

The blue dog makes an appearance, he is the Fast Food Rockers' mascot and he's called Hot Dog. He appears in all their music videos.

Overall,. even though it's full of cheese, the song is also full of cheese, it's what we expect from a music video for a cheesy song. It's fun, bouncy and joyful, with simplistic dance moves for kids and adults to easily copy.
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Craig David X Big Narstie - When The Bassline Drops



Craig David has made his return, and I'm currently keeping my eye on his new music as he has been spotted recording with Platnum, rumours state there's a collaboration to be released soon. I'm excited to see garage and bassline returning, and I'm sure Platnum and Craig David has made an amazing song. As stated before, Craig David has finally made a great chart comeback with this hit song, which peaked at number ten. The video is nothing special, Craig David proves why he should always be in the charts, he has made some great hits over the years and in this video he exudes confidence. Big Narstie proves himself and enlightens us to some of his music.

Craig David first hit the scene in 2000, with number one singles "Fill Me In" and "7 Days". His debut album also peaked at number one in the UK. Since then he has had many chart hits. He's last entrant into the top 40 was "Hot Stuff (Let's Dance)" as well as "6 of 1 Thing", after which the other singles wasn't quite hitting the charts well enough. After a much needed break, he returned to music with this collaboration, and it has placed him back in the charts and on everyone's radar. Big Narstie, real name Tyrone Lindo, has dipped in and out of the limelight, he's one of these names you know and yet you can't quite pinpoint why. The song was written by Craig David, Scott Wild and Tyrone Lindo.

The video isn't something I'd go out of my way to watch again, nothing surprising, nothing engaging, it's just a general music video that adds nothing to the song except showing off the artists' confidence. It was directed by Caroline Clayton.

Craig David is walking the streets in this music video, giving us the old garage vibes that we know and love. In the background we see youths, some are dancing freestyle, others are just having fun.

Next we enter a club where this song is going down with the ravers, much like it does when it comes on in the clubs I go to. Big Narstie appears and starts rapping about a sandwich, which he performs with ease.

Overall, a very catchy song that is bringing back bassline and garage anthems that deserve to be in the chart, and Craig David is definitely the trendsetter to do just that. The music video fails to engage and interest the audience, nothing new, nothing exciting and it's just an average normal music video.
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New Release: Years & Years Featuring Tove Lo - Desire



This is the music video everyone is talking about at the moment. A great collaboration, and Years & Years are currently one of the top acts in the UK, Olly Alexander is really paving the way for British gay singers everywhere, it makes a change seeing someone like Olly Alexander getting chart hits and being out, free and open, and although this music video isn't exactly sexually restricted he is a good role model, as in proving that dreams which you fight for can come true. Years & Years puts desire on a platter for us all to enjoy, or not to in some ways, not afraid to make an impact and get the message across, this video is an eye opener at least and Tove Lo gives the video some much needed spice.

Years & Years grabbed a number one single in 2015 with "King" as well as a number two single with "Shine", instead of releasing new music they have revisited this single, which was released before "King", suggesting that they want a higher charting position. "Desire" originally charted at number 22, but maybe with the additional vocals from Tove Lo and a controversial music video that has got everyone talking, might beat the original release, it worked for Disclosure, so it could work for Years & Years. The band consists of Olly Alexander, Mikey Goldsworthy and Emre Türkmen. Olly Alexander is an established actor, having appeared in quite a few films and TV series. The band formed online, although Olly Alexander wasn't in the picture then, it wasn't until Mikey Goldsworthy heard him singing in the shower at a friend's apartment that the band fully formed. They are definitely making an impact on the UK charts, and they're one band to keep an eye on. Tove Lo, real name Ebba Nilsson, is one of those singers who will have a few amazing hits, and a few not so great. I'm in love with "Talking Body", however I'm not so keen on the chart hit "Habits (Stay High)". She's not going to get the success Zara Larsson is going to get, but if she fights like she has with her song writing, she can get there. This song was written by Olly Alexander, Michael Goldsworthy, Emre Türkmen and Kid Harpoon.

Directed by Fred Rowson. The video is reminiscent of "King", clearly Olly Alexander isn't getting enough action, it definitely makes him that little bit more sexier, it must be a jealousy thing, but it definitely works. He clearly loves other people rubbing their hands all over him. Who doesn't?

The video continues and desire is all sexual and this video shows this, I have to commemorate it for it's LGBT+ statements as well as the racial statements that the video is trying to make. Love is love, no matter what shape or form.

Tove Lo adds a magical spice to this song and music video, something extra that is needed, her vocals are amazing, and contrary to other reviews, I much prefer this version because of her vocals, it switches up the song and gives it the side we were missing.

Overall, an orgy full of desire, that really makes a statement. Something that should be toned down slightly if it were to be put on the daytime music channels, but a message that deserves to be given across regardless.
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The Saturdays - If This Is Love



Thursday Revisit starts right now, and why not choose The Saturdays' first ever single, which is just coming up to eight years old, can you believe these girls have been together for that long? The video defines pop music videos, it's colourful and exciting, this is an up and coming girl group, who look and sound amazing, we all knew that they were going to be a hit, regardless of this being The Saturdays' debut single.

The Saturdays consist of Vanessa White, Una Foden, Mollie King, Frankie Bridge and Rochelle Humes. The girls are currently on hiatus, although I'm anticipating their return this year with hopefully a new number one on their hands, as they definitely deserve more than just the one. However they are currently doing their own side projects, so whether they will be coming back soon is something we'll be waiting on. This song was their debut single, the song that first introduced me to the girl group, and the one that made me start buying their music. It charted at number eight. It was written by Joe Belmaati, Michaela Breen, Vince Clarke, Mich Hansen, Alison Moyet, John Reid, Remee and Ina Wroldsen. It samples Yazoo's song "Situation" written by Vince Clarke and Alison Moyet. The group have stated that it's one of their least favourite songs they've released.

The music video was directed by Harvey B Brown. The girls act like their celebrities and their fan base is waiting outside the shop window waiting for them to perform.

It's full of bright colours, and each girl is wearing a different coloured dress with heels that don't match. It's this style that is consistent with the following music videos, although it's not possible to identify a colour with each girl since it changes in each music video and single cover. However each group member is identifiably different nonetheless so it's not like we have to use the colours to tell them apart.

This theme continues into only a few music videos and single covers, until the group becomes much more famous. It's colourful, eye catching and full of performance vibes, these girls love to sing, they connect with ease and you can see the friendship bonds between them, this group was meant to happen and their longevity proved that. Now these girls are definitely famous, they've tried to hit America and gave it their best shot, even though they never conquered that country, they are a real successful British girl group, and I'd go as far as saying that even though they are currently on hiatus, they are the top girl group in the UK at the moment, but I think Little Mix is trying to nab that crown from The Saturdays, which they are welcome to at the moment, whilst The Saturdays have their time off, but I can see The Saturdays coming back more fierce than ever.

An average music video, introducing us to The Saturdays. Stylish, fun and colourful, very in your face, and it works perfectly. The Saturdays just need to come back!
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The Saturdays - Disco Love



As we all await the return of The Saturdays, I have plunged myself into their autobiography The Saturdays Our Story, and it's sure is giving me an insight into their lives, they have worked so incredibly hard to get to where they are now, and it just goes to show that if you fight for what you want out of life, you will get it, or at least manage to look back on your past and be proud of all that you have achieved. This is my main thought in life, as long as I'm getting my name out there, I can say that I've done this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this and this; and it's available here, here, here, here and here; even if I don't get to where I want to be, I'll still be known to one person or a few, enough to put my stamp on the world and hopefully inspire and prove that you have to work to where you want to be. Nobody achieves anything by doing nothing. This is my favourite song from The Saturdays, it was an instant love I had for this song. The Saturdays take us back to 1979, as well as 1989 and 1999, with a slight narrative storyline in each year, although adding peculiar irregularities throughout.

The Saturdays are one of the most successful girl groups from the UK that is still going, although they are currently on hiatus. They have racked up an incredible 18 UK top 40 singles, but only one number one with "What About Us" which featured Sean Paul. They are reportedly planning to return in 2016, however all sources come from 2015, so no new news on them coming back any time soon. Plus Vanessa White has embarked on a slight solo career as she has released her first EP, and it seems other girls might just follow suit soon. The Saturdays consist of Vanessa White, Rochelle Humes, Frankie Bridge, Una Foden and Mollie King. This song was written by Pálmi Ragnar Ásgeirsson, Ásgeir Orri Ásgeirsson, Saethór Kristjánsson and Adam Klein. Bringing a disco vibe to the song, it hit the chart at number five, and quickly became my favourite song from The Saturdays.

I love how the music video starts off with their cover of Donna Summer's "On The Radio" before they change it over to their new song. It was directed by Carly Cussen.

We are taken back through time to 1979, 1989 and 1999. We get to look closely at how the different years were unique, and I love how the group changes in each scene.

Although there is bad errors, such as in 1979, if the camper van had broken down the radio wouldn't work as well as the hair pod that Mollie uses, which also doesn't belong in this scene as they weren't around then. Yet, that is the only peculiarities I can find. The Bee Gees are given a mention in this clip with their song "Stayin' Alive".

We get transported to 1989 where they are at a roller skating rink, I would so love to go to one of these, but I guess I was born in the wrong year, it looks like they had a right good time. There's a scene that reflects back to their music video for "Higher" which featured Flo Rida, which was once again pulled off perfectly. Also, Mollie must've fought hard for that Britney lyric which gives notice to "...Baby One More Time". I so wish I was there to take part in it. Maybe roller skating is returning, it recently appeared in Gwen Stefani's music video for "Make Me Like You", as well as being in Sigala's "Sweet Loving".

Fast forward another ten years and it's 1999, two years before Rochelle Humes and Frankie Bridge came on to the scene in their group S Club Juniors (later known as S Club 8). They are at a skate park, and the dancers are performing some tricks and moves. It doesn't really go with the song, and yet it still works.

Throughout the video, Frankie Bridge doesn't get much intercutted scenes, which she asked for since she was pregnant at the time. This isn't unusual in one of The Saturdays music videos, since band members have been pregnant in previous music videos before such as in "30 Days" and "Gentleman".

Overall a great performance music video, I love it when Mollie King sings into the screwdriver, we've all done this with some sort of inanimate object wishing it was a microphone. Realistic, fun and respectfully time shifted as we return, or in many cases experience, years from the past, and although there are a couple of errors, one of which was obviously a product proposal, I'm willing to look past that, because this video is one of the best, along with the song.

What we really need is for The Saturdays to return, especially now Little Mix and Fifth Harmony are dominating the charts. Come on girls, return in 2016, and prove that The Saturdays aren't going to settle with just one number one.
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Fifth Harmony Featuring Ty Dolla $ign - Work From Home



Absolutely loving this song right now, working seems to be hot topic at the moment in the music industry, as Rihanna has just released her single "Work" featuring Drake. Now Fifth Harmony has released this song, which is just as catchy. Fifth Harmony become builders in this sexy new video, and their builder love interests are just as hot.

Fifth Harmony was united on The X Factor USA, where each girl originally performed as a solo singer. The band has become the biggest act from that entire show, although many artists from the show are world class, they just need to get promotion and release music. The girl group consists of Ally Brooke, Normani Kordei, Lauren Jauregui, Camila Cabello and Dinah Jane Hansen. This is their first single from their new album, which is expected in May. This is not an official single as of yet, and has only been released as an album track for the pre-order of the album. The song features rapper Ty Dollar $ign, real name Tyrone Griffin, Jr. who has yet to score a chart hit in the UK, surprisingly. However, he is known over here. Maybe this will be his first UK charting position, since it looks like it will hit the Top 10 this week. The song was written by Joshua Coleman, Jude Demorest, Dallas Koehlke, Tyson Griffin Jr., Alexander Izquierdo and Brian Lee. It was originally titled "Work", but soon got changed to prevent confusion with Rihanna's "Work".

Directed by Director X, the music video is another pure performance piece from this group, with an inserted narrative. I love how this director has done both this video and Rihanna's "Work", yet he's done a much better job on this one.

Different and exciting, I can't think of another video that I've seen that is set in a builder's workplace, and only Fifth Harmony can make it look dead sexy. What girl or gay guy wouldn't want to become a builder for that music video?

Ty Dollar $ign does just that, he raps as he walks around with his hammer in his hand, whilst the Fifth Harmony girls dance and twerk. The choreography is on point, we expect nothing less from this girl group, and their energy on stage is just as electric as it is in this music video, I can vouch for that.

Normani Kordei stands out in this video, girllllll she can twerk! Limelight is on her throughout, this choreography was made for her, and she pulls it off with style! The other girls are just as good, and I have no problems with this music video, it's sultry, sexy, and flirtatious. It relates slightly to the song since the girls are doing some work, as they suggest in the video, but maybe we needed a bit more of a storyline.
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Chart Mondays: Little Mix Featuring Jason Derulo - Secret Love Song



Well this music video has created quite the stir, unsurprisingly since what Little Mix wants is cut out, and instead it's what the management team thinks would work, which it clearly didn't, and failed in so many ways. The back story of this music video is so sad and disappointing, because it fails to relate to the song... But more on that later. Little Mix bring out their Spice Girls video in a landmarked London, whilst Jason Derulo dances to this slow song.

Little Mix won The X Factor back in 2011, they consist of Jade Thirlwall, Jesy Nelson, Perrie Edwards and Leigh-Anne Pinnock. They've recently released their third album Get Weird, that has many songs on there that are worthy of singles. I'm really hoping for "Weird People" to be released as a single. However this was chosen as their third single; it's another ballad from this group, which would've been fine if it wasn't a follow-up to "Love Me Like You", which is also a ballad and didn't perform that well and took some time to climb up the charts, This song has followed suit, although it has been climbed up the chart quicker. Jade Thirlwall has mentioned that to her the song is for the LGBT+ community and the struggles they face in being in love and open about it in public. Jason Derulo, real name Jason Desrouleaux, wrote his own verse which puts a twist in the song, suggesting it's more about an affair. However, Little Mix had the perfect LGBT anthem on their hands, remixed well and it would be played in every gay club, especially during pride, but management clearly overruled. The song was written by Jez Ashurst, Emma Rohan, Rachel Furner and Jason Desrouleaux.

The music video was directed by Frank Borin. A pure performance piece, it should have been magical. There probably is a director's cut in storage somewhere, which would show the narrative that apparently got recorded, since they hired actors to play on-screen heterosexual, homosexual and interracial relationships to relate to the song, but management decided to cut it from the video altogether.

Set in London amongst landmarks, such as Tower Bridge, the video is very reminiscent of the Spice Girls' music video for "2 Become 1". Especially with it being a purely performance music video.

There's not a lot to comment on, the vocals are impeccable, if I hadn't have known who sung this, my initial guess would've been Leona Lewis. Whoever has said in the past that Little Mix aren't great at singing, this song proves them totally wrong. Their portrayal of the song in the music video is heartfelt, but not full of emotion, it's almost as if the girls have been told that the narration has been cut, this could explain why they haven't put their all in this video because their hearts aren't in it, as this is not what they wanted.

Jason Derulo's part is more awful. This is a ballad, his vocals are pretty good, some may even say surprising. Yet, he's dancing to the song, it's a freaking ballad, unless you're going to be slow dancing, then fine, but not pop and locking... just no! His emotion towards the song failed in the video and although all the steps he had been instructed to do worked, he didn't seem into it either.

Overall this video could have been amazing, this song is an LGBT+ anthem whether people like it or not, you could say that Little Mix relate to this song even more now because they wanted it to have an LGBT storyline, and yet that was taken away from them. In doing so the music video fails to relate and to connect with people. Luckily the song has performed well on the charts, via album track downloads only, and although the cover art has been released, the single has yet to appear on iTunes... Will it ever get released? Or will the original video be released with the single? I am literally praying for the real video to be unveiled.
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DNCE - Cake By The Ocean



I've had this song stuck in my head all day. The Jonas Brothers are doing well for themselves, Nick Jonas has become a superstar and Joe Jonas has had hits with this new band... Kevin Jonas is just being Kevin. Joe Jonas has fought hard, and finally it looks like this song will become a hit. DNCE perform behind a cake by the ocean on the sand, whilst a food fight rages on in front of them.

DNCE are a four-piece band consisting of Joe Jonas, Jack Lawless, JinJoo Lee and Cole Whittle. The band was formed after The Jonas Brothers split. Joe Jonas was unsure whether to release a second solo album or to start a new band, he clearly decided on the latter, which definitely worked out for him. It's like Joe Jonas and Nick Jonas has swapped, because the first time The Jonas Brothers went on hiatus, Joe Jonas came out with a solo album, and Nick Jonas created a band. Their roles have definitely switched this time around, and both brothers are doing well for themselves. This song is currently climbing the UK chart, and as it is played more often on the radio, I can see it becoming a chart hit as it's so catchy. The song is written by Robin Fredriksson, Joe Jonas, Mattias Larsson and Justin Tranter. The song's title comes from the Swedish producers misinterpreting Sex On The Beach, as they mistakenly translated it to Cake By The Ocean.

The music video is directed by Black Coffee & Gigi Hadid. Yep, once again she has popped up, and not as a female lead in the music video, not this time around, instead she has focused herself as the director of the music video, surprisingly. She is the name on everyone's lips lately, she's fully in the limelight, and girl is she working it, and we can't blame her, if we had this chance we would be taking it with both hands, just like she is.

The official international cake fight starts in this music video. A team of girls in bikinis vs. The Fat Jew. The latter makes it seem like he's the previous winner, the reigning champion, and the game begins, in the style of dodgeball, only with cake, that looks scrumptious (probably full of gluten, to which I'm allergic to, but it could've been gluten-free; the dream of a coeliac. Only the dream would be full of sexy guys instead of sexy girls; gay coeliac right here).

There is product proposal by Bumble which is a new rival for Tinder, where girls are in charge because they have to make the first connection (unless it's same-sex conversation), sounds good right, but the reviews aren't that positive, with many users rating it low.

DNCE gives an amazing performance, focus is on Joe Jonas, unsurprisingly since he is the name that will be pushing this band to international fame, plus he is the vocalist of the band. Amazing riffs and beautiful harmonies is what this song has and the actors in the video had one heck of a performance, they pull the song off perfectly, and Joe Jonas is looking damn hot in this video, not going to lie. Definitely giving his brother a run for his looks.

Overall a perfect song that has brilliant harmonies, which will not only get this song to chart high, but will also make their other songs hits, if their harmonies are on point just as much as it is in this song. The music video has taken the literal meaning of a cake by the ocean, and put an actual cake on a beach by the sea, which is part of the ocean, and has a food fight, or a cake fight in this case. Humorous and enjoyable this is a music video I could watch again and again, although would've liked to have seen some hot shirtless guys in this music video too, just to balance it out a bit, but I guess I'll have to deal with Joe Jonas fully clothed, which is an okay compromise.
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Little Mix - Love Me Like You



Little Mix released this ballad last year, and it took a while for people to like this as a single. It was a grower on the charts and just when you think that Little Mix has released the wrong follow-up single to "Black Magic", frequent performances on TV really helped to pick this song up, and radio finally started to like it, and therefore the public started to like it. Little Mix continue their narrative music videos in this fun loving video about a guy screwing all four of them over.

Little Mix first came to light on The X Factor. They are still currently the only group to ever win the British version of The X Factor. They seem very underrated in global terms, not attracting that much attention outside of the UK. However, now that One Direction are on hiatus, Simon Cowell and Syco have to focus on their two girl groups, Little Mix and Fifth Harmony, although it seems they're putting a lot more effort into the US girl group Fifth Harmony, than they are in Little Mix. This group consists of Perrie Edwards, Jesy Nelson, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall. This song was written by Steve Mac, Iain James, Camille Purcell and James Newman.

This was directed by Sarah McColgan and it is pure genius, a perfect narrative with a nice performance piece; the girls have really connected to this song!

Jade is whisked away in a car by this guy, then Leigh-Anne yearns for him at the basketball game, Jesy pounces on him at the cinema, and Perrie falls off her bike as she drools watching him work out. They all await him at the school dance. He arrives with another girl in tow, this guy gets around easily.

This is a perfect follow on from "Black Magic", almost like the story continues; similar to Basshunter's videos. The professor also appeared in "Black Magic", as well as many of the students that have attended the school dance. After a difficult search, it turns out that the guy in this music video that plays Little Mix's love interest is male actor Hector David Jr. who is mostly known as the green power ranger in Power Rangers Samurai / Super Samurai.

Apparently this music video and "Black Magic" was filmed together, hence why the same actors appear and the story line follows on.

Overall, it's a grower of the song, and the music video is perfect. It's a gem, it relates, it's upsetting with light humour. I prefer the music video over the song though, but I've slowly started to love the song, it instantly gets stuck in my head, like it has done all day today.
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New Release: Miguel - Waves



My plan for New Release this week was Tinie Tempah feat. Zara Larsson with "Girls Like", unfortunately, the music video for that song has yet to be released, and a quick look at the New Releases this week have turned up similar stories. Miguel seems to be one of the only New Releases that has a music video out this week. He has been chart hungry for years now, and just when he gets into the limelight, it soon disappears again, and with songs like this, it isn't surprising. Miguel drops himself in water to relate to the song, whilst performing in a club where he's obviously intoxicated. Slow, misguided and twisted, this music video is wavy at best.

Miguel, full name Miguel Pimentel, is probably best known for featuring on Mariah Carey's song "#Beautiful" which is his biggest hit here in the UK, his other top songs failed to make the UK Top 40. A quick look on the iTunes top 1000 and this song is no where to be seen, and considering iTunes has promoted the single by putting it on their homepage under the Singles tab, it just goes to show that what Miguel really needs is a hit song. The song was written by Miguel Pimentel, which surprised me since his performance clips in the video fails to portray much passion towards the song.

This choppy video isn't exciting and interesting, although finding a house party behind a fridge door is pretty intricate.

I just feel like this was a rushed music video, the song is about making love to a girl all night, and instead it portrays him singing the song at a club and getting the crowd going as well as some scenes of him in some water.

He is also shirtless throughout, which would be great if he didn't clearly have this arrogant side to him. He thinks he's all that in this music video, and that just makes the song and it's accompanying music video less appealing than it would've normally been. I can't find much else to comment on, just that if Miguel is looking for a hit, he better do something about it soon.
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Rihanna - Shut Up And Drive



I love looking at Rihanna's old videos, she's so different and yet still popular today. This was the time I loved Rihanna, although my favourite song is "Don't Stop The Music", which I've already reviewed. "Umbrella" has been reviewed also, so let's go with this one, one me and my brother used to sing a lot due to a character saying it on The Simpsons: Road Rage game. Rihanna looks sexy as she cleans, fixes and buffs cars up in a junkyard before starting a street race.

This was released nine years ago, how time flies and how people change. Nowadays Rihanna is banging out chart hits but it's far from these days when I became a fan of her. Rihanna, real name Robyn Rihanna Fenty, brings out her rocker chick in this song and music video, probably inspired slightly by Avril Lavigne. The song was written by Evan Rogers, Carl Sturken, Stephen Morris, Peter Hook, Bernard Sumner and Gillian Gilbert. It samples New Order's "Blue Monday".

The music video is directed by Anthony Mandler, it is a slight narrative built in to a relaxed performance piece, you can really tell Rihanna loves singing this song.

This isn't anything new, but it's nothing old either, it has been done plenty of times before and after... Inna's "Clubrocker" and Taio Cruz "Dynamite" easily come to mind.

The choreography is slight, but well thought out and done to precision. Exactly what we expect from Rihanna.

The street race could've been more interesting, and a narrative could've formed, making Rihanna the prize, since the song suggests she's looking for a driver who's qualified.

The performance is perfect, if there wasn't so many different scenes, some come out of nowhere, such as Rihanna performing with a band, this would be fine if it was the main focus, but Rihanna being gorgeous is the main focus so the inclusion of the scene felt unnecessary. Rihanna performs sultry, she obviously loves this song, and you can't blame her because it is catchy with a hidden meaning to the song, it sure ain't about driving cars. Yet there's too many different performance scenes, it would've looked better with two, maybe three different ones.

Overall, a great simple music video, yeah it's nothing we haven't seen before, and a narrative could've come out of it, and yes there was many different performance scenes, but looking at the video as a whole, it's sexy, it's sultry, it's relatable, it's daring, it's hot. This may have it's errors, but it is gorgeous nonetheless.
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Rita Ora - Poison



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.
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The LOX Featuring DMX & Lil' Kim - Money, Power & Respect



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.
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Channillo: The Power Of Creatures: A Book Series You Do Not Want To Miss

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.

The most popular series on Channillo, found on the homepage.
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.

Chart Mondays: Rihanna Featuring Drake - Work



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.
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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.
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JoJo - André



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.
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.
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