Critic Jonni

Okay what have I just watched? Some 90s hip-hop song enveloped in a much worse black and white music video that experiments with crayons. Considering I really wanted to review Fleur East's "Sax", unfortunately there is no music video for that, I am not impressed with watching three friends, rap and sing whilst messing about with colourful crayons.

WSTRN, consisting of Akelle Charles, Haile and Louis Rei, are probably one of these groups who have nabbed a record deal because of who they know rather than their amazing vocals. Their song "In2" does have a catchy one line, however their rapping lyrics are unmemorable. As each new member goes to sing I'm hoping their vocals will get better, but I become more and more disappointed, especially when paired with this music video.

Directed by Sally Sibbet, I feel like I've been transported to the low-budget music video world, ones that decide to entertain the audience with bad visuals and camera work as well as effects that just fail.

This explains entirely why I hate black and white music videos, someone explain to me why it's in black and white, other than to empahsise the crayon visual effect.

The crayon idea works well in some cases, yet it is both overused and some scenes just infuriate me as there is clearly no need for it and it does not relate whatsoever. What on earth were these guys thinking?

Catchy song yet annoyingly so. WSTRN is one group that probably will not be around longer than a couple of years. "In2" will sadly become a hit, the only one from this group. As for the music video, I'd be happy never to see it again.

Buy on iTunes

I've been a bit inactive lately on here, so I thought I'd give you all a little insight into my chaotic life.

First off I'm taking extra shifts at work to get more money. Roughly doing 45 hours a week and gaining the extra money I need. My plans are to save up as I attempt to find a job in London. With all these hours I'm doing finding time for everything else in my life is proving difficult, there is just not enough hours in a day.

Job applying is also keeping me up late. Some applications take two hours to fill out, is it not enough to email my CV and personal cover letter? And I don't even get a rejection letter in response. However if you don't apply, you don't get the job, so I keep fighting and applying, I will get on the ladder to my dream career.

On Thursday 29th October I met Nikki Grahame at the Nightingale in Birmingham. She seemed a little on the drunk side, but it was fun to watch her gunge someone. However it was all fun and games, and she seemed to love every minute of it. During the meet and greet photos she was adorable, and lucky for me I got two photos with her, at her request.

On 31st October, I bought my pride bracelet. I came up with the concept for it after Birmingham's Gay Pride. I wanted something I would wear everyday, something out of the last of the money my grandparents' gave me on my 21st birthday. I'm sad they will never get to see it in person, but I am sure they would think it is as beautiful as I do. It was made at Vault 88 in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham, and they seemed excited to make something unique and different. They came up with the design, after I explained that I would like the gay pride colours in the bracelet. After some discussion we came up with a sketch of the bracelet and each stone for each colour. Garnet for red (which is also my birthstone), Topaz for both orange and yellow, Peridot for green, Sapphire for blue and Amethyst for purple. My bracelet couldn't have come out any better, and I will never stop wearing it. I especially hate taking it off for work.

Halloween wasn't all I thought it would be. I had my sexy Magic Mike costume on, and adorned wings and some dead make up in the hope to turn Magic Mike into a sexy dead vampire. And it worked to some extent, I always feel confident in my Magic Mike outfit, and yet Nightingale was packed, and it was just me and my friend, drinks were expensive, which I totally expected, and the music was great as usual, but as I failed to have a good time the night just went from bad to worse. Oh well, some nights are amazing and others just aren't, can't always have the best night, even when you are dressed up as a dead vampiric Magic Mike.

GWEN STEFANI is back with her first single in the UK in seven years, and what a catchy song, better yet an uncomfortable awkward video. Full of passion and emotion, you can't help but feel for her. I want to jump through my computer screen and hug her until she feels better. Quite the comeback in the UK, but will it chart?

Gwen Stefani is the lead vocalist of band No Doubt, who seem to be on a hiatus as she continues to follow her solo success. She's hit the UK big in the past, and we are used to her outrageousness. It's not as sexualised as other stars are now, but we usually expect something quirky from her, and we can't help but love her for that.

However this video flips what we expect. Directed by Sophie Muller, the video displays a stripped back version of Gwen Stefani, putting her entire emotions into the song, and singing a couple of lines.

Something so easy and low-budget comes across perfectly, it's exactly what is missing from music channels and yet it's not something someone wants to watch again and again. It's clever.

Difficult to rate, as it will receive mixed views. I personally think it's great, and yet even I don't want to watch it over and over again. Awkward, uncomfortable, and sensitive, yet clever, amazing and surprising.

Buy on iTunes

Why are so many artists releasing singles without music videos? Music videos circulating on music channels, is promotion, and yet many this week have released relying on radio play and their fans, such as One Direction with "Perfect", Diplo & Sleepy Tom with "Be Right There" and Ben Haenow Featuring Kelly Clarkson with "Second Hand Heart". Then there's Taylor Swift who has released a remix version of "Wildest Dreams" instead of an official single. So here I am stuck with Alesha Dixon's new one. Powerful and entertaining, Alesha Dixon shows us what Britain's Got Talent has shown her: failure and how to get buzzed.

Alesha Dixon was one third of Mis-Teeq. She soon launched her solo career, and became notable for single "The Boy Does Nothing". Although her highest charting position is with "Breathe Slow". She has only recently released her fourth album, which this is her second single, after "The Way We Are". These two singles, she has released, are unable to chart in the UK, at her own request. She didn't want to define her album by the singles she releases. Yet I guess this is the reason why the album charted at 81. Is she just a failed artist now? She's clearly not making the cut is she?

The song is written by Alesha Dixon, Alex James and Harry Sommerdahl. Catchy and energetic, I had it stuck in my head for all of three minutes, at which point I played Little Mix's new release "Weird People", which I'm currently in love with!

Alesha Dixon is known for her dancing, she won Strictly Come Dancing, which kick-started her comeback, and yet where is the dancing in this bubbly song? And did she really do the robot? Are we sure this is a 2015 video right? It seems so dated.

Donning killer heels, and amazing fashion statements, you can see where the budget for this video has been blown, and yet it hasn't helped at all, compared to Inna's "Bop Bop". I'm bored, and uninterested in what she is wearing. Not only does she not look good, but she looks confused as to what she should be wearing, how to wear it and who she is as a person. Does this reflect in her music? Is she at her standstill where she's just releasing music because she wants to, and not taking a key interest in what she's releasing. She needs another hit, which charts high. Otherwise, she's not going to do as well as she thinks she should.

Buy on iTunes

I was going to review the only other JoJo single to chart here in the UK, only "Anything" never got an official music video, and so, by elimination, there was just two more music videos to choose from. This song takes JoJo to the R&B roots we're used to, and it proves how much she has changed. Her Tringle she released, which includes "When Love Hurts", "Save My Soul" and "Say Love", are much more modern. However Not That Kinda Girl was released when R&B was hitting the charts hard. The video relates to the song perfectly. Edgy and full of depth, JoJo announces she's not the usual type of singer, and she won't be controlled either.

JoJo, real name Joanna Levesque, has just made a return to music with a short snapshot of her new album. The Tringle is amazing, and I cannot wait for the other videos. It's good to see her back, after such an awful dispute with her label, where she ended up suing them. Finally she got out of the contract and signed a new one with a new record label and can now release new music. This song was written by Neely Dinkins, B. Cola Pietro, Balewa Muhammad and Sylvester Jordan, Jr. Catchy and full of R&B vibes, her voice is deep and soulful.

It was directed by Fat Cats, who consist of Eric Williams and Randy Marshall. It also features cameos from Laurie Ann Gibson, Vincent Herbert, Da Internz, Tool and Maynard James Keenan.

It's almost as if JoJo is being two different people, this star singer who is photographed, who is dancing on stage, who has bodyguards everywhere. And then this normal girl getting on a bus, with her album advertised on the side of it. She's proving that she is a normal down to Earth girl, and that she will not become what they want her to be.

Her dancing is in sync, and I hope that in a future music video she has full choreography like this one. I know "When Love Hurts" has choreography, but it's mainly vogue and finger tutting, and I really would like to see something much bigger.

Overall, perfect video to match a perfect song. I have no problem with this video at all, and now the song is stuck in my head.