Posts Tagged ‘jay-z’

10 Biggest Music Video Cameos of 2011

We’re all aware that our favourite artists either have the pipes, the moves, the rhymes or the production skills which make them as amazeballs as they are, but let’s get real: an artist is only as good as the homies they’ve got on their speed dial. This year we saw quite a few cool people shimmy their way into music videos by artists like Reema Major, LMFAO, and Chris Brown, and though some of these featured friends may have snuck onto the sets just for the food tables, they made some of our favourite videos of the year that much more special.

Check out our picks for the best cameo videos of 2011!

10. DJ Khaled feat. Drake, Lil Wayne and Rick Ross, I’m On One

I’m On One is one of the best summer anthems that we’ve had in years. Though there was a lot of controversy surrounding the track and Drizzy’s mentioning of a certain royal chair, no one can dispute the fact that Drake was on point this year and had an amazing 2011 with a group of the coolest kids on the block, aka the OVO crew. Did you catch them in the opening shot of the video? They’re coming for us, and mean srs bidness.

9. Reema Major, I’m The One

A bawse song by a bawse Torontonian needs a bawse in the background. Rick Ross = said bawse. And no, you cannot use that word too many times. BAWSE.

8. LMFAO, Sexy and I Know It

There is nothing we enjoy more than seeing dudes strut their stuff in speedos down the boardwalk. Okay, maybe there are a few things that we enjoy more, but the boys from LMFAO know exactly how to exude their sexiness in a fun way, and they brought along some of the best in the business to help them out, including Ron Jeremy, the boys from the Quest Crew, Wilmer Valderrama, and of course, Shufflebot. Get yo sexy on, boyz.

7. Beastie Boys, Make Some Noise

There is only one way to celebrate one of the biggest rap trios in the world: produce the biggest, baddest sequel to a classic video! Duhhhhh. It would be harder to believe that there wasn’t a line of actors, comedians, and artists who wanted to get involved in such a huge tribute project, but there are only so many times one can say they were involved in a 25th anniversary of Fight For Your Right (aka, once). It’s no wonder there is such a line up of cameos! With Seth Rogen, Danny McBride and Elijah Wood portraying Mike D, MCA and Ad-Rock and appearances from Rashida Jones, Amy Poehler, Orlando Bloom, Will Ferrell, Rain Wilson, Will Arnett, Jack Black amongst others, this cameo-heavy video not only goes down as one of the best of this year, but perhaps one of the best ever.

6. Ke$ha, Blow

Unicorn party attendees – check. Lazer guns – check. Munster cheese – check. Arch nemesis James Van Der Beek – CHECK. Kay-dollar sign-hah made our ideal Bond movie with our favourite boy from the creek and did not fail to deliver on an explosive, glitter free-for-all. While we would have never imagined Dawson being the bad boy in this production, we’re kind of glad Ke$ha found someone who can handle a laser gun as well as the tango.

5. Shawn Desman, MoneyShot/Something Stupid

Our resident sweetheart Phoebe Dykstra had a major cameo in Shawn Desman’s video for two of our favourite tracks off of his record, Fresh. We loved seeing Phoebe play a shy character completely opposite to her in real life, but by the end of it all, we definitely learned not to mess with this VJ!

4. Beyonce feat. J.Cole, Party

Queen B is clearly having the time of her life both on and off the screen, and though we think she misplaced our invites in the mail, we’re glad a couple of her girls could enjoy the lawn chair party in our place. While we may not understand the furry jackets or the lack of Michelle Williams a la the needed Destiny Child’s reunion, we totally feel Solange Knowles and Kelly Rowland’s appearances in this video. Andddd then there’s J.Cole. Nuff’ said.

3. Kanye West and Jay-Z, Otis

We can only imagine the conversation that went on between Ye’, Jay, and Aziz Ansari when they decided to get one of the best new comedians involved in their video for a nanosecond cameo. “Aye yo Aziz. Ride in our Maybach frame. Treat yo self.” “Alright boys. Let’s run this town.” End scene.

2. Chris Brown feat. Benny Benassi, Beautiful People

It’s cool to see that Chris Brown has a pretty solid group of individuals in his life and though he may be missing some of our favourite beauties (coughRyanGoslingRyanReynoldscough) in his crew, it’s still a pretty impressive speed dial of friends. Though there is a huge slew of singers, rappers and producers who make appearances, including Game, Brandy, Bow Wow, Omarion, Tyga, Pharrell, Timbaland, Swizz Beats, and Nelly, we gotta give T-Pain the most recognition for schooling Chris Brown in the dancing department by presenting the Running Man 2.0.

1. Katy Perry, Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)

It’s pretty much impossible now to have a song and/or a video about Fridays without somehow including 2011 YouTube Star Rebecca Black, and Katy definitely recognized the viral star. Besides, who else could throw such a wicked bash when they practically invented the best theme song for our favourite day of the week? From party guests like Darren Criss and Kevin McHale from Glee to Corey Feldman and Debbie Gibson, two teen idols being parents to a teen idol, and Kenny G being, well, Kenny G, this video was packed with some crazy cool people in some not so cool outfits having a pretty sweet time. Really, who wouldn’t want to mmm bop with Hanson on a Friday night?

Top 10 Best Albums Released in 2011

From numbers (4, 21) to Christmas albums to songs about Judas, the best albums of 2011 have one thing in common – they definitely don’t sound like anything else! Check out our top ten albums released in 2011 and let us know whether you agree or disagree in the comments below!

10. Justin Bieber, Under The Mistletoe

Justin enlisted the help of a number of artists while recording his first Christmas album, but getting Busta Rhymes on his rendition of Little Drummer Boy? If that ain’t swag then I don’t know what is.

9. Rihanna, Talk That Talk

While this album didn’t drop until late in 2011, it’s already spawned Rihanna’s biggest hit to date with We Found Love, an impressive feat considering the singer’s monster success over the past five years.

6. Britney Spears, Femme Fatale

The talk of Britney’s ‘comeback’ has been a source of debate for years. While Blackout and Circus were both supposed to be the stars big return to the spotlight, it was this year’s Femme Fatale and her tour with Nicki Minaj that really put the Princess of Pop back on her throne.

7. Florence and the Machine, Ceremonials

What makes Florence Welch’s sophomore album so amazing is that it doesn’t have any of the makings of a mainstream album in 2011, yet the singer has landed herself on every Top 40 countdown and awards show, even scoring a coveted performance on SNL. Looks like undeniable talent and hard work is still celebrated in 2011. Take that, auto tune.

6. Drake, Take Care

While Canada and the rest of the world eagerly anticipated the release of Drake’s second studio album, the MC was already thinking about his follow up to 2011’s Take Care, which is precisely why he created one of the year’s best records. YOLO, indeed.

5. Jay Z and Kanye West, Watch the Throne

What does it sounds like when two of the biggest musicians of all time put out an album together? That shit cray.

4. Beyonce, 4

Now that Beyonce is literally multiplying (oh babies!), the creativity and inspiration in her music is only going to get bigger. Who run the world? Beyonce.

3. Lady Gaga, Born This Way

From her controversial track Judas to her directorial debut on Marry The Night, it’s difficult to believe there will ever come a day when one of Lady Gaga’s albums won’t make the top 10 best of the year.

2. Katy Perry, Teenage Dream

Okay, okay. So Teenage Dream actually came out in 2010. But in 2011, the album scored five number one hits, tying Michael Jackson’s record for his disc Bad. With The One That Got Away looking like it may be lucky number 6, we can’t ignore that the biggest album of 2011 was released a year earlier.

1. Adele, 21

Four words – Rolling In The Deep.

The Top 100 Big Tunes of The 90s: #62 – 54

MuchMore host Matt Wells is counting down The Top 100 Big Tunes of The 90s every day at 12 pm ET between now and January 6. Watch as we go from Kriss Kross to The Tragically Hip and everything in-between. Find out what we crowned the number one video of the 90s and don’t miss a single episode of The Top 100 Big Tunes of The 90s!

62 Jay-Z // Hard Knock Life

60 Hootie & The Blowfish // Hold My Hand

HIDDEN GEM! The Watchmen // All Uncovered

59 Vanilla Ice // Ice Ice Baby

58 I Mother Earth // One More Astronaut

57 Naughty by Nature // Hip Hop Hooray

56 Boyz II Men // Motown Philly

55 Next // Too Close

54 Soundgarden // Spoonman

Matt Tracks Sept 26-Oct 2: Two is better than one.

Body and Soul – Tony Bennett and Amy Winehouse (2011)

What I love about songs from the 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s is that the lyrics were simple and beautiful. We look back at those musical eras as a very romantic time because the songs were very romantic: “My heart is sad and lonely, for you I sigh, for you dear only”- I’m not sure anyone would have the stones to write something like that these days. It’s from the classic tune “Body and Soul” originally written in 1930 and subsequently recorded by artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Billie Holliday and recently tackled by Tony Bennett and Amy Winehouse on the new Tony Bennett Duet’s album. It was Amy’s last recording before we lost her this past summer and through this classic jazz standard we are reminded of what an amazing and unique voice she had.

Life is Better – Q-Tip f/ Norah Jones (2009)

Here’s what I don’t like: The pop music formula that goes verse, chorus, verse, chorus, rap bridge, double chorus, out. I really have a hate on for just jamming a random MC into song where it doesn’t fit just for the sake of jumping on that trend; a trend that is being abused in a big bad way these days mostly by the people responsible for the Justin Bieber’s and Coady Simpson’s of the world (forgive me for knowing this but with a 5 year old daughter who likes to watch The Family Channel I have no choice), let’s not fool ourselves however, it’s happening with more songs than just those that cater to the tween empire. Here’s what I do like: when the 2 worlds make sense together like Q-Tip featuring Norah Jones. When you listen to this song it makes sense from beginning to end and it doesn’t feel strange when the vocals switch from Norah singing to Q-tip rapping.

Empire State of Mind – Jay-Z f/ Alicia Keys (2010)

There have been some pretty epic songs written about New York City: “Theme from New York, New York” made famous by Frank Sinatra, “New York Sate of Mind” by Billy Joel, “The Message” by Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five (one of the most important hip hop songs of all time AND is about NY which I don’t think a lot of people know), “Fairytale of New York” by The Pogues……and I could go on and on. Very recently, with the help of Alicia Keys, Jay-Z salvaged a song about New York that almost didn’t see the light of day, well actually it’s a song about how awesome Jay-Z thinks he is but, ya know, he’s Jay-Z .

Seven Spanish Angels – Ray Charles f/ Willie Nelson (1984)

When most people hear the name Ray Charles, I don’t think too many associate him with County Music but believe it or not Country Music was a big part of his musical life. In the early 60’s he released “Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music” Volumes 1 and 2: a collection of Nashville songs as performed by Ray Charles (Volume 1 is considered one of the greatest albums of all time on both a musical and cultural level). In the mid 80’s he released a handful of country albums and scored 12 hits, the biggest was a duet with the most mentioned Matt Track artist: my man Willie Nelson.

thanks for listening.
=mw

Matt Tracks Aug 29-Sept 4: Try a Little Tenderness.

Otis – Jay-Z and Kanye West f. Otis Redding (2011)

It’s almost impossible for mega collaborations to match the expectations people put on them, and I’m talking the BIGGEST names in music like when U2 and Green Day did a cover of “The Saints are Coming” by The Skids which had no where to go but down from the hype. I know it was for an amazing cause and the collaboration was bigger than the music in this case but AS a piece of music I didn’t really dig it. It took me a minute to figure out if I set that rock and roll union up for failure in my own mind by making it impossible to be as good as I thought it could be OR if I just didn’t like it, but in the end…..I just didn’t like it. But that’s me. With that experience in mind, when I first got wind of the new Jay-Z and Kayne West album, I thought there is NO way this can match the expectations people will lay on it, let alone my own. We are talking two of the biggest names in Hip Hop; 2 artists who have been consistently great over their careers; and 2 artists who will be remembered for their contribution to music 30 years from now. I was wrong. At least I think I was wrong. I’m not sure if I love this song or if I just love Otis Redding but I think I need to take some time with this new album.

Hey Mama – Mat Kearney (2011)

Singer/songwriter Mat Kearney has been quietly releasing some pretty interesting music since his 2004 debut album. His songs are rooted in folk music, this is a dude who writes songs on an acoustic guitar, but he’s heavily influenced by the beats and rhythms of Hip Hop which has helped him stand our from other singer/songwriters. He’s had few tracks featured in Grey’s Anatomy which hasn’t hurt his exposure, but still, not a name everyone instantly recognizes. That seems to be changing however, his new album “Young Love” debuted top 25 in Canada and # 4 in the US.

Ship to Shore – The Stanfields (2010)

Oh the beautiful sneaky tradition where Celtic music meets folk meets punk rock; where people who might not like one of those genres are forced to re-think their musical taste buds. Some names you’d recognize who have subscribed to that school are Dropkick Murphy’s, Floggy Molly and The Pogues. Nova Scotia’s The Stanfields are adding their mark to that fine tradition and have become one of the hardest working bands in Canada over the past 3 years sharing the stage with everyone from Dropkick Murphy’s to The Black Eyed Peas (weird). They are Celtic folk punk at its finest and even managed to infiltrate radio with a little ditty called “The Dirtiest Drunk in the History of Liquor”. Their latest single is a track called “Ship to Shore” from their first and only album so far: “Vanguard of the Young and Reckless”.

The Death of You and Me – Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds (2011)

In the 3 years since the break up of Oasis Noel Gallagher made a baby, got married, and wrote and recorded 2 yet to be released albums. Baby brother Liam may have beat him to the punch by releasing post-Oasis music first with his new band Beady Eye, but now Noel is ready to release his 1st album on his own as “Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds” of which he plays about 90% of the music that we will hear. He’s been asked about selling out his first tour in 6 minutes to which he’s replied it’s nothing to get excited about because all the tickets he’s sold for this tour doesn’t add up to one night of Oasis at Wembley Stadium, and to pat him on the back then.

Feels Good! – Tony!Toni!Tone! (1990)

Sometimes they call it a guilty pleasure; that one song that you love, you have loved from the first moment you heard it, and it’s a song that doesn’t necessarily reflect you music collection. I don’t like the term guilty pleasure because I never feel guilty when I hear that ONE song that I cannot deny, and you should never feel guilty about the way music naturally hits you (unless we’re talking Duran Duran-Kidding!). I have a few of those songs that I will always love but the ONE that makes me wanna scream “That’s my Jam!”, the one I still have visions doing the running man to in my bedroom is this song. Uh Uh Baby.

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thanks for listening
=mw

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