Stay Connected
Atlanta Black Star/Blogs
Blogs

New Music Round-Up: Britney Spears, Usher, Miguel

Posted byBy Julia Cox | Published on: CommentsComments (0)

A few notable songs and videos have dropped today, just in time for Valentines weekend.

Will.i.Am, Britney Spears, Lil Wayne, Waka Flocka, Hit-Boy, and Diddy, “Scream & Shout” Video

http://youtu.be/XJ7MxqGK6a4

First up is the long-waited “Scream & Shout” remix video, released yesterday. Will.i.Am took his original collaboration with Britney and added a lineup of superstar rappers, to dizzying results.   Diddy opens the song with a “they call me Diddy bitch” that models the “Britney bitch” refrain from the original. While Diddy’s part somehow works in quirky way, the others sort of get lost in the shuffle. Due to the lengthy lineup, the song becomes one rap solo after the other, and starts to get redundant after Waka Flocka. The video is equally overwhelming, with shots of each rapper in turn and Britney left posing mostly as eye candy

Also, Will.i.Am made the tempo slower from the original, which downgrades the remix’s energy level.

Cher Lloyd, “With Ur Love” Video

Another video making headlines this morning is Cher Lloyd’s “With Ur Love,” the latest single off the British sensation’s debut album, Sticks + Stones. The video opens in the pages of a fairy tale, as Cher and her friends mix multicolored love potions to seduce their love interests.

Usher, “Go Missing”

http://youtu.be/knxPN3oBH_A

Usher also dropped a Valentines gift for fans: a new collaboration with Diplo, titled “Go Missing.” Usher and Diplo originally teamed up for the Grammy-award-winning “Climax” last year. “You loved what I gave you last Valentine’s #Climax So here is ‘Special delivery from the cloud’ Happy Valentine’s Day!” wrote Usher on his Twitter account.  “Go Missing” continues Usher’s exploration of electronica, while also providing his signature falsetto vocals in a bluesy minor key.  This beats this time are a bit more experimental and a little less commercial than “Climax,” but equally interesting.

J.Cole and Miguel, “Power Trip”

http://youtu.be/6nIA4GLXeM8

In addition to “Scream & Shout,” there is another key collaboration to watch. Roc Nation rapper J.Cole and Kaleidoscope Dream singer Miguel have teamed up for “Power Trip.” The chill track is another Valentines crooner, bringing out the duo’s softer side.

 

Independent journalism still matters.

We hope this story was worth your time. For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed Black-owned and independently run. We didn't get here by waiting on ad budgets that were never built to prioritize us. Our readers did that.

Corporate support for Black media has always been thin. Outlets like ours get roughly 1% of the $170 billion spent on U.S. advertising each year, and that margin is shrinking further as advertisers walk back the DEI-linked commitments they made in 2020. That's the backdrop. It's not why we're asking.

The wider picture isn't any steadier. Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under, it's rarely the ones built to center a Black perspective from the ground up that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Related Stories

Back to top