Formerly a primetime radio show on WPSC 88.7 FM, What's The Movement LLC(WTM) is a Jersey based Multi-Media Platform to showcase art, music and everything moving. The home of A-Side B-Side Podcast, Mood Room Sessions and The Ransom Report.
Happy New Year! I pray your holiday season was safe dodging Omarion, I mean Omicron. In the new we're going to do things a little differently as far as the format of the show so when you press play don't think your in the wrong place because you didn't hear my voice right away. In this episode, Ramsey is joined by his soon to be wife, Katriece whom you've heard on a couple episodes of this show. #RamseySaidIDo is in full effect as we discuss our upcoming wedding and all the music that gets played at such a function. We also decide what'll be playing during our first dance as husband and wife mid-recording session. We also thought it'd be cool to enlist our parents to talk about the songs that played during their weddings way back when.
Alright. I get it. I made a lot of constructive criticism towards Wale and the high expectations for his Album About Nothing (TAAN). I was wrong, and Kyle I apologize you were right.
I don't know what it is but it seems like on the third release on a contract it seems artists show more creative freedom than previous releases. Thus The Album About Nothing sounds like a Wale album circa 2009 rather than post MMG. To me it sounds like a debut album rather than the 4th go round for him. This is his diary and that's no pun on Attention Deficit. There's so much feeling and emotion attached to this project. Let's get to it.
The Intro About Nothing is previously recorded on Outro About Nothing on his previous album, The Gifted. His skit with Jerry Seinfeld is accompanied with cheery chords and a choir. The Helium Balloon is a testament to how well Wale uses metaphor to spill his guts. A few months before the album he broke down the song in an interview on LA's Power 106. He explains that there's nothing he can do to fully please his fans. Say you discover a new artist. You want him to blow up and fly but at the same time you are scared he'll change with the newfound fame so you want him to fly but keep it all to yourself. Like a helium balloon attached to a child's wrists. Talk about symbolism.
Next up is, The White Shoes. He uses his vast sneaker knowledge to create bars within the song. The hook reminds me of Kendrick Lamar's Alright. He reminds us that things will be okay regardless of the struggle. Throughout his struggle he tells himself what's important and to stray from those whose priorities aren't in order. "These n*ggas love white shoes so much they'd be buried in them." Damn. I wouldn't call The White Shoes a sad song but melancholy. The track is a perfect transistion for the next cut, The Pessimist featuring J. Cole. When these two hook up it usually leads to straight fire and almost a competition of bars but unfortunately this time it's just a hook from Cole and bars from Wale. Thus far through the album this is the only Seinfeld skit recorded from the show and not actually Jerry in the booth. The skit is a conversation between Jerry and George speaking on the theme of Hope.
As I previously stated this album is a diary for Wale. As he puts it "I'm in the passenger seat and my fans are driving." I've always had a love hate relationship with Wale and his honesty. He's so open and easily obtained. I don't mean easy to read but he gives us his all unlike anyone else in the mainstream industry. I love it but at the same time I've always felt he doesn't have to respond to everyone and more specifically his haters. With that being said he addresses this issue in his next track, The Middle Finger. "I respect dudes from my double M crew, but I'm just not that dude hanging on to who's who's and such." He respects them and loves his labelmates but he doesn't want to be known as another MMG guy. Then in the hook he addresses his haters again, just not in the way he usually does. It's quite simple actually. "F*ck you leave me alone."
The One Time in Houston starts using a sample of New Edition's If It Isn't Love. Genius. Then a skit between George, Jerry, and Elaine tells the real story. George is struggling in the episode because he tells his girlfriend he loves her and she responds with "Let's get something to eat." I know you Seinfeld fans remember that episode. Funny but it makes a good point of how no one wants the people that want them, they want someone else. That's a different write up on a different blog. The song goes into that Houston trademark chopped and screwed feel and focuses on women who aren't focused on men but making their money. And strippers, did I mention strippers? Phil Ade does a great job on the hook. Track seven is The Girls on Drugs. I didn't quite get it when I first heard it. After watching the visual it all made sense and was a great addition to the album. The God Smile is the turning point of TAAN. The title is self explanatory. He's asking God to shine his light on him so he can put the DMV on his back. This is the best produced track on the album, DJ Dahi did his thing on this one as usual.
The God Smile is followed up by The Need to Know. Featuring SZA, this is arguably the best song on the album. Wale explains that the world don't need to know what goes on between him and his girl. That's a lesson I think all adolescences can learn from. To top it all off the soulful Jersey crooner sings an acoustic sample of Just Friends (Sunny) by Musiq Soulchild. Then Jerry and Elaine discuss an opportunity at being friends with benefits in a comical way. The Success is another beautifully produced track. Jake One samples a gospel favorite Psalm 121. The Glass Egg is also broken down in the interview on Power 106 but might be the only skip on the album. Don't get it twisted, the song serves it's purpose. The metaphor is impeccable and his flow mirrors Groove Theory's Tell Me. That's for the grown folks.
The next track, The Bloom (AG3), is arguably my favorite cut on here. It kinda reminds me of The Power from More About Nothing but not quite if you get me. Stokley Williams assists an upbeat produced record making it perfect for that family barbecue you have planned for the summer. Wale's wordplay in this track is unmatched. He compares his woman with a flower. "Excuse me Mrs. Um.. You don't know me but...Thank you for your flow, but I'm tryna be your sun." "Tell Me bout your roots, and how you've came up, I call you my flower cause you're my boo, K?" He's a wordsmith and his lyrical dexterity can't be matched. "Fresh out of college and they sweat you, now you got degrees."Wale is flat out clever.
The Matrimony featuring Usher was another single we got before the album dropped. Before and after I still enjoy this cut. What I like most is the skit beforehand when Jerry and Wale have a nice conversation or interview before the beat really drops. I think on the album version you miss out. You get the rest in a studio session that you can watch below.
Usher does the rest on the studio version of the album and Wale pleads his case on where he stands with marriage. Touching really, especially when you relate like I do. The Body is the first single that was released for TAAN. Jerimih does a great job on the hook. The track was nice. That's all I have to say about that (Forrest Gump voice*). I'm actually glad he ended the album with the tracks we've already heard beforehand. It forces you to actually sit and listen.
Wale is the love child of R&B, Gospel, and his hometown Go-Go Music. The skits and samples from Seinfeld was perfect and reminds me of the classic Wale style we were used to seeing on the Mixtape series. Wale still delivers with his spoken word and lyrical skill. In December it'll be hard to keep this out of the album of the year argument. Frankly this is my favorite Wale project and he has indeed progressed as an artist and as a man. Keep up the good work. You can Stream The Album About Nothing below.
Last time these two linked up in studio Breezy was on probation and they produced a grammy nominated song in New Flame featuring Rick Ross. Things have changed. This time they slow things down from Pop to R&B on Usher's brand new track All Falls Down. Not sure if we can expect it on the long awaited album from the 36 year-old vocalist. With no further wait, All Falls Down Usher Raymond.
Wale has been on a rollercoaster with his sound during the
past couple of years. As a big fan of his music I have to say at times he has let me down, to the point where I wouldn’t even get excited about him releasing
something new. However this is not the case with his upcoming album. This will be
Wale’s fourth album. The title alone has me extremely excited for this project,
The Album About Nothing. Sound familiar? In the trailer for this album Wale
acknowledges how often his fans have said they wanted the old Wale back, so he promises
to revive him on The Album About Nothing. Also mentioning that he wants to get
back to the basics and back to what he knows for this project. So hopefully the
pre-MMG Wale will be alive and well on this album. It may be wishful thinking
but in my opinion Wale is foreshadowing that there will be vibes, sounds, and
content similar to his early mixtapes (Mixtape About Nothing and More About
Nothing).
The forthcoming album will include 14 songs and features
from artists such as SZA,Usher, Jeremih, J.Cole, and Jerry Seinfield . The classic
show about nothing, Seinfield has heavily influenced Wale and his music. As
most of us are familiar with, there was a lot dialogue from the show used on
the tracks from More About Nothing and Mixtape
About Nothing. We will hear this on The Album About Nothing, as well as
commentary and narration from Jerry Seinfield.
Thusfar, three songs have been released. One of the
previously released songs Girls on Drugs was on the 2014 mixtape Festivus. The
Janet Jackson hit Go Deep is sampled on this track and while it gives it a more
enjoyable sound Wale discusses something more serious, girls dealing with
mental and emotional problems that turn to drugs and alcohol as the solution. The
two singles right off the album are The Body ft Jeremih and The Matrimony ft
Usher. Wale gets very personal on The Matrimony, rapping about the conflicts of
trying to be in a relationship and living the life of a celebrity,also he
speaks on traumatic events from a past relationship.
One of the reasons Wale is good is because of his ability to
be so open and honest in his songs. Some of that seemed long lost but Wale speaks about
TAAN serving as a journal for him allowing his longtime fans to
reconnect with him. I don’t know how many people are with me on this, but I have
a feeling this album is going to do
great and leave us with plenty of good things to say about it. I’m sure a lot
of you are just as eager to hear Album About Nothing as I am, the album will
drop later this month on March 31st. See the tracklist below and if
you haven’t yet listen to the singles.
The Album About Nothing tracklist:
1.The Intro About Nothing
2.The Helium Balloon
3.The White Shoes
4.The Pessimist (featuring J.Cole)
5.The Middle Finger
6.The One Time In Houston
7.The Girls On Drugs
8.The God Smile
9.The Need To Know (featuring SZA)
10.The
Success
11.The
Glass Egg
12.The
Bloom
13.The
Matrimony (featuring Usher)
14.The
Body (featuring Jeremih)
Below you can watch the video to The Body with Jeremih and stream The Matrimony featuring Usher.
Let's go back to a time when we were innocent and young, just like the artist known as Usher.
Sometimes it's hard to believe Usher has been in the game since the tender age of 16 signed to Bad Boy. You know how hard it is to stay relevant til today? If you don't know ask Tevin Cambell. No shade but my point is proven.
This week's Throwback Thursday I wanted to slow it down for the ladies (at least that's what I used to say on air whenever I played a slow jam). That and because no one here knows how to talk about R&B anymore. It's not my writer's fault, R&B just doesn't exist anymore. They only know how to talk about sex or make pop music nowadays but that's a different article. 8701 was the ultimate album which really put Usher at the top of the game at the time.
Everyone knows and will admit Confessions was his best album. In my opinion that is a top 5 R&B album of all time and I could put that against The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill or anything Luther and Marvin Gaye put out (which is saying a lot for a project). Anyways, that's a(whole)nother writeup. Let's get to it.
8701 had it's hits we still jam to today. U Remind Me and U Don't Have to Call is on every DJ's two-step playlist to kick parties off with. Audio Crack, literally, you know it's still on your iPod, don't front. If I Want To is another oldie but goodie. It kind of brings back the point I made earlier about sex and R&B. I remember logging on twitter a few months back and seeing someone tweet something like:
"R&B used to be I'll take your girl because you're not treating her right. Now it's I'll take her because I wanna fuck, and I got more money than you nigga."
It's safe to say the brother made his point.
U Got It Bad might be on your phone too. Yeah I know it was sucka breakup music but it was amazing. U Got It Bad is the reason I still wanna learn how to play electric guitar so I can learn that solo in between verse two and the bridge (well that and Take You Down by Chris Brown). I think that solo by itself set the tone for having guitar solos on R&B tracks. Without U - Interlude leading into Can U Help Me was perfect. The album was great, point blank and that's what I thought I'd take you back to. Oh and not for nothing fellas, the ladies love this stuff. This was one of those "OOOOHHHH THIIISSS MY JAM!" albums. Play it for a snowy night in with shawty (kinda like today). Thank Me Later.
First of all let's clap it up for Mr. Raymond for staying relevant in the music scene since 1991. Let that sink in.
Wondering what's new? Well to start Usher has released two singles thusfar for his next album with Good Kisser and She Came to Give it to You featuring Nicki Minaj. As of a few hours ago he dropped a third, Believe Me. After a crazy performance at the VMA awards he also dropped a visual snippet for She Came to Give it To You. You can check both of those out below.
Music, Culture, & all things moving in New Jersey & beyond. What's the Movement began as a college radio show and small music blog hosted on tumblr. It's evolved into a multi-media music discovery platform currently hosting our branded Podcast and other programs. This is the filter for the masses.
In the forth episode of Volume 2 of A-Side B-Side Podcast, Ramsey sits down with Maxx Kenif . The duo talk about his new project, North Coun...
About The Editor
Hi, I'm Jonathan C. Ramsey and I'm the founder/Chief Editor of WTM. I'm a Multi-Media Journalist, On-Air Personality, Disc Jockey, Podcast and Event Host. Most of all I'm a Son, Brother, and Friend. I like to talk about stuff and write it down. Sometimes behind a microphone. Either way, I need you to feel this.
