Xposition - April, 2017

Attention!!!

The 2017 Radio Disney Music Awards 2017 was held in March where Fifth Harmony and Kelsea Ballerini were the big winners. Song of the Year however went to Shawn Mendes’ Treat You Better while Britney Spears was honored with the first Icon Award for her contribution to music. Some of the best performances of the night included Hailee Steinfeld’s medley of Most Girls and Starving, Train’s Play That Song, Julia Michaels’ Issues and of course the Spears’ tribute where a medley of Oops!... I Did It Again, Circus, …Baby One More Time and Till The World Ends were sung by Kelsea Ballerini, Sofia Carson, Hailee Steinfeld and Jamie Lynn Spears. The other significant winners of the night were:

·         Best Female Artist: Ariana Grande

·         Best Male Artist: Niall Horan

·         Best Group: Fifth Harmony

·         Best Band: DNCE

·         Breakout Artist of the Year: Alessia Cara

·         Best New Artist: Grace VanderWaal

·         Best Collaboration: Machine Gun Kelly & Camila Cabello – Bad things

·         Fiercest Fans: Harmonizers

·         Country Favorite Artist: Kelsea Ballerini

·         Country Favorite Song: Kelsea Ballerini – Peter Pan

Next up we have the 2017 Billboard Latin Music Awards where Nicky Jam made a massive comeback winning 6 awards where his song Hasta El Amanecer won the Hot Latin Song of the Year as well as Digital, Streaming and Latin Rhythm Song of the year. Artist of the Year was won by Late Juan Gabriel who also won the Top Latin Albums Artist of the Year – Male, Latin Pop Albums Artist of the Year – Solo and his album Los Duo 2 won Top Latin and Latin Pop Album of the Year. Enrique Iglesias took away 4 awards including Latin Pop Songs Artist of the Year – Solo and Latin Pop Song of the Year for his collaboration with Wisin on Duele El Corazon. Other winners of the night include:

·         Artist of the Year: New – CNCO

·         Tour of the Year: Marc Anthony

·         Social Artist of the Year: Jennifer Lopez

·         Hot Latin Song Artist of the Year: Female – Shakira

·         Hot Latin Songs Label of the Year: Sony Music Latin

2017 Academy of Country Music Awards was also held in April where Jason Aldean was awarded Entertainer of the Year. Meanwhile, ACM Song of the Year went to Thomas Rhett’s Die A Happy Man and Album of the Year was awarded to Miranda Lambert’s The Weight of these Wings. The other winners of the night were:

·         Male Vocalist of the Year: Thomas Rhett

·         Female Vocalist of the Year: Miranda Lambert

·         Vocal Group of the Year: Little Big Town

·         Songwriter of the Year: Lori McKenna

·         Single Record of the Year: Florida Georgia Line – H.O.L.Y

·         Video of the Year: Artists of Then, Now & Forever – Forever country

The world’s apparent greatest songwriter, Ed Sheeran has privately settled a case against him which was lodged last year. In 2016, Sheeran was sued by songwriters Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard, writers of Matt Cardle's 2011 single Amazing, for USD 20 million for copyright infringement. US judge James Selna confirmed Ed’s case had been dismissed last month after the Suffolk born star reached an agreement with the writers, with no admission of guilt. Details of the settlement have not been made public. Following this saga, his titanic global hit Shape of You also came under fire as critiques alleged plagiarism from TLC’s legendary 90’s smash hit No Scrubs. Since then Sheeran has added both Kandi Burruss and Tameka Cottle who penned the R&B track as co-writers alongside the song's producer Kevin Briggs.

Glastonbury Festival 2017 has announced its full line-up where along with its headlining acts – Ed Sheeran, Foo Fighters and Radiohead, a number of other high profile artists such as Lorde, Shaggy, Katy Perry, Clean Bandit, Birdy and Stormzy are to perform. Glastonbury will take place at Worthy Farm, Somerset from June 23-25.

Good news for N-Dubz fans as the Hip-Hop trio have indicated that they will reunite in the near future. Fazer confirmed that the group was anyway only on a hiatus and that he along with Dappy and Tulisa will return to the studio to produce new music. When that will exactly be God only knows.

Moving onto chart news, in the US Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You remained unmoved at the top during the entire month accumulating 12 non-consecutive weeks at No.1. Meanwhile, Drake’s Passionfruit, Kendrick Lamar’s Humble and Harry Style’s debut single Sign of the Times all debuted in the top 10. Future’s Mask Off and Sam Hunt’s Body Like a Back Road also entered the top 10.  

In the UK, Sheeran’s reign with Shape of You was only interrupted when Harry Styles debuted atop the charts with his Sign of the Times.  During the month Julia Michaels’ Issues, Zedd & Alessia Cara’s Stay and Kendrick Lamar’s Humble all entered the top 10.  

Other songs which became popular during the month were: 

1.       Drake ft. Travis Scott & Quavo – Portland

2.       Future ft. Rihanna – Selfish

3.       Kyle ft. Lil Yachty – iSpy

4.       Zayn ft. PARTYNEXTDOOR – Still got time

5.       Stargate ft. Pink & Sia – Waterfall

6.       Lana Del Rey ft. The Weeknd – Lust for life 

Till the next beat...

At Ease!!!

ENRIQUE IGLESIAS ~ King of Latin Pop ~

Attention!!!

All Sri Lankan Latin Pop fans are waiting excitedly for the reigning king to take the stage this December. So it is high time that I do a review of his songs before his arrival. Enrique Iglesias is the most popular best selling artist to perform in Sri Lanka. Although artists such as Bryan Adams, UB40, Sean Paul and Olivia Newton-John have all performed here, none of them trump Iglesias in terms of success. Iglesias has been in the music scene for almost two decades and still going strong. To get down to the nitty-gritty details, Iglesias has released ten studio albums, five compilation albums, forty-six singles, and forty-one music videos. He is one of the best live performers and also one of the most influential artists at present in the world. 

Enrique

Iglesias began his career in Spanish and released three Spanish studio albums - Enrique Iglesias, Vivir and Cosas Del Amor - with immense success in the Latin countries. However, it was Enrique his debut English studio album which launched his international career. It produced the global smash hits Bailamos and Be With You as well as hits such as Rhythm Divine and Could I Have This Kiss Forever a collaboration with Whitney Houston. This album was more or less heavily Latin Pop based with the beat, style and rhythm all corresponding to the genre. 

Escape

Then we have his second English studio album Escape which charted within the top five in most countries, peaking in UK, Canada and Australia while reaching No.2 on the US Billboard 200. Through this Iglesias managed to appeal to a wider audience by inculcating more pop elements. It produced the mega hits Hero and Escape as well as minor hits such as Don't Turn Off The Lights and Love To See You Cry.

Mixing it up, Iglesias next released another Spanish album - Quizás, which won him a Latin Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Album. It produced the Latin hits Mentiroso, Quizás and Para Qué La Vida all of which topped the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks Chart.

7

Insomniac

Then we see Iglesias' descent in terms of appealing to the mainstream as he failed to produce extremely successful hits from his next two albums - 7 and Insomniac. These were a mishmash of genres with Iglesias attempting to keep up with the changing times and the mainstream music taste by incorporating R&B and Synthpop into his music and failing monumentally. From 7 he released Addicted and Not In Love featuring Kelis and from Insomniac he released Do You Know? (The Ping Pong Song) and Tired Of Being Sorry featuring Nadiya and although not commercially successful still fan favourites - Push featuring Lil Wayne and Somebody's Me. Then we have his compilation album - Greatest Hits, which included the new single Takin' Back My Love featuring Ciara which became a minor hit worldwide.

Greatest Hits

Euphoria

Then in 2010, Iglesias finally made his much anticipated comeback with his first bilingual album - Euphoria. For this he collaborated with RedOne, the producer who was behind the success of Lady Gaga, Kat Deluna and so many other artists who produced hit singles in the latter part of the 2000s. I Like It featuring Pitbull was the lead single off the album which was a major hit across the Americas, Europe and Asia. This was followed by Heartbeat featuring Nicole Scherzinger, Dirty Dancer featuring Usher and Lil Wayne and the dance anthem Tonight (I'm Fuckin' You) featuring Ludacris & DJ Frank E. The album was heavily based in Electropop and Dancepop incorporating elements of House. The contrast between the English and Latin singles are quite clear and we see that Iglesias has finally found his niche.

Sex and Love

With his next album Sex and Love which is also bilingual, Iglesias proved that he is quite capable of evolving as well as maintaining his Latin roots. The first single off the album released in 2012, Finally Found You featuring Sammy Adams was a minor hit and this was followed by Turn The Night Up, Heart Attack and I'm A Freak featuring Pitbull which were all minor hits. In this album it was evident that Iglesias had stressed more quality on his Latin tracks and with his next single Bailando featuring Sean Paul, Descemer Bueno and Gente de Zona he proved that he is in fact the King of Latin Pop. Bailando reigned for a record breaking 41 weeks atop the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks Chart. It's video went viral and became one of the most watched videos of the year. More recently Iglesias collaborated with Nicky Jam on the hit El Perdon which was also a major Latin Hit.

Some of his other good songs in no particular order include:

• Ring my bells
• You're my #1 
• Dev - Naked (featured)
• No me degas que no (ft.Wisin & Yandel)
• Pitbull - Come n' go (featured)
• I like how it feels (ft.Pitbull & The WAV.s)
• Beautiful (ft. Kylie Minogue)
• I have always loved you
• El Perdedor (ft.Marco Antonio Solis)

Iglesias has sold over 137 million records worldwide, making him one of the best selling Latin artists ever. Iglesias has scored over 150 number-one hits across all of the Billboard charts and he has had five Billboard Hot 100 top five singles, including two number-ones, and holds the record for producing 26 number-one Spanish-language singles on the Billboard '​s Hot Latin Tracks. He also holds the record for most number-one hits and the longest running number-one hit on that chart. Iglesias also has 13 number-ones on Billboard's Dance charts, more than any other male artist. He is also the best selling Latin artist in the UK and the best selling international artist in India. He has won about 200 awards from various ceremony including 23 Billboard Music Awards (with 9 times nomination) and 36 Billboard Latin Music Awards (with 45 times nomination), as well as 7 American Music Awards (with 6 times nomination), 1 Grammys (with 3 times nomination), 5 Latin Grammys (with 4 times nomination), 10 World Music Awards (with 2 times nomination) and 6 MTV awards.

And so now we wait for Iglesias to return to the studio and perform his magic and deliver that perfect mix of Latin Pop modernized with EDM, Electropop and Hip-Hop to suit our dance floors. All hail the king!!!

Till the next review...

At Ease!!!

Xposition - April 2015

Attention!!!

Well April did have its moments in terms of major drama and breakups. First up, Miley Cyrus split from a five month relationship with Patrick Schwarzeneggar and this was followed by Big Sean and Ariana Grande's breakup. A lame twitter spat between Diplo and LTTE terrorist supporter M.I.A. over her being signed on to a major label was also the subject of unwarranted media hype. 

The 50th Academy of Country Music Awards was held in April where Luke Bryan and Miranda Lambert emerged as the biggest winners of the show. Luke Bryan who co-hosted the show alongside Blake Shelton won the Entertainer of the Year. Miranda Lambert took away the Female Vocalist of the Year and Jason Aldean won the Male Vocalist of the Year. The other winners are:

• Album of the Year: Miranda Lambert - Platinum
• Song of the Year: Miranda Lambert - Automatic
• Vocal Duo of the Year - Florida Georgia Line
• Vocal Group of the Year - Little Big Town
• New Artist of the Year - Cole Swindell
• Single Record of the Year: Lee Brice - I Don't Dance

The 2015 Billboard Latin Music Awards was also held in April where Enrique Iglesias and Romeo Santos ruled the night. Enrique Iglesias took 9 awards including Latin Pop Album of the Year for Sex & Love and his global hit Bailando won the award for Hot Latin Song of the Year, Airplay Song of the Year, Digital Song of the Year, Streaming Song of the Year and Latin Pop Song of the Year. Romeo Santos bagged 10 awards to seal his title as the most nominated artist in the history of the awards. In what seemed a very emotional performance for her, Jennifer Lopez stole the show when she paid tribute to Selena, who was tragically murdered 20 years ago.  The significant winners included:

• Artist of the Year: Romeo Santos
• New Artist of the Year: J. Balvin
• Social Artist of the Year: Shakira
• Hot Latin Songs Male Artist of the Year: Romeo Santos
• Hot Latin Songs Female Artist of the Year: Natalia Jimenez
• Billboard Spirit of Hope Award - Carlos Santana

The 2015 Radio Disney Music Awards were also held in April with performances by Fifth Harmony, Nick Jonas, Sheppard, Natalie La Rose and Shawn Mendes. The Song of the Year went to Ariana Grande ft. Iggy Azalea's Problem while the Hero Award was awarded to Jennifer Lopez. Other winners of the night included:

• Best Female Artist: Ariana Grande
• Best Male Artist: Ed Sheeran
• Best Group: Fifth Harmony
• Best New Artist: Charli XCX
• Best Band: 5 Seconds of Summer
• Best Collaboration: Demi Lovato ft. Cher Lloyd - Really don't care 
• Best Song to Dance To: Taylor Swift - Shake it off 

The much anticipated 2015 Billboard Music Awards are to be held next month with Britney Spears and Iggy Azalea opening the show with her newest single Pretty Girls, which is hyped up to be one of the biggest collaborations this year. Taylor Swift leads the nominations with 14 followed by Sam Smith with 13, Iggy Azalea with 12 and Meghan Trainor with 9. Mariah Carey is also to perform for the first time since 1998 at the show. 

In the US Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars' Uptown Funk ruled for the first three weeks of the month completing 14 weeks at No.1 and tying at second place with 6 other songs behind Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men's One Sweet Day which holds the record for staying 16 weeks at number one. However, Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth's See You Again taken from the Furious 7 soundtrack dethroned Uptown Funk's reign. This tribute to Fast and the Furious star Paul Walker who died in a tragic car accident in 2013 once again shows that this year the Billboard Hot 100 is more tolerable to soundtracks as it comes in the wake of the success of Ellie Goulding's Love Me Like You Do and The Weeknd's Earned It from the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack. Flo Rida ft. Sage the Gemini and Lookas' G.D.F.R., Natalie La Rose ft. Jeremih's Somebody and Walk The Moon's Shut Up and Dance all managed to enter the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. 

In the UK the month started off with Jess Glynne's Hold My Hand at the top the position of which it kept till Wiz Khalifa's See You Again claimed the top spot in the UK as well. During the month Ed Sheeran's Bloodstream, Nick Jonas' Jealous, and OMI's Cheerleader all peaked at No.2. Sia's Elastic Heart also achieved a peak of 10 and Steve McCrorie's Lost Stars a peak of No.4 during the month. 

Some of the other songs that became during the month are:

• Jason Derulo - Want to want me
• David Guetta ft. Afrojack & Nicki Minaj - Hey mama
• Little Big Town - Girl crush
• Skrillex & Diplo ft. Justin Bieber - Where are u now
• Major Lazer & Dj Snake ft. MO - Lean on
• Carly Rae Jepsen - I really like you 
• Iggy Azalea ft. Jennifer Hudson - Trouble 

Till the next beat…

At Ease!!!

Xposition - April 2014

Attention!!!

Well, April was relatively a very mellow and uninteresting month. The only thing that was at least of some interest was the 49th Academy of Country Music Awards held on 6th April and the Billboard Latin Music Awards held on 24th April. Miranda Lambert swept the ACMAs with Female Vocalist of the Year and Record of the Year for Mama's Broken Heart. She also shared the Vocal Event of the Year with Keith Urban for We Were Us. The Entertainer of the Year was George Strait while Lee Brice won the Song of the Year for I Drive Your Truck and Kacey Musgraves won Album of the Year for Same Trailer Different Park. Other significant awards were:

• Male Vocalist of the Year - Jason Aldean
• Vocal Duo of the Year - Florida Georgia Line
• New Artist of the Year - Justin Moore
• Vocal Group of the Year - The Band Perry
• Video of the Year - Highway Don't Care (Tim McGraw ft. Taylor Swift)

Marc Anthony was the top winner at the BLMAs taking 10 awards including Artist of the Year, Latin Album, Hot Latin Song, Digital Song, Latin Airplay Song of the Year for Vivir Mi Vida a track that spent 17 weeks at No.1 on Billboard's Hot Latin Songs. Social Artist of the Year was won by Shakira and Crossover Artist of the Year by Bruno Mars. Andrea Bocelli was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Other significant awards were:

• Vocal Event of the Year - Enrique Iglesias ft. Romeo Santos - Loco
• Producer of the Year - Anthony Romeo Santos
• Latin Rhythm Song of the Year - Daddy Yankee - Limbo
• Streaming Song of the Year - Prince Royce - Darte Un Beso

Pharrell Williams' Happy continued its domination of the Billboard Hot 100 in the US throughout the month without any hint of being overthrown. In the UK Aloe Blacc's The Man peaked in the first week followed by Sigma's Nobody to Love, Kiesza's Hideaway and Mr. Probz's Waves (Robin Schulz Remix). All four songs are not highly mainstream and except for The Man are all dance club tracks. 

DJ Snake & Lil Jon's Turn Down For What finally cracked the top 10 in the US peaking at No.5 which  was the only song to break the dormant Top 10 in April. Cash Cash ft. Bebe Rexha's Take Me Home peaked at No.5 and John Martin finally released a song on his own titled Anywhere For You which peaked at 7. Some other songs that were became popular in the US and UK are:

• Iggy Azalea ft. Charlie XCX - Fancy
• The Vamps - Last Night
• DJ Cassidy ft. Robin Thicke & Jessie J - Calling all hearts
• Neon Jungle - Welcome to the Jungle
• MKTO - Classic
• Rixton - Me and My Broken Heart
• Paramore - Ain't it fun

Til the next beat…

At Ease!!!