MAJOR MAESTRO: Martin Garrix

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2018 Recap: A Year in Music

Attention!!!

Ladies and gents, this is the moment you've waited for. It’s time to say goodbye to 2018. If it’s meant to be, it’ll be, and no tears will be left to cry for the past year. It’s a no brainer that it was a fantastic year for music. According to God’s plan all the stars aligned for Rap & Hip-Hop, as if I’m taken back to 2002. I like it how the Spanglish resurgence incorporated Rap and EDM into its fold. I've told you one, two, three, four, five, six thousand times that the recap is always under seven segments: genres, albums, singles, milestones, shockers, talent and obituaries. While we will never be the same after 2018, we have high hopes for 2019; thank u, next:

1. Genres

The most conspicuous changes in the mainstream genres were:

Continuing their reign from last year Rap and Hip-Hop ruled the first half of the year with Cloud Rap being the main subgenre on the charts.
Pop which took a backseat to the new trends in fusion music resurfaced in the latter half of the year.
The next phase of the Latin resurgence was the fusion of the genre with EDM and Rap with some hits and a few epic fails.
Mega collaborations was the order of the day be it any genre.
K-Pop conquered the world with BTS and BLACKPINK leading the fray.
The age of Hard Rock and Metal is definitely over with the few hits from the genre being produced only by mainstream artists.
Country music had a big year with the genre doing well on the charts particularly due to crossover artists.
It was a great year for movie musicals with their soundtracks performing extremely well.

2. Albums

Some of the best albums released in 2018 were:

Migos – Culture II (3rd studio album)
Justin Timberlake – Man of the Woods (5th studio album)
George Ezra – Staying at Tamara’s (2nd studio album)
Kacey Musgraves – Golden Hour (4th studio album)
CNCO – CNCO (2nd studio album)
Kylie Minogue – Golden (14th studio album)
Charlie Puth – Voicenotes (2nd studio album)
Maluma – F.A.M.E. (3rd studio album)
Shawn Mendes – Shawn Mendes (3rd studio album)
J Balvin – Vibras (5th studio album)
Marshmello – Joytime II (2nd studio album)
Panic! At the Disco – Pray for the Wicked (6th studio album)
Ariana Grande – Sweetener (4th studio album)
Post Malone – Beerbongs & Bentleys (2nd studio album)
Lily Allen – No Shame (4th studio album)
Jess Glynne – Always in Between (2nd studio album)
Christina Aguilera – Liberation (8th studio album)
Drake – Scorpion (5th studio album)
5 Seconds of Summer – Youngblood (3rd studio album)
Eminem – Kamikaze (10th studio album)
BTS – Love Yourself: Tear (3rd Korean studio album)
XXXTentacion – ? (2nd studio album)
Nicki Minaj – Queen (4th studio album)
Clean Bandit – What is Love? (2nd studio album)
Rita Ora – Phoenix (2nd studio album)
Little Mix – LM5 (5th studio album)

Most of the anticipated albums in 2018 were debut studio albums:

Camila Cabello – Camila
Sigala – Brighter Days
Bebe Rexha – Expectations
Alan Walker – Different World
Cardi B – Invasion of Privacy
Anne-Marie – Speak Your Mind
Calum Scott – Only Human
Jorja Smith – Lost & Found
Mike Shinoda – Post Traumatic

3. Singles

Drake’s God’s Plan topped the charts in 14 countries and entered the top ten in 9 others and ended the year as the most successful single of the year.
Camila Cabello who left the girl band Fifth Harmony in 2016 achieved monumental global fame with her summer smash hit Havana featuring Young Thug.
Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B’s Girls Like You was the most watched music video of 2018 with over 1.5 billion views. Due to this being her third chart topper, Cardi B extended her record in the US for most number ones by a female rapper.
BTS’ Fake Love became the highest charting K-Pop single by a group in the US while BLACKPINK became the highest charting K-Pop female act with Ddu Du Ddu Du.
Ariana Grande revisited the noughties in her Thank U, Next video which became her most successful hit to date and broke the record for most-watched video on YouTube within 24 hours by achieving 55.4 million views passing BTS’ Idol.
With the success of Drake’s In My Feelings boosted by the Kiki Challenge, biggest viral sensation on social media made the artist the rapper with the most number ones in the US.
Little Mix left Simon Cowell’s record label Syco Music over creative differences particularly their hit Woman Like Me featuring Nicki Minaj.
Lady Gaga returned to the top of the charts with Shallow a duet with Bradley Cooper from the soundtrack of their box office hit movie musical A Star is Born.
Lauryn Hill’s 1998-hit Ex-Factor was sampled by Drake and Cardi B in their hits Nice for What and Be Careful respectively.
Panic! At the Disco scored their biggest hit to date with High Hopes surpassing the success of I Write Sins Not Tragedies way back in 2006.
Dad blogger LadBaby claimed the coveted Christmas No.1 with his cover of Starship's We Built This City beating stiff competition from Ariana Grande's Thank U, Next and Ava Max's Sweet But Psycho.
Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas is You became the first Christmas song in 60 years to enter the top 5 in the US reaching a peak of No.3.
Pinkfong's Baby Shark became a viral hit with over 2 billion views on YouTube and several artists such as BLACKPINK and Girls Generation covering the song and parodies being done on talk shows such as Ellen Degeneres and James Corden and a performance at the X Factor final.
Drake's In My Feelings was the biggest viral sensation of the year with the Kiki Challenge being performed around the world and with its success, Drake became the rapper with the most number one hits in the US.

4. Milestones

Bruno Mars took home the big 3 at the Grammy Awards with Record of the Year for 24K Magic, Album of the Year for 24K Magic and Song of the Year for That’s What I Like
Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez won Best Original Song at the Academy Awards for Remember Me from Coco
US President Donald Trump awarded the late Elvis Presley, the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Martin Garrix took the No.1 spot on the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs for 2018
Ariana Grande was named Billboard Woman of the Year
BTS became the youngest recipients of the Order of Cultural Merit from the South Korean government.
Jess Glynne broke Cheryl Cole’s record for most number ones by a British female artist in the UK with 7 chart toppers.
Billboard Hot 100 celebrated its 60th anniversary in August.
Jennifer Lopez received the prestigious Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the MTV Video Music Awards
Justin Timberlake performed at the Super Bowl LII Halftime Show
Daddy Yankee was awarded the Icon Award for his contribution to Latin Music and Maluma was awarded the Extraordinary Evolution Award at the Latin American Music Awards
Janet Jackson received the Icon Awards at the MTV Europe Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards and Radio Disney Music Awards
Wolf Alice’s Visions of a Life won the coveted Mercury Prize
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa was awarded the Member of the Order of Companions of Honour in the Queen’s 2019 Birthday Honours
Kelly Clarkson was honored with the Icon Award at the Radio Disney Music Awards
Mary Poppins Returns, the sequel to Walt Disney’s beloved musical-fantasy film was released after a lapse of 54 years starring Emily Blunt in the titular role.
Cher, Reba McEntire, Philip Glass and Wayne Shorter were the honorees at the Kennedy Center Honors.
Taylor Swift became the most awarded female winner in American Music Awards history with a total of 23 awards, breaking the record held by Whitney Houston.

5. Shockers

Spice Girls excluding Victoria Beckham (Posh Spice) announced their much anticipated return with the Spice World 2019 Tour with 13 shows.
Boyzone released their seventh and final album Thank You & Goodnight marking their 25th anniversary and a farewell tour with the same name.
Tulisa won the legal battle against Will.I.Am and Britney Spears for Scream & Shout ensuring a songwriting credit.
The remaining members of Fifth Harmony declared a hiatus to pursue solo endeavors.
The final judgment was delivered in favour of the Marvin Gaye estate in the Blurred Lines copyright suit against Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams.
Axwell, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso confirmed that Swedish House Mafia have reunited and will tour and release new music in 2019.
The rap beef between Eminem and Machine Gun Kelly reached a climax with Not Alike released by Eminem with a response by MGK with Rap Devil and the final cannon shot at MGK by Eminem with Killshot.
In her new memoir, Brutally Honest, Spice Girl Mel B revealed that just before the X Factor UK final in 2014 where she was a judge she had taken 200 aspirin pills in an attempt to end her life due to her difficult marriage to Stephen Belafonte.
6ix9ine was arrested by US police for racketeering and conspiracy murder charges and if found guilty, the rapper may face 32 years to life in prison.
In the Woolsey Fires that burned through California several artists’ homes including that of Miley Cyrus, Robin Thicke and Lil Pump were burned to the ground.

6. Talent

Here are the winners of those talent/reality contests which produce some of the best artists:

63rd Eurovision Song Contest – Israel with Netta’s Toy
The X Factor (15th Season) – Dalton Harris mentored by Louis Tomlinson
The Voice (14th Season) – Brynn Cartelli coached by Kelly Clarkson
The Voice UK (7th Season) – Ruti Olajugbagbe coached by Sir Tom Jones
The Voice (15th Season) – Chevel Shepherd coached by Kelly Clarkson
The Four: Battle for Stardom (1st Season) – Evvie McKinney
The Four: Battle for Stardom (2nd Season) – James Graham

7. Obituaries

Ray Thomas of The Moody Blues (29 December 1941 – 04 January 2018)
Dolores O’Riordan of The Cranberries (06 September 1971 – 15 January 2018)
Mark Salling of former Glee Cast (17 August 1982 – 30 January 2018)
Dennis Edwards of The Temptations (03 February 1943 – 01 February 2018)
Barbara Alston of The Crystals (29 December 1943 – 16 February 2018)
Yvonne Staples of The Staple Singers (23 October 1937 – 10 April 2018)
Avicii (08 September 1989 – 20 April 2018)
XXXTentacion (23 January 1998 – 18 June 2018)
Vinnie Paul of Pantera (11 March 1964 – 22 June 2018)
Aretha Franklin (25 March 1942 – 16 August 2018)
Ed King of Lynrd Skynyrd(14 September 1949 – 22 August 2018)
Mac Miller (19 January 1992 – 07 September 2018)
Marty Balin of Jefferson Airplane/Starship (30 January 1942 – 27 September 2018)
Freddie Hart (21 December 1926 – 27 October 2018)
Roy Clark (15 April 1933 – 15 November 2018)
Devin Lima of LFO (18 March 18 1977 – 21 November 2018)

Till next year...

At Ease!!!

Xposition - October, 2018

Attention!!!

This October, Taylor Swift broke the record for most AMAs won by a woman at the 2018 American Music Awards. After a brilliant performance of her unreleased I Did Something Bad from her album Reputation she took home Artist of the Year, Tour of the Year, Favorite Female Artist – Pop/Rock and Favorite Album – Pop/Rock for Reputation. Camila Cabello matched Swift’s count taking New Artist of the Year and Video of the Year, Collaboration of the Year and Favorite Song – Pop/Rock for Havana featuring Young Thug. Other great performances of the night included Cardi B, J Balvin & Bad Bunny with I Like It, Camila Cabello with Consequences and Gladys Knight, Ledisi, Mary Mary, Donnie McClurkin and CeCe Winans with a tribute to Aretha Franklin. Some of the other significant wins were:

· Favorite Male Artist – Pop/Rock: Post Malone

· Favorite Duo or Group – Pop/Rock: Migos

· Favorite Artist – Latin: Daddy Yankee

· Favorite Artist – EDM: Marshmello

· Favorite Social Artist: BTS

· Favorite Soundtrack: Black Panther

CNCO and Ozuna were the big winners at the 2018 Latin American Music Awards. CNCO took home Favorite Duo or Group, Favorite Pop Artist and Favorite Pop Album for CNCO while Ozuna was awarded the Album of the Year and Favorite Urban Album for Odisea and Favorite Urban Artist. Other major wins were:

· Artist of the Year: Bad Bunny

· New Artist of the Year: Sebastian Yatra

· Song of the Year: Luis Fonsi & Demi Lovato - Échame La Culpa

· Favorite Male Artist: Daddy Yankee

· Favorite Female Artist: Becky G

· Favorite Video: Anitta: Medicina

· Icon Award: Daddy Yankee

· Extraordinary Evolution Award: Maluma

Martin Garrix took the No.1 spot at the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs for 2018. In the annual poll Garrix is followed by Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Hardwell, Armin Van Buuren and David Guetta who complete the top 5. Avicii gets a posthumous ranking of No.15 as his fans made sure the beloved DJ was not forgotten.

In more EDM news, Axwell, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso have confirmed that Swedish House Mafia have reunited and will tour and release new music in 2019. The trio split during the peak of their success in 2012 after their smash hit Don’t You Worry Child, and have been releasing music as solo artists.

The year continues to witness the success of soundtrack albums, the latest is A Star is Born from the film of the same name starring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. The album has already topped numerous charts with critics praising the musical styles, lyrics and Gaga’s vocals. Country music icon Willie Nelson’s son Lukas Nelson and artists such as Mark Ronson and Julia Michaels also contributed to the album. The album’s lead single Shallow performed by Gaga and Cooper is also climbing the charts worldwide.

Michael Bublé fans were in for a shock as the artist in an apparent “final interview” told the Daily Mail that he will be retiring from music. Since his tenth studio album Love is due in November, it appeared that the record would be his last. The news was not a surprise, as the industry knew that Bublé’s son, Noah was in recovery from liver cancer which caused him severe emotional trauma. However, since then his representatives have dismissed the claims and clarified that Bublé is “absolutely not retiring”.

Following the release of their newest single Woman Like Me featuring Nicki Minaj, Little Mix have announced that they have written a new song about the #MeToo anti-sexual harassment campaign. Moreover, they have announced that their fifth studio album titled LM5 will be out this November.

The Prince Estate has requested US President Donald Trump from playing the late rock star’s Purple Rain in his campaign rallies. Prince’s half-brother Omarr Baker has requested Trump and the White House to cease the use of the artist’s music immediately as no prior approval had been obtained.

Music lost two more legends from the industry in October. First Marty Balin, the lead vocalist and guitarist of Jefferson Airplane died at the age of 76 through unknown causes. Next, classic country singer Freddie Hart passed away at the age of 91 as result of pneumonia.

In chart news in the US, Maroon 5 ft. Cardi B’s Girls Like You which ended the reign of Drake continued at its helm for the entirety of the month. During the month Lil Wayne’s Mona Lisa, Bad Bunny ft. Drake’s Mia, Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper’s Shallow and Lil Baby & Gunna’s Drip Too Hard all entered the top 10.

In the UK, Calvin Harris & Sam Smith’s Promises sustained its reign for the first two weeks of the month before being overthrown by Dave ft. Fredo’s Funky Friday. However, this was short lived as Promises regained its crown in the final week of the month. During the month Freya Ridings’ Lost Without You, Little Mix ft. Nicki Minaj’s Woman Like Me, Rita Ora’s Let You Love Me and Jess Glynne’s All I Am all entered the top 10.

Other songs which became popular during the month were:

1. Eminem – Venom

2. DJ Snake ft. Cardi B, Ozuna & Selena Gomez – Taki taki

3. Sigala ft. Ella Eyre, Meghan Trainor & French Montana – Just got paid

4. Jonas Blue, Liam Payne & Lennon Stella – Polaroid

5. Jason Derulo & David Guetta ft. Willy William & Nicki Minaj – Goodbye

6. Dean Lewis – Be alright

7. Avril Lavigne – Head above water

8. Charli XCX & Troye Sivan – 1999

Till the next beat...

At Ease!!!

Most Inspirational Songs of 2017

Attention!!!

Now more than ever people need inspiration in their lives. What began as a one-off compilation for 2013, has now become a staple year-end list. 2017 was a year where there were so many tragedies, particularly in the music industry where we witnessed sad suicides, devastating bombings and cold blooded shootings. Ariana Grande's Somewhere Over The Rainbow is a tribute to those who lost their lives in the Manchester Bombings and a whole host of artists in the UK united to raise funds for the families of the victims of those who died in the Grenfell Fire by singing Bridge Over Troubled Water for charity.

However, in terms of inspiration 2017 belonged to The Greatest Showman soundtrack. Never has a soundtrack been more motivational as more than ninety percent of the songs in the film were inspirational; and this is clearly reflected in the top tier of this compilation with 6 songs from the soundtrack featured on the list. Other significant entries include Kesha's comeback hit which is an empowering anthem on how to get over obstacles in your life. This song may be a reflection of her ongoing legal battle with producer Dr.Luke.

Imagine Dragons have 3 entries on the list followed by Alessia Cara, Keala Settle, Zac Efron, Zendaya, Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams and Ariana Grande each with 2 entries. Other soundtracks featured on the list include Wonder Woman, Sing and The Fate of the Furious. In terms of genre, Pop rules with almost all the entries with Country, Rap, Alternative Rock and EDM having a few entries. Taking this year's top spot is Oscar Nominee for Best Original Song and winner of the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, This is Me by Keala Settle. This is followed by two songs from the soundtrack Never Enough sung by Voice Season 3 finalist Loren Allred and Come Alive by the ensemble cast. So here are the 30 most inspirational songs of 2017:

Keala Settle – This is me (The Greatest Showman OST)
Loren Allred – Never enough (The Greatest Showman OST)
Hugh Jackman, Keala Settle, Zendaya, Zac Efron & Daniel Everidge – Come alive (The Greatest Showman OST)
Kesha – Praying
Ariana Grande – Somewhere over the rainbow
Imagine Dragons – Believer
Rachel Platten – Broken glass
Imagine Dragons – Whatever it takes
Shawn Mendes – There’s nothing holdin’ me back
Zendaya & Zac Efron – Rewrite the stars (The Greatest Showman OST)
Little Mix ft. Stormzy – Power
Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams & Ziv Zaifman – Million dreams (The Greatest Showman OST)
Michelle Williams – Tightrope (The Greatest Showman OST)
Sia ft. Labrinth – To be human
Artists for Grenfell – Bridge over troubled water
Logic ft. Alessia Cara & Khalid – 1-800-273-8255
Dua Lipa – New rules
Keith Urban & Carrie Underwood – The fighter
Auli'i Cravalho – How far I’ll go
Imagine Dragaons – Thunder
Louis Tomlinson & Steve Aoki – Just hold on
Machin Gun Kelly ft. Hailee Steinfeld – At my best
Alessia Cara – Scars to your beautiful
Starley – Call on me
Bebe Rexha ft. Lil Wayne – The way I are (dance with somebody)
Martin Garrix & Troye Sivan – There for you
G-Eazy & Kehlani – Good life
Rag ‘n’ Bone Man – Human
Miley Cyrus – Inspired
Stevie Wonder & Ariana Grande – Faith

Till the next beat...

At Ease!!!

Xposition - July, 2017

Attention!!!

While award ceremonies took a break in July we see Tomorrowland the largest dance music festival in full swing. Held during the final two weekends in July Tomorrowland 2017 was under the theme “Amicorum Spectaculum” with a massive crowd of 400,000. Headlining the festival this time were 8 top notch DJ acts – Afrojack, Armin Van Buuren, David Guetta, Martin Garrix, Alesso, Paul Van Dyk, Axwell ^ Ingrosso, Paul Kalkbrenner. Afrojack played a record breaking eight sets and so wherever in Tomorrowland a participant, you can be sure they saw Afrojack. In a small set back, Tomorrowland’s Barcelona stage went up in flames resulting in the evacuation of more than 22,000 fans. The fire had erupted hours before Steve Aoki was to perform, but the organizers have ruled it was only a technical malfunction.

BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend will be retitled as BBC Music’s The Biggest Weekend as Glastonbury takes a sabbatical in 2018. Glastonbury which is one of the biggest music festivals in the world will take a year’s break after pulling in a record peak audience of 4.1 million viewers for Ed Sheeran’s headline slot. The Biggest Weekend will take place from 25 – 28 May 2018 in four cities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. While the acts will be announced later it was confirmed that 175,000 tickets will be sold for the event.

Spandau Ballet’s lead singer Tony Hadley has formally announced his departure from the 80s group. Whilst the band first split up in 1990s, after a disagreement over loyalties they reformed in 2009 for a string of sold out shows. Whilst the reason for Hadley’s departure is uncertain he only revealed on Twitter that they were circumstances beyond his control.

It is with extreme sadness that the music industry had to bid farewell to Alternative Rock icon and lead singer of Linkin Park, Chester Bennington. His death came as a massive shock to the music industry when his housekeeper found his body on July 20. His death was ruled a suicide by hanging. The band’s seventh studio album One More Light was released earlier this year. While the band cancelled their North American leg of their One More Light World Tour following his death, it is clear what will happen to the band as a result of Bennington’s death. Bennington’s death was on what would have been his close friend and lead singer of Soundgarden, Chris Cornell’s 53^rd birthday, who had also committed suicide by hanging two months prior.

Moving onto chart news, in the US, Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber’s Despacito maintained its reign over the charts throughout the month accumulating 10 weeks at the top. DJ Khaled featuring Rihanna and Bryson Tiller’s Wild Thoughts debuted in the top 10 but could not dethrone Despacito as it struggled at No.2. Meanwhile, French Montana featuring Swae Lee’s Unforgettable, Imagine Dragons’ Believer and Shawn Mendes’ There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back all entered the top 10.

In the UK, Despacito started at the top but was dethroned by Wild Thoughts in the final week. During the month Calvin Harris featuring Katy Perry, Pharrell Williams & Big Sean’s Feels, Maggie Lindemann’s Pretty Girls and Sigala & Ella Eyre’s Came Here For Love all entered the top 10.

Other songs which became popular during the month were:

1. CNCO – Reggaetón Lento

2. Dua Lipa – New rules

3. Rudimental ft. James Arthur – Sun comes up

4. Jax Jones ft. Demi Lovato & Stefflon Don – Instruction

5. J Balvin & Willy William – Mi gente

6. Demi Lovato – Sorry not sorry

7. Zedd ft. Liam Payne – Get low

8. Axwell & Ingrosso – More than you know

Till the next beat...

At Ease!!!

Best Music Videos of 2016

Attention!!!

This is a long overdue post, but nevertheless one that is required to complete the year-end lists which would finally include the Most Successful Artists of 2016. Although 2015 produced a wide array of remarkable videos, 2016 could not match the predecessor in terms of visual aesthetics. Nevertheless, the directors and choreographers were not lethargic last year, as there were some beautiful videos that were produced.

Coldplay of course takes the top spot with Up & up with its awesome and bizarre visual with the entire sequence being engulfed in top notch animation. Next we have Sia who teamed up with Maddie Zeigler once again for a perfectly choreographed video. Down the list we have one more where the two team up for Sia's Cheap Thrills (although released as a video this is life performance). In third place we have PUP's Sleep in heat, which sees Stranger Things cast member Finn Wolfhard putting on emotional performance with a dog.

Leading the fray with two entries each are Coldplay, Sia, Kanye West, Beyonce, Clean Bandit and Bebe Rexha. However, Bey's uncredited appearance in Coldplay's Hymn for the Weekend accumulates her entries to three as she appears in the video. 2016 covered a wide range of genres from Pop, Rock and EDM to Rap, Trap and Reggae Fusion which is a mishmash of the best kind. Some of the biggest hits of the year such as The Weeknd's Starboy, Jutsin Timberlake's Can't Stop the Feeling and Clean Bandit's Rockabye are all featured here because of their awesome videos. However, The Chainsmokers' Closer and Lukas Graham's 7 Years are not here because they are not great videos. So here are the 50 best music videos of 2016: