the music box

Drizzy in the Hizzy

2009-03-31T12:31:00.000-07:00

Lame post title, but for serials--Drake is going to be the next Lil' Wayne, or at least as close as humanly possible to become so. For those of you who read my raving about Weezy's concert, you may recall my mentioning Aubrey Graham from Degrassi becoming a rapper. So I got his name completely wrong during that post...his rapper name is "Drake," his middle name, and Weezy likes to call him Drizzy Drake for kicks, so I'm going to as well. :)

[mad props to theinsomniaczone.com]

Aside from being really, really, ridiculously good-looking (thank you Derek Zoolander), Drake's flow in rapping and singing voice are both smooth, charming, and addicting. He's on Lil' Wayne's record label, Young Money Records, along with Lil Chuckee and many others of the "Young Money Family," who all appear on Weezy's "I Am Music Tour". They're basically getting the cream of the crop in terms of publicity, because many die-hard Weezy fans are immediatley drawn to Drake's music as well. Good work, Mr. Carter!

Drake has a few mixtapes out and will be releasing his CD later this year, so keep an eye out for it! I haven't been able to fully analyze all his songs and lyrics, but I can say that he has great flow and sick beats. In terms of lyrics, however, he reminds me of Lil' Wayne a lot. Most of his songs do revolve around the clubbing, drugs, girls, money theme, but after only an hour of searching I found a few deeper and pretty inspiring songs--check out his "The Last Hope", a collaboration with Kardinal Offishal and Andreena Mills.

My personal favorites are "I Want This Forever," featuring Weezy himself, "Best I Ever Had," and "Ransom", also with Mr. Carter.

Be sure to check him out on iTunes!

song of the day: diamond life - tyga

--hen

Lady GaGa is M.I.A.?

2009-03-30T21:23:00.000-07:00

No, this glamorous pop princess is not missing in action--but she seems to have taken a small turn toward sounding like M.I.A. in her collaboration with Wale, "Chillin".

I mean seriously, listen to that! It sounds exactly like M.I.A. and it really makes me sad. One of the reasons I adored Lady GaGa was her individuality and catchy, smooth voice that made each of her songs that much more "I'm-hyper-let's-party"-esque. Don't get me wrong, I still love this song and it gets stuck in my head super easily, but why would GaGa take this turn in her career? I have a feeling its probably just for this song only, and that I'm totally overreacting, but Lady GaGa's career is definitely at a high right now, and she should be careful to not suddenly find herself falling faster than Eamon and his temporary hit, "I Don't Want You Back."

However, Lady GaGa is still the "bomb dig" in my eyes. You may have heard "Just Dance" and "Poker Face," and some of you may recognize her creepy but catchy "Paparazzi" from Gossip Girl last year. My favorite song by her is definitely "Starstruck," and "Love Game" is definitely in a close second place. Her album, The Fame, is out and available on iTunes and in stores--so get on that!

song of the day: backyard boogie - mack 10

--hen

Lil' Wayne Is Music

2009-03-28T16:43:00.001-07:00

"And you, you all have made history tonight by witnessing the greatest rapper in the world."

[we had really good seats in section 114, but my camera literally has no zoom]

Wow. That concert was incredible. Many people told me that it would "flat out suck" and I would be "listening to a computer all night, but I think the little green monster took over those negative individuals [kidding :P] since last night was "ill" [haha]. We arrived late due to our incompetence in making our t-shirts.

They say Mrs. Officer--creative, I know.

Like I was saying, we arrived a bit late which had its pros and cons: one pro was that there was no line through security and for t-shirts, so it took us approximately 5 minutes to get from my mom's car to our seats [including getting stopped by 94.9 and 106.1 to take pictures since they took half the crowd's picture upon entering]. However, we did miss Keri Hilson's performance but were able to get over it pretty quickly, considering we barely knew four or five songs by her.

We were in time to hear Gym Class Heroes rock the stage [I'm in love with Travis McCoy BTW, always have been and always will be :)]. Last night was the third time I have seen them live, and they never fail to get the entire crowd on their feet, clapping, dancing, and singing along to their catchy songs. A prime example of this: opening up with their favorite "Peace Sign Index Down," which had literally everyone in the entire Pavilion doing that exact motion [if you haven't caught on yet, put up a peace sign and put your index finger down to see what you get] and bouncing along to the beat.

I'll try to put up better pictures later when my friend uploads hers.

Near the end of Gym Class's performance, Travie[<3] announced that T-Pain would not be performing that evening due to an injury that left him hospitalized. We were disappointed, as we were all looking forward to seeing him perform, but we soon realized that when Gym Class Heroes left the stage, it would only be a matter of time until Mr. Carter blessed us with his presence.

[mad props to dante sunseri]

When I saw this on my Facebook minifeed this morning, my jaw dropped. Before Weezy went on stage, a few of us met up by the soda stands and three of my friends were raving about how they were still shaking from the intense bass they could feel from their first row seats, and this picture pretty much sums up how awesome their experience was.

Contrary to what you may think, Lil' Wayne was amazing live. I had saw him at Wild Jam over the summer but wasn't a huge Mr. Carter fan back then; however, I've grown to become obsessed with him over the past few months, truly allowing me to appreciate his skill as a rapper. He performed his mainstream hits, such as "A Millie", "Got Money", "Lollipop", "Fireman", and of course "Mrs. Officer", but my favorite part was how he performed many songs off of his mixtapes, which usually are even better than his albums. I was the most excited when he performed "Pop Bottles" and my favorite from The Carter III, "Phone Home".

Another exciting part of Weezy's performance was his introduction of his "family". Mack Maine, along with his "brothers" Lil' Chuckie and...crap, I forget the other one's names, but basically he and his 13 year old and 16 year old brothers also performed on stage with Mr. Carter. I believe Tyga was also on stage at this time, but I could have heard wrong. For those of you who watch[ed] Degrassi, you may remember Jimmy Brooks, played by Aubrey Graham. Well, Aubrey is now a rapper and actually performed with Weezy last night and sang Bobby Valentino's part in "Mrs. Officer". I'm not joking--he's incredibly attractive.

Aubrey, or Jimmy Jay or whatever Weezy calls him by, is the one in the black sweatshirt in the middle, and Lil' Wayne is the one in the white wifebeater next to him. Keep a look out for Aubrey's album coming out later this year!

Essentially, the concert was incredible. I had goosebumps nearly the entire performance, and a touching part for me was when Lil' Wayne performed his chorus from The Game's "My Life" and the entire crowd took out their lighters and cell phones, waving them in the air and illuminating the entire floor section. I love little things like that. :)

For those of you who missed the I Am Music Tour, you can try to catch it in Sacramento tomorrow night. I recommend it--it was amazing.

song of the day: comfort -- omarion feat. lil' wayne

--hen

SUPERSICKWIDIT

2009-03-27T13:23:00.000-07:00

So I tend to emphasize songs with deep lyrics and meanings, but lets be honest...I dig anything with a sick beat. I practically worship Pitbull for his creativity and variation in his songs, and his sultry Latin flavor adds spice to any song. Inspired by a conversation I had with the lovely Naomi So earlier this morning, I have decided to dedicate today's posts to songs that really make you want to go to Klub Ice and dance your heart out (while sweating your body's entire weight out, what a great work out!)

Two of my new favorite songs, though I hate myself for liking them because they are terribly mainstream, are "Boom Boom Pow" by the Black Eyed Peas and DJ Felli Fel's collaboration with T-Pain, Flo-Rida, Sean Paul, and Pitbull, "Feel It". Both of these songs have absolutely ridiciulous computerized beats that are ideal for blasting in your car or dancing to at a club, and their thumping bass is what really draws me to them. Even though I hate robot alarms, I still manage to stay addicted to "Feel It".

If you're a techno fanatic, you may recognize Mysto & Pizzi's "Somebody's Watching Me" from a fairly recent Geicko commerical. The song, though its lyrics are ridiculous and hilarious, has a great techno beat and is definitely evocative of spastic dancing. Fantastic!

You know when you're waiting at a stop light in downtown San Jose and suddenly hear the thumping bass and blasting radio of a car a few lanes away, and the song playing is usually one you've never heard of, and there's no way to describe it except straight up "ghetto"? Well, maybe not...but whenever I hear the remix of Lil Wayne's "Wipe Me Down," I feel like a gangster, as pathetic as that sounds. The beat, the voices of the featured artists, and the smashing drums and symbols add to the catchiness of this song.

I cannot put into words how FREAKING EXCITED I am for the Lil' Wayne concert tonight!

[mad props to gotocentre.com]
If you look closely, you can see Weezy's tattoo that says "I AM MUSIC," which is the name of his tour! The opening acts are T-Pain, Keri Hilson, and Gym Class Heroes. I'm kind of pumped.

song of the day: knock you down feat. kanye + ne-yo -- keri hilson

HAPPY SPRING BREAK!

--hen

Baila Conmigo

2009-03-26T13:45:00.000-07:00

You know that one movie that always puts a smile on your face, no matter how crappy of a mood you're in? The one that when anybody else mentions, your heart starts beating faster simply because you love it so much and appreciate the other person's good taste? Well, maybe I'm just an over-obsessive freak, but I definitely feel that way about the epic re-make, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights. It makes me want to turn Cuban, take up salsa dancing, and fall in love with an exotic hottie from Latin America.

[mad props to ew.com]

Aside from sexy dance moves, a touching story line, and incredibly attractive Latino actors, this movie has one of the best soundtracks. Ever. When I watched this movie for the first time during the summer before 6th grade, I immediately "bought" every song on the soundtrack because I fell in love with the catchy salsa beats and sultry Spanish language incorporated in almost every song. I'm sure you all recall Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie," which gained great popularity due to the catchy chorus. Well, this section of her song is actually from Wyclef Jean's "Dance Like This," my favorite song on the album and as well as one of my favorite songs ever made.

Other songs to definitely check out are "Do You Only Wanna Dance" by Mya, "Dirty Dancing" by the Black-Eyed Peas, and "Satellite" by Carlos Santana[<3]. But honestly, I seriously mean it when I say get the whole album. It really does make you want to bailar like no other!

song of the day: mr. right -- mickey avalon

LIL WAYNE TOMORROW!!! <33333333

--hen

One More Sad Song

2009-03-25T16:40:00.001-07:00

Quote All-American Rejects for the title of this post. :)

But really, one of the saddest songs I've ever heard is Flipsyde's "Happy Birthday." Ironic, that a song whose title has such a positive and festive connotation is actually about the controversial topic of abortion. The singer is wishing a happy birthday to his baby who was never born.
"

Would you've been a little angel or an angel of sin?
Tom-boy running around, hanging with all the guys.
Or a little tough boy with beautiful brown eyes?
I payed for the murder before they determined the sex
Choosing our life over your life meant your death
And you never got'a chance to even open your eyes
Sometimes I wonder as a foetus if you faught for your life?
Would you have been a little genius in love with math?
Would you have played in your school clothes and made me mad?
Would you have been a little rapper like your papa da Piper?
Would you have made me quit smokin' by finding one of my lighters?
I wonder about your skintone and shape of your nose?
And the way you would have laughed and talked fast or slow?
Think about it every year, so I picked up a pen
Happy birthday, love you whoever you woulda been"


Let those lyrics sink in. I didn't have much of an opinion on abortion until I took the time to truly understand the motive behind this song. Each child's life is equally important, and abortion secures a child's inability to even open his or her eyes for the first time and see a fraction of the wondrous things we see each day, without the child's consent to do so.

Flipsyde's lyrics are incredible, and if you truly care, take some time to really listen to this song. The piano and soft chorus gives me goosebumps.

song of the day: pyt -- michael jackson

-hen

Best Concert I've Ever Been To

2009-03-24T17:32:00.000-07:00

[mad props to shuttershades.files.wordpress.com]

I still remember the casual conversation I was having with a good friend during Ms. Garcia's 5th period Spanish 3 Honors class freshman year. I was raving about how "legit" this concert would be and how I would do anything to go, except my lack of money was posing to be an obstacle. She then, to my complete surprise, claimed she had an extra ticket and asked me if I wanted to go with her. My heart literally stopped, as cliche as that sounds...WHAT. "Is that a joke?! I'd love to!" Best thing that has ever happened to me--well, one of them at least.

June 6, 2008. The first Friday night of summer, and the night of the best concert ever. Let the insanity begin. I wish I had pictures of the actual artists performing, but security confiscated all cameras upon entering the HP Pavilion. "Kanye said so, sorry." Well, if its coming from Kanye...then its okay I guess.

For those of you who don't know, I am an obsessed Lupe Fiasco fan. Not like, "Oh yeah 'Superstar' is my favorite song ohemgee," but more like I had tears in my eyes when he went on stage because I was so starstruck and awed by his absurd talent. He's Islamic, doesn't drink, smoke, or have groupies, and each of his songs have such an amazing story and life lesson behind them. He's beyond a superstar in my eyes and has one of the best flows a rapper can have--he's probably the best rapper of all time, right up there with Tupac Shakur. He is even better live, which is rare for most artists. My favorite songs by him are "The Instrumental," (THIS SONG IS AMAZING. The lyrics and metaphor behind it are so inspiring. I'll probably blog about it one day because there is just so much to say!) and "Fighters."

Next up was N.E.R.D. You may disagree, but I think Pharrell is, to put it in my words exactly, "a dime." He pulled up random girls on stage to dance during "She Wants to Move" and The Neptunes definitely had the crowd moving and dancing to their catchy songs. My favorites? "Lapdance" and "Rockstar."

Rihanna followed, and though she was probably the worst act out of the four studs, she was still alright. Her dancing was mediocre, but I give her props for dancing in heels. And at any rate, who doesn't love singing their hearts out to mainstream favorites like "Umbrella" and "Don't Stop the Music"?

Lastly, Kanye came to rock the stage. I think Lupe was way better, but the atmosphere he created--the intense lighting, cool props, and meaningful song lyrics, had everyone out of their chairs and clapping to his unique flow. However, I'm not as big of a Kanye fan as I was when I went to this concert...my opinion now of him is that he is a whining loser, but whatever. There were small booklets of inspiring Kanye quotes handed out at the concert, and I'll never forget this one: "Believe in your flyness, conquer your flyness." Oh, and if you haven't heard his "Homecoming" featuring Chris Martin, you're missing out.

Another great thing about this concert, aside from the insane performances and shuter shades, were the incredbly cute t-shirts!

Amazing :)

LIL WAYNE IN THREE DAYS!

song of the day: Finger Paint -- Zion I

--hen

LMFAO

2009-03-23T16:51:00.000-07:00

No, the title of this blog post is not based my uncontrollable laughter towards anything in particular. It is, however, the name of an extremely unique group that creates hip-shaking music by combining rap and techno. Basically--the epitome of club music.

I may be hypocritical by promoting yet another group with nothing but shallow lyrics and whose career revolves around the night life and club scene of cities like Miami, but once you listen to them you'll get what I mean. Ideal for blasting in the car and getting pumped up for any sort of big event, LMFAO creates uses intricate techno beats to make their songs that much more head-bump-worthy.

You may have heard them on a remix of Kanye's "Love Lockdown" that played pretty often on 94.9, but LMFAO's music repertoire exceeds that collaboration. My favorite song, though a bit repetitive and annoying at first, is titled "Yes." I also highly recommend "La La La" and "I'm in Miami Trick." Also, "This Is My Life" (a personal favorite to blast in cars with good bass systems) is a collaboration with a similar group, Hypercrush and is guaranteed to get you up and dancing, or at least making stupid hand motions like I do.

[mad props to clubzone.com]

song of the day: my good thang -- pretty willie

--hen

New Obsession

2009-03-22T21:05:00.000-07:00

[mad props to bakersfield.com]

I don't really know how to say this, but the Kottonmouth Kings are freaking sick. I had heard of them before, but to be honest I thought they were a hard rock group who had mullets and still wore leather jackets. Boy, was I wrong.

Their dirty "Don't Make Me Beg" was on my friend's MySpace page, and their beats and lyrics reminded me so much of "That Box" by Tech N9ne, so I decided to look up some more of their songs. They are one of the most wide-ranged artists I have ever heard--some of their songs sound more rock-ish, like Flipsyde, while others sound like some of the stuff you hear on the radio but with sicker beats.

My favorite song by far is "Tangerine Sky." It has amazing lyrics and can't be put into any sort of musical category. The beginning reminds me of a Slightly Stoopid or Sublime-reminiscent song, but later on it evolves into something by Zion I or The Grouch. Either way, its amazing.

"i'm gonna live my life from day to night with no hesitation,
make the best of every situation that i find myself placed in
decidin' right from wrong, choosing my final destination
cause when its said and done, its just yourself that you are facing"

AMAZING. check them out, for sure!

song of the day: drop baby drop -- ekolu [thanks naomi :D]

--hen

Life, in a Nutshell

2009-03-21T13:22:00.000-07:00

Some of you may recognize the talent of Wyclef Jean through songs like "The Sweetest Girl", featuring Akon, Nia, and Weezy<3, style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:180%;">
If it was my last day on earth,
I'd treat it like my first
Go out the way I came in.
So innocent, so pure, with no thoughts of insecurity
Live life to the fullest, be what I wanna be
Last day on earth, I tell my momma don’t cry-I'll see my daddy in paradise
Where the blind can see, the mute can talk, the crippled can walk
but for now Heaven's in New York
Oh oh oh ohhh oh oh oh Heavens in New York oh oh oh oh
First thing I'd do is go back in time, take the twin towers, put it back in the skyline
Tell my girl two wrongs still don’t make a right
Make love for the last time under the candlelight
Pick up my homies at the gentleman club, after that hit
Club and reminisce about the high school days
Man I sucked as a quarterback, remember getting sacked man almost broke my back yeah

If it was my last day on earth
I'd treat it like my first
go out the way I came in
so innocent so pure with no thoughts of insecurity
Live life to the fullest be what I wanna be
Last day on earth I tell my girl don't cry I'm with my daddy in paradise
Where the blind can see, the mute can talk, the crippled can walk
but for now Heaven's in New York
Oh oh oh oh oh
Heaven’s In New York oh oh oh oh oh

I tell the man get the people a tax break
kids stop shootin I cant sing in no more ways
I cant take the money with me so I caught a movie
Favorite actress Angelina Jolie
Favorite Singer has to be Marley
Turn Up the Bass
and move to his styling’s
cant leave without reading my daughter a bedtime story the heavens is calling
If it was my last day on earth
I'd treat it like my first
go out the way I came in
so innocent so pure with no thoughts of insecurity
Live life to the fullest be what I want to be
Last day on earth I tell my Homies don't cry I'm with my daddy in paradise
Where the blind can see, the mute can talk, the crippled can walk
but for now
Heaven's in New York
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Heavens in New York
oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Welcome to New York City
Even though I walk through the Valley of Shadow of Death I fear No evil
For you are with me so tell my loves ones please don’t cry
Cause if doves can fly so can I

That's basically the general gist of it. I love it <3 style="text-align: center;">song of the day: she's feeling me -- lil wayne feat. nivea

--hen

The Rap Game

2009-03-20T09:38:00.000-07:00

I don't know why, but I find it hilarious when artists remake songs and basically make fun of the other artist's style. Sometimes, when I really enjoy an artist's beats or lyrics, I search for them and [BUY ;)] the tracks that sound the most interesting or comical. Through this, I have stumbled upon quite a few underground remakes of songs. My two favorite have been by Lil' Wayne and Kid Cudi. :)

When I found "Weezy Gone Crazy," I legitimately thought it would be a song regarding the hundreds of drugs Mr. Carter has done and a "crazy" trip he had, or something reminiscent of that. However, the familiar beat of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" started, and I soon recognized Weezy's voice rapping and essentially making a parody of the popular track. For example, these are the lyrics of one verse, corresponding to Gnarls Barkley's version:
"Yeah I know dat wuz crazy
But I think you are more crazy...yer
Than her
'Cause she is no daisy
S***, she jus pottery
With no seeds
So she can't eat"

Another comical parody I found was "The Biggest Grinder" by Kid Cudi. As the track started playing, I discerned the familiar introduction of Rick Ross and T-Pain's "The Boss," replacing the repetitive chorus with: "I'm the biggest grinder that you've seen thus far."

Its interesting to wonder what motives the respective artists have when they make these musical parodies of other artists' top-charting tracks. I guess there's more personal parts to this rap game that manage to avoid being publicly acknowledged in newspapers and gossip magazines.

song of the day: semi-charmed life--third eye blind
[in honor of this splendid weather <3]

--hen

One Reason I Lived In So Cal

2009-03-19T17:43:00.002-07:00

I LOVE THE BAY so so so much, but this is something I could only wish we had here.

[mad props to http://www.guerillaunion.com/paiddues, check out the website if you're interested in learning more about the event]

I could just end my blog post here, since that banner speaks for itself, but I'll elaborate. The Paid Dues Music Festival, which as you can see takes place on March 28th in San Bernardino, is basically a hip-hop music festival where artists that you don't ever hear on the radio perform. This genre of music is by far my most favorite, because the lyrics of these rappers are so deep and the beats are simple yet still amazing--none of this computerized and edited crap. My favorite artists performing this year are Tech N9ne (okay, so "Sex Out South" goes against everything I just said I liked about this, but still I love Tecca Nina and his beats), Atmosphere, Living Legends, and The Grouch & Eligh. Also, many DJ's come to the event and perform; its more of a festival of culture and art than anything else and for only forty bucks. I would kill to go to this--definitely when I get my license I am driving down.

Many people don't appreciate this type of hip-hop and I don't blame them--it differs greatly from the mainstream style of artists like Flo-Rida, Akon, and even Lil' Wayne but only AT TIMES because he is still amazing far beyond the stuff you hear on the radio.

Through their music, many of these artists' lyrics talk about things far beyond clubbing, girls, and drugs (though Mary Jane is still a common theme), such as political views, the harships and corruption in our world, everyday life struggles, and so much more. If this sparks your interest at all, or if you just want to give it a try, here's are some of my favorite songs by the artists I mentioned above:

1. Atmosphere
Okay wait, so Atmosphere is one of my favorite artists period and I love literally every single one of his songs. His more commonly known tracks are "Sunshine," "You," "Yesterday," "In Her Music Box," "The Woman with the Tattooed Hands," and "Always Coming Back Home To You," which are all incredible. However, my personal favorites are "God Loves Ugly," "If I Was Santa Clause," "Modern Man's Hustle" and... GAH there are too many! But the two men of Atmosphere are sick artists, so check out these songs if youre interested.

2. Tech N9ne
Tech N9ne has some depth in many of his songs, but most of them are dirty, butt-shaking jams which are incredibly catchy. My favorites are probably "The Waitress," "That Box," and "Jellysickle." Another really good song of his is "The Rain," and I find that song adorable because his two little kids rap in it. Its a pretty sad and touching song, however.

3. Living Legends
LOVE them. Seriously. Favorites: "Night Prowler," "She Wants Me," "Almost Famous," "Moving at the Speed of Life."

4. The Grouch & Eligh
Together, they make a legit duo. Their best song in my opinion is "Lake Release," and "I Come Clear" comes pretty close.

Zion I, another one of my favorite artists, and The Grouch made a CD together titled "Heroes in the City of Dope." By far one of the best CD's I have ever heard, but I'll write about that another day. :)

I was freaking out about the amazing-ness of this song during class today, so for those of you who didn't get a chance to listen...this is what I live for:

And that is the song of the day. :)

--hen

Blame It on the Radio

2009-03-18T21:02:00.000-07:00

This is more of just a little vent--tell me your thoughts!
I HATE it when the radio ruins amazing or at least catchy songs that you actually enjoy listening to until you tune to 106.1 and hear it play every ten minutes, so you switch to 94.9 and they play it every fifteen minutes, and then you tune to 102.5 and when the static clears, it ends up being that same song you're trying to get away from? SO MANY SONGS are ruined by this and it really angers me!!

For instance, "Blame It" by Jamie Foxx featuring T-Pain is a pretty mediocre song, but I'll admit I would listen to it every now and then before I heard it constantly on the radio. These mainstream songs are such turn-offs after a certain point, dissuading listeners from tuning into the overplaying stations. I really am tempted to call St. John at 94.9 one day and tell him he lost his fierce-ness when he played these crappy mainstream songs for the 120th time that day. Seriously.

Now that I think about it, so many mediocre-yet-kinda-good-but-kinda-not songs who have potential to maintain their favorite-ness for a long time are completely ruined by the radio. Remember "Buy U A Drank" by T-Pain and Umbrella by Rihanna? I definitely adored those songs, but I distinctively recall that after two short weeks I started hating them and immediately changed the radio when I heard the introduction "Shawty snap, T-Pain..." come on the radio.

SO FRUSTRATING! Just a little vent I had about music. :)

song of the day: insomnia -- craig david
[but i can guarantee the radio will ruin this song for me in less than a month]

--hen

Slightly Intelligent

2009-03-17T18:11:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I haven't talked about this amazing band yet!

"it doesn't really matter as long as the music goes on"

"
[mad props to www.100xr.com]

Slightly Stoopid is one of those alternative-ska type of bands who sound like a euphoric cross between tanning by the beach in Mexico while sipping on a pina colada and driving through Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade in a bright red convertible. Basically, listening to them makes you feel pretty dang relaxed, and, to put it simply, amazing.

Their style of music somewhat varies--like any other ska group, a fraction of their songs include drug references to Mary Jane, while other songs analyze life on a deeper level than expected. If you're in the mood for something acoustic, mellow, and not a love song (let's face it, cutesy acoustic love songs can sometimes really make you hate your life life...or at least for me, hehe), I strongly recommend checking out "Wiseman" and "Collie Man". OH, and my personal favorite acoustic-y song of theirs is "Closer to the Sun" because the guitar in it is seriously the prettiest and most mellow thing I've ever heard.

This is one of my favorite songs by them, and its called "Sweet Honey". Definitely check it out! :)

*SIGH* I'M SO NOSTALGIC FOR SUMMER.

song of the day: angel eyes (feat. akon) -- play-n-skillz

--hen

Let's Burn This Filthy Town

2009-03-16T16:17:00.000-07:00

straight into the ground with our dirty looks and glances. Come on, can you hear us now as we rock you, shock you, drop you, and make you want it?

This song, The Higher's "Insurance," Is your average upbeat, alternative, punk-pop song that can easily put a smile on your face but completely bore you depending on how you're feeling, so listen to it only when your in a summer-lets-get-stoked-for-Warped-Tour moods. So you can only imagine how nostalgic for summer, specifically my two Warped experiences from this past summer, I got.

For those of you who have never been or are a little unfamiliar with the ridiculous and frenzied event, Warped Tour is a tour that lasts all summer long. Tons of bands (I mean TONS--the exact summer changes based on bands' availability) spend a solid two months touring around the US, and many play a few days' worth of shows but that's it. Its more of a music festival than a concert, and its craziness can be heard from miles away. Booths selling everything from food, clothes, CDs, and pipes separated by booths of specific bands which sell all kinds of merchandise of the respective band fill the entire area, whether its Shoreline Amphitheater or Piers 30 and 32 in San Francisco. Six action-packed stages occupy the empty space, along with crazy fans and bands--without security guards.

Yes, that's right. Warped makes it really easy to meet your favorite bands! I went twice this summer, first in San Francisco. I personally enjoyed San Francisco more simply because I love this city and it was the second or third day the tour started, so the bands were all hyped up, whereas by the time they reached the Shoreline Amphitheater in August, they were exhausted from the long summer roadtrip. Also, in San Francisco the booths of each band specified what time their signings would be, allowing my friends and I to meet various artists such as SHWAYZE [<3333333], Cobra Starship, The Academy Is, The Higher, Katy Perry, and many more. In Mountain View, this was much more difficult. For example, my friend and I were positive we spotted the drummer and background guitarist from Say Anything walking around, and as we creepily approached him and asked him for an autograph, he denied he was associated with the band whatsoever...despite the Band ID card attached on his shirt. Thanks, buddy...love you too.

When you enter whatever venue you may be in for Warped, you're overwhelmed with an atmosphere filled with sweat, excitement, frantic craziness, and, to be honest, illegal drugs. However, the day passes by ridiculously fast. The summer sun burns your back as you spend the entire day outdoors (I had quite an attractive tank top and puka shell tan just after the San Francisco tour), and you can feel your sunglasses slipping off the top of your nose due to the uncomfortable amount of sweat accumulated around it.

After rushing from stage to stage, checking the band lineup every ten minutes (which you can conviniently get text messaged to your phone!), waiting in line to meet bands for an hour, pushing through moshpits in order to feel the sweat on a hot lead singer's arm, and much more exhilirating chaos...you get pretty exhausted. In San Francisco, my friends and I did not eat anything from 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM. You could say we were a tiny bit irritable by the end of the day (more like constantly bitching at each other the entire ride home), but it was all completely worth it.

If you like alternative music, crowded places, and experiences that make for great stories, I highly recommend going to Warped Tour. Its crazy, and I love it.

Here are a few photographs from my Shoreline and San Francisco experiences. :)

My friend Darian, Alex, and I were fortunate enough to run into Gabe Saporta of Cobra Starship walking around the Shoreline Amphitheater. I was freaking out when we took this, because I went through a ridiculous Cobra Starship obsession at the end of summer.

Gross, disgusting, unflattering picture, but this was when we caught the lead singer of Motion City Soundtrack going into his tourbus right after he performed. Pretty legit (and creepy) of us. :)

Some bands, such as the Audition pictured above, did acoustic sessions which I absolutely love because of my absurd obsession with acoustic songs.

The Higher! In San Francisco. :) We were first in line to meet them so we genuinely bonded with them which was pretty cool.

WILLIAM BECKETT, Lead singer of the Academy Is. We waited two hours in line to meet this gorgeous ball of sunshine simply because I was/am in love with him...I owe my friends two hours of their life because of it. He pointed at us when he was singing and we told him that when we met him--he suavely replied "Oh, its probably because you girls inspired me." I swooned. The end.

William, my love. Again, an unflattering and disgusting photograph, but I was starstruck.

song of the day: the love song -- k-os

--hen

Rest In Peace
to all of those who have died in the past three months from Los Gatos High School. Mikey, Dennis, and Jill, I never personally met any of you except Mikey but I am so sorry this had to happen. Friends and family, please stay strong. I don't even know what to say because I'm still recovering from shock. A heart failure, seemingly innocent fun, and suicide...wow. I've started viewing life in a completely different way. Maybe I will meet you in heaven.

Sunday...Evening?

2009-03-15T22:23:00.000-07:00

Rain is falling.
Steal some covers, share some skin
Clouds are shrouding us in moments unforgettable
You twist to fit the mold that I am in
But things just get so crazy living life gets hard to do
And I would gladly hit the road get up and go if I knew
That someday it would lead me back to you
That someday it would lead me back to you

--Eh, so I guess I'm twelve hours off. My bad.
But really, that is an ideal Sunday morning. Waking up after an invigorating night, whether you spent it out doing stupid stuff with a big group of people or kicking back at home with a blanket, some popcorn, a few close friends, and a good movie, to the sounds of the rain patting against your window and your driveway sleeked to perfection with tire skid marks and miniature puddles is the definition of one of life's simple pleasures. At least in my book, anyway.

So I guess that didn't happen today. In fact, the weather was bipolar and somewhat irritating--sunny with puffy, voluminous clouds one minute, cloudy and storm-reminiscent the rest. Whatever, I guess it reflects life's spontaneity.

Anyways, back to the music part of this blog. I know thats an old and pretty mainstream Maroon 5 song, but its just one of those great mood type of jams that never get old. The piano, Adam's soothing voice, and soothing lyrics...yeah, I love it.

Mm, boring post...my bad for completely forgetting today. :/

See y'all tomorrow

song of the day: breathe your name -- sixpence none the richer
but you are in my heart, i can feel your beat
and you move my mind from behind the wheel
when i lose control, i can only breathe your name

--hen

Ch!ll

2009-03-14T23:49:00.000-07:00

Its still considered Saturday, so I haven't failed to not update my blog...nice!

I'm currently listening to Energy by Natalie featuring Baby Bash, and its a pretty dang old song but is incredibly relaxing. I'm lying in bed, reflecting on life's greatness and the geniusness (sorry I know this isn't a word but you get my point) of whoever created weekends, and playing this song and can't help but feel, to put it simply, happy.

Here, listen to it. Maybe its cause it reminds me of summer nights, maybe because its just a typical R&B song that's nothing too special, or maybe because I get random attachments to songs...Whatever the case may be, I love it.

Oh, BTW I love the stupid but fantastic comedy of American Pie 2 + Band Camp. Definitely make me laugh. :)

song of the day: erased -- dre feat. chris brown

--hen

Weekends Are for the Warriors

2009-03-13T19:09:00.000-07:00

I love Fridays so much. :)

While reflecting on the events of today, the acoustic version of Sublime's "Boss DJ" appropriately began playing. Sublime is by far one of my favorite bands in the entire world, and the acoustic version of this song is so relaxing--I highly recommend it when you're trying to just relax and free your mind. One of my favorite lyrics also comes from this song:

"just let the lovin' take a hold, 'cause it will if you let it."

Pretty darn good timing [props to the shuffle feature of my iPod] because as I was listening, the inspiring and eye-opening speeches of Mr. Olivas, Mr. Draper, and Dr. Allersma were replaying in my mind. I was actually talking to Mahum about this earlier today and thought it would be appropriate to write about it today. :)
I was all for voting no on prop 8 and completely support gay marriage, because I strongly believe marriage is about love and completely reject this "marriage is between a man and a woman" crap (sorry if this offends you, this is just my personal opinion). After hearing the stories of our three teachers, the harm and injustice of this law was incredibly emphasized in my mind. Really, could you imagine being told you can't marry the person you love because you're different? This law is like saying "Oh, you're short and your partner is short. We don't like short people, and if you guys make babies they might be short too, so sorry." You might say I'm overexaggerating but like I said, that's your opinion. I admire our teachers so much for having the courage to tell their heartwarming and equally heartbreaking stories, and for those of you who didn't attend this...I'm sorry, your loss.

I have a lot more to say about this but i GTG PEACE OUT CUB SCOUT!

song of the day: worldwide - outlawz feat. tupac
sigh, how I miss the 90's when our only worries were missing the new episode of blue's clues...or at least mine were :D

-hen

The Bucknall Days

2009-03-12T13:46:00.000-07:00

As my iTunes was shuffling around my 4,000+ song library, a favorite song of mine from third grade came on: "Always on Time" by Ja Rule featuring Ashanti. Anyone else remember the Ja Rule glory days? I sure do. Posters of him and Ashanti with the words "MURDER INC." (their record label--no, I was not some psychotic killing-obsessed child) plastered across their faces covered the walls of my room and the inside of my locker. I was even Ashanti for Halloween in fourth grade--I was obsessed. Looking back on this phase, I laugh at my complete obliviousness to the sexual content of these songs and my innocence to not even knowing the "cuss words" that filled these songs' lyrics.
Thinking back to these good ol' Bucknall days brings back incredible memories: the butt-slapping game (which Ms. Vail scolded us for one morning when walking back from recess), Ms. Ferrera's English class, my crush (more like unhealthy obsession) with Tim Lin--oh, shut up sophomores, the rest of you loved him too--and so much more. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find any of the pictures that highlighted this epic time in my life, but I did stumble across my ofoto account and thought I'd share a few hilarious photographs.

Epic, I know. David, Peter, Tiffany, Priya and I performed the Outkast favorite "Hey Ya!" in the lip sync show in fifth grade (Naomi did too! She's just not in this picture--sorry Naomstar :[). Due to our lack of male participation, Priya and I were obliged to dress up as guys. I'd say we were pretty darn cute?

I'm sure you all can recognize these two lovely ladies, Brianna Tran and Naomi So. I took this picture on the last day of fifth grade with my awesome 2.0 megapixel Nikon. Ohhh man, these definitely were the good ol' days. :)

Tiffany Chang, this one is for you. These absolutely gorgeous hibiscus flowers bloomed outside of the locker rooms during the spring of 2004, and Nicole, Kelly, Tiffany and I picked four to wear in our hair after performing in the Bucknall dance production. Our dance was to a song called "Camelot," and I'll be honest...we despised it. We called ourselves "Hawaiian Goths" because of the combination of the flowers and our Halloween-reminiscent costumes...cute, I know.

I'm sure you can all easily recognize Priya and Malika. On Malika's 11th birthday (April Fool's Day!) Priya and I baked her a cake, put green food coloring in it, as part of an April Fool's Day joke, and stuck Hi-Chew candy on top simply because we adored the fruity, chewy goodness. We ran to Malika's house, armed and loaded with water guns, and as soon as she opened the door we attacked--*sigh* oh, the simplicity of these times.

I think Kristina, Leeza, and Erica are absolutely beautiful. Our hobbies in sixth grade included playing volleyball four-square, going to Stanford men's volleyball games, and stalking the players at Pizza My Heart in Palo Alto afterwards.

Leeza just confessed to me that she would admire this picture of Tim when she was dating him in sixth grade. This picture was taken with my super cool disposable camera in Yosemite. I would just like to say that Kenny, Tim, and Sharma were by far my favorite guys in the entire world--especially because we would all go to Valley Fair together and do absolutely nothing except look at cool spinning rings. Fantastic.

song of the day: sea lion - sage francis
"i'll ride this horse 'til it bucks me off and i'm forced to shoot it down. i'll take him out for some gasoline, trade this cow for some magic beans, gonna make mom proud of the deals that i made, cause i'm a modern day johnny appleseed."

-hen

"I Like Dat"

2009-03-11T21:20:00.001-07:00

Alrighty, so I decided to mix things up a bit and have figured out something more exciting. I'm going to mention a song and an incident or memory that personally goes along with this song, and hopefully you guys can relate or at least get a good laugh out of it.

So this one time, at nerd camp [CTY], my friend and I were in our study hall class listening to my iPod and bobbing our heads to the song that came on--"Unpredictable" by Jamie Foxx featuring Ludacris. The very beginning of this song goes "I like dat!" in this high-pitched, female voice, and those of you who know me reasonably well know that I get pretty into the music I'm listening to. Our study hall was dead silent, as it was the first night of camp, and our class, teacher, and T.A. were still considered mere strangers. When this part of the song came up, I sang the "I like dat!" part in the most obnoxious, high-pitched voice, forgetting that I was in study hall and supposed to be doing a monotonous chemistry worksheet. Half of the class burst out laughing at my oblivious nature, the other half just stared at me like I was some sort of freak (they weren't too off, huh?), my teacher rolled his eyes at me, and my teaching assistant gave me possibly one of the strangest looks I have received in my life--and trust me, I've received a lot.

So now, whenever I listen to this song, I get extra self-conscious of how loud I am singing and where exactly I am...Great first impression, huh?

song of the day: sky might fall - kid cudi [props to bhatia]

"the sky might fall, but i'm not worried at all"

-hen

Ladies, This One's For You

2009-03-11T16:20:00.000-07:00

Our cutesy journal topic today (Expectations I have for my future spouse) got me in one of those totally "girlie" moods that I often mock, but whatever, I admit I'm a hypocrite. A couple months ago I was also in this type of mood and created a completely lame but very fitting playlist on my iTunes, appropriately titled "AWH CUTE!" I just put this playlist on, and one of the songs it shuffled through was The All-American Rejects' "Mona Lisa (When The World Comes Down)":

"you can sit beside me when the world comes down,
if it doesn't matter then just turn around.
we don't need our bags, and we can just leave town.
you can sit beside me when the world comes down."

Five bucks says you either smiled or "Aww!"-ed a litle to yourself after you read that. The song is a typical acoustic love song, but lets face it--its adorable. I'm growing out of the alternative rock phase simply because I think all the songs sound relatively similar, but when I heard this song I couldn't force myself to skip it. The lyrics of the song describe how infatuated Tyson Ritter is with this girl (props to her, as he is pretty dang attractive) and how all she is all he needs. Whether you want to admit it or not, I can almost guarantee that you've felt that way at least once about the person you've been crushing on. Somestimes listening to these too-cute-to-be-real songs or watching those amazing yet making-you-hate-reality-so-much chick flicks can really get you down about your love life, but keep your head up buttercup--it'll happen one day. :)

Oh, and by far the cutest line of any song I've ever heard is from Relient K's "Must Have Done Something Right":

"and i know that it's so cliche to tell you that everyday i spend with you is the new best day of my life."

Get out there and enjoy this lovely weather! Two more days 'til the weekend--sick!

BTDUB: I think this blog is getting a bit tedious, so I'll try to mix things up later tonight or tomorrow. :D
-hen

A Couple Things

2009-03-10T17:45:00.000-07:00

Firstly, major props to geekalerts.com for the sick background picture--I legitimately want a pair of those.

On a not-so-bright note, I would just like to give my condolences for all family, friends, and classmates of Dennis of Los Gatos High School who has been presumed dead as of last night after a day long search in Santa Cruz. I can't imagine how hard it must be losing two members of the senior class in less than a three month period, and my heart genuinely goes out to all of those who have been affected by this tragedy. Occurrences like this really make me want to truly live my life to the fullest that much more and hold on to everything I have so much tighter; you really do never know what you got 'till its gone.

"Sun is shinin' in the sky, there ain't a cloud in sight. It stopped rainin', everybody's in a playin'. And don't you know it's a beautiful new day."

I thought it would be necessary to lighten the mood after the bad news. And what better way than with the upbeat melody of Electric Light Orchestra's "Mr. Blue Sky."
When I looked out the window today, yesterday, and the day before, it felt like summer. The trees seemed that much greener, the sky seemed that much bluer, and the sun beat down that much more perfect--though I'll admit, I felt pretty chilly all day today. However, though losing an hour due to "springing forward" pretty much blows, having the sun out until 7PM is pretty darn nice, especially considering that Mr. Blue Sky has been hiding from us for quite a while now. If you want to just smile and think about those little things that make you happy [for me, that's definitely summer--specifically going outside in shorts and a tank top at midnight and inhaling that fresh summer night air...ahhh :)], put this song on right now and let your mind free itself from your crazy work load tonight for five minutes.

So, "hey you with the pretty face, welcome to the human race." :)

Again, RIP Dennis. Oh, life is such a rollercoaster.

Weezy F Baby

2009-03-09T21:35:00.000-07:00

I think its timed I voiced my opinions about this because I get really annoyed when people immediately label this artist and assume his music and his lyrics are nonsense. Sure, Lil' Wayne does have songs that talk about drugs, alcohol, clubbing, girls, and all of those shallow topics, and sometimes his remarks are a little--unique, to say the least, but so do 90% of the rest of the hip-hop industry. However, his lyric repertoire exceeds vastly that of "Lollipop," "Got Money," "A Millie," and those other mainstream songs. Take, for example, his Carter III album--specifically, the song "Good Girl Gone Bad."

The song is somewhat similar to the Atmosphere song I wrote about yesterday in that it exemplifies the life of a troubled girl, but in this case the situation is far more severe: her father goes from a doctor to a cocaine addict while her mother goes from a banker to an alcoholic, reflective of her life, which goes from fortunate and blessed to, to put it simply, "bad." She has nowhere to turn to, no one to truly care for her, and her world funnels downhill. Bet you did not expect Weezy to write a song like that.

Mr. Carter talks about a situation that many of us have to deal with each day, just maybe not as extreme. Some days, some weeks, even some months, things feel like they are simply falling apart and going downhill for all of us--it happens. For me personally, its nice to be able to put on an album that you would think would be all about a sick beat [check out Pump That Bass on this album!] and explicit lyrics, and come across a song that really gets you to think.

The First One

2009-03-08T18:46:00.000-07:00

My honest feelings right now are that I am somewhat unsure as to how to start this first blog post of mine, considering the closest thing I have come to blogging is my 5th and 6th grade Xanga years. However, this blog is going to be a little bit of a few things--music, primarily, lyrics, my thoughts, and life in general. Who said there is harm in a little disorganization?

Let me start by explaining the name of this blog, "The Music Box." It is an indirect reference to one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite artists, "In Her Music Box" by Atmosphere. The song tells the story of a young girl who loves her daddy, fast food, and her toys, just as any other child does, but she is not completely oblivious to the unhappiness in the world around her--specifically, among her parents. She notices their constant fighting, their tendency to be gone working majority of the day, and in order to temporarily forget about the chaos around her, she simply "[concentrates] so so hard on the music and [loses] herself inside of the bass and the movement" and simply "[escapes] in the sound of that music box," just as many of us do when we walk around Main hall, drowning out the somewhat flustering sounds of laptops, stress, and high school drama. The character Slug, one of the rappers of atmosphere, is talking about is so young and seemingly naive, but Slug's message seems to be that music is a universal remedy in which age and life experience play no factor.

I guess that concept is the gist of this blog--how music and their lyrics can truly help us "escape" and how three simple minutes of our day can drastically alter our moods and essentially allow us to remain sane when everything else seems to be going wrong.

-henna

Lyrics Source: http://www.metrolyrics.com/in-her-music-box-lyrics-atmosphere.html