Some say music videos are a lost art. With MTV and VH1 airing more reality TV programs than actual music videos, it is no surprise that a lot of artists have abandoned the music video route of promotion. Not all artists fortunately. A lot of big artists know that fans crave visuals, even if they are streaming it from their phone or iPad. And a lot of emerging artists know that dope visuals going viral are a great way to gain exposure and put your name on the map. For our best music videos of 2015 (so far), which include selections from Raury, Childish Gambino, Kanye, WebsterX and more, we have a mix of both. Check out our picks and see who got our number one spot.
Often times, features are the best way to get exposure as an up-and-coming artist, as there is the opportunity to collaborate with some of the biggest names in the industry. No one has utilized features better than Jhene Aiko, propelling her to the Grammys and becoming a go-to collaboration for rappers in just over a year’s time. She has been featured on so many songs in the last couple years that it isn’t even a question of if you have heard of Jhene; it’s a question of how many times. Taking a look back at some of her finest moments, we have rounded up a list of our ten favorite features from Jhene.
Describing herself as a “songwriter first before anything else”, Stalking Gia landed a song-writing deal Warner / Chappell Music and is now launching her career as recording artist. And with her empowering debut single ‘War Paint‘ and her new uplifting track ‘Born Free’, which premiered yesterday at Nylon, Gia is two-for-two in her attempts to make a name for herself in the indie pop game. In less than a year’s time, she has drawn comparisons to Lana Del Rey, BANKS, Tove Lo and more.
Gia’s ongoing rise reminds me of the great artists before her that used their talents that first broke themselves into the industry to further pursue their goals as a musician. G.O.O.D Music’s Kacy Hill went from performing as a dancer on Kanye West’s Yeezus Tour to landing a recording deal with the man himself. And of course Kanye famously used his production talents on Jay-Z’s classic Blueprint album to score a rap deal with Roc-A-Fella Records. Now we have Stalking Gia, using her experiences co-writing music with Stevie Aiello (Thirty Seconds To Mars), Alex Suarez (Cobra Starship) and 3OH!3’s Sean Foreman, to now write for herself. So we spoke with Stalking Gia to talk about the transition into her recording career!
Kanye West and Mike Dean (Photo by Dan Garcia/The Early Registration)
Here at The Early Registration we like to pride ourselves on our music knowledge. To stay polished on our musical expertise, our new feature is a little game of musical “6 Degrees”. For those who are unfamiliar, six degrees of separation is the theory that everyone in the world is connected by six or fewer steps, so we are now taking the liberty of connecting musicians whom you would never think could be connected, in exactly six steps. This week our 6˚ piece is dedicated to Kanye West’s new banger ‘All Day‘ and the vast team of nearly 20 artists and writers behind the track, which include Kendrick Lamar, French Montana, Vic Mensa and more. To keep things interesting we challenged ourself to connect one of its more random co-writers, rapper French Montana, to Allan Kingdom, the young Minnesota rapper featured on the track. The twist is can we do this using only other writers/artists credited on ‘All Day’? Find out below!
This past Saturday, electronic rock band Lotus performed for a sold-out crowd at the Turner Hall Ballroom in Milwaukee. Performing a number of tracks off their 2014 Gilded Age EP (as well as songs from their entire discography), Lotus accompanied their mesmerizing light show with great vibes for one of their Wisconsin stops on the Gilded Age Tour. Check out our photos below, as The Early Registration’s Halley Shaw was there to capture some of the best moments of the night.
This past Saturday electro-house musician Steve Aoki brought his energetic Neon Future Experiencetour to Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom. Fans lined up for blocks in the Chicago winter, hours before Aoki hit the stage, and the wait was well worth it for the sold-out crowd. And while the line was starting to build at the Aragon, Aoki held a private listening event at Casabar for his Neon Future II project, the highly anticipated second half to his Neon Future album. Neon Future II is scheduled for a May 12th release and features Linkin Park, Snoop Lion, Matthew Koma and more (stream the video for its ‘I Love It When You Cry’ single here). Not only did fans get to experience Neon Future II last night, but Aoki also performed a number of cuts and fan favorites from his entire discography to keep the crowd hyped. Check out our photos below, as The Early Registration was there to capture some of the best moments of the night.
Cashmere Cat has really blown up this past year, and he is showing no signs of stopping. Not only is he currently supporting Ariana Grande on her Honeymoon Tour, but as soon as he is done warming up arenas, he heads to venues to headline a tour of his own. Last night Cashmere performed for a sold-out crowd at The Mirmar in Milwaukee, playing a number of cuts including his new DJ Mustard collaboration ‘Ice Rink’ as well as his highly anticipated Kanye West track ‘Wolves’, the first song on Kanye’s forthcoming So Help Me God album. Check out our photos below, as The Early Registration was there to capture some of the best moments.
This year, February was jam packed with great releases from a variety of artists. Some came to us as a surprise, others beating expectations, and some just simply getting it right. Check out some of the best releases the month of February had to offer.
My grandfather once shared with me an old saying that goes… “there are two things in the world that everyone loves, rap album covers and red pandas.” Okay… maybe I made that up. But if you don’t like Kanye West album covers and videos of red pandas playing in the snow, then there is seriously something wrong with you. So in honor of my spirit animal and the creativity of rappers, we have took the liberty of photoshopping red pandas into famous rap album covers. Enjoy some of our best attempts, re-imagining the works of Dr. Dre, Kanye West, Drake, Rae Sremmurd and more!
Here at The Early Registration we like to pride ourselves on our music knowledge, to stay polished on our musical expertise our new feature is a little game of musical “6 Degrees”. For those who are unfamiliar, six degrees of separation is the theory that everyone in the world is connected by six or fewer steps, so we are now taking the liberty of connecting musicians by songs and features, who you would never think could be connected. This week our 6˚ piece is in anticipation of comedic rapper Lil Dicky’s upcoming Spring 2015 Professional Rapper Tour, which kicks off next month in California. For those who don’t know, Lil Dicky has received quite the buzz after his ‘Lemme Freak‘ video (one of our favorite videos of 2014), and through his raps LD is on pursuit to become the next LD (Larry David of course). And who better to connect Dicky to than his favorite rapper and fellow non-gentile, Drake? This may be a little hard as Dicky has only been rapping ‘professionally’ for about a year, but we’re up for the challenge.
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