imagine (stylized in all lowercase) is a song by singer Ariana Grande that was released on December 14, 2018, through Republic Records. It serves as the first promotional single for her upcoming fifth studio album titled thank u, next. The lyric video for the song was released on the same day.
The song is lyrically about Grande’s denial of failed relationships. imagine is a R&B song with a trap-inspired beat and a pop ballad all in one. It also features multiple whistles notes from the singer that will leave you speechless.
It is rumored that the inspiration for imagine was inspired by Grande’s ex-boyfriend Mac Miller, who died of a drug overdose in September of 2018.
She begins to makes two references to Mac Miller's 2016 song “Cinderella” from his album The Divine Feminine. Here are the lyrics to Cinderella:
"And when you hungry, I can chef you up some stir fry"
Now, compare that to Ariana's interpolation of the song on imagine:
"Staying up all night, order me pad thai/ Then we gon' sleep 'til noon"
Here is the second reference in which Grande sings, "Knew you were perfect after the first kiss/ Took a deep breath like "Ooh"/ Feels like forever, baby, I never thought that it would be you"
This is also very similar to when Miller rapped about not being Ariana's type on Cinderella with the lyrics:
"You used to tell me all the time I ain't your type/Now you always wanna spend the night"
Coincidence, anyone?
On the chorus, Ariana sings about an unattainable love that is now unreachable with the lyrics, "Imagine a world like that/ Imagine a world like that/ We go like up 'til I'm 'sleep on your chest/ Love how my face fits so good on your neck/ Why can't you imagine a world like that? Imagine a world"
My take on imagine is that I love how this song is opposite from her previous single "thank u, next", which was all about self-empowerment. The maturity of Grande's voice on this track makes you want to love the singer even more.
I would give this single 10/10 because of the dark theme and the lyrics of it that really speaks to you.
Buy/stream "imagine" on Amazon Music, Spotify, Apple Music, SoundCloud and Google Play:
I Used To Know Her: Part 2 is the fifth extended play by R&B singer H.E.R released on November 2, 2018. It serves as a follow-up to her previous EP I Used To Know Her: The Prelude. This is also H.E.R's final EP project as she prepares to release her upcoming debut studio album.
Carried Away
Carried Away is the opening track for the EP. It's a guitar driven song as H.E.R. talks about being sad and lonely while also wanting to be taken and doesn't want it to be for nothing. She sings on the first verse,
"Stare at the window
All by myself Jaded and waiting for some kinda miracle, yeah Love doesn't live here And I've gotta love tears Sorry if I can't imagine that you care, oh,"
and goes on to the chorus with,
"Please I never saw it coming You wanna take me away So please Don't let it be for nothing before we get carried away, yeah"
Can't Help Me
Can't Help Me is about the singer's personal struggles that she's dealing with in her head and her lover tries to help her, but she say that she can't be helped. The song begins with,
"Sorry that I've been livin' in my head
Holdin' onto words I ain't said yet I'm bitter, sorry, I just can't see You with someone that isn't me You should know I've been tryna find my peace I know it's difficult being with me But I just wanna love you this way And you just make it so hard for me,"
and on the chorus with the lyrics,
"But you can't help me
You can't help me"
I'm Not OK
I'm Not OK finds the singer worrying about where her lover is as she sings,
"Sick to my stomach
Four in the morning, I can't sleep In and out the city I'm worried 'bout where you may be Feels like I've been here Stressing the things that I can see Where do you go? What do you do? Without me, without me",
and says on the chorus,
"I'm not okay, I'm not okay I'm not okay, no I'm not okay I'm not okay, no I'm not okay I'm not okay Losing my faith, I'm losing my faith Slipping away, you're slipping away I'm not okay, no I'm not okay I'm not okay"
Take You There
Take You There is the fourth track where H.E.R. is thinking about going on an adventure with her partner and wants to take him here with the lyrics on the chorus suggesting,
"Can I tell you something for what it's worth?
With you Heaven is a place on Earth And I will take you there, I'll take you Show you something give you more than words With you Heaven is a place on Earth And I will take you there, I'll take you there Take you there"
Going (Interlude)
Going is the fifth track and the first interlude on the EP. She begins singing about wanting to reconnect with her long lost love. It starts off with,
"Yeah, wish I could be where you are
I know the distance is far I've been running, running through your mind Promise that I'm on a flight, going to you right now I don't have much time, with you tonight I've been going, I've been going, I've been focused Just be with me in the moment Trust me I know how you feel right now Baby that's just what it is right now Just stay with me, right behind you And I'm trying to, make the time to Baby that's all I can give right now Maybe that's just what it is right now, yeah, yeah"
Hard Place
On Hard Place, the singer is stuck between being in an unhealthy relationship and her own well-being, knowing that love will only win. She begins with,
"Wanna believe what you say
But I hate you on most days You've been testing my faith and my patience, yeah And you know that I be head strong But you know that you be dead wrong Telling me to relax when I'm reacting",
and the continues with,
"What if nothing ever will change? Oh I'm caught between your love and a hard place Oh I wish there was a right way I'm caught between your love and a hard place, oh Woah, oh oh woah, oh oh woah, oh oh woah I'm caught between your love and a hard place Oh I wish there was a right way I'm caught between your love and a hard place, oh"
Fate
On this song, H.E.R. is trying to express her doubt about the relationship that she's in. Then she begins to question her fate in that person singing,
"I'm lost, is it really even my fault?
I don't think that it's supposed to be hard, if it's really meant to be So give me a sign Is he always gonna be mine? Have I given it enough of my time? You cannot blame if it don't mean nothing",
and goes on to the chorus with,
"Sweet, sweet fate
I had about all I can take Am I living in the path that I make Is it yours? I wonder Sweet, sweet fate (Sweet, sweet fate) Oh if it's really out of my hands (If it's really out of my hands) Can you forgive all of my sins? (Can you forgive all of my sins?)
Have mercy on me, me
Lord Is Coming
Lord Is Coming is the final track on I Used To Know Her: Part 2. The song begins with a spoken word by the singer talking about the society that we live in before she sings on the first verse with, "We're like Daniel in the den/ Surrounded by these hungry lions/ Looking in the jaws of death/ We reach for saving hands/ No help will come from then/ The Lord is coming".
So, you guys already know that I am a huge fan of H.E.R.'s music. When I found out that she was releasing another EP, my mind was completely blown. I love all of the songs on the EP like Carried Away, Can't Help Me, I'm Not OK and The Lord Is Coming. I also like H.E.R.'s use of the interlude on both of her EPs. You would normally expect an interlude to be on a studio album, but definitely not on an extended play and I thought that she did a very good job at that.
I give the EP a 10/10. You really need H.E.R. in your life because she is bringing R&B music back to its roots.
Make sure that you purchase "I Used To Know Her: Part 2" on Google Play, Spotify, Amazon, Apple Music and more:
On November 26, 2013, singer Tinashe released her third mixtape titled Black Water. It served as a follow-up to her 2012 mixtape Reverie. Black Water carried the same sound PBR&B and alternative hip hop sound from her debut mixtape, but it also touched on new genres like electronica and neo soul.
It was preceded by the lead single "Vulnerable" featuring rapper Travis Scott on November 20, 2013.
I remember when I first listened to this mixtape way back in 2017 on Tinashe's SoundCloud page.
From the title track "Black Water" to the closing song "Ain't Ready", Tinashe has proved to me that she is a force to be reckoned with. I love all of her mixtapes dating back to In Case We Die!
And the fact that she made these mixtapes in her home recording studio, just makes me love her even more as a fan.
My favorite songs from Black Water are 1 for Me, Midnight Sun, Secret Weapon and Black Water.
Thank you, Tinashe, for this wonderful mixtape of yours. I can't wait for you to make more mixtapes, like this one, in the near future.
Make sure that you listen to Black Water on streaming platforms like InGrooves, SoundCloud and Datpiff.
Thank U, Next (stylized in lowercase) is the lead single from Ariana Grande's fifth studio album of the same name that was released on November 3, 2018, through Republic Records.
It is described as a self-empowerment song that talks a lot about some of Grande's past relationships.
She begins on the first verse with, "Thought I'd end up with Sean/ But he wasn't a match/ Wrote some songs about Ricky/ Now I listen and laugh/ Even almost got married/ And for Pete, I'm so thankful/ Wish I could say "thank you" to Malcolm/ Cause he was an angel".
But then, on the chorus lyrics, Grande is very thankful that all of her failed relationships with these guys has helped her as a person to grow singing, "Thank you, next/ Thank you, next/ Thank you, next/ I'm so f***in' grateful for my ex/ Thank you, next/ Thank you, next/ Thank you, next".
The singer also gets very personal on the bridge of the track singing, "One day I'll walk the aisle/ Holding hands with my mama/ I'll be thanking my dad/ 'Cause she grew from the drama/ Only wanna do it once, real bad/ Gon' make that s*** last/ God forbid something happens/ At least this song is a smash".
Ariana's parents divorced when she was only nine years old, so those lyrics on the track have sentiment value to the singer. Also, the "god forbid" part could be a nod to when Pete Davidson joked on SNL in September about them breaking up with saying "God forbid".
Overall, I love, love, love Thank U, Next. Ariana has never done a breakup song before and for that, she did a very good job of that. I have never heard sound this good until I listened to Thank U, Next by Miss Grande.
Okay, Arianators. I need all of you to make sure that you go and stream "Thank U, Next" on all streaming platforms like iTunes, Spotify, Tidal and so on. There is a chance that Ariana could have her first number one single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart by next week! @ArianaTodayNet is holding a streaming party for "Thank U, Next today at 5pm.
So excited to announce that I have just finished publishing my first story on Wattpad! It's called This Is My Story and tells the story of a 17 year old boy named Tyler Johnson who has autism. He then finds that he has been given a chance to let his voice be heard after winning a writing contest. It talks about diversity, acceptance and being true to yourself.
You can check out the first chapter right now. Here's the link:
Have you heard of Lauren Daigle before? For those of you who don't know who she is, then let me tell you more about her. Lauren Daigle is a contemporary Christian music singer who was born in Lafayette, Louisiana. She grew up in an environment filled with zydeco, blues and Cajun music. Lauren made a name for herself when she released her debut EP How Can It Be in 2014 and the album of the same name in 2015. She has been signed to the label Centricity Music since 2013.
Daigle was named one of Christian music's break-out artists, and her first single How Can It Be was named by iTunes as one of the top Christian songs in 2014. The album peaked at number one on the Billboard Christian Albums Chart for six weeks. Eighteen months later, it achieved a Gold Record Status. Additional singles from How Can It Be like First and Trust in You was at number one on the Billboard Christian Airplay Chart for seven and eight weeks, respectively.
She would go on to win six Dove Awards in both 2015 and 2016, two Billboard Music Awards, two Grammy nominations, and an American Music Award for Favorite Contemporary Inspirational Artist in 2017. She currently took home the same award at last night's 2018 American Music Awards.
On October 21, 2016, Daigle release her second album titled Behold: A Christmas Collection. It was her first Christmas album that she had done. A Deluxe Edition of Behold will be released on November 2, 2018 and will include three extra songs.
She was also chosen to sing the song, Almost Human, for the Blade Runner 2049 soundtrack in 2017.
On September 7, 2018, Daigle released her third studio album Look Up Child through Centricity Music.
It was spawned by the lead single You Say which was released on July 13, 2018. It became Daigle's third number one single on the Hot Christian Songs Chart and debuted at No. 44 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
You can purchase the song on Amazon Music, iTunes and Spotify:
You can also check out the music video for "You Say" right here:
Look Up Child debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 with 115,000 copies, of which 103,000 were pure album sales. It marked as the highest-charting album by Daigle, and the highest-charting Christian album overall since Hard Love by Needtobreathe reached No. 2 on the chart back in 2016.
Lauren Daigle has proven to be an inspiration to young fans everywhere. Her husky and soulful voice has been compared to singers like Adele and Amy Winehouse. She was named by music critics as "Christian music's Adele" after the release of her Look Up Child album. An article for Rolling Stone said that she's "bigger than Drake and Ariana Grande". Her musical genre is Contemporary Christian Music, but sometimes, she likes to mix it up with different genres like soul, reggae jive, jazz, pop and orchestra music.
Lauren Daigle is the singer that you need in your life. This girl has proven to be a force to be reckon with. I recommend that you listen to all of her albums that she has released and hear for yourself why she is "Christian Music's Adele" right now.
In fact, make sure that you listen to Look Up Child on Amazon Music, Spotify, iTunes, Google Play and on her official website:
