Some favourites of 2011:

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Blog-wise, and I don't tend to have much time to scout round the blogs these days, but my favourite urban music blog has to be Semtex's blog: http://DJSemtex.com. In terms of useful websites that I've come across this year, We Transfer has to take the prize here: http://WeTransfer.com. There've been many albums I've enjoyed this year, but 'Watch The Throne' from Jay-Z and Kanye West, 'Take Care' from Drake, SBTRKT's self-titled debut, 'Every Kingdom' from Ben Howard and Noel Gallgher's High Flying Birds self-titled album, are all firm favourites.

This year has seen some of the artists who I've bashed people over the head with on Twitter come to see huge success, in particular, Emeli Sande and Ed Sheeran, two amazingly talented British songwriters. I'd like to say I was championing Ben Howard also, but he appeared on my radar very late in the year, thanks to Lauren Laverne on BB 6 Music. Also through her show I was very pleased to be introduced to the work of Bon Iver, Lana Del Rey, M83 and some new Friendly Fires output that I'd have probably otherwise missed out on. 

In terms of the producers who I feel have excelled this year, it's certainly worth noting what the likes of 2 Bears, RackNRuin, Redlight and of course Noah Shebib (Drake's producer) have been doing. They've all produced some great music during 2011. Music people who have been an inspiration to watch and learn from this year most certainly include Eddy Temple-Morris (for his unique, all round manner, and great CMU columns I've previously blogged about), Nick Bright (a leading light at BBC 1Xtra, in terms of quality presenting talent) and Zed Bias (the mans work rate scares me... and we get told we're super-productive! Zed is on a whole new level of the term 'productive').

I could go on, but I want to keep this short, really. It's been a great year for British music, and a great year for us as HeavyFeet. Big up 2011!

Mike HF

Filed under  //   BBC 6 Music   BBC Radio 1Xtra   Ben Howard   Bon Iver   Dj Semtex   Drake   Ed Sheeran   Eddy Temple Morris   Emeli Sande   Friendly Fires   HeavyFeet   Jay-Z   Kanye West   Lana Del Rey   Lauren Laverne   M83   Nick Bright   Noah Shebib   Noel Gallagher   RackNRuin   Red Light   SBTRKT   The 2 Bears   We Transfer   Zed Bias  
Posted December 31, 2011 by HeavyFeet 
 

Take Care (in photos)

A few behind the scenes shots from the recording of Drake's 'Take Care', on the Octobers Very Own blog: 

http://octobersveryown.blogspot.com/2011/12/take-care-by-ruben-rivera.html

Mike HF

Filed under  //   Behind The Scenes   Drake   Take Care  
Posted December 24, 2011 by HeavyFeet 
 

Drake ft. Rihanna - Take Care (audio)

This just popped up on my Twiter feed. Rather exciting! 

'Take Care', the album, due out on Nov 15th. Stream it here. 

Mike HF

Filed under  //   Drake   Rihanna   Take Care  
Posted November 7, 2011 by HeavyFeet 
 

Drake ft. Nicki Minaj - Make Me Proud (audio)

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So, I declared Drake's new single 'Make Me Proud' (featuring Nicki Minaj), a semi-dubstep influenced number, as 'shite' on Tuesday when I first heard it. I've (unsurprisingly) given it a few more listens in the mean time however, largely to decipher what my issues are with it. 

Minaj's verse just isn't doing it for me, her flow is becoming the same every time I hear her guest on someone else's track, and the usual twisting of the English language to make it rhyme is getting tiresome to my ears, so are the now obligatory vocal stutters. I think Drake's hook could have been cut up to be more interesting also, and if there's an acapella released at some point, I'll be the first to go in on making those changes, believe me. I also think it's worth pointing out that this isn't a 40 production!

On a positive note, the hook melody is strong (despite the very obvious repetition), and I really like Drake's bridge, so undoubtedly there are some enjoyable sections and lyrically, Drake's verse is up there, way over the quality control bar, as ever. I think the venture down the dubstep route wasn't perhaps necessary, but I can forgive it. I'm still hyped for the full release of 'Take Care' (November) though, 'Make Me Proud' hasn't changed anything there for me. 

Make up your own mind, here.

Mike HF

Filed under  //   Drake   Nicki Minaj   Take Care  
Posted October 20, 2011 by HeavyFeet 
 

Noah '40' Shebib (interview)

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'40' is my favourite producer right now. I don't see him moving from that spot from a good while either, to be honest. It'll take a minor miracle for me to pay attention to anyone else's music in the way that I listen to anything that Shebib produces. Check out this great, in depth interview with him over at The Fader, and begin to understand what he's about. Click here to read.

Props to my man Yaw Owusu for the link.

Mike HF

Filed under  //   40   Drake   Noah Shebib   The Fader  
Posted October 14, 2011 by HeavyFeet 
 

Drake 'Headlines' (video)

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Drake just released the video for 'Headlines' on Vimeo. I love the shot at the end with the stadium roof lifting off around his silhouette, pretty cool, even if it was (probably) imposed via a greenscreen.

Click here to watch.

Mike HF

Filed under  //   Drake   Headlines  
Posted October 2, 2011 by HeavyFeet 
 

Drake 'Take Care' release date

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On Friday, Drake announced his forthcoming second album, entitled 'Take Care', will be released on October 24th. I believe that the above image will be the front cover of the new album, as the artwork has been tagged as 'final web copy', so I'm assuming this is the case, anyway! 

As most of you who frequent this blog will know, I'm a huge Drake fan, and I'm extremely excited to hear how the new album's developed from 'Thank Me Later', and also to see how the OVOXO collaborations have gone between Drake and Abel Tesfaye, AKA The Weeknd.

Mike HF

Filed under  //   Drake   Octobers Very Own   Take Care  
Posted September 26, 2011 by HeavyFeet 
 

New Drake tracks for download

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It's been a minute since I hopped on to Drake's blog, so shouts to DJ Semtex's blog for alerting to me that Drake has new tracks available today. 

First up is another forthcoming track from the 'Take Care' album, entitled 'Club Paradise'. Dreamy synths and just the right amount of sung hooks and great bars (standard), with the odd extra female backing vocal here and there. Standardly great. I'm getting really hyped for 'Take Care' now. After hearing this and 'Headlines', my excitement continues to grow. Second, is a pretty low slung, 808 drums driven track featuring Rick Ross. It's entitled 'Free Spirit'. It's definitely worth a listen. Lastly, there's a wicked Drake remix of Waka Flocka Flame's 'Round of Applause'. This has taken a few listens, as I'm not really a W.F.F fan, but it's really starting to work for me now.  

Head over to October's Very Own for a listen/download of all three, anyway.

Mike HF

Filed under  //   Dj Semtex   Drake   Octobers Very Own   Rick Ross   Waka Flocka Flame  
Posted September 11, 2011 by HeavyFeet 
 

The Weeknd - Thursday (mixtape)

I've just listened through the entire 'Thursday' mixtape from The Weeknd, and I must say, I love it! 

If you don't know much about him (it's a one man 'band', as such), what you need to know is that he makes highly emotive, intelligent, electronic based music, with a strong nod to RnB. Drake is largely responsible for his recent progression from largely unknown to very hype. Drake has also brought The Weeknd (real name Abel Tesfaye) on board on his own second album, 'Take Care', which is released in Autumn, which I can't wait to hear either.

Anyway, I highly recommend you download this mixtape. Grab it here (via Soul culture's website).  

Mike HF

Filed under  //   Drake   Mixtape   The Weeknd  
Posted August 27, 2011 by HeavyFeet 
 

SBTRKT

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If you've been living on the moon/under a rock, or even minus internet this year, you may not be aware of the monster producer/artist that is SBTRKT. I absolutely love what he's doing at the moment. An incredible sound, and for the likes of Drake to recognising, and getting involved with what he's doing, is in short, pretty phenomenal. Here are some of my favourite SBTRKT highlights, so far:

(Download the full quality mp3 from The Fader: http://snd.sc/ltVaYx)

Mike HF

Filed under  //   Drake   SBTRKT  
Posted August 13, 2011 by HeavyFeet