Best of Mixerr Album Reviews! Page 217

Various Artists - Midnight Drama album review

Midnight Drama is one of the rarer compilation albums that Sean Tompkins put out on his label Commerce Street Records in 1998 on CD format with no barcode. Commerce Street Records was responsible for releasing for various compilation albums and Midnight Drama was one of them. Sean Tompkins served as the executive producer for the whole album and pulled songs that others performed and featured on from other albums. Ricé and 17 Freeze did a bulk of the production as always.

Less than 10,000 copies of this album were pressed. That is why this album is considered long gone. Midnight Drama is even rare than the Runnin' Blind compilation.

Now the title of this compilation was inspired by a King 13 song of the same name. That King 13 song would be included on this compilation. That is where the title for this album came from. Midnight Drama was first advertised on the 1998 album Mr. Joshay - 21 Crunk Street.


The song Midnight Drama is about all the drama that goes on during midnight. A lot of crime happens at midnight. King 13 tells us listeners, “You better not get caught up in midnight drama.” Those are his cautionary words which tell us to stay away from the drama that happens during midnight.

Midnight Drama uses a combination of freestyle rap and gangsta rap. That makes sense because King 13 was known for his freestyle raps. Midnight Drama is an intense piano laced rap song performed by King 13 himself. He wrote the lyrics to this song himself. Not many know this but King 13 was the freestyle of San Antonio pre-2002.

Ricé produced the song and played the piano. Notice during the beginning that a nice mellow piano solo is playing. The piano solo lasts for 12 seconds until 0:12. Quadruple layers of instrumentation start to kick in at the 0:13 mark.

When drama starts at midnight, you better be prepared for things to unfold and expect the unexpected. Be prepared to ride. The drama starts at midnight.

Several niggaz are the cold shooting dice. 2 of these niggaz took the life of one of their homeboys by killing him. They blamed that wickedness on liquor. Gun shots rang out from the parking lot. 4 niggaz got ganked. There were 49 bullet holes. There were 6 bullet holes found on the spine of a man. His relatives got the call that he would no longer be coming home.

Drug slanging and pimping is what goes at midnight. One man thought he could find narcotics but he ended up dead in a closed casket. One of these niggaz was fucking his wife. His friends go out to settle the score and end up getting killed.

When darkness falls, you better be prepared. You better not get caught up in midnight drama.


King 13’s Naked Soul takes us through the views of a gangsta. King 13 laces the mic with such fiery and aggression in his lyrics. This is not surprising since this is gangsta rap. Every song King 13 raps on is fire! That is a fact. His presence is huge for this song.

Naked Soul is a fierce piano laced rap song. The piano is what keeps the mood mellow sort of in a strange way. The feeling is both mellow and intense. Notice the piano solo played by 17 Freeze at the beginning of Naked Soul. 17 Freeze gives the song a sense of mellowness and tranquility.


Mr. Joshay shows love and pays homage to the ghetto on “Ghetto Tears”. It’s another one of SA’s best songs that got overlooked in the rise of Southern rap. The song is filled with such smoothness over mean bass performed by Ricé.

It ain’t nothing like the ghetto. You know these Texas g’s be getting dollars. The ghetto is part of Mr. Joshay and he cannot let go of the ghetto. The ghetto is in him spiritually. So raise your hands if you can feel this southern sound. If you know you can feel him.

Only the strong survive. Ghetto tears run out of his eyes. In the line of hard times a ghetto child commits crimes. Mr. Joshay’s game has been laid. His aim is to get paid. That is his goal. He stays all about his scrilla (cash).

He claims LPT (Lockwood Park Terrace). The war is on. From the Uptown District to Sutton Homes it’s on. You don’t want to plex (beef) to with these Texas boys. Niggaz want to ride. Front and back & side to side with Mr. Joshay in a Cadillac. All draped out like Lil Keke. It ain’t nothing like the ghetto.

Mr. Joshay is sad because his daddy is doing time for being caught up in the grind. He did his dirt. He was trying to make ends meet by stacking paper and get up on his feet so his family can eat. Now we pay for what he did in the streets. The streets are what pay. It ain’t nothing like the ghetto. You know these Texas g’s be getting dollars. The ghetto is part of Mr. Joshay.

4/5****!

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Bambounou ‎– Chrome single review

Bambounou ‎– Chrome was released as a digital download and 12” vinyl on the 50Weapons label from Germany in 2012. Techno meets the sounds of electronic music on this Bambounou single. Bambounou never fails to disappoint his audience or the public in general with his production technique. Heavy bass is placed all over the single.

Chrome uses processed techno beats from a drum machine. It’s another Bambounou song driven by electro synths, heavy bass, and processed techno beats. Chrome uses some raw melodic production and DJ work. A touch of industrial music is used. More words cannot describe the feeling this track.Mass does use some raw melodic DJ work. However the vocal sample makes the song annoying and unworthy of listening to.

5/5*****!!

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Lil Mark - ‘The 3 L’s’ single review

Lil Mark brings his inimitable sound with 'The 3 L’s’, 3 tracks of future classic house gold. All songs are pure instrumental house music. Lil Mark is known for his inimitable instrumental house music. All 3 songs this single are perfect for the dance floor. This single was a digital download released on Beatport in 2014.

House music meets the smooth sounds of lounge music on The 3 L’s. The 3 L’s is kind of similar to Momentum in terms of musical style. The song uses multiple layers by utilizing a multitude of instruments.

Momentum uses medium bass over multiple layers of instruments which include a bongo selection, machine, electro keyboard, and a beat machine. The medium bass will sure enough rattle your speakers. Momentum is a perfect song for the dance floor or the lounge. The song is known for its use of multiple instruments. Lil Mark demonstrates his mastery of the dance floor as well as producing house music.

Mo is an instrumental cut which uses processed electro synths and high bass which is actually heavy bass. Another one of those songs perfect for the dance floor. Lil Mark demonstrates his mastery of the dance floor as well as producing house music on this song too.

5/5*****!!

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Exzakt ‎– Evolve album review

Exzakt ‎– Evolve is one of the most overlooked and underrated electronic albums out in music history. The album was surely ahead of its time for 2001 as Exzakt incorporates futuristic techno sounds instead of the typical processed electro sounds found on any other electronic album. There are some songs on the album that rely heavily on that retro electro sound such as Sleeping With The Enemy.


Sleeping With The Enemy uses robotic vocal samples over 808 dance beats that use a retro sound. This song relies heavily on that electro sound. Synths that he uses are gritty, loud, and on point. This song can do numbers on the dance floor. However this song can get repetitive and annoying to some people. But that does not stop this song from being a great song for the dance floor.

Clarity was an Exzakt classic which was produced by Larry McCormick in 2001. The distorted synths and distorted bass make this Exzakt song very unique as he usually uses clean processed electric synths on his songs. This song mixes electro with jungle house. Notice the drums and bass. Now the drums and bass part layers of this song makes up the jungle house portion for Clarity. Nevertheless Clarity is still a favorite among Exzakt fans.

Rhadoo was the DJ who was responsible for mixing and producing Outside Looking In. Yet somehow Outside Looking In one of Exzakt’s lesser known songs for some apparent reason. Some of the beats used are quite thin but in perfectly with the electric synths that are used. Fans undoubtedly slept on this song of his.

Off Course uses quite a futuristic soundscape with advanced enhanced filters which delay the synths into short notes. The beats used on this song are quite thin. Some plucks and high-pitched blips are added to the mix. But that doesn’t stop this song from doing numbers on the dance floor. Off Course was ahead of its time due to the use of such advanced enhanced filters which delayed those synths you hear. The song is similar to a crazy dream.

Electronic Dream is one of the sickest tracks ever produced for Exzakt! This is one of the highlights off Evolve. Here the bass chords have been transformed into electronic bass synths from a keyboard. This song is a perfect electronic song.  

5/5*****!!

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Obtane - Waterstorm single review

Waterstorm features 2 futuristic dark techno songs from Obtane. This is one of their digital singles which got overlooked in the field of electronic music. Fans seemed to have slept on this release of theirs. However this single uses some very low budget and lo-fi production. The beats are not very thick, solid, or sturdy.

Now what’s interesting about Waterstorm is a sample of an engine revving over a pattern of water drops. These water drops fit in well with the distortion of this song. Ironically enough this entire song is an instrumental. However this song is very lo-fi and low budget for a techno song. Still the song manages to be very dark but not exactly intense as one would expect.

This Town Is A Rotten Morgue is one of the more darker songs off this single as one would expect from the title alone. This song uses a space and airy soundscape with much distortion and filters.

2/5**

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ADMX-71 - Melted Fuel single review

ADMX-71 - Melted Fuel was one of the darkest futuristic techno singles of 2009 that somehow got overlooked and flew under the radar. ADMX-71 - Melted Fuel is another single which came from Berlin based techno/industrial record label owner Adam X. This single uses such intensity with hard hitting electric synths and flanger filters over an industrial techno soundscape. That is evidenced on songs such as Dire Situation and Nuclear Hysterics. Now this is not the more ambient side of Adam X.

ADMX-71 - Melted Fuel was released as a 12” inch vinyl single in 2009. ADMX-71 - Melted Fuel was released as a digital download in MP3 and FLAC format on his Bandcamp page. High quality streaming is available as well.


Nuclear Hysterics uses such intensity with hard hitting electric synths, flanger filters, distortion waves,  and vocal samples over an industrial soundscape. The cymbals kit seem to be distorted. However that is not surprising sine this is an industrial Adam X song. This song is quite gritty, dark, and industrial.

Now the song is extremely dense at the beginning as a few synths and chords are played. The buildup starts at 1:24. That is when more hard hitting electric synths, flanger filters, and vocal samples start to kick in. The other buildup begins at the 3:10 mark where more beats and distorted synths kick in over obese pounding chords. Those loud obese pounding chords give away a vibe of intensity for this song. 5:06 is where things start to get sick as that is where computerized blips and more vocal samples get more intensifying.

 
Dire Situation uses dark pultruding chords over live beats. Here the beats seem to have been taken from a live recording rather than the usual techno beats normally used. The beats you hear are played at roughly 113 bpm. These layers of instruments used fit in perfectly with his industrial soundscape. You can feel the modern day intensity unfolding on Dire Situation with those futuristic chords and obese beats.


Neutron Absorber uses a dark sci-fi yet industrial soundscape over whirlwind keyboards synths which the treble has been significantly reduced on. As a matter of fact, the treble on this song has been reduced to a fairly low level. The electronic chords give this song a futuristic and funky vibe. Yet this song does not use a groove.

Now the song is extremely dense The buildups start at the 1:50 where what seems to be distorted animals noises increase. The 2:58 mark is another buildup begins as more muffled synths and high-pitched wailing electronic chords start kicking in.

5/5*****!

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Lil Cap’n Travis - For All the Trick or Treaters EP review

Lil Cap’n Travis - For All the Trick or Treaters is one of the most lively and eclectic EPs to have ever come from Austin rock. Country meets alternative rock on this EP of theirs. You have the naive charm of the Beach Boys sprinkled with an edge of grittiness similar to Crazy Horse. Alternative rock can’t get any better than this. To all you LCT fans, if you were looking for a full album, you will be disappointed as this recording is an EP. Although short in terms of duration and longevity, Lil Cap’n Travis manages to have highlight songs on this EP such as For All the Trick or Treaters and With Caroline.

Lil Cap’n Travis - For All the Trick or Treaters was an EP that was released on CD in 2003 by their own independent label Sleep Bunny Music in Austin, Texas. This EP would serve as a prelude and precursor to their 2004 album In All Their Splendor which was released on Glurp Records from Seattle, Washington. 4 songs were included on this EP.

This EP was packaged in a brown cardboard sleeve format This EP was sold locally in the Austin area only which is why the EP is highly sought after by LCT fans. The EP itself is rare and quite hard to find in stores. LCT's EP sold for $2 to $3 at Waterloo Records at the time the recording was sold. But that alone does not stop the album from being difficult to find as Lil Cap’n Travis has now put For All the Trick or Treaters on their Bandcamp page to stream along with all of their albums.


For All the Trick or Treaters is a song that serves as a dedication to Halloween.

For All the Trick or Treaters is the title track to this EP. Powerful psychedelic rock music is what is played on the song underneath an airy/foggy mellow vibe. Their songcraft/songwriting is as powerful and trippy as ever. Oddly enough the vibe is not spooky yet the song has underneath a foggy mellow vibe. Take notice the two-step used in this song. Overall this song is the best track off the EP.

The song starts off with an airy retro alternative rock opening with a single electric guitar playing. Soon a few more guitars start playing.

Children don’t ask for much when trick or treating on Halloween. All they want is candy. However adults can be unfair by closing their curtains and turning off their lights. Sometimes adults choose to ignore children on Halloween. Lil Cap’n Travis encourages the trick or treaters to put up a fight. This is shouted in the chorus line, “To all the trick or treaters, let’s put up a fight!/We’ll take back the night!/We’ll take on the town” They encourage children to get their voices heard.


With Caroline is a teenage love song. We’ve got two teenagers in love that cannot be separated apart by anyone or anything. But we all know teenage love is not that simple since emotions often take over reality and rationality.

The song has that Sixties kind of charm. With Caroline is reminiscent to the naive charm of the Beach Boys sprinkled with an edge of grittiness and use of a woozy kind of twang. Gritty is one word to describe this song. With Caroline is another one of their most overlooked songs.

With Caroline would be used on their 2004 album In All Their Splendor.
    

Doghouse is where things start calming down as the mood slows down to a single gritty electric guitar. Two words to describe this song are slow and calming.

The EP concludes with the mystical song Magic Of December. Magic Of December is a hard rock driven ballad song that sort of has a country music feel. Magic Of December is sort of similar to New Bohemians - Air Of December in terms of mood, sound, tone, and style. The song Magic Of December was used on their 2007 album Twilight on Sometimes Island.

5/5*****!!

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Lil Cap’n Travis - In All Their Splendor album review

Country meets alternative rock on the 2004 album Lil Cap’n Travis - In All Their Splendor. You have the naive charm of the Beach Boys sprinkled with an edge of grittiness similar to Crazy Horse. Alternative rock can’t get any better than this. This album is one of their most lively and eclectic albums ever. In fact, In All Their Splendor is the best album to have ever come from Austin rock of all time next to Vallejo - Stereo and Sincola ‎– What The Nothinghead Said. This band is definitely underrated.

You can expect to hear three things in particular on this album which are love, country, and drinking. That has been the case with their entire discography. At least since the 2000's

Lil Cap’n Travis manages to have highlight songs on this album. Highlights on this album include the calming opener Steady As She Goes, nostalgic Natural Fool, the carefree improv tune Gone Fishin', honky tonk Bar Full of Fans, depressing Teenage Mustache, harmonic Dapple Gray, gritty The Grizzled Ones, airy With Caroline, and the distant Crawling Polaris.


The opener Steady As She Goes uses a calm relaxing steel pedal guitar you would hear in Hawaiian music. The song uses tropical beats over a calm melody with help from a marimba. World music meets country and rock on Steady As She Goes. 3 words to describe this song are calm, relaxing, and melodic.

The song alternates by using the A Major and E major keys in AEAEAE. Each verse uses A then E thus continually repeating that musical note pattern. The musical note pattern used is AE.

Imagine living life in paradise. It's like a dream come true. Steady As She Goes is about how living life in paradise being harder than it seems. Lil Cap’n Travis tells the story itself in song form and by singing.  Christian Braafladt is good.

Another mornin’, another day upon the sea. The wind blows steadily in the breeze. It’s another beautiful sunset. It's just like you always dreamed living life in paradise. It’s great. However living life in paradise is not always what it’s cracked up to be. That is factual especially when you are alone.

These lyrics represent loneliness of this song. “Livin' life in paradise is harder than it seems/The fishin's thrillin' but I hate cleanin' out the bones/Drinking all alone/Talkin' to myself” and “The stars are big and bright/Another romantic night/With no one else/The breathtakin' sunrise/Is like an angel watchin' over me/Is like bein' haunted/By everything that you ever dreamed”


Natural Fool explains how everybody needs a partner as this world can be so cruel. Natural Fool has a nostalgic feeling and tune as Lil Cap’n Travis blended country and rock together in one song. The xylophone gives off that friendly sensation of pop while the guitars give off a country rock sound.

This man took the tire gauge out of his pocket to check his tire pressure. However that was difficult to measure with all the things that were underneath. He made a lot of unnecessary stops along the way as he talked to children.  What he did was ask those children if they’ve seen a pretty lady around asking where she has been. He was just in Oklahoma, when the transmission dropped out.

Everybody needs a partner because this world can be so cruel. But it ain't in his nature to nurture a natural fool. He does not need a foolish partner.

The lyrics to the song are basically one verse.

He took the tire gauge out of his pocket, he was gonna check the pressure
but with all the things that were underneath, its difficult to measure
So he went to start er up, third times the charm
He was thinking about San Antonio with one on his arm
He made a lot of unnecessary stops, he talk to all the little kids
Asking if they're seen a pretty lady around, asking where she's been
He wiped the bugs off of the glass, he wiped the windshield clean
Cause the horizon is wide and the voices behind, confuse what you’re saying
He was just in Oklahoma when the transmission dropped out
And inside em he cried 'cause he knew he was no further than he'd started out

Everybody needs a partner, because this world can be so cruel
But it ain't in my nature, to nurture a natural fool


With Caroline is a teenage love song. We’ve got two teenagers in love that cannot be separated apart by anyone or anything. But we all know teenage love is not that simple since emotions often take over reality and rationality.

The song has that Sixties kind of charm. With Caroline is reminiscent to the naive charm of the Beach Boys sprinkled with an edge of grittiness and use of a woozy kind of twang. Gritty is one word to describe this song. With Caroline is another one of their most overlooked songs.


3.2 Beer Of Love is an ode to good ol’ 3.2% percent alcohol. Now 3.2% percent alcohol as better known as low-point beer to the rest of the United States. The song 3.2 Beer Of Love was used on the television series Friday Night Lights. This is one of their best songs and underrated songs hardly anybody knows about. In fact, LCT fans barely know about this song. Not that many people know about this song.

Bar Full Of Fans is driven by a hard country rock edge. The sound heard is similar to a honky tonk tune you would expect to hear from country music.

Dapper Gray uses an eclectic mix of blues, country, and rock. Think blues rock with a country edge. Blues meets country rock on Dapper Gray. Of course that harmonica you hear being used gives this song a blues edge. Dapper Gray has that Sixties kind of charm.

Rhinestones has that classic rock sound LCT fans have been known to love and favor.  This band is known for creating many classic sounds in their songs.

Gone Fishin' is a 34 seconds long carefree improv tune produced in low quality possibly using a mono speaker. 2 layers of instrumentation were used.  One could easily assume this song was a demo to an unfinished song of theirs.

Crawling Polaris is a rock song with a distant airy vibe. This song is an instrumental backed by an electric guitar and a steel pedal guitar. The steel pedal guitar gives Crawling Polaris a peaceful yet distant airy vibe with a tone of uncertainty and calmness.

5/5*****!

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Nicole Wray - Boss Bitch album review

Boss Bitch is a collection of songs that Nicole Wray recorded from 2002 to 2010. These songs were leftover songs from her unreleased albums such as Lovechild, Changes, Nicole Wray, Young Talented & Beautiful, Miss America, and Kill Cupid as well as her Independence Day mixtape from 2006 that was released on Aphiliates/FOE. Focus, Dame Dash, 7 Aurelius, and Playmaker Music produced the album.

Nicole Wray fans always refer to this album as a mixtape even though this release does not look like one. The word "mixtape" tends to cheapen things. I don't feel the same way though. Even though this album was mostly a collection of leftover studio sessions and unreleased songs as well as new songs, it's better than no album at all. Nicole Wray fans should be thankful this album got released.

This album was released as a digital download only in 2010 on iTunes. There was never any physical format issued for this release ever. There is a clean version to this album called Boss Chick which has different artwork and different songs that the explicit version. Sadly the explicit version was taken off of iTunes for whatever reason.

Nicole is so talented. It’s truly sad that people sleep on good music like this. People have been missing good music lately. She does a good job as always with the sounds of classic R&B. You should definitely stream this album of hers.



Who Are You served as Nicole’s reintroduction to music and the opener for Boss Bitch. This song served as her high quality, high powered comeback as she sings away. Not only does she sing, she talks and raps. She went the futuristic route on this song by using elements of electronic and R&B. Who Are You is one of those fast uptempo paced songs to ride your bicycle to and exercise. It is 2 minutes and 45 seconds long which makes it kind of short.

This song Who Are You was recorded and produced by Focus in 2010. Focus does a great job of producing beats as always. So you know this song is going to be lit! That’s no doubt.

Nicole Wray reintroduces herself to the R&B game for 2010. She was living in the ATL at the time when she recorded this song and even refers to herself as an ATLien! (Note the OutKast reference.) Who Are You is also to all those haters out there that have been hating on Nicole Wray. The song is clearly aimed at those haters specifically.

Nicole lets haters know that she knows who she is as a person as she shows self-awareness with these lyrics “I’m me/Who are you?/You’re a hater” She tells haters in those lyrics, “Who are you to judge me? To test me? You’re a hater.” She also repeats these lyrics during the refrain and chorus, “I’m me/Who are you?” Those words are repeated several times throughout the song.

These lyrics of hers were definitely ahead of our time and very futuristic. “ I'M SO SPACED OUT I'M ABOUT TO DISAPPEAR!” Now who else has these lyrics in any of their songs? Nicole Wray was way ahead of the game in 2010.


Wash Away is one of those depressing songs to wash away your pain to. There is a zither/koto playing in the background which gives this song a sad vibe. This song was recorded in 2010. Wash Away was produced by Mikey Jay and engineered by Seneca Malcom.

Nicole tells us why she wants to wash away all her pain inside. It feels like Russian Roulette to the dome. She wants to wash away all the pain and doubt inside. Clearly she wants to do just that. She wants to be with a man and never be alone again. Nicole spends the entirety of the song wondering if a man or anyone else can hear her cry for the attention she has been losing for and very well deserves. She wants to find a man who is just like her.


Pandora's Box is a fun mystery song which sounds very much similar to a dreamy love song. This mood is mysterious and playful. 4 words to describe this song are dreamy, fun, mysterious, and playful. This song was recorded in 2008 when her album Changes was being recorded.

Focus from Aftermath Entertainment produced this song. He does a great job on this song with the beats of as always. So you know this song is going to be lit! Now if you listen closely, you can hear the drums and beats samples to Computer Love by Zapp. Pandora's Box samples Zapp - Computer Love and Janet Jackson - Anytime, Anyplace.


Ms. America is a song dedicated to the ladies when their man made them feel famous like Ms. America. This song was recorded in 2007 during the Miss America era when her Miss America album was being recorded. Ms. America is a song that speaks for itself.

Nicole asks ladies out there, “Has he ever made you feel like Miss America? Put you upon a pedestal and give you what you want?” She asks ladies to tell her, “Tell me how that makes you feel.” during the song. “Has he ever made you feel like Miss America? Put you upon a pedestal and give you what you want?” are the lyrics to the chorus for this song as well.


Money is a song that speaks for itself. This song is for the strippers out there in them strip clubs downtown or wherever you at. For all them sexy pole dancers. That sums up this song here. The song was recorded in 2009.

Nicole teaches us money is something we all need and is a necessity. That is because everything in the world costs money. That is factual. In this world we work hard for the money. It’s a must that we survive. We strive to survive in life. Gotta get that green.

Now the beginning of this song uses an opera sample of a person singing in a loud high-pitched baritone form. This opera sample is a sample of an opera composition piece from either the 18th century, 19th century, or 20th century. This opera sample lasts for 8 seconds in the song until the 0:08 mark when the loud thunderous beats kick in.


I Like It was recorded in 2009 to be a buzz single for this album. That obviously worked as there was a music video to go along with this song of hers. I Like It soon enough became the hit single for this album. The song was #1 on the iTunes charts for a few weeks back in 2009.

I Like It has a 90s feel, style and sound to it. This whole song is bananas and off the hook! The beats, samples, scratches, synths, vocals, and chords are bananas! I Like It samples 2pac - I Get Around.


He Must Know is a slow jam and a club song. It's a perfect song to play on a boat cruise, night club, ballroom dance, café, or in a restaurant. This song is definitely a perfect song to play in a restaurant during the day or at night! The song will remind you of a soft Beatles Song. This song was recorded in 2007.

In this song, Nicole is head over heads over a man that she is clearly in love with. She wants him to know that she is in love with him. She makes this very clear throughout the duration of this song. The fact that she does not disguise the fact that she has been sleeping with him is not hidden either nor does she try to hide that from her listener(s).  Nicole is not too blunt as she gets straight to the point about how much she is in love with this man.

Nicole gets straight to the point at the very beginning of this song with her lyrics. “He must know it’s all about him/From his head down to the way he lace his Tims/Oh he makes want to let it go give in/He’s what I want/I want him to know I’m head over heals” These are the lyrics to the chorus too.

He is about the illest thing Nicole has seen. She cannot lie about the way he hypnotizes her eyes. There is no way she will let this man get away from her. She will love him to the point where he will want to stay with her.  She watches him when he grab his keys down to when he falls fast asleep. Also she watches the way he lace his Timberland boots. He makes her want to let go and give in.

Here Nicole is head over heads over a man that she is clearly in love with. She wants him to know that she is in love with him. She makes this very clear throughout the duration of this song. Now she is not too blunt either. Of course some people may say that Nicole is in over her head but that does not matter to her. She cannot lie as she is in love with him.

These lyrics explore how lovestruck she gets whenever he hangs with her.

How can this feel so good?
I wish I would
Let some girl come and stand all in my way
I see him coming my heart starts to pound
And when he touch me I just make the sound
I watch you when you grab your keys
Down to when you fall fast asleep
I call your name to hear you speak
I can’t believe you move with me
He must know it’s all about him
From his head down to the way he lace his Tims
Oh he makes want to let it go give in
He’s what I want
I want him to know I’m head over heals

These lyrics here are also repeated several times throughout this song. “I watch you when you grab your keys/Down to when you fall fast asleep/I call your name to hear you speak?I can’t believe you move with me”


My Friend was a song recorded in 2006 and was produced by Focus. This song was used on the 2006 Independence Day mixtape. It is a great song that is considered to be fantastic by Nicole Wray fans! The song is about sharing love and friendship as evidenced in these lyrics, “ The love that we share is far much better” and “A friend to the end”.

Eye Candy is one of those 2010s rave club songs. The sounds of this song are futuristic as the elements of electronic, pop, rap, and dance are incorporated into this song. One of those hot party clubbin' songs as some people like to call it and refer to as. All the girls want to be like Nicole Wray. This song is for the ladies out there who feel the same way as she does.


Drums is a love song with very loud ultra-heavy and thick beats from 7 Aurelius over a tempo of 122 BPM. 7 Aurelius produced and recorded Drums in 2010 even though the production sounds a bit distorted. Not surprising since this song uses some thick distortion in various places throughout the song. It's another great song you will love! You’ll get used to the distortion after a little while as the song progresses.

There is a bit pop infused in this song. These lyrics are quite poppish, “LOVE IS CANDY/LOVE IS BUBBLEGUM/CHOCOLATE CANDY/ LOVE IS YUMMY YUM/I FEEL SEXY”  This is the pop portion of this song.


Dice Roll is a sad mid tempo song about real life and reality. Everyday is just another hustle. Dice Roll was on the 2006 Independence Day mixtape. Now this version is a bit shorter than the original version on the Independence Day mixtape.

This song is the truth especially with lyrics such as “Hard time put you in a bind/Get your mind right/Gotta survive in this jungle/You’re a winner/Let’s not forget we are both sinners” Nicole has always kept things 100% recent truthful in her songs.


Callin’ deals with how Nicole is tired of her man constantly calling her. She wants to get rid of him and let him go. That is evident with these lyrics “I WANT TO LEAVE YOU ALONE, FOREVER/I WANT TO LET YOU GO” and “OVER AND OVER/I’M TIRED OF FEELING LIKE THIS/SO WHAT'S IT'S GOING TO BE, BABY?/I KNOW WHAT IT IS”

Callin' has either a Curtis Mayfield or an Isaac Hayes sample at the beginning. If you listen closely, the bassline has is sampling The D.O.C. - Let The Bass Go. It needed a music video to go along with it. This song was recorded in 2010.


Boy You Make Me Say is another love song. This song was probably recorded in 2003. The lyrics to this song are actually funny. “OK I'M NOT TRYING TO BE FUNNY/CAN ANYONE TELL ME IF SHE EVER ACTUALLY SAID WHAT HE MADE HER SAY?/GET HANDS UP SO EYES CAN SEE!”

Boss Bitch is a preppy upbeat R&B song that was recorded in 2008. Boss Bitch was a song from her unreleased album Changes and had featured one of the girls from the group BELLA. Nicole lets us know that she is the boss bitch who is in charge and in control of things in this song of hers. This ain’t nothing new to her. She’s been that for so long.


Misery loves company on the song Miserable People. Nicole Wray laces the track with her soulful singing about how misery loves company. Nicole Wray states there is so many things to love about life. In reality, there is so many things to love about living life. Life has its ups and downs. So why hate? Nicole Wray does not want miserable people in her life. She won’t let it get the best of her.

The mellow and vibe are smooth, timid, and slow. The beautiful mellow piano solo at the beginning of Miserable People helps give off a mellow vibe that is not too ecstatic. Miserable People has a loud and powerful essence in the sound. Miserable People was recorded in 2010.


The last song is Back Up Against The Wall is the closer for her album. The song had that futuristic poppy Roc-A-Fella sound to it. Rap meets R&B/soul here. Back Up Against The Wall was recorded in 2002 and produced by Dame Dash.

Back Up Against The Wall features UK hip hop/rap group SAS. SAS was signed to Rocafella as well when Nicole Wray was there. SAS was also known as Eurogang and were also signed to Cam'ron's Diplomats Records in the mid 00s.

Back Up Against The Wall was a song that was supposed to be on the 2005 Lovechild album when Nicole Wray was signed to Rocafella Records and DDMG. As you all know that didn't happen due to the Jay-Z and Dame Dash feud between 2004 and 2006. Which sucked of course. However this song would be used on the 2005 album SAS - Who Dares Wins.

Honestly Back Up Against The Wall needed to have a music video along with the song. Who knows what Jay-Z and Dame Dash were thinking.

5/5*****!!
 

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