Lady Wray – Through It All / Under The Sun single review
Lady Wray explains what she has been through in the life with her new single Lady Wray – Through It All / Under The Sun in 2022. The basis of this single revolves around romance and entertainment. Her new single is available to purchase and stream. The single has that sultry and soulful sound which Big Crown Records is renown for.
The song Through It All is about dedication through better or worse. Through It All uses more upbeat soulful bounce with the beats and vocals. Its percussion selection is fairly balanced with not too many drums used. The sound is smoother than sandpaper. A pitch-shifted soul sample seems to have been used looped throughout various parts of this song.
Nicole hates when people only pretend to love each other. She wants real love. She expresses this in lyrics to Verse 1.
[Verse 1]
Even though we fuss and fight
We don't always get it right
We're not even perfect friends
I hate when people love pretend
Every night we kiss and hug
She can’t believe people supported her even when she was wrong. At times when Nicole kept getting pushed back down. She was pushed back down several times throughout her career in music.
[Verse 2]
Can't believe we held on strong
At times, it even felt so wrong
Then we got a gust of wind
That kept pushing us right back in
Can't believe it still feels new
Under The Sun is a beautiful feel-good song with that upbeat laid back summer vibe. Lady Wray blends the past, present, and future as she, along with the Big Crown Records production team (El Michels Affair), mixes 70s retro soul with a touch of modern production. Their production makes Under The Sun sound like a 70s throwback song. Just feel the vibes and sound.
Nicole just wants to have a carefree life under the sun. Life for her has just begun. The sun is out shining and the wind is free. The music's loud and all the kids are running around. So pass the joint and take a hit. Light up this spliff. The wind is free under the sun. Nicole just wants to have fun with her friends. She feels like living, loving, and laughing under the sun. To sum it all up, she feels like living under the sun.
Have a drink and close your eyes. Let yourself be hypnotized. There are purple clouds and purple dreams. All while laying back under a tree.
Nicole just wants to have a carefree life under the sun. She wants to have fun under the sun. She expresses so in lyrics to Verse 1 and the chorus.
[Verse 1]
I wanna be free, under sun
Life for me has just begun
The sun is out, the wind is free
[Chorus]
Feel like living under sun (I feel likе living under the sun)
Feel like laughing undеr the sun (Laughing, baby, laughing baby)
Feel like loving under the sun (Oh, you gotta love)
I feel so good under the sun (Said I'm feeling so good)
(Said I feel so good)
[Chorus]
Feel like living under the sun
(Oh, feel like living, yeah)
Feel like laughing under the sun
(Feel like laughing, I feel like laughing now)
Feel like loving under the sun
(Oh, do you love me? Oh, do you love me now? Yeah)
I feel so good under the sun
(I feel so good, I feel so good, yeah, yeah)
(Yeah, yeah)
5/5*****!!
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Lady Wray - Piece of Me (Emerald Green vinyl edition) album review
Piece of Me (Emerald Green vinyl edition) is Lady Wray’s comeback album that marks her maturity and growth in the music industry as a lady. You will love her soulful voice and harmony as she sings. She gets better with every single album she releases. Her voice gets deeper, darker, and smoother as the years progress forward. That is evidenced on songs Piece of Me, Come On In, and All Alone. For those who don’t know, Lady Wray is Nicole Wray.
Soul fans and Nicole Wray fans will not be disappointed as this album follows the same old school soul formula of Queen Alone. This is perfect deep Southern soul. Big Crown Records is doing something right by bringing back soul music everyone used to listen to. They put in soulful beats and soulful voices that speak to everyone’s heart and soul. That is no coincidence as Leon Michels produced her entire album. Leon Michels does no wrong when it comes to production, songwriting, or singing.
The album “Piece of Me” serves as a testament to the trials and tribulations in her life both good and bad. The songs on this album represent the few milestones she has encountered in life. She has grown and matured as a person.
The recording process of this album took place from 2018 to 2021. The album took as long as 3 years to records. Leon Michels of Truth & Soul fame produced a majority/bulk of the songs on this album which is why you can hear his production all over the place.
Now the Emerald Green vinyl edition of Lady Wray - Piece of Me is Big Crown Records top selling vinyl for 2022 and is a hot commodity which is in hot demand. That is because the Emerald Green vinyl edition of Lady Wray - Piece of Me has been pressed up as a limited edition.
Come On In is a Nicole Wray composition full of heat! Not to mention deep. The song sounds very similar to Lean On Me by Bill Withers. The instrumentation gives Come On In a throwback sound which is smoother than sandpaper. The soulful beats give this song a soulful bounce hence the soulful sound. Leon Michels produced the song Come On In. Now the song Come On In only uses three instruments and her voice.
Nicole talks about being committed to a long term relationship throughout the song. She will move forward in life and progress if she has a man in her life.
The beginning of Come On In starts off with a couple of heavy piano notes which quickly turn into a piano solo. The percussion selection is fairly balanced with not too many drums used.
Nicole has been waiting for a man to come into her life. She is accepting towards a man coming into her life. She is willing to be in a long term relationship. She says she’ll be waiting. Waiting to be in a long term relationship with him. She will move forward in life and progress if she has a man in her life. Nicole talks about being committed to a long term relationship.
Nicole tells her man to set the bar and his standards high. They’ve come too far by faith to give up now at this point in the relationship. Nicole Wray took it to church with these lyrics “We come too far by faith".
Nicole wrote Piece Of Me with songwriter Leon Michels before she gave birth to her daughter Melody. The song was written in 2018 before she became a mother. Her alto voice gives off a jazzy vibe in this particular song. Now the feeling, tone, and mood for this song is filled with sadness.
Piece of Me is a sad heartbreaking love song that is filled with uncertainty and emotional attachment. Nicole and her man have been thru the best of times even through her darkest days. They’ve been through the best of times and the worst of times. Why must it turn around? She asks herself.
Life has its uncertainties. Life is not fair. So many questions with so many answers. She’s not sure these days. He has been good to Nicole. That’s why it’s hard for her to walk away.
The song is a perspective of her world. Throughout the song, she sings about sacrificing for her family even if they don’t always help, contribute, or give back. She broke us off a piece of her with this song soulfully speaking as this song represents the few milestones she has encountered in life. She broke herself off a piece of herself with this song.Those memories of hers are hard to let go of. So she stashed the memories away to ease the pain and as a way to cope. That is what the lyrics “I've stashed the memories to ease the pain” mean.
These lyrics explain the burden and pain of life being unfair.
You've been the best at times
You walk me through my darkest days
Why must it turn around?
I ask myself (I don't know)
This just ain't fair, so hard to bear (It's not fair)
I'm not really sure these days
Sure these days, sure these days (Ooh)
I've stashed the memories to ease the pain
Under The Sun is a beautiful feel-good song with that upbeat laid back summer vibe. Lady Wray blends the past, present, and future as she, along with the Big Crown Records production team (El Michels Affair), mixes 70s retro soul with a touch of modern production. Their production makes Under The Sun sound like a 70s throwback song. Just feel the vibes and sound.
Nicole just wants to have a carefree life under the sun. Life for her has just begun. The sun is out shining and the wind is free. The music's loud and all the kids are running around. So pass the joint and take a hit. Light up this spliff. The wind is free under the sun. Nicole just wants to have fun with her friends. She feels like living, loving, and laughing under the sun. To sum it all up, she feels like living under the sun.
Have a drink and close your eyes. Let yourself be hypnotized. There are purple clouds and purple dreams. All while laying back under a tree.
Nicole just wants to have a carefree life under the sun. She wants to have fun under the sun. She expresses so in lyrics to Verse 1 and the chorus.
[Verse 1]
I wanna be free, under sun
Life for me has just begun
The sun is out, the wind is free
[Chorus]
Feel like living under sun (I feel likе living under the sun)
Feel like laughing undеr the sun (Laughing, baby, laughing baby)
Feel like loving under the sun (Oh, you gotta love)
I feel so good under the sun (Said I'm feeling so good)
(Said I feel so good)
[Chorus]
Feel like living under the sun
(Oh, feel like living, yeah)
Feel like laughing under the sun
(Feel like laughing, I feel like laughing now)
Feel like loving under the sun
(Oh, do you love me? Oh, do you love me now? Yeah)
I feel so good under the sun
(I feel so good, I feel so good, yeah, yeah)
(Yeah, yeah)
The song Through It All is about dedication through better or worse. Through It All uses more upbeat soulful bounce with the beats and vocals. Its percussion selection is fairly balanced with not too many drums used. The sound is smoother than sandpaper. A pitch-shifted soul sample seems to have been used looped throughout various parts of this song.
Nicole hates when people only pretend to love each other. She wants real love. She expresses this in lyrics to Verse 1.
[Verse 1]
Even though we fuss and fight
We don't always get it right
We're not even perfect friends
I hate when people love pretend
Every night we kiss and hug
She can’t believe people supported her even when she was wrong. At times when Nicole kept getting pushed back down. She was pushed back down several times throughout her career in music.
[Verse 2]
Can't believe we held on strong
At times, it even felt so wrong
Then we got a gust of wind
That kept pushing us right back in
Can't believe it still feels new
Where Were You is Nicole’s cry for help to her previous lover that was not supportive of her and was not there for her. Nicole wonders where he was when she needed him the most in her lifetime.
Where Were You uses more upbeat soulful bounce with the beats and vocals. Its percussion selection is fairly balanced with not too many drums used. The sound is smoother than sandpaper.
She wonders when all this madness and relationship drama will end. Nicole wonders where he was when she was just sleeping in cars. Where was he when Nicole was should've been reaching for stars? Where was he when Nicole needed him the most? Where was he went Nicole did not have a penny to her name? She wonders about this.
These are the questions Nicole wonders and asks him.: Where were you when I was just sleeping in cars? Where were you when I should've been reaching for stars?
[Chorus 1]
(Where were you)
When I was just sleeping in cars?
(Where were you)
When I should've been reaching for stars?
(Where were you? Where were you?)
Where were you? Oh (Where were you?)
Nicole spends every day all alone by the phone. Thinking about what did she do wrong. She has not a clue about on what to do. This has got her stressed. Here Nicole sits all alone in her room after a long night of drinking all by herself. She wakes in the morning wondering what in the hell she did wrong. She asks herself, “What in the hell did I do wrong?” At this point things start getting heartbreaking with uncertainty. That is because she spent the whole night getting drunk. So things don’t end on a high note for her. Her lyrics tell all.
She needs a hand and needs someone to lean on. She needs a friend, a dog, and a loan. Dreams come true but not for her. He went and kept it all for himself. She thought he had her back but was sadly mistaken and mislead.
[Verse 1]
Every day, all alone by the phone
Thinking, what in the hell did I do wrong?
Got me stressed, not a clue what to do
I need a hand, I need someone to lean on
Drinking wine in my room, all alone
I need a friend, I need a dog, I need a loan
Dreams come true, yes, they do, yes, they do
But not for me, you went and kept it all for you
Nicole finally has some luck now that things are looking up for her in her life. However he came way too late for Nicole. The tables were turned and the bridge is now burned. But he is alone and his friends are gone, Nicole made herself a home and started a family. He should have invested in her but he was not smart.
[Verse 2]
Now that things are looking up, I have some luck
Here you come way too late, this seems fake
You missed it all, I stay true from the gate
Why come now?
To make yourself look good, you're insane
Feeling good, I'm okay, oh, these days
Yes, I've learned, tables turned, the bridge is burned
But you're alone, your friends are gone, I made a home
Just a thought, should've invested in me, but you're not smart
The queen marks her beautiful piano-laced comeback with the song Storms. Her vocals are amazing as always. Lady Wray can’t go wrong with the Big Crown sound. This song has Lady Wray tapping into her early years singing in church harmony. She goes straight to the point with Storms. Even through storms Lady Wray manages to overcome all odds. Leon Michels produced Storms using his own style of production and arrangements.
Lady Wray lets her man know that she is not playing games with her man’s heart and they can both overcome everything as a couple in a relationship even through storms. She asks her man to take all her love which she has given to him freely. There are so many reasons she believes in him. He is all hers. She will be waiting patiently as he takes his own sweet time. So Lady Wray tells him take all the time he needs.
Lady Wray lets her man know that she is not playing games with her man’s heart and they can both overcome everything as a couple. This is discussed in Verse 1.
[Verse 1]
You need to know, yeah
That I am not playing games with your heart
Told you before, yeah
Trust me, we can get through anything
5/5*****!!
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Holy Hive - Holy Hive album review
Holy Hive - Holy Hive is a beautiful yet subtle folk soul album with chilling mellow sounds and vibes. You definitely get, feel, and hear some Mercury Rev vibes on Holy Hive - Holy Hive. A faint falsetto can be heard all over the album.
Starless is about being demotivated and isolated from the world which is what cold and starless means. The song has a celestial setting. Dreamers often lie in a bed when you are fast asleep. There are fires in the dark and flames with no heat. They were faring out when you wake up cold and starless. Set the world upon your back. Dreamers seldom lie about the visions they've seen. No matter what your eyes see when they're closed, you wake up cold and starless.
Great Chains is about going to places where people do not know you. If you, like Paul, are a person of rational mind use, you want to know where everything goes. You'll be unseen from inside the brightest of places. Outstretch your arms and follow him down. Sometimes Paul wander the great chains where he know no one knows his name. Bright isles in a sea of every days. If you, like Paul, are a man who opens his mouth and each word pronounced is perfectly sound. Glide through the roads that you walk in without stumble. The long hallway where he finds the emptiest faces
Runaways explain the story of a man who is a runaway out past curfew that escapes to a river.
This man stepped out and then stumbled back home. The stairs started shouting at the kitchen cyclone.
So he climbed out his window and he ran to my tomb. Lobbed up a pebble and said “Put on your shoes.”
He runs away. He throws the rope over the bough and ties the line in the rope. Now it is midnight and out in the street. The cops are idling for him and the person he is with past curfew. Midnight is past curfew. So they evade off into the night. They eventually return back to the rope over the bough on the tree which he tied earlier that day near a river inlet. Him and the person he is with pushed off in the watеr that the moonlight runs through.
That is what the lyrics “So we made for the tree line and the banks of thе blue/Pushed off in the watеr that the moonlight runs through” mean.
4/5****
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N-Joi – Adrenalin EP EP review
N-Joi – Adrenalin EP is an EP filled with rave madness from the 90s. The techno soundscape is composed of rave synths and bleeps. This is another belter from N-Joi. The EP has the classic techno rave tracks Adrenalin and The Kraken. These are absolute classics from the rave era. Adrenalin is regarded as one of the best techno rave tracks of all time by techno fans.
The EP has the classic techno rave track Adrenalin. The track was an absolute game changer back in the 90s. This was a techno belter from N-Joi. They had the golden touch as they were the 808 State of Essex. The Kraken stands out due to the thumping bassline. The techno soundscape on this song is composed of rave synths, bass, chords, keys, and bleeps.
5/5*****!!
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N-Joi – Malfunction EP review
N-Joi – Malfunction is another N-Joi an EP filled with rave madness from the 90s. This is another belter from N-Joi which has that classic techno rave sound. Malfunction and Manic are the classic techno rave tracks which everybody remembers from the good old times.
Manic is a techno rave track with sick sultry eclectic beats over super heavy beats. The only downside is the shortness in duration. Manic came from their 1990 single called N-Joi – Music From A State Of Mind.
Malfunction is a breakbeat techno track filled with filtered distortion and dirty techno beats. This song still sound hard as fuck even after 30 years. N-Joi fans calls Malfunction a sick techno rave classic. This is breakbeat techno at its best.
Techno Gangsters is an old school techno track which uses a simple cut up breakbeat added with bleeps and a bass line which really lets the let the bass go The breakbeat is from a track by Mantronix. Techno Gangsters came from their 1990 single called N-Joi – Music From A State Of Mind.
5/5*****!!
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N-Joi – Music Is A State Of Mind E.P. EP review
N-Joi – Music Is A State Of Mind E.P. is a breathtaking breakbeat techno EP with a touch of acid house from 1989. This is breakbeat techno at its best. This is a techno EP you do not want to miss out on having in your collection.
Techno Gangsters is an old school techno track which uses a simple cut up breakbeat added with bleeps and a bass line which really lets the let the bass go The breakbeat is from a track by Mantronix. Techno Gangsters was used on their 1990 single called N-Joi – Music From A State Of Mind.
Jah Heaven is one of the rarer N-Joi techno rave classics which was released on vinyl by a white label. Jah Heaven uses heavy breakbeats, heavy bass, and chimes over a reggae vibe. Reggae meets techno on Jah Heaven. Manic is a techno rave track with sick sultry eclectic beats over super heavy beats. The only downside is the shortness in duration.
5/5*****!!
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N-Joi – Earquake EP review
N-Joi – Earquake has a much more progressive sound with modern production due to the advanced sound equipment which was used. N-Joi decided to change their style of music by switching to progressive house. This was a departure from their earlier music from the early 90s. This release was ahead of its time. Papillon is an intense progressive house tune which is backed by heavy bass, rave synths, and thunderous beats. Not to mention great buildups. Trauma is an intense upbeat trance tune which did numbers on the dance floor and at raves.
5/5*****!!
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VA - No Limit X-Mas album review
The No Limit X-Mas album is one of those Christmas-oriented albums which will lift your holiday spirits. Master P spread a little but of yuletide cheer with this compilation with song such as Rock The Bells and A Christmas Wish. This hip hop/rap compilation album has Christmas songs from Snoop Dogg, Silkk the Shocker, Mia X, C-Murder, Mystikal, Mac, and others.
The No Limit X-Mas album is one the lesser known unreleased No Limit albums which very few people know about. The No Limit X-Mas album would have been similar to the West Coast Bad Boyz – High Fo Xmas album had that album been released. Master P’s plan was to spread a little but of yuletide cheer with this compilation album. The No Limit X-Mas album was supposed to be released on the date of December 14, 1999 as advertised in many of No Limit’s albums. However this album remained unreleased possibly due to sample clearance issues and Master P’s focus on other endeavors.
A Christmas Wish was a song which featured both Mac and NOLA songstress Ms. Peaches. A Christmas Wish was initially intended to be a buzz single off the album. But this never happened due to sample clearance issues and Master P’s focus on other endeavors.
5/5*****!
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