Bling Sing

[Evelyn Normington]

Warm up those vocal cords, and get ready to sing for the bling! Send us around 10 seconds of audio of you singing your favorite love song for a chance at a $500 gift card from Salassi Jewelry & Fine Gifts!

"Bling Bling" is the debut single by New Orleans rapper B.G., released in 1999 from his fourth studio album Chopper City in the Ghetto. It features Hot Boys and Big Tymers. The song peaked at number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100 and yielded B.G.'s furthest commercial success.

In 2013, Complex added the song in its list of nineteen great songs made by teenage rappers in the last 19 years. Complex editor Kyle Kramer said "Featuring carefree money boasts over a spry Mannie Fresh beat, the song still sounds relevant today in the Young Money era, proving the staying power of both diamonds and youth."[1]

Do you love Christmas music? I LOOOOVE Christmas music! I have been singing since I was a tiny little girl, so I love most music, but I have a soft spot for Christmas music. During the month of December there is a constant festive soundtrack going on in my home.

Head into one of the 60 participating stores* (mine is Colorado Englewood!) to record your entry using one of our contest kiosks for a chance at a $500 World Market Gift Card. Top scoring video at each participating store will be awarded a local prize.

He started off by awarding himself a pay rise, doubling his official emolument to 240,000 Euros. Then came a raft of neo-liberal policy announcements, all geared to reinforcing his status in global financial and neoliberal political circles as a (long overdue) Gallic incarnation of Margaret Thatcher. There were quirky initiatives (one of the first foreign guests to be invited to Sarkozy-era Paris, for reasons that later became evident, was Libyan dictator Muhammad Gaddafi) and multiple soundbites expressed with all the pungency and pugnacity the mainstream media had come to expect (and grovel before).

In the end, it was the deep-seated problems familiar to every French government in recent decades that brought the Sarkozy Show to an abrupt and unprepossessing end. By 2010, his presidency, beset by economic woes (including the highest unemployment levels seen for a decade) was running into the ground, its declining fortunes highlighted by regional elections results that indicated a marked resurgence of the Front National.

Then humiliation struck. In 2014, Sarkozy became the first former head of state in France to be taken into custody for questioning. His interrogation resulted in charges of corruption, influence-peddling and violation of legal secrecy: the very charges that would seal his doom during his subsequent trial and eventual conviction.

In January this year, prosecutors opened another probe into alleged influence-peddling by Sarkozy over his advisory activities in Russia. And on March 2, he was taken into police custody again: this time as part of the inquiry into what exactly was delivered in those Libyan briefcases back in 2007.

We need to raise 20,000 as we are having to expand operations. We are moving to a bigger, better central office, upping our print run and distribution, buying a new printer, new computers and employing more staff.

Unless your body has been grossly covered under a rock these past few days, you have come across Drake's latest music video for his single Hotline Bling. Upon, its release, Drake has touched upon the fact that he has never reached the number 1 spot on the billboard charts. With Hotline Bling currently holding the number 2 slot it would only be smart to execute with a video that will suit the song well and make it go viral. And by Drake being Drake that is exactly what he does... One thing I have to ask though.. Is this virality for the wrong reasons?? What's in the video? And why has everyone been talking about it ?

For those that don't know, Cha Cha is a song made by rapper/singer D.R.A.M. Hotline Bling is founded on the basis of being the remix to, or Drake's version of, D.R.A.M.'s song. Drake has his producer slightly change the instrumental, slows it down a tad, and gives it the usual emo approach in his "I miss you girl, your new man aint shit" songs. Take a listen to Cha Cha below...

I only bring this up because that type of corky dancing perfectly fits in the turn-up framework and Latin styles of D.R.A.M.'s song... Drake's song, however?? ..mmmm not so much. Watching a grown man sing about his depressing love life and seeing him turn-up like an old man at a disco, first had me looking at the screen like...

There real winner of this video however, is social media. Within these past 4 days they've had a field day, as expected. Leave it up to the viners to take a video and turn it into something we tune in daily for a dose of laughter. Watch as numerous people put their spin on Hotline Bling:

As seen in this video, the Latino community have also found joy in Drake's music video. There's been many vines where Bachata, Merengue, or Reggaeton music is playing in the background and Drake is gives us his best renditions of Latin dance moves. My personal favorite though?

I honestly cannot tell you how many times i've died watching this (my Dominicans would understand). Leave it to Papi Champagne to, not only have Latina women in the video but to, show us Dominicans that dancing Bachata isn't as hard as singing it.

All jokes aside, Drake really does look like he's genuinely having fun in the video. And if this move lands him a number 1 next week, which I think it definitely will, this will be such a landmark on the young rapper's career(which has already hit such a peak this year alone). Even though this song and video is great on its own,I ,as well as social media, couldn't help ourselves from laughing just a little. But just like the #drakebelike or #drakethetypanigga memes and tweets, it only adds more publicity to his arsenal and makes him more into the superstar that he already is. Keep reaching for them starts Drizzy, and an early congratulations to when you reach that #1 on billboard.

SHAPIRO: Well, besides being major pop stars, they are all nominated in the album, song and record of the year categories of this year's Grammy Awards. The awards are on Sunday night, and so let's take a closer look at those major categories in the Grammys with NPR Music's Ann Powers. Hi there.

POWERS: Well, you know, it's quite an even playing field this year. Everyone in this category is a consensus favorite, I would say, but Billie Eilish might have the juice behind her with "What Was I Made For?"

POWERS: This song is very strongly predicted for an Oscar, as well as potentially a Grammy. It's a beautiful song. I was listening to it the other day, and I thought, wow, Barbra Streisand could sing this song. It's just a classic.

POWERS: But honestly, any of these songs, you know, have their strong followings - Victoria Monet, for example, a new nominee in these top categories and also a best new artist nominee. Her "On My Mama" was, like, a total anthem this past year, and I think that also might take it.

POWERS: Well, the question is, did the voters go for Lana Del Rey's epic, woozy, slightly crazy "A&W"? I think of that one. It would be sort of like the Beatles' "Revolution 9" winning, you know what I mean? Like, a really weird song winning.

LANA DEL REY: (Singing) Jimmy, Jimmy, cocoa puff, Jimmy, Jimmy, ride. Jimmy, Jimmy, cocoa puff. Jimmy, get me high. Love me if you love or not. You can be my light. Jimmy only love me when he wants to get high.

TAYLOR SWIFT: (Singing) It's me. Hi. I'm the problem. It's me. At teatime, everybody agrees. I'll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror. It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero.

SZA: (Singing) This ain't no warning shot, case all you - forgot. Know you been more than lost without me. I'm so - coming back, I'm so greasy. Ex - he so needy - tried to replace me, but the stakes is too high. They can't survive off...

POWERS: It's definitely less the case than it used to be. I mean, Ari, you probably remember back in the day when critics supported, you know, indie rock and loud transgressive music, and that stuff rarely got nominated at the Grammys. Now, critics love mainstream pop as much as they love underground sound, so I think it does line up with critical consensus. But at the same time, some things have been overlooked.

POWERS: Femininity is in. That sounds so shallow, but I feel like there is this sort of general cultural embrace or renewed embrace of all aspects of womanhood and unapologetic femininity. I mean, you know, so many people are rooting for Taylor Swift and her romance with Travis Kelce. There's nothing more conventional than a beautiful blonde and a football player. So not just women, but this idea of womanhood is sort of back in the cultural spotlight.

POWERS: Yes. I'm so excited for that. Someone on social media said they were gunning for, you know, kind of a SZA-Joni-Lana collaboration. Maybe on a song like "A Case Of You," that would be awesome. But I'm expecting a version of the Joni Jam with Brandi Carlile by her side.

JONI MITCHELL: (Singing) I've looked at clouds from both sides now, from up and down, and still somehow it's cloud illusions that I recall. I really don't know clouds. I don't really know clouds at all.

Eventually London approached Alone in London, a service for 16-25-year olds at risk of homelessness, who set him up with a room in Hackney for a year. He now lives at Peter Bedford Housing Association in Hackney, where he is finding time to concentrate on his music.

MELISSA BLOCK, host: From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block. MICHELE NORRIS, host: And I'm Michele Norris with music from Senegal. (Soundbite of song) DAARA J: (Singing in foreign language) NORRIS: The singer says, `Everything is from the sand and everything will return to the sand.' That theme of cycles inspires the hip-hop trio Daara J. They're superstars in Senegal, and they're just now finding an audience in the United States. (Soundbite of song) DAARA J: (Singing in foreign language) NORRIS: That's Faada Freddy with those rapid-fire rhymes. He's backed by Ndongo G and Lord Aladji Man. All three members of Daara J join us now from NPR's New York studios. Welcome to all three of you. FAADA FREDDY: Yes. Unidentified Group Member: Yes. FAADA FREDDY: (Foreign language spoken) Unidentified Group Member: Yeah. FAADA FREDDY: You know, that's how we say `greetings' in Senegalese. NORRIS: Ah, well, greetings to you, too. Unidentified Group Member: Yes. NORRIS: Faada Freddy, when you start rapping in this song, what are we hearing you say? FAADA FREDDY: (Foreign language spoken) It means, ain't no need to beat around the bush, you know, saying that, you know, hip-hop was born in Africa, went around the world to come back to Africa like a boomerang that has been thrown from the motherland and now is back home. NORRIS: So hip-hop has come full circle? FAADA FREDDY: Definitely, yeah. (Soundbite of song) DAARA J: (Singing in foreign language) NORRIS: What language are you singing in? FAADA FREDDY: We're singing in the native language, which is Wolof, spoken by over 25 ethnic groups in Senegal. NORRIS: Now you say that hip-hop was actually born in Africa before it came to the States, but it wasn't necessarily the same thing that we think of as hip-hop in America; it was much more of a storytelling tradition. FAADA FREDDY: You know, this music is typically like the new reflection of the griotism, the new reflection of the tasso, as we used to say in Senegal, because the first time we heard Grandmaster Flash rapping, you know, on a hip-hop track, everybody was like, OK, we know this because this is tasso. NORRIS: So tasso is sort of the rhythmic oral history in Senegal. FAADA FREDDY: That's it. And, you know, everybody does tasso in Senegal. You know, when you feel something that you want to say, you know, with some rhymes and under a rhythmic form, you use the tasso. But it's something very natural that we used to do. We've been rhyming like that for a long time. Even before the slavery era, people used to do that, you know, in Africa, incarnate that style. NORRIS: Could you give me an example of tasso, maybe sing a little bit for us right here in the studio? FAADA FREDDY: OK. So we going to try to improvise, you know, something. OK? (Soundbite of song) DAARA J: (Singing in foreign language) FAADA FREDDY: Original lyric is (foreign language spoken). Like that. NORRIS: Like that. FAADA FREDDY: Yeah. This is tasso. NORRIS: Heads are a-bobbing in the studio here. (Soundbite of laughter) NORRIS: So if we heard this now in a club, I'm wondering what that might be like to catch up with Daara J on a Friday night in a dance club in Dakar. Help me understand what it would look like, what it would sound like, what it would smell like. What we would see? FAADA FREDDY: A warm atmosphere, you know, the fever. Warm people. NORRIS: The fever? FAADA FREDDY: Yeah, the fever. You know, beautiful Senegalese women. Unidentified Group Member: Senegalese, yeah. FAADA FREDDY: You know, traditional clothes and even modern clothes all together, the atmosphere getting hotter and hotter, you know, till the morning light. (Soundbite of song) DAARA J: (Singing in foreign language) NORRIS: Freddy, Ndongo, Lord Aladji Man, I understand that the three of you met each other in high school while you were studying--did I get this right--accounting? FAADA FREDDY: (Laughs) Yeah. That's it. That's it. We were studying accountancy because, you know, our parents wanted us to be, you know, as we used to say in Africa, bureaucrats--I mean, you know, someone behind a desk and counting the money, you know, or even working in the bank because they thought that was the only way to make some money, you know, and help them out. NORRIS: Obviously, you had ideas of your own. FAADA FREDDY: And, you know, it was--I thought that they would only be proud of their sons if they were behind a big desk, you know, running a big company. But, you know, the destiny chose that we would fall in love with music. And, you know, since then, you know, our life is music. (Soundbite of song) DAARA J: (Singing in foreign language) NORRIS: You write in a couple of your songs about Senegalese people who leave their country in search of work. And I'm thinking of one song in particular, "Paris Dakar." FAADA FREDDY: Yes. (Soundbite of "Paris Dakar") DAARA J: (Singing in foreign language) NORRIS: Freddy, did I just hear you say bling-bling? FAADA FREDDY: Yeah, bling-bling. Yeah. NORRIS: I guess that's become a universal term. FAADA FREDDY: Yeah, that's it. That's it. (Soundbite of "Paris Dakar") DAARA J: (Singing in foreign language) NORRIS: Now, in this song, Paris is all about bling-bling. FAADA FREDDY: "Paris Dakar"--you know, that's the comparison between Paris and Dakar. And it was a way to call people to come over to Africa because it feels so good to be over in Africa because it's like they're really missing something not going, you know, to Africa. (Soundbite of "Esperanza") DAARA J: (Singing in foreign language) NORRIS: The song "Esperanza" or "Hope," when you listen to it, the rhythms transport you across the Atlantic from Senegal all the way to Cuba, and that's a long stretch. I'm wondering how that happened. Where did this song come from? And why that reference? FAADA FREDDY: You know, since we were kids, our parents used to listen to Cuban music. You know, we grew with it and with that Cuban influence, you know, we reminded them of the good old days. And, you know, we really had all these people, you know, getting connected to the new generation. (Soundbite of "Esperanza") DAARA J: (Singing in foreign language) FAADA FREDDY: This song means a lot to us. It's a very important song that put the youth and the elders together. NORRIS: You widened the circle. FAADA FREDDY: The circle, yes. We came from a long way just to show them, you know, to give them the prop that hip-hop was about lifting the spirit up. You know, and finally they got all convinced, you know, that we were doing it for the good cause. And now I think they're more--the rappers, they're more hip-hop than anyone. (Soundbite of "Esperanza") DAARA J: (Singing in foreign language) NORRIS: Faada Freddy, Ndongo G, Lord Aladji Man, thanks for coming into the studio. FAADA FREDDY: Thank you very much. Unidentified Group Member: Yeah, bye. FAADA FREDDY: It's a pleasure. Daara J. NORRIS: Daara J's first CD to be released in the United States is called "Boomerang." They'll be on a US tour this summer. And if you want, you can hear more music from Daara J at npr.org. (Soundbite of song) DAARA J: (Singing in foreign language) NORRIS: You're listening to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News.

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