Prince Royce feat Pitbull & Jennifer Lopez - Back It Up

This is the latest single from the crossover Latin/R&B singer. He teams up with Pitbull and Jennifer Lopez for this fun song which is sure to be massive on radio and dancefloors this Summer. It is a groovy, sexy midtempo which showcases Prince Royce's vocals. Oft used rapper Pitbull and Jennifer Lopez add some flavor to the song. It's a strong collaboration.

-Watch the music video here (YouTube)
-Purchase the song here (iTunes)

Grade: A

Wisin feat Jennifer Lopez & Ricky Martin - Adrenalina

This is the new single from the artist's new album El Regreso Del Sobreviviente. The uptempo, club banger features Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin. It's interesting that the latter two artists have never collaborated on any music before despite both becoming popular in the U.S. at the same time when the 'Latin explosion' happened at the end of the 90s. Jennifer and Ricky complement Wisin perfectly. The song has already begun to get a lot of airplay on Spanish stations. There is no word on whether an English version will be recorded, but it would be great if they did. This will have no trouble smashing in the clubs as this is already suitable for the dancefloor, but it's screaming for some remixes. A sexy music video featuring all 3 is currently being filmed.

-Listen to a clip and purchase the song here (iTunes)

Grade: A

Jennifer Lopez feat Pitbull - Live It Up

This is their latest collaboration after doing "Fresh Out The Oven", "On The Floor", a remix of "Papi", and "Dance Again." Produced by RedOne, the song is tailormade for the dancefloor. The song doesn't really deviate from the formula of the aforementioned singles. Despite some of them doing quite well, this one ends up falling short. Pitbull's rap is really lackluster, almost sounding like it was written using Mad Libs. Jennifer's parts are only slightly better. The production is quite noisy and uneven sounding. Overall, this one is not a good single.

-Listen to the song here (YouTube)

Grade: D+

Special Amazon MP3 $1.99 Deals

For today, February 26 only, Amazon's MP3 store is offer 20 specific albums for $1.99 each! The albums included in the deal by the following artists: Muse, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Bruno Mars, Earth, Wind, & Fire, Tegan & Sara, Trey Songz, Passion Pit, Train, john Denver, Billboard #1 Hits: The 70s, Flo Rida, The Lone Bellow, Led Zeppelin, Fiona Apple, Aerosmith, Band Of Horses, Jennifer Lopez, Frank Sinatra, Ricardo Arjona, and Britney Spears.

View the deals and buy the albums here: http://kwn.me/4qg4

My thoughts on the 2013 Grammys

In the nearly 6 years I have been writing the blog, I haven't done something like this, but after some asked me to, I decided to jot down my thoughts on this year's Grammy awards ceremony. I noted down everything as it happened live on my iPad and then posted everything uncensored, unfiltered, but with some copy editing so it's coherent. I would have live tweeted it, but I am too much of a perfectionist and it would take substantially longer to articulate my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Here it is:

Jennifer Lopez feat. Pitbull - Dance Again

This is one of the new songs from Jennifer's upcoming greatest hits collection. Produced by RedOne, this is a club-oriented track. Attempting to re-create the success they had with "On The Floor" last year, this song is in a similar vein. Jennifer sounds much better vocally on this one. Although not bad, Pitbull's rap feels unnecessary and out of place. A sample from the Dub Of Doom remix of Nightcrawlers' 90s club hit "Push The Feeling On" (Pitbull sampled the main riff on his hit "Hotel Room Service") during the second rap break is really interesting. Hopefully a full solo version will be released later on just as was done with "On The Floor." Overall, this is a fun song.

Listen to the song here:

Grade: A-

Jennifer Lopez - Papi (Remixes)

This is the sexy new single from her Love? album. A Latin, club-oriented track in its original version, this gets a full package of remixes by DJ Kue*, Mixin' Marc & Tony Svedja, R3hab, and Rosabel. Mixin Marc & Tony Svedja's synthy big room mix feels like a souped up version of the original. R3hab opts for a heavy electro-house sound. Rosabel's piano-laden tribal mix is surprisingly tame, but pretty. Overall, the Mixin Marc & Tony Svedja mix is the best of the bunch.

*DJ Kue mix was not available at press time and was not reviewed.

Listen to the original here (YouTube)

Grade: A-

Jennifer Lopez feat Pitbull - On The Floor

Just as she begins her tenure as a judge on American Idol, the singer/dance/actress/entrepreneur is back with a new single. Taking a bit of the melody from what is known as the "Lambada" song, this song fuses a slice of the old with a bit of the current electro/pop craze. Pitbull's sections on the track feel unnecessary. It almost feels like JLo is guesting on her own song. Her vocals are cute. There are remixes for this by CCW, Low Sunday, Mixin Marc & Tony Svejda, and Ralphi Rosario. CCW and Ralphi provide circuit-oriented mixes. CCW's is dark and energetic, perfect for peak hour play. Ralphi's mixes are slightly electro-ish with some melodic piano elements. Both Low Sunday and Mixin Marc & Tony Svejda's mixes are a mix of tribal and electro. All of the versions are good, but CCW is the clear winner of this package.

Listen to the original here (YouTube)
Purchase the digital single with all the remixes here (Masterbeat)

Grade: B (for the original)/A- (for the remixes)

Jennifer Lopez - Do It Well

This is now the lead single off of J.Lo's highly anticipated album Brave. "Hold It, Don't Drop It" didn't get the warmest reactions, however, "Do It Well" did. This one is an uptempo Pop/R&B track. Jennifer sounds more in her element on this one. Uptempo club bangers are something she has a knack for delivering. A hot club-themed video directed by David LaChapelle premiered recently. And it's sexy sexy! There is also a remix aimed at Rhythmic stations with rap by Ludacris. It does what it's supposed to do, but it takes away from the song. No word yet on whether an alternate version with different melody, lyrics and vocals will be recorded a la "I'm Real" and "Ain't It Funny."

Original
Grade: A-

Remix with Ludacris
Grade: B

Is JLo the next Queen of Disco?

Definitely not by a long shot, however, she has gone in the 70's Disco direction with her latest single "Hold It, Don't Drop It" which is currently the lead single off of her much-anticipated new English-language album. This is just one of many other 70's/80's-sounding singles that are currently burning up radio airwaves. And this one is quite nice. It definitely calls to mind Beyoncé's first, true solo hit "Crazy In Love" with the old school-styled orchestral elements as well as Christina Aguilera's retro throwback "Ain't No Other Man." This is is not a carbon copy of either songs, but one can't help but think of those two songs. This may not be an indicator of what Ms. Lopez's forthcoming album may sound like, but if it is, it's not bad at all.

Grade: B+