HOT AND FRESH OUT THE KITCHEN

"Used To Be Young" is the latest single from Miley Cyrus. This is a bonus track on the reissued digital copy of her album, "Endless Summer Vacation" and first premiered on her recently updated documentary concert special, "Endless Summer Vacation: Continued (Backyard Sessions)". The introspective ballad (co-written by Cyrus with Gregory Aldae Hein and co-producer, Michael Pollack) addresses her wild behavior in the past, summing it up to her simply being young. The music video for the song is uncluttered and direct with Cyrus going through a flood of emotions while performing the song.

It has been ten years since Ariana Grande's debut studio album, "Yours Truly" that helped turn this teen actress into a pop music icon. Now a re-issue of the album has been released and this 10th anniversary edition features the original twelve tracks and new versions of six songs, recorded live at the Soho House in London. There is also a Spanglish take of Grande's breakout single, "The Way" with the late Mac Miller.

After briefly deciding to step away from music following the disappointing reception of her 2021 third album, "The End of an Era", Iggy Azalea has made a comeback with a new single. "Money Come", produced by Tricky Stewart and features a sample of K7’s "Come Baby Come", has the Aussie rapper's distinctive style and swagger back in action. The video for the song has Azalea acting as a CEO, going through an office building filled with men and transforming them into powerful women. She has also surprisingly teamed up with OnlyFans to help her in promoting the upcoming fourth album.

YOUR SONG

Americans probably know Rita Ora more for her fashion-forward looks on a red carpet (including her recent appearance at the Met Ball), her acting roles ("Fast & Furious 6", "Fifty Shades of Grey") or for her short stint as the host of the revived "America's Next Top Model" show. However, the twenty-six year old Brit began her career as a singer with her first two singles from her 2012 debut, "Ora", "How We Do (Party)" and "R.I.P." going to number one on the UK pop chart. Although she provided the hook for Iggy Azalea's hit, "Black Widow", Ora's own music didn't get much attention here in the States.

Ora is wanting to change that and has just released a new song entitled "Your Song".  This is her first solo single in two years and seems to be the first music from her long delayed follow-up album (although part of that had to do with her successful lawsuit to release herself from contract with Roc Nation Records). The singer has teamed up with a fellow Brit who is quite popular here, Ed Sheeran along with producer, Steve Mac to help write this song. The Sheeran connection is interesting and will certainly get people to pay some attention but I don't think "Your Song" is strong enough to get Ora to stand-out in this tough pop musical landscape.

"Your Song" - Rita Ora (2017) mp3

And as a bonus, here is the video for Ora's 2012 first single, "How We Do (Party)' which I really liked and don't know why it didn't do better here:

NEW SOUNDS

CAMILA CABELLO

After leaving one of the hottest girl-groups out right now, Fifth Harmony last December, Camila Cabello has wasted no time getting her solo career in order. The twenty year-old singer has already hit the top-twenty this year by providing vocals on Shawn Mendes' "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and Machine Gun Kelly's "Bad Things". And now she has dropped her first single as a solo artist. "Crying In The Club", using an island-flavored beat and a sample of Christina Aguilara's "Genie In a Bottle", is about the power of music helping to make it through heartbreak. This mid-tempo ballad is hardly groundbreaking and if it makes you think of a Sia track, that's because the singer co-wrote the song with Cabello along with current hit-makers, Benny Blanco, Cashmere Cat and Happy Perez. Let's see what else will come as Cabello's debut album, "The Hurting. The Healing. The Loving." is due out this fall.



KATY PERRY

Katy Perry has just released a third song from her upcoming fifth studio album, "Witness". But what makes this tune, "Swish Swish" most notable is that it may be a swipe at fellow pop princess, Taylor Swift who apparently penned a thinly-veiled attack on Perry with her 2015 song, "Bad Blood". Just like Swift, Perry does not confirm nor deny this claim but will say it's about anti-bullying with a '90's inspired dance beat. She was the musical guest on the season finale of "Saturday Night Live" and here is a live performance of the song:



IGGY AZALEA

The Aussie rapper, Iggy Azalea is back trying reignite her music career with a new track. Her latest single, "Switch", that features Brazilian pop star, Anitta delivering the hook, is certainly catchy but I don't know if it's enough to get her back on the pop chart. Time will tell but have a listen to judge for yourself:

"Switch" - Iggy Azalea featuring Anitta (2017) mp3

SELENA GOMEZ

Finally, we have my favorite out of this batch of new songs. Selena Gomez has returned with "Bad Liar", a slinky, beat-driven ballad from the team of Julia Michaels and Justin Tranter who brought us the singer's hits, "Good For You" and "Hands To Myself".  Using the bassline from Talking Heads' 1977 song, "Psycho Killer" as inspiration, the song has Gomez singing about unconvincingly denying her feelings for a new love interest.

IGGY AZALEA IS NOT A "TEAM" PLAYA

That polarizing figure in hip-hop, Iggy Azalea has returned to the music scene. After burning brightly back in 2014 with her smash hits "Fancy" and "Black Widow", Azalea quickly received tremendous backlash from her success. Much of the criticism stemmed from her being a pretty, blonde Australian appropriating an African-American dialect, which wasn't helped much by her clueless response to the issue.

The rapper took some much needed time off and is now back with Team", the first single off her upcoming second album. I have to admit the track is very hot with Azalea in fine form, rapping over a hard-driving electro beat. She sounds confident and proclaims she don't need nobody on her team. Check out this great dance music video for the tune:

BRITNEY + IGGY = PRETTY GIRLS

World famous pop star turned Vegas show girl, Britney Spears has returned to her musical roots and she's teamed up with the hottest female rapper that's not Nicki Minaj. The new song is called "Pretty Girls" and features Aussie Iggy Azalea providing her trademark rap. Produced by the hot British production team, The Invisible Men (who are responsible for many of Iggy's hits including her biggest-to-date, "Fancy"), "Girls" is a slick dance-pop track with a great sing-a-long chorus that just might help it become one of the big songs of the summer. The most noticeable (and refreshing) thing about this track is that Brit delivers an inspired, playful vocal and we actually hear her singing with minimal auto-tune.

"Pretty Girls" - Britney Spears & Iggy Azalea (2015) mp3

MY FAVORITE MOMENTS IN MUSIC OF 2014

There was quite a bit of good music during 2014 and it all helped motivate, inspire and excite me each and every day. I happily shared some of my favorites here throughout the year, so these are the rest of my best:

"Rather Be " - Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynne

"Don't Tell 'Em" - Jeremih featuring YG

"2On" - Tinashe featuring ScHoolboy Q

"Am I Wrong" - Nico & Vinz



"I Don't Mind" - Usher featuring Juicy J

"Water Fountain" - Tune-Yards

"Cool Kids" - Echosmith

"I Was Gonna Cancel (Steph Seroussi Family Remix)" - Kylie Minogue



"Love Me Harder" - Ariana Grande featuring The Weeknd

"Show Me" - Kid Ink featuring Chris Brown

"Turn Down For What" - DJ Snake & Lil' Jon

NEW SOUNDS

BEYONCE

Beyoncé has just released a Platinum Edition of her recent, best-selling self-titled fifth album. In addition to a reissue of the original CD and DVD of music videos, this now includes another CD featuring two new songs, "7/11" and "Ring Off" and four previously-released remixes plus a DVD of live performances from The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour. This is probably more for the hardcore fan of the singer as the two new cuts, while pretty good, is not worth investing in if you already own the previous album.

Listen to "Ring Off" which seems to be about her mother, Tina Knowles. The song focuses on the painful end of her marriage while Beyoncé encourages her beautiful mama to remove that wedding ring and move on with her life.

"Ring Off" - Beyoncé (2014)

This video for the other new track, "7/11" is crazy but I love it:



IGGY AZALEA

This year, Iggy Azalea has become one of the biggest names in hip-hop pop thanks to her worldwide hits, "Fancy" and "Black Widow". A reissue of her debut, "The New Classic" is now out and called "Reclassified". It features six tracks from the first album and five new songs. The Australian rapper has gotten assistance on some of the tunes from Ellie Goulding ("Heavy Crown"), Danish electro-pop artist, MØ (the first single, "Beg For It") and Jennifer Hudson ("Trouble"). While it took me some time to warm up to Azalea and appreciate her music, I still don't see her as a great talent with a long career ahead of her.

Anyway, listen to my favorite track from "Reclassified":

"Trouble" - Iggy Azalea featuring Jennifer Hudson (2014)

Gwen Stefani disappointed with the lackluster first new music from her upcoming CD but has turned things around with the follow-up release. "Spark The Fire", co-written and produced by her fellow "Voice" judge, Pharrell Williams, is the type of high-energy track that we expect from the singer although it may be just a bit too similar to "Hollaback Girl" for it's own good. Check out the colorful video for the song that is on emoji overdrive:



I loved the new song "Uptown Funk" from Brit producer Mark Ronson as soon as I first heard it. With sizzling, funky horns, a touch of 1980's era Prince and Bruno Mars serving some James Brown inspired vocals, this jam is a modern classic. Here's the music video for this tune:



Finally, here is the video for the next single from my new fav, Sam Smith. "Like I Can" is a slick, black & white clip of Smith and his buddies roaming New York, looking sharp in tuxedos. Simple but effective:

RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

Here are some hot new tracks that I've got on repeat:



"Supernatural" - AlunaGeorge (2014)



"I'm Callin" - Tennis (2014)



"Chasing Time" - Azealia Banks (2014)



"Froot" - Marina & The Diamonds (2014)

Mary J. Blige has embraced EDM in a big way. The soul diva flew out to the U.K. to work with some of the top producers in the field for her next release simply entitled, "The London Sessions". Blige has previously worked with Disclosure and Sam Smith and they are on board this project along with Naughty Boy and Emeli Sandé. It appears she's ready to bring some big emotions to dance music.

See what you think of this highlight track that was put together by Disclosure and new superstar, Sam Smith:



"Right Now" - Mary J. Blige (2014)

It seems I may be the only person on the planet that doesn't care for "All About The Bass", that inescapable hit by Meghan Trainor. I appreciate the message about embracing your curves but the song itself is, to me, like the continuous sound of nails on a chalkboard.

The twenty-year old vocalist has just released her follow-up single, "Lips Are Movin'" and I find it much more appealing. Trainor plays it safe because musically, the tune is nothing more than a slight variation of her first single which should help it climb way up the charts:



"Lips Are Movin'" - Meghan Trainor (2014)

I am not easily shocked nor a prude but when I saw this music video for Jennifer Lopez's new song, "Booty" featuring Iggy Azalea, my jaw just hit the floor. The song is typically nothing special (and has the misfortune of following Nicki Minaj's recent ode to the backside) but this clip, directed by Hype Williams, is really just too much. While these ladies are covered (and just barely), the endless shots of their oil-covered asses grinding and shaking in close-up is gratuitous and completely inappropriate. Sure, I get it. Sex sells but what's wrong with trying to be a little clever with a song about big booties instead of being so literal. Even Minaj's video made some effort. Take a look and judge for yourself:



I was never a fan of The Jonas Brothers and couldn't identify one of their songs if my life depended upon it. Taking a page from Justin Timberlake after he left his boy band, NSYNC, Nick Jonas has repackaged himself by bringing a little funk to his pop sound. I am surprised to admit that I actually like his current single, "Jealous" from the Jonas boy's second self-titled solo album due in November. Here is the video for the song:



Finally, here are a couple of my favorite disco tunes that I remember dancing the night away to:



"Your Love" - Lime (1981)



"Native Love (Step By Step)" - Divine (1982)