Itch - Best Shot

Video released June 14th 2013

If you've read my blog in the past you'll know about my love and borderline obsession with both The King Blues and Itch as a solo artist, it's taken a while for me to write about this track and I honestly have no idea why because it's great. The song is about being knocked down in anything in life and just getting back up and saying go for it, give me your best shot, something you can see Itch has had a lot of in his life. He raps with passion, the lyrics are tight and he goes hard through the whole track. The video features Itch wandering through an American suburban neighbourhood and encountering people along the way, a highlight for me is the shirt being worn here, how he finds clothing covered in hot dogs is beyond me, it also makes my clothing feel ridiculously bland in comparison. Great track in what's already shaping up to be a fantastic solo career.

Jay Z - Holy Grail (Featuring Justin Timberlake)

Video released July 3rd 2013

Holy Grail is the first single release from Jay z’s (notice I remembered the all-important hyphen drop there) latest album, Magna Carta Holy Grail. The song, featuring an intro and hook from Jay Z’s current BFF Justin Timberlake has drummed up a considerable amount of press pre-release due to the inclusion of some Nirvana lyrics, this has got under a lot of peoples skin for reasons I really can’t fathom. My main problem with these lyrics being included isn’t because they’re from a completely different genre from one of the 90’s best loved bands, it’s because they’re really not needed in the song at all, even the way Jay Z has made them seem more relevant is confusing, rhyming blame with Kurt Cobain. Another problem I have is that Jay Z’s verses seem to have no connection to Justin Timberlake’s intro or hook, while Jay Z is rapping about the perils of being one of the wealthiest and most famous musicians in the world, Justin Timberlake is singing about a strained relationship with what sounds like a total bitch. That being said the song does sound good, Jay Z hasn’t lost his flow one bit while Justin Timberlake is on top form with his vocals, even the beat is good. While not one of his best tracks he’s ever released it’s still got a lot more going on than most artists in the charts at the moment.