Cherish, the group that had everyone leanin', rockin' and snappin' with their first single "Do, It To It," have released their debut album Unappreciated. The 12 song album was executive produced by Jazze Pha and Henry "Noonie" Lee for Sho'Nuff Records. It would be easy for people to write off Cherish as a group full of Ciara's, molded from Jazze's Crunk and B mold, but the group have a style that is unique and their own.
The group (or label) decided to follow up "Do, It To It," with the song "Unappreciated," which is a ballad the junior high/high school crowd are sure to claim. The album as a whole is filled with numerous upbeat numbers so it's surprising that they would try to drop a ballad so soon when the group is strongest getting people on the dance floor. The ballad is typically the kiss of death for groups who are known for this type of music, they should look no further than their label mate Ciara. Her first three singles--"Goodies," "1-2 Step," and "Oh," were solid and the fourth, the ballad "And I," underperformed compared to other singles. Not saying that "Unappreciated" is a bad song, it's just these girls make you want to dance and the uptempo songs are their strongest.
Highlights of the album include "Chick Like Me," featuring Rasheeda, "Chevy," and "Oooh." The enhanced CD includes the video for the song "Do It, To It," and an instructional piece that teaches one how to do the "Do It To It," dance. It's a solid start for the foursome. The CD cover interior art is gorgeous and the liner notes are interesting.
http://www.cherishsisters.com/
Chances are you have heard the song “Ghetto Story,” by Cham featuring Alicia Keys on the radio this summer. Well Cham (the artist formerly known as Baby Cham), has released his latest CD titled Ghetto Story. The 17 track album was produced by David Kelly. If you pop in the CD, you will soon hear the music and lyrics of the song “Ghetto Story,” without Alicia Keys. It seems kind of strange that the lesser known version of the song is featured as the first song, but fear not the Alicia Keys version of “Ghetto Story,” which is titled “Ghetto Story Chapter 2,” is track #15 on the album.
Cham is a true reggae/dancehall artist. On Ghetto Story he doesn’t try to be something that he isn’t. He delivers true reggae music on this album. His well known song “Vitamin S,” is featured on Ghetto Story as well as the popular song “Boom Boom,” featuring Rihanna. Other stand-up tracks on the CD include “Bad Boys,” featuring Tia Jean and “Girl,” featuring Jimmy Cheazetrix.
Cham’s latest CD is a solid effort. It has a very authentic reggae/dancehall sound to it, so he will probably have to team up with mainstream artists to get heavy airplay in the U.S. He’s off to a great start though.
The CD features two bonus tracks. A third version of “Ghetto Story,” featuring Akon and a song titled “Bad Mind.”
http://www.atlanticrecords.com/cham
Step Up is the movie that came out of nowhere and has been holding steady at the box office the past few weeks. The dance oriented film has struck a chord with young audiences across the country—thanks in part to the soundtrack which was released by Jive Records. Several songs from the soundtrack are currently in rotation on radio and at video outlets.
“(When You Gonna) Give It Up To Me,” by Sean Paul featuring Keyshia Cole has been one of the hottest songs of the summer. “Get Up,” by Ciara featuring Chamillionaire has kept Ciara on the radio until her new album comes out this fall. “Say Goodbye” by Chris Brown is a ballad, the video premiered on BET in mid summer.
Most of the artists featured on the set are on the Jive Records (or one of their subsidiaries) labels roster. The song “80’s Joint” by Kelis is one of the hottest tracks on the set.
Hip-hop represents on this soundtrack with new songs by Clipse featuring Re-Up Gang with Roscoe P. Coldchain, Youngbloodz, Dolla, Petey Pablo. Yung Joc and 3LW team up for the song “Bout It,” which isn’t a remake of the Master P classic.
In the scope of soundtracks, Step Up is a decent soundtrack but similar to the Coach Carter soundtrack people probably won’t be talking about this soundtrack 20 years from now but it’s a decent soundtrack for the moment with some good songs from popular and up and coming artists from today.
http://www.myspace.com/stepupmovie
