Two new songs from Robin Thicke’s new album ‘Sex Therapy’ (out on Dec 15th) has hit the Net this week. The Jay-Z assisted-‘Meiplé (Me I Play’) and the Nicki Minaj-assisted ‘Shakin’ It for Daddy’ can be listened to below. Just hit up the audio below:

‘Meiplé (Me I Play)’
Thicke emphasises his love of french girls, champagne and the glamourous lifestyle in the addictively funky ‘Meiple’. The Neptunes-produced track which premiered on Hot 97 yesterday is both lighthearted and fun. Adding to the fact that it cleverly samples Brigitte Bardot’s ‘Moi Je Joue’. The rapper even references wife Beyonce being the black version of the iconic French pin-up. With the song comprising of some witty verses and a catchy composition, Meiple is that nice little groove you can chill to in your ride. Rating: 3/5

‘Shakin’ It for Daddy’
Thicke has ditched his organic oldschool steez for a harder hip-hop-inflected offering. As a talented artist known to churn out a song with great lyrical content, this is quite sordid and tacky. Musically, it’s very contrived and this particular style does not compliment him at all. Between this and Usher’s ‘Daddy’s Home’, I don’t even know which one sounds the worst. Rating: 2/5

Mariah Carey’s new remix song, the Trey Songz-assisted ‘Inseparable’ has finally surfaced. The track is lifted from her ‘Memoirs of An Imperfect Angel remix’ album. And now you can listen to the new remix below:

The clappy midtempo joint does not detract too much from the original but Trey adds a nice touch to the song. I’m not that fussed about a remix album, if I am completely honest. It just seems like a waste of time and money. Rather than spending more of that limited budget on new remixes, she should be concentrating on her original ‘Memoirs’ project, the one that is fast disappearing into oblivion.

Then again, I might have spoken too soon because it has just been confirmed that video director Brett Ratner (who previously constructed her previous videos ‘It’s Like That’, ‘Heartbreaker’, ‘Touch My Body’ and ‘We Belong Together’) will direct her forthcoming music video for her third single ‘H.A.T.E.U’. Don’t even ask me what is going on with the music video for the Hype Williams-directed ‘I Want To Know What Love Is’. I guess in time, we’ll be seeing it eventually.

Meanwhile, MC appeared on The Ellen Degeneres Show yesterday to promote and discuss a couple of projects (music, Precious, new fragrance, and pretty much the same ole subjects expected in an MC interview). Watch the interview after the jump, as well as my added 2 pence.

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A new song from Alicia Keys‘ forthcoming new album ‘The Element of Freedom’ (out on Dec 15th) has now surfaced in snippet form. The track is titled ‘Dreaming’, and now you can listen to the HQ 35-sec snippet below:

It might only be 35 seconds but I’m totally loving how the dreamy ballad is sounding. Her vocals are flawless especially when she’s not singing out of range. This could easily have been lifted from her debut album ‘Songs In A Minor’. The overall vibe is reminding me so much of ‘Butterfliez’. I am glad we are finally getting back some of oldschool Alicia because much of her soulfulness was watered down with the last album, and now she’s bringing back that fire.

Update: The song will serve as a B-side for the UK release of ‘Doesn’t Mean Anything’. Thanks guys.

A new song from Rihanna’s new album ‘Rated R’ got its first play on Hot 97 not too long ago. The song is titled ‘Hard’ and it features rapper Young Jeezy. The track is produced by The Dream & Tricky Stewart. Listen to the CDQ audio below:

“I’m so Hard…yah yah yah. Brilliant. Resilient. Fan mail, from 27 million”.

This is a track consisting of ‘hard’ thumping basslines and heavy percussion so the song title is very fitting. Rihanna’s swag on it is ridiculous. But SADLY, it’s not going to stop folks ridicule since she’ll get called out on the grounds that real hard chicks don’t allow themselves to get beat. Having said that, the song did not grab me on the first listen.

I only decided the song was ipod-worthy after my third listen. The beat is nice but her vocals kind of grates in parts. I definetely think it’s a bit of a step up from ‘The Wait Is Ova’, although I do like the track. Rating: 3/5

Ever wondered how a musical Leona Lewis and Danja pairing would sound like? Well, the wondering stops here. A snippet of their work has now finally surfaced on-line. ‘Magic Touch’ is produced by Danja and was recorded for Leona’s forthcoming album ‘Echo’ (out on Nov 16th). However, the song failed to make the final line-up. Listen to the 1:37 minute snippet below:

Click here to listen to audio…
Wow.

This is really different for Leona. And it’s quite a stretch for Danja as well. The upbeat number features a heavy drum beat and a rousing electric guitar throughout. It gushes a 60s throwback vibe combined with elements of soul and jazz. The song itself could easily have been snatched right off Christina Aguilera’s ‘Back to Basics’.

Do we love it though?

Shakira’s video for ‘Did It Again’ premiered yesterday, and after seeing that clip a couple weeks back, ya’ll know I had to post my girl and say what I felt about the video. (Kelsi, if you are around, you can put in your input as well, since I know you love Shakira as much as I do). Anyways, you can peep the video below through the Youtube vid.

OMG! I didn’t know she could pull off something like this. The video’s choreography on the bed was so animalistic and wild, and it was very sensual and sexy. Shakira always new how to portray sexuality without looking slutty, and that’s what I love about her, (plus she is so humble and cute). One of the most interesting videos this year in my opinion. Too bad she pushed back the album for that Lil’ Wayne joint she had.

Rihanna’s official second single ‘The Wait is Ova’ has finally leaked from her forthcoming album ‘Rated R’. The track is produced by dubstep team Chase & Status. Rihanna has already shot the music video for the track earlier this month. Listen to the audio below:

I’m not even sure if I can give this a fair review because 1. the song sounds unfinished. 2. It does not sound like its in full 3. the audio is not HQ.

From what I can hear, I like the beat. It’s grimey and knocks quite hard despite it being a midtempo. I know many folks will still be fuming that she is holding back on the uptempo club banger because a lot of people are not wanting to hear her sing on a ballad or midtempo. I’m not even sure if it’s good enough to be a follow-up second single. It’s cute, but not as ear engaging as her previous hits.

I have to say wow at her Island accent. That accent strongly rides through the song so much that all I can think about now is green banana, yam, planting, dumpling, ackee and saltfish, rice, peas and chicken, the full works. LOL. Her voice is VERY distinctive. Rating: 3/5

Leona Lewis simply cannot catch a break from all of these album leaks. Another song leaked yesterday from her forthcoming project ‘Echo’ (out on Nov 16th). The song is titled ‘Lost Then Found’ and it features Ryan Teddar and his group One Republic. Check out the audio to the song below:

‘Lost Then Found’ is a typical Teddar standard-fare pop ballad.

I don’t even need to describe the instrumentation as it’s pretty much a ‘Halo’-meets-‘Bleeding Love’ type template - heavily distorted drum beats, solemn organ chords, nonchalant pop balladry, and I can go on.

As expected, the 24-year-old songstress delivers a flawless vocal performance, and although the song is far from bad, unfortunately, we’ve heard it all before. Rating: 3/5

Three new Usher songs leaked on the Internet today. The songs are believed to be from Usher’s latest recording sessions for forthcoming album ‘Raymond vs Raymond’ set to be released on December 8th. The track titles, producer credits and audio can be checked out below:

♫ More [Prod. Red One]…
It is quite evident that electro-pop music is back on the music scene with a vengeance this year. Usher had the opportunity to deliver the brilliance that many of us loved him for. The electro-synthy ‘More’ seems really forced on Usher’s behalf especially since he’s now jumping on the RedOne bandwagon. What works for Lady Gaga doesn’t work for everyone else.

♫ Daddy’s Home [Prod. The Runners]…
Usher decides to go back to his urban roots with this bassy R&B jam. The lyrics are really chicken-headish and lame. Laughably, Usher refers to himself as the big bad lusty daddy ready to sexually put it down: “poke that bottom up in the air”. The beat is quite intoxicating, but sadly, that’s the only good thing I can say about it.

♫ Blockin [Prod. by Tricky Stewart & Jazze Pha]…
Over a hard jittery beat and raging, space age synths, Usher is a little frustrated because his dream woman with the “nice hair”, “nice eyes” and “fat ass” is playing hard to get. It appears Usher is obsessed with “ass” this time around. Another underwhelming number with crappy to cliche lyrics. This is shaping up to be the worst album of his career.

The second single of Alicia Keys leaked online just within the hour. The Jeff Bhasker-produced ‘Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart’ is the follow-up single to ‘Doesn’t Mean Anything’ lifted from her forthcoming new album ‘The Element of Freedom’ (out on Dec 15th). Listen to the CDQ audio below:

♫ Alicia Keys: ‘Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart’…
I love it!!!

The song has a retro Hip Hop/R&B resonance with its powerful bassline, snazzy electric keyboards and heavy drums. Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart knocks hard and does not miss a beat. If you’re not familiar with Jeff Bhasker, he recently collaborated with rapper Kanye West on ‘808’s & Heartbreak’. Just when you think Alicia is minced meat, she packs the killer punch with this hot new joint. The song is certainly a massive step-up from ‘Doesn’t Mean Anything’.

I’m sure Mashonda and many women out there will be able to relate to it sadly, but lyrically, the song touches close to home. Rating: 4.5/5

Blue-eyed soul man Robin Thicke has collaborated with Jay-Z on his forthcoming new album ‘Sex Therapy’ (out on December 8th). Lucky for us, a snippet of their studio sessions have now surfaced. The song is titled ‘Meiplé (Me I Play)’ which sees Jay-Z showing admiration towards his “black Brigitte Bardot” wife Beyoncé. Listen to the snippet below:

I look forwards to hearing the song in full. It sounds very interesting. Sexy Vanilla spoke to MTV this week about all the producers and songwriters who feature on his new album. There are some interesting names up in that piece; Snoop Dogg, Kid Cudi, Estelle and Jazmine Sullivan.

He says of his new sound: “The album, as a whole, is actually the first time I didn’t write and produce everything myself. I tried to create a new sound that I had never had before. A lot of people are telling me it’s the best album yet, so I’m really excited. I hope that they’re right!”

I think they might do too. I can’t get enough of his new song ‘Sex Therapy’. I may not think highly of Polow Da Fool for his idiotic comments towards black women, but he laced Robin up. That song is pure hotness.

Mary J. Blige’s ‘I Can See In Color’, is featured on the soundtrack to the new Lee Daniels movie ‘Precious’. The track is already recieving Oscar nomination buzz for ‘Best Original Song’. Mary really did her thing on this song. Check out the Mary-composed track below just to hear what I’m talking about:

The song replaces Mariah Carey’s ‘100%’ after directer Lee Daniels strongly felt that Mariah the ‘actress’ should be showcased, and not Mariah the ’singer’. Mary hasn’t gone hardcore organic since her classic album ‘My Life’, which still gets heavy rotation in my stereo today.

I love the 60s bluesy feel that resonates throughout the oldschool soul offering. Plus, you can even hear the veteran wearing her heart on her sleeve on the emotionally charged ballad.

Love it. Rating: 4/5