Top 10 Albums of 2010

I thought about posting my top 10 albums of 2010 at the start of the month, one month later here it is. 

I almost ran out of time, I tried to think of a way to count down the albums but then decided I couldn't choose my top album of the year so below is a list of my favourite ten albums of the year. They are kind of in order in terms of my favourite's first...so I guess it could be a countdown starting with...

Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid (Suites II & III)

The Guardian's Album of the Year, and rightfully so. It is great to see an artist like Janelle, who remains relatively unknown to the masses, receive the praise she deserves for a musical masterpiece. Debuting at number 17 on the US Billboard, the album blends influences from Outkast, Grace Jones and Erykah Badu with infectious production that brings each track to life within the 70 minute conceptual opus. The mainstream hit, Tightrope (ft. Big Boi), perhaps my favourite album track, comes with a crazy video highlighting Janelle's unique style and elegance, check it out below.

Cee-Lo Green - Lady Killer

When the viral video was released for F**k You, it was an immediate hit but not exactly radio friendly. After a little wordplay 'Forgive You' was released and entered straight in at number 1 on the UK Top 40. Cee-Lo's soulful voice ensures Lady Killer will be a timeless album, reflecting on sounds from the past, while maintaining a flair for prevailing musical trends. My favourite track from the album would probably be Fool For You featuring Earth, Wind & Fire's Philip Baily, but seeing as there is no video available for that, you can check out the video for Bright Lights Bigger City below. Make sure you also check out Cee-Lo's Live Lounge performance from BBC Radio 1 earlier in the year.

Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

It has to be in everyones top 10 lists for 2010. After the public backlash from his infamous Taylor Swift stage crash, Kanye went into hiding and disappeared from the music scene to return with an album that has received numerous perfect reviews from the biggest websites and music magazines from around the globe. It all started with the G.O.O.D. Friday's which was followed up with the Runaway short movie featuring Selita Ebanks, and then the album which went straight to number 1 in the US. Watch the full 35mins Runaway short below.

KiD CuDi - Man On The Moon II - The Legend of Mr. Rager

Another G.O.O.D. Music artist, Cudi's Legend of Mr. Rager follows up from his debut album Man on the Moon: The End of Day. The Cleveland stoner who rose to fame with Day 'N' Nite returned with a slightly rock infused hip hop album that featured appearances from Snoop, Kanye and Mary J. Blige. Some of the video's from Cudi's camp are hilarious...below is the video for Mojo So Dope, directed by Jason Goldwatch, following on from Cudderisback, it offers an insight into the life of Scott Mescudi alongside the track from the new album.

Drake - Thank Me Later

The debut album from Drake was released in June and debuted at number 1 in the US, with sales of 447,000 in it's first week. Thank Me Later is now certified platinum, a status it earned in its first week of release in Canada. Aubrey Drake Graham originally shot to fame on the television show Degrassi, as Jimmy Brooks, before Lil Wayne signed him to Young Money Entertainment. Drake cited Nas and Andre 3000 as influences for Thank Me Later on MTV, while the album was compared by many to Kanye's 808s and Heartbreak. The album featured production from Kanye West, Swizz Beats, Timbaland, Boi-1da and featured collaborations with Alicia Keys, Nicki Minaj, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne amongst others. Below is the video for Over, the debut track from Thank Me Later.

N*E*R*D - Nothing

Nothing is the fourth studio album from Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo and Shay Haley, who collectively make up N.E.R.D. The album featured Nelly Furtado on the first single, titled Hot N' Fun, as well as production from Daft Punk on Hypnotize U. Pharrell, perhaps one of the greatest producers of the last decade, described the album as a mix of so many things, with the album cover representing peace (the feather) and war (the helmet). Despite the success of The Neptunes (Pharrell and Chad), N.E.R.D. have never witnessed the same success, some people blame this on Pharrell's lyrical content which is so focused on women. Below is the video for Hypnotize U, you can also pick up a free Nero remix from rcrdlbl.

Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty

One half of the legendary Outkast, Antwan Patton aka Big Boi brought out his solo project in July on his Purple Ribbon record label. The album was heavily-delayed after a controversial dispute concerning creative differences and commercial concerns between Big Boi and his former label, Jive records. Charting in the US at number 3, it was praised for its inventive sound, varied musical style, and Big Boi's lyricism. The first single, Shutterbugg, topped the UK charts and came with a killer beat and an incredible video which you can see below. The only thing missing from the album was the few leaked Andre 3000 tracks that surfaced on the blogs, but that just helped to heighten the excitement for the next Outkast project.

B.o.B - B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray

Following on from Outkast, is B.o.B, who was in fact influenced so much by Outkast that his name is a tribute to the Outkast song B.O.B (Bombs Over Baghdad). The Adventures of Bobby Ray was originally intended for release in May, however it was brought forward a month due to the commercial success of Nothin' On You (featuring Bruno Mars). Released on T.I.'s Grand Hustle Records, the album debuted at number 1 in the US and produced three chart singles, Nothin' On You, Airplanes and Magic. The album featured collaborations with Lupe Fiasco, Janelle Monae, Eminem, and T.I. amongst others. Below is the video for Magic which features Rivers Cuomo. 

Rick Ross - Teflon Don

What a turnaround 2010 was for Rick Ross...2009 saw a fued with 50 Cent which took over his musical focus with various mentions on Deeper Than Rap and numerous videos from both camps taking shots at each other. Deeper Than Rap charted at number 1 in the US but overall sales didn't match Rozay's expectations. Teflon Don, the fourth album from Rick Ross, was released in July on Ricky's Maybach Music label. Despite having greater first week sales than Deeper Than Rap, it was his first album not to enter at number 1 in the US Billboard Charts. The album features production from No I.D. and Kanye West, amongst others. The collaborations on Teflon Don included songs with Jay-Z, Cee-Lo, T.I., Kanye West, Diddy, and Erykah Badu, to name a few. Below is the video for Aston Martin Music which features vocals from fellow charter Drake as well as Chrisette Michele.

The Roots - How I Got Over

Finishing up my top 10 is The Roots with their ninth studio album, How I Got Over. The album, originally due for release in February, was released in June on Def Jam. Production was handled primarily by Black Thought and Questlove, and was recorded during The Roots tenure as house band for Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. Rising Down, released in 2008, was claimed to be the last album from The Roots, however news spread of How I Got Over via Questlove's Twitter. The album contains a subtle, somber sound that incorporates musical elements of soul, jazz, indie rock and gospel music and features lyrics concerning themes of existentialism, perseverance, and modern society. Below is the title track from the album, How I Got Over.

And that concludes my Top 10 of 2010. I had a few albums that I couldn't place in the top 10 and you'll notice the urban feel to the chart, I guess it's just personal taste. Hopefully you enjoyed reading about each charter, and maybe learnt something new about some of the artists. Make sure you check out all of the videos, even if you haven't heard of the artist, you might just find some new music for 2011.

Best wishes for the new year, hope everyone has a great 2011!

Flashback...Ben Stiller x Terry Richardson

After seeing Meet The Parents: Little Fockers last night, I was reminded of this shoot from the scene when Gaylord (Ben Stiller) returns to be put under the spotlight by Jack (Robert De Niro). The film itself was a little disappointing, considering the amazing line-up, but Jessica Alba saved it for me.

This photoshoot, featured back in April 2010's Rolling Stone magazine, saw Ben Stiller assume the guise of Terry Richardson. Some great pictures, especially the Zoolander pose in the last picture.

Have you ever wondered if there was more to life, other than being really, really, ridiculously good looking? 

Dre Time?

The Dr. Dre hype is bubbling over right now. After years of speculation and constant headphone features, it looks like we might finally be close to seeing Dre's (rumoured) final album, Detox.

It's been eleven years since Andre Young dropped 2001. Since then he has honed his skills on the production side, while also signing 50 Cent and Eminem to his Aftermath label. Not content with signing two of the biggest names in hip hop, he entered in to a partnership with Monster to release the Beats by Dre headphones. The premium headphones became a focal point in a number of mainstream music videos, while Dre's Detox speculation helped to drive sales further.

The first track from Detox, Kush, received the official video treatment a few weeks ago and today we saw the release of two tracks from the Aftermath camp. The first, Topless, featuring Eminem and Nas is causing confusion about the release of Detox as it seems to be written for Dre. You can check it out below and see what you think.

The second track to drop came after news this morning from @bigmikeruler on Twitter about a possible collaboration between Eminem, Dr. Dre, 50 Cent and Jay-Z. Perhaps thinking he was the only man with the track, Mike said he'd release the track at the start of 2011, but clearly this wasn't the case as the official version was released earlier today. The track, Syllables, also features verses from Stat Quo and Cashis and focuses on how watered down hip hop has become. Like before, you can check out the track below.

Hopefully the soundcloud links stay active but as the tracks are fairly new to the blogs nothing is certain. If you haven't already seen the video for the 'first official track from Detox' check it out below.

Come to think about it...haven't Monster just released some new Beats?!

Lupe Fiasco - The Show Goes On

Lupe Fiasco returns with the first official single from the highly anticipated Lasers. The album, due for release March 8 2011, will be the first official studio album from Lupe since December 2007's The Cool (with the exception of his Japanese Cartoon album which was released July 2010, under his real name Wasalu Jaco). The Japanese Cartoon project, a post-punk band, released In The Jaws Of The Lord Of Death, while waiting for Atlantic Records to release his upcoming album.

LupE.N.D, a three disk album, was planned to be his last until another spat with Atlantic Records. Hot on the heels of this followed The Great American Rap Album, which is now believed to be the title of his next album Food & Liquor 2: TGARA. Lupe finally settled on Lasers (originally We Are Lasers) which is an acronym for "Love Always Shines, Everytime Remember 2 Smile".

The official music video for The Show Goes On, the first track from Lasers was released on Christmas Day. The video follows the Chicago-rapper backstage to the stage, highlighting his ambivalent relationship with the show business. 

Check out the official video below and be sure to pick up Lasers when it arrives on the 8th March.

‎"We will not compromise who we are to be accepted by the crowd, 

We want substance in the place of popularity,

We want to think our own thoughts,

We want love, not lies,

We want knowledge, understanding and peace,

We will not lose, because we are not losers,

We are Lasers."

Big Boi vs. Black Keys - The Brothers of Chico Dusty (Mixtape)

Christmas is almost upon us so here is a little Christmas gift from DJ Wick-It the Instigator. The Brother of Chico Dusty mixtape blends together tracks from the Black Keys' Brothers album and Big Boi's Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty. Take a listen to each track below, and if you like it, download it for free from Soundcloud.

Have a great Christmas everyone, thanks for checking out One Mere Thought!

Rick Ross - Ashes to Ashes (Mixtape)

Another Day, Another Mixtape!

Rick Ross finishes off a stellar year with the Ashes to Ashes Mixtape, presented by Maybach Music. 2010 saw him drop Teflon Don, NY Times Pop album of the year with guest features from Diddy to Ne-Yo, Cee-Lo to Kanye and many more. Ashes to Ashes sees him finish off the year on a high with guest features from Drake, T.I., Wiz Khalifa and a few more. Rozay has gone from being dissed by 50 Cent in 2009 to being one of 2010's hottest artists. Check out the clean or dirty version of Ashes to Ashes for free below.

Ashes to Ashes (Dirty...get permission from your folks kids!)

Ashes to Ashes (Clean)

Diggy - Past Presents Future (Mixtape)

DJ Premier presents the latest mixtape from Diggy Simmons. Past Presents Future dropped yesterday, or today if your Stateside and features Diggy rapping over some classic hip hop tracks and Premier scratching. You can never go wrong with some of the beats Diggy has chosen and his flow is sounding pretty solid.

Check out the tracklisting for Past Presents Future below and download the mixtape for free from Datpiff now!

PIXAR: 25 Years of Animation

Lost for things to do over the festive season? If you're in California, you've got a couple weeks left to catch Pixar's 25 years of animation exhibition. Running at Oakland Museum of California since July 31, 2010, the presentation includes art from Ratatouille, WALL.E, Up and Toy Story 3. Running until the 9th of January 2011, Pixar grant you access to their hugely successful back catalogue of work, while showcasing the creative work behind the films.

You can pick up tickets from here or pop along from Wednesday to Sunday, where the meseum is open from 11am-5pm (9pm on Friday).

For everyone else, you can look at a few pictures on their Facebook page.

Keeping with the Disney theme (My inner child has been let out for the last few days!) Disney on Facebook have now amassed over 110 million fans to their 200+ active pages. This is a prime example of a leading brand using Facebook to engage fans through customised pages. What makes it more incredible is that Disney only started interacting on a daily basis in August 2009, gaining 60 million Facebook page 'likes' in one year...or over 100 million 'likes' in sixteen months...check out the video below for the incredible stats on Disney's Facebook growth.

Diggy Simmons

I don't know what it is about this kid, but I'm kind of obsessed with his music today. Diggy Simmons, son of Run DMC's Rev Run, is about to drop his new mixtape, Past Presents Future on December 23rd. The fifteen year-old is starting to build his own reputation after being signed to Atlantic Records at the start of the year. With the arrival of his new mixtape, he looks set to further build on the iconic Simmons name.

Diggy's new music combines classic beats with his own freestyles, perhaps this is what captures my attention, but it takes skill to keep the magic in the beat and, in my opinion, young Diggy does it well. Watching the kid go from hypebeast to cool kid on MTV's Run's House, his flow and style have seen him being compared to Lupe Fiasco, surely that's never a bad thing?!

Below is Digg is Like, the first single from the mixtape and a DJ Premier production...I'll post the mixtape link when it becomes available.

What is Russy going to do with his life, that's what I want to know, he makes Run's House! 

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (Trailer)

Set your sails for May 20th 2011, Captain Jack Sparrow returns for the fourth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise of films. Today, the first trailer for On Stranger Tides debuted and can be viewed below.

Starring Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz and Geoffrey Rush, the film sees the crew go on search of The Fountain of Youth. No sign of Orlando or Keira in this one which is a shame, but Johnny Depp's role as Jack Sparrow is brilliant. Should be a good film!

"There should be a Captain in there somewhere"

Je ne parle pas français!

This post is going to move away from the norm of the outer world chat and bring you in to my bubble for a few mins. I've been away from the bloggers world for a few days having an incredible time!

First up was a nice little trip to Berlin for a work bash...short trek around the city, nice food, cool people and then plenty of drink. The morning hangover wasn't helped by the almost full day spent in the airport waiting for the news our flight had been cancelled. We made it home the next day after staying in a pretty suave Best Western.

It was just as well I made it home for Friday because that night Naive presented Busy P, Cassius and A-Trak at Glasgow's Arches. Not sure if it was clever taking Jen to this, her first night-out in Glasgow, because things can only go downhill from here! 

The night started in McDonalds where we met Busy P, the dude is a legend...he could tell from my eyes I didn't speak French! Busy's set was incredible, he knows how to work the crowd! Cassius were up next and even though Boombass couldn't make it, Zdar still made sure they represented...highlight of his set was Skream's remix of I Love U So! Last up was A-Trak, the man who everyone suddenly knows about through Duck Sauce. By this point I'd wangled an access all areas pass so I jumped on stage and watched the man in action from the side...something else! I would mention the local dj but his ego bugged me, and sadly A-Trak was going the same way...he certainly changed from the relaxed Alain I met earlier in the year. 

The night ended with a street party outside, where Sub Club's Thursday night resident hooked up speakers to his car and blasted music till the early hours...no signs of the police, just a lot of bouncing revellers, what a way to end the night!

Check out a vid from my blackberry below, not the best of quality but it shows A-Trak mixing some Daft Punk. 

A word of warning...turn down your speakers a little before hitting play, it's a bit on the loud side!

Who did it better though...here's Busy P mixing some Daft Punk at the start of the night...

I'll be back with the usual blog chat next week! Enjoy the rest of your weekends everyone!

B.o.B. - No Genre (Mixtape)

2010 was a pretty good year for B.o.B after dropping The Adventures of Bobby Ray which topped charts worldwide and featured platinum selling singles Nothing On You (Ft. Bruno Mars) and Airplanes (Ft. Hayley Williams of Paramore). Bruno finishes off the year with a new mixtape titled No Genre, which features T.I., Wiz Khalifa, CyHi Da Prynce to name a few.

You can check out the latest video from the mixtape track The Watchers below and download the mixtape here

B.o.B. - No Genre (Mixtape)

Lil Wayne - Nino Brown (Mixtape)

Back out of jail, Lil Wayne drops The Nino Brown Mixtape, a compilation featuring a mix of old and new tracks. The mixtape features guest appearances from Drake, Birdman, Nicki Minaj, Jay Millz and Jay Sean to name a few.

You can listen and download the mix for free from Hypetrak's Soundcloud on the link below. Good to have Weezy back?!

Lil Wayne - Nino Brown Mixtape

Theophilus London

I was first put on to Theophilus last year through Vashtie's blog. Theophilus London is a rapper, songwriter and producer from Brooklyn and has been placed at the centre of the borough's new urban pop movement by Fader magazine. 

His latest mixtape I Want You includes Flying Overseas ft. Solange Knowles and Mr. London's cover of Tweet's 2002-hit Oops (Oh My) which has just received official video treatment...which is no longer available online...The video, directed by Yu Tsai, features some pretty sexy and quirky footage from Lindsay Lohan's photoshoot for Muse Magazine. I'll get it back up online as soon as possible but until then you can watch the Flying Overseas video.

Check out Theophilus' blog for Hypebeast here!

Out with the old and in with the new

Welcome back to the new One Mere Thought. As you'll probably notice, all previous posts have been erased as an 'out with the old, in with the new' idea.

There will be no focus on this blog, why limit my thoughts? I'll cover a wide range of topics including, music, art, culture, fashion, inspiration and general thoughts...updated on a regular basis, should the world be interesting enough to allow it.

In the past, I had a tendency to waffle, this will be cut down, instead posts shall be shorter and more to the point...and with that being said I'll finish the chat and open with perhaps one of the artists of the year, Cee-Lo Green live in radio 1's live lounge covering King's of Leon - Radioactive.



Incredible cover that brings a whole new side to the song. The Lady Killer is available now, featuring F**k You, Bright Lights Bigger City, and the new single It's Ok.


If anyone has any video posting tips on blogger, please let me know because the normal size is tiny and it took me forever to figure the sizing code, thanks!