2011 Playlist

With less than a day left of 2011, I've compiled my most played tracks of the past year. 20 different artists, 20 different songs, just pure awesomeness.

Playlist: (download)

1. Howlin' for You- The Black Keys

2. Pumped Up Kicks- Foster the People

3. Fire!- The Midway State

4. Mary- Kings of Leon

5. Limit to Your Love- James Blake

6. Blue Jeans- Lana Del Rey

7. World a Girls- Collie Buddz

8. Novacane- Frank Ocean

9. Good Girls- Cris Cab

10. Girls, Girls, $- Theophilus London

11. Seek Bromance- Tim Berg

12. HYFR- Drake ft. Lil' Wayne

13. Whatifiwas- Blu

14. Smoke Makes Love- Goldenwest

15. Blow My High- Kendrick Lamar

16. One and Only- Adele

17. Traveling Man- Mike Posner

18. In the Morning- J. Cole ft. Drake

19. Rich Kids Blues- Lykke Li

20. The Morning- The Weeknd

2011 in Photos

Well it's that time of year again. In just a few days we'll be saying our sweet (or drunk) good byes to 2011, and ringing in 2012. This past year was definitely a goody-- from the friendships that were either discovered, bonded, or tested; to the unreal parties and road trips. To the people who made this year a memorable one, thanks! Special shouts to my best friend, the crew, the GHers, and my baby sis.

xoxo.

Fa La La

Just a little something to get everyone in the Christmas spirit. Definitely my holiday track for 2011, haha.

Fa La La- Justin Bieber ft. Boyz II Men

Lana Del Rey- Born to Die

No words can describe how beautiful this girl is... holy. shit.
Lana Del Rey is definitely one lady to look out for.

Zaki Ibrahim

I feel like such a bad music fan for only hearing about this girl now. I came across Zaki Ibrahim through the 1 Love TO blog, and I'm surprised that this was my first time hearing about her, considering she's been around for a good five years. The Toronto native brings everything outside of mainstream to the table. Her sound is electric-- a sweet cross between jazz, ambient, and hip-hop; pretty much the stuff you never hear on the radio, which is so refreshing.

Here's her latest track, Something in the Water
ZAKI IBRAHIM - SOMETHING IN THE WATER by motifrecords

Heart Beat (2011)

Art of Reuse

So to kick off my winter vacation, the first thing I did was cut up an old sweater. Pretty unexciting, I know... but with the way my bank account is looking right now, shopping was definitely not an option. After staring at my closet, I decided to experiment with a vintage wool sweater I bought at Value Village for $12.99 last winter.

With scissors, and a needle and thread at hand, this is what I came up with:

I absolutely adore off the shoulder tops, so there was no question that this was the look I was going for. I also got a little bit more creative and cut straight down the back, and completed the look by tying three bows along the slit. 

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I totally forgot to take a picture before I started cutting, but here's a photo I dug up of me wearing the sweater from last Christmas:

NNNNNotestoSelf

hip-hop heroes, hometown song.
this video is SO cool...

Nobody- Notes To Self

On Repeat- Take II

Drake can't say it any better than he did in this song.

Doing it Wrong- Drake

[Verse 1]
When a good thing goes bad it's not the end of the world
It's just the end of a world that you had with one girl
And she's the reason it happened, but she's overreacting
And it's all because she don't want things to change

[Hook]
So cry if you need to, but I can't stay to watch you
That's the wrong thing to do
Touch if you need to, but I can't stay to hold you
That's the wrong thing to do
Talk if you need to, but I can't stay to hear you
That's the wrong thing to do
Cause you say you love me, and I'll end up lying
And say I love you too

But I need someone different
You know it, oh ho, you know it
Oh ho, you know it, we both know it
I need someone different
You know it, oh ho, you know it
Oh ho, you know it, we both know it
Something's been missing
You know it, oh ho, she knows it
Oh ho, I know it, we all know it
I need someone different (Oh ho, oh ho)


[Verse 2]
We live in a generation of not being in love, and not being together But we sure make it feel like we're together
Because we're scared to see each other with somebody else

(lyrics via rapgenius.com)

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Try and tell me you haven't experienced this at least once in your life...

Blue is Back

For the diehard Toronto Blue Jays fan that I am, you can guess how excited I was for the unveiling of their new 2012 logo. The main concepts were to bring back the look of the '92/'93 winning team, and to finally put the Blue back in Blue Jays. This is seriously such a tease since we won't be seeing any baseball for another five months.

Someone, wake me up in April!

Also, here's an interesting look at the evolution of Blue Jays logos (via the National Post):

The Layover

Wonderwall ft. Big K.R.I.T. (prod. by Mike Posner) by mikeposner

New Mike Posner mixtape dropping November 20th. EXCITED! EXCITED! EXCITED! EXCITED!... that is all.

Happy "Take Care" Day!

As annoyed as I was seeing "Take Care" all over my Twitter timeline when the album leaked last week, I have to show love for our hometown boy, Drake. Take Care finally dropped today and it's nothing short of phenomenal. So get your bums to HMV or wherever else you buy your music... yolo, right?

Take Care featuring Rihanna.

These two do it again with this track. What's My Name was my jam last November, and it's clear Take Care will be my song this year. The Gil-Scott Heron & Jamie XX sample totally puts the cherry on top of an already dope track.

When Work Plays

I spent this past Sunday night with some of the craziest people I've gotten to know over the past five months. It was my work's early Christmas party-- emphasis on early since Christmas is nearly a month and a half away. The whole Toronto Geox district crammed into an adorably tiny Italian restaurant in Etobicoke's Bloor West Village where the evening's conversation revolved around life, and not shoes for once. Pasta rosé, a couple glasses of red wine, and good company made for a really enjoyable night.

We're like a little, multicultural, at times dysfunctional family... but boyyy do I love them <3

"Love After War"

Oh boy, December 6th cannot come fast enough. Those who know me are well aware of my "older man" crush on Robin Thicke. So how excited am I for his new album entitled, Love After War to hit store shelves? Very. This guy is the reason why I love r&b so much; he's got it all-- the voice, the soul, the swag.

Love After War

Pretty Lil' Heart featuring Lil' Wayne

J. and Bey

J. Cole that is...
Since the announcement of her pregnancy back in August, Beyoncé has been on quite the music video dropping binge. Here's the cute video for Party featuring J. Cole. Bey's just about the fiercest lady around, no?

On Repeat

Let's just say Ambition has gotten a whole lot of play-time on my iTunes this week. If you haven't grabbed your copy yet, it's probably in your best interest to pick one up... trust me.

Here's my favourite track:

"her heart's in a cage, 'cuz if you never love you can never hate." -Wale ft. Lloyd, Sabotage

Why Even Try?

I wish I had TL's swag...

Why Even Try- Theophilus London ft. Sara Quin

'Gotta Get Up' Preview

I just came across this Asher Roth music video preview on Chester French's Twitter. I heard 'Gotta Get Up'  a couple of months ago and it's been on repeat ever since. I never was a huge Asher fan, but I totally love Chester French's style. That's probably the reason why the hook has me every time. The music video has a trippy, comic book feel, and when mixed with the quirky beat and D.A.'s echoing chorus, it makes the 35-second preview such a tease. Enjoy!

Nothing but Love

I have the sweetest little sister in the world. For my 21st birthday, she put together a hilariously cute video that brought me to tears, as cheesy as that might sound. The video starts off with her exposing 21 embarrassing facts about me, followed by a collection of photos and random videos of the both of us. It's honestly so adorable I just had to share it.

Also, my cousin all the way in BC sent me a voice note of her 5 year-old son singing, "Happy Birthday." It totally brought a smile to my face :)

This past weekend was amazing. I had an unreal night with my closest friends on Friday, a much-needed recovery day on Saturday, and a great day with my family on Sunday. Best birthday by far.

countdown to 21

Who knew turning 21 could be so sweet? Funny thing is I won't be ringing in 21 years of life until a few hours from now. I did, however, have an early birthday party last night at Rehab nightclub. Thanks to everyone who came out and made the night a memorable one. Love you all! xoxo

The photos sum it all up:

        

Epic, no?

i can't help it...

but this guy is gorgeous! World, meet American model Chad White..

Ohh, I love me a man with glasses, style, and a killer smile.

Xo

Over the past couple of months, I've been hearing about this Toronto r&b act, The Weeknd. My first thought? "Oh cool, a new group!" It's a mystery to me and, I'm sure, a lot of other people as to whether they're a group or not. But as far as I know The Weeknd is made up of one guy, Abel Tesfaye. So don't let the name fool ya folks! Tesfaye even says it himself:

After reading numerous blogs, seeing friends link him up on Facebook, and even coming across Drake's tweets, I just had to see what all the buzz was about. First song I heard, "What You Need." Impressive. Now, if that isn't baby making music, then I don't know what is. The next song I came across was "Wicked Games" via thefader.com. Again, phenomenal. This guy is gonna make it big. He finally released his 9-track mixtape the other night and I couldn't wait to get it on my iPod. It nearly took me an hour to download House of Balloons because of the overload of fans on the The Weeknd's website. My thoughts on the mixtape? meh. It's just like movie trailers, they show you the best parts before it's released. And that's exactly what "What You Need" and "Wicked Games" were, the best tracks. I'll admit there were a couple of other songs that were worth another listen, but the rest either lulled me to sleep or could have been cut down three minutes shorter. I like the guy though and I'm not gonna give up on him just yet. But this House of Balloons definitely did not sweep me off my feet.

Lykke Li & Theophilus London

Probably two of the most played artists on my iTunes playlist. If you don't own their latest albums by now, I don't know what you're waiting for.

Lykke Li's sophomore album, Wounded Rhymes hit store shelves on March 1st. The album's hard hitting sound and no-holds barred lyrics differs quite significantly from her debut album, Youth Novels in 2008. She sings about having the "Rich Kid Blues," tells people to "Love out of Lust," and no longer is a "Little Bit" in love with you. If you're looking for something a little different from that mainstream shit they play on the radio these days, Lykke Li is your girl.

I'm not going to lie, the main reason I was so excited to purchase this EP on iTunes was for its cover art. It ends up I didn't just buy it for the pretty colours, but because this guy's music is actually so dope! Theophilus London's EP, Lovers Holiday was released on iTunes on February 8, just in time for the lovers holiday itself: Valentine's Day. The EP has five songs, one which features Sara Quin from the girl duo, Tegan and Sara; and another with Beyonce's baby sis, Solange Knowles. The New York based rapper has been compared to fellow hip-hop artist Kid Cudi, with his smooth vocals and wacky beats.
If you want to know what I'm talking about, have a listen to "Girls Girls $," aka my favourite song on this album:

hello world!

So this is my first official post on my first official blog. I can't believe I'm a journalism student and I've never had a blog of my own until now, haha. So if you're a lover of music, fashion, and everything in between, you've come to the right place :)

xoxo,
megsarah