Erykah Badu has never been the type to let the tide of change wash her away. In this information age where nano MP3 players, do-it-all cell phones, and lightning-fast PCs hold dominion, Badu has coolly adapted from an analog girl in a digital world to a new-age Bohemian sweetie browsing through mixtapes on her iBook.
Since her groundbreaking debut "Baduizm" in 1997, Badu has gone from wearing earthy fabrics to flashing nameplates. She has evolved from a humble Southern girl grounded by Eastern spirituality, and is one who happily embraces her Hip-Hop roots. Whether it's falling in love and having two beautiful children to show for it, renovating the Dallas theatre where she performed as a child, or simply performing for her faithful fans, Badu has renewed the world around her. She has literally created a new mentality, a new approach to life, a "New Amerykah".
Malaysia's premier indie-rock band, Butterfingers, returned to the music scene with their 7th full length studio album - "Kembali". Their signature trademark rock sound, that made them pioneers in the Malaysian underground scene, and one of the first indie-rock bands to break the mainstream market, is still present. They've just spiced things up, toned things down and shook things around. "Kembali" also marked the beginning of a new era for Butterfingers, who recently ended their long standing recording contract with a major label, and have decided to finally take musical matters into their own hands - going D.I.Y.
"What is a N.E.R.D? N.E.R.D stands for No One Ever Really Dies. The Neptunes are who we are and N.E.R.D is what we do. It's our life. N.E.R.D is just a basic belief, man. People's energies are made of their souls. When you die, that energy may disperse but it isn't destroyed. Energy cannot be destroyed. It can manifest in a different way but even then it's like their souls are going somewhere. If it's going to heaven or hell or even if it's going into a fog or somewhere in the atmosphere to lurk unbeknownst to itself, it's going somewhere."
In the song 'Evolution', Jonathan Davis lyrically speaks to mankind's distinct lack of evolution--while the entity known as Korn has made amazing progress since their self-titled 1994 debut. That growth is evident on the 13 tracks populating Korn's untitled, eighth studio album. The follow-up to 2005's multi-platinum See You On The Other Side, Korn's latest, Davis says, is "about us growing up and our minds opening up more. We weren't necessarily worried about 'oh, is this too poppy? Or too this or that? We started thinking that way when 'Got The Life' came out and we thought, 'oh, we can't put this out, it's got a disco beat and it's too dancey.' It made us scared. But that's something we like doing," he emphasizes. "If we do a song and put it out and we're not scared about it, I guess we're not doing it right, because we always want to evolve, experiment and change." Further proof of that credo? The lack of an album title. "This album felt like it didn't need to have a title or boundaries," Davis says. "We thought it would be cooler for fans. Metallica had a Black album, the Beatles had a White album, and Peter Gabriel put out a bunch of albums he didn't title. We're throwing it out there and letting people use their minds and imaginations."
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