Superfruit - Imaginary Parties

Superfruit has an incredible fanbase. Loyal, strong, and devoted to Scott and Mitch and it's not hard to see why. They have an uncanny knack of creating harmonies where there are none and giving you a funk and a flow where you never expected it to exist. This song is a fantastic example of non traditional music creation as they just make one of the coolest tracks I've heard in a long time. The visuals in the video are super fun and both Mitch and Scott have every nuance of their personalities shown in the most incredible way. I adore this song and will give Superfruit much more attention than what I have previously given them and I think you should as well.

Betty Who - Human Touch

Sexy video, sexy song, sexy singer. I'm not a HUGE fan of her look with the long hair and thankfully it disappears because I feel that short hair is part of who Betty Who is. It's a fun summertime song. The video is sexy and I like how they keep pushing her to expand her horizons and boundaries by dancing. It's a good thing, I think to see her continually grow as an artist and entertainer.

Charli XCX - Boys

Eye candy galore. It's an extravaganza of hotness. It's a cornucopia of all things gorgeous in all colors, shapes, and sizes and it's nice to see men objectified. From social media stars to musicians to producers and every one in between, Charli decided that it was time for the dudes to take center stage and show off their goodness. The song is super cute and a bit of a departure of some of her more serious stuff but it's got some fun in it and makes you bop along with it. I love Charli and to see her stepping into a directing role, even if it is just telling pretty boys how to show of their prettiness is super cool. Any new music from her is always good music.

Kesha - Learn To Let Go

Being a part of Kesha's catharsis is going to heal a lot of people. As she continues to release single after single from "Rainbow", we are drawn deeper and deeper into her healing and her process of becoming whole again. She's not been able to release new music in over four years so it stands to reason that the singles from "Rainbow" would be rapid fire. "Learn to Let Go" is the latest single and it's an amazing ode to the advice we are so easily and willing to give other people but damn near impossible to do ourselves. We get to see Kesha reminiscing over her childhood and see pieces of herself that she's probably not shared with the world before. She's open. She's honest and she's letting us into her life more now than ever. It's a really great song that just makes you feel good by the time it's done and I think a lot of that is due to our own healing and growth as we are all learning more about ourselves every day.

Eli Lieb - Shangri La

I realize there's a lot of near nudity in this video but it has nothing to do with sexuality. It's an expression of vulnerability and being emotionally raw. This song is so evocative of emotions we've felt on some level. Losing ourselves in someone else. Being at the power of desire and longing. Forgetting who we are in the grand scheme of being with someone. All of those things are intoxicating when we get wrapped up in wanting someone and being with someone. Losing all of who were are for even the briefest of moments makes us swoon and become breathless. Baring all that we are for someone is terrifying and it's all encompassing and it's abrupt; like the end of the song. I love how the song just stops. It's jarring and some times we experience that too. The stop at the end of the long fall as we've fallen into someone. Eli's voice is so sublime in this song. It's earthy and raspy and full of hope with a twinge of desperate longing. He's naked. He's exposed. It's gorgeous and I adore this song.

Bradley Say - Visionnaire

"Je suis un visionnaire" I am a Visionary. It took me a minute to catch on to the fact that he was singing this line in French but once I caught that he had done that, it increased the quality of the song. It's a light and easy song that is a total earworm. It gets inside you and won't let go. I sidestepped and watched the video for "Ringleader" and it gave me a much better understanding of the artist Bradley is and I see a lot of potential. He's much more than just cotton candy fluff. He's got come real rhythmical sensibilities that make him an artist to look out for. Flow and rhythm aren't things you can teach. You either have them and they're part of you or they're not and you won't be doing much without them. He has a youthful quality to his music that makes him marketable to a young demographic but the subject matter of the tracks he has created show much more of an old soul that wants to share their life with their audience. It's not just mindless bubblegum pop that leaves you unfulfilled. He is creating music that is accessible to a wide audience and once you get brought in with his infectious grooves and clever word play, you stick around to be part of something larger than you are.

His third single off his upcoming release, "Visionnaire" is a self empowerment anthem that gives you permission to be a visionary. To see what you want to be and where you need to go and to go for it and if you stumble and fall along the way, you pick yourself up and you start again. Rest and reset; they say. You will trip along the way but it's totally ok. You throw your shoulders back, chest out and you march to your own drum. You blaze you own path and you leave those that have no faith in you in the dust. This song is deceptive because at first, it's just a poppy little ditty with a simple rhyme scheme but when you go just below the surface you see the message of self acceptance and power that Bradley is sharing with the audience. If this is the quality of work that he's putting out, then sign me up because I damn sure know I like my music to have a bit of a message and when it's laid down over a groove I can get lost in; all the better. Make sure you stick around because Bradley's new album, Kaléidoscope is dropping on August 4, 2017 and between now and then I bet I can get to know his body of work a lot better and I can share it with you guys, gals, and non-binary pals.

Kesha - Woman

1. Don't buy me a drink.
2. I make my money.
3. Don't touch my weave.
4. Don't call me honey.

Rules for dating in 2017. Actually, rules for being a respectable human being. Kesha is absolutely KILLING it with her new music. The first two tracks off "Rainbow" have shown a huge range that people may not have seen before from her. And for the first time, creatively as it were, people are getting to hear her true voice. Nothing has given me more joy than to see the compilation video of people losing their shit over her F6 high note in "Praying".  Until now, she's been controlled and stifled by her record label, her producer and other people in management that feel they know better than she does who she should be but with these new tracks, you are hearing a more fully realized version of who she is. It's like when Pink decided to throw off the ideals of her record label and lost the hip hop/party girl vibe they wanted her to sell and we got the truer version of Alicia except with Kesha, her journey has been much more arduous.

So, "Woman".... talk about an anthem. A female empowerment anthem that lets you know that she is her own person. She is her own being and she needs nothing from no one to do what she needs to do in this world. The song is raw and it's not perfect and she actually breaks out into laughter during it. The addition of the horn section from The Dap-Kings is incredible. Sharon Jones was one of the most powerful women in music and she fought and struggled to be who she new she needed to be and you can hear her legacy in the funk that her band laid down for Kesha. I think she would have been proud to hear this collaboration. You still get the party vibe from this song but it's a more elevated form of party. It's a woke version of partying. And it's important for young women and men alike to hear this.

It's a fantastic song and you'll easily find yourself going back to it over and over again. "Rainbow" is shaping up to be a helluva release and I can't wait to hear her collaborations with Eagles of Death Metal and Dolly Parton. It's going to be an incredible journey and it's only just beginning.

Dua Lipa - New Rules

Not going to do a lot of talking. Dua Lipa is making quite the name for herself and this gives me a lot of Marina and the Diamonds - which is a damn good thing. She's pretty, she's got a great voice and she serves fierce attitude in her videos. This video is a fantastic representation of girl power and solidarity between friends. It's a song about being strong and sticking to your guns when you don't necessarily want to when a boy or a crush is involved. There's a lyric that I think is genius.

"If you're under him, you'll never get over him."

She's doing a damn fine job of creating a song book of fantastic pop music and it's only getting better and better.

Kesha - Praying

Survivor. Resilient. Unwaivering. Those are just a very few of the descriptors that come to mind when I think about Kesha Rose Sebert. In the music industry today, there are very few artists that have gone through what she has. There are even fewer that have been as vocal about their struggles as she has. Much like everyone else, I found Kesha around 2010 but it wasn't until I saw a fan reaction on "My Crazy Beautiful Life" that I fully appreciated the magnitude of what being a fan meant. A young boy found solace in her music and when he had the opportunity to meet her, he was moved to tears and it not only had a profound affect on him but any of us watching this moment on television.

Kesha has been put through the ringer.  She has fought and won a battle against anorexia. She is fighting to regain control of her music career. She is standing tall in the face of adversity and she is a clear role model for anyone and everyone that has been put through it. This is her first official single in four years. Four torturous years where she hasn't been able to release any new music due to the legal battles she's faced with Dr. Luke and Sony. And in this single, she takes the high road. She lays it out there for people to see. To understand exactly what it is that she's been experiencing at the hands of her abuser. The video starts out with a monologue and I have to say, I am beyond moved at the honesty and sheer amount of raw emotion she has been able to put into words with what she's experienced.

"Am I dead? Or is this one of those dreams? Those horrible dreams that seem like they last forever? If I am alive, why? If there is a God or whatever, something, somewhere, why have I been abandoned by everyone and everything I've ever known? I've ever loved? Stranded. What is the lesson? What is the point? God, give me a sign, or I have to give up. I can't do this anymore. Please just let me die. Being alive hurts too much."

As a very personal side note, these words touched me. Greatly. As a matter of fact, they're pretty much how I've felt almost every day for the past six months. And even reading them, I am moved to tears because they are a manifestation of my thoughts and my fears and exactly what's been going on in my life. And now, someone that I admire. Someone that I cherish has said them out loud. Given a voice to my struggle and my pain and it gives me hope. It gives me strength to know that I am not alone. That I am not doing this by myself and if Kesha has the power to overcome this a day at a time, then so do I.

She is everything. Her music means the world to me. Her voice gives a voice to those people that are voiceless. She is a misfit on the island of misfit toys. She is an outcast. And I am proud to be right there beside her. I am so proud of her for standing tall and not backing down and doing what makes her whole. I am honored to be the recipient of such a gift that she's given the world and I cherish it. She is Kesha Rose and I adore her.