THE SHIFT DANCE CREW You know, sometimes dance crews don’t have to be in synch or hit all or their dance moves. Some say that precision is overrated nowadays. Shift Dance Crew knows what I’m talking about. Okay, seriously, I’ll cut them some slack, the group has only been around as a relatively underground crew for a couple years now and the tutting portion of the performance was impressive. But overall, their show was a bit lacking. They need more precision, more skill, and above all, more swag….it fixes everything.
TIM BE TOLD I <3 Tim Be Told! Their intimate performance made me feel like I was in the audience at MTV unplugged. (not just because only about a fourth of Grant Auditorium was filled) Living up to their name, the lead singer, Tim Ouyang, told the audience of his and the band’s personal journey as he battled an illness, began to lose faith and the band almost broke up. There was an undeniable, relatable appeal as they sang songs such as “Rejected” and “Scared to be Alone” and Tim talked about almost losing his voice to a respiratory disease. But don’t let him fool you, he can sang! The band had soulful and bluesy sounds which they mixed with pop and mainstream ones to create their unique tunes. My only wish is that ‘Tim’ would have ‘told’ a little more about the rest of the band (yes, I’m doing that). We learned a lot about Tim and even that the band only now had two of its original five members, but there was a lot of talking, and not much about Andrew and Caleb, the band’s guitarist and new drummer respectively. However, I do know that it was evident that the band’s message was to spread ideas of hope and faith to its audience; each tune from the band’s latest album, “Humanity,” although catchy, had a powerful message. So go out and buy it, it so good that even I did.
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!! JUST A LITTLE MAINSTREAM FOOD FOR THOUGHT FROM IBET! As we all know, Drake’s much anticipated sophomore album “Take Care” was just released November 15th, and being the impatient, music pirates that so many of us are, we’ve been listening to it since November 6th. I think most would agree that on the surface, the album is bomb; there was a nice balance of singing and rapping and we even got to hear a sample of Juvenile’s “Back that Thang up” and a Stevie Wonder harmonica solo! But as I listened closely to the album as a whole, I got to thinking, “Drake, what are you doing with your life?” On one hand he’s acts a little cocky. At first, he talks about how great he is in songs like “Underground Kings” and “I’m on One.” The next thing you know, he’s flaunting his Bill Cosby sweaters in “Headlines” and featuring songs like “The Crew” where he doesn’t even come in for 3 ½ minutes! But then there’s the emotional/depressing side of the album, (like Jimmy in the wheelchair depressing) There’s his sad drunk dialing episode in “Marvin’s Room,” and then he talks about crying in “Doing it Wrong;” does someone need a hug? Well cheer up Aubrey, throw on one of those sweaters and celebrate, your album’s still on top of the charts!
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