I have been a great fan of music ever since I was a kid, and I think I got it from my dad. This love made me enjoy singing too. In the past, and at most times, I am not familiar with the lyrics, or the composer. But when I grew to become more fond of the music, I would ask about these information.

I would then even look up magazines about my favorite bands, singers, composers and soon, just by listening, I would become familiar with these details. Yes, music is in the heart, it is enjoyed even more when one knows the lyrics, the singer and the song.

Hip hop music is one of the commonly known types of the Mainstream Urban genre.  Hip-hop mainly consists of a rhythmically music best recognized as rap.  Hip hop music is a part of the hip-hop culture which was first known with African-American and Latino people.  Rappers perform poetic composition that can be performed recorded or on the spot. Rap is usually part of an integral element of the hip hop music genre with a DJ performing live making use of instrumental acts.  Hip hop was popularized in New York City where DJs played funky songs combined with an audience interaction.

Are you one of Alicia Keys’ followers? Well, we have something for you….

album: “Songs In A Minor” (2002)

Piano & 1 (Intro)
Girlfriend
How Come You Don’t Call Me
Fallin’
Troubles
Rock Wit U
A Woman’s Worth
Jane Doe
Goodbye
The Life
Mr. Man
Never Felt This Way (Interlude)
Butterflyz
Why Do I Feel So Sad?
Caged Bird
Lovin’ You

album: “The Diary Of Alicia Keys” (2003)

Harlem’s Nocturne
Karma
Heartburn
If I Was Your Woman / Walk On By
You Don’t Know My Name
If I Ain’t Got You
Diary
Dragon Days
Wake Up
So Simple
When You Really Love Someone
Feeling U, Feeling Me (Interlude)
Slow Down
Samsonite Man
Nobody Not Really (Interlude)

album: “Unplugged” (2005)

Karma
Heartburn
A Woman’s Worth
Unbreakable
How Come You Don’t Call Me
If I Was Your Woman
If I Ain’t Got You
Every Little Bit Hurts
Streets Of New York (City Life)
Wild Horses
Diary
You Don’t Know My Name
Stolen Moments
Fallin’
Love It Or Leave It
Welcome To Jamrock

album: “As I Am” (2007)

As I Am (Intro) [Instrumental]
Go Ahead
Superwoman
No One
Like You’ll Never See Me Again
Lesson Learned
Wreckless Love
The Thing About Love
Teenage Love Affair
I Need You
Where Do We Go From Here
Prelude To A Kiss
Tell You Something (Nana’s Reprise)
Sure Looks Good To Me
Hurt So Bad [iTunes Pre-Order Bonus Track]

If you are an urban music fanatic, you probably are collecting lyrics and file them up according to your style. But nowadays, song books are no longer in demand and existing. That is why some people have started websites that contain song lyrics including urban music.

One of the many sites that has this kind of service is urbanlyrics.com. Songs are alphabetically filed for easy search. If the songs that you are looking for are not in the list, you can actually request for it, eitherway, you can submit what you have for others’ use. There are five categories such as R&B, reggae, hip-hop, gospel and soul.

There are lists of Mainstream Urban songs available in the R&R Urban Contemporary Airplay board. These are carefully checked and monitored by people from Nielsen BDS. The R&R comes from the re-launching of two publications namely the Billboard Radio Monitor and The Radio & Records. There are articles and reviews that mostly appeared from R&R publications and daily news updates from the music and recording industry in general. Among the lists of formatted and monitored radio panels are: Top 40, Adult Contemporary, Urban Contemporary, Country, Rock, Jazz, Christian and Gospel songs. The list primarily uses the BDS radio panels featured in Billboard Radio Monitor.

Mariah’s sexy voice did it all for her new single “Touch My Body”. The lyrics may be a bit vulgar for the conservatives but the beat has definitely taken the critics off their plush seats. They had nothing for Mariah’s “Touch My Body” but positive feedbacks. This single is actually Mariah’s 18th number 1 on Hot 100. Co-written by her, the style and tempo of the song lies in between the pop and R&B genres. It has been branded by some as one of the best sensual songs ever made, although opinions vary from person to person. Another note on this song is that it promotes “safe encounters”. It reminds the people that sex is a personal thing and not to be shared to anyone—more so in Youtube.

Photo taken from http://www.americanidol.com

The Mainstream Urban is similar to an Urban Contemporary Format. The playlist composition and target demographic are two factors of the urban music genre. Its main audience caters to young music enthusiasts featuring the most prominent music of hip hop and R&B. People ages 18-34 years old are the targeted audienceP since this young generation music lovers almost grew up in this kind of music genre. Majority of music stations opted for Mainstream Urban songs due to its popularity among the young generation. These kinds of music mostly include heavy playlist of hip-hop and R&B known to be the most conventional among Urban Contemporary Music.

1.����� Sona Family, Make Some Noise Hindi hip hop comes of age… Released: 15th October 2007

2.����� Various Artists, Well Deep: 10 Years Of Big Dada Plenty of good tracks to drop into an after-party session at 4am. Released: 15th October 2007

3.����� Def 1, Love Me Or Hate Me

4.����� American-lite rap from North West London’s latest hip hop contender… Released: 1st October 2007

5.����� Flying Lotus, Reset EP There remains large elements of individuality to Reset EP, that will ensure this stays at the top of your most-played list for some time to come. Released: 1st October 2007

6.�� Swami, Equalize Swami�s Equalize fuses continent-stretching genres, yet retains a traditional Bhangra sound. Released: 24th September 2007

-Source

1.����� Wyclef Jean, Carnival Vol II It�s definitely been worth the wait. Released: 26th November 2007

2.����� Alicia Keys, As I Am Alicia Keys has dropped the urban flavours in the previous outing in favour of a more mature soul sound. Released: 19th November 2007

3.����� Jay-Z, American Gangster The release date? Fireworks night naturally. Boom! Released: 5th November 2007

4.����� Big Cakes, Skim Authentic, honest, witty, and compelling. It�s a contender for British Hip-Hop Album of the year so far. Released: 22nd October 2007

5.����� Hezekiah, I Predict A Riot From the church to the street. Conscious rap from Hezekiah… Released: 22nd October 2007

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