First and foremost I want to say happy 2k8 and that I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays and whatnot. Sorry for the lateness in posts and music, I’ve been so busy with exams and finals, coming into adult life aka “the real world” and stress, you know, the usual.

The Summer of 2007 was definitely a time for Rihanna to shine, with the smash hit of “Umbrella” featuring executive producer/mentor Jay-Z, already having released two previous albums, both 2005’s Music of the Sun and 2006’s A Girl Like Me, one would question if Rihanna is moving too quickly in her natural prime. Although I do admit to actually purchasing and owning two of Rihanna’s album releases, I felt she was rushed into finding a specific identity to stick with, not just for her, but also her label. Needless to say, numbers don’t lie, “Umbrella” was indeed a hit and possibly one of my favourite records from her.

Rihanna ft. Jay-Z – Umbrella – PAGE LINK

Well! I would have never, ever, ever, EVER thought “Crank Dat” would blow up like that, yeah the songs is actually old but I guess peeps just caught wind of it and it started to gain mainstream access. I kind of got sucked into the “Soulja Boy” craze too, it was a fun little dance that lasted for a while, I trying not to over analyze things this year as a resolution. I know y’all remember the “Bump,” the “Running Man,” the “Cabbage Patch,” etc.

Soulja Boy – Crank Dat – PAGE LINK

As much as I hated that awfully dreaded “Kiss Kiss,” produced by/featuring T-Pain, I loved it even more, as it began to grow on me, definitely another hot single for the Summer, and clearly a static hit versus “Wall to FLOP Wall”. I almost lost Chris Brown there, but to be completely honest, I’ve been pretty nice and notably fair with him, really. =D

Chris Brown ft. T-Pain – Kiss Kiss – PAGE LINK

“Low,” a song also produced by/featuring T-Pain, was very big down here, there is absolutely no avoiding Flo-rida and T-Pain here in Miami at this point, the song was in heavy rotation on all the local radio stations known to man and immediately peaked at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 music charts.

Flo-rida ft. T-Pain – Low – PAGE LINK

I think 2007 partially belonged to Alicia Keys with the chart-topping single “No One”. Aside from all the solid remixes heavily played on the radio, the song itself charted to number one and remained there for 10 weeks on U.S. Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-hop Songs chart and it has received two nominations for the 2008 Grammy Awards: “Best Female R&B Vocal Performance” and “Best R&B Song”.

Alicia Keys – No One – PAGE LINK

And what would this post be without the man of the hour T-Pain with “Buy U a Drank,” featuring Yung Joc? The single was number 1 on on both Billboard’s Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-hop Songs charts not to mention the consecutive plays it receive on U.S. radio last year in 2007. T-Pain’s contemporary-like sound and stellar production definitely earned him a spot at the top!

T-Pain ft. Yung Joc – Buy U a Drank – PAGE LINK

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