a love phenomenon no one could explain

RUSSIAN ROULETTE
Rihanna
Rated R

... take a gun, and count to three...

Rihanna, just no.

YESTERDAY
Toni Braxton
Pulse

... you are so yesterday. I won't let you rain on my parade. Don't wanna hear a thing you say...

Ballads should be left to those who can actually sing. Like American R&B performer Toni Braxton whose biggest hit to date is the extremely poignant 1996 mega smash, "Un-break My Heart". However, subsequent releases proved to be commercial failures for the contralto singer until "Yesterday", the first single taken from her upcoming studio album, "Pulse". The song is a clever amalgamation of excellent production remarkably similar to contemporary hits penned and produced by Ryan Tedder (Kelly Clarkson's "Already Gone", Beyonce's "Halo", Jordin Sparks' "Battlefield"), and return-to-form powerhouse vocals from Braxton; something that the audience have not heard since her work back in the 90s. Given the proper radio support, "Yesterday" may just be the song the diva needs to put her back on top of the charts.

H.A.T.E.U.
Mariah Carey
Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel

... then you sat alone in pride and I sat at home and cried. How'd our fairytale just end up this way...

While most songs on air nowadays seem to be a rip-off of some other track, Mariah Carey offers to radio a different kind of love song. Fresh, distinct and highly original, "H.A.T.E.U." will definitely stand and knock out the rest of the ambiguity in today's music. Short for "Having A Typical Emotional Upset", the third single from the critically-acclaimed "Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel" finds Carey contemplating on love lost through a series of nicely written verses, making use of her full range, even singing the recurring melody in her whistle register. The songbird's voice has always been extremely pleasurable to listen to so when it is intricately layered over soothing and rhythmic beats, the end product is always dreamy, magical, and almost ethereal. As with the case of most songs on Carey's catalog, "H.A.T.E.U." weaves a string that pulls the heart in all the right places. More so for the heartbroken. "H.A.T.E.U." is a classic that needs to happen. It will be a damn shame if the world doesn't hear its greatness.