Only Adding To Our Legend

In The Tapedeck: The Weeknd - Echoes of Silence

You just want me 'cause I'm next - The Weeknd

This man Abel has done it again. Right after Thursday dropped The Weeknd said that he would release his third album this Fall, and in typical Weeknd form he waited until the last half hour of Autumn to release Echoes of Silence. As I opened iTunes and put on my Beats by Dre's I was thinking in the back of my mind that he could not do it three times in a row; and once again he lived up to the hype.

The only word that can truly describe The Weeknd's music is amazing. When I saw the first track titled "D.D." I thought nothing special of it, until about 30 seconds in when I realized that he flipped the classic Michael Jackson song (and my personal favorite MJ song) "Dirty Diana". Now usually it's an automatic loss when anyone tries to cover Michael, but "D.D." is probably the best Michael Jackson cover I've ever heard. At nine tracks long, EOS follows suit with House of Balloons and Thursday as it sounds like one cohesive album, and like the others this album is almost flawless. Other standout songs include "Same Song" and "Next". It's honestly mind-blowing that someone who is only 21 is making music on this level, and is doing it so consistently. In this new era of music we're lucky to get one solid effort every couple of years, and duke has done it three times in one year.

So if you haven't heard of The Weeknd now it might be time to find that ratchet and off yourself. He took Drake's Take Care to another level, and it's obvious that he's been rubbing off on Drake. As we can expect more collaborations between Abel and Drake, he should also be signed to a major record label soon. There were even rumors that he turned down a $7 million dollar deal, so a very lucrative contract could be in the works soon.

In the meantime, download Echoes of Silence and just enjoy. I don't think the magnitude of what he's done this year has been fully appreciated. Music like this does not come around very often, and a singer so talented with a sound so refreshing is rare. So as 2011 is coming to a close, if you haven't already download The Weeknd's mixtapes, and it will probably be the best end of the year decision you'll make. He claims in his music that he has next in this game, but in reality he has now.

Download Echoes of Silence at The-Weeknd.com

Who Got the Juice?

And like that Showtime was back. Yesterday reports came in that the Lakers had traded forwards Pau Gasol and Lamar Kardashian for superstar point guard Chris Paul. It seemed like Kobe Bryant was on his way to a sixth championship when The Man shut it down like Public Enemy. As the trade was being finalized commissioner David Stern blocked the trade between the Hornets and Lakers, citing conflict of interest. As L.A. fans took to social networks to vent, this led to the question of how much power should the commissioner have, and what parties, if any, should influence trades.

Now first let me say that I am not a Laker fan by any means, but this shit is cray. I can see why people are scared that there will be a league full of Miami Heats, but when David Stern actually vetos trades not only does it make the NBA look bad, but it ruins basketball as a whole. Stern said that the trade to the Lakers was a conflict of interest (The NBA owns the Hornets), and that the trade did not benefit them as much as the other team. What Stern failed to see is that this was probably the best players that the Hornets were going to get for Paul, as either way he has said he will leave after this season as a free agent. Now there is a possibiity that the Hornets will lose CP3 for nothing, just like the Cavs did with Lebron. More importantly, in a league that just ended a lockout that pitted players against owners, fans do not want to see the biggest owner of them all making decisions with their favorite teams.

While Chris Paul is only one player and the Lakers are only one team, this decision might come back to haunt the NBA. Now when it coming to trading players it's up in the air on what is a fair trade and what isn't. Basically Stern can allow one trade, but not allow another. Many are already speculating that all-star center Dwight Howards request to go to New Jersey might be denied. Teams should be able to whoever they want no matter how it looks on the surface. Even when the Lakers received Pau Gasol from the Grizzlies for what many said was nothing, Memphis ended up signing Marc Gasol who became a key piece in their playoff run. With the Paul decision Stern has only added to his "dictator" persona. It's obvious that he's been sipping on the juice that Bishop drank.

So now Chris Paul is stuck in New Orleans, a place he knows he doesn't want to play and in and a place he'll be leaving soon. Numerous reports are saying he's looking at ways to form a lawsuit against the NBA. All indicators say he'll take the Lebron route and go to New York to join Melo and Stat, but who knows if that will go through now. Lebron's former boss added his input by writing a letter to David Stern saying that the other 29 teams should have a say in another team's trade, which is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. It looks like just when the league takes steps to improve they just fall back again, which is why the NBA keeps losing fans. The resolution of this problem is on David Stern and what he decides to do in the future. There's no way he can regulate every trade. The whole point is to improve your team, and sometimes it seems lopsided. Stern is becoming more like NFL policeman Goodell, and that's not a good thing. As the basketball world did a collective Kanye shrug, as J. Edgar Stern showed who really ran things all I could think of is no one man should have all this power.

In The Tapedeck: The Weeknd - Echoes of Silence

Who Got the Juice?

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