Star Sparkle Blog

Today's music video is Godsent by AGUM and featuring i.amsolo . AGUM is a singer-songwriter originally from Uganda but now based in Sydney, Australia. (I think her full name is Hannah Agum.) She describes her music as "redefining  soul with a timeless voice and raw, heartfelt storytelling".  AGUM has toured as a background singer with Australian singer and actress Delta Goodrem and Australian singer Jessica Mauboy . She was a finalist in the Needle in the Hay Competition 2024 and featured on Australian TV programme  triple j's soul ctrl . Her singles include Fragile Heart, Say It, OUTGROWN, Makes Sense and Godsent. Godsent is AGUM's latest single and was released on 24th January. It's an Afrobeats/soul song and features Australian producer/artist i.amsolo.     For more on AGUM visit these links: Personal FB page (no Follow option but she has some public posts):  https://www.facebook.com/hannahagum/   Official TikTok:  https://www.tiktok.com/@agu...

Sorry the 2nd post is later this week, I haven't been well and didn't manage to finish it yesterday. :) Last year I started a new series on the blog called Random Albums, where I feature an album I own. The first one was Teedra Moses' debut album Complex Simplicity . You can see it here:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2024/09/random-albums-teedra-moses-complex.html Note: It was just over a year ago now and I haven't done another post in the series yet! I plan to get back to it in 2026. :) Complex Simplicity was originally released in August 2004 in the US (but not till June 2005 in the UK). Teedra released a 15th anniversary edition of the album in September 2009. Last year was the 20th anniversary. Now she has brought out a new version of the album called COMPLEX SIMPLICITY (REIMAGINED), in EP format. It was released on 12th November. Teedra says it features re-imaginings of songs she wrote at a much younger age  and is a thank you to fans.  She also says that wh...

In June I wrote a post about the 20th anniversary of my fave singer Mariah Carey's The Emancipation of Mimi album. It ended up being a long post, so I split it into two parts! You can see Part 1: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2025/06/20th-anniversary-of-mariahs.html I also did another post featuring a special live performance that Mariah did to celebrate the anniversary:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2025/06/mariah-carey-20th-teom-anniversary-live.html Now here is Part 2! Today I'm featuring some songs from The Emancipation of Mimi: Ultra Platinum Edition and the new 20th anniversary edition. :)   Don't Forget About Us Don't Forget About Us was the lead (and only) single from the re-released version of the album (the Ultra Platinum Edition) and came out in October 2005, ahead of the re-release in November 2005. It's one of my favourite songs from TEOM. :) Don't Forget About Us is about a past relationship, although Mariah has stated that the  true mean...

This week's video is Woman To Woman by Nigerian singer Simi . It's her most recent single and came out in March. Woman To Woman is the 4th single from Simi's 5th studio album Lost and Found, which was released in July last year, through her independent record label Studio Brat . It's an Afrobeats, R'n'B and soul album.  Woman To Woman follows previous singles All I Want, Men are Crazy and Borrow Me Your Baby. It's all about celebrating women and I think the lyrics are a mixture of English, a Nigerian language and Pidgin . This is the original music video and there's also a viral video (see below).      And here is the viral video (also released in March):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APUjYM7PiTI   Want more Simi? Check out this post: Music video for her 2020 single THERE FOR YOU feat. Ms Banks (plus links to more music): https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2021/01/weekly-music-video_20.html

Today's video is Love Life by JUNO. She is a Nigerian singer/artist, signed to The Gamma (a media and technology enterprise). JUNO  (real name Joy Dzeremo) made her debut with the single Intentions in August last year. To date she has released two other singles- Love Life and her latest, PIPE ME UP with Nigerian singer-songwriter Ruger . Her music is a blend of Afro soul and Afropop . Love Life is Juno's 2nd single and was released last December. I like the chilled vibes of the song. :)       Also check out the video for PIPE ME UP (released last month):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRh5J0J2F0g   And for more on JUNO visit these links:  Official FB page:  https://www.facebook.com/hearjunoo/   Official Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/hearjuno   Official YouTube channel:  https://www.youtube.com/@hearjuno     Want more African music? Check out these posts: Afropop Round-up 2022-2023:  https://sta...

Today's video is LaSalle Ave by American singer  Jay Chang . His real name is Jay Steven Kapossy and he has a Filipino Chinese mum and Irish/Hungarian dad.  Jay was born in the US but moved to South Korea for his music career. He followed in the footsteps of his dad, who was a musician in the 80s .  He started out by competing on the Korean survival programme Under Nineteen in 2018 and while he didn't make the final group, he went on to make his solo debut with the digital single Is you in November 2020. He released two other digital singles- LIAR and I'd do anything. Jay later signed with FM Entertainment . In 2023 he competed on another audition programme,  BOYS PLANET and although he didn't make it in to the final line-up for the project boyband ZEROBASEONE , he became well known and it kickstarted his career.  He made his official solo debut in October 2023 with the EP LATE NIGHT , which is a mixture of Korean and English tracks. The lead singles were I'll...

My favourite singer Mariah Carey is celebrating the 20th Anniversary of her 10th studio album The Emancipation of Mimi. It was released back in April 2005. I'd planned to write just one post about the album but it was turning into a really long one, so I've decided to divide it into two parts! Here is Part 1. :) The Emancipation of Mimi (or TEOM for short!) was considered Mariah's "comeback album" at the time, following on from her previous two albums, Glitter (2001) which was accompanied by the film of the same name and Charmbracelet (2002). Neither the Glitter movie or album were very well received and after going through a difficult time in general, Mariah had an emotional and physical breakdown and checked into hospital that summer. She was diagnosed with bipolar II disorder , although didn't feel ready to speak about it pubicly until several years later .  Although Charmbracelet (MC's first release after leaving Virgin Records America and singing w...

In the past, I've written a couple of posts about songs that samples older tracks or were covers of previous songs. You can see them below: Samples and Covers:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2021/08/samples-and-covers.html More Samples and Covers: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2023/06/more-samples-and-covers.html   My last post was nearly two years ago, so I thought it was time for another one! This post mostly features sampled songs (however there is a bonus cover! :) Note : As with the previous posts, I've listed the original song first.   Carly Simon- Why American singer-songwriter Carly Simon released the single Why back in August 1982. It was written by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards (co-founders of the band CHIC ). Why is a pop/disco style song with reggae influences. It was from the soundtrack of the film Soup for One . Although the movie didn't do so well, the single was successful, reaching Top 10 in the UK Charts and doing well throughout Europe. Th...

Hope everyone had a good Christmas! (Or any other festival you celebrated.) :) This week's video is on a Thursday instead of the usual Wednesday, because yesterday was Christmas Day.   This is The Test, the latest single by Singaporean singer Gen Neo . It's from his new EP Push&Pull, which was released on 8th November.  Push&Pull is English language and mainly R'n'B style. Gen calls it both an album and an EP. I suppose it's kind of in the middle, since it consists of 8 tracks. The first 3 singles to be released were Tell The Truth, Like I Do and ONTW (released in August, September and October respectively). I like most of the songs but my favourites are Ain't The Same and I Wanna Know. The Test is the focus track of the EP. It's an R'n'B and soul ballad that "explores an intimate and sensual conversation between lovers". In the video (which premiered on 7th November) Gen plays the piano as the sun sets, before setting it on fire! I...

Sorry the 2nd post is later this week, I didn't manage to get it finished yesterday. :) I'm starting a new series called Random Albums, where I feature an album I own. I've actually had the idea for ages, since last year! lol. Today I'm focusing on Complex Simplicity, the debut album by American singer Teedra Moses . :)  Teedra started out as an assistant wardrobe stylist to celebrities, before becoming a singer. She began her music career by signing to TVT Records in 2002, going on to release her debut US single You'll Never Find (A Better Woman) featuring rapper Jadakiss in November 2003. The following June she brought out her 2nd single Be Your Girl. She released Complex Simplicity in August 2004 in the US and the following year in the UK. The album was largely produced by Paul Poli, with all tracks co-written by Teedra herself (and many also written by Paul). It features her first  two singles You'll Never Find and Be Your Girl as well as a 3rd, You Bette...

Today's music video is YOU by American singer SiR . It's his latest single and is from his 4th studio album HEAVY, which was released in March. Other singles from the album include KARMA with rapper Isaiah Rashad and IGNORANT with singer Ty Dolla $ign . YOU is a chilled R'n'B song with a good vibe for the upcoming summer! :) It was released on 22nd March, the same day as the album.   I also really like ONLY HUMAN: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLopmDrrAgo   Stream/buy HEAVY here:  https://orcd.co/heavyalbumsir Or listen/watch on YouTube:  HEAVY playlist   Want more SiR? Check out these posts:    Music video for Nothing Even Matters (2022): https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2022/10/weekly-music-video.html Chilled R'n'B Songs (includes Work Hard Play Hard, his 2023 single with D Smoke): https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2023/08/chilled-rnb-songs.html

Today's video (or audio) is OBVIOUS by Keynan rapper and singer Bey T . It's from her debut EP PINK PM, which was released last September. The first single was Personal, with fellow Kenyan singer Karun , which was released in January 2023. Obvious is  an English language song that blends R'n'B, pop and soul. It's about resilience, perseverance and self-discovery. It came out last May but I first heard it towards the end of last year, I think. This is the official music audio.   Visit this post to hear Personal: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2023/02/weekly-music-video_8.html   And listen to PINK PM at these links:  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/7Mwbp0ArZhIjOpRdzrGyb8 YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDuxfjnSZig&list=OLAK5uy_nB2vRqSot-Gjs7ESMuChJDhQp19gmr8dM   Want more African music? Check out these posts: Afropop Round-up 2022-2023:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2023/11/afropop-round-up-2022-2023.html Ninho feat. Ayra...

Today's music video is DASHNI by Dafina Zeqiri and featuring MUMA. Dafina is a Swedish born Kosovar (Kosovo Albanian) singer. She grew up in Sweden and moved to Kosovo aged 19.  Dafina comes from a musical background, since her mum Melihate was an Albanian folk/pop singer. Dafina herself started out in music by entering competitions and released her first album Knock Down in 2008.  Her music is mainly R'n'B and soul, with a mixture of other genres including trap and urban Albanian pop. She sings in both English and Albanian.  To date Dafina has brought out two more albums- Just Me (2011) and Dafine moj (2017) and the EP King (2017). Her singles include Adios, Knockdown featuring Hekuran Krasniqi , Dua qe ta di, Amazing Girl, Nje here ne jete with producer Cricket , Mos Shloe featuring Yll Limani  and DASHNI. Her latest single is DASMA. MUMA (real name Endrit Mumajesi) is an Albanian singer.  DASHNI was released in March last year. It's an Albanian language song....

Today's video is Nothing Even Matters by American singer SiR . His full name is Sir Darryl Farris and he comes from a musical family, with his mum and uncle being involved in the music business. SiR has a degree in recording arts and started out as songwriter, later releasing his first mixtape Wooden Voodoo in September 2012. In July 2015 he released his debut album Seven Sundays through an independent record label and went on to sign to Top Dawg Entertainment in early 2017. In addition to Wooden Voodoo and Second Sunday, SiR has brought out the 2014 mixtape Long Live Dilla; two EPS, HER (2016) and HER TOO (2017); and two more albums November (2018) and Chasing Summer (2019). He was worked with several other artists, including American rapper Anderson .Paak and rapper/singer Kendrick Lamar .  SiR's music is R'n'B/soul and his singles include Hair Down with Kendrick, Rapper Weed featuring Boogie , Satisfaction and Life Is Good featuring British rapper Scribz Riley . Noth...