2WGZ x NEXT IN SHOW 1st Annual 'End Of The Year' AWARDS

Our favorite affiliate and white girl over at 2WhiteGirlz.com, Jaimee, has blessed us with the opportunity to take part in her first ever End Of The Year Blog Awards. Chris donates his opinion, representing the male voice and west coast perspective. Categories are hilarious. Check me out.

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"As we begin 2012 I’ve reviewed all the lists of 2011, the great lists of music, artists, mixtapes, singles, and albums. I found we were missing one thing…The unbelievable social media moments that hip-hop gave us in 2011. So 2WGZ (@JaimLou) enlisted our boy Chris, from NextInShow (@ihate_chris), to represent not only the West Coast but the male perspective here in our 1st Annual End Of The Awards. 

There are 15 categories, each group of nominees earned their right to be mentioned here today, you all definitely made it tough on us to pick winners but I have no doubt you will all keep it up for 2012 and keep us bloggers busy all year long!"

www.2WHITEGIRLZ.com

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Mad Skillz 2011 End of Year Hip-Hop Rap-Up [VIDEO]

YES! As usual our good friend Mad Skillz has released his annual yearly wrap up. He covers everything from Casey Anthony, dead birds and fish, Ray J and Fab fighting, occupy protesters, iPhone 4, Conrad Murray, Charlie Sheen, the lockouts and soooo much more. Enjoy!

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#NEXTINSHOW: The Year In Music

It seems like 2011 was the year for people to step out of their comfort zone and start trying something new. A lot of artist came together to collaborate, not to mention the whole dubstep/DJ scene that took over and heavily influenced hip hop. Next In Show is less than 6 months old and already we have accomplished so much. Most of the credit goes to you the reader and all the artists and submissions that we receive. Special Thanks to Kid Boogie & FlowJo Stevo for the premieres and the continued support. NIS has been fortunate enough to work with all these amazing artists and we look forward to what the future has in store for us in 2012. (New Years Eve we will be releasing a special unreleased Cali Swag District Interview *RIP M-Bone* and also an Interview with upcoming rapper OhJay for the release of her debut mixtape 'Crowd Molesters". Get Ready To Pop Bottles!!!
NEXT IN SHOW 4 PRESIDENT
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TOP 3 #NEXTINSHOW Artist(Albums)

* Niko Villamor - Inertia *

This is one of those albums that is easy to listen to, but also in heavy rotation because of it's melodic charm. Might be an underrated artist now, but for an almost perfect debut album, I can only see things getting better for Niko. 

Songs to look out for: (Studios & Hotels, Decay, Kevlar Heart)

Interview Here

Download Here

*Iman Omari - Energy *

Energy was instantly inducted into my personal 'albums hall of fame'. The album is heavily influenced by Jazz, but brings a modern twist to the equation. Studying vocal jazz in art school, you can see it plays a big role in this album as well as Iman's life.

Songs to look out for: (I'll Do Anything For You, Let Me, Energy)

Interview Here
Download Here

*Ryshon Jones - Brightest Nights, Darkest Days *

Although this isn't the first album from rapper Ryshon Jones, Brightest Nights, Darkest Days has closed out 2011 as being one of the most inspiring and influential albums of the year. Such a classic album, but with such a new sound. The catch here is Ryshon has used amazing beats and production with current and buzzworthy samples from artists like The Weeknd, Frank Ocean and Bjork to name a few. This method is something that works perfect for Ryshon. Next In Show had the pleasure to meet and interview Ryshon in the beginning. He was our first official artist to work with. Shout out to that loveable white girl at 2WhiteGirlz.com

Songs to look out for: (Crying In The Club, Champain, Neo Renaissance)

Interview Here

Download Here

TOP 10 Albums Of The Year

(According To Next In Show)

10. Tyler The Creator - Goblin
9. Washed Out - Within And Without
8. Phantogram - Nightlife
7. J. Cole - Cole World
6. Neon Indian - Era Extraña
5. A$AP Rocky - LiveLoveAsap
4. Frank Ocean - nostaligia, ultra
3. Drake - Take Care
2. AraabMuzik - Electronic Dream (Deluxe Edition)
1. The Weeknd Trilogy (Echoes Of Silence, Thursday, House Of Balloons)

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TOP 5 Television Season Finales 2011

2011 was the year before 2012. Obviously, but what I'm trying to say it seems as though the worlds film and music industries were hard at work creating end of the world-esque movies and songs. For the most part TV stayed away, or at least began late with the whole 2012 fad leaving room for some more than decent writing and acting. I have put together in no specific order the Top 5 TV season finales I got to witness this year. If you have any favorites LEAVE A COMMENT because I'd like to know. Perhaps I haven't seen and would be super-duper-extra-de-duper excited to do so. Enjoy!

A huge fan of HBO series and especially Board Empire. The season started with a bang and literally ended with a bang. For you unaware of the show's premise the show centers around Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi), a big player during the prohibition period in Atlantic City. There's plenty of violence and the writers should all win awards after every episode. I can't wait to see how next season will pan out. Check out what happened http://www.nextinshow.com/2011/12/boardwalk-empire-season-finale-goodbye.html

What more can I say except Emmy Rossum is excellent and William H.Macy is just as good. A drunk father never home but always around when you don't need him leaves his kids at home to fair for themselves. Taken care of by their older sister (Rossum) the kids find their ways easily into and out of trouble. Leave room for next season because I sense some real nice screenplay. 

Known to me as a highly popular show among female viewers as much as the men Sons of Anarchy took us for a crazy ride this season. With the introduction of some new cartel members, feds and a new sheriff I have every reason to believe next season is going to be the wildest one yet. After the death or shall I say killings of several players in this game the gang is confused with lies, theft and now boasts a new leader. But for how long? 

By far one of my favorite show's on TV. Weeds also ended with a bang this season, and I don't mean Nancy Botwin up to her promiscuous ways as usual. A sniper appears at the family picnic during this finale and all we are left with is a bang and no guarantee for a Season 8. I hope there is though. Here's what happened. http://www.nextinshow.com/2011/09/weeds-season-7-finale-hit-us-but-who.html 

Another show that ended with a bang. This time it was to save the lives of the unfortunate. There is one more promised season which is said to be the final season. If you haven't seen Breaking Bad it follows a now retired school chemistry teacher who started making meth to foot his lung cancer bills, which is why he started cooking to begin with. Now his DEA brother in law has no suspicions it's him however after season 4 there's little room left for error. I LOVE THIS SHOW

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Still in it's infancy the show needs to drastically increase the acting we see. The whole cast should have been replaced before the show started. If it weren't for the make up and story line which barely is there because of the constant nagging and bitching going on the show would suck. Luckily I wanted to see how they could do a zombie story different from anyone else. They haven't really, but at least it's not a movie.

I was put onto this show during a visit to Michigan. I wish for the lead male to be replaced which wont happen. His mouth looks to much like Homer Simpsons mixed with an old monkey snarl. It's just hard to watch a weird face that can't differentiate between pain and pleasure. Claire Danes however has made a supreme come back and I wouldn't doubt she wins an award for her beyond crazy antics and beyond par emotions. I can't wait to see what has happened now that the person I thought would be around awhile is dead. Who will they blame now and what's up with her job?

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Echoes Of Silence *Review'd*

His third mixtape may be more experimental and different than his previous two. On Twitter, Abel stated, "I hope they don't hang me for my decisions on Echoes of Silence"

D.D begins with smooth harmonies and a high pitched sample in the background. Nobody could ever begin to prepare for what comes next. A different Weeknd approaches the mic and immediately resembles a young Mike Jack. Sure enough by the chorus we come to find out that D.D stands for none other than Dirty Diana, a Michael Jackson classic. The Weeknd suprisingly accomplishes his portrayal of the late Michael. Amazing way to start off your record kid. 

Next song, Montreal opens with more homeade harmonies from Abel. The drums hit and a filtered sounding Weeknd sings about what Montreal means to him. This headbanger get's you moving either in the bedroom or on the dance floor. One way or another it's going down, basement. Interesting sounds make up the next track. Almost like an 80's kung fu movie. Mandolin plucks and flutes make up the beat accompanied by the modern sounds of The Weeknd's drum kit. 

Outside has Abel almost crying about a woman in his life. I believe he started the emo grunge sound last year when he released House Of Balloons. Nobody knew what to do with it, but listen and love it. 

XO / The Host is my favorite track up to this point. I'm sensing a mixture of sounds from his previous tracks, The Zone and Loft Music from House Of Balloons. Throughout the song Abel sing-raps about the infamous XO that their crew reps. XO interludes by slowing up the beat and transitioning into The Host, which is The Weeknd. 

Initiation was leaked by Abel himself a couple months ago. Still such a dope experimental track. Interesting how they engineered the pitch to frequently go up and down. The lyrics depict his more private sessions with girls I think. 

Same Old Song is not the same old sound. Again they include some sort of mandolin plucking sound. It really goes nice with the album. There is honestly nothing bad I could say about this album. In less than a yearThe Weeknd managed to complete 3 hall of fame records to begin his career and end 2011. Here's a clue about the song. The same old song means the same old girl. ;) 

The Fall begins with The Weeknd's signature adlibs. He borrows influence from Drake periodically, vise versa though. Mid song you sense this when he raps. "my cup full of Texas, flowin' on that OVO jet yeah I said it, was forced to be reckless was forced to make records so you don't gotta ask who's next." Abel get's cocky with it, and shows why he is #1 in R&B, Indie, Emo-Pop, and any other genre you can think of. Ok now I myself am getting carried away. The producer flips the beat a bit at the end of the song. 

Next is Next. This song has hints of MJ inspiration. although the song sounds uptempo, the vibe is more emotional. "You just want me cause I'm next..." goes the chorus. The story about a woman in love with Abel solely because he is #NEXTINSHOW. After this emotional rollercoaster starts to settle, a mellow piano riff closes the song. The title track 


Echoes Of Silence blends well with the previous track. The song has been stripped down to just a piano and his 'emocals'(trademarked). This could be a personal message to a special woman in his life or maybe for all women in general.

Thus concludes the three-part trip that is TheWeeknd 2011. This album is amazing and can't wait to hear what you have in store for everyone in 2012. End of the World Music?

Rare Performance

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