My Own Little World

In case you haven't talked to me in the past year, I love Hamilton . This Broadway musical makes me completely and entirely helpless whenever I hear it. It ranks among the best pieces of music I've ever heard in my entire life besides just being my favorite musical ever written.  One of the things that the musical's creator Lin-Manuel Miranda teased during the musical's development and performances was The Hamilton Mixtape , a compilation of multiple artists from the realm of popular music covering and reimagining various songs from the show. It was finally officially announced a month or so ago and released on December 2.  To be honest, the fact that Hamilton  itself is so untouchable in my mind made me really nervous for the mixtape. I don't think I've ever been more helplessly obsessed with any piece of music ever, and to see other people do these songs that mean so much to me and restyle them made me really apprehensive. I've memorized every...

I have a confession to make. Nick Jonas was definitely my favorite Jonas Brother. He was always the one who seemed the most musically inclined and wanted to do his own thing. Kevin and Joe wanted to be rock stars: Nick wanted to be more alternative and old-school. Well, two years after the band's breakup, he's finally getting his shot. With his self-titled debut album, Nick Jonas finally gets his chance to prove why he's still relevant to music today and not just a relic of the Disney pop star era. Musically, Jonas's album reminds me of Ariana Grande's debut album Yours Truly  in the fact that it is a former teen star taking on '90s R&B and pop (and the killer range/head voice they both show off). It works well here, though not quite as well as Grande's album, mostly because it still feels very rooted in today's music; however, its swagger and bouncing beats cannot be denied. Almost every song is appealing in some way, with standouts being ...