Adele: Hello- To start things off plain and simple: this is one of her greatest songs ever-and that’s saying a lot. Adele came back to the industry after taking a three year break, and released the song of the year that made me feel like she crawled out of my phone and started throwing punches at me. It clearly had the same effect on other people considering it has been Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 since its release. The song is 4:55 minutes long- and typically I wouldn’t even bother listening to the whole thing because truly I don’t have the time-HOWEVER, the second I clicked play, Adele basically cleared my schedule and made the time for me. Her voice is much better controlled and matured than the last time we heard her, and her lyrics are genuine. I don’t know about everybody else, and I don’t mean to sound like that kid, but it was a breath of fresh air from hearing song after song about sex and drugs. Every song on the radio started to sound the same, but then all of a sudden, Adele showed up and gave us something new, demolishing the ratings. Her singing-and I don’t say this often-is almost parallel to Beyonce’s, and let me tell you why before I start getting beat up in the hallways. Adele has managed to control her pitch, voice, and emphasis in her lyrics with such fluidity that it really does match Beyonce songs such as Haunted and Dangerously in Love, and surpasses songs such as Signs. If you haven’t heard her new song, you can hear it for free on Spotify or YouTube, and you may want to do it soon because when her album drops on November 20, the world is probably going to explode and you may want to know why.

Ariana Grande: Focus- Oh Ariana, my sweet, sweet Ariana. Why? Who forced your hand?

Ariana Grande came out with her single “Focus” after talking about it and promoting it all over social media sites such as twitter, tumblr, facebook, and instagram, so naturally, all her fans were excited. I’m not a huge Ariana Grande fan, and I don’t hate her in the slightest so this is a completely unbiased opinion, but when I say I was initially disappointed beyond BELIEF…listen. I was expecting a nice little pop song that was different from her usual stuff, expanding more on herself rather than her love life, and that’s what I got from the Focus verses. The chorus however, now that’s a different story. What I got was a man yelling at me in three different octaves about f-f-focusing on him, yet (to this day) I still haven’t the slightest clue as to who he is. Now that I listened to the song a bunch of times, I can say this song isn’t bad at all, because unlike her other songs, you can hear every word that she’s saying and her voice is well under control, reaching pitches I didn’t think she could hit without popping a lymph node. The lyrics make me do a little shoulder pop, and I get really into it until the guy shows up out of nowhere, then it’s kind of a buzzkill and I’m left sitting there with a blank face. Yet, tell me why I always find myself doing my homework or driving and I’ll be singing that little “Now focus on me!” part? That’s how you KNOW a song is good when you’re singing the worst part of it to yourself.  All in all, it’s not even close to being bad, but it’s still not worthy of a lead single in my opinion.

Justin Bieber: Sorry- Okay, this song has me at an eternal conflict because part of me wants to run up on Justin Bieber, but the other half of me wants to let him redeem himself and just bop to the song for a little bit. “Sorry” is actually a really good song for Justin Bieber considering he was the same person who came out with “Baby”. On my first listen, I think I did the world’s longest eye roll (I should’ve gotten it on camera), but on my second and third listen, I was bopping along, doing this thing where I put my finger to my ear and pretend like I know the lyrics. This may sound weird, but the beat, background vocals, and lyrics seem to show that the Biebz has grown up a little bit and is finally ready to be an active citizen in society. This was also shown in “What Do You Mean”, except he doesn’t repeat the same lyrics the entire time. I was getting ready to end this review, when I looked on Spotify and Justin Bieber released a new song as I was typing this (I see what you’re doing Justin, it’s not gonna work.) The song is called “Love Yourself” and has a very mellow beat and lyrics, and doesn’t really get that exciting except when the little trumpet/trombone solo comes in halfway through the song. The entirety of the song is literally just bashing on some girl (ahem- @SelenaGomez) and the relationship he had with her. He mentions how self-centered she is and how his “mama doesn’t like you, and she likes everyone” and also how he was so caught up in his job that he didn’t see what was going on, but he’s better sleeping alone. The song, from the beat to the lyrics, gives off a huge College Indie station on Pandora type of vibe, which we haven’t really seen from him. It’s no semi-banger like “Sorry”, but it’s alright.

Tori Kelly ft Big Sean: Hollow- I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again: Tori Kelly is one of the best singers of our time. She has been under the radar for years, for whatever reason is beyond me, but she still gets her songs noticed enough to be on the Billboard Hot 100 time and time again. This time, Tori has released her newest song “Hollow”, which starts off very slow and mellow, but quickly jumps up into a quick beat and long syllables, hitting pitches that most singers cannot hit. She has perfect control, hits her notes with ease, and her lyrics are meaningful. I’ve been a fan of Tori Kelly since her EP Foreword, which featured songs like Rocket, Paper Hearts, and Daydream, but she has gained a lot more recognition since the release of her songs such as “Nobody Love” and “Should’ve Been Us”, which she performed at the MTV Music Awards earlier this year. “Hollow”, however, had me FEELING it. I was singing with her and ruining my vocal chords trying to stay in harmony with her. Then, on top of everything else, Big Sean popped out of nowhere. This is a big deal because although Tori Kelly is an amazing singer, she is, like I said before, not that well known, so a big name like Big Sean being featured on a song with her is really good for her publicity. He’s been on songs with Drake, Kanye West, Dej Loaf, Nicki Minaj, and Pusha T, so to be on a song with Tori Kelly is making my dreams come true. Once you’re done reading this, go listen to “Hollow” and then find me in the halls and give me a gift for introducing you to this gift from above. I’m calling it now, Tori Kelly is going to be one of the most popular singers of our time, and you already know I’ll be looking for some royalties for calling it this early.

Ahmed Atari, Opinions Editor