LI Sound: Ashanti, Mariah Carey, Lil Peep and Idina Menzel offer new material
Glen Cove native Ashanti has a new collaboration with Lil Wayne, "Start This [expletive] Off Right," from his No. 1 album "Tha Carter V." Credit: AP, Invision/Amy Harris
Mariah Carey’s new single “With You” (Epic) doesn’t just announce the Greenlawn native’s upcoming, still-untitled new album, but the arrival of music’s busiest season.
The pretty piano ballad, which picks up a groove like Mariah-rific hits like “Don’t Forget About Us” in the verses, should land her another hit, quickly lodging itself in the iTunes Top 3 after its release. But the pop landscape is crowded these days, and Carey may find herself in fierce competition for attention even among artists with Long Island ties.
Glen Cove native Ashanti has a new collaboration with Lil Wayne, on his No. 1 album “Tha Carter V” (Young Money). “Start This [expletive] Off Right” is a throwback to the smooth, early-Aughts beats of “Foolish,” with Ashanti cooing her way through the hooks, while Weezy and Mack Maine rhyme about the club.
“Falling Down” (Lil Peep/AUTNMY/Columbia) — the posthumous collaboration of the late Long Beach native Lil Peep and rapper XXXTentacion — is set to become a Top 10 hit, sitting at No. 13 on last week’s Billboard charts.
Peep’s vocals for the song, which shows a bit of his emo-rap style, came from the recording sessions he did with rapper-producer ILoveMakonnen before he died in November of a drug overdose. X had heard part of the song and wanted to be a part of it, recording his verses shortly before he was murdered in June. “I think it’s something both the mothers have in common — both losing children who were both influential in music,” Makonnen told Rolling Stone. “I think it’s gonna bring some closure to everybody with some healing.”
Also healing is the new single from Syosset native Idina Menzel. Her live version of “Seasons of Love” (Walkman/Warner Bros.) is funkier and more percussive than the version Menzel sang as Maureen in the original cast of the Broadway musical “Rent.” It also includes a high note that gives Carey a run for her money.
“Seasons of Love” comes from Menzel’s new “Idina: Live” album, which was delayed a week due to a problem with the CD packaging, arriving in stores on Oct. 12. “Probably all the amazing last minute pictures of myself I added to the booklet,” Menzel joked in a tweet. “Hope it’s worth the wait. If not, just record the show illegally when u see me on tour this month. I won’t tell.”
Contact The Long Island Sound at glenn.gamboa@newsday.com or follow @ndmusic on Twitter.
