1. Lesson Learned- Alicia Keys

• "Life perfect ain't perfect if you don't know what the struggle's for, falling down ain't falling down if you don't cry when you hit the floor, it's called the past cause I'm getting past and I ain't nothing like I was before, you ought to see me now." What would it sound like if Aretha Franklin and Jimi Hendrix did a song together? I have no idea but this song is apparently what happens when Alicia Keys and John Mayer decide to collaborate. The results aren't half bad. "Lesson Learned" is much more Keys than Mayer. It's "straight R&B, straight R&B, straight R&B". Though Mayer is featured on backing vocals and guitar there is no guitar solo to show off his chops. I love any song with a great bridge. In this case the bridge is probably better than the rest of song. Perhaps they could have done more with it, kinda like when people wonder why they don't make the whole airplane out of what they use to make the black box.

2. Lover Be Strong- Gavin DeGraw

• "Just another radar a threat approach is slipping in, on another stormy morning another issue could begin." Gavin DeGraw waited five years to follow up his hit debut "Chariot" then turned around a moment later and released his third album "Free". Outside of a few songs (Dancing Shoes, Stay, Never The Same) the album doesn't offer the listener much to sink their teeth into. "Lover Be Strong" is one of those middle of the road songs. Criticism aside, Gavin is great in concert...better than on his records. When you see someone in concert and they aren't as good as they sound on their album it is disappointing but understandable- they just aren't as good as the producer that mixed their album made them out to sound. When you see someone in concert and they are way better than their record you have to wonder why someone can't get that sound/feel on record.

3. Just Hangin' Out- Main Source

• "I'm mainly known for the rough raps but kids steal my lyrics like hubcaps and eat em like stacks of flapjacks like rugrats." Main source dropped their debut "Breaking Atoms" in 1991 featuring Large Professor on vocals and K-Cut and Sir Scratch on turntables and production. The album is a hip hop classic. The album made a dent on the hip hop charts with songs like "Looking At the Front Door" and "Peace Is Not the Word to Play". "Just Hangin' Out" has a laid back 70s groove that allows Large Professor to showcase his lyrical skills. Legend has it that during the production of "Breaking Atoms" Main Source schooled Gangstarr's DJ Premier in the art of the SP1200. This is sort of like God delivering the commandants to Moses...sure things happened before, but everything moving forward springs from this. "Breaking Atoms" is also famous for the song "Live at the Barbeque" which introduced the world to a young MC named NaS. The group would release an unsuccessful follow up in 1994 after the departure of Large Professor. It turned out that Main Source without Large Professor was like "cornflake without the milk".