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MiRecommend: YouTube Covers

I've been going through a phase of checking out YouTube covers of popular songs recently. Great lot of fun, mostly good because the most viewed ones have high numbers for that reason, they're good. This is a way many artists are being discovered by big labels ever since Justin Bieber and Esmee Denters, so I know I'm not bringing you something new to the table.

Karmin are one of the latest to be signed and release a record. My Jamerican friend that spent a few months in London alerted me to them via their cover of Tinie Tempah's "Written In The Stars" in April this year.



Their "Look At Me Now" got them a lot of coverage. Mainly because she kills Busta's quadruple time (and a white chick doing it makes it better in the eyes of many). Their single knocks hard

Some next chicks I found via this method are sisters Ivana (19) and Jessica (18) better known as VanJess.

Discovered them through Rihanna's "We Found Love". The chick on the left (I'm guessing Jessica as she looks younger) has a contemporary pop voice whereas Ivana (chick on the right) brings a more powerful, soulful vibe. Great spin on the record too.



This is pretty cool too. Drake "Headlines" x Frank Ocean/Bridget Kelly "Thinking About You"/"Thinking About Forever"



Another chick that's been signed and built a buzz through covers is Avery. She has that typical American teen-pop sound (phrasing) and look.

Hear her sing Katy Perry "Fireworks" and you'll get what I mean. Special shout out to the pianist and guitarist. The song sounds great when stripped down, hence why I searched for a cover. Her voice is slightly annoying/winy though.



Lil Wayne - How To Love (Brandon Hines cover)

I think this was a related video on the official video. I didn't like the original until I saw the video as it conveys the message behind the lyrics better than I understood. First thoughts when I heard the song were "Why's Lil' Wayne crooning like Drake?"

Thought I'd listen to a real singer sing it, and whadayaknow, it's a whole lot better.



p.s. Brandon Hines is the dude on J. Cole's "Dreams" from The Warm Up. Great song.

Saw Bill Downs's cover of Ed Sheeran's The A-Team last year sometime. One of the first covers of that song as it was just starting to pick up (hold tight us here at Marvin Sparks dot blog spot dot com posting it in April though). Not posting it, rather Jessie J "Price Tag". Be sure to check out his mate's rap



Katie Sky covers Pixie Lott's "All About Tonight". How much better does singing in an English accent sound than an American?




So basically, searching through YouTube covers produces better talent than X-Factor UK. Type cover after a popular song title on YouTube, click their channel if you like it and blam, you have become a internet a&r. Keep track of your favourite ones and you may be on course with them as they become stars. You can then say to everyone "You like them now but I remember them from way back". Try it

Stumbled across this whilst watching Sean Paul's video "She Doesn't Mind". This don was in related video



Watch his cover of Rihanna's "We Found Love". Couple mistakes but hey he's human.



Not totally amazing, but notice she sings about 6 notes between F and either B or C (can't see if he's occasionally hitting C) throughout the song? I found that interesting in a hopeless way... Most pop songs are written that way so I shouldn't really. Ah whadeva

As a comparison, Party Rock Anthem has a wider range



Bonus: Kesha "Tik Tok" cover. This is old but it's a must see if you haven't seen it. I won't even tell you why.

Description on vid: "sorry if i got some parts wrong and i had to sign so quietly coz my mom was in bed sorry". That isn't what makes it funny but it helped the experience for me, 'cos really, it's the last thing she should apologise for...

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