Manny King John
“The days of having a strip club record are over.”
Name: Belly
Representing: Ottawa, Canada
Genre: Hip-Hop / Rap
For fans of: Drake, The Weeknd
Song from: Another Day In Paradise
Produced by: N/A
Song of the Day: November 13, 2016
Label(s): Roc Nation
According to Coalition DJs, the Atlanta collective known to transform club records into radio hits disclosed the following. “The days of having a strip club record are over.” The songs that do blossom are just simply good records. “Ballerina,” on the other hand, breezed right through highlighting the sensuality that people never acknowledge.
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Half the songs we hear would have you thinking strippers are twerking on you at the door. Soon after passing through the metal detector. Strip club songs usually clobber you with overly-sexualized imagery. Tits and ass, and yes those elements are present but there is more to the experience. Strippers never get their just due. We undermine their athleticism and showmanship to take their societal view and transform them into the esteemed ballerina is brilliant.
Belly elevates your dance into a personal moment. The trancing strings lead you to that dark nook in the cut where maybe you paid for one song. But now, she is truly dancing for two. A hypnotic chorus scores the scene for this moment of public intimacy. In the middle of light touches, neck kisses, and slow grinding got you serenading:
“She mix the red and white wine like the Catalina / You call her a stripper, that’s my ballerina” — Words from “Ballerina”
Furthermore, watch Belly’s “Ballerina” below:
Read more about Belly
First and foremost, “Ballerina” is taken from Belly’s Another Day In Paradise mixtape. Incidentally, the project features Belly’s masterful songwriting smarts and signature dark production, with features by Lil Wayne, Travi$ Scott, Juicy J, Wacka Flocka, B-Real and Starrah. Up next, Belly is prepping his long-awaited first studio album, which is set for an early 2017 release on Roc Nation.
Over the past several years, Belly has quickly made a name for himself as one of the most exciting and promising rising artists. In fact, Belly is a recording artist and songwriter-producer whose discography outside of his own projects includes penned records for a wide variety of A-list musical acts. Next, he signed to Roc Nation and unveiled 2015’s Up For Days. Consequently, spawning the RIAA Gold-certified hit, “Might Not” featuring The Weeknd, which went #1 at Rhythm Radio and properly introduced Belly to North American audiences.
Most recently, Belly co-wrote Beyoncé’s “6 Inch” featuring The Weeknd. Specifically, the song is taken from her critically lauded visual album Lemonade, which was recently nominated for four Emmy awards. Belly himself was just honored with the “Songwriter of The Year” award at the 2016 SOCAN (Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada) Awards for his significant and outstanding contributions to popular music over the past year.
Accodingly, these incredible works have paved the way for 2016’s Another Day In Paradise. A dark, dynamic, and definitive collection, the album showcases his clever wordplay and vivid lyricism alongside young luminaries like Travis Scott on “Money Go” and Kehlani on “You” as well as legends such as B-Real during the closer “Angels & Demons” and Lil Wayne on “Barely Sober.” Throughout, he distinguishes himself as poignant, poetic, and powerful voice.
