Yesterday, Whitney Houston’s last recording was released (“Celebrate” feat. Jordin Sparks). And today, RCA Records released another single from the movie soundtrack. It's Houston's rendition of the classic gospel staple, "His Eye is On the Sparrow," which she also performs in the movie. It's one of those emotional church testimonials that's hard for young singers to deliver without making a vocal mess of things. But Houston keeps it old-school, backed by screeching organs and a full-blown choir at the climax.

Sure, Trip Freeman and Kory Calico write an awful lot about their exploits with women, on their own accord. But their lyrical style has always carried an unmistakable sense of refinement — they keep things subtle if not classy, even in the midst of full-on locker room talk. It's one of their more endearing qualities. “My Cologne” (or as the Bandcamp page has it listed, “Pussy My Cologne”), however, is a clear step down from their typically smooth and inventive word plays.

The newly reformed T.I. has been making a helluva case for the old badass T.I.

Remember "Love This Life," the single he dropped in April to put them hoes his female fans in check? Now he's back with a universal anthem titled "Like That," and it feels like another slick reminder to his fans — but mostly to himself:

"They want that super gutter ignorant/that new ghetto belligerent/authentic brick-flippin' dope boy trap nigga shit."

Hard to argue with that, at least where T.I. is concerned. It reminds me of something Killer Mike said in a recent CL interview when he talked about his music serving as an escape for listeners and likened it to that scene in Office Space where the white-collar white dude is on his gangsta shit, bumping Scarface on his way to work.

The 9369 pollen count spring days are gone and butterscotch yellow and carnation pink tulle dresses are about to be worn on prom nights all across this city. Did you know that June is the number one month in which Americans lose their virginity? It's true. It's also true that summer starts in three odd days for Atlanta colleges, not that any of us are counting.

But let's face it. The pollen is still being kind of a downer and the girls will mostly be channeling their inner Ke$ha with leopard print dresses and their inner Katy with electric blue satin ones. Hopefully CVS doesn't run out of glitter!

First world problems aside, Magic Wands, composed of husband-and-wife-to-be Chris and Dexy Valentine (does anyone else spy a fake last name?) just dropped their first record, Aloha Moon, on April 24. Well, aloha to you, too, Mr. and Mrs. Valentine. And welcome, ’cause you just made a slew of potential party hits that sound like a creamy swirl of 1983 and 2012 dream pop combined. They classify themselves not as lo-fi, not chillwave, but lovewave! And it fits. Second song "Teenage Love" [just listen OR right click on a PC or hit control and click 'save as' on a Mac to download the FREE MP3! Thanks diffuser.fm!] opens with the lyrics, "Meet me down by the soda machine/show me now what our love means/take my hand and sex me up/give me all your teenage love." And later Dexy sings: "Call me up on the telephone/late at night when you're all alone/this teenage love has got me stuck/come over so we can fuuuu-get about everything."

When Dexy sings "fuuuu" it sounds like she says "fuck," and then says "forget" too, almost as if she's hiding out in the corner of her room so daddy won't hear her mouth such a sinful word through the walls. Looks like they could be a potential crossover band too — the single "Black Magic" just played on last week's "Gossip Girl" and it was on one of last month's "Vampire Diaries" episodes as well. So to all you party monsters and prom whores, fuckget™ about everything and listen.

For this short stack of newer numbers, Cino teamed up with DJ Jon Doe to collab on some down and dirty cuts, courtesy of Alchemist.

“Jon Doe hit me off with the Alchemist project, The Alchemist Presents: Rapper's Best Friend 2: An Instrumental Series, he explains. Initially, I wasn't expecting much, but as I listened, I felt like I could represent my "Activity Crew" (DJ Pocket, Count Bass D, Hotsauce the MC, and Circa '94 Breats) very well by doing songs to some of the beats. That turned into a project complete with album artwork."

There’s a Soul Assassin remix of “Assassinated” at the tail end of the mixtape, and as a lyricist, Cino truly shines on the standout track, "the Mic." The whole thing is also an early look at what Doe and Cino (DoeCino) have in the works with their forthcoming EP, tentatively titled Stanky.

More coming soon.

Vocalist Paul Cantrell sings with the voice of a heavyhearted vampire; his voice rises over the bustling arrangements, slightly louder than the rest of the mix, as he ponders something of a relationship impasse in “Pen Ultimatum.” He sings, “Was hunched over a desk I was philand’ring with a sophomore, while you’re off God knows where discreetly fuckin’ your philosopher. I’ve wrapped my mind around it. I’ve explained it to the officer. But there is not a way that I can find provides an alternate.”

Such hues of resentment, loneliness, loss, and rumination color the album’s chromatic melodies in “Dress Gordon Nightmare,” “Before I Wake,” and “Wager.”

There is a moment or two, tucked away inside "Pen Ultimatum" or "Her Majesty" when a deceptively country thing starts taking shape in the melodies or the occasional lap steel swipe. But they're only passing nods. These are rock songs to be sure, and although the baroque singing style, which is form-fitted to match the instrumental arrangements, is accomplished, it also feels a bit too earnest in its dedication to being earnest. But what the band lacks in sharp angles, it makes up with murky and literary existentialism.

With that, W.I.C. DJ Capeeton Mudfish calls out six silky smooth singers that give Ben Hameen a run for his money.

6. Barry White — The prince of pillow talk went to jail as a kid for stealing $30,000 dollars worth of Cadillac wheels, which is almost a match to Ben Hameen’s polished-out chrome-plated voice.

5. Melvin Franklin — When Melvin passed in 1995, the Temptations asked Ben to take his place, but he was already busy starting a band called LOA.

Hard to believe former Atlantan Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes has been dead 10 years today. Maybe it's because the mourning never ends for stars her size who pass so unexpectedly. Every year we mark the "anniversary" of her death, which, as Left Eye's friend and former TLC group-mate Tione "T-Boz" Watkins recently noted, is a weird word to commemorate such a solemn occasion.

“The word anniversary means a celebration,” TLC group member Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins told AllHipHop.com in a statement. “For us her death will never be a celebration, it’s still something that hurts.”

Yesterday, a previously unreleased song featuring Left Eye began to surface on blogs, giving us yet another chance to mourn her loss resulting from an auto accident in Honduras in 2002. The song, "Fantasies," was recorded three years before her death for Bootleg, a member of Midwest gangsta rap group the Dayton Family. It was recently released by Block Starz Music, a German label recently acquired by Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, with a portion of the proceeds to benefit the Lisa Lopes Foundation.

The ironic thing about the track is how much she sounds like another oft-mourned emcee on it. Of course, almost everybody sounded a bit like Tupac in the late ’90s. But in Left Eye's case, the two of them were friends for years. Left Eye was also affiliated with Pac's last label home, Death Row Records, before and after his death. In the video interview below, Left Eye talked about how she and Tupac often clashed because they were both Geminis, and what it was like being around him only a month before his death: