<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"DJ Avicii's \"Wake Me Up\" has risen to No. 1 on charts all over the world this year \u2014 with uncredited vocals from soul singer Aloe Blacc. \n\"There's a certain bittersweetness about not having my name attached to it,\" Blacc told Mashable. \"The sweetness, of course, is people have fallen in love with my lyrics and my voice, and it has nothing to do with how my image was sold.\"\nSee also: Lily Allen Mocks Miley's Twerking and Robin's Balloons in New Video\nNow, Blacc hopes people will fall in love with his lyrics and voice all over again \u2014 He's premiering the above lyric video for \"Can You Do This\" on Mashable. \n\"I'm giving listeners a chance to learn more about the song through the lyrics, so it's just not just noise in the background,\" he said. \"Lyrics are important to me.\"\n\"Can You Do This\" is a song about dancing, regardless of who is watching. \n\"I grew up in hip hop and my earliest experiences involved break dancing which is very competitive, he said.  \"Quite often the unspoken battle call is 'can you do this?' B-boys challenge one another.\"\n\nPeople may also recognize Blacc's voice from \"I Need a Dollar,\" which was used as the theme music for HBO's How To Make It in America, and \"Ticking Bomb,\" which was featured in a gaming commercial for Battlefield 4.\n\"Ticking Bomb\" is about the ongoing deadly war in the Congo, and Blacc is working with Falling Whistles, a group striving to end the war. \n\"Writing songs is a way I get to address this very important issues,\" he said. \"It's like a spoon full of sugar with the medicine \u2014 people get into the music, but the medicine is the lyrics ... I want to drive home the message of what's happening in the Congo.\"\nIn October, Blacc released this acoustic version of \"Wake Me Up.\" The video addresses another timely issue: immigration.\n\nBONUS: 8 Best iTunes Alternatives\n\n\n\nBest iTunes Alternatives\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n1. Ecoute\n\n\nEcoute for Mac is a free and simple substitute for iTunes. The interface looks like a cleaner counterpart of older versions of iTunes. \nUpon installation, Ecoute automatically detects and syncs with your iTunes library. In Ecoute, you can sort by artist, album, composer, genre, playlist and song. Ecoute also has a small widget that stays on your desktop when you're playing a song, which you can use to easily access play controls. Additionally, notifications appear in a corner of your screen when a new song is playing. Ecoute also has a resizable interface; you can choose from a minimized version or a large screen with multiple columns. \nYou can also connect to your Last.fm, Twitter and Facebook accounts from Ecoute, which also has a mobile version for iOS.\nImage: Ecoute\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n2. Tomahawk\n\n\nTomahawk syncs all of your online accounts as well as local collections into one streamlined app. Available for Windows, Mac and a plethora of other operating systems, the free app integrates music from a variety of online sources including Soundcloud, Spotify (premium account needed), Last.fm, Grooveshark as well as your various local machines with an authorized connection. \nOnce your sources are synced, search for a track through Tomahawk and the app will pull the best version of the song to playback from all of your sources. You can also connect to Google, Twitter and Jabber so you can see your friends' collections. Furthermore, Tomahawk syncs artist info via Last.fm as well as additional info about related artists, charts and new releases. Tomahawk will also save your searches and offers info on your listening history, along with an option for private listening.\nImage: Tomahawk\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n3. Swinsian\n\n\nSwinsian is an OS X app has a similar layout to iTunes. After it syncs with your iTunes library, Swinsian's layout includes left and right sidebars. On the left, playlists are displayed just like in iTunes, and on the right, you can easily edit a song's metadata and tags. \nSwinsian supports a wide range of formats and has notifications when a new song is playing. You can also connect your Last.fm account and Swinsian auto-detects other AirPlay ports. \nSwinsian offers a free 30-day trial and is $19.99 thereafter.\nImage: Swinsian\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n4. Fidelia\n\n\nFor audiophiles, Fidelia, as the name suggests, prioritizes high-fidelity sound. The player has a cool user interface that mimics that of a high-end radio, and has useful dim and mute buttons as well as metadata displays. The player also shows the current track's waveform and has three separate special effects channels. Some effects function like the iTunes equalizer while others are much more drastic. \nMade for listeners who want higher-quality sound than iTunes offers, Fidelia supports multiple formats, including FLAC (which iTunes does not) and incorporates optimal sample rate conversion via iZotope technology. \nFidelia offers a free 15-day trial and is $19.99 thereafter.\nImage: Fidelia\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n5. Vox\n\n\nVox is another OS X music player that is good if you want something that won't get in your way. With a streamlined user interface, Vox has a clean design that is also easy-to-use. The player is no bigger than a sidebar, and even this can be minimized to a smaller, more compact player. You can play music from your iTunes library, drag items into the separate Vox playlist or even play from the radio. \nVox supports many formats, including FLAC and OGG, both of which iTunes does not support. You can also connect your Last.fm account to Vox to scrobble your tracks. The icon on the doc shows what album art of the song playing and there are desktop notifications for each new song playing. \nA new version of Vox is set to come out in July, but for now the beta version works fine.\nImage: Vox\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n6. Sonora\n\n\nSonora is an OS X app that allows you to view your iTunes library via album covers with a priority on visual layout. \nThe main problem is that the app has a hard time importing large libraries. Files and album covers will fail to load and the app will crash. However, the 2.0 version is still in beta mode, so hopefully this bug will be fixed with a later, more stable version. \nRegardless, Sonora features a smooth, streamlined layout that lets you browse on the left and displays your queue at the bottom of the player. You can easily move tracks in and out of this flexible queue, and you can search for tracks by simply typing anywhere on the app. Additionally, you can connect to your Last.fm account to scrobble tracks.\nImage: Sonora\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n7. doubleTwist\n\n\ndoubleTwist is another simple media player that plays music, videos and photos. Available for Mac and PC desktops as well as for Android devices, doubleTwist will sync your libraries between your devices via a Wi-Fi connection. \ndoubleTwist has a layout that is similar to that of iTunes and many of the functions are similar, including playlists and album display.\nImage: doubleTwist\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n8. Vinyls\n\n\nNever mind the fact that the plural of \"vinyl\" is just \"vinyl,\" Vinyls is an OS X app that mimics a vinyl library with your digital iTunes library. \nThe app sorts by album, artists, playlists or podcasts, all with cover art as priority. You can drag songs into the bottom cue list, and Vinyls can collapse into a mini player as well. You can sync your iTunes library as well as your Last.fm account. \nVinyls has a free 20-day trial, and the app is $14.99 thereafter.\nImage: Vinyls\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nImage: Getty Images; Vevo"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2013/11/13/avicii-wake-me-up-aloe-blacc-lyric-video/>