mixtape maestro (2.0)

Still highly-missed rap icon Notorious BIG is paid tribute to yet again on “Letter To B.I.G.”, a recently unearthed cut from Jadakiss (featuring the golden-hued vocals of one-time Mrs. Biggie Smalls, Faith Evans) that sees the LOX member updating his late labelmate to the going-ons since his passing over a decade ago.

An intriguing tune steeped in such intimacy that you feel slightly rude for listening in, Jada’s signature de-animated flow stirs up all kinds of blue feelings inside as he peppers the “letter” with details of the sadly fragmented current status of Junior M.A.F.I.A (“I ain’t heard from Cease in a minute…”) and moving reveals of how BIG’s offspring have turned out (“Teyana so pretty/ CJ turned into Lil’ Biggie/ Just a little lighter, but so witty”), all upon a sleepy R&B backdrop

Probably the most striking portion of his extended verse, though, is when he begins talking of how uninspired the hip hop scene has become since Biggie’s passing: “Game has got cheaper/ And rappers is more commercially successful now, but the heart’s a lot weaker”. Sentiment more than a few of us could agree on.

From the soundtrack to the highly anticipated 2009 biopic, Notorious.

DL: “Letter To B.I.G” (alt)

Uncategorized east coast rap, faith evans, jadakiss, notorious big

Of all the breakout pop stars of 2008, none have garnered as much of a polarizing reaction as Katy Perry. Her labored singing style and cutesy Betty Boop persona can feel a bit much; the accompanying lyrics to her One of The Boys album’s three singles “UR So Gay”, “I Kissed A Girl” and “Hot N Cold” all featured attention-grabbing tactics that left a bad taste in the mouth of various sects; and you can’t help but admit that out of all the pop tarts that have taken over the airwaves in recent years, Perry ranks a tad forgettable (Are you all that interested in what she’s planning for a follow-up album? Didn’t think so).

On the other hand, ‘08 wouldn’t have been as much fun without her and her irresistibly hummable confections. So what will Single #4 give us to ease us into the new year? Another great car ride/ drunken night sing-along to keep us merry over the next couple months? Or an unnecessary “serious artist” detour into the less fun ballad realm (possibly striking the beginning of the end of the masses favoring of Perry)?

Surprisingly, despite it’s lack of a new wave shimmer or glammy stomp to support her, slow tempo-ed “Thinking Of You” doesn’t really land as a major mis-step. The solo self-penned number offers some neat lyrical spins on an “you’re not as good as my ex” theme with lines like “Like an apple hanging from a tree/ I picked the ripest one/ I still got the seed” and “He kissed my lips/ I taste your mouth/ He pulled me in/ I was disgusted with myself”. And while the not-quite Morisette (or even Lavigne) caterwauling she brings to the table in the studio version aren’t as easily likable, especially on the verses where her vocals make odd jumps from prettily breathy to harsh croaking, her vulnerable live rendition perfectly compliment the woeful pen work.

She’ll still need to REALLY deliver on the next album to prove she has the goods to be more than just a one album wonder sensation, but at least with “Thinking Of You”, she manages to show that there’s more to her than the controversy-seeking “look at me” flags that initially powered her success.

Uncategorized katy perry

A passive listen to “Brains” by Atlanta emcee Jarren Benton may strike up hysterics that a new Andre 3000 solo joint is on the horizon. And you would be forgiven, since Benton’s casual rap flow and sing-song bursts plus the track’s otherworldly sonic glow (courtesy of producer Black Jab) and bits of Prince influence all feel like something that could have been mined from The Love Below vault.

A space-age rap love song dedicated from Benton to his cleverly named cyborg boo “Computer Blue” (gotta love a Purple Rain shout-out), “Brains”’s slight raunch (it’s chorus shamelessly exclaims “I wanna freak your brains out”) is offset with gobs of nerdy charm.

“I had this crush on you for so long/ A perfect match, we connect together like Voltron,” Benton raps over the track’s twinkly slow jam electro-groove, offering an innocent night of movies or just hanging out before delving into an ambitious all-night sex session set outside the planet’s atmosphere: “We waking planets when these creatures touch/ Freakin’ you in outer space, giirrrrll this is such a rush”.

Andre may have had nothing to do with this, but we get the feeling that he would no doubt be a fan.

DL: “Brains” (alt)

Uncategorized black jab, jarren benton, sex jam, unsigned

Unsigned duo Jensen Sportag might hail from Nashville, Tennessee, but don’t expect any type of down-home twanginess to come forth from their choice of musical output: an indulgence in sleek disco-soul with a little George Michael vocal touch.

Their “perfect for car-ridin’” tune “Power Sergio” (from new EP, Sergio) billows you towards a Euro-club fantasy high with it’s smoothly pulsating groove and irresistible additives of synth burbles, light falsetto cries and Auto-Tuned urgings, all positioned to give “saddest boy I know” Sergio the right tools to uplift his mood and turn the dancefloor out.

“The power loves you/ Don’t give up the beat/ There’s nothing better than the drugs in your cheek,” they devilishly persuade. But don’t worry, narcotics aren’t at all necessary to fully enjoy this mirror ball-baked solace.

DL: “Power Sergio” (alt)

Uncategorized dance pop, disco, jensen sportag, unsigned

It’s nice to see that even when they’re not blanketed in the comfort zone of their Marty McFly-era hip hop sound, those BMX and Fruity Pebbles-lovin’ Cool Kids can still manage to exude…well, top-notch coolness.

Here, Mikey Rocks and Chuck Inglish seamlessly immerse themselves in the 16-bit electro-funk boogie of Kenna’s year-old “Loose Wires”, surrounding the singer’s spooky dancefloor seduction with their own cheapskate macking (“Only got a little money in my bank account/ So I ask homegirl she could take me out”) and old-school “exaggerated yawn to get your arm over her shoulders” date tricks.

DL: “Loose Wires” (alt)

Uncategorized alt-soul, cool kids, kenna, remix

The one constant awe of Beyonce’s platinum-lined slew of hit records is the singer’s ability to turn the most challenging production schemes into phenomenon-scaling pop gold. Tell any lesser female R&B singer/ songwriter to try to build a song around the taut, melody-free beats of “Jumpin’, Jumpin’”, “Upgrade U”, “Ring The Alarm” and “Single Ladies”, and they would probably crouch in fear, completely overwhelmed by such a task.

Not only is Beyonce easily able to scribble out solid tunes to the industrial rhythms, she also jampacks them with the right amount of melisma, poly-melody and catchy hook craft (not to mention, eye-tractive video clip accompaniment) to make them worldwide pop anthems.

Her latest instance is new I Am…Sasha Fierce single “Diva”, producer Bangladesh’s R&B answer to previous concoction “A Milli”, that throws a minimalist recipe of military drum rattle, booming bottom end and dwarfish chants of “I’m-a-a diva” her way.

All hood-style Alexis Colby here, Be sing-raps “Fifty million round the world and they said I couldn’t get it/ I done got so sick and filthy with benjas I can’t spend” and alerts potential paramours that they better have “a six pack in the cooler”, all the while dismissing non-independent, money-light diva-wannabes with a quick whip of her mile-long ponytail and making fringed eye wear, hop hop’s newest fashion must have.

Diva (HQ) – Beyonce

For “Adidas”, Bangladesh steals his own track back (the first of many surely to give this beat their own lyrical seasoning, “A Milli” style), bringing the “Pac out” for a tribute to his fancy man toys and favorite shoe gear (“On my feet/ Gotta have three stripes”).

DL: “Adidas” (alt)

Uncategorized bangladesh, beyonce, crunk & b, freestyle

A scan over the ‘09 Grammy nominations list brought upon the usual shock-and-awe reactions (MIA actually made it into Record of The Year!?!…Past Grammy fave Alicia Keys was NOT nodded in the Best R&B Album category!?!…), but none was as WTH!! as seeing old school rap heavyweight Heavy D sitting alongside Elephant Man, Sly & Robbie and Shaggy in the Best Reggae Album field.

Heavy D released a new album!?! And it was a REGGAE release? And it was good enough to earn some Grammy attention?

Turns out Heavy did (very quietly, it seems) drop his eighth studio effort recently, and that project, entitled Vibes, saw the “Now That We Found Love” rapper-turned-actor turning his full attention to the sultry sway of the island. What the bloodclot?!?

Below, catch the video to first single “Long Distance Girlfriend”, a surprisingly not-all-that-bad entry that finds him crooning (!!!) after his “faraway bay-bay” upon a quite addictive Jamaican jaunt (and it seems he’s not really all that “Heavy” anymore).

Hmmm…wonder how long it’s gonna be before Rihanna is called on for the remix.

Uncategorized '09 grammy's, heavy d, old school rap, reggae

Arriving just in time to coincide with all the end-of-year kudos being bestowed on the Santogold original, this cover of “L.E.S. Artistes” by French indie rock act Lilly Wood & The Prick, strips away the track’s new wave-y fashion polish for a quaint, folksy reading that further cements the tune as the future standard it seems destined to be.

Supported by her backing band’s slightly slower, lo-fi interpretation (with those beloved handclaps thankfully left intact), Lilly adds an even more insecure shade to “Artistes”‘ “I am an introvert” script, her peaky warble sounding on the verge of tears as she hustles past the many hipsters that line the sidewalks.

Peep out the band’s MySpace and you’ll quickly discover that remakes of ‘08 highlight aren’t the only thing they’re good for: featured all-original offering “Down The Drain” is an equally admirable little number.

DL: “L.E.S. Artistes (Santogold Cover)” (alt)

Uncategorized cover song, france, indie rock, lilly wood and the prick, santogold

The guys from Coldplay give into the holiday spirit by temporarily offering this free-to-download Thin White Duke remix of “Viva La Vida”, which fixes the song’s soaring hurrah to the usual playground of can’t-sit-still dance beat franticism.

It’s best trick: the majestic hook release doesn’t pop up until three-quarteres of the way in, while in it’s inter-song place, we get more doses of that breathtaking harmonics exercise that tagged the original’s fade-out.

Pick it up from their website. Below, catch a small clip of the band performing an harmonica-led rendition of “Jingle Bells”.

Uncategorized Add new tag, coldplay, dance remix, thin white duke, viva la vida, xmas

Brandy might have grasped her biggest heaping of critical acclaim with the Timbaland-helmed, state-of-the-art soul of 2004’s Afrodisiac, but it failed to make much noise commercially, becoming her first album not to at least reach the million mark. So it was quite understandable when, for the recently released follow-up Human, she opted on re-teaming with producer Rodney Jerkins since he WAS the man who helped push 1998’s Never Say Never, into becoming the biggest release of her career.

Human jump-off cut “Right Here (Departed)” seemed to be the right choice to plop her back into the R&B/ pop limelight. Radiating with a slick gloss and insistent thump, not to mention the overdubbed wonders of her signature smoky singing and an uplifting lyric that casts her as the bestest pal ever (“When your tears have dried from cryin’/ And the world has turned to silence/ When the clouds have all departed/ You’ll be right here with me”), the song provided a welcome break from R&B’s dominant themes of clubs, booty, sass and heartache.

Alas, probably because it lacked those aforementioned things, it didn’t quite become the monster comeback it was prepped to be, and fizzled out at a modest (at least, for her) peaking of #22 on the R&B chart. So enter Sean Kingston to the rescue, with the hopes that his proven radio-attracting abilities could get this track some tardy boost in interest.

Supplying a brief verse on the front-end, Kingston twists the song to be about chasing after an ex, dropping “Like Kanye/ You’re so ‘Heartless’” followed by the ego-massaging couplet “He can’t do it like me/ Is he from West Indies?”. Not much else about “Right Here” is altered so it makes Sean’s appearance seem a bit pointless (it would have been nice to hear Brandy directly respond to him), but it’ll still be interesting to see if all it took was his small addition to really get this tune scoring some bigger airplay points.

DL: “Right Here (Departed) Remix” (alt)

Uncategorized brandy, remix, sean kingston