mixtape maestro (2.0)

It’s obvious that what Ne-Yo was attempting on new single “Beautiful Monster” was a sort-of “to the next level” take on “Closer”, his 2008 dip into Euro-house-meets-R&B sonic templates and obsessions with mysteriously sexy/ spooky seductresses, but wheras “Closer” can come on the radio today and immediately get us all pumped and excited for the near-four minutes of clubby euphoria about to envelop our ears, “Monster” just makes us angry every time we happen to catch it.

Why? Well, for starters, it’s just not all that catchy, with verses that just seem to meander on and on forever, lacking the specific lyrical finesse and melodic hookiness Ne-Yo usually employs so well. Then when the beat FINALLY drops on the chorus we’ve waited eons for, we’re subjected to anti-climactic, and quite awkward, repeatings of this woman being a “beautiful monster” (with nary a wink to GaGa, no less).

All that being said, there is a certain attraction in the hook’s driving dance thump and Ne-Yo’s cycling whines of “I don’t mind/ I don’t-I don’t mind” (which remind us of the similar repetitive aural pleasantness of his #1 mentor Michael Jackson on those otherworldly rounds of “eh-eh-eh-eh” at the tail-end of The Jacksons’ “Show You The Way To Go”), as well as the accompanying video’s Inception-meets-Mortal Kombat visuals, but a few seconds of goodness and a slick, big budget music video does not a great song make.

On the other hand, we can’t get enough of “Champagne Life”, the other single Ne-Yo has chosen to lead off his next album Libra Scale.

Another one of those Ne-Yo tunes seemingly tailor-made for the MJ album he sadly never got to helm (sigh), “Life”‘s ultra-smoove, solo-Pharrell-esque R&B flutterings fit his high-pitched tenor and the lyric’s cheery detailing of “good-life living” (“We don’t even clap the same when we living that champagne life”) like a glove.

Check out the videos for both, as well as a Rick Ross-laced remix of “Champagne” below.

Libra Scale drops September 21st.

DL: Ne-Yo featuring Rick Ross “Champagne Life (Remix)” (alt)

Despite Janet Jackson’s Discipline single (and pseudo-MJ shoutout) “Rock With U” never quite becoming the ubiquitous dance jam it deserved to be, we still couldn’t imagine ever liking the under-appreciated tune with a voice attached that wasn’t JJ’s eternally-sexy sing-whispers.

So color us surprised that after coming across co-writer Ne-Yo’s leaked demo recording, we were left wishing that he could’ve somehow stripped it onto his last LP and dropped it as a single himself.

In hearing his shimmery tenor calling out the eroticism of strobe lights over the track’s pulsing Euro-R&B throb, it’s like finally having the sibling record to “Closer” we were never officially gifted with.

DL: “Rock With U (Demo)” (alt)

After spending a large part of 2009 having to deal with the embarrassment of having everyone know (and freely share their opinions and concerns) about a certain Grammy night ordeal, you would think that Rihanna, one of the decade’s top singles artist, would deliver an upbeat fourth album lead-off single that was all shades of game-changing kick-ass to succinctly remind the masses of how she really became a household name in the first place.

Instead, as the first taste of the November-set Rated R, Ri-Ri has oddly chosen to give us a Ne-Yo co-penned ballad that utilizes the title “Russian Roulette” as a metaphor for taking a chance on love over a backing track that’s all intense and menacing, with rolled dice (or is that the crackle of a barrel turning?) and gun shot sound effects thrown in to add more oomph to it’s darkened moodiness.

We’ll give “Roulette” a few points for effectively illustrating the tense stand-off between the song’s two lovers, with a relentless heartbeat-like drum stomp and the occasionally haunting lyric (“…And then I get a scary thought/ That he’s here means he’s never lost”) doing enough to bring about a couple of arm goosebumps. But following the first few curious listens, it’s spooky intrigue fades, exposing it for the largely lackluster “comeback” it is.

Put simply, if we wanted noir-ish ambiance from Rihanna right now, we’d revisit her and Ne-Yo’s previous single collaboration “Unfaithful”; for goth-toned pop, we’d rather give “Disturbia” a re-spin (and if we wanted gun shot-accented R&B, Lloyd’s “Pusha” would be the ticket).

“Russian Roulette” is okay (in a third or fourth single kind of way), but as the first solo thing to emerge from the singer following all that Chris Brown drama, releasing an eardrum-rupturing club-pop confection (possibly about how much angry lil’ ex-boyfriends suck) would have been far more appreciated.

Rated R arrives November 23rd.

“Russian Roulette”:

Ghostface Killah’s eighth studio album, Ghostdini: The Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City, will be a R&B-inspired affair? Okay, we all nodded, completely confident that if anyone could pull this concept off with exciting results, it would be the man who padded his incredible catalogue with acclaimed “softer” joints like “All That I Got Is You” (with Mary J Blige), “Never Be The Same Again” (featuring Carl Thomas) and his 2006 commercial peak “Back Like That” (guesting Ne-Yo).

But with the arrival of early leaks “Baby” and “She’s A Killer”, two ill-fitting tracks that traded in the classic 70′s soul-washed soundscapes ‘Face has always sounded so good over for Auto-Tuned-enhanced stabs at radio-friendly thug-love rap and “Pop Champagne”-influenced club-hop, Ghostdini was beginning to sound like a bad idea that needed to be scrapped, pronto.

This week though, we were finally able to let out a sigh of relief thanks to the “web premiere” of “Let’s Stop Playin’”, a mid-tempo crush ballad that finds Ghost right where we’d rather have him when he’s getting his mack-flow on: bathed in soothing soul samples (in this case, Marvin Gaye provides the sophisticated beat source) and supported by a classy crooner like John Legend.

The song’s premise: Despite both being committed to other people, Ghost is really feeling a female neighbor in his building of residence, going so far as too memorize her daily schedule and make sure he’s around when she gets off from work at six to help her upstairs with the groceries because the elevator’s broken. Even when she’s had it out with her man and is giving him the cold shoulder, he still can’t help but find her attractive (“But still, you was lookin’ mad cute to me/ With your lips poked out being rude to me”).

The second verse is the one that completely seals “Playin’”‘s status as a solid favorite though, with Ghostface masterfully juggling another dazzling lyrical display of his revered humor and storytelling skills as he scripts out a fantasy sex scene set in a laundromat with him and his dream girl getting buckwild amidst spilled Clorox bleach and scattered Bounce sheets.

Now this is the “soft”-mode Iron Man we know and love.

Ghostdini drops September 29th.

DL: “Let’s Stop Playin’” (alt)

Remember when Chris Brown was first starting out? You know, when he was winning over both young’uns and adults left and right with a debut album that birthed a string of infectious tweeny-bop R&B entries and crazy choreographed stage performances that gave older cats Usher and Justin Timberlake pause? Back when you couldn’t get through a single article about him without some writer pulling out the old “new young MJ” tag? Back before you realized what a angry lil’ sucker he was, and then listening to his music made you feel all uncomfortable inside?

That’s the only thing we can think of every time we hear “Just A Kiss”, the slowly chart-climbing single by 16-year-old R&B singer/ actor Mishon, and one that nicely taps into that early Chris Brown “Run It”/ “Yo (Excuse Me Miss)” sensibility with a lil’ Ne-Yo-esque melodicism bite to boot.

As twinkly keyboards and whooshing, backward-routed synths serve a winning R&B-for-the-playground production, Mishon uses his tender, mid-pubesceent tenor to coax some young shawty to “play a little game”; one that, refreshingly, stops just short of “going all the way” by being nothing more than an extended lip-locking session, though that may be just because the girl repeatedly makes it known that she’s not comfortable with doing anything further.

Whatever, we respect it’s realistic portrayal of what it’s like to be a horny teen in 2009, but more importantly, we’re just happy to see another cat give us some satisfying teen romance R&B that doesn’t make us feel like we should donate to some domestic abuse charity because we happened to enjoy it.

We’ll be expecting the obligatory Soulja Boy remix in 5..4..3..2..

It’s nice to see Keri Hilson finally realizing some real success in recent months after spending so many years being touted as R&B’s “next big thing”, but with the rise of her status to a ubiqutious level (thanks to seemingly every half hour spins of her “Turnin’ Me On” and “Knock You Down” singles on pop and urban radio), has anyone else been moved to the conclusion that she’s not the most engaging vocalist?

Yeah, she’s a good songwriter and deserves props for being able to keep up with (and actually shine on) some of Timbaland’s most claustrophobic kitchen-sink productions, but when judged on her singing talents alone, Miss Hilson rarely ever registers beyond anonymous hook girl, her records often sounding like demo recordings for a much stronger singer to later adopt. The fact that her biggest hits cast her as more of a supporting entity than lead artist doesn’t really help much, either.

That being said though, she does a respectable job on her recent live performances for the Pepsi Music site, including a guest-less take on “Knock You Down” that makes us wish we could hear it on the radio sometimes as opposed to the somewhat crowded Kanye and Ne-Yo-blessed version, and the umpteenth cover of Gnarls Barkley’s “Cover” that, despite arriving a few years too late to truly matter, still manages to emit a certain appeal in all of it’s playing-it-safe basic-ness.

Knock You Down: Pepsi Music Exclusive Performance on Yahoo Music!

Crazy: Pepsi Music Exclusive Performance on Yahoo Music!

DL: “Crazy (Gnarls Barkley Cover)” (alt)

Summer vacations/ distractions have brought things around here to a near-standstill, but in an effort to play a bit of catch-up, check out some of these noteworthy tunes below pulled from the ever-packed in-box and various other sites we’ve been digging lately from around the Inter-Webs:

JDP featuring Chester French “She Loves Everybody (Part Deux)”

This up-and-coming Chicago indie-hopper latches onto CF’s most well-known track, the shoulda-been-bigger slut ode “She Loves Everybody”, using it to support his own adventure with a promiscous groupie who has foolishly mistaken him for being a more high profile rap star (“I suppose someone told her we rich,” he sing-song quips at one point).

A bit Flo-Rida-ish, which-at least in this case-isn’t at all a bad thing.

From his new mixtape Air Raid.

DL: “She Loves Everybody (Part Deux)”

The Honey Brothers “Demonstration”

The Honey Brothers are a quintet from New York who call their sound “new wave folk”, and while most talk of them will surely be centered on their superstar drummer (Entourage lead Adrian Grenier), the music found on their recently released Demonstration EP definitely deserves it’s own hype as it’s some of the most feel-good stuff to touch our ears in recent weeks.

Check out the title track, a groovy lil’ indie-rock number that’ll likely have you tapping your toes to it’s summer-ready shuffle within seconds of it hitting the speakers.

DL: “Demonstration”

?uestlove, The Foreign Exchange, Zo! and Carlitta Durand “Purple Flip”

Don’t let the title confuse you, this is essentially a cover of Prince’s “Take Me With You”, and boy does it hit the soul in all the right ways.

Too bad SPIN Magazine couldn’t have employed THIS crew to handle the entirety of that mostly disappointing Purple Rain tribute cover album they had to nerve to drop last month.

DL: “Purple Flip”

Golau Glau “Summer Games”

On first listen to the output from this mysterious UK-born collective, you’ll probably end up with your head cocked to the side and a confused look pasted across your face.

But give these songs some time, as repeated doses of the spell-binding ambiance of “Summer Games”, “Soft Silver Young” and the rest of the band’s uniquely weaved creations reveal a trippy charm that’s quite the soothing aural experience.

DL: “Summer Games”

Keri Hilson featuring Kanye West & Ne-Yo “Knock You Down (Chew Fu GhettoClub Fix)”

Even after hearing this billions of times (*thanks radio*), we still find this hit single oddly put together (anybody else left cold by the fact that the three headliners barely seem to recognize the efforts of one another?), but the Chew Fu crew help calm that sense of underwhelmingness a bit with this dancefloor-targeting rehaul which nicely gives a repeated spotlighting to Kanye’s “Michael Jackson” line.

DL: “Knock You Down (Chew Fu GhettoClub Fix)”

Beyonce “Ego (DJ Unique’s I Love Her Remix)”

Sasha Fierce’s newest single given a smoother R&B treatment courtesy of YouTube mash-up king DJ Unique. Kanye-free sadly, but we can still dig it.

DL: “Ego (DJ Unique’s I Love Her Remix)”

Even if Trey Songz hasn’t been able to net that big pop record to firmly establish himself as a “household name” on the level of a Ne-Yo or Chris Brown, the singer’s exhausting dedication to staying relevant, at least on the blog scene, is very admirable. It seems that not one day can go by without him popping up with some new “freestyle”-type cover of whatever R&B or hip hop track is currently buzzing on the ‘Net or in the streets.

One of his most recently leaked creations, “Invented Sex”, is an original, but it stays on par with his many other pleasant (and unmistakably R. Kelly-inspired) mid-tempo loverman entires. “Girl, when I pull back them sheets/ And you climb on top of me/ Girl you gon’ think I invented sex,” he boasts atop the track’s light, finger-snap-laced groove, eager to introduce his latest bed partner to his wink-wink, nudge-nudge “Magnum lifestyle”.

Of course, what truly takes this tune a notch above the rest is it’s guest cameo from current fire Drake; he doesn’t really contribute anything all that mind-blowing here lyrically, but who cares when he’s appreciatively blessing the listener with another satisfying spoonful of that hypnotizing sing-rap thing he does so damn well.

DL: “Invented Sex” (alt)

As a continuation of the Drake love, snatch up this remix/ cover (or whatever the hell you call these things) to his “Houstatlantavegas” featuring vocals from the much-missed JoJo below:

DL: “Houstatlantavegas (Remix)” (alt)

The Tapemasters crew recently unleashed the twenty-sixth installment of their The Future In R&B mixtape series, and as usual, it’s jampacked with the hottest in today’s urban/ soul. But amongst the usual suspects found within it’s tracklisting, the two that stand out the most at face value come from a couple of 90′s R&B stars who’ve saw their respective commercial footholds slip a couple notches in recent years. Might Ginuwine and Brandy have the fire necessary to re-claim their positions in the higher reaches of the singles charts?

First up, we have Ginuwine’s “Get Involved”. Set to be the second single off his forthcoming sixth album, A Man’s Thoughts, the track finally delivers what fans have been waiting for for years: a reunion between the stage-sliding, hip hop-soul Lothario and the “dynamic duo” who helped put him on the map way back when, Timbaland and Missy Elliott.

And from the instant it hits the speaker, the track burns, rocking a sweaty disco groove that peaks into an ecstactic delirium for the chorus as Gin, Tim and Missy all threaten to release their inner-freaks on the public. Yeah, it’s a bit sad to hear Ginuwine barely registering on a track in which he’s credited as lead, but who’s really concerned about minor gripes like that when we are gifted with Missy treating us with yet another one of her silly, but always in-demand, gabbledygook-filled verses (“Yeah you know I’m a freak-a-deek-leek/ Heavy D, tweet-a-deet-didda-a-deet-dee…”) and get to hear one of the best R&B forces of the late ’90′s side-by-side again.

DL: “Get Involved” (alt)

For Brandy and her cut “Decisions”, a slow-burning duet with the Midas-touched Ne-Yo, the results are equally as pleasant.

Despite receiving critical kudos, Brandy’s last album, the mature and pop ballad heavy Human ended up being a major under-performer, it’s overt distancing from the day’s R&B trends perhaps a major factor in it’s lack of mainstream success. But if “Decisions” is to be looked as a precursor to her next project, she shouldn’t have any problems winning some of her old masses back.

Over a backing track that will cause more than a few people to have flashbacks of Ciara’s slinky “Promise”, Brandy and Ne-Yo rely on the old angel on one shoulder/ devil on the other gimmick to express whether or not they should hook up with one another, despite already being in relationships with other people. “You got a good man on your side and you know that he don’t deserve it,” the (still-)enchantingly smoky-voiced Brandy internalizes, only to completely change her stance a breath later: “How can a man get hurt when he don’t even know that it happened?”.

It’s difficult to think of the teenybopper that once trilled about “sittin’ up in her room” now having grown-up infidelity thoughts (we know, we know, it’s been over ten years…), but throwback “Moesha”-era fondness aside, we’re completely digging this (and privately hoping that Ne-Yo will be employed further on the next album).

DL: “Decisions” (alt)

Though Chrisette Michele is signed to Def Jam, her distinctive jazzy singing style and penchant for recording the types of R&B/ soul records usually found in the vinyl bins made her more of an instant hit with the adult R&B crowd. One critically-acclaimed, Gold-selling debut album (and Grammy win) later, the twenty-five year old is yearning to act more her age, deciding on a more “upbeat and youthful” vibe for the next project.

Thankfully, the first taste of this venture, current single “Epiphany” (from her May-set album of the same name), doesn’t see her awkwardly committing to some disastrous female R&B version of “Stanky Legg”, but teaming up with hit songwriter Ne-Yo for a track that achieves it’s contemporary goals without forcing her to trade away her much-appreciated classiness.

As it’s piano-knocking groove lays out a hypnotizing, midtempo melody, Michelle offers a peak inside an increasingly lop-sided romance. After spending too many nights at home anticipating a ring that never arrives, while waiting on a boyfriend who doesn’t make his way through the door until the sun is peeking over the horizon, Chris has decided she’s had it up to here with him and his heartbreaking ways.

“So I think I’m just about over being your girlfriend/ I’m leaving,” she informs him, matter-of-factly. And that’s that. No revenge-seeking plots of busting up his car or crazed tantrums filled with cuss words and flung dishes. She just casually packs up her belongings, greets him with a smile and a kiss after his return from another one of those mysterious all-nighters (“like nothing ever happened”) and then, without any deviation from her ever-pleasant disposition, breaks off the bad news.

How refreshing to hear a female R&B break-up song delivered without the typical daytime-TV-inspired theatrics. Fingers crossed that it succeeds in establishing her with the young’un set.

Watch the video below, then peep the remix, featuring Rick Ross and Juelz Santana begging for a second chance, afterward.

DL: “Epiphany (Remix)” (alt)