Portland, Oregon’s Moxie Black (rapper/ vocalist iLLAJ and producer Dekk) aren’t re-writing any rules as far as their post-808s & Heartbreak/ Rebirth/ The E.N.D. indie electro-hip-pop sound goes, but if one is searching for something new to soundtrack their final days of summer to, they’ll have plenty of addictive gems to choose from in the group’s new mixtape How Did This Happen?, an eleven track collection of hipster-hued, ride-friendly feel-good.
Early leak “So Much Better” reigns at the project’s finest. Based on a blog-baiting pairing of driving, new wave guitars and Auto-Tuned rap-singing, the track is insanely catchy, and quite amusing in it’s detailing of iLLAJ struggles to cope after seeing his ex-girlfriend enter the same club as him with a new dude on his arm (“I’m downing all the bottle/ Raging like full throttle/ And I never want to see her again”).
Check out the jam, alongside their remix of Phoenix’ “1901″ (re-titled “2901″), below; pick up the entirety of How Did This Happen? over at DJBooth.net.
Even if Taio Cruz hasn’t completely convinced us we’ll care about him (or even remember him) by this time next year, you got to give the Auto-Tune-obsessed singer-songwriter-producer credit for knowing how to temporarily distract us from our everyday troubles with a slick guilty pleasure.
Neither one of his back-to-back international hits, “Break Your Heart” and “Dynamite”, sound like a human was involved in their respective creations, but in their behemoth by-the-numbers Top 40 club thumps and pasted-together cyborg vocal work, they both manage to edge into the realm of being okay pop jams, especially when drunk and stuffed on a crowded dance floor or trapped in a car in the middle of a traffic jam with little else to do but tap along on the steering wheel.
Current smash “Dynamite” has now been given the requisite, big name-boasting remix spin, but rather than simply toss in a Fabolous, Rick Ross or, hell, Ke$ha contribution and call it a day, Taio has opted to really go big, employing brief American Idol judge hopefulJennifer Lopez to join along in his T.G.I.F. celebration. Sadly, the desperate attempt to re-ignite interest into the artist-once-known-as J. Lo’s abilities as a “singer” instantly falls flat with Lopez offering a bland (and damn near unrecognizable) vocal contribution that fails to really add anything new to the track.
Hell, homegirl (or should we say “Fly Girl”) would have been better off staying out the studio and just playing lead chick in a re-release of the track’s music video (would’ve probably made a bigger impact that way too).
We’ll be sticking with Original Recipe “Dynamite” thank you very much, but the curious can hear a radio rip of this “duet” below anyway.
Monica featuring Missy Elliott & Notorious B.I.G. “Everything To Me (Remix)”/ “Blackberry”
While most other mainstream R&B artists are too busy trying to keep the kids’ attention by sounding like malfunctioning robots and wannabe rappers, or awkwardly straining (and usually failing) to inject as much soul as possible in between club-happy house thumps and electro bleeps and bloops, Monica aimed to keep it simple and just saaang on her Missy Elliott co-produced lead Still Standing single “Everything To Me”, a vintage-hugging, Broadway-sized tribute to the “perfect man”.
Though the back-to-basics move has proven successful (the track is currently spending it’s third week atop the R&B/ Hip Hop singles chart, making it Monica’s first #1 in seven years), the song falls a bit on the bland side, mostly making us wish to hear the tune it samples (Deniece Williams similarly theatrical, albeit far more dynamic, ’81 classic “Silly”) more.
Slightly better is the summer jeep jam-styled remix, which again lifts it’s musical foundation from the ’80′s R&B world (this time, Rene & Angela’s “I Love You More”), as well as a completely unnecessary re-heated Notorious BIG verse from the Life After Death number “I Love The Dough” (tie-in for the confused: both songs sample the R&A joint), though we should note that the best song we’ve heard from Monica so far in 2010 was one that didn’t even officially make the album. That would be “Blackberry”, a midtempo cut that brings back the dual joys of both snap & b and Monica’s sassier side as she hits the roof after breaking the code to her man’s titular cell phone and finding out, through texts and voice mails from another chick, that he’s not being on the up-and-up. Oh, the drama.
It usually takes a good month or so for us for a new T-Pain single to make the transition from being just plain dumb to severely addicting (but still dumb), so it makes sense that right about now, after weeks of the Auto-Tune soul-man/ walking spoof’s latest bringing about all kinds of raging “What’s wrong with music today!?!” and “Why his this guy still around?!!” tantrums, we would start coming around to admiring “Reverse Cowgirl”.
Of course, like all the times before when it came to taking a liking to this guy’s solo material, we were drunk and “slow-dancing” (read: dry-humping some chick on the dancefloor) when we reached this epiphany, but admit it: there’s something awe-inspiring about the way T-Pain excels at making the silliest lyrics/ concepts (in this case, a certain sexual position and bleats of “Giddy up girl” and “Yee-haw”) sound SO DAMN DEEP with just a sprinkle of his yearning, “studio-sweetened” vocals.
Plus, we kinda dig the “artsy” moves of it’s video (see it below), where, especially under the influence of things we don’t feel the need to mention, watching T-Pain shake his dreads in slow motion is on par with seeing Avatar in 3-D for the first time.
More surprising than discovering that Next, the late-’90′s/ early-00′s hit R&B boy band who turned a song about getting erections on the dancefloor into a five-week #1 US pop smash, are still together and making music?
Finding out that their recently dropped cover of Michael Jackson’s “You Are Not Alone”, done in the synth-bedazzled Euro-R&B style of the inexplicably currently popular Taio Cruz/ Jay Sean/ Jason DeRulo (we know they’re different artists, but deep in our hearts we think they are all one person), is kinda-sorta not all that bad.
Faith Evans “I Wanna Rock (Snoop Dogg Freestyle Cover)”
The Former First Lady of Bad Boy peaks her head out of hibernation (really, where has Faith been)…with an unfortunate alter-ego tag (“Fizzy”)…to drop some boasting “rhymes” about her flow over a 2009 Snoop instrumental…and then some cat named Deuce Hanna (who?) raps.
Yeah, we don’t know what to say either…but here you go:
Foreign Exchange-affiliated singer-songwriter (and former Erykah Badu vocalist) YahZarah previews her forthcoming fourth album, the enticingly titled The Ballad of Purple Saint James, with “Why Dontcha Call Me No More”, a song that finds her going through the blues over a cheating beau (“Obviously you never had a broken heart/ Or you would’ve known better than to play with someone else’s”).
Don’t think that the song is another one of those depressing slow burners though. In fact, it plays more like a mood-lightener thanks to punk-ish kiss-off dialogue like “I hope you’re happy or whatever/ On second thought…not really” and a boppy, new wave-inspired backing beat that, in our heads, would be featured as the walking-down-the-aisle soundtrack for the wedding of Prince and Janelle Monae.
Newbie girl group, and latest Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins find, Purple Reign position themselves as ones to watch in the two-thousand-and-dime on this R&B twist of Timbaland & Drake’s “Say Something”. Of special note is the acapella intro, in which they both introduce their solid three-part harmonies and give a shout out to the inspiration behind their name with a melodic swipe from Prince’s “Purple Rain”.
Head here to hear the ladies tackle Drake’s “Fear”, Waka Flocka Flame’s “O Let’s Do It” and Young Money’s “Bed Rock”.
Jay-Z tried, but sadly his grumpy old rapper efforts were, it seems, for naught.
As if “D.O.A” never meant anything (which, to be honest, it kinda didn’t about a nanosecond after first hearing it), T-Pain, one of the bigger faces of the “Auto-Tune” movement that’s suffocated the pop, R&B and rap music scenes in recent years, has polished off his BIG ASS CHAIN and begun his march back to ubiquity. Leaks from his forthcoming fourth album RevolveЯ have already started to surface all across the Web, but the tracks that will likely trigger more interest amongst the masses would have to be the couple of high-profile remix gigs found below that he’s smartly lined up to aid in creating buzz for his…guess you could say “comeback”.
The first re-pairs him with R&B kindred spirit of-sorts R. Kelly in a 2.0 take of what’s become Kellz biggest hit in two years, the currently chart-climbing “Number One”. And like their previous collaborations (the remixes to “Same Girl” and “I’m A Flirt”), it’s another memorable joint of the minds between the two modern soul freakazoids.
Featuring Keyshia Cole in place of Keri Hilson and dubbed a “remix for the clubs” despite the fact it bears the same slow groove tempo of the original, the song births plenty of great lyrical snippets to add to both men’s already very lengthy lists of awesomely WTF!! songwriting nuggets, from Pain’s “I’m-a put that BMI all over your ASCAP” to Kelly’s “Baby girl I guarantee once I get up in you/ I will make that pussy speak to me in Auto-Tune” making for what could best be described as robot-icized sex jam heaven!!
For his other remix appearance, T-Pain is inserted into a “re-configured for urban airplay” version of Shakira’s “She-Wolf” that ticks all the necessary boxes to realize it’s goal with it’s disco beat stifling, generic ’09 hip-pop production overhaul (listening to it, you nearly expect Flo-Rida to pop up with some corny club rap banter at some point).
Unnecessary? Totally, though some slight entertainment value can be found in Mr. Pend-Her-Ass-Down’s aping of Shakira’s vocal melody. But it did get us to thinking of how cool would it have been if he had found a way to bring his boy R. Kelly in here. Having the “R” in R&B spout out some naughty verse about a fanged seductress would have really brought this revamp to the next level.
For close to two decades (!!) we’ve relied on Mary J Blige‘s raw, grainy (and, at times, off-key) whoops to help keep some semblance of true, from-the-soul authenticity alive in the contemporary R&B realm, and even though those fiery chops have gotten smoothed over in recent years, we never once thought that she would ever think of joining the “singing android” parade. Yet, there she was on the summer-leaked (and Drake-featured) “The One”, crushing plenty of hearts across the globe in her unnecessary decision to undergo the Auto-Tuned treatment.
Why MJ why, we sighed and whimpered, hoping that the track would either end up in the recycling bin, get passed onto some lesser naturally-gifted singer, or at least be given a post-”D.O.A”, vocal effect-stripped make-over before it’s official release. Unfortunately, our wishes were ignored: “The One”, minus any revisions, would ultitimately be branded as the jump-off single for Mary’s 9th studio effort, Stronger.
In a case of the video sort of making a song better though, thanks to “One”‘s heavily stylized accompanying clip, featuring Blige cutting up a rug while getting her sexy swag on under a neon-lit glow, our initial hesitations towards the record have alleviated some.
It’s plinky-plonk futuro beat may fall a tad on the generic side but it does bump (a fun vibe we actually requested from her a couple months back), the boasting lyrics are cool (“Let me break it down if you don’t get it/ Quality, I’m custom-fitted/…Boy don’t you know I’m the one”"), and the Auto-Tune is really only heard on a couple lines. Still, let it be known that we would fully appreciate it if Blige left the roboticized gimmicks to the chicks that really need it from here on out.
The last rapper we’d expect to embed themselves in gospel duo Mary Mary‘s Auto-Tuned-slickened crossover jam “God In Me” (think “Blame It On The Alcohol” with a hip, inspirational slant) would be Clipse‘s Malice, but here he is on this remix, dropping an intro sixteen that he questionably opens with his nickname tag “Patty Cake” (because, remember, he’s “the baker’s man”) before delving into some Him-appreciating dialogue (“See I was wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked/ Without the Lord, how could I make it?”).
We wouldn’t have predicted this collaboration (ever!!!!), but in the end, we must admit, they make for a pretty cool team.
Peep the original’s video (featuring cameos from Kanye West, Farnsworth Bentley and…whoa, Holy ’90′s Flashback, Batman!!: Miss “I Love Your Smile” herself, Shanice!!) below:
If we had to pick one track we were most excited about from Discovery‘s long-awaited debut, aside from recently realized addiction “So Insane”, it would have to be the album’s proposed cover of Jackson 5′s “I Want You Back”.
It’s no secret how much we adore cover songs around here, and it should be stated that we geek off crazy over anything Jackson-related (hell, we give Rebbie Jackson’s underappreciated hit, the MJ-assisted “Centipede”, at least one good spin a week), so yeah…the idea of this definitely excited us.
Then we actually listened to it.
Now, don’t get us wrong, not all of Discovery’s remake effort is tragic as there’s a certain delight in the sound of “I Want You Back”‘s familiar bassline slowly moving to the forefront in the intro, followed by an exciting explosion of shimmery electro-pop noise around the :30 mark. But shortly after that arrives the beginnings of this strangled, computerized croon and instantly, it’s like someone pierced our joy balloon with a rusty shank.
We understand how difficult it might be in grown men perfectly replicating the bright chops of a young Michael Jackson, but couldn’t the Auto-Tune/ vocoder effects (or whatever the hell was used here) been passed over just this once?
We’re still Discovery fans, but we have to give this one a low grade just because it let us down so hard.
With “I’m The Ish/ Shit” (and it’s manystar-ladenremixes) continuing to pierce the hearts of dance, hip hop and pop lovers alike around the globe, the song’s creator, DJ Class, now seems intent on maintaining this new plateau of mainstream-edging fame.
Class’ newest cut, no-brainer future club staple “Dance Like A Freak”, sees him cooking up a near-overwhelming ear assault of minor key taps, Prince-like drums and blurting synths as continued inspiration for the sexy dancefloor babe who’s got every set of male eyes in the spot fixated on her every sensuous shimmy.
Her choreography is so hypnotizing, it’s turned the robo-vocalled Class into a stalker-ish fool, invading her headspace with nosy digs into her personal info (“Lemme get your phone number…”; “Tell me where you stay at…”) before quickly moving to bank account-denting promises of whisking her and her friends away on a trip through the skies. And just in case she’s not easily swayed, he makes clear she fully understands how legit his big baller status is, matter-of-factly adding “No I don’t fly Delta/ We charter up at ‘Million-Air’”.
The perfect successor to “Ish” (the uber-annoying Ron “Jumping Out The Window” Browz should take notes; this is how you do Auto-Tune-enhanced club anthems right), “Dance Like A Freak” should have plenty of bodies following it’s titular order long enough to sustain DJ Class’ appeal until his new album, Alameda & Coldspring, drops later on this year.
Can’t wait to see what rapper jumps on this one first!!
While it was sad to see Lil’ Kim get booted off of “Dancing With The Stars” a couple nights back, bringing an end to a surprisingly successful run, not too many tears are being shed from this corner of the “web-iverse”, since the elimination hopefully means she’ll now have the free time to start focusing on finally giving us the fifth album she’s pushed off for so long.
And by “album” we mean body of work that gives us the fierce-on-the-mic Lil’ Kim of the “Quiet Storm (Remix)”, not the lost-sounding rappress that’s been struggling at the music game comeback since her release from behind bars three years ago.
Though her current single “Download” lands as a capable summertime jam (mostly thanks to it’s lazy sampling of 80′s R&B fave “Computer Love” and another stellar vocal performance from the underappreciated Charlie Wilson), it’s just not the official re-introduction Kim (or the sadly dissipated female rap genre) needs right now. With it’s corny cyber-sex rhymes (“We goin’ back and forth, sendin’ e-mails/ He a thug, so i hit him on his Gmail/ His sense of humor got me writin’ L-O-L…”) and her trendy teeter-tottering from half-sung to provocative whisper raps, “Download” is third or fourth single material at best.
All we ask is that she take that inner-fire that made her a fan-favorite on the “Dancing” stage (or the same dedication she has towards plastic surgery) and somehow transport it to the pad and pen to give us something that will truly blow us away. Come on Kim, we know you got it in you.
2007 promised big things for Atlanta rapper Gorilla Zoe.
Brought into the Boyz N The Hood unit to replace prized-member-turned-solo-star Young Jeezy, Zoe had the good luck to be featured on two back-to-back third-quarter ’07 releases: BNTH’s sophomore album, Back Up N Da Chevy, and his own solo debut, Welcome To The Zoo. But beyond his initially intriguing Jeezy sound-alike-ness and the briefly popular, club-and-street-hugged bouncer that was “Hood Nigga”, neither album managed to make much of a lasting commercial mark.
It looked like Zoe was going to soon fade away into the ever-overcrowded sea of faceless rap entities…that is, until he began to pique some major interest with last fall’s gruffily sung (!!) “Lost”, a bleak, Drumma Boy-produced slow-crawler that saw him teetering on the edge of a mental breakdown.
Managing to become a modest hit, “Lost” re-sparked Zoe’s buzz, leading to wonders of how, or if, this slightly intriguing “new sound” would further be manifested on his forthcoming second LP, Don’t Feed Da Animals. Apparently, by the sounds of Animals‘ latest leakage “Echo”, it seems “Lost” was no one-off fluke away from his typical dope-boy musings.
An Auto-Tuned-favoring (yeah, he’s singing again) kiss-off that could easily be mistaken for an Akon or Sean Kingston number if it wasn’t for Zoe’s deep shower croon, “Echo” is definitely the rapper’s most pop-leaning track yet. Swirly, new wave-y synths apply a sleek, 80′s sheen behind mocking taunts towards an old girlfriend. “You did this to yourself/ Now you’re all by your self/ Acting like you hate me/ All because you ain’t me,” he smirks, pushing the knife in only deeper with the further ridiculing hook: “I’m gone and all you hear is your own damn echo/…No one to hear you/ There’s nobody near you”.
Ultimately, despite “Echo”‘s needing of a bit more polish, Zoe shows here that he has to know-how to craft a decent enough Top 40 hit on par with other “rappa-ternt-sanga” entries from Kanye West and T.I.; it’s listenable and deserving of a sing-along or head nod or two. But it’s also a bit disappointing to see him jump from the darkish slant of “Lost” to super-radio-friendly Flo-Rida material so fast. It would have been nice to have a bit more edge injected (maybe a break into a straight-forward rap, or at least a guttural “uh” intro) to keep it from being so blatantly mainstream sounding and serve a stronger connection to his previous material.
You can listen to the original here, but below, peep and snatch up the slightly superior remix to “Echo” featuring none other than Diddy. Is it sad that Mixtape Maestro wishes the roles were reversed and Diddy was given more of a prominent position, with Zoe just relegated to hook and bridge duties?
As nice as it is to get free music, think of how much better your soul would feel if you purchased it the old-fashioned way.
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(MP3 posts are for promotional and/ or previewing purposes only; if any artist or their representation wish to have the links removed, contact me and I will happily comply!)
Portland, Oregon’s Moxie Black (rapper/ vocalist iLLAJ and producer Dekk) aren’t re-writing any rules as far as their post-808s & Heartbreak/ Rebirth/ The E.N.D. indie electro-hip-pop sound goes, but if one is searching for something new to soundtrack their final days of summer to, they’ll have plenty of addictive gems to choose from in the group’s new mixtape How Did This Happen?, an eleven track collection of hipster-hued, ride-friendly feel-good.
Jay-Z tried, but sadly his grumpy old rapper efforts were, it seems, for naught. 
For close to two decades (!!) we’ve relied on 
The last rapper we’d expect to embed themselves in gospel duo 
If we had to pick one track we were most excited about from 
With 
While it was sad to see Lil’ Kim 
2007 promised big things for Atlanta rapper 
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