mixtape maestro (2.0)

While nothing could match the heights that Snoop Dogg scaled when his lackadaisical delivery was paired with Dr. Dre’s G-funk beat terrains, in his late-career excursions, it’s been The Neptunes who have consistently provided the Doggfather with the material needed to remain just as commercially relevant as he nears closer and closer to age 40 and his twentieth year in the game, whether it’s through digitized updatings of the rapper’s old hood-boy bop (“From The Chuuuch To Da Palace”, “Drop It Like It’s Hot”) or radio-friendly ditties that paid tribute to his undying adoration for summertime soul (“Beautiful”) and sleek, ’80’s-era disco-funk (“Let’s Get Blown”, “Signs”).

For “Special”, the Neptunes’ lone offering to Snoop’s tenth album Malice N Wonderland, that hit-making chemistry is kept afire with the Virginian production duo lacing Snoop’s eased flow and Valentine’s Day promises with another one of their purrty, keyboard-dominant arrangements while Pharrell and (a suddenly everywhere) Brandy blissfully croon sweet nothings back and forth on the hook.

It’s a blatant “Beautiful” re-write and far away from the aggressive, undercover cop-spooking lyricism that Snoop became a household figure with so long ago, but of all the various ‘90 hip hop sub-genre detours Snoop (sometimes awkwardly) skips through throughout Malice, “Special” is the one where he fits in the most comfortably, not only because you could totally envision Snoop giddily vibing with the instrumental on loop as he rides through the streets of Cali, but the “grown man” way he praises Wifey (“I’m puttin out the blunt cause I see/ That I need you more in my life than I need a bag of weed”) carries this endearing grasp of authenticity and intimacy, sounding like something that could have actually been in his vows during his 1997 wedding (or 2008 vow renewal) to high school sweetheart Shante.

“Special”:

BONUS DL: Snoop Dogg featuring Justin Timberlake & Charlie Wilson “Signs (Siik Remix)” (alt)

Uncategorized brandy, charlie wilson, justin timberlake, malice n wonderland, neptunes, pharrell, siik, snoop dogg, west coast rap

Part of what really made Brandy and Monica’s catty 1998 hit “The Boy Is Mine” work (aside from producer Rodney Jerkins’ catchy strings n’ funk beat) was that most people actually thought that these two R&B/ Pop starlets had some beef with eachother. Throw in the fact that the two ladies were operating on opposite ends of the spectrum persona-wise (with Brandy as the bubbly “America’s Sweetheart” and Monica as a sassy, wise-beyond-her-years mini soul diva) and you had this great soapy set-up, helping give their tug-o-war over a two-timing beau a lot more dramatic weight.

In the remaking hands of J-Pop successes Beni and Tynisha Keli (God, has it really been ELEVEN YEARS since this record first premiered), “The Boy Is Mine” simply feels one-dimensional and high school talent show, with the production and the duo’s respective vocal performances being nothing more than a note-for-note mimicking of the original (even down to the single cover’s artwork). Borrrrring.

Maybe Brandy and Monica could re-team over some kind of “Boy Is Mine” sequel of sorts (under the title “Not This Bitch Again” or something) and show these two teenyboppers how you’re really supposed to get down when trying to claim your man.

DL: “The Boy Is Mine (Brandy & Monica Cover)” (alt)

Uncategorized '90's, beni, brandy, bubblegum, cover song, duet, J-Pop, monica, tynisha keli

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)

Uncategorized '90's, brandy, ginuwine, missy elliott, ne-yo, R&B, timbaland

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

It’s not entirely clear whether this is one of the cuts that didn’t make it onto 2005’s criminally ignored Afrodisiac or a sneak peek at a new album, but whatever the case, the Euro-flavored “Sweet Nothings” is an interesting stylistic switch for R&B/ pop singer Brandy.

On her eponymous first album, a 14-year-old Brandy’s appealing smoky vocal was adorned with subdued R&B-funk production that perfectly captured audiences well beyond her age. As successive discs saw her being the muse of Rodney Jerkins and Timbaland, the music grew sleeker and futuristic, with various studio tricks giving her voice a detached alien tone. Critics took note of her pushing R&B’s envelope, but radio didn’t seem to know what to do with her evolved sound, leading to dismal sales. With it’s odd New Age vibe, those same programmers probably won’t have much to do with “Sweet Nothings” either.

Maybe her involvement in a fatal car accident earlier this year, and the many lawsuits that followed, has gotten Brandy in a newfound spiritual place. That could explain away “Nothings”‘ weird ethereal ambience, which re-imagines “Moesha” as some breathy, Enya-like goddess. A farcry from her New Jill-esque “I Wanna Be Down” days, the lushed out strings and every-which-way vocal harmonies provide a smooth airiness, grounded by a pulsating drum beat, that makes this one of her more experimental tunes, but it threatens to go over the heads of many of her followers.

The main problem is that it’s perhaps a little too easy on the ears, it’s trance flow lacking the whirly hooks and electro-hip hop-derived immediacy Afrodisiac had accomplished so well and holding onto a bland devotional lyric that lulls you comatose. It’s admirable to see Brandy venturing down such an artsy direction and repeated listens may make this a somewhat likable curveball in her catalogue, but for those hoping Brandy will reclaim her commercial perch on the next go round, things may not be going in their favor anytime soon.

Download: “Sweet Nothings”

Uncategorized brandy, diva pop

After seeing their debut album, Kinfolk, pushed back an entire year, the coupling of St. Lunatic Ali and Goodie Mobb-er Big Gipp sell their souls to Top 40 programmers to finally get a strong buzz with their newest release, the Jermaine Dupri-produced “Almost Made Ya”.

Like he did last year for Chingy (on the softie Tyrese collabo “Pullin’ Me Back”), JD gives Ali & Gipp the Bow Wow treatment, slightly re-working a former R&B hit to display the rappers’ sensitive sides and earn them that “106 & Park” fandom. Built off a sample of Brandy’s “Almost Doesn’t Count”, with original Destiny Child-gone-solo LeToya on the hook, the de-fanged duo dismiss potential wifeys who started acting up after seeing their lifestyles upgraded. One verse has one couple all set to jump the broom (“I’ll go call Jacob and you call Vera Wang”) before she drops the bomb that the baby she’s carrying belongs to someone else. Beyond that Hollywood-scripted Jerry Springer twist, nothing else really catches attention as everybody involved seems stuck on making this sticky sweet track as radio-friendly predictable as possible.

With Big Gipp on board nothing this mundane should be a part of their routine, but in dire need to make a name for themselves without relying on Nelly and Cee-Lo to help pay the bills, Ali & Gipp go the proven, focus-grouped route and come up with something bland enough to give them the radio push they’re desperately searching for to get this side project off the ground.

Uncategorized '90's, ali & gipp, brandy, letoya, southern rap