mixtape maestro (2.0)

Though having names like Wale and Gucci Mane attached damn near guaranteed Attention Deficit‘s latest (but should have been first) single “Pretty Girls” would draw audiences in large waves, anyone who has been charmed by this record and given it umpteen re-spins since it’s leak-premiere last Summer knows it’s not the rappers that keep them coming back for more.

No, that honor would have to go to hook-wailer Weensey (singer of the long-running DC-area go-go act the Backyard Band) and the room-filling gloriousness of his edge-of-range croaks awe-struck by the lovely ladies surrounding him.

Sadly, this newest remix doesn’t allow Weensey a larger role, but it does feature Wale offering a new verse, as well as guest appearances from Chris Brown (still trying his best to win back public favor) and Fabolous, who’s always good for a semi-clever misogynist jewel or two (“Like a hooker in the winter/ Them hos’ cold”).

DL: “Pretty Girls (Remix)” (alt)

Mary J Blige’s triumphant 2005 smash “Be Without You” may have ended up being the biggest record of her career (earning two Grammy Awards, crossover adoration, and a fifteen-week reign atop the R&B singles chart), but it initially didn’t at all feel like a perfect mesh with her usually grittier street-diva style, sounding more like a Mariah Carey power ballad than anything else.

On first listen to the Queen of Hip Hop-Soul’s recently leaked “Stronger”, a slightly pop-slickened Polow Da Don-produced number featuring Chris Brown (!!) on background vocals, that same feeling of “we like it, but not necessarily for Mary” comes forth again (though trade in Mariah for someone like Keri Hilson or the Pussycat Dolls Nicole S. and her oft-muted backup crew).

Maybe it’s just that we still haven’t gotten used to the positive slant of Blige’s art, despite the fact that she’s remained aligned with this inspirational vibe for a majority of the past decade, or that we’re simply yearning for a reconnection to the hard urban-dance bop of previous smashes “Real Love” or “Family Affair”, but while “Stronger” ultimately proves to be a powerful cut that will undoubtedly end up a cherished anthem for many lovers (the rawness of her vocal certainly adds a reality-drenched weight to cliche love song lyrics like “We’ve been through the storm” and “We climbed all the mountains”), we can’t easily shake away the fact that we’re left feeling a little…um, underwhelmed by it as a Mary J Blige record.

Are we crazy or does anyone else feel the same way? At least, initially?

DL: “Stronger” (alt)

Though she was able to snatch up the 2007 “American Idol” crown, winning over Mom’s and pre-teens with her mega-pipes and “good girl” demeanor, Jordin Sparks’ career post-confetti & tears didn’t seem like it was going to produce anything worthwhile. And that notion was kinda sorta proved with her debut album’s jump-off single “Tattoo”, a somewhat awkward mish-mashing of country and urban-pop that skirted the Hot 100 Top 10, but was ultimately forgettable.

Then arrives “No Air”, a surprisingly fetching duet with (a pre-career-in-crisis) Chris Brown that managed to catch ears beyond her central Disney bubblegum fanbase (as well as a Grammy nomination), despite the fact that it’s “can’t breathe without you” premise felt extremely absurd and dated and the two singers sounded like their throats were gonna explode at the way they shout-sung their teenybop devotion for a majority of it’s over four minutes length.

Apparently, Sparks has decided that this ear-bursting diva pop style could be a continually rewarding niche, as she’s dipped into that well over again, employing the writing/ production skills of fellow melodramatic bellower (and OneRepublic principal) Ryan Tedder for her second album’s lead single and title track, “Battlefield”, which takes “Air”‘s OTT midtempo ballad formula, then raises it a few OTT notches.

Once again she’s all “my world’s nothing when you’re gone”, mourning a relationship’s inability to ever get on the good foot, and this frustration is illustrated with the deafening, widescreen scope of a summer action blockbuster: cries of “Why does love always feel like a battlefield?” and the brilliantly WTF “You better go and get your armor” supported with a bombastic barrage of power rock drums and guitars, all elements that get more and more overblown as the song goes on.

Like “Air”, it’s a winning guilty pleasure that’ll definitely inspire numerous worldwide mimickings of it’s ridiculously huger-than-huge hooks (especially that “armor” line) over the next few months. Our only question is if the rest of the album follows this high-volume extreme (as we predict it will), will Sparks even have a voice once it comes to time to hit the touring rounds?

The album, Battlefield, drops mid-July.

In the midst of a huge media blitz to advertise the release of her well-awaited Good Girl Gone Bad LP, Rihanna’s monolithic summertime banger “Umbrella” gets a revamping from fellow R&B star Chris Brown in this so-corny-it-actually-works basement constructed “remix”.

Already earning major spins, a rare coup for something that sounds so obviously bootleg, Chris Brown twists the chanty hook into a new chorus (“You can be my Cinderella-ella-ella-ay-ay-ay”) in this geeky fanboy reply. As captivated with the Barbados beauty as the rest of us, Brown borrows T-Pain’s vocoder (an annoying trend that needs to die like yesterday) as he sings to her poster on his bedroom wall (“You’re becoming a dream to me/ A fairy tale fantasy/ Nothing can never compare/ An image to my memory”). What doesn’t compare is his overenthusiastic vocal to her dry, distant tone, but when their choruses start interplaying and Brown throws his own ad-libs into the mix, the awkward blending really starts to resonate and we get an entire new reason to pump “Umbrella” again and again.

If Rihanna wasn’t a smart cookie and already moving on to future great singles, this could’ve made for a cool video. Maybe he could cut and paste himself into her clip the same way he did to her song, doing headstands and boogaloo pops to help her deflect those damn water streams. Though we could do without him posing naked in silver paint.

Chris Brown – Umbrella (Remix) – Chris Brown Feat. Rihanna

It didn’t take long for Chris Brown to go from another Usher clone to one of the brightest sensations in teen R&B. His debut album seemed like it wouldn’t stop churning out back-to-back hits while his amazing stage performances marked him as a true entertainer who hadn’t even reached his peak potential yet. With his freshman year now behind him, Brown makes the always-sketchy move into pushing a second project, Exclusive. Even though it’s been about a year and half since his eponymous first album hit stores, it doesn’t seem like it’s been enough time for Brown to grow as an artist, let alone a human being, before shoving something new down our throats. Exclusive‘s first taste, the mediocre “Wall To Wall” assures us that that assumption is correction.

The same semi-flirty little devil we saw on “Gimme That” and “Poppin’”, Brown continues to be careful about not being too explicit on “Wall To Wall” where he’s fighting off an alleged “200 dames” all vying for a piece of his time. Brown lamely tries to brush off his interaction with groupies as some innocent dance-off (“Who wanna try me on the floor?”), but everything else hints at an underlying sexuality Chris seems too cautious to fully embrace beyond a frustrating winky smirk. The steady pump of the nimble hip hop groove, the implied fantasy of being with twin sisters (“That’s a cool lil’ scenario”), even his now-deeper voice make this an obvious attempt at tip-toeing into something more mature but Brown is too aware of his younger fanbase to divulge any deeper than he does.

Overall, “Wall To Wall” does what it needs to keep Chris Brown a heavy presence on radio, but this weaker retread of the already sub par-”Gimme That” expresses that Brown is resistant to upgrading his game in the studio the way he pushes himself to be a better stage performer. For now, he’s hanging on a dimming pubescent glow, but Chris could see interest in him fade if he doesn’t challenge himself to take more chances.