mixtape maestro (2.0)

Eight months after all that “Swiftgate” drama took both the Interwebz and watercooler/ Twitter gab hostage, Kanye West re-emerges on the freshly leaked Good Ass Job lead single “Power” sounding just as “divo” as ever, declaring “In the white man’s world/ We the ones chosen” and “I don’t need yo’ pussy, bitch/ I’m on my own dick” while embracing the “screams of haters” as his own superhero theme song and proving he (still) can’t take a joke (“Fuck SNL and the whole cast/ Tell ‘em Yeezy said they can kiss my whole ass”).

Oh, and as far as being looked as the “abomination of Obama nation”? Yeezy could care less, quickly brushing off any slight tinges of remorse concerning that role with this typically egotistical line: “At the end of the day/ Goddammit, I’m killin’ this shit”.

Honestly, as much as one might want to hate Kanye when he’s on one of these power trips, dude is right: “Power”, taken in as a whole, is an epic shit-killer.

Try to peel your attention away from the intensity of his lyrics, and absorb all the other ambitious going-ons happening here: the main beat, a pummeling tribal-rock stomp weaved together with a sample of King Crimson’s 1969 prog-rock classic “21st Century Schizoid Man”, soul claps and wordless chants, feels like an event all on it’s own; then you have that coda, an amazingly beautiful dynamic shift which offers pretty piano tricklings and funereal synths as West and an out-of-nowhere-appearing Dwele trade off suicidal thoughts (“Now this would be a beautiful death/ I’m jumping out the window/ I’m lettin’ everything go…”).

Throw in the jaw-dropping fact that the version of “Power” currently making the music blog rounds may not even be the final version (yes folks, it could get even better) and what you have is the beginning of Kanye West about this run this town all over again.

And y’all thought 2010 was gonna be The Year of Drake…

“Power” is slated for a June 8th digital release.

“Power”:

BONUS DL: Kanye West featuring Common & Mase “Jesus Walks (Remix)” (alt)

Seeing as though we were so late in discovering the awesomeness that was the original, it’s only fitting that we would be as equally tardy in finding out the G.O.O.D. Music crew hooked up for a sequel, right?.

Whatevs. Now featuring guest turns from Kid Cudi, Common and Big Sean, as well as new verses from Con and West, this new posse-stylized rendering of the cut succinctly satisfies our wish of giving us an elongated serving of the track’s mesmerizing swirl of a hook/ beat, one of the most under-appreciated aural combinations of the year.

DL: “Whatever You Want (Remix)” (alt)

For months, it’s been difficult to escape the hyping of alt-pop-meets-hip hop, Harvard grad duo Chester French. From the endless “ones to watch” music press/ blog shout-outs to the high-profile support of A-list hip hop figures like Kanye West and eventual label boss Pharrell Williams, we’ve been damn near brainwashed into becoming fans of these cats.

Thankfully, the bits of Chester French music we’ve actually heard (the ’60′s-washed first single, “She Loves Everybody”; that insanely catchy Common collabo, “What A World”; their surprisingly neat remix of Jay Z’s “Excuse Me Miss”) has helped in justifying all this early praise.

Hoping to build up an even stronger buzz for debut album Love The Future (while further highlighting their cool circle of friends), the team of Maxwell Drummey and D.A. Wallach recently dropped the pre-official release mixtape, Jacque Jams, Vol. 1 – Endurance, which tracks the on-the-rise trek of their previous six years through material both old and new, some amusing skits, and the “exclusive” inclusion of a self-produced Lady Gaga remix, not to mention a laundry list of cameo appearances that includes Diddy, Jadakiss, Bun B, Solange, Talib Kweli and Cassie amongst others.

Preview a couple of MM’s faves below:

It’s kind of sad that Janelle Monae still hasn’t quite set the world on fire with her brilliant sci-fi-soul sound (you NEED to pick up Metropolis The Chase Suite like right now), but nevertheless she makes for a great duet partner on the geeky puppy love ode “Nerd Girl”, a prance-y mix of Beatles vocal creaminess and ’80′s synth-pop tenderness.

“I wear tiny suits and bowties, some might call me strange,” she coos. Oh Miss Monae, that’s hardly a bad thing.

DL: “Nerd Girl” (alt)

Meanwhile, “Life In LA” details guest stars Pharrell Williams and Jermaine Dupri’s wild and crazy sexcapades with the City of Angels’ bottomless well of overly worked on, coke-sniffing Barbie Dolls atop old school rap drum clatter and space-age ambiance. Unfortunately, the good times are all over for the French boys, who’ve partied all their dough away and now must leave all the fun and sun behind.

DL: “Life In LA” (alt)

You can pick up the entire entertaining collection here; Love The Future, drops April 21st.

The ever-busy Kid Cudi is sure to continues his dominance over all things Web with “I Poke Her Face”, a new (whispers) BJ anthem that wittily samples Lady Gaga’s…erm, interesting acoustic version of “Pokerface” (you know, the quirky, piano-supported rendition she played at the beginning of last week’s “American Idol” performance that probably left millions of viewer’s scratching their heads in confusion).

Bridged by a clever hook (“I make her say (Oh oh oh, oh oh oh)/ When I (po-po-po-poke her face, po-po-poke her face)”), Cudi and trackmates Kanye West and Common keep the giggles going on with their respective naughty verses. Out of the three, it’s West who steals the cut (as usual), opening his contribution with that all-too-important ID check (“Hold up/ Born in ’88?/ How old is that?/ Old enough”) while later beading together the killer ending line rhymes of “skull-iosis”, “cum-atosis” and “osmosis”.

But hands down, the winner of the most alarming single line has to go to Common with this to-the-point eyebrow-raiser: “But they say ‘You be on that conscious tip’/ Get your head right and get upon this conscious dick”. Tsk tsk Common, now we demand you wash your mouth out with some hemp soap this instant!

Can’t wait to see what Miss Ga Ga has to say in response to this, or better yet, what other rapper is dying to swagger-swipe this joint for their own freestyle riffing (cause you know a thousand and one of those are already currently being recorded).

DL: “I Poke Her Face” (alt)

On his TIT-illating new cut “Punch Drunk Love”, Common leap-frogs away from the addicting, Bambaataa-influenced B-boy-isms of preceding single “Universal Mind Control” to get all “LL Cool J” on the ladies with assistance from pals the Neptunes and Kanye West

Heavy on near-eye-rolling lines like “You can call me Daddy/ I’m a put you to bed” and “I come from Chi-ca/ So in I go”, “Love” doesn’t really rank among Common’s lyrical best (though he does get a couple of clever points for “we exchange like students cause I study a-broad”) but it’s a fine sex-rap entry nonetheless, mostly thanks to the production’s lightly knocking, slow groove R&B stew and Pharrell’s very Teddy Riley-like, vocoder-enhanced solo towards the end. Plus, it’s always nice to hear a non-robo-voiced West anywhere these days, even if he is somewhat disappointingly relegated to just handling the hook duties here.

Still, for a better glimpse of Common-as-horn-dog, a re-listen to 2005′s sublime-and-sexy “Go” (also featuring an abbreviated cameo from Kanye) is recommended.

From Common’s upcoming, Universal Mind Control, due December 9th.

DL: “Punch Drunk Love” (alt)

We constantly harp on most rappers for being so limited and immature in their subject matter but when a more conscious rapper does come along, we either ignore them completely or are irritated by their preachings or inability to construct accessible songs. On the Kanye West-helmed Be, Common really came into his own and became the rapper who got radio play and avoided typical hip hop scenarios. The album was the breakthrough he needed and rightfully deserved, ranking as one of the most appreciated LPs of the year and becoming his first album to strike platinum. The time has come to follow it up, can Common bring the goods again?

With the smart decision to keep Kanye behind the boards, Common leads off Finding Forever with the blissful “The People”. Impressively blending bit samples of 2Pac, Mountain and Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson, “The People” stands as one of West’s more striking non-commercial productions. It seamlessly flip flops between a East Coast underground/ reggae lilt and a warm nu-jazz portion (perfectly aligned with Dwele’s calming chorus) as Common inspires enlightenment to the general public, knocks the Grammy’s for “trying to India Arie him” and praises West as the new DJ Premier.

Though it’s another stellar display of the man’s enviable rhyming skills, there’s a little wanting for something slightly less attacking from Common here. He doesn’t give West’s remarkable work the breathing room it should have and Dwele should have more to do here than the abbreviated contribution he provides. Better yet, a Kanye verse would have been great for a second verse. Flaws aside, “The People” definitely sustains the beloved gusto of Be. It doesn’t carry much of a radio-friendly presence, but it’s definitely worthy of some Grammy attention.

Download: “The People”

Laury
For the most part, the idea of Joss Stone (a teenage British White flower child singing classic R&B/ soul with the knowing grit of a young Aretha or Gladys) was far more impressive than the material she produced. The awe-inducing precision of her vocals was undeniable, but her musical output proved that her handlers didn’t know what to do with her: either bogging her down in soggy, retro retreads that felt “Showtime At The Apollo” in their staid-ness or mistakenly trying to cross her over into the more teen pop territory which, in turn, squelched her natural ability for microwavable contemporization.

Taking the reins over her own career, Joss Stone promises that her third album Introducing Joss Stone should be approached like a re-debut of sorts. But this isn’t another teen artist’s desperate bid to be taken seriously, as Stone seems to know what she’s doing, rounding up an impressive wish list of talent (Raphael Saadiq, Lauryn Hill, Common) to give her new album a refreshing sense of new-meets-old mish-mash to coincide with her phasing into a young woman. The first glimpses of this new Stone hints that she’s closer in realizing her iconic ambitons.

“Tell Me Bout It” is the official first single and it’s an alarming sample of the singer sounding much more loose and sexual than ever before. Bristling with kitty-cat sexuality (“I need a little lovin’ at least two times a day”, she opens in matter-of-fact frankness) and a funky JB-inspired frenzy, “Tell Me Bout It” finds Stone admirably stepping out and demanding her dude to come and satisfy her needs without crossing over into assless chap theatrics. Ascending horn charts on the hook and DJ scratches quoting a hip hip influence offer a nice collage of the past converging with the present, but Stone’s performance still feels hampered by a lack of rawness. She still sounds like she’s playing a role (in this case Lyn Collins-esque vamp) rather than bringing true emotions to the table a la Fantasia’s breakout vocal on her similarly structured “Hood Boy” single.

Future album track “Tell Me What We Gonna Do” adopts a nice Lauryn Hill vibe, lovers’ rock balladry uplifted by the romantic poetics of Common. It also proves to be the better choice of the two. It’s less showy and forced, allowing Stone enough room to slink her chops throughout it’s easy-going texture with a much more natural feel. Like Robin Thicke’s “Lost Without U”, the charm lies in it’s timeless essence and shocking refusal to give in to trendy gimmicks. Thanks to it’s melodic familiarity and summery warmth, “Tell Me What…” could quickly end up being Stone’s first true hit single.

She hasn’t worked out all the kinks yet, but these interesting new nuggets from Introducing Joss Stone capture the beyond-her-years vocalist well on her way to becoming a soul great in her own right, instead of just imitating the old ones.

Hear both tracks here.

See the video for “Tell Me Bout It” here.