mixtape maestro (2.0)

With all the grand strides Drake made as THE breakout hip-hop artist of 2009 (both on-line and off-), the idea of the lead single off his first official LP Thank Me Later being nothing short of brilliant felt like such a given, most of us had basically already engraved a BANGER OF (at least the first half of) THE YEAR award in it’s honor. The track was just bound to be greater than anything Drake had ever recorded (as well as have the power to part seas and put an end to world hunger), right?

Well, after finally getting to hear the much-anticipated “Over”…let’s just say our loftier-than-lofty expectations have been grounded some.

To put it simply, “Over”, while a perfectly serviceable street single/ album opener, is far from the “Successful” or “Best I Ever Had”-bester we prematurely predestined it to be, it’s verses finding Drizzy and co-producer Boi-1da basically recycling the breathless, top-of-the-mountain boasts (“Making sure the Young Money ship is never sinking/ Bout to set it off in this bitch–Jada Pinkett”) and militaristic drum-laced, dark epic knock of “Forever” to a lesser, larger-than-life effect.

Yeah, a couple lyrical winners do emerge (Our favorite: “Can you see me, can you see me?/ Get your Visine on”), but as a whole, the braggadocio-focused verses leave us cold, wishing that Drake would’ve taken the time to better flesh out his current place in the game with the intimate, “Behind The Music”-like personal depth he’s previously drawn so much acclaim for. If not that, at least flavor the sections with those silken, melodic vocal turns he handles so mesmerizingly.

Drake crams both of these practices into “Over”’s hook, and because of that, it easily ends up the track’s “saving grace” moment. Here, with ’70’s soul-sampled strings building to a gloriously dramatic peak behind him, Drake dons his semi-crooner hat and hits the “Pause” button on his sudden superstar life mid-celebration to briefly ruminate on his position.

“I know way too many people here right now/ That I didn’t know last year/ Who the fuck are y’all?”, he sing-growls, “I swear it feels like the last few nights we been everywhere and back/ But, I just can’t remember it all/ What am I doing?”. Then, in only a half-a-breath’s time, he uncovers the answer (“Oh yeah, that’s right, I’m doing me”), hits the “Play” button and proceeds with living the dream.

Now that’s the magic we’re talking about, Drake; too bad you couldn’t have figured out a way to stretch it’s luster across the entire track.

We’ll be saving that award for when you truly deserve it, thank you.

DL: “Over” (alt)

Uncategorized boi-1da, drake, thank me later

For those who’ve longed for more than just a simple hook-boy contribution from Lloyd on the Young Money smash “Bedrock”, you’ll probably take a liking to this “sequel” version, which sees all of YM scrapped (except for Weezy and Drake’s original verses, of course) to give the R&B singer more of a leading role.

What does Lloyd have to say now that he’s given the spotlight? Unfortunately, more goofy metaphors that make you wish the expert at this sort of XXX-rated R&B wordplay, R. Kelly, had had a hand in the writing process.

Still, we’ll gladly take “I can beat it up like an ultimate fighter/ I can eat it up like a Siberian tiger” and “I can make your body rock/ Me no Rubble” (as in Barney Rubble) over mucho horrific Gudda Gudda quotables like “I see me with her/ No Stevie Wonder” and “I got her nigga/ Grocery bag” anyday.

P.S.: Were we the only ones to only JUST NOW figure out that Drake’s quoting some “Are You That Somebody?” in his portion? Yeah?…Oh…nevermind.

DL: “Bedrock (Part II)” (alt)

Uncategorized drake, lil' wayne, lloyd, sex-rap, young money

On “Say Something”, a recently leaked cut from Timbaland’s new Shock Value 2 album, the Virginia beat maestro teams with Young Money star Drake for what sounds, at least in this “unfinished” take, like it could be one of the bigger grabs from the forthcoming all-star collection.

A sort of big budget take on the pop-R&B-hip hop-meshing business that framed so much of So Far Gone, “Something” rides a slow churning grind of liquefied synth waves as Drake pulls off another slick display of his singing and rapping balancing act.

“I am the topic of conversation/ This is celebration/ Let’s toast to the fact that I moved out my momma’s basement”, he rhymes in the latest chapter of his on-going “rapper on the come-up” audio documentary; but it’s hard for him to completely focus on all the lavish benefits of his sudden superstar-dom when his mind is constantly being distracted by the mysterious whereabouts of a lost ex love (sweetly dubbed his “most important fan”) he yearns to get back in contact with (Cue the arrival of his ever-somber-toned, albeit pop-smart, crooner halve).

Has potential in a B-grade “Best I Ever Had” kind of way, though be prepared for the “finished” take to likely feature several doses of distantly-positioned Timbaland grunts as a reminder that it’s a Tim featuring Drake joint.

Shock Value 2 drops November 23rd.

DL: “Say Something” (alt)

Uncategorized drake, shock value 2, timbaland

After spending the entire summer getting most of the country to sing along with their “so not for children” desire to boink every female on the planet, the over-sized Young Money clique finally get around to releasing a new single with “Bedrock”, and as a repeat of previous single “Every Girl”’s winning recipe of radio-(and summer-)friendly production with horn-ball lyrics (though this time with a couple more YM employees and solo R&B crooner Lloyd added into the mix), and an upgrade from the previously leaked incarnation “Girl You Know” (that earlier take featured a slightly different Wayne verse and brief Young Money member Omarion horribly straining his way through an inferior hook), it mostly succeeds in laying the path for another full season of airplay domination.

Supported by a Kane Beatz-helmed…um, beat that’s damn near worth the price of admission alone, conjuring up this candy-coated sense of vertigo with it’s ear-tickling loop of rapidly tip-toeing keyboard/ synth work, “Bedrock” unfortunately gets off to a lame start with un-inspiring opening verse contributions from Weezy (definitely texting it in here) and Gudda Gudda, who comes up shamefully flat on at least two occasions (“I see me with her/ No Stevie Wonder” + “I got her nigga/…Grocery bag” = someone needs to retake Clever Rap Punchlines 101).

But following that introductory misfire, “Bedrock” quickly rights itself with good-to-great lyrical turns from Drake (“I love your sushi rolls/ Hotter then wasabi”), Tyga and Lil’ Kim sequel/ token female member Nicki Minaj (her squeaky voice may be edge-of-annoying, but damn if it doesn’t sound good hosting lines like “Maybe it’s time to put this pussy on your sideburns”) as well as the usually reliable Lloyd hiccuping “Call me Mr. Flintstone/ I can make your bed rock girl” in that weightless, “sixth member of New Edition circa ‘Candy Girl’” tone of his.

Hear the cut below, followed by “A.D.I.D.A.S”, a Soulja Boy-esque mixtape entry from Georgia rapper Travis Porter that was the original holder of “Bedrock”’s contagious beat.

DL: “Bedrock” (alt)

DL: “A.D.I.D.A.S.” (alt)

Uncategorized drake, gudda gudda, jae millz, kane beatz, lil' wayne, lloyd, nicki minaj, posse cut, southern rap, travis porter, tyga, young money

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.

Stronger drops this November.

Uncategorized auto-tune, diva pop, drake, electro-R&B, mary j blige

“Welcome to the future”, Jay-Z intros on the latest (ho-hum) Blueprint 3 pre-leak.

And by ‘future’, he means an era where having a “high yellow broad” and a “best white mate” named “Chris” (Martin) and not wasting dough on “making it rain” or rocking rims, Timbs or ‘Cris puts him a cut above the rest. Oh, and slightly generic Timbaland shuffles will rock the clubs while promising “future” mic hopefuls are disappointingly reduced to only hook cameos.

Sssiiiiggghhhh. Something’s definitely not right when the Black Eyed Peas corny glimpse into what will be hot tomorrow sounds more appealing.

DL: “Off That” (alt)

Uncategorized drake, east coast rap, jay-z, the blueprint 3, timbaland

First off, can we just note how refreshing it is to hear a record like Drake’s “Successful” lodged amongst the ringtone-friendly goofiness currently reigning atop rap radio playlists?

The track might only be getting so much burn because Drake-mania still runs rampant across the land, but that doesn’t detract from “Successful”’s strikingness. A pensive narrative about a rising emcee’s unflinching quest to hit it big backed by a quietly burning R&B template that does a fine job of illustrating the moody image of one man all alone in a darkened studio armed with nothing but a pen, a pad and his un-realized dreams, “Successful”’s grasping of depth just feels so comforting when positioned against the “You’re A Jerk”’s and “Ice Cream Paint Job”’s, as it brings with it this small hope that mainstream rap’s future might not be so bleak after all with promising lyricists like Drizzy leading the way.

Below, check out a re-tooled version of “Successful” (newly updated with an entire Trey verse!!) that’s set to appear on Trey Songz’ upcoming third album Ready.

DL: “Successful (Version 2)” (alt)

Speaking of Trey, the ever-present R&B crooner continues his tour of taking other people’s established hits and making them better on the recently leaked “Loser”, which finds him swiping the backing track from Mariah Carey’s “Obsessed” to support a witty lyric about angry baby-daddies ready to pummel him for sexing their women.

DL: “Loser (‘Obsessed’ Cover Remix)” (alt)

Uncategorized drake, mariah carey, mixtape, remix, trey songz

Damn the Hot 100, you know you’ve got a bonafide pop hit when there’s a slew of teenagers and twenty-somethings posting bedroom-set, acoustic cover versions of your song all over YouTube.

These guitar-clutching hopefuls’ latest obsession: Drake’s inescapable “Best I Ever Had” of course, and while most do a good job recreating Drizzy’s smash into a strum-a-long puppy love lullabye, our top favorite would have to be the version delivered by the young trio of Donna, Anna & Ruby. Part Beach Boys surf ballad, part late ’90’s teen pop confection (anybody else get a lil’ LFO “Summer Girls” vibe from the rap verses?), we could see this precocious cover become a hit on it’s own easily.

To quote their best (added) line: They had us “like The Roots and Erykah Ba-du” from the first guitar pluck.

DL: “Best I Ever Had (Drake Cover)” (alt)

As an added treat, check out this nicely keyboard-bedazzled remix of the original “Best I Ever Had” by French producers The Twins:

DL: “Best I Ever Had (The Twins Remix)” (alt)

Uncategorized acoustic, cover song, donna anna & ruby, drake, france, remix, teen rap, the twins, youtube

This remix to Fabolous & The-Dream’s excellent collabo “Throw It In The Bag” may not carry the same overwhelming sense of ideal summertime material as the original, but it still has a lot going for it:

1: The beat’s sped-up sampling of The-Dream’s “Fancy” is downright mesmerizing.

2: Featured guest Drake pulls off another solid verse, cleverly flipping Fab’s sugar daddy concept to narrate the benefits of romancing a woman who’s wealthy off a divorce settlement and “probably old enough to be my momma’s friend”. All he asks is that he never comes face-to-face with her 26-year-old son, cause he saw a pic of him and “that nigga look cra-a-a-zy”.

And 3: Fab makes us giggle oh-so-hard every damn time with this winning third verse line: “So money ain’t a thing/ Jay-Z, JD/ Like Jay-Z lady, it’s Beyonceing”. Get it? “Beyond saying”? Oh, you witty rapper you.

Loso’s Way drops July 28th.

DL: “Throw It In The Bag (Remix)” (alt)

Uncategorized drake, east coast rap, fabolous, remix, the-dream

When 2009 is all said and done, Drake will surely stand out as one of the more captivating music-related success stories of the year. A former tween TV-star (who no one wants to really take seriously) suddenly takes what feels like the entire industry by storm thanks to an excellent, 808s & Heartbreak-inspired mixtape and a couple of the year’s biggest crossover pop hits (“Best I Ever Had”, “Every Girl”)…all without even having an official label backing (well, until recently)? In a sense, it’s perfect “underdog-turned-top dog” Hollywood script fodder.

But what of Drake’s pre-So Far Gone years?

Take the Drizzy you appreciate right now with less focus on all the singing, replace Lil’ Wayne cameos for Little Brother guest spots and trade in the blog pop rehauls for soul-sample-based beats, and you’d pretty much nail what the emcee was bringing to the hip hop table prior to ‘09.

“Think Good Thoughts”, an entry from one of those older mixtape releases (2007’s much-acclaimed Comeback Season, to be more specific) was recently leaked to the masses in full (it’s previous incarnation omitted the final verse from Slum Village’s Elzhi), and while the track proves that Drake has always been a charismatic lyricist, it’s appeal lies more in the Native Tongue-y vibe Drake tended to favor back then.

Produced by 9th Wonder and based around a nicely looped sample of Anita Baker’s 1986 goodie “Sweet Love”, “Thoughts” sees Drake, Elzhi and Phonte (of Little Brother/ Foreign Exchange fame) doing their best to disprove rampant gossip gab that they subscribe to the typical “rap star” ways.

“We know what you thinkin love/ You think we out smokin’ and drinkin love/ Pushing big whips, chains clinkin’ love/ Well you don’t really know me like you think you know me,” Drake rhymes on the hook, later sharing a few words of wisdom concerning the negative rumors-spewing haters (“My groove theory is that when you too cheery/ They try to bring you down to the level they at”).

If we were to be honest though, we’d have to honor his trackmates as the true stars of this cut. Especially Phonte’s contribution, which starts off strong with this neck-chopping four-bar assault: “You probably think I walk around with my gun tucked in/ Swing dick to these hoes like nun chucks well/ You can think what you want but/ I think you been watchin’ too much BET Uncut“.

Drake’s official debut Thank Me Later is expected to drop sometime later this year (you can peep the long-awaited, and slightly disappointing, vid for “Best I Ever Had” here); but in the meantime, do yourself a favor and get familiar with the projects that really started “Drake-mania” off. A simple Google search should do the trick.

DL: “Think Good Thoughts” (alt)

Uncategorized 9th wonder, alt-hip hop, anita baker, drake, elzhi, mixtape, native tongues, phonte, soul sample