mixtape maestro (2.0)

To have Wu Tang MVP’s Ghostface, Method Man and Raekwon all together on one track, rocking their usually winning thug-in-love swagger atop a shimmering ’70’s soul loop, made “Our Dreams”, an early preview of the trio’s highly anticipated joint offering Wu-Massacre, an immediate win; and if we had to point out the track’s true star, hands down it would have to be “hook guest” Michael Jackson (the song samples his 1975 solo hit “We’re Almost There”), melting our hearts all over again with the awe-inspiring ways of his then-16-year-old pipes.

So why, after noting all the praise-worthy elements the original has, do we consider a remix version replacing MJ with Alicia Keys the better grab? Simple: A better production polish.

The one thing keeping us from completely loving the original was it’s mixtape-level beat-crafting: More specifically, the awkward chorus-to-verse transitioning. Whether this was done on purpose to retain a certain street edge or was an early rough draft misstep ultimately left alone doesn’t matter, because the jarring cuts completely erupt the song’s flow.

Thankfully, the “Ant Acid Mix” rights this distraction, mashing M/G/R’s verses with Alicia Keys’ cover of “Almost There” (a bonus offering from last year’s The Element of Freedom) with far smoother (and therefore aurally satisfying) results.

Hear the original here, grab the “Ant Acid Mix” and the full Alicia cover below.

Wu-Massacre drops March 30th.

DL: “Our Dreams (Ant Acid Mix)” (alt)

DL: Alicia Keys “Almost There (Michael Jackson Cover)” (alt)

Uncategorized 70's, alicia keys, cover song, east coast rap, ghostface killah, method man, michael jackson, raekwon, soul sample, wu-massacre, wu-tang clan

Ghostface Killah’s eighth studio album, Ghostdini: The Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City, will be a R&B-inspired affair? Okay, we all nodded, completely confident that if anyone could pull this concept off with exciting results, it would be the man who padded his incredible catalogue with acclaimed “softer” joints like “All That I Got Is You” (with Mary J Blige), “Never Be The Same Again” (featuring Carl Thomas) and his 2006 commercial peak “Back Like That” (guesting Ne-Yo).

But with the arrival of early leaks “Baby” and “She’s A Killer”, two ill-fitting tracks that traded in the classic 70’s soul-washed soundscapes ‘Face has always sounded so good over for Auto-Tuned-enhanced stabs at radio-friendly thug-love rap and “Pop Champagne”-influenced club-hop, Ghostdini was beginning to sound like a bad idea that needed to be scrapped, pronto.

This week though, we were finally able to let out a sigh of relief thanks to the “web premiere” of “Let’s Stop Playin’”, a mid-tempo crush ballad that finds Ghost right where we’d rather have him when he’s getting his mack-flow on: bathed in soothing soul samples (in this case, Marvin Gaye provides the sophisticated beat source) and supported by a classy crooner like John Legend.

The song’s premise: Despite both being committed to other people, Ghost is really feeling a female neighbor in his building of residence, going so far as too memorize her daily schedule and make sure he’s around when she gets off from work at six to help her upstairs with the groceries because the elevator’s broken. Even when she’s had it out with her man and is giving him the cold shoulder, he still can’t help but find her attractive (“But still, you was lookin’ mad cute to me/ With your lips poked out being rude to me”).

The second verse is the one that completely seals “Playin’”’s status as a solid favorite though, with Ghostface masterfully juggling another dazzling lyrical display of his revered humor and storytelling skills as he scripts out a fantasy sex scene set in a laundromat with him and his dream girl getting buckwild amidst spilled Clorox bleach and scattered Bounce sheets.

Now this is the “soft”-mode Iron Man we know and love.

Ghostdini drops September 29th.

DL: “Let’s Stop Playin’” (alt)

Uncategorized east coast rap, ghostface killah, john legend, marvin gaye, sex-rap, soul sample