mixtape maestro (2.0)

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

In a recent interview with MTV News, Dre, one-half of production duo Cool & Dre, touched on something in reference to the rock/ rap / Auto-tune soul experimentations found on Lil’ Wayne’s Rebirth that hit us like the biggest of epiphanies: “It’s something Rick James would bug out on”.

After letting that lone line marinate in our brains for a few seconds, we realized that, on one level, Dre was right…there is an element of Rick James’ before-it’s-time combination of sex, rock, R&B and over-exaggerated funk vocals that can be heard in some of the Rebirth material we’ve heard so far. Now, don’t get us wrong, our semi-agreement with Dre’s statement is not necessarily saying we suddenly think this whole curioso release is going to be the genius, genre boundary-breaking affair Wayne seems to think it’ll be, but absorbing Rebirth in a Rick James-ian light definitely kind of redeems it’s questionable ambition in a way that we aren’t simply waiting for it to hurry up and be released so that Wayne can steer his sole attention back towards turning out “real” hip hop anymore.

Newest single (?) “On Fire” is upgraded a couple of notches from another instant eye-roller to…um, something slightly better than that, under this new train of thought. Built on a layer of electric guitar squawkings (apparently handled by Wayne himself) and a surprisingly hot sample of the very ’80’s-sounding Scarface soundtrack cut “She’s On Fire”, “Fire” may ride a thin lyrical sketch of how bad-ass a woman is (“She hot as hell/ Let’s call her Hell-en…”), but try thinking of a modern-day Rick being the inspiration behind it’s flavor, and suddenly, the song doesn’t seem so bad.

“On Fire”:

That other recent Rebirth leak “Da Da Da” though…let’s just say, it’s not as easy to defend, no matter whose sound the people behind it were looking to emulate. Hands down, it’s the oddest cut to emerge from the album so far, it’s decent moments (a snazzy bassline, a rapid drum loop and an appreciably clear rap verse) not enough to justify Wayne’s drunken wordless meanderings and overdose on vocal modulation.

“Da Da Da”:

Rebirth arrives December 21st.

DL: “Da Da Da” (alt)

Uncategorized 80's, cool & dre, lil' wayne, rebirth, rock-rap

Unfortunately for Young Money soldier/ New Orleans rapper Gudda Gudda, his hood-reppin’ Guddaville cut “Always Love You” won’t win the blue ribbon prize for Best Mixtape Use of a Chopped-Up Sample of Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” in 2009 (that honor remains with Theophilus London’s still-impressive track of the same name from a couple seasons back), but that doesn’t mean it’s not noteworthy.

Coolly weaving Houston’s over-long belt into a chill, Southern rap groove (with a brief shout out to the Dolly Parton original nicely tossed in in the opening seconds), Gudda’s “ALY” succeeds as a fine laidback jam that’s just begging for a summer season to attach itself to.

Plus, it gives us another reason to excitedly anticipate the forthcoming solo debut from Nicki Minaj, his increasingly likable rappress labelmate who steals the show here with a trip through memory lane, where she recalls her days as a young “Harajuku Barbie” sipping Italian Icees while running amuck through the concrete jungle of the “Capital Apple”.

Snatch up the cut below, as well as another Nicki-blessed treat: a No Ceilings-birthed remix to Beyonce’s “Sweet Dreams” (also featuring a somewhat needless Lil’ Wayne) in which she rocks the mic right with rewind-worthy references to Balloon Boy, Plaxico Burress and Slick Rick (and his eye-patch) all tucked into a single killer verse.

DL: “Always Love You” (alt)

DL: “Sweet Dreams (Remix)” (alt)

Uncategorized '90's, female rap, gudda gudda, lil' wayne, mixtape, new orleans, new york, nicki minaj, no ceilings, short dawg, soul sample, southern rap, whitney houston, young money

Kinda frightening to think what the rap landscape will be like once Wayne has to spend his year in prison, innit?

Even at his most irritating ubiquitous, the man has the power to heighten hip hop-themed conversation unlike very few others, with whatever new song, remix, freestyle to emerge from him destined to light up the blogosphere commentary world with record speed no matter how great or meh said product is.

Knowing Weezy though, he’ll make sure the twelve month sentence will fly by without folks getting the chance to miss him too much, as he’s probably in the lab right this moment cooking up enough freestyle dishes to ensure one new lyrical treat premieres each of the three hundred and sixty-five days. Alongside “official” joints set for planned near-future releases both solo (the long pushed-back rap/ rock question mark Rebirth, The Carter IV) and label related (Young Money Fam; solo debuts from Mack Maine and Nikki Minaj), Wayne will likely remain just as omnipresent as he has been the past few years.

But to steer focus back to what this post was really supposed to be about…Wayne’s newest mixtape, No Ceilings, has hit the Webs (four days earlier than expected), and for all those longing to hear the Young Money king slather some of the hottest hip hop beats of 2009 (from Jay’s “Run This Town” to Gucci Mane’s “Wasted” to, er, the Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling”) with his typically WTF vocabulary (you could make a drinking game out of the many creative ways he spins an “I’m the shit” boast or cleverly embeds an athlete’s name into a line)…think of this as an early Christmas present.

Catch some of our favorites below, including “Break Up”, a collaboration with Short Dawg and Gudda Gudda over the beat behind Mario’s current smash (and oh how much better that circular Bangladesh-produced loop sounds when it’s not being awkwardly used to support a R&B track), and “Throw It In The Bag”, which sees Wayne narrating the pleasures of lavish life-aided rap sex-mance (“Fuckin’ on Versace/ Napping on satin/ I love to hit it backwards, Call it Pig Latin…”) atop the seducingly hypnotic instrumental of Fabolous’ Dream-sampling “Bag” remix.

(Or you could simply save a bunch of time by downloading the entire [more often-than-not awesome mixtape] from Nahright.)

DL: “Break Up” (alt)

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

Uncategorized bangladesh, fabolous, freestyle rap, gudda gudda, lil' wayne, mario, mixtape, no ceilings, short dawg, southern rap, the-dream

Weezer will likely forever more incite heated commentary from listeners on whichever album era it was when the band/ Rivers Cuomo officially “jumped the shark”, but you still have to kinda give it up for the boys for continuing to press on in the face of ever-present “why won’t they just retire?” balking, even if it’s a bit tough to disagree with that sentiment.

At least new single “If You’re Wondering If I Want You To (I Want You To)”, the lead cut from the band’s Raditude, is fun enough to temporarily distract you from pondering over the confusing entity Weezer has become over the years. It’s happy-go-lucky, “Walking On Sunshine”-like power-pop plodding making for a delightful three minute toe-tapper, “Wondering” also benefits from River’s umpteenth lyrical well-dipping into the gawky bliss of young love, it’s “boy loves girl” theme entertainingly speckled with references to “Slayer T-shirts”, viewings of Titanic, trips to Best Buy and meat loaf dinner with her parents (“I dug you so much/ I took one for the team”, Cuomo, a World’s Sexiest Vegetarian nominee, sings).

The same surprisingly likable results also emerge from the recently leaked, highly anticipated Weezer/ Weezy collabo “Can’t Stop Partying”, a brow-raising number co-written by Jermaine Dupri (!?!) that was originally heard in oddly somber acoustic demo form on Rivers’ compilation sequel Alone II: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo.

Yeah, Cuomo still sounds mega-silly vocalizing some mocking rap star fantasy that has him downing Patron and E tablets while kicking it with his “deep posse” in the hottest clubs’ VIP sections (even if it can looked at as some sort of extension of “Buddy Holly”’s awkward “what’s with these homies dissin’ my girl?” urban-speak), but we’d be foolish in denying the guilty pleasure glee that’s stirred up in “Partying”’s newfound glossy pop production polish (perfect for Top 40 spinning betwixt similar goof-pop entries by 3Oh3! and Cobra Starship) and Lil’ Wayne goblin-grinning his way through lines like “Party like tomorrow is my funeral/ Gotta stop mixing alcohol with pharmaceuticals”.

Raditude drops November 3rd.

DL: “Can’t Stop Partying” (alt)

Uncategorized lil' wayne, power pop, raditude, rock-rap, weezer

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

Lloyd’s new sex jam banger “Pusha” is, for the most part, a good one.

It makes fine use of re-heating one of music’s favorite metaphors (girl-as-drug) for it’s entire length, comparing her love to “cocaine” (because it’s got him “flying on a private plane”) and “ecstasy” (because “Everytime I’m with you baby, I relapse and I OD”), and rocks a hazy, bump & grind two-step stomp that sounds just delightful beneath Lloyd’s featherweight tenor and those wispy, “MJ-esque” male harmony layers. Even Lil’ Wayne contributes a better-than-average guest verse (“And this is your Wayne on drugs/ I be running around gettin’ high on love/ Too much will kill you, I know that’s right/ But she got that crack and I got that pipe…”).

Unfortunately, our enjoyment of it’s silky R&B goodness comes to a screeching halt every time it’s cringe-inducing chorus comes around. Why, you ask? The hook’s questionable decision to include the line “Cobain, Cobain (gun shot noise)/ She blows my brain”. SCCCRRRREEECCCHHH!! Wait…what!!!! We understand that a word like “cocaine” might not offer too many rhyming options and that simply having a Weezy cameo doesn’t automatically equate chart-reigning smash hit anymore (a fact realized on L&L’s last collabo, the shoulda-been-bigger “Paid In Full”-sampler “Girls Around The World”), but for real, Lloyd?

Wonder what the currently P-O’ed Courtney Love and remaining members of Nirvana will have to say about this one.

DL: “Pusha” (alt)

Uncategorized lil' wayne, lloyd, R&B, sex jam

On “Big Dog”, Southern rap duo Playaz Circle once again employ Lil’ Wayne for hook duties, and, just like last time, they’re once again basically left an after thought on their own record. Sigh.

Atop mesmerizing production accented by electric guitar flickers and heavily glazed in dreamy, slo-mo synths and organs, group mates Tity Boi and Dolla Boy do do a decent job serving semi-witty rhymes revolving around their clothes and rides (“Vehicular homicide/ Boy you know my car kill/ Orange and Black Chevy/ Now I’m riding ‘Garfield’”); but sadly, in the end it wouldn’t of mattered if they had shown up or not, since it’s Wayne’s cameo that most will be checking for, and as expected, Weezy makes the track his own with an Auto-Tune-crooned chorus about the pleasures of being a rap star (“I say money ain’t a thang to a bit dog/ Ain’t got nothin’ but some cash in my big paws…”) that wins without even having the benefit of one of his signature clever lyric turns.

PC may have a chance at getting beyond their “one hit wonder” status with this one, but does it even matter in the grand scheme of things if it’s mostly Lil’ Wayne’s presence (and some hot production) that really make either one worthwhile?

DL: “Big Dog” (alt)

Uncategorized lil' wayne, playaz circle, southern rap

Mixtape Maestro is all for ladies who don’t mind tellin’ it like it is, which is why we have nothing but good things to say about (the should be way more popular than they are) R&B girl group Electrik Red.

On the MM favorite “We Fuck You”, they held no qualms about switching the tables on their men in bed; for new joint “So Good”, they’ve (thankfully) yet to learn how to bite their tongues.

A one-time fling gone awry is the theme of this cut as the ladies happily take on the role of psycho homewreckers, so whipped by one man’s lone bout of infidelity (“It’s so good…so ooh, shit, damn!!”) that they make it their sole intention to steal him away from his real girlfriend for good: “Cause now i’m actin crazy/ I’m out here callin’ you baby/ I shouldn’t have let you hit that/ Cause now I can’t forget that”.

That this “bitch all in love” confessional is lain atop a flirtatious, summertime R&B backing track and not some spazz-out, “Ring The Alarm”-type structure only adds to the ladies’ overall charms. Unfortunately, that’s not enough for the powers-that-be (or today’s audience, for that matter), leading to yet another “featuring Lil’ Wayne” credit on the remix.

This is one number that could honestly do without his interference, but if he must be around in order to guarantee a boost in “So Good”’s spins, then bring on his goofy “Martian” ramblings.

Electrik Red’s debut, How To Be A Lady, Vol. 1, drops in May.

DL: “So Good (Remix)” (alt)

Uncategorized electrik red, girl group, lil' wayne, summertime

For those that are still not quite feeling “Prom Queen” or wish that Ciara and JT’s “Love Sex Magic” didn’t feel so FutureSex-like, producer/ remixer Russ Castella has come to your rescue, tinkering with both records in interesting enough ways they might reverse some listeners’ initial underwhelmed reception.

Of the two, “Prom Queen” is obviously in need of the most help, so it’s not surprising it gets the more drastic makeover. This involves Castella completely stripping away it’s “rock”-y sonic terrain, then orchestrating an entirely new backing arrangement based in moody piano dramatics.

Surprisingly, casting the song in this Evanescence AC ballad-like form ends up sounding far better than one might at first assume; but a delicate sprinkling of keys can’t really solve the major problem that is Wayne’s choked robo-vocal. The man still sounds horrid.

DL: “Prom Queen (Russ Castella Piano Remix)” (alt)

For “Love Sex Magic”, Castella simply colors within the lines of it’s taut funk strut a lil’ melodic synth groove. It’s a minor updating, but damn if it doesn’t wiggle the song out of it’s re-heated feel and elevate it to a whole new plateau of post-disco sexiness.

DL: “Love Sex Magic (Russ Castella Remix)” (alt)

Uncategorized ciara, fantasy ride, justin timberlake, lil' wayne, remix, russ castella