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

Here’s a slew of new remixes that were either crammed into our uber-stuffed in-box or caught our attention via some other corner of the World Wide Web. Enjoy!!

Beyonce “Ego (The Twins Remix)”:

You may remember The Twins from their twinkly keyboard-decorated re-haul of Drake’s “Best I Ever Had” that premiered a while back. On their latest hot-like-fire project, they completely strip away the old-school R&B influence of Beyonce’s “Ego”, giving the double entendre-laced ditty a Timbaland-like futuro-club sheen complete with hard knocking drums, synth sine waves that seem to fold in and out of eachother and re-processed vocals that re-imagine Mrs. Carter as this icy, stiletto-toed cyborg-diva.

DL: “Ego (The Twins Remix)” (alt)

Jackson 5 “The Love You Save (The Knocks Remix)”

We’ll never get enough of today’s producers/ DJ’s giving our favorite MJ records a brand new twist. Our latest favorite: Those consistently entertaining Knocks cats bringing an energetic new spirit to the Jackson 5’s 1970 classic, “The Love You Save” without losing sight of the original’s prized candy-soul magic.

DL: “The Love You Save (The Knocks Remix)”

Florence + The Machine “You’ve Got The Love (The xx Remix)”

It’s amazing how an inspirational-themed tune originally recorded in the 1980’s solely for a direct-to-video documentary has managed to enjoy so many chart lives over the following decades through mash-up-after-remix-after-remix-after-cover. The song’s latest incarnation involves ‘09 music darlings The xx deliriously chopping up bits from the magnificent Florence + The Machine cover version then adding in their own signature unisex vocal treatment, and it’s arguably the best take of the song yet.

DL: “You’ve Got The Love (The xx Remix)”

Chew Fu & Steve Clisby “Purple Rain (Prince Cover)”

Take an old Prince staple, a solid funk-dance construction by one of the hottest re-”fix”-ers of today, and a fuzzed-out (and oh-so-soulful) vocal performance from a guy more people should really be aware of, and what do you get? A “Purple Rain” you’ll want to be showered over with again and again.

DL: “Purple Rain (Prince Cover)”

Sugababes “About A Girl (Serotonin Thieves Remix)”

From their recent line-up changes to the horrid, Pussycat Doll hand-me-down that was “Get Sexy”, the Sugababes’ 2009 attempt at coming back/ re-invading American shores has been met with so much disaster in it’s beginning stages, we really don’t understand the purpose of the girl group even continuing on (that is, unless they change their name entirely and start over from scratch).

But, in an effort to spin some strand of positivity out of their current troubles, we will say that we like their new single “About A Girl” a thousand times better in the remixing hands of UK duo the Serotonin Thieves. In this frame, the record grasps an appreciable early Madonna-like feel that couldn’t at all been heard in the original’s pounding and waaayy over-produced Red One-helmed theatrics.

DL: “About A Girl (Serotonin Thieves Remix)”

Lloyd featuring Pusha T “Pusha (Alternate Version)”

Less an actual remix than it is a simple switcheroo of guest rapper (Lil’ Wayne out, Clipse’s Pusha T in), this version of Lloyd’s controversial R&B simmer is basically one for the folks tired of hearing Weezy on every damn thing, and the dopes who think a song called “Pusha” featuring someone named Pusha is a “cool move”.

DL: “Pusha (Alternate Version)”

Uncategorized beyonce, chew fu, clipse, cover song, florence and the machines, jackson 5, lloyd, pusha t, remix, serotonin thieves, steve clisby, sugababes, the knocks, the twins, the xx

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

These Puerto Rican twin sisters helped push another hit out of the ubiqutious Coolie Dance riddim back in 2004 with the smash single, “Move Ya Body”, a slinky dance number that oozed so much sensuality and hook-laden bewitchery that even non-pop lovers brought down their snobbish guard to it’s allure. Of course, a single as huge as that from newcomers was hard to follow up and though Nina Sky sustained some level of success on the mixtape circuit, to most they were “one hit wonders” out of the gate. Naysayers can start eating their words now, cause it looks like the siblings are set to heat up another summer with their latest release, “Clothes Off”.

Anchored by the same ’80’s-centric new wave synth splashes that made songs like The Killers’ “Read My Mind” and Mario’s “Let Me Love You” sound hauntingly magical with a little freestyle glitter and booty bass thump thrown in for good measure, “Clothes Off” is a bonafide winner that instantly transfixes you in it’s electric aura. Yeah it’s a blatant biting of the dance floor flirtations lyric that “Move Ya Body” was based on, but it’s hard to resist the girls’ breathy harmony hypnotism and the daydreaming chorus (“What I wanna do/ I imagine you with your clothes off”).

Their spellbounding touch even extends beyond their own music as they answer Lloyd’s “Get It Shawty” with a killer feminine perspective on it’s sizzling remix. Looks like Geminis won’t be the only “twins” celebrating come this summer, cause it looks to be a major upcoming season for Nina Sky with career-reviving records like these circling the market.

Uncategorized electro-R&B, girl group, lloyd, nina sky, remix

Who’d a thunk years ago that the sole person holding down the Murder Inc. fort would be it’s overlooked teen R&B crooner Lloyd? Though his debut a few years back did nothing else but crowd the scene with another Usher wannabe, this long-haired wonder has suddenly surpassed former blockbuster sellers Ja Rule and Ashanti to become the label’s surest bet.

It all started with a slew of notably macho guest appearances alongside rap acts Eightball & MJG and Rick Ross that garnered him some street cred, then he pulled out the “summer” jam of the winter with the oh-so-smoove thug valentine “You” and it’s monster remix featuring Andre 3000 and Nas. The surprising hit parade continues with the slinky dance number “Get It Shawty” which boasts yet another alarming credit: it was produced by Usher’s younger brother James Yancey.

Originally an Usher cut for the follow-up to Confessions, Lloyd nabbed it for himself after hearing it in a studio. And what a track it is! Lackey has obviously been doing his homework cause “Get It Shawty” sounds like one of the big names produced it.

A fireworks-like display of starry-eyed synthesizers pin this as a hot Neptunes joint minus the abrupt mid-song musical makeovers Pharrell is known for. Such a light and airy confection is the perfect playground for Lloyd’s soft voice, his thin tenor teething it’s way through the song’s fantasy melody and flirtatious dance challenge theme (“All I/ Really want is/ For you to back it up/ And put your wright on it”).

Lloyd might have tried to come off all hard when singing hooks for some of the hardest emcees, but like “You”, “Get It Shawty” proves that it’s when he’s coming with songs as sugary and sweet as these that he really breaks out into his own.

Uncategorized lloyd, R&B