mixtape maestro (2.0)

“Show Me What You Workin’ Wit”, the latest re-teaming of Bay Area rap kingpins E-40 and Too Short, may come up a bit short in it’s obvious attempt to match the breath-stopping, otherworldly allure of 40′s 2006 career peak “Tell Me When To Go” (and, we shamefully admit, it could probably use a lot more than just two occurrences of Short’s excellently voiced “Bitch” catchphrase), but the wonderous wonkiness of it’s minimalist beat (little more than thudding, Godzilla-like bass stomps for the verses and teasingly brief decorations of ominous synth drones, Saturday morning TV string whirls and horn blurts adding a dash of color ‘neath the chorus), as well as the sheer entertainment value of hearing these two veterans’ distinctive mic personas side-by-side again, go a long way in making up for such petty critical nitpicking.

Props to 40, especially, for nicely filling in the skeletal beat’s spaces with his swaggeriffic misogynist rhetoric, an entertaining verse and a half of him pasting together his version of the ideal lapdance babe (highlighting physical faves like her “California face”, Texan ass and “Brazilian wax beaver”).

Is it a contender for future Grammy gold? Far from it (and you probably might not want to spin this anywhere near your grandparents), but there is a certain comfort in knowing that the strip clubs will, at least, have somethin’ new to rock to for the forthcoming Spring season.

From E-40′s new double release, Revenue Retrievin’: Day Shift/ Night Shift, due March 30th.

DL: “Show Me What You Workin’ Wit” (alt)

Bonus DL: E-40 featuring Kanye West & The Game “Tell Me When To Go (Remix)” (alt)

It seems like only yesterday when Ludacris could be found consistently dropping dimes on hungry banger cravers, his seemingly endless supply of varied cartoonish flow inflections and XXX-soaked comedic rap banter pulling out some of the greatest hooks and sixteens throughout the ’00′s urban music landscape. Hell, to grant him a guest spot on your own record basically guaranteed you to be forgotten once he entered the frame.

For “How Low” though, the curiously basic first single from Luda’s upcoming seventh studio album Battle of the Sexes, he’s the one being upstaged…and it’s by a chipmunk-ed chant hook no less.

On paper, “How Low”‘s chorus doesn’t read all that interesting. A helium voice set to a double-time beat inquiring how close ladies can gyrate their ass to the floor without falling over? What is this, a late-’80′s/ early-90′s 2 Live Crew record? Yet every time it emerges, promising an instant break-out in good-time debauchery in it’s every repeat, it kills; it’s novel concept so ridiculously catchy, you’re anticipation for it’s return completely overrides the overall flatness of the verses’ horndog lyrical display (sounds like somebody’s in need of some re-inspiration) or how unnecessary it’s succeeding b-hook is.

The fact that a Ludacris record is in existence in which we actually wish it had less Ludacris does ring a tad alarming (triggering some worry of how the rest of the so far un-leaked Battles will fare), but with a hook as addicting as the one “How Low”‘s got, we’re more than happy to give the emcee a passing grade…this time.

Battle of the Sexes is due this March.

Ludacris: How Low (Official Video) from DTP TV on Vimeo.

Bonus DL: Snoop featuring Jay-Z & Ludacris “I Wanna Rock (Remix)” (alt)

As proven on previous club banger singles “What It Is”, “Light Your Ass On Fire” and “Pass The Courvoisier, Part II”, whenever Busta Rhymes’ animated flow is matched with the Neptunes’ cartoon-ish digi-funk beats, a good time is about to be had. That golden chemistry is highlighted once again on the the two forces’ newest collaboration, Fast & Furious soundtrack cut “G Stro”.

Anchored in standard ass-shaking request banter, “G Stro” doesn’t really stretch the creativity of either Busta or the ‘Tunes too far (the beat could have easily come from the Virginia production team’s early-00′s heyday), but damn if the nimble bass groove, handclap-laden breakdown or Busta’s contagious mic presence don’t get you out of your seat.

DL: “G-Stro” (alt)

Ahhh….“Superfreak”!! That relentless punk-funk groove! Those wink-wink lyrics! That sax solo! The friggin’ Temptations! A serpentine vocal that made you believe he was the freakiest man on the planet! No matter how many times you’ve heard it in in your lifespan, another spin of Rick James’ 1981 OTT uber-jam will never be met with disdain.

On this new one, Atlanta producer/ rapper JIGG rejuvenates the R&B party-starter with a little strip club banger swerve, and while the idea may seem a bit ho-hum on paper (haven’t MC Hammer and Jay-Z mined this one enough?), all it takes is one taste of the opening minute’s display of James’ “Freak”-praising yowls lain atop a molasses-cruising stew of tip-toe synth stabs and other recognizable Southern thug-&-b production tricks and you’ll be quickly won over, wondering why no one thought of using the song in this way before.

Following that exciting intro, JIGG takes over the mic to relate the nature-rising joys of having down-’n-stanky, 3 AM sex sessions with the titular character. His rap contribution is decent, delivering the requisite freak banter these type of songs demand in an ear-friendly (though oh-so-distractingly Plies-like) drawl, but the anticipatory satisfaction of James’ triumphant return for each hook insertion sadly makes his verses feel like an after-thought in the overall picture.

Rick James…even posthumously his presence is hard to overshadow.

JIGG’s debut, Since 1983, is set for a Spring/ Summer release.

DL: “Superfreak” (alt)

Despite rocking a sick, versatile flow (sometimes he rhymes slow, sometimes he rhymes quick) and consistently dropping hot sixteens, Pitbull is majorly overlooked when it comes to naming the current kings of hip hop. Maybe it’s because most of his singles and guest spots favor “booty raps”, but nevertheless, if Pitbull is featured you’re guaranteed something good. On the future club banger “Go Girl”, a previewing of his upcoming Boatlift, the Cuban-American emcee continues to churn out that addictive hip hop candy.

Over an Afro-Rican, Bjork-styled melange of bird whistles, disco pulses, tribal percussion and a sturdy, four-on-the-floor foundation, “Go Girl” rocks a minimalist techno-hop bounce tailor made for Ying Yang Twins debauchery. Never known for being a prude, Pitbull graciously delivers egotistical big-ups (“I party like a rock star/ Look like a movie star/ Fuck like an all-star/ Baby I’m a superstar”) with a paced “SexyBack” flow, coaxing his personal Top 8 of supermodel beauties to his crib for a little orgy fun.

Nasty rap is to Trina what the Bat-Signal is to Bruce Wayne, so when lyrics turn a suggestive slant, she will always be there, ready to prove that girls just wanna have fun too (“Diamond princess/ I make them bust quick”). Along with newcomer Young Boss holding up the mid-section, the three perfect the formula of hooky, party chants with a mature subtext over an intoxicating, poly-rhythmic beat sure to bring out the dance floor freak in anyone.

Though this can’t be heralded for being on the same level of his more lyrically packed material, “Go Girl” is another undeniable Miami rump shaker from the self-dubbed Mr. 305. It’s doesn’t show his skills enough to finally award him the respect he’s overdue, but when the smoke clears and the party has finally come to an end, watch for Pitbull to be one of the few emcees able to retain a considerable career.

The South may be the center of blame for why every one’s calling hip hop “dead” but that hasn’t stopped the Third Coast from churning out bonkers hot weather anthems that have made platinum acts out of D4L, Dem Franchize Boys and Unk. And thanks to Fabo, D4L’s own Andre 3000/ Cee-Lo-like oddball entity, The Alliance will most likely be the region’s next breakout million seller with their infectious, proposed summertime club banger “Tattoo”.

Riding a predictable snap riddim and tri-tone synth drop that gets all twisted and confusing when horns start blaring and various chants come at you from every which way, “Tattoo” deliciously combines misogynist sex raps with delayed commentary on the cultish implications of body ink. The guys all sit back and look at the ladies’ tattoos as if’s an Olympic competition, rating high the most imaginative and condemning copycats (“Girl I know it sounds strange/ But I done seen that one before/…’Hello Kitty’ tattooed on yo’ titty/ Might be you but you ain’t that pretty”). Fabo’s gruff sing-song flow and sweaty, preacher-man soul bellows near the end help shroud the song in a dank, Southern-styled desperation that will have many other artists looking to him to pepper their records with a similar seasoning a la the West Coast’s adoration of a Nate Dogg hook.

It seems a decade-and-a-half too late that tattoos would be a considered a great topic for a rap song, especially when the raps feel half-interested in what the song’s supposed to be about. But the beat is much too dark and cruddy to ignore, effortlessly pulling you into it’s cyclic ghetto pulse until you can’t help but fiercely snap away to it’s crunked up magnetism.