mixtape maestro (2.0)

With Lil’ Mama spending less of her days rocking the mic than she is judging dance crews and inexplicably remodeling herself as more of a generic teen-pop princess, what’s a listener craving a new-generation Roxanne Shante-meets-Missy Elliott rappress to do? How about turn their attention to Rye Rye, an 18-year-old Baltimore native with a wicked flow and a promising position as the first act signed to M.I.A’s N.E.E.T. label.

For the past two years, Rye has slowly been generating buzz thanks to collaborations with blogger-approved DJ’s Diplo, Blaqstarr and The Count & Sinden, and even spent some time touring alongside her “Paper Planes”-singing CEO.

On her latest offering “Bang”, she jumps atop a previously released Blaqstarr/ MIA mixtape cut and lets loose a fiery blast of manic rhyme furor that’s in perfect compliment to the track’s tribal-like, drum-and-chant delirium. Denouncing all the lames that can’t hang with her rapid-fire rhythm and offering a stern warning to nasty little boys with their minds in the gutter (“What?/ Don’t think so slick/ If you thinkin’ opposite/ I’m-a bang your lips”) without breaking a sweat, Rye Rye delivers a self-assured performance so full of heat, it should make a lot of these other rappers (both new to the scene and firmly established) re-think whether they even want to be involved in the rap game anymore.

Let’s just hope she won’t have to face any distracting reality show gigs or have any urges to be a Britney/ Rihanna-wannabe anytime in the near-future…

DL: “Bang” (alt)

Uncategorized baltimore, blaqstarr, female rap, freestyle, lil' mama, m.i.a., mixtape, rye rye, teen rap

Honestly, we SHOULD all be sick to death of “Paper Planes” by now. After all of it’s various remixes and seemingly endless waves of re-popularizations, one more listen to the nearly two-year-old record’s Clash-sampling intro SHOULD have us ready to pop a cap into our respective domes. Yet every time “Planes” endures a new spin, it’s hypnotizing sway still manages to catch hold of the ear and make any resistance to it’s multi-hooks-galore presentation futile.

Arena-ready London alt-rockers Red Light Company provide the latest addition to “Planes”‘ deathless thrill on this new Live Lounge cover. The musicians’ live re-enactment is fairly solid (with special note going towards that steady kick-drum stomp), and while lead singer Richard Frenneaux’s wiry quivers aren’t the greatest substitute to M.I.A’s wispy sing-song chanting, hearing him utter “No one on the corner has swagger like us” in that weird, emo-vampire croon of his makes for an oddly entertaining listen.

Uncategorized alternative, cover song, m.i.a., red light company, UK

In which Jones “swagger”-jacks TI (who had, in turn, “swagger”-jacked M.I.A., who had ultimately swagger-jacked The Clash) all for the sole purpose of re-polishing his tireless complaint against the swag-lite emcee, especially ones who blasphemously mix Gucci belts and Louis Vuitton scarves (Jay, how dare you!!!).

But it’s Jim who clearly needs to be stopped after hearing this inferior take on Tip’s star-studded posse cut. Beyond a mildly appreciable re-manufactured beat (Bye-bye, bouncy shuffle; Hello, ominous street grind) and a typically killer (albeit a bid misplaced) Twista sixteen, “Swagger From Us” offers little justification as to why we should want to hear that sole M.I.A. line looped three hundred more times:

-Original “SLU” feature Lil’ Wayne pops up again here for the jump-off verse (what is he, like some hip hop double agent?) which, while thankfully doing away with his painful Auto-Tune obsession, ends up being another file in his increasingly bulging “fine, but needless, cameo” folder.

-Jones might kick off his portion with a quasi-SNAP!-worthy schoolyard sniff (“I don’t know what corner they from/ We from them corners that do it/ On my corners we make swag/ And we sell it to y’all…”); but, alas, it still holds that he doesn’t hail from the corners that teaches cats how to rap good.

-Then, there’s the much-talked about Byrdgang/ Dipset signee NOE, a quite promising Baltimore up-and-comer who delivers some good lyrical stuff here, yet remains hampered by the hard-to-ignore fact that he SOUNDS JUST LIKE JAY!! That unfortunate aspect of his mic presence takes even more wind out of Jones’ “SFU” sail, as it only re-presents the question of who’s actually swag-jacking who here?

Some advice for Jim? Give up this losing battle once and for all and stick to focusing on something that’s actually working in your favor.

DL: “Swagger From Us” (alt)

Uncategorized jay-z, jim jones, lil' wayne, m.i.a., noe, swagger, T.I., the clash, twista

Months after rapping chanting over a chopping of Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida” to polarized reaction, producer Swizz Beatz latches onto another blog favorite (this time, M.I.A.’s “Boyz”) to push his consistently lame “HA!! I’m rich and you’re not!” braggadoccio.

“I’m supposed to ball!/ Middle finger to y’all!!” he repeatedly exclaims, perhaps not realizing that his declarations of bulging bank accounts and real diamonds may not sit so well with those left sick over a BAD ECONOMY!! Shame on you for being so insensitive, Swizzy!! Double shame on you for tainting a perfectly fine M.I.A. ditty with your empty musings, and not even having a stupidly-awesome hook like “That Oprah”’s to semi-justify it’s existence.

DL: “Big Ballin’” (YFH)

Uncategorized m.i.a., swizz beatz

TI. Kanye West. Jay Z. Lil’ Wayne. Together on the same track!!??!! Atop a M.I.A. “Paper Planes” sample!!??!! We know we’re a bit late on this, but it still seems just too damn good to be true. Alas this box office blockbuster of 2008’s hip hop hierarchs is real, and to bite a bit off the voice modified words of Kanye: “It’s the shit and the urine”.

Of course, if you want be nit-picky, you can moan over West and Weezy’s waaaaay past tiresome T-Pain-isms, how annoying the MIA loop gets after awhile, or the fact that until TI pops up for his rightfully track-owning final verse, the rhymes previously dropped feel a little anemic. But come on, don’t act like hearing this pow-wow of adored tastemakers doesn’t give you a knot in your jeans; and we’re not talking about the kinds of “knots” that “jockin’ jockin’” Jay Z is referring to either.

Uncategorized jay-z, kanye west, lil' wayne, m.i.a., paper trail, posse cut, southern rap, swagger, T.I.

Even when she holds off on the political ramblings for some good old-fashioned Lil’ Kim like nastiness, the consistently amazing MIA delivers a sturdy winner. On the recently leaked “Hit That”, assumed to be an album track on the upcoming Kala, MIA answers back Akon and Eminem’s attempts to do all kind of things to ‘that’ on another alien-toned bumrush of off-kilter sounds that even has the nerve to take on Wreckx-N-Effect.

As producer Bangladesh (Kelis’ “Bossy”, Ciara) bangs away at a clamoring club track of industrial noise and wordless tribal chants, MIA gets her freak on, enticing men with her lovely lady lumps in her usual chirpy gibberish fashion. Half of the time you don’t know what homegirl is saying, except when she quotes bits and pieces from the immortal booty anthem “Rump Shaker”, but her quirksome raps combined with the beat’s otherworldly allure makes for one boomtastic stab at artsy pop that reminds you why this urban version of Bjork has been making the Internet go nuts (sorry Paul Wall) for anything she feels inclined to dish out.

Uncategorized '90's, bangladesh, female rap, kala, m.i.a.