Back in 2000, Mya kicked off the release of her second album Fear of Flying with the single “Best of Me”, a Jadakiss-featured/ Swizz Beatz-produced midtempo about resisting a thug that managed a peaking of #14 on the R&B/ Hip Hop Singles Chart. Barely remember it? That’s okay, since most will only recall the remix version that would go on to dominate that year’s summer-time airwaves.
Titled “Best of Me (Part 2)” (aww, remember when urban acts had briefly stepped away from the whole ‘remix’ thing as an attempt to make their records sound like blockbuster big screen events?), the “sequel” completely wiped the memory clean of the original, thanks to one of Jay-Z’s hottest cameo appearances (“What’s a little me on top gon’ hurt?/ Maybe a little…”), it’s use of the shuffling beat behind Biz Markie’s classic debut single “Make The Music With Your Mouth Biz” and the accompanying video’s oh-so-sexy image of Mya in that North Carolina jersey dress (aww, remember THOSE!?!). With all these elements at it’s disposal, and Mya’s featherweight coo as the center, the track quickly garnered kudos as one of the better marriages of hip hop and R&B to ever arise.
Crate-digging remixer Siik (the man behind buttery smoove, soul-bathed re-hauls of “Single Ladies” and “1 Thing”) has taken it in as it latest project, and he succeeds at making it a must-have gem all over again, comfortably underlining the a capella vocals with the instrumental of Slum Village’s biggest hit, 2004’s Kanye West and John Legend-blessed “Selfish” (itself based off a sample of Aretha Franklin’s 1970 #1 “Call Me”).
Lay back and chill with the Mya/ Siik, Slum Village and Aretha Franklin cuts offered below.
While it’s nice to see Mya resurfacing on America’s pop culture radar through her gig on the ninth season of Dancing With The Stars, on one level it’s quite sad to see the singer/ dancer’s career trajectory ending up here.
Most recent media blurbs about her may only cite her involvement in 2001’s chart-topping and Grammy-winning Moulin Rouge-backed remake of “Lady Marmalade”, but let’s not forget, Mya rolled out a slew of other noteworthy pop and R&B entries throughout the late ’90’s and early ’00’s. From solid solo entries “Case of The Ex” and “My Love Is Like…Whoa” to memorable collaborations with Jay-Z (“Best of Me (Remix)”), Beenie Man (“Girls Dem Sugar”), Blackstreet (“Take Me There”) and Pras & Ol’ Dirty Bastard (“Ghetto Supastar”), Mya was on a roll there for a bit. Unfortunately, minus the brief blinding spotlight “Marmalade” brought her, she never quite managed to fully break that ceiling to superstar status, her career (at least in the US) eventually petering out as the new millennium wore on thanks to a bunch of failed singles and behind-the-scenes business politics; her last two albums, 2007’s Liberation and 2008’s Sugar & Spice, ended up only being released in Japan.
Maybe things could turn out for the better though with Mya set to build off the attention she’s re-garnering through Dancing with the release of a new mixtape, Beauty & The Streets Vol. 1. Featured cut “Ponytail” is certainly an attention-grabber, finding Mya wrapping her soft coo around a woozy cycling of backwards-moving synth sounds, as she tries to steal male attention away from pole-wrapped strippers with some seducing moves of her own.
Self-hyping that those other women don’t have “this thing I be sitting on”, Mya challenges them to a lap-dance off, shoving one guy into a chair before requesting that he pull her mane in a ponytail and make her yell. Yeah, she kind of blows her load early as far as titillating imagery goes, with the rest of her contribution here failing to muster up anything else as lip-licking good, but at least Young Money First Lady Nicki Minaj is around to keeps things a bit interesting on the back-half with her random references to “Peggy & Al Bundy” and “Crocodile Dundee” in describing the freaky way she gets down.
As nice as it is to get free music, think of how much better your soul would feel if you purchased it the old-fashioned way.
*
Come on, use Amazon or iTunes and help support your favorite artists so they can continue to give us the great sounds we love.
*
(MP3 posts are for promotional and/ or previewing purposes only; if any artist or their representation wish to have the links removed, contact me and I will happily comply!)
Back in 2000, Mya kicked off the release of her second album Fear of Flying with the single “Best of Me”, a Jadakiss-featured/ Swizz Beatz-produced midtempo about resisting a thug that managed a peaking of #14 on the R&B/ Hip Hop Singles Chart. Barely remember it? That’s okay, since most will only recall the remix version that would go on to dominate that year’s summer-time airwaves.
While it’s nice to see Mya resurfacing on America’s pop culture radar through her gig on the ninth season of Dancing With The Stars, on one level it’s quite sad to see the singer/ dancer’s career trajectory ending up here.
Recent Comments