When last referring to N.E.R.D.‘s latest single “Hot N Fun”, we called out the record’s “hypnotizing bassline” as it’s greatest asset, with the so-so vocal work from band members Pharrell & Shay and featured guest Nelly Furtado feeling like unnecessary distractions.
So credit must be thrown Asher Roth‘s way for helping bring some lyric-based worthwhile to the track on this remix, in which he provides an amusing sixteen about some randy under-the-table shenanigans with a frisky “blonde bombshell”.
Check it out, alongside a kooky “Hot N Fun” re-tooling by Yeasayer, below.
N.E.R.D.’s Nothing has been pushed back for a September release; pick up Asher’s Seared Foie Gras with Quince and Cranberry mixtape here.
Shattering the (admittedly, foolish) notion that having one female pop star known for having great hair cover another female pop star known for having great hair would result in something mind-blowingly amazing (yeah sometimes we don’t understand how our mind works either), Kelis becomes the third artist in the past year to take on La Roux’s “In For The Kill” in the BBC Live Lounge studios and the performance ends up being…only decent, greatly paling in comparison to Miike Snow’s trance-y rendition and Daniel Merriweather’s soul-baked re-imagining.
Sigh. Our disappointment is only assuaged by the fact that the release of the new Kelis album, Flesh Tone, is right around the corner (at least in the UK, where it drops May 17th; American and Canadians, unfortunately, have to wait until June).
Grab the “decent” performance below, then afterwards, enjoy a little Kelis/ Neptunes throwback treat: “Cross The Border”, their catchy (and very under-appreciated) 2001 collaboration with short-lived rap duo Philly’s Most Wanted (whatever happened to them?).
With all the major Top 40 noise the union of Timberlake & Timbaland have crafted in the past decade (through tracks either incredibly awesome or just so-so), one would be forgiven in somehow forgetting that the Virginia beat maestro isn’t the only A-list producer Justin shares amazing musical chemistry with.
Sure, JT’s debut solo album Justified blew up off of the Timbaland-helmed “Cry Me A River”, but the album garnered the most praise through its teaming of Justin and The Neptunes, the merging of the former ‘Nsync frontman’s slinky falsetto with Pharrell & Chad’s posh, modernized updates on ’70′s soul-pop, funk and disco being what ultimately sold the public on Timberlake’s “future new MJ”-like promise.
That magic rears it’s irresistible head again on the newly leaked Game jam “Ain’t No Doubt About It” (it’s the first single from his forthcoming The R.E.D. Album) and basically has the rapper registering as an afterthought on his own record as Game’s two contributed verses, featuring forgettable mutterings about licorice-colored sports cars and “haters” being like “swine flu” (“You’re killing me”), prove no match for the pleasure in hearing Justin and Pharrell trade off honey-coated R&B lines in admiration of the sexy ladies atop a burbling, bloops-and-bleeps funk groove that’s reminiscent of the Neptunes’ early ’00′s hit output.
Look for The R.E.D. Album to drop on June 15th; in the meanwhile, pick up Game’s mixtape/ pre-album teaser The Red Room, with featured guests Lil’ Wayne, Jadakiss and Fabolous among others, over at XXL.
When it comes to “Hot N’ Fun”, the first single from N.E.R.D.’s June-set fourth release Nothing, it’s all about the record’s “hypnotizing bassline”.
The perfect getting-ready-to-go-out accompanier, it’s one of those naughty, low-rumbling grooves that makes you feel a thousand times more confident and sexy when you hear it, filling your head with the notion that once you hit the door of your nightspot destination, all attention will instantly snap your way with everyone racking their brains trying to figure out why the Maker chose to bless you with such a superior dose of hotness.
Yeah, the record also includes a guest stint from Nelly Furtado and N.E.R.D. members Pharrell and Shad doing their signature mumble-rap thing, but once “Hot N Fun” has faded off your speakers, it’s the funky bass that’ll be the only element truly imprinted on your brain.
While nothing could match the heights that Snoop Dogg scaled when his lackadaisical delivery was paired with Dr. Dre’s G-funk beat terrains, in his late-career excursions, it’s been The Neptunes who have consistently provided the Doggfather with the material needed to remain just as commercially relevant as he nears closer and closer to age 40 and his twentieth year in the game, whether it’s through digitized updatings of the rapper’s old hood-boy bop (“From The Chuuuch To Da Palace”, “Drop It Like It’s Hot”) or radio-friendly ditties that paid tribute to his undying adoration for summertime soul (“Beautiful”) and sleek, ’80′s-era disco-funk (“Let’s Get Blown”, “Signs”).
For “Special”, the Neptunes’ lone offering to Snoop’s tenth album Malice N Wonderland, that hit-making chemistry is kept afire with the Virginian production duo lacing Snoop’s eased flow and Valentine’s Day promises with another one of their purrty, keyboard-dominant arrangements while Pharrell and (a suddenly everywhere) Brandy blissfully croon sweet nothings back and forth on the hook.
It’s a blatant “Beautiful” re-write and far away from the aggressive, undercover cop-spooking lyricism that Snoop became a household figure with so long ago, but of all the various ’90 hip hop sub-genre detours Snoop (sometimes awkwardly) skips through throughout Malice, “Special” is the one where he fits in the most comfortably, not only because you could totally envision Snoop giddily vibing with the instrumental on loop as he rides through the streets of Cali, but the “grown man” way he praises Wifey (“I’m puttin out the blunt cause I see/ That I need you more in my life than I need a bag of weed”) carries this endearing grasp of authenticity and intimacy, sounding like something that could have actually been in his vows during his 1997 wedding (or 2008 vow renewal) to high school sweetheart Shante.
“Special”:
BONUS DL: Snoop Dogg featuring Justin Timberlake & Charlie Wilson “Signs (Siik Remix)” (alt)
Taking quite a few steps back from the edge-of-campy fanged seductress role Shakira giddily portrayed on She-Wolf‘s chaotic, attention grabber of a first single/ title track, follow-up single “Did It Again” finds the Colombian siren proving to be just as engaging as a vulnerable damsel participating in a casual sex-based relationship (with a married man) that she knows is no good for her sensitive heart, yet is just far too hot to easily break away from.
“I’m in trouble/ But It feels like heaven,” she confesses atop an atypically low-key Neptunes-helmed production sparked by tense staccato keyboard hits and marching band drums. But as much as she berates herself for once again getting involved with “one of those guys”, you know the ones “with the wandering eye” who quickly pocket their wedding rings once a sexy woman like her gives them an ounce of attention, she finds it oh-so-difficult to refrain from meeting him back in the hotel room for a second dose of their steamy sexcapades.
And who could blame her, when just hearing the erotic pants the duo’s carnal chemistry wills out of her, produces enough heat to inspire one to venture off into the night to find their own hit-it-then-quit-it bedroom partner.
Peep the video below, followed by Benny Benassi‘s remix, a slamming electro-booty-stylized reconfiguration featuring Kid Cudi.
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.
“Do you really think you’re better than the rest?/…Bitch, I’m the best!!” Weezy punctuates the final verse of his latest leakage, the Pharrell collabo “Yes” (props to the NMC). And while we would love to start off the new year not being as mesmerized by this shamelessly over-exposed mic king, we’re going to have to go ahead and agree with his conceited claim, at least for this tune.
“Yes” is a relentless barrage of handclaps, low-rumbling space-age grimace, and Chuck D-as-hype-man vocal samples that still gives Wayne the needed room to dish out more of his wicked one-liners, winding word-play and newly invented slang (We’ve adopted “panty pie” as our new term of the month). Even Pharrell, in an abbreviated intro cameo, manages to pull off a winning line about naming his ride “Tonto” (though let’s not confuse anyone into thinking that an In My Mind Part Deux is needed).
Our lone complaint: That Clipse weren’t allowed to murder this beat first.
On his TIT-illating new cut “Punch Drunk Love”, Common leap-frogs away from the addicting, Bambaataa-influenced B-boy-isms of preceding single “Universal Mind Control” to get all “LL Cool J” on the ladies with assistance from pals the Neptunes and Kanye West
Heavy on near-eye-rolling lines like “You can call me Daddy/ I’m a put you to bed” and “I come from Chi-ca/ So in I go”, “Love” doesn’t really rank among Common’s lyrical best (though he does get a couple of clever points for “we exchange like students cause I study a-broad”) but it’s a fine sex-rap entry nonetheless, mostly thanks to the production’s lightly knocking, slow groove R&B stew and Pharrell’s very Teddy Riley-like, vocoder-enhanced solo towards the end. Plus, it’s always nice to hear a non-robo-voiced West anywhere these days, even if he is somewhat disappointingly relegated to just handling the hook duties here.
Still, for a better glimpse of Common-as-horn-dog, a re-listen to 2005′s sublime-and-sexy “Go” (also featuring an abbreviated cameo from Kanye) is recommended.
From Common’s upcoming, Universal Mind Control, due December 9th.
The sad aspect to Twista’s last album failing to make much of a commercial presence was that fewer people became acquainted with the lush album highlight “Lavish”, a collaboration between the speedy-tongued emcee and Pharrell/ Neptunes. The track sounded like heaven’s golden gates were opening, Twista and Skateboard P’s uzi-fire back-and-forth banter wrapped in a gorgeous blanket of cloud-soft pianos and synths. The two made for a great team, but the starry-eyed track never saw the light as an official single. Thankfully, they make up for that loss by hooking up for the stimulating first single off of the Chicago rapper’s newest album, Adrenaline Rush 2007.
As the Neptunes have taken a recent backseat to Swizz Beats and Timbaland as the season’s go-to-hitmaker (maybe because Pharrell’s ego was hurt after the dismal reaction to his heavily-hyped solo album, In My Mind), it’s given listeners time to miss their alt-minded, nimble blending of live instruments and computer-based constructions. Compiling signifiers of Chad and Pharrell’s classic catalogue, “Give It Up” takes the tribal bit from Nelly’s “Flap Your Wings”, the vibe of Mystikal’s “Shake Ya Ass” and tosses in some Kaleidoscope-era Atari key accents. Together, it makes this the latest urban cut to worship the percussive-heavy spunk of go-go, a genre that retains enough energy to keep up with Twista’s accelerated delivery.
The Dynamic Duo waste the lively track on trite multi-racial booty hooks (“Black girls wanna give it up/ White girls wanna give it up/ Spanish girls wanna give it up”), but the beat is so inviting and Twista makes nasty talk sound so good, that such eye-rolling subject matter can be forgiven.
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.
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(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!)
When last referring to N.E.R.D.‘s latest single “Hot N Fun”, we called out the record’s “hypnotizing bassline” as it’s greatest asset, with the so-so vocal work from band members Pharrell & Shay and featured guest Nelly Furtado feeling like unnecessary distractions.
While nothing could match the heights that 
Taking quite a few steps back from the edge-of-campy fanged seductress role Shakira giddily portrayed on 
As proven on previous club banger singles 
“Do you really think you’re better than the rest?/…Bitch, I’m the best!!” Weezy punctuates the final verse of his latest leakage, the Pharrell collabo “Yes” (props to the 
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