mixtape maestro (2.0)

While it feels odd having so many grown folks go nuts in anticipation of the musical output of a fifteen-year-old, heavily hyped rap tyke Diggy Simmons (son of hip hop royalty, Run DMC’s Reverend Run) does deserve some of the praise being tossed his way: his mic skills register far more impressive than many rappers five and ten years his senior, especially considering the fact that his lyrics stay age-appropriately clean-cut.

On the spacey, sludge-crunk of “Oh Yeah”, an early preview of upcoming mixtape Airborne, Dig even manages to hold his own against, and, to a certain extent, slightly steal the spotlight from, trackmate heavyweights Lupe Fiasco and (a back in rapper mode!!) Pharrell, constructing a strikingly hypnotic call-and-response hook alongside ghoulish backing titular chants before ripping through the track’s final verse in a masterful juggling of rapid-fire pacing and clever, cutting swipes aimed at those either unconvinced or just intimidated by his abilities (“If I am such an amateur/ When I come around, what you panic for?”, “I know you think Lupe’s writing right?/ No, I’m this nice/ Foolish thoughts”).

Is it bad that we’re actually looking forward to having some doofus try to challenge this kid on wax, just so we can hear them get embarrassed by a young’n?

Diggy – Oh Yeah (feat. Lupe Fiasco & Pharrell)

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.

DL: “Ain’t No Doubt About It” (Tagged) (alt)

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)

So…did Clipse think that the only reason why folks weren’t all that madly in love over their ill-fitting feel-good summer jam “I’m Good’ was because of their initial lyrical contribution, the video, and the lack of guest stars?

Or that re-releasing the same damn single with the same damn beat and Pharrell-featured hook, but a brand new video clip, a so-so Rick Ross cameo and entirely different lyrics would change people’s minds about the record?

Beyond the nice-to-know FYI that as far as drug dealer code words for cocaine go, Taylor Swift is the “new” Christina Aguilera, the point of giving us an “Im Good 2.0″ that’s just as needless as the original has us perplexed. Why can’t they just do like 50 Cent did when each one of his fifty or so Before I Self Destruct lead singles failed to click with audiences: act like “I”m Good” never happened, and move on with the release of a totally new single?

It’s funny how after all the stunned reactions arising from the news that The Neptunes wouldn’t be the sole beatsmiths on Clipse‘s upcoming Till The Casket Drops, out of the three tracks leaked over the last couple months, the one not helmed by the ‘Tunes team has ended up the most appreciated.

“Kinda Like A Big Deal” may have lacked some truly solid verses or a sturdy enough hook (and remarkably saw them outshined by guest star Kanye), but hearing Pusha T and Malice atop DJ Khalil’s hard-knock tumble just felt right, this sinister combination that excitingly hinted that Casket was going to be something special (and maybe…perhaps…hopefully produce the “Grindin” Pt. 2 we had pathetically been anticipating for so damn long).

Then arrived the worrying “I’m Gone”, a summery track swimming in slippery glossy synths, Pharrell soul-boy chirps and materialistic focus, that even when gifted with a couple oh-so-Clipse-y lines failed to really register as an actual Clipse cut for the first four or five listens.

On the latest Casket drip “Eyes On Me”, the Virginia duo unfortunately give off a similar “what the hell is going on with this album” impression. A blatant aim at commercial/ club attention (which the duo have always seemed to only be able to achieve by accident, or at least attain without losing their street grip), “Eyes” gets it’s coke-rap rhymes out early (“I’m talking cooking up that slumdog millionaire” goes one opening line) before shifting it’s entire heart during the last three-quarters at admiring the name brand-fixated vixens who love the boys’ bottomless bank accounts.

Further solidifying the record as a ladies’ anthem of sorts is a poppy boom-bap shuffle more fitting for a pop tart’s sex purr, Pharrell’s hook boast of “getting dressed like I belong on TV” and a random Keri Hilson cameo that lasts no longer than sixteen seconds. All elements that would have felt perfectly fine if this was a Pussycat Doll/ Britney Spears creation, but when placed as a backdrop for the Clipse, disappoint in it’s bid for Top 40 love.

We’ll try not to come down too hard on the duo for trying to earn some mainstream money (they did go on about blowing through “a hundred thou in a recession” on “Deal” and might just be playing things smart), but let’s hope that after this and “I’m Good”, the whole of what’s left of Casket delivers nothing but the oft-kilter production menace and clever drug-lord rhymes we’ve been yearning for.

Till The Casket Drops is set for a September release.

DL: “Eyes On Me” (alt)

For months, it’s been difficult to escape the hyping of alt-pop-meets-hip hop, Harvard grad duo Chester French. From the endless “ones to watch” music press/ blog shout-outs to the high-profile support of A-list hip hop figures like Kanye West and eventual label boss Pharrell Williams, we’ve been damn near brainwashed into becoming fans of these cats.

Thankfully, the bits of Chester French music we’ve actually heard (the ’60′s-washed first single, “She Loves Everybody”; that insanely catchy Common collabo, “What A World”; their surprisingly neat remix of Jay Z’s “Excuse Me Miss”) has helped in justifying all this early praise.

Hoping to build up an even stronger buzz for debut album Love The Future (while further highlighting their cool circle of friends), the team of Maxwell Drummey and D.A. Wallach recently dropped the pre-official release mixtape, Jacque Jams, Vol. 1 – Endurance, which tracks the on-the-rise trek of their previous six years through material both old and new, some amusing skits, and the “exclusive” inclusion of a self-produced Lady Gaga remix, not to mention a laundry list of cameo appearances that includes Diddy, Jadakiss, Bun B, Solange, Talib Kweli and Cassie amongst others.

Preview a couple of MM’s faves below:

It’s kind of sad that Janelle Monae still hasn’t quite set the world on fire with her brilliant sci-fi-soul sound (you NEED to pick up Metropolis The Chase Suite like right now), but nevertheless she makes for a great duet partner on the geeky puppy love ode “Nerd Girl”, a prance-y mix of Beatles vocal creaminess and ’80′s synth-pop tenderness.

“I wear tiny suits and bowties, some might call me strange,” she coos. Oh Miss Monae, that’s hardly a bad thing.

DL: “Nerd Girl” (alt)

Meanwhile, “Life In LA” details guest stars Pharrell Williams and Jermaine Dupri’s wild and crazy sexcapades with the City of Angels’ bottomless well of overly worked on, coke-sniffing Barbie Dolls atop old school rap drum clatter and space-age ambiance. Unfortunately, the good times are all over for the French boys, who’ve partied all their dough away and now must leave all the fun and sun behind.

DL: “Life In LA” (alt)

You can pick up the entire entertaining collection here; Love The Future, drops April 21st.

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)

“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.

DL: “Yes” (alt)

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.

DL: “Punch Drunk Love” (alt)

With so many hits between them, it seemed like a surefire thing that Pharrell and Kanye West’s In My Mind duet “Number One” would live up to it’s title and reach the top of the charts. How could anyone resist another dose of Pharrell’s earnest falsetto croon and The Louis Vuitton Don’s witty, big-headed boasts (“I resurrected my gold Jesus of Nazareth/ Now we Fresh as a Prince/ while they Jazzy Jeff”) all on the same track over a blissful synth R&B production fresh out of the mid-80′s? Surprisingly, it seemed people could, as the single only drew a modest chart placing (#57 Pop, #40 R&B) despite it being the only true outstanding moment on Pharrell’s super-disappointing solo debut.

Under the moniker P & The Yessirs, Pharrell has decided to re-release the album based on live instruments much the way NERD would favorably re-shape their In Search Of… album. With the aid of ?uestlove, this revisiting of “Number One” greatly enhances the track’s initial summery appeal. ?uest brings a cozy texture to the feelgood steppers’ groove, already reminiscent of Frankie Beverly & Maze or Bill Withers, with his effervescent drumming laying the foundation for shimmering keyboard embellishments and the kind of soothing bassline-funk R&B has shamefully forgotten about.

Hopefully under this exhilarating new makeover, “Number One” can achieve the kind of appreciation it missed the first time around.

Number One (Questlove) – P & The Yessirs