mixtape maestro (2.0)

You’ve got to have some major balls to take on The Spinners’ Stevie Wonder-produced-and-co-penned 1970 R&B classic “It’s A Shame”, not only because it stands as one of Motown’s most vibrant creations ever (bringing about instant feelings of joy with its opening guitar flutter and sunny horn blasts, and the group’s sterling background harmonies), but then-frontman G.C. Cameron just rocks the joint, his five-octave range bringing an awe-inspiring theatricality to the lyric’s cheated-upon protagonist role, veering effortlessly from heart-bruised falsetto to gruff soul-man belts.

Old-school R&B enthusiast Raphael Saadiq steps up to the challenge on this Levi’s Pioneer Sessions-supporting remake, and while we’re not all the way sure that’s him pulling off the falsetto notes, he nonetheless passes with flying colors, beautifully re-capturing the original arrangement’s spirited jubilance, while committing a stellar vocal performance (especially towards the fade-out) that has us itching for the man to release another (hopefully retro-themed) solo album as soon as possible.

DL: “It’s A Shame (The Spinners Cover)” (alt)

A buttery seduction of neo-soul smoove and cool poetic charm subtly fringed with old-school hip hop hype, Q Tip’s The Renaissance album cut “We Fight/ We Love”, like the rest of it’s trackmates, served as a welcome reminder of why Tip was so missed during that seemingly eternal between-album period.

Position nearly any aspect of it (from the vivid lyrical illustrations of it’s opening lines to the excellent second verse story of a young soldier’s tenure in Iraq (“You get to travel the world, its cheaper than college/ And you get guns, and you get knowledge/ Lookin for your soul, and WMD’s/ You can’t find nothing, cause its empty…”) to the way Tip’s relaxed flow nestles with such ease within it’s sublime groove) against about 90% of what’s currently being (over-)supported by your local rap station, and the gap in creativity presented is downright maddening.

What a sad world we live in when the beyond-corny club-pop exercises of Flo-Rida or instantly-tired frat-boy musings of “I Love College” represent to so many radio listeners what hip hop is while amazing gems like “Fight/ Love” struggle (usually unsuccessfully) for an inkling of airspace. Sigh.

Below, peep a performance of “We Fight/ We Love” from the Ellen show, then check out the remix featuring Tip’s cousin Consequence and the ever-busy Kanye West. Their appearance results in the sad omission of both original guest Raphael Saadiq and that aforementioned second verse, but the fact that West is actually rapping (YAAAAYYY!!!) here makes the changes less of a bummer.

DL: “We Fight/ We Love (Remix)” (alt)