mixtape maestro (2.0)

“Like a G I hold it down for the town I’m AT/ And I flash like THAT/ Recognize I’M BACK!,” sneers T.I. on the hook to newly unleashed comeback banger “I’m Back”; if news of the Southern rap kingpin nearing the end of his year-long sentence didn’t necessarily hit you with excitement concerning his return, those punctuated peaks at the end of each of those lines definitely do the trick.

Here, as the Trackslayers production team excellently surround him with the kind of epic-sized, Southern hip hop trunk-rattler he’s crushed with so many times before, T.I. spews breathless rounds of annoyance and ire aimed at those he felt did a sucky job holding down the fort in his absence. “Tight jeans, funny haircuts, dancing on the screen/ It’s a drought of real niggas in the game so it seems,” he spits with such heat you could almost feel the saliva spraying from his mouth against your ears.

For those that thought that Lil’ Wayne’s trip into the clink would hurt the Third Coast rap scene in 2010, you needn’t at all worry any longer. The King is back, and from the sounds of things, more than ready to make up for the time he’s lost.

For all you other jailed rappers wondering how to truly mark your re-emergence into the game upon your release, this is how you stage a return to make the crowd go nuts.

DL: “I’m Back” (alt)

Uncategorized southern rap, T.I., trackslayerz

Oh Ludacris, where has your mojo gone to?

Like previous single “How Low”, the Atlanta rapper’s latest Battle of The Sexes drop “My Chick Bad” finds him once again wasting a solid, albeit elementary, vocal-tweaked hook with Auto-Pilot verses. The track’s premise, all about how his girl is better than everyone else’s, is already a tired one, but whereas Luda at his previous lyrical heights would’ve given such a been-there-done-that theme a fresh spin bulging with funny-bone-tickling one-liners, here, he comes up empty at nearly every attempt (with only a brief dig at Tiger Wood’s wife landing as semi-rewind-worthy).

Alas, “My Chick Bad” is ultimately rescued by the always-entertaining, animated pipsqueak flow of Nicki Minaj, who pops up on the tail end quickly taking home Best Couplet prize with her opening mic salvo (“Yo, now all these bitches wanna try and be my bestie/ But I take a left and leave them hanging like a testi”) while cleverly using the track’s horror-flick bassline cycles as songwriting inspiration (“It’s nightmare on Elm street and guess who’s playing Freddy?”).

Hate to say it, but this track would have been better served as a solo Nicki single instead with Luda given the one verse cameo (since that seems to be the only time he gives us his A-game these days).

Battle of The Sexes drops March 9th.

Uncategorized battle of the sexes, ludacris, nicki minaj, southern rap

Coming off what many considered 2009’s top R&B release (Love Vs. Money), it’s hard not to be left a little underwhelmed by “Love King”, the first single and title track to The-Dream’s next (and possibly last) album.

Built atop a floaty, snap-laden midtempo groove perked with candied piano plinks and punctuating “Ey”’s, the song is nothing more than a cut-and-paste patchwork of the singer/ songwriter/ producer/ “ey”-er’s usual bag o’ musical quirks, this time tied together by a thin concept (The-Dream has tons and tons of chicks at his beck and call) that’s in dire need of much stronger goofball lyricism than “Got girls with weaves/…Girls without it” and “Got girls on my Sprint/ My AT&T/ Got girls on T-Mobile/ Metro if it’s local”.

Yeah, it’s “Shawty Is The Shit”-meets-”Rockin’ That Thing” soundbed is perfect riding-to material, but if The-Dream really wants to finally nab some Grammy nods this time around (we, the people, can only endure so many Twitter rants), he’s going to have to conclude his solo album trilogy on the high note it demands with far better offerings than watered-down regurgitations from the same stylistic template.

Love King drops in May.

DL: “Love King” (alt)

If it’s any consolation though Dream, we’re definitely digging you’re rap verse on this all-star “How Low (Remix)”:

BONUS DL: Ludacris featuring Rick Ross, Twista, The-Dream, Ciara & Pitbull “How Low (Remix)” (alt)

Uncategorized ciara, love king, ludacris, pitbull, posse cut, R&B, rick ross, southern rap, the-dream, twista

If somehow you’ve never managed to come across the eccentric soul-funk-rock dynamo that is Janelle Monae, boy do we feel sorry for you that your life is so lacking.

A super-heroine born out of the wedded universes of Stankonia, Broadway and whatever the hell alternate dimensions Grace Jones, Nona Hendryx and George Clinton and his P-Funk crew came from, Monae rocked music lovers in desperate need of something truly new to their core a few years back with her debut EP Metropolis Suite I of IV: The Chase, an awe-inspiring mini-set based around fanciful sci-fi concepts and genre-blurring production schemes.

This year marks Monae’s much-anticipated return, she’s set to drop sophomore collection The ArchAndroid in May, and she’s kicking off this brand new era with the unquestionably excellent “Tightrope”, a Big Boi collaboration basically encouraging listeners to follow her lead by doing themselves and doing themselves well with nary a thought given to the opinionated gab of others while pumping out their sweatiest jig in line with the track’s tightly wound, JB-inspired gaiety.

“I tip on alligators/ And little rattle-snakers/ But I’m another flavor/ Something like a terminator/ Ain’t no equivocating,” she breathlessly spews in a vocal performance that’s just as wildly infectious as “Tightrope”’s rapid-paced mix of tumbling drums, funked out bass, Spanish guitar and sultry horn blasts. And while we would’ve gladly appreciated Andre 3000 gracing the cut with his presence (maybe for the remix?), we can’t easily dismiss his Outkast partner Big Boi’s slick, threat-soaked contribution: “See why you don’t want no friction like the back of a matchbook/ Daddy Fatsacks will fold you in your MacBook…”.

Add this single (available for purchase through Monae’s website) and the May-set release of The ArchAndroid as two more reasons why 2010 is shaping up to be a great year for music.

“Tightrope”:

Below, snatch up the cut that made us first fall in love with Monae: “Lettin’ Go”, a breezy tribute to Off The Hook-era MJ from 2005’s Got Purp? Vol. 2 compilation, that somehow makes getting fired from your job sound just as fun as winning the Lottery.

DL: “Lettin’ Go” (alt)

Uncategorized alt-soul, big boi, funk, janelle monae, southern rap

It seems like only yesterday when Ludacris could be found consistently dropping dimes on hungry banger cravers, his seemingly endless supply of varied cartoonish flow inflections and XXX-soaked comedic rap banter pulling out some of the greatest hooks and sixteens throughout the ’00’s urban music landscape. Hell, to grant him a guest spot on your own record basically guaranteed you to be forgotten once he entered the frame.

For “How Low” though, the curiously basic first single from Luda’s upcoming seventh studio album Battle of the Sexes, he’s the one being upstaged…and it’s by a chipmunk-ed chant hook no less.

On paper, “How Low”’s chorus doesn’t read all that interesting. A helium voice set to a double-time beat inquiring how close ladies can gyrate their ass to the floor without falling over? What is this, a late-’80’s/ early-90’s 2 Live Crew record? Yet every time it emerges, promising an instant break-out in good-time debauchery in it’s every repeat, it kills; it’s novel concept so ridiculously catchy, you’re anticipation for it’s return completely overrides the overall flatness of the verses’ horndog lyrical display (sounds like somebody’s in need of some re-inspiration) or how unnecessary it’s succeeding b-hook is.

The fact that a Ludacris record is in existence in which we actually wish it had less Ludacris does ring a tad alarming (triggering some worry of how the rest of the so far un-leaked Battles will fare), but with a hook as addicting as the one “How Low”’s got, we’re more than happy to give the emcee a passing grade…this time.

Battle of the Sexes is due this March.

Ludacris: How Low (Official Video) from DTP TV on Vimeo.

Bonus DL: Snoop featuring Jay-Z & Ludacris “I Wanna Rock (Remix)” (alt)

Uncategorized ludacris, make it rain, southern rap

Unfortunately for Young Money soldier/ New Orleans rapper Gudda Gudda, his hood-reppin’ Guddaville cut “Always Love You” won’t win the blue ribbon prize for Best Mixtape Use of a Chopped-Up Sample of Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” in 2009 (that honor remains with Theophilus London’s still-impressive track of the same name from a couple seasons back), but that doesn’t mean it’s not noteworthy.

Coolly weaving Houston’s over-long belt into a chill, Southern rap groove (with a brief shout out to the Dolly Parton original nicely tossed in in the opening seconds), Gudda’s “ALY” succeeds as a fine laidback jam that’s just begging for a summer season to attach itself to.

Plus, it gives us another reason to excitedly anticipate the forthcoming solo debut from Nicki Minaj, his increasingly likable rappress labelmate who steals the show here with a trip through memory lane, where she recalls her days as a young “Harajuku Barbie” sipping Italian Icees while running amuck through the concrete jungle of the “Capital Apple”.

Snatch up the cut below, as well as another Nicki-blessed treat: a No Ceilings-birthed remix to Beyonce’s “Sweet Dreams” (also featuring a somewhat needless Lil’ Wayne) in which she rocks the mic right with rewind-worthy references to Balloon Boy, Plaxico Burress and Slick Rick (and his eye-patch) all tucked into a single killer verse.

DL: “Always Love You” (alt)

DL: “Sweet Dreams (Remix)” (alt)

Uncategorized '90's, female rap, gudda gudda, lil' wayne, mixtape, new orleans, new york, nicki minaj, no ceilings, short dawg, soul sample, southern rap, whitney houston, young money

Kinda frightening to think what the rap landscape will be like once Wayne has to spend his year in prison, innit?

Even at his most irritating ubiquitous, the man has the power to heighten hip hop-themed conversation unlike very few others, with whatever new song, remix, freestyle to emerge from him destined to light up the blogosphere commentary world with record speed no matter how great or meh said product is.

Knowing Weezy though, he’ll make sure the twelve month sentence will fly by without folks getting the chance to miss him too much, as he’s probably in the lab right this moment cooking up enough freestyle dishes to ensure one new lyrical treat premieres each of the three hundred and sixty-five days. Alongside “official” joints set for planned near-future releases both solo (the long pushed-back rap/ rock question mark Rebirth, The Carter IV) and label related (Young Money Fam; solo debuts from Mack Maine and Nikki Minaj), Wayne will likely remain just as omnipresent as he has been the past few years.

But to steer focus back to what this post was really supposed to be about…Wayne’s newest mixtape, No Ceilings, has hit the Webs (four days earlier than expected), and for all those longing to hear the Young Money king slather some of the hottest hip hop beats of 2009 (from Jay’s “Run This Town” to Gucci Mane’s “Wasted” to, er, the Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling”) with his typically WTF vocabulary (you could make a drinking game out of the many creative ways he spins an “I’m the shit” boast or cleverly embeds an athlete’s name into a line)…think of this as an early Christmas present.

Catch some of our favorites below, including “Break Up”, a collaboration with Short Dawg and Gudda Gudda over the beat behind Mario’s current smash (and oh how much better that circular Bangladesh-produced loop sounds when it’s not being awkwardly used to support a R&B track), and “Throw It In The Bag”, which sees Wayne narrating the pleasures of lavish life-aided rap sex-mance (“Fuckin’ on Versace/ Napping on satin/ I love to hit it backwards, Call it Pig Latin…”) atop the seducingly hypnotic instrumental of Fabolous’ Dream-sampling “Bag” remix.

(Or you could simply save a bunch of time by downloading the entire [more often-than-not awesome mixtape] from Nahright.)

DL: “Break Up” (alt)

DL: “Throw It In The Bag (Remix)” (alt)

Uncategorized bangladesh, fabolous, freestyle rap, gudda gudda, lil' wayne, mario, mixtape, no ceilings, short dawg, southern rap, the-dream

Isn’t it funny how “My Boo”, a thirteen year old R&B/ booty bass cut performed by an act a majority of folks (minus bloggers of course) probably wouldn’t be able to name without some Google aid, has suddenly turned into one of the most covered/ re-tooled tracks of ‘09? Following DJ Solly’s chopped-up re-working of the Ghost Town DJ’s single (posted here back in July), the past few weeks has seen a few other new takes off “Boo” bubble their way to front pages all across the blog patch, and un-surprisingly, we heart every single one of them. Check ‘em out below:

American Dream Team “My Boo”

This Brooklyn-based squad of DJ’s, VJ’s, producers, designers and animators cover the record with a Cascada-esque dance-pop touch (though far less cheesy than that may sound), employing a slightly Auto-Tuned, anony-robo-female to mimic the song’s high school-age X’s and O’s sentiment in between a solid assortment of bloopety-bloop club noise. An ideal dancefloor delight.

DL: “My Boo” (alt) (American Dream Team)

Desktop “My Boo”

Desktop is an synth-pop duo out of Detroit who have released two EP’s this past year that are both chock full of fetching, keyboard-dominant tunes ’80’s pop lovers should dig (Our favorite: the work-out inspiring “Fired Up”).

Their “My Boo” remake features a faint loop of “A Milli” in the background, a killer opening groove that’s just begging to be sampled for some new crunk & b confection, a talk-box (we think) assisted breakdown that’s still got our heads spinning in circles and a heavily distorted lead male vocal that makes the longing lyrics take on a intriguing stalker-ish bent that wasn’t all that easily apparent in the original.

DL: “My Boo” (alt) (Desktop)

Mariah Carey featuring OJ Da Juiceman, Big Boi & Gucci Mane “H.A.T.E. U (Remix)”

Last but not least, Mimi busts through with this remix of her Memoirs’ slow jam ballad “H.A.T.E. U”, and we must say, anticipating entering the angry phase after breaking up with her man goes down a lot better when supported by the light bounce of a “Boo” sample and smirk-inducing guest turns from OJ Da Juiceman, Big Boi (“I’m colder than a polar bear’s toenails”) and, the “Ludacris of ‘09″, Gucci Mane, in what’s probably his two-hundredth appearance on a song in the past four months alone (and yet somehow we still crave more cameos from the “Wasted” emcee).

DL: “H.A.T.E. U (Remix)” (alt)

Uncategorized '90's, big boi, brooklyn, cover song, desktop, detroit, ghost town dj's, gucci mane, mariah carey, memoirs of an imperfect angel, oj da juiceman, remix, southern rap, synth-pop, the american dream team

After spending the entire summer getting most of the country to sing along with their “so not for children” desire to boink every female on the planet, the over-sized Young Money clique finally get around to releasing a new single with “Bedrock”, and as a repeat of previous single “Every Girl”’s winning recipe of radio-(and summer-)friendly production with horn-ball lyrics (though this time with a couple more YM employees and solo R&B crooner Lloyd added into the mix), and an upgrade from the previously leaked incarnation “Girl You Know” (that earlier take featured a slightly different Wayne verse and brief Young Money member Omarion horribly straining his way through an inferior hook), it mostly succeeds in laying the path for another full season of airplay domination.

Supported by a Kane Beatz-helmed…um, beat that’s damn near worth the price of admission alone, conjuring up this candy-coated sense of vertigo with it’s ear-tickling loop of rapidly tip-toeing keyboard/ synth work, “Bedrock” unfortunately gets off to a lame start with un-inspiring opening verse contributions from Weezy (definitely texting it in here) and Gudda Gudda, who comes up shamefully flat on at least two occasions (“I see me with her/ No Stevie Wonder” + “I got her nigga/…Grocery bag” = someone needs to retake Clever Rap Punchlines 101).

But following that introductory misfire, “Bedrock” quickly rights itself with good-to-great lyrical turns from Drake (“I love your sushi rolls/ Hotter then wasabi”), Tyga and Lil’ Kim sequel/ token female member Nicki Minaj (her squeaky voice may be edge-of-annoying, but damn if it doesn’t sound good hosting lines like “Maybe it’s time to put this pussy on your sideburns”) as well as the usually reliable Lloyd hiccuping “Call me Mr. Flintstone/ I can make your bed rock girl” in that weightless, “sixth member of New Edition circa ‘Candy Girl’” tone of his.

Hear the cut below, followed by “A.D.I.D.A.S”, a Soulja Boy-esque mixtape entry from Georgia rapper Travis Porter that was the original holder of “Bedrock”’s contagious beat.

DL: “Bedrock” (alt)

DL: “A.D.I.D.A.S.” (alt)

Uncategorized drake, gudda gudda, jae millz, kane beatz, lil' wayne, lloyd, nicki minaj, posse cut, southern rap, travis porter, tyga, young money

On “Big Dog”, Southern rap duo Playaz Circle once again employ Lil’ Wayne for hook duties, and, just like last time, they’re once again basically left an after thought on their own record. Sigh.

Atop mesmerizing production accented by electric guitar flickers and heavily glazed in dreamy, slo-mo synths and organs, group mates Tity Boi and Dolla Boy do do a decent job serving semi-witty rhymes revolving around their clothes and rides (“Vehicular homicide/ Boy you know my car kill/ Orange and Black Chevy/ Now I’m riding ‘Garfield’”); but sadly, in the end it wouldn’t of mattered if they had shown up or not, since it’s Wayne’s cameo that most will be checking for, and as expected, Weezy makes the track his own with an Auto-Tune-crooned chorus about the pleasures of being a rap star (“I say money ain’t a thang to a bit dog/ Ain’t got nothin’ but some cash in my big paws…”) that wins without even having the benefit of one of his signature clever lyric turns.

PC may have a chance at getting beyond their “one hit wonder” status with this one, but does it even matter in the grand scheme of things if it’s mostly Lil’ Wayne’s presence (and some hot production) that really make either one worthwhile?

DL: “Big Dog” (alt)

Uncategorized lil' wayne, playaz circle, southern rap