mixtape maestro (2.0)

As if having every other form of entertainment be usurped by an obsession with everything vampire-related wasn’t enough, Timbaland looks to Twlight, True Blood, and the like as a major influence on “Morning After Dark”, the official first single from his Shock Value 2 album.

Part Anne Rice-inspired sex tale, but mostly a run-through of Timb’s usual bag o’ dizzying polyrhythmic tricks with the he say/ she say treatment that’s defined most of his popular output, “Morning After Dark” sees the mega-producer enjoying a “3P” of his own with pipsqueak-voiced duo Nelly Furtado and newcomer/ Mosley Music protogee SoShy playing bob and weave to the track’s restless drum shuffle and synth sprinklings.

Unfortunately, despite the trio’s best efforts to muster up some nocturnal heat amongst themselves, none of it really lands as anything all that especially exciting or even necessary (sort of like another A-list-affiliated SV2 album leak), but we’ll at least admit to it’s Euro-goth sizzle latching onto a competent club fizz, while the spiraling hook (where Tim tackles an interesting Bootsy Collins-esque yowl) eventually needles it’s way into your brain.

“Morning After Dark”:

As an added bonus, check out this house-y remix of “MAD” from the Serotonin Thieves: “Morning After Dark (Serotonin Thieves Remix)” (alt)

One recently revealed Timbaland-produced number that is worthwhile (without the aid of repeated listenings) is “Skycap”, a Mary J Blige-led number that was originally conceived for, and eventually denied placement on, her 2007 Growing Pains album. A foolish move, we might add, since having this amongst it’s tracklisting could of easily scored that set a second major hit beyond “Just Fine”.

Atop a hypnotic beat of lively percussion/ drums and what sounds like a swarm of evil goblin children chanting “I’m falling” while being flushed down a toilet (oh, how our imagination makes us giggle sometimes), Mary J starts off throwing down like she used to back in her pre-”No More Drama” days, as she looks back on a couple of old relationships gone sour (“The first love I let inside my life/ Had me afraid to fly/ Had my head in the clouds/ And meanwhile he let me crash…”).

But before you get a chance to seriously worry over (or celebrate, depending on your stance) the soul diva regressing back to a previous era of endless tear-stained, no-good-men-littered R&B melodrama, Blige is rescued from her depression by a knight in shining armor, one who isn’t easily scared off by all of her “baggage” and brings with him “a first class love” so great, she feels like she’s soaring through the clouds above. “I don’t even wanna land/ Got myself a helluva man,” she sings, an infectious joy just beaming off her every note.

We’ll never understand why this one was left on the cutting room floor.

DL: “Skycap” (alt)

Seeing as though Timbaland and Keri Hilson’s attempt to re-create the sexy he-say/ she-say barb over Euro-pop beats magic of “The Way I Are” on her underrated In A Perfect World… single “Return The Favor” ended up being a major flop, it’s not all that surprising that for “Rumors”, their lone collaboration on Timbaland’s Shock Value 2, the duo would take a wildly different approach. What is surprising though, is how much a record that features not only Tim and Keri but also a cameo from Jay-Z, totally stinks.

Over a completely boring spare synth-and-tumbling drum shuffle that feels like it was concocted by a Timbaland protogee rather than the man himself, Keri extends what might have been an okay hook or bridge about dismissing ever-gabbing haters over two verses that fail to keep your attention even a few lines in, while Jay yawns through another forgettable sixteen.

Every few years Timbaland seems to hit these creative droughts where he’s simply re-heating old beats. And right now, he sounds like he’s there again, this time dragging a couple others into his un-inspired funk along the way. We say pass.

DL: “Rumors” (alt)

On “Say Something”, a recently leaked cut from Timbaland’s new Shock Value 2 album, the Virginia beat maestro teams with Young Money star Drake for what sounds, at least in this “unfinished” take, like it could be one of the bigger grabs from the forthcoming all-star collection.

A sort of big budget take on the pop-R&B-hip hop-meshing business that framed so much of So Far Gone, “Something” rides a slow churning grind of liquefied synth waves as Drake pulls off another slick display of his singing and rapping balancing act.

“I am the topic of conversation/ This is celebration/ Let’s toast to the fact that I moved out my momma’s basement”, he rhymes in the latest chapter of his on-going “rapper on the come-up” audio documentary; but it’s hard for him to completely focus on all the lavish benefits of his sudden superstar-dom when his mind is constantly being distracted by the mysterious whereabouts of a lost ex love (sweetly dubbed his “most important fan”) he yearns to get back in contact with (Cue the arrival of his ever-somber-toned, albeit pop-smart, crooner halve).

Has potential in a B-grade “Best I Ever Had” kind of way, though be prepared for the “finished” take to likely feature several doses of distantly-positioned Timbaland grunts as a reminder that it’s a Tim featuring Drake joint.

Shock Value 2 drops November 23rd.

DL: “Say Something” (alt)

Many have tried to fill in the gap left in R&B in the eight years since Aaliyah’s passing (and you know the ones we’re referring to), but none have been able to really match the angelic-voiced singer’s always intriguing display of mysterious tomboy sex appeal and understated vocal grace or her excellent ability in complimenting Timbaland’s manic beats rather than being swallowed up and made irrelevant by them.

Listening to some of her and Timbaland’s best collaborations now-the hip hop tip-toe “Are You That Somebody?”, the serpentine seducer “We Need A Resolution”, “More Than A Woman”‘s superhero synth funk, “Try Again”‘s Matrix-esque digi-soul-you can still grasp onto brand new things to adore amongst their complex rhythm patterns, smooved out vocal melodies and compelling (and shamefully oft-overlooked) lyrical sketches, bringing one once again to wonder how many more different ways she would have blown our minds musically by now had she not moved on.

That question will never be answered, but such a frustration won’t ever stop us from always celebrating the greatness she produced the short time she was with us.

Below, check out three recent tributes to the much-missed “Baby Girl” that planted major smiles on our faces: sick electro-soul covers of “4 Page Letter” (by Cali producer AFTA-1 and vocalist Nikko Gray) and “Rock The Boat” (by UK songstress/ Basement Jaxx collaborator Vula) from urban culture webzine SoulCulture‘s fantastic new covers EP, Aaliyah Revisited (grab it FOR FREE here); And DJ Benzi and Skratch Bastid‘s “dope X infinity” blend of “Rock The Boat” and DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince’s deathless, triple-degree weather classic “Summertime”.

DL: AFTA-1 featuring Nikko Gray “4 Page Letter” (Aaliyah Cover)” (alt)

DL: Vula “Rock The Boat (Aaliyah Cover)” (alt)

DL: “Rock The Boat (Benzi & Skratch Bastid’s ‘Summertime’ Remix)” (alt)

“Welcome to the future”, Jay-Z intros on the latest (ho-hum) Blueprint 3 pre-leak.

And by ‘future’, he means an era where having a “high yellow broad” and a “best white mate” named “Chris” (Martin) and not wasting dough on “making it rain” or rocking rims, Timbs or ‘Cris puts him a cut above the rest. Oh, and slightly generic Timbaland shuffles will rock the clubs while promising “future” mic hopefuls are disappointingly reduced to only hook cameos.

Sssiiiiggghhhh. Something’s definitely not right when the Black Eyed Peas corny glimpse into what will be hot tomorrow sounds more appealing.

DL: “Off That” (alt)

In which Jamie Foxx takes the perfectly fine as-is Intuition highlight “Digital Girl” and gives it a needless re-scrubbing, bringing in an entirely different beat, brand new lyrics and a ho-hum guest appearance from Drake.

Dubbed the “West Coast Remix” (or, in some corners of the Web, the “MJ Remix”), we can appreciate it’s BBQ-in-the-park ’90′s R&B Cali groove and Jamie’s R-rated King of Pop shout-out (“I wanna ‘beat it’/ (Like Michael)/ Cause you ‘Bad’ (Like Michael)/ ‘Billie Jean’ it (Like Michael)/ Make you ‘Scream’ It (Like Michael)”), but ultimately this “Digital Girl” 2.0 pales in comparison to the spaced-out digi-soul of the album version.

To Foxx’ people: it’s completely understandable why you might want to rush deliver this one to the necessary outlets first (Drake + MJ tribute + slight summer jam appeal = major urban airwave spins for the moment), but if we don’t get a video and a proper radio push of the far superior original (followed by a single release of Intuition‘s other solid jam, the Timbaland-blessed “I Don’t Need It”), we’re gonna have a problem.

DL: “Digital Girl (West Coast Remix)” (alt)

The Tapemasters crew recently unleashed the twenty-sixth installment of their The Future In R&B mixtape series, and as usual, it’s jampacked with the hottest in today’s urban/ soul. But amongst the usual suspects found within it’s tracklisting, the two that stand out the most at face value come from a couple of 90′s R&B stars who’ve saw their respective commercial footholds slip a couple notches in recent years. Might Ginuwine and Brandy have the fire necessary to re-claim their positions in the higher reaches of the singles charts?

First up, we have Ginuwine’s “Get Involved”. Set to be the second single off his forthcoming sixth album, A Man’s Thoughts, the track finally delivers what fans have been waiting for for years: a reunion between the stage-sliding, hip hop-soul Lothario and the “dynamic duo” who helped put him on the map way back when, Timbaland and Missy Elliott.

And from the instant it hits the speaker, the track burns, rocking a sweaty disco groove that peaks into an ecstactic delirium for the chorus as Gin, Tim and Missy all threaten to release their inner-freaks on the public. Yeah, it’s a bit sad to hear Ginuwine barely registering on a track in which he’s credited as lead, but who’s really concerned about minor gripes like that when we are gifted with Missy treating us with yet another one of her silly, but always in-demand, gabbledygook-filled verses (“Yeah you know I’m a freak-a-deek-leek/ Heavy D, tweet-a-deet-didda-a-deet-dee…”) and get to hear one of the best R&B forces of the late ’90′s side-by-side again.

DL: “Get Involved” (alt)

For Brandy and her cut “Decisions”, a slow-burning duet with the Midas-touched Ne-Yo, the results are equally as pleasant.

Despite receiving critical kudos, Brandy’s last album, the mature and pop ballad heavy Human ended up being a major under-performer, it’s overt distancing from the day’s R&B trends perhaps a major factor in it’s lack of mainstream success. But if “Decisions” is to be looked as a precursor to her next project, she shouldn’t have any problems winning some of her old masses back.

Over a backing track that will cause more than a few people to have flashbacks of Ciara’s slinky “Promise”, Brandy and Ne-Yo rely on the old angel on one shoulder/ devil on the other gimmick to express whether or not they should hook up with one another, despite already being in relationships with other people. “You got a good man on your side and you know that he don’t deserve it,” the (still-)enchantingly smoky-voiced Brandy internalizes, only to completely change her stance a breath later: “How can a man get hurt when he don’t even know that it happened?”.

It’s difficult to think of the teenybopper that once trilled about “sittin’ up in her room” now having grown-up infidelity thoughts (we know, we know, it’s been over ten years…), but throwback “Moesha”-era fondness aside, we’re completely digging this (and privately hoping that Ne-Yo will be employed further on the next album).

DL: “Decisions” (alt)

You could probably mash Jennifer Paige’s lone ’90′s hit “Crush” with damn near anything and achieve pop bliss perfection, but this pairing of the record’s summery instrumental with the vocals of Chris Cornell’s “Part of Me” (via Austrian DJ/ remixer DJ Schmolli) deserves some stand-out kudos.

Far more successful in fulfilling Cornell’s weird pop star ambitions than the entirety of the highly awkward, Timbaland-produced nightmare that is Scream, “Crush of Me”‘s breezy backing groove serves a pleasant base for Cornell’s gritty dismissal of a naughty little PYT (a role now humorously fleshed out through spliced-in snippets of Paige’s sultry ad-libs). Even that horrid “That bitch ain’t a part of me” hook manages to find a comfortable home in this brilliantly pasted-together confection.

DL: “Crush of Me” (alt)

Just when it looked like Ciara’s Fantasy Ride wasn’t going to be that great of a commute, she hooks up with the great Timba-lake team and scores herself a sure-shot chart climber.

“Love & Sex & Magic” was first heard as a Justin-starring demo (then simply called “Magic”) that was somehow leaked to the masses last year. A lean Timbaland-sculpted funk-pop jam, the track definitely feels like a FutureSex knock-off, but who ever said that was a bad thing?

“Imagine if there was a million me’s talkin’ sexy to you like that/
You think you can handle boy, if I give you my squeeze/ I’m-a need you to push it right back,” Ciara flirts, preparing her nastiest lap dance routine. Justin’s response? Simply sit back and enjoy: “Just do what I taught you”. Then, out of nowhere, a fluttery ballad-leaning bridge cuts through all the hanky-panky foreplay so the duo can get a little mushy: “Let’s slow it down so we fall in love…”.

Miss Ciara, you can rest with all the album push-backs now, ’cause with this sexy groover, you’ve finally grasped that jump-off mega-hit you’ve been searching for.

A Belgian singer-songwriter remaking a 50 Cent/ JT/ Timbaland strip club jam in the form of an acoustic ballad strum-along!?! And it works (maybe even better than the original)!?! 26-year-old Milow accomplishes just that with this striking entry.

One of the original “Ayo Technology”‘s biggest flaws was that the sheer weight of the A-list crew behind it (pre-establishing it as a hit before it even dropped) sort of distracted away from the scary-cool intricacies of what the song could really be about: a tale of an introverted porn-addict on the verge of randy implosion at the mouth-drying gyrations of the talented pole dancer in front of him and how seeing her in a three-dimensional form could inform some dastardly deed later on. Neither 50 nor Justin could really be all that believable in bringing that creepy role to life since at the end of the day, they probably would get the girl to their respective cribs to bring their private fantasies to fruition with little to no hesitation.

For the relatively unknown Milow, that option isn’t there, so his take on “Technology” lends itself easier to the song’s inherent skin-crawling air, his every-man vocal yearns (and nerdy adoption of Fiddy’s “make it rain” prose) against the guitar-lain frame conveying the spooky intimacy of a computer screen ogler tracking down his ideal porn beauty at the local strip joint and mind-conjuring up some nefarious after-hours plot that involves him following his target to her home and really finding out “just how it be/ On top of me/ Backstokin’, sweat soakin’”. When he sings “I’ll be in this bitch ’til the club close” or howls “I’m tired of using technology/ I need you right in front of me”, the creepy desperation in his vocal paints him as a haunting figure who’s en route to doing something really really wrong.

Now if only we could get him to do a whole entire album’s worth of 50 Cent remakes; could you imagine how much more menacing tunes like “Wanksta” or “Many Men” would sound “unplugged”?

DL: “Ayo Technology (50 Cent Cover)” (alt)