mixtape maestro (2.0)

Even with Katy Perry‘s 2008 breakout album, One of the Boys, managing to strike platinum and peel off four Top 30 US hits (two of which-“I Kissed A Girl” and “Hot n Cold”-we’ll most certainly be hearing at least once a week for the rest of time), it’s huge success never really solidified the idea of the shtick-reliant singer being necessary beyond it.

If anything else, Perry seemed to be one of those flash-in-the-pan types who would fade away back into obscurity, only to make re-appearances in I Love The ’00‘s-type pop culture retrospectives or future “What ever happened to her?” coffee table conversations concerning the year-long time she somewhat ruled the pop roost.

That being said, it’s not only surprising that Katy would re-emerge with a new record on par with the sugary irresistibility of her biggest cuts and that it would speed it’s way to a spot on the top of the pop charts (and plenty of people’s current summertime guilty pleasure lists), but-and here’s the main shocker-that we would actually be welcome to her return.

Yearning for an explanation? Well, to put it simply: The past year has produced so many forgettable one(and sometimes two)-hit wonder plastic-pop sensations, it’s kinda of nice to have an “established” act of the genre around. Yeah, if you found Katy annoying before (whether because of all the overly-cutesy stage persona tics or her odd, caterwaul vocals), you probably still won’t have much tolerance for her, but if not having her back means more pop radio space for lesser-forgivable entries from the Ke$ha’s, 3OH!3′s and Jason DeRulo’s of the world, than we say “hurrah” for “California Gurl”‘s existence.

Besides, if you look past the titular’s awful spelling of “girls”, the lame Snoop feature, the lyrics’ lazy (and/or awkward) “Cali is the place to be” signifiers and…hell, it’s overall corniness (the West Coast answer to “Empire State of Mind”,as it has been proposed, this surely is not), the track’s effervescent disco-ish sparkle can work wonders on a bad day.

Catch “California Gurl”‘s Candyland-inspired clip below, then afterward grab The White Panda crew’s mash-up of it with Trey Songz’ “Say Ahh”.

DL: The White Panda “Ahh California (Katy Perry x Trey Songz)” (alt)

Over-the-top randiness has dominated the R&B game so much over the past couple years (thanks to so many artists doing their best to try to out-top the king of WTF sex jams R. Kelly), that it’s a bit sad that nary an eyebrow is really raised with the lyrics presented on this all-star remix of Trey Songz’ current Top 5 R&B hit “Invented Sex” featuring Usher and Keri Hilson.

Still, for the simple sake of having something new to add to your “Bump N’ Grind” playlist, this 2.0 take serves as a fine enough addition, with Ursh ordering his gal to “meet me upstairs/ So I can beat it upstairs” before quoting old Trey Songz singles (“I can’t help but wait”) and Keri dismissing missionary as “no good” while claiming that she can “have you so woozy/ You’ll think I invented X”.

DL: “Invented Sex (Remix)” (alt)

Poor Amerie.

Despite the fact that she consistently produces far more entertaining/ adventurous R&B than a majority of her contemporaries and continues to have the undying support of most critics, she just can’t catch a break when it comes to commercial success. Both her In Love & War lead singles, the pleasantly ’90′s throwback-ish “Why R U” and the crackling “Heard Em All” (probably the best of her endless “1 Thing” retreads) were/ are bonafide JAMS, but for whatever inexplicable reason, neither one have managed to catch fire on the charts the way they deserve.

Hopefully her label has enough confidence in her to give her one more shot at a hit single (y’know how record companies love to drop acts with the quickness these days), and if they do, we pray they plant their focus on really pushing the Trey Songz duet “Pretty Brown”, another lovely nod to ’90′s contemporary soul thanks to it’s memory-jogging sample of Mint Condition’s 1992 smash “Breakin’ My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes)”.

Sparking from the get-go with the familiar instrumental bursts that made the Mint Condition such a cherished favorite, “Pretty Brown” manages to sustain such high levels of pleasure throughout the rest of it’s length as Amerie and Trey circle round eachother’s high-pitched pipes, trying to figure out where all the heat went to in a once-solid romance. “Is it a crime to want that old thing back?/ Can it be wrong to miss the way you used to kiss me?” goes Amerie, her desperate, edge-of-sanity vocal still one of the greatest sounds to ever pierce the ears.

Catch an “alternate” version of the track featuring Lloyd Banks below, and don’t forget to pick up In Love & War when it drops November 3rd.

DL: “Pretty Brown (Remix)” (alt)

First off, can we just note how refreshing it is to hear a record like Drake’s “Successful” lodged amongst the ringtone-friendly goofiness currently reigning atop rap radio playlists?

The track might only be getting so much burn because Drake-mania still runs rampant across the land, but that doesn’t detract from “Successful”‘s strikingness. A pensive narrative about a rising emcee’s unflinching quest to hit it big backed by a quietly burning R&B template that does a fine job of illustrating the moody image of one man all alone in a darkened studio armed with nothing but a pen, a pad and his un-realized dreams, “Successful”‘s grasping of depth just feels so comforting when positioned against the “You’re A Jerk”‘s and “Ice Cream Paint Job”‘s, as it brings with it this small hope that mainstream rap’s future might not be so bleak after all with promising lyricists like Drizzy leading the way.

Below, check out a re-tooled version of “Successful” (newly updated with an entire Trey verse!!) that’s set to appear on Trey Songz’ upcoming third album Ready.

DL: “Successful (Version 2)” (alt)

Speaking of Trey, the ever-present R&B crooner continues his tour of taking other people’s established hits and making them better on the recently leaked “Loser”, which finds him swiping the backing track from Mariah Carey’s “Obsessed” to support a witty lyric about angry baby-daddies ready to pummel him for sexing their women.

DL: “Loser (‘Obsessed’ Cover Remix)” (alt)

Even if Trey Songz hasn’t been able to net that big pop record to firmly establish himself as a “household name” on the level of a Ne-Yo or Chris Brown, the singer’s exhausting dedication to staying relevant, at least on the blog scene, is very admirable. It seems that not one day can go by without him popping up with some new “freestyle”-type cover of whatever R&B or hip hop track is currently buzzing on the ‘Net or in the streets.

One of his most recently leaked creations, “Invented Sex”, is an original, but it stays on par with his many other pleasant (and unmistakably R. Kelly-inspired) mid-tempo loverman entires. “Girl, when I pull back them sheets/ And you climb on top of me/ Girl you gon’ think I invented sex,” he boasts atop the track’s light, finger-snap-laced groove, eager to introduce his latest bed partner to his wink-wink, nudge-nudge “Magnum lifestyle”.

Of course, what truly takes this tune a notch above the rest is it’s guest cameo from current fire Drake; he doesn’t really contribute anything all that mind-blowing here lyrically, but who cares when he’s appreciatively blessing the listener with another satisfying spoonful of that hypnotizing sing-rap thing he does so damn well.

DL: “Invented Sex” (alt)

As a continuation of the Drake love, snatch up this remix/ cover (or whatever the hell you call these things) to his “Houstatlantavegas” featuring vocals from the much-missed JoJo below:

DL: “Houstatlantavegas (Remix)” (alt)