beenie man - "street life"
dude at dot music says "street life" could be a blue tune (ie. beenie man, stop making music for girls!), and what i like about it is he's right: blue always have good songwriting and some nice production touches - even their lyrics are guaranteed entertainment at least. they're mostly undermined by bland voices except when the talented one (also thought by lil missy to be the ugliest - i can't decide) does his 'illustrating the pleasure-pain divide' climactic orgasm-wail. hence, problem solved by getting a super-talented and charismatic dancehall veteran instead, how can this be a bad idea?! i love stargate.
30.1.03
26.1.03
jay-z ft beyonce - 03 bonnie and clyde
ok, although its not terrible, this is the worst first single off a jay album ever. i have compiled an air-tight list of reasons for this: 1 beyonce sounds so fucking bored and tired, what the fuck?! 2 stop jacking pac! 3 jay doesn't even sound that interested in his alleged girlfriend! 4 that acoustic guitar should be electronically processed and fucked with but isn't! 5 i said stop jacking pac, for fuck's sake!
ok, although its not terrible, this is the worst first single off a jay album ever. i have compiled an air-tight list of reasons for this: 1 beyonce sounds so fucking bored and tired, what the fuck?! 2 stop jacking pac! 3 jay doesn't even sound that interested in his alleged girlfriend! 4 that acoustic guitar should be electronically processed and fucked with but isn't! 5 i said stop jacking pac, for fuck's sake!
busted - year 3000
ahh, busted. i don't like scott mills because his voice is always dripping with barely concealed contempt for stuff like busted. thanks for your contribution scott, now please fuck off! i feel quite protective towards busted because me and lil missy invented them. um, what i mean is we saw them at party in the park last summer, months before "what i go to school for" was out. for the record, i was feeling them even then, but lil missy wanted them to plug their guitars in and get a drummer and be more like the baha men (the only dudes who played properly live at the entire event!)
ahh, busted. i don't like scott mills because his voice is always dripping with barely concealed contempt for stuff like busted. thanks for your contribution scott, now please fuck off! i feel quite protective towards busted because me and lil missy invented them. um, what i mean is we saw them at party in the park last summer, months before "what i go to school for" was out. for the record, i was feeling them even then, but lil missy wanted them to plug their guitars in and get a drummer and be more like the baha men (the only dudes who played properly live at the entire event!)
eminem - lose yourself
yeah, so 8 mile is good cuz it opens with shook ones pt 2, which is quite a rare song to hear in a packed cinema. it turned out to be a good starting point for my renewed mobb deep love, because last night westwood dropped a very long medley of mobb hitz and i was thinking, shit, they've never put out a bad single! the way i remember the albums is they always had good skits (like my favourite ever where they shoot random niggas from their window!) and there's always enough songs to be worth it but really, i never thought of them as a hot singles act until 8 mile and westwood last night. today i dug out all the mobb deep i have and wallowed in that shit! thanks eminem!
yeah, so 8 mile is good cuz it opens with shook ones pt 2, which is quite a rare song to hear in a packed cinema. it turned out to be a good starting point for my renewed mobb deep love, because last night westwood dropped a very long medley of mobb hitz and i was thinking, shit, they've never put out a bad single! the way i remember the albums is they always had good skits (like my favourite ever where they shoot random niggas from their window!) and there's always enough songs to be worth it but really, i never thought of them as a hot singles act until 8 mile and westwood last night. today i dug out all the mobb deep i have and wallowed in that shit! thanks eminem!
bedingfield - if you're not the one
sometimes this song is terrifying, feeling far too intimate and small to be a number one which still gets played on the radio all the time. it honestly sounds like bedingfield has sixteen notebooks full of scary devotional lyrics where he randomly plucked these from, which leads me to hope for a "bout it bout it" style never-ending saga of "if you're not the one, two, three, four and five" at least.
sometimes this song is terrifying, feeling far too intimate and small to be a number one which still gets played on the radio all the time. it honestly sounds like bedingfield has sixteen notebooks full of scary devotional lyrics where he randomly plucked these from, which leads me to hope for a "bout it bout it" style never-ending saga of "if you're not the one, two, three, four and five" at least.
craig david - hidden agenda
craig performed this live on chris moyles the other day, and it was nice and everything because truly the dude's voice is amazing and suggestive of all kinds of heartbreak and pg-rated romance and kinky sex all at the same time (completely wasted on "what's your flava")! but then he did that acoustic version of "rewind" which is a) like whoa and b) even better than bedingfield's acoustic "gotta get thru this", which isn't easy! rewind > hidden agenda.
craig performed this live on chris moyles the other day, and it was nice and everything because truly the dude's voice is amazing and suggestive of all kinds of heartbreak and pg-rated romance and kinky sex all at the same time (completely wasted on "what's your flava")! but then he did that acoustic version of "rewind" which is a) like whoa and b) even better than bedingfield's acoustic "gotta get thru this", which isn't easy! rewind > hidden agenda.
love inc - you're a superstar
what a great singer! and a really great intro which always makes me excited! i think it might remind me of some other even better song (or maybe even the same song when it was released any number of times before), but i can never fight this kind of uplifting, on-a-dj sammy-tip house for a place in my heart (ha ha.)
what a great singer! and a really great intro which always makes me excited! i think it might remind me of some other even better song (or maybe even the same song when it was released any number of times before), but i can never fight this kind of uplifting, on-a-dj sammy-tip house for a place in my heart (ha ha.)
lemon jelly - nice weather for fucks
the next step in the evolution of the treated acoustic guitar in pop music! this is kind of like the avalanches - and surely has been played on radio one only because they can't play since i left you forever - but its not terrible really, the loops are quite nice and its all well put together so its hard to pinpoint why i would never choose to listen to it or buy it. perhaps the way it disregards any kind of proper dancefloor dynamic so it can concentrate on the jokey, silly atmosphere and only be played in some horrible grimey 'fun'-loving pub instead of a club. fair enough, but they could have slowed it all down a little and stretched out the loops so it was a really nice neo-bigbeat anthem!
the next step in the evolution of the treated acoustic guitar in pop music! this is kind of like the avalanches - and surely has been played on radio one only because they can't play since i left you forever - but its not terrible really, the loops are quite nice and its all well put together so its hard to pinpoint why i would never choose to listen to it or buy it. perhaps the way it disregards any kind of proper dancefloor dynamic so it can concentrate on the jokey, silly atmosphere and only be played in some horrible grimey 'fun'-loving pub instead of a club. fair enough, but they could have slowed it all down a little and stretched out the loops so it was a really nice neo-bigbeat anthem!
feeder - just the way i'm feeling
dude will just be feeling my fist in his face soon enough! man, stop hitting us over the head with your big anthemic doubled electric/acoustic guitars and your strangulated voice and your shitty string section! no really, it might be the worst string arrangement since the verve or something.
dude will just be feeling my fist in his face soon enough! man, stop hitting us over the head with your big anthemic doubled electric/acoustic guitars and your strangulated voice and your shitty string section! no really, it might be the worst string arrangement since the verve or something.
avril - sk8er boi
avril is real fake shit and playing the fine line for all its worth! serious though, why all the hate for avril when all she's done is tap expertly into the hearts and minds of her demographic? i don't feel very far removed from the stuff she sings about or the vibe she gives off or the kind of cultural signifiers she uses so it doesn't strike me as cynical. "sk8er boi" is very short and fast and good but maybe a little bit boring after a couple of months.
avril is real fake shit and playing the fine line for all its worth! serious though, why all the hate for avril when all she's done is tap expertly into the hearts and minds of her demographic? i don't feel very far removed from the stuff she sings about or the vibe she gives off or the kind of cultural signifiers she uses so it doesn't strike me as cynical. "sk8er boi" is very short and fast and good but maybe a little bit boring after a couple of months.
motherfuck billboard and the editor / here comes the predator
feel the rah digga love from submeat, who's writing up the entire billboard hot fifty! (dude needs to hear more 50 cent though!)
feel the rah digga love from submeat, who's writing up the entire billboard hot fifty! (dude needs to hear more 50 cent though!)
24.1.03
21.1.03
craig david - "hidden agenda" / jay-z ft beyonce - "03 bonnie + clyde"
listen, its the pitter-patter of spring on the radio! jay and beyonce are kind-of already together and causing mass hysteria while they watch sex and the city. i dunno though, beyonce sounds miserable, i suspect she might be better off without a dude for a while. speaking of which, craig hasn't got with his love yet. she's got a boyfriend but craig, being the good friend he is, doesn't like the dude - hey, thanks for the "advice" craig, i'm sure you're mister saintly, but what about the hidden agenda of splitting motherfuckers up so you can weasel your way in! anyway, i think we all know what's going down in that 'featuring blu cantrell/samantha mumba/lisa mafia' remix which doesn't exist yet! "hidden agenda" is lighter and fresher but it doesn't have an illuminating guest verse. beyonce isn't as talented as craig but jay is always hot. so look for jay-z ft c david in winter 04.
listen, its the pitter-patter of spring on the radio! jay and beyonce are kind-of already together and causing mass hysteria while they watch sex and the city. i dunno though, beyonce sounds miserable, i suspect she might be better off without a dude for a while. speaking of which, craig hasn't got with his love yet. she's got a boyfriend but craig, being the good friend he is, doesn't like the dude - hey, thanks for the "advice" craig, i'm sure you're mister saintly, but what about the hidden agenda of splitting motherfuckers up so you can weasel your way in! anyway, i think we all know what's going down in that 'featuring blu cantrell/samantha mumba/lisa mafia' remix which doesn't exist yet! "hidden agenda" is lighter and fresher but it doesn't have an illuminating guest verse. beyonce isn't as talented as craig but jay is always hot. so look for jay-z ft c david in winter 04.
20.1.03
erick sermon ft al green - "love iz"
on his new record, with the exception of "react" (surely meant for redman anyway??), erick unexpectedly came with a fresh digital vs organic (+ ensuing tension) style, but its tough to describe how its different to anyone else pulling these stunts - slicker than anything he's released in the past; amazing clumpy drum machine sounds plugged directly into the mixing desk; pristine samples/interpolations; reverb-less ultra-clear separation, mmmmm! and keith murray is out of prison! but how does it add up to this earthy, feel-good nu soul vibe which is most like an expensive version of de la circa stakes is high?
it might be the dude's killer ear: "love iz" is just some choice loops from al's original tune ("music pt 2 - the old dude's still alive this time" yes, but what's wrong with that?) and e-dub himself, perhaps protesting too much, plugging non-suicidal goofy positivity. nothing is stretched, no one is fucked with (except the killers of big and pac, called out for being "lame"!), i'm just one hundred per cent into the good-times sweetness of it and the 3D soul sound. "love is - the name of this record" no doubt!
on his new record, with the exception of "react" (surely meant for redman anyway??), erick unexpectedly came with a fresh digital vs organic (+ ensuing tension) style, but its tough to describe how its different to anyone else pulling these stunts - slicker than anything he's released in the past; amazing clumpy drum machine sounds plugged directly into the mixing desk; pristine samples/interpolations; reverb-less ultra-clear separation, mmmmm! and keith murray is out of prison! but how does it add up to this earthy, feel-good nu soul vibe which is most like an expensive version of de la circa stakes is high?
it might be the dude's killer ear: "love iz" is just some choice loops from al's original tune ("music pt 2 - the old dude's still alive this time" yes, but what's wrong with that?) and e-dub himself, perhaps protesting too much, plugging non-suicidal goofy positivity. nothing is stretched, no one is fucked with (except the killers of big and pac, called out for being "lame"!), i'm just one hundred per cent into the good-times sweetness of it and the 3D soul sound. "love is - the name of this record" no doubt!
17.1.03
pastor troy ft ms jade + nore - "are we cuttin" (remix)
the best thing about pastor troy is he seems to know how to time his once-every-few bars extended growls perfectly for maximum satisfaction so you can growl along. the best thing about this song is he hasn't changed that style much to fit with the completely ridiculous timbaland synth-doom beat accompanying him (the same one that's on the original version). in fact all the rappers get to be surprisingly loose, which is kind of jarring with this collossal beat where everything is rising and tim is in the background heckling on his am radio/megaphone/whatever and fighting for space - kind of a lame artificial device for making the song sound rowdy, but its cool anyway because rowdy is a great thing for any song to be! and it fits with the dressing-up-dancing-getting-fucked-up-meeting-girls narrative.
its surprising after tim said in xxl a while ago he has to "teach" rappers how to flow to his beats - fair enough, i'm sure it works when he's with missy and they're coming up with crazy ideas* ! but now that we've all heard "ching ching" (or even "ugly" ) it's hard to take seriously, it almost seems disrespectful to the new rappers he's producing; you know, stop teaching ms jade to flow really horribly! of course, i don't know what the exact rapper/producer input was on "are we cuttin", but it seems to point to a brighter future for tim's collaborators!
* not including that crazy 'let's model our new album on hello nasty' idea.
the best thing about pastor troy is he seems to know how to time his once-every-few bars extended growls perfectly for maximum satisfaction so you can growl along. the best thing about this song is he hasn't changed that style much to fit with the completely ridiculous timbaland synth-doom beat accompanying him (the same one that's on the original version). in fact all the rappers get to be surprisingly loose, which is kind of jarring with this collossal beat where everything is rising and tim is in the background heckling on his am radio/megaphone/whatever and fighting for space - kind of a lame artificial device for making the song sound rowdy, but its cool anyway because rowdy is a great thing for any song to be! and it fits with the dressing-up-dancing-getting-fucked-up-meeting-girls narrative.
its surprising after tim said in xxl a while ago he has to "teach" rappers how to flow to his beats - fair enough, i'm sure it works when he's with missy and they're coming up with crazy ideas* ! but now that we've all heard "ching ching" (or even "ugly" ) it's hard to take seriously, it almost seems disrespectful to the new rappers he's producing; you know, stop teaching ms jade to flow really horribly! of course, i don't know what the exact rapper/producer input was on "are we cuttin", but it seems to point to a brighter future for tim's collaborators!
* not including that crazy 'let's model our new album on hello nasty' idea.
13.1.03
can it get any worse?
i may only have heard about three of the new entries in this week's top forty but i want to publicly weep anyway. that electric six song was alright for a couple of listens on 2manydjs, but, come now, bring on david motherfucking sneddon. (and panjabi mc.) (but not that flaming lips song which sounds like a bearded darius with worse lyrics and a shit producer... dudes think its revolutionary to use cut-up acoustic guitars like "colourblind" never happened! "don't tell me" also happened several years ago! there's nothing wrong with stealing production gimmicks from people who sell more records but having seen the smug, bearded face of at least one flaming lip, i can only imagine the song was recorded sans microphones and willed onto tape with the force of their own self-satisfaction; like when slum village types [not jay dee though, he's cool!] decide to sample some played-out loop, clearly thinking it would be better used backing up their shitty rhymes than when puffy used it! get some keyboards!)
i may only have heard about three of the new entries in this week's top forty but i want to publicly weep anyway. that electric six song was alright for a couple of listens on 2manydjs, but, come now, bring on david motherfucking sneddon. (and panjabi mc.) (but not that flaming lips song which sounds like a bearded darius with worse lyrics and a shit producer... dudes think its revolutionary to use cut-up acoustic guitars like "colourblind" never happened! "don't tell me" also happened several years ago! there's nothing wrong with stealing production gimmicks from people who sell more records but having seen the smug, bearded face of at least one flaming lip, i can only imagine the song was recorded sans microphones and willed onto tape with the force of their own self-satisfaction; like when slum village types [not jay dee though, he's cool!] decide to sample some played-out loop, clearly thinking it would be better used backing up their shitty rhymes than when puffy used it! get some keyboards!)
12.1.03
x gon give it to ya
fuck wait for you to get it on your own
x gon deliver to ya
knock knock, open up the door, it's real
wit the non-stop, pop pop and stainless steel
go hard gettin busy wit it
but i got such a good heart
i'll make a motherfucker wonder if he did it
damn right and i'll do it again
cuz i am right so i gots to win
break break wit the enemy
but no matter how many cats i break bread wit
i'll break who you sendin me
you motherfucker never wanted nothin
but your wife said, that's for the light day
i'm gettin down, down
make it say freeze
but won't be the one endin up on his knees
bitch please, If the only thing you cats did is come out to play
get out my way
first we gonna ROCK, then we gonna ROLL
then we let it POP, GO LET IT GO
x gon give it to ya
he gon give it to ya
x gon give it to ya
he gon give it to ya
ain't never gave nothin to me
but everytime I turn around
cats got they hands out wantin something from me
i ain't got it so you can't get it
lets leave it at that cuz i ain't wit it
hit it wit full strength
i'm a jail nigga
so i face the world like it's earl in the bullpen
you against me, me against you
whatever, whenever
what the fuck you gon do?
i'm a wolf in sheep clothing
only nigga that you know that can chill
come back and get the streets open
i've been doing this for nineteen years
niggas wanna fight me? fight these tears
i put in work and it's all for the kids
but these cats done forgot what work is
they don't know who we be
lookin! but they don't know who they see
aiiyo where my niggas at?!
i know i got them down in the game
give em love and they give it back
talk too much for too long
don't give up you're too strong
a dog to bow bow hug it
shoutout to niggas that done it
and it ain't even about the dough
it's about gettin down for what you stand for, yo
fuck wait for you to get it on your own
x gon deliver to ya
knock knock, open up the door, it's real
wit the non-stop, pop pop and stainless steel
go hard gettin busy wit it
but i got such a good heart
i'll make a motherfucker wonder if he did it
damn right and i'll do it again
cuz i am right so i gots to win
break break wit the enemy
but no matter how many cats i break bread wit
i'll break who you sendin me
you motherfucker never wanted nothin
but your wife said, that's for the light day
i'm gettin down, down
make it say freeze
but won't be the one endin up on his knees
bitch please, If the only thing you cats did is come out to play
get out my way
first we gonna ROCK, then we gonna ROLL
then we let it POP, GO LET IT GO
x gon give it to ya
he gon give it to ya
x gon give it to ya
he gon give it to ya
ain't never gave nothin to me
but everytime I turn around
cats got they hands out wantin something from me
i ain't got it so you can't get it
lets leave it at that cuz i ain't wit it
hit it wit full strength
i'm a jail nigga
so i face the world like it's earl in the bullpen
you against me, me against you
whatever, whenever
what the fuck you gon do?
i'm a wolf in sheep clothing
only nigga that you know that can chill
come back and get the streets open
i've been doing this for nineteen years
niggas wanna fight me? fight these tears
i put in work and it's all for the kids
but these cats done forgot what work is
they don't know who we be
lookin! but they don't know who they see
aiiyo where my niggas at?!
i know i got them down in the game
give em love and they give it back
talk too much for too long
don't give up you're too strong
a dog to bow bow hug it
shoutout to niggas that done it
and it ain't even about the dough
it's about gettin down for what you stand for, yo
7.1.03
hiphopsite best + worst of 02
get comfortable because this is a whole lot of content! since ego trip magazine died we all have to make do with somewhat less funny stuff like this. and spizzazzz. but still, i was entertained 4real, and their yearly rage against benzino and the source is touching.
get comfortable because this is a whole lot of content! since ego trip magazine died we all have to make do with somewhat less funny stuff like this. and spizzazzz. but still, i was entertained 4real, and their yearly rage against benzino and the source is touching.
6.1.03
submeat was listening to the uk top forty yesterday too! won't anyone tackle the american billboard hot 100? even if it is full of ew-gross album 'cuts'.
selected records in my £5 surprise pack from local hiphop shop
sparkle - told you so
(her post-r kelly record from 2000, exactly the kind of thing that should be in surprise packs! makes a good case for the r'n'b golden age argument by sticking obsessively to convention - stutter-beat destinys knock-offs, allusions to classic soul, annoyingly beautiful processed acoustic guitars, token track with production straight from the previous puffy club supremacy era - and still coming up with good stuff even when the songs have shit choruses ["it's a fact" and "into my life" are through-and-through hot though]. sparkle can only really sound agonizingly sad [like the amazing r kelly duet from her first record, "be careful"] which is totally [hilariously] inappropriate sometimes! unfairly ignored, no doubt.)
project pat ft juvenile - back clap remix 12
(loud records' excellent entry into dirty south [just before they fucked up worse than rawkus] with the dude from three six mafia over a southern bounce version of a fake mystical rza beat. it's executed sickly-sweet and sad instead of 'sinister', and all the better for it. juvenile sounds pretty fucked up!)
v/a - any given sunday s/t
(this is the cover i could see through the roughly selotaped plastic bag which made me pick this particular record pack, but, typical of my recent luck, it is the promo clean version! never mind, goodie mob aren't into sex raps anyway. i have only really listened to the first half. it begins with the worst missy elliott song ever [oh come on, that's not easy!], but that's ok because the second track is "shut up" with trick daddy and trina - just as good as "shut up" by kelly o but with high-gloss-like-underground-producers-can't-afford, 'dystopian' swizz beats [most of the record sounds swizz-like, maybe he produced it all or maybe it was released at that point in 2000 where everything sounded like him anyway]. the goodie/outkast song is unspectacular but still juicy like anything off the great dungeon family record. jamie foxx ft guru + common is perhaps the most terrifying credit/description since 'romantic comedy with nick nolte' or 'produced by dj spinna'.)
jamiroquai - you give me something 12
lynden david hall – sleeping with victor 12
tq – superbitches 12
(does anyone want these?)
wyclef ft mop + bumpy knuckles - masquerade 12
(omg really chunky, overcooked production with wyclef-special absurd touches [why is there a violin doing the "apache" melody at the end?] and mop ripping it like they’ve done every day for a hundred and three years. could anyone really not love this??)
sparkle - told you so
(her post-r kelly record from 2000, exactly the kind of thing that should be in surprise packs! makes a good case for the r'n'b golden age argument by sticking obsessively to convention - stutter-beat destinys knock-offs, allusions to classic soul, annoyingly beautiful processed acoustic guitars, token track with production straight from the previous puffy club supremacy era - and still coming up with good stuff even when the songs have shit choruses ["it's a fact" and "into my life" are through-and-through hot though]. sparkle can only really sound agonizingly sad [like the amazing r kelly duet from her first record, "be careful"] which is totally [hilariously] inappropriate sometimes! unfairly ignored, no doubt.)
project pat ft juvenile - back clap remix 12
(loud records' excellent entry into dirty south [just before they fucked up worse than rawkus] with the dude from three six mafia over a southern bounce version of a fake mystical rza beat. it's executed sickly-sweet and sad instead of 'sinister', and all the better for it. juvenile sounds pretty fucked up!)
v/a - any given sunday s/t
(this is the cover i could see through the roughly selotaped plastic bag which made me pick this particular record pack, but, typical of my recent luck, it is the promo clean version! never mind, goodie mob aren't into sex raps anyway. i have only really listened to the first half. it begins with the worst missy elliott song ever [oh come on, that's not easy!], but that's ok because the second track is "shut up" with trick daddy and trina - just as good as "shut up" by kelly o but with high-gloss-like-underground-producers-can't-afford, 'dystopian' swizz beats [most of the record sounds swizz-like, maybe he produced it all or maybe it was released at that point in 2000 where everything sounded like him anyway]. the goodie/outkast song is unspectacular but still juicy like anything off the great dungeon family record. jamie foxx ft guru + common is perhaps the most terrifying credit/description since 'romantic comedy with nick nolte' or 'produced by dj spinna'.)
jamiroquai - you give me something 12
lynden david hall – sleeping with victor 12
tq – superbitches 12
(does anyone want these?)
wyclef ft mop + bumpy knuckles - masquerade 12
(omg really chunky, overcooked production with wyclef-special absurd touches [why is there a violin doing the "apache" melody at the end?] and mop ripping it like they’ve done every day for a hundred and three years. could anyone really not love this??)
3.1.03
omg its 03!
january is horrible, so expect a higher frequency of posts (or alternatively even less) as we all cocoon ourselves indoors listening to 1xtra through the tv. in the meantime, go look at this dude, who writes some great stuff about rocksteady (finally some respect for the spizzazzz possible best album since ready to die!). or go here and cringe! (03 the year of hate??)
january is horrible, so expect a higher frequency of posts (or alternatively even less) as we all cocoon ourselves indoors listening to 1xtra through the tv. in the meantime, go look at this dude, who writes some great stuff about rocksteady (finally some respect for the spizzazzz possible best album since ready to die!). or go here and cringe! (03 the year of hate??)
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