My Gut Reaction: Mark Ronson - Here Comes The Fuzz (September 8, 2003)

As I had mentioned in my review for Mark Ronson's Version, he actually had a prior release that relied mainly on rap artist favors, and for some unknown reason he titled it Here Comes The Fuzz. Released in 2003, it supposedly spawned two singles, only one of which anyone has ever heard: "Ooh Wee", which featured Ghostface Killah and his weed carrier Trife, Nate Dogg on the hook, and a surprise guest spot by a guy more famous for appearing on Entourage than for being an actual rapper, Saigon (side note: before anyone jumps all over me in the comments, think about that statement for one moment. Seriously. People who read hip hop blogs like mine may be more aware of Saigon's skills, but there are a lot more people out there who don't even follow hip hop). This song was featured in the Jessica Alba vehicle Honey, which was really only made to showcase one thing: Jessica Alba shaking her...um...acting prowess. Yeah, that's it. And for more examples of how, um, good she was as an actress, before she became a self-hating Hispanic who claims she doesn't identify with her Latin heritage (even though, truthfully, when was the last time you saw a White girl that looked like her?), you should probably watch Sin City or even Idle Hands.

Sorry, that got totally off topic. The point of this post is to prove that I do indeed read every single comment that I get (and I love them; keep 'em coming!), and a couple of folks advised that I should actively pursue Here Comes The Fuzz, because even though it sold zero copies and has been completely eclipsed by his monster hit Version (relatively speaking), it wasn't completely without merit. Even though this CD was released four years ago, I haven't heard it until now, so that's why it's a Gut Reaction post instead of a regular write-up. But you didn't really need me to explain all that, right?

1. THIS DJ
A big-band cover of the Warren G. classic? (That's right, I said classic. I fucking love that song.) Nope, we're not so lucky. If this is actually supposed to be Mark Ronson rapping, then I will never have to hear this intro ever again.

2. BLUEGRASS STAIN'D (FEAT NAPPY ROOTS & ANTHONY HAMILTON)
I appreciate the fact that Mark tried to branch out immediately; I mean, it's blatantly obvious that most superstar Djs wouldn't even consider thinking about considering Nappy Roots for their superstar DJ mixtape. That said, this song only sounds okay.

3. OOH WEE (FEAT GHOSTFACE KILLAH, TRIFE, SAIGON, & NATE DOGG)
I actually like this song. Has Nate Dogg ever done a hook that sounded terrible? No? Okay then. And Trife is actually one of the better Wu-affiliated weed carriers out there. Is Saigon's album still scheduled to drop the 34th of Neveruary?

4. HIGH (FEAT AYA)
Sounds to me like a precursor to Version, if Version was an album filled with covers of disco classics. It's not bad, but it's not staking its claim in my mind.

5. I SUCK (FEAT RIVERS CUOMO)
I like Weezer, don't get me wrong. Some of their songs are catchy as hell, and their videos are especially good. So by default, I like Rivers Cuomo. But I hated this song. And not just because the title basically invites everyone in the world to shit all over the song; it just isn't very good.

6. INTERNATIONAL AFFAIR (FEAT SEAN PAUL & TWEET)
This would be the aforementioned second single. See? I told you that you wouldn't have ever heard of it. Sean Paul has singles on the radio that sound better than this track, and Tweet...wait, Tweet was still around in 2003?

7. DIDUNTDIDUNT (FEAT SAIGON)
Saigon's got skills, and I'm looking forward to his official debut album. The chorus is very simplistic, though, almost so much so that my sensibilities are offended.

8. ON THE RUN (FEAT MOS DEF & M.O.P.)
Arguably the most creative collaboration presented on Here Comes The Fuzz. Notice how I didn't say the song itself was any good; the pairing is creative, that's all.

9. HERE COMES THE FUZZ (FEAT FREEWAY & NIKKA COSTA)
I never liked Nikka Costa. Back in 2001, when her so-called hit record "Like A Feather" was charting, I found her to be yet another act that was promoted heavily in Europe as if she would be the next big thing Stateside (kind of like, hmm, Mark Ronson, when you think about it), when in truth, she sounded like everyone else at the time to me; nothing about her really stood out. This is probably why I don't like Joss Stone, either.

10. BOUT TO GET UGLY (FEAT RHYMEFEST & ANTHONY HAMILTON)
I think Rhymefest is severely underrated. This song sounds okay, if a bit gimmicky. You know, there aren't any rock stars that write lyrics about rappers, but rappers talk about rock music all the fucking time. Why is that?

11. SHE'S GOT ME (FEAT DANIEL MERRIWEATHER)
This song takes the prize for Song Most Likely To Be Skipped To First By My Wife, If She Ever Was To Come Across This Album While Driving Around Bored Out Of Her Mind, if only because she really likes Daniel's cover of "Stop Me". This track isn't as good as "Stop Me", but it's not awful.

12. TOMORROW (FEAT DEBI NOVA & Q-TIP)
I remember when Q-Tip was more of a force in hip hop. Why doesn't he just swallow his pride and sign with Koch or Nature Sounds or some other indie label, just to get some material out to the public?

13. RASHI (OUTRO)
And thank God this is over.

THE LAST WORD: I didn't really hear anything on Here Comes The Fuzz that is worth listening to a second time. It comes off as a vanity project by a vanity DJ who, by sheer force of luck, has a Rolodex filled with the numbers of some pretty good rappers, and decided to call in favors one morning over a breakfast of Frosted Flakes sprinkled with cocaine. Listening to this, I can see why, as my British readers pointed out, why Mark Ronson actually "wasn't shit" (direct quote) in his homeland. I still feel Version is very good, though; perhaps his forte is dealing with singers, not rappers.

-Max

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Mark Ronson - Version