Something (Sort Of) Different / My Gut Reaction: Prodigy - Untitled EP (August 5, 2016)

This week I’m running a series of posts in honor of the late Albert Johnson, better known in the hip hop community as the rapper Prodigy. These reviews will close out both his and his group Mobb Deep’s respective catalogs, so if you’ve been following this blog, you likely know what projects will be popping up this week. Enjoy, and leave your comments below!

2016 was a good year if you were a Prodigy fan. In the lead-up for what would end up being his fifth and final solo album released during his lifetime, Hegelian Dialectic (The Book of Revelation), the man born Albert Johnson teamed up with peer-to-peer file sharing protocol BitTorrent to release a series of three free compilations of collaborations (some previously released, some fresh) entitled R.I.P., which seems incredibly goddamn morbid considering the events of the following year (and the fact that his passing was wholly accidental). These projects served a similar function to the man flooding the market with mixtapes, as that is what these essentially were, so while you won’t see any reviews for any of those this week, Mobb Deep stans should probably track those down if you’ve never heard of them before, if for no other reason than to see just how many friends Prodigy managed to make within the music industry.

In August of that year, he also released an Untitled EP that ended up being head-scratchingly odd.

Something (Sort Of) Different: Q-Tip - Kamaal the Abstract (September 15, 2009)

A Tribe Called Quest’s The Love Movement dropped on September 29, 1998 (one of the greatest days in the history of hip hop, but that’s a story for another day). Shortly afterward, the group effectively disbanded, leaving the various members to explore solo careers. The late Phife Dawg released his only solo project to date, Ventilation: Da LP, in 2000, while Ali Shaheed Muhammed helped form the supergroup Lucy Pearl that same year. While it seemed like those two took a breather before exploring their options, however, producer-slash-rapper Kamaal “Q-Tip” Fareed took the fuck off, dropping his solo debut, Amplified, a mere year after his group called it quits. (They later reformed for one final album, 2016’s We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service, but that isn’t the point of today’s post.)

Something Different: Beyonce - B'Day (September 1, 2006)

I can tell that the reasoning I provided when I wrote about the first Beyoncé Knowles solo album fell on deaf ears and eyes, so I’m forced to provide it once again for you two, even though most readers will have seen the subject of today’s post and walked away from the blog without giving it a chance. For one, I urge you to open your mind when it comes to experiencing music: limiting yourself to one genre or sub-genre shields you from other shit that you may actually enjoy, and I guaran-fucking-tee you that all of your favorite artists and producers listen to many different artists from all over the musical map. Second, I’ve run out of Jay-Z albums (again), and jumping over to his wife’s back catalog provides a different viewpoint of their shared career trajectory, one that I find fascinating to follow, even though I’m not expecting Bey to suddenly start rapping about flipping bricks and stabbing record label executives. Sometimes it’s good to broaden one’s horizons and to challenge one’s self.

Also, it helps when Beyoncé has some legitimately good songs under her belt.

Something (Sort Of) Different: Mash Out Posse - Mash Out Posse (May 25, 2004)

I will admit that M.O.P. have spent most of their time in the blind spot of my collection. Sure, I’m familiar with the more famous tracks from Lil Fame and Billy Danze’s catalog: I’ve listened to “Ante Up” so many times that I can tell what a film or television director is trying to convey whenever it inevitably appears in their product, as it is by and large the duo’s most popular song. I’ve probably played their collaborations with DJ Premier more than anything else, as I used to go out of my way to compile collections of Preemo-produced tracks before I realized that there already nerds on the Interweb that were doing that exact thing for me. And I generally enjoy whenever they happen to pop up on the songs of their peers: M.O.P. bring an energy that is sorely lacking within our chosen genre, a combination of excitement and pure, uncut aggression that is meant to both hype you up and have you running for the hills whenever you happen to run into these dudes in public, as they’ve honed their personas to a point where they’re just as likely to break your jaw as they are to take a picture with you.

That contagious energy is why Mash Out Posse, a side project recorded with the relatively unknown rock band Shiner Massive when the duo were in label limbo (having left Loud after dropping just one album, Warriorz, in order to set up shop at Roc-A-Fella Records, a move which ultimately didn’t lead anywhere), was something I actually looked forward to hearing when it was first announced. I mean, their best songs already sound like hip hop’s attempt to mimic the style and swagger of rock. “Ante Up” hits harder than many rock acts can manage even today, which is likely why it crossed over into the mainstream so easily. If there was any rapper or rap group that could potentially sound fucking great when paired with crunchy guitars and live drums, it would have to be M.O.P., right?

One would think.

Something Different: Beyonce - Dangerously In Love (June 23, 2003)

So here’s the deal, folks: I’m fully prepared for today’s post to be ignored, dismissed, and likely trashed in the comments. But I don’t give a fuck: there is something about the ascension of Beyoncé Knowles that has fascinated me throughout her career, something more interesting than her actual musical output, and after completing her husband Jay-Z’s discography again earlier this month (at least until he drops something else, which, well, who knows if/when that’ll happen), I found myself thinking about her own body of work, both as a member of the group Destiny’s Child and as a solo artist. There’s an evolution that happened with her music: she hit a point where the love songs took on more raw and poignant feeling, and where she celebrated her independence with far more confidence and audacity than she ever did on her former crew’s “Independent Women” (both parts). I think there’s a fascinating parallel between her own work and that of Shawn Carter, and I’m not just referring to the whole Lemonade / 4:44 cheating thing, and I wanted to discover for myself whether that was the case, or if I was just imagining shit.

So, because this is my blog blah blah blah, today’s post will explore Beyoncé’s debut solo album Dangerously In Love. Tomorrow we’ll get back into some more rap shit, but today’s as good a day as any for me to start yet another project I may not ever finish.

Something (Sort Of) Different: Cypress Hill - Skull & Bones (April 25, 2000)

The subject of today's post is Cypress Hill's fifth full-length album, the double-disc affair Skull & Bones.  It is remembered as the trio's attempt to cash in on the fact that the kind of douchey asshole that loves to mosh, drink terrible (and terribly cheap) beer, and generally "rock out" to shit also seems to like Cypress Hill's earlier work, most likely because they believed B-Real, Sen Dog, and DJ Muggs to be nonthreatening stoners, and they love weed, looooove it, and they totally know a guy who can hook you up, but right now they need to borrow your phone, they left theirs in the car, and come on, be cool, stop being a bitch, alright?

My Gut Reaction / Something (Sort Of) Different: Snoop Dogg - Bush (May 12, 2015)

At the age of forty-three, Calvin "Snoop Dogg" Broadus, who will most likely outlive hip hop in general, if not us all, has gotten to the point in his career where he simply doesn't give a fuck and will release whatever the hell he wants, work with whoever the hell he wants, and hell whatever the hell he hells.  He's always kind of been this way: even way back when he was an up-and-coming superstar on Death Row Records in the early 1990s, he wasn't exactly a fan of inertia.  He's always traveled his own path, daring his fans to follow, and for the most part, they've always been pleasantly surprised.  

Right now, he appears to be bored with rap music, which is fine: I'm right there with him.  But while he'll gladly give a guest verse or a hook to other artists, when it comes to his own shit, he's clearly only trying to amuse himself, and he's open to experimentation: his last two projects were a collaboration with Stones Throw Records' master of funk, Dam-Funk, and a reggae album recorded under the alias Snoop Lion, after all.  Snoop hasn't really done a full-on rap album in four years, and with Bush, his thirteenth solo record, he still hasn't.

My Gut Reaction / Something (Sort Of) Different: Nas & Damian Marley - Distant Relatives (May 18, 2010)

You hear that?  It's like some sort of knocking sound, a consistent knocking that goes and stops?  That's the sound of a nail being hammered into the coffin that contains the back catalog of one Nasir Jones.  Today's post finishes up his discography for all of his existing officially-released solo projects.  Which, of course, means that this sense of accomplishment will be quickly dashed later today when Nas announces his next album, but shut the hell up and let me enjoy this, okay?

My Gut Reaction/Something Different: Kenna - Land 2 Air Chronicles II: Imitation Is Suicide - Chapter 3 (December 3, 2013)

Finally managing to fulfill one of his promises, Kenna Zemedkun released the third and final entry in his Imitation Is Suicide series in December of 2013. I say “finally” even though it was hardly the dude's fault that all of his other rumored projects and release dates fell by the wayside: that can easily be blamed on his record labels and the music industry as a whole, running with the current trends instead of trying to build an artist from the ground up. So maybe this joint venture with Dim Mak, Steve Aoki's label, will pay off handsomely in the end.

When Cypress Hill Met Dubstep: Four Gut Reactions Waiting For The Drop

Back in 2012, Cypress Hill were at a crossroads. Having released their last project, Rise Up, two years prior, the founding trio of the group, made up of rappers B-Real and Sen Dog alongside their producer-slash-deejay Muggs (Eric Bobo also counts as a member, but he has nothing to do with today's article), counted themselves as members of a musical genre that none of them felt as comfortable with as they may have before. This was evident when you recall their excursions into rap-rock and reggae, which I'm sure most of us would like to gloss over, but that shit really happened, you can't will it out of existence. So they did what any reasonable rap group might do when faced with career-altering decisions: they went to the club.

My Gut Reaction/Something Different: Kenna - Land 2 Air Chronicles II: Imitation Is Suicide - Chapter 2 (October 22, 2013)

This is another write-up I had planned on running earlier in the month, but life, as it does, got in the way. Why I elected to run the Earl Sweatshirt review when I had a much shorter one in my back pocket I don't know, but I have a feeling this one won't get quite the same response anyway. Still, my blog, blah blah blah, whatever, go eat your turkey and shut up.

My Gut Reaction / Something DIfferent: Kenna - Land 2 Air Chronicles II: Imitation Is Suicide - Chapter 1 (September 3, 2013)

I'm back.  Sort of.

Something Different: Nathaniel Merriweather Presents...Lovage - Music To Make Love To Your Old Lady By (November 6, 2001)

While you two are still waiting for what I may or may not have to say about the new Jay-Z project, I'm going to take this time to tackle a subject that I have neglected for far too long on HHID: producer Dan "The Automator" Nakamura.  In the past, I've referred to him as one of my favorite producers, and that still holds true today, even though his well of work seemed to dry up considerably...until this year, apparently.  Nakamura has come out of hiding (relatively speaking: it's not as though he ever really left, he just took a break from hip hop) to release a minimum of three separate albums in 2013: his recent Pillowfight collaboration with Emily Wells, the upcoming Got A Girl album alongside actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and, of course, Deltron Event II, the long-awaited sequel to Deltron 3030, a sci-fi opera where Del Tha Funkee Homosapien battled evil corporations in the future.

So today is as good a day as any to talk about his album full of love songs and shit.

Something Different: Various Artists - Christmas On Death Row (December 5, 1996)

Released a little more than a month after the first posthumous album from 2Pac, the Makaveli-credited The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory (and a little less than a month after the second Snoop Doggy Dogg album, Tha Doggfather), Christmas On Death Row remains a curiosity that will probably never be fully explained.  It was released to very little fanfare and even less promotion during the holiday season in 1996, and rabid hip hop fans who were hoping that the project's very title was meant to be ironic were disappointed to discover that, save for a handful of tracks, Christmas On Death Row was, actually, a Christmas album, filled with covers of standards performed by the various R&B acts who populated the label but nobody ever gave a fuck about because Snoop and Dr. Dre and Pac and Tha Dogg Pound, duh.

Reader Review/For Promotional Use Only/Something Different: The Weeknd - House Of Balloons (March 21, 2011)

(In an effort to give you something a bit off-topic, today Red Magic presents his write-up for R&B outfit The Weeknd's House Of Balloons. You shouldn't take this as an open invitation to write about other musical genres, though: if you wish to stray from the beaten path with your Reader Review, you should contact me first. Side note: the album cover features a woman's left breast, so for those of you who are prudes and/or are reading this during your lunch break, you should consider this post technically unsafe for work, I guess. Anyway, here's Red Magic.)

Abel Tesfaye is not a rapper. Nor is he a hip hop artist. Instead, he is a Toronto-based singer, based primarily in the R&B world, who decided to perform under the alias The Weeknd. Tesfaye has everyone talking about The Weeknd by revealing very little about his creation: I stumbled upon The Weeknd thanks to enthusiastic Internet bloggers and YouTube. I had no idea that he had previously performed under the name The Noise; I wasn't aware that he is currently an unofficial part of Aubrey “Drake” Graham's camp. In fact, I'm not really much of an advocate of R&B: I will throw on the odd Janelle Monáe record but, generally speaking, rhythm and blues has never been a huge part of my life. At first glance, The Weeknd's debut mixtape, House Of Balloons, doesn't look all that impressive, either: the album cover is a photograph of a woman sitting in a bathtub, her naked body shielded from the camera by black and white balloons while her left breast dangles out at the corner.

With The Weeknd, Tesfaye has gone out of his way to come across as a puzzling enigma. Why did he pick a name that seems like it would be for a group? Why did he change from his original pseudonym? Why did he spell it without an “e”? Is Tesfaye having a laugh? Is he dyslexic? Is it a printing error? Does he just think it’s cool? Fuck knows. Evidently the question you two are asking, though, is, “Why are you reviewing House Of Balloons? We want rap, not instantly forgettable R&B music, fuck you very much.” Well, that’s a fair question. The only explanation I have is that I was not impressed by Drake’s Thank Me Later, which consisted of poorly-performed weak observations. (This is obviously subject to debate.) However, I find it both rewarding and important to compare artists, especially when there are evident similarities. Both Drake and Abel are from Toronto; both have proven musical talent (yes, Drake too). And although they are competing in different genres, it quickly becomes apparent that their music is reasonably similar. They've also crossed paths already: Abel recorded a demo for Drake, which was later shunted on to The Noise EP, and has also remixed his newer track “Trust Issues”. Moreover, Noah “40” Shebib, the main producer on Thank Me Later, was supposedly involved House Of Balloons but, alas, is nowhere to be found on the final cut. Instead, Tesfaye’s chums Doc McKinney (who has produced for Young Buck, of all people) and Illangelo take charge of production whilst Abel himself handles the mic.

So without further ado, let’s oil up and get to listening.

1. HIGH FOR THIS

No intro bullshit here. House Of Balloons opens with one of the greatest mixtape tracks I have ever heard. Once the drums kick in, the listener becomes enveloped in the world of The Weeknd. The most surprising feature of this song is that Tesfaye isn't really saying much on here: the story is just about trying to persuade a girl to take drugs. The real reason why this song astounds is because it’s jam-packed with genuine emotion. The first verse sets the tone by declaring, “You don’t know what’s in store / But you know what you’re here for”: at first you assume Tesfaye is talking to the listener, but we are merely observers, witnessing something much more personal than merely a song. Lyrics such as “Don’t be scared / I’m right here”, coupled with the nocturnal production, epitomize the poignant message of this track. Are you listening, Mr. Graham?

2. WHAT YOU NEED

Similar to Drake, The Weeknd is clearly influenced by Aaliyah. On this track, McKinney and Illangelo sample “Rock the Boat” and produce a good, but not barnstorming, beat. The production sounds similar to Fat Joe breathing too heavily into my ear after stealing some donuts from the police station. However, if you look past this glitch, the listener is rewarded with Tesfaye perfecting the art of the pause, stopping just long enough for the lyrics to sink in (“He’s what you want / I’m what you need”).

3. HOUSE OF BALLOONS / GLASS TABLE GIRLS

Bloggers seem to underline this track as the magnum opus of The Weeknd. The first part of the song is certainly striking: Tesfaye is, once again, the star of the show, controlling the bouncy beat (which samples Siouxsie and the Banshee’s “Happy House”) with extraordinary valour. However, I feel the second half doesn't fit, both as part of this track and within the context of House Of Balloons itself. Tesfaye’s voice seems incompatible with this rough beat, and although this is the closest he’ll come to rapping on House of Balloons, there is too much wobble to impress, and our host's voice comes off as vomiting confetti. Tesfaye could have problems adapting to alternative beats. I guess time will tell.

4. THE MORNING

True, songs about money are nothing new in either the rap or R&B genres. However, instead of bragging about how much dough he has, Tesfaye croons the infamous goal, “All that money / The money is the motive”. He isn't questioning this subject: instead, he's revealing his objective in life to the listener. Moreover, on this record he drops the best verse on House Of Balloons: “Better slow down, she’ll feel it in the morning / Ain’t the kind of girl you’ll be seeing in the morning.” The opening melody is also tantalizing and upbeat.

5. WICKED GAMES

We are then presented with what is actually the pièce de résistance on House Of Balloons. It’s hard to explain why I rate this record so highly: for some reason I keep comparing it with Radiohead’s “Climbing Up The Walls”, which similarly uses emotion and ambiance to fabricate a work of art which does not deserve to be as awesome as it actually is. How the hell did The Weeknd construct something this brilliant on the first attempt? The opening line, “I left my girl back home / I don’t love her no more” is filled with malice but also desperation; you can just feel Tesfaye pouring out his heart and instructing – even demanding- that the Mademoiselle in the room make him feel special (“Just tell me you love me / Even though you don’t love me”). Everything about this song fits: the guitar riffs, the refrain, the murky atmosphere. “Wicked Games” penetrates deep into the soul of the listener (not a euphemism) and you will be scrambling to hit the replay button again and again. Brilliant.

6. THE PARTY & THE AFTER PARTY

Initially I thought this song was far too long for an R&B record. Nevertheless, the production on this track is dynamite, and Tesfaye does not have to do much lyrically (“Can’t believe I made it / But I made it that’s for sure”) before the novelty of the Beach House sample wears off. Although this song is absolutely fine, you will probably spool back to the previous record.

7. COMING DOWN

Once more the listener becomes engrossed with Tesfaye’s relationship problems. This track explores his exploitation of fame, telling his lady friend, “Girl, I have been bad again”, declaring that it is the money which generates problems, yet “with these problems comes solutions”. The interesting aspect about this track is that Abel generally seems torn, as through he has, in actual fact, lived through these occurrences and is reminiscing about them.

8. LOFT MUSIC

I vaguely remember somebody telling me that this was the second track on House Of Balloons which sampled a Beach House song. Sadly, I do not recognize the sample, which just as easily could be a leftover from the mixtape version of Drake’s So Far Gone. As for the record itself, it starts powerfully (“They see my brain melting / And the only thing I tell ‘em/Is that I’m living for the present”) but sinks into minimalism, ending with Tesfaye simply parroting the beat. Interestingly enough, one reviewer described it as “hip hop stripped down to the bare necessities”, which is lavish praise for a song which falls flat three-quarters of the way through.

9. THE KNOWING

House Of Balloons closes with a beast. Fuck me, this is soul music at its finest: “Now we're lying about the nights / Hiding it all behind the smiles”. Similar to “Wicked Games”, the production team employs guitar riffs and drums to construct a fantastic finale. Tesfaye is again at his best, benefiting from background vocals in addition to the dark ambiance. You can also hear a plethora of influences on this track, notably Interpol and perhaps even Drake himself. But this song is all about Abel, who rips this shit up and finishes on a high.

SHOULD YOU TRACK IT DOWN? The Weeknd's House Of Balloons is interesting for various reasons. First of all, it entrenches my belief that every nutcase on the Internet who declares that today’s music is merely a ripoff and not worth listening to is simply wrong: there is good music to be found both in the past and in the present. Of course, I still enjoy flicking through instant classics, such as Radiohead’s The Bends or Dr. Dre’s The Chronic, but I also desire to hear something different and fresh. I am not saying that The Weeknd is at the top of the hierarchy or anything: much more clever writers than myself have classified The Weeknd as boring, verbal rubbish, and the two readers of this site may dismiss me as a pawn jumping on the hype train. Undoubtedly, there is a huge difference between merely putting out a single mixtape and consistently delivering classic albums. Artists can very quickly become lost in the music industry; for example, Wale, whose Mixtape About Nothing was an instant hit, failed to deliver when confronted with the task of releasing an actual album. Nonetheless, not since The xx's debut album xx have I been this impressed by a musical outfit. There is so much going on in the House Of Balloons that it’s hard to comprehend on the first, second or even third listen. It's even kind of hard to take on board; it’s like being told your father’s gay. I'm aware that there are other artists (such as James Blake, Nicolas Jaar, or Kanye West – yes, I just said Kanye West) who are simply better than The Weeknd and that Tesfaye is a dwarf-like jigsaw puzzle piece in the leitmotiv of today’s music. However, music is not only about great lyrics or hiring the best production team; instead, the artist has to generally believe what he is saying is profound and interesting, and this is exactly what Abel Tesfaye has done. I have not found a store which sells a hard copy, but seeing as House Of Balloons is available as a free download, I would urge you to give it a listen. If you are like me and were disappointed with Thank Me Later, this is the perfect substitute.

- Red Magic

(Questions? Comments? Leave your notes below.)

My Gut Reaction / Something Different: Kenna - Land 2 Air Chronicles I: Chaos and The Darkness (April 26, 2011)

The unclassifiable Kenna (real name Kenna Zemedkun) just cannot catch a break when it comes to the music industry. First, his debut album, New Sacred Cow, which featured wall-to-wall production from “Chase” Chad Hugo (the quieter, less visible half of production team The Neptunes), which tracked well with critics and focus groups, sold a negative amount of copies. Then his eventual follow-up, Make Sure They See My Face, did about the same, even though it included more bones thrown to the mainstream audience (its lead single, “Say Goodbye To Love”, was featured on MTV's The Hills; Pharrell Williams and Justin Timberlake both provided assists). And then the subject of today's post, the three-song EP Land 2 Air Chronicles I: Chaos and The Darkness (the first in a trilogy), which was originally marked for release in February, was pushed back to April after Kenna's hard drive became corrupted and he lost the entire fucking thing.

That last problem is really more of a hardware issue than anything, else, and the man rebounded quickly enough, re-recording the EP and finally unleashing it a few weeks ago. But the issues with his two full-length releases can be chalked up to his record label (Columbia Records for New Sacred Cow, Interscope for his sophomore release, and now Godel for this project) not really knowing how to market him to the masses, since Kenna refuses to stick with a specific musical genre, jumping from New Wave to rock to emo to club-bangers, among others, all within the time it took you to finish this sentence. I believe that anybody who refuses to listen to any genre of music that isn't in their wheelhouse merely because it isn't in their wheelhouse is a fucking moron: there's an entire world of good shit out there, so why should you limit yourself to anything specific? Unfortunately, it would seem that the universe consists primarily of fucking morons, and some of them actually work in the music industry, and those folks are physically unable to wrap their heads around any sort of composition unless they know going into it exactly where within their local record store it will be sitting. Sigh.

Land 2 Air Chronicles I: Chaos and The Darkness will be followed up by two additional volumes, each consisting of another three tracks, later on in 2011. The few articles I've read about this project online all seem to quote the same press release from Kenna's team, discussing the inspiration for the album title and how this entry in the series is the “dark” one. I won't get into any of that shit right now, because I don't feel like wasting virtual ink repeating what someone else has written, but I will say that the album's title is among the most ridiculous I've heard this year. However, I'm willing to let that slide if the music is good, because that is all that matters to me.

Let's take a look at how this year's model stacks up to the Kennas of the past.

1. CHAINS (FEAT. SHIMMY HOFFA)

The lead single (can an EP consisting of only three tracks have a “lead” single?) from Land 2 Air Chronicles I: Chaos and The Darkness is a potent, club-ready idealization of what would happen if the respective spawn of The Neptunes and Crystal Castles decided to hook up. Kenna bounces around the beat while singing about chains that can't be broken, but can “sli-i-i-ide” off (as the song purports to be about breaking free, even just temporarily, from the everyday doldrums of life, or at least that's what the video may lead you to believe), before he jumps into a simple hook that consists mainly of the phrase “bang, bang, bang”, which sounds a bit too peppy when you realize that the lyrics were co-written by Paul Banks, the lead singer from Interpol. Shimmy Hoffa is, apparently, the lame-ass alter-ego of producer Chad Hugo: I never ever thought I would write that “Skateboard P” is a brilliant nickname in contrast, but I'm left with no other choice. Kenna and company manage to conjure up a brick of pure uncut happiness straight from Bolivia. This song is the fucking shit. That is all.

2. KHARMA IS COMING

As if “Chains” wasn't enough of a hint, “Kharma Is Coming” drives the point home that Kenna refuses to reside in a single musical genre, dropping the 1980s New Wave flair he once reveled in in favor of a guitar-driven instrumental laced with some medium-hard drums. He adapts to the task at hand fairly quickly, singing about what every single other artist in existence would sing about when the word “Karma” (or a bastardized spelling of it, anyway) appears in their song's title, although he does manage to make it sound like a serial killer from a slasher flick, even though there isn't anything remotely terrifying about this track...until the distorted vocals toward the end wake you up more than a tiny bottle of 5 Hour Energy ever could. This wasn't bad.

3. WHAT U WANT

Land 2 Air Chronicles I: Chaos and The Darkness ends with a track as disconnected from “Kharma Is Coming” as that song was to “Chains”, but in no way am I implying that is a bad thing. Kenna uses his three verses to describe an anonymous woman looking to have a good time, following her from the time she spends getting ready to go out to the bright, blinding sunlight ever-present during the walk of shame back home. The unexpected piano keys help move the melody along, and the mild, moody electronic drum beat keeps our host in check. The hook is simple, almost too much so, but it still clicks for me, even though I am in no way an anonymous woman looking to have a goot time. I'm sorry to disappoint you. But there are other websites you could visit, if that's what you were really after. (There's also a version of this song floating around online featuring Lupe Fiasco performing all of the verses (using the exact same lyrics) with Kenna restricted to chorus duty only, all taking place over a different beat. I understand that it was originally intended for inclusion on Lupe's Lasers, but was dropped for whatever reason. For the record, I have no idea which version was the original, but having listened to both tracks, I prefer Kenna's attempt personally, but I'm sure a Lupe fan will dispute this in the comments.)

THE LAST WORD: I read a review in which the author highly praised “Chains” but distanced himself from the rest of Land 2 Air Chronicles I: Chaos and The Darkness, feeling that the other two tracks were representative of the poppy crossover attempts that alienated Kenna's fanbase long ago. I feel differently about that for two reasons: (a) “Chains” is the obviously poppy song, and it still sounds really good: with it getting airplay on MTV, wouldn't that be the “crossover” attempt?, and (b) Kenna doesn't have much of a fanbase anyway. Which I wish would fucking change already, as this EP is a brilliant pocket of music which, in a perfect world, would win over a new audience. Kenna reinvents his sound for the second time in his career, proving that he has what it takes to create some fucking entertaining music no matter what kind of restraints are placed upon him (such as a failed hard drive): Malcolm Gladwell was right to profile the man when he did. It's almost criminal that this EP isn't being promoted better than it is (yes, as I mentioned above, the video for “Chains” has been played on MTV, but do you have any idea how fucking early you have to wake up in the morning to catch an actual music video on that failure of a channel?), as Kenna deserves all of the acclaim that he can possibly carry. If you enjoyed New Sacred Cow and Make Sure They See My Face, then you probably already have this one in your possession, but everyone else who is able to look at the world without their hip hop blinders on should also give it a shot. It's only three tracks long, it's super-cheap, and chances are pretty good that you'll actually like it.

-Max

RELATED POSTS:

Catch up on Kenna by clicking here.

My Gut Reaction / Something Different: Ski Beatz - 24 Hour Karate School Japan (October 20, 2010)

Producer Ski Beatz spent the majority of 2010 trying to finally release his 24 Hour Karate School compilation, meeting obstacles every step of the way, including record label reluctance (even though Ski's artist collective worked in conjunction with former Roc-A-Fella showrunner Damon Dash) that resulted in release dates appearing and disappearing from the calendar.  But Ski's biggest issue was with his artists themselves, specifically Dante "Mos Def" Smith, who recorded a number of tracks for the project (and shot a lot of videos, both behind-the-scenes clips for blogs and actual music videos) and still elected to pull out of 24 Hour Karate School at the eleventh hour.  This decision changed the course of the album, altering it from what it might have been to the final product I reviewed earlier this year, one which was still pretty good, all things considered, but one which didn't really live up to the standards that Dante's earlier-released verses (all of which were unleashed by Ski himself for free shortly after the album hit stores) promised.  Then again, any casual hip hop fan could have figured that shit out when they realized that Jim Jones was a featured guest.

However, while undergoing this very public struggle (everything a rapper or a producer does in the United States seems to be done in the public eye, thanks to never-ending blog coverage that only rivals TMZ when it comes to promoting the most inane shit), Ski Beatz quietly assembled a companion project for the Japanese hip hop audience, conveniently named 24 Hour Karate School Japan.  Now that's a move you didn't see coming, right?  (Unless you've already read about this project on another site, in which case, feel free to get a snack before starting with the actual write-up.) 

Dame Dash's vanity label DD172, which released the original 24 Hour Karate School with help from Def Jam Records, teamed up with the Japanese hip hop label R-Rated Records to craft this album, which features some of the best rappers from the Far East (I'm assuming, anyway, since I don't follow Japanese hip hop that often, thanks to the language barrier)  over the exact same production Ski gave his American counterparts.  Yep, that's right: the exact same beats he gave the likes of Curren$y, Camp Lo, and Jay Electronica on the original project were also given to some of Japan's finest emcees, almost as an insurance policy in the event that Def Jam flaked and failed to release the first album, so as to make sure that the music was heard somehow.

Even more interesting is the fact that 24 Hour Karate School Japan is actually readily available in the United States, thanks to Amazon.  Sure, you could spend fifty or sixty bucks to actually have the compact disc shipped to you (and get rewarded with a bonus track for your effort), but why bother when you can get the album for less than ten bucks by downloading it legally?  For those of you keeping score, this would be the only reason I'm writing up 24 Hour Karate School Japan: this blog doesn't make me nearly as much money to justify purchasing Japanese imports on a regular basis.

Okay, let's see what we've got.

1. AMERURAN DREAM (INFUMIAI KUMIAI)

24 Hour Karate School Japan kicks off at an unrelenting pace, as the instrumental to the discarded title track from the original project (which featured Mos Def and is easily found online via a quick Google search) is utilized by the group Infumiai Kumiai for a posse cut that transcends language barriers and just sounds dope, even though I'll be the first to admit that each artist on here could be bragging about fucking my mother, for all I know. It's good to hear that Ski's beat (and its nice little homage to A Tribe Called Quest's “Oh My God”) doesn't sound diluted or altered to match his collaborators: if anything, the rappers modify their own flows to keep up with him, which is the way it should be. Nice!

2. GO (SEEDA)

This song, on the other hand, was a muddled mess. Over the same beat as the American version of “Go” (as originally performed by Curren$y and Jim Jones), Seeda mixes his native tongue with random English phrases, causing this track to sound like an aural interpretation of the seventh level of hell. It doesn't help that Ski's beat (which didn't sound that great to begin with) comes across as fucking excruciating within this context. The rhymes themselves sound alright (Seeda is apparently classified as a “gangsta-slash-conscious” rapper: yes, they do have gangsta rap in Japan), but the forced conviction behind them make it extraordinarily difficult to power through them. As a result, there is absolutely no reason for anybody of any nationality to ever listen to this particularly shitty song again.

3. NIHONJIN RAPPER SOSENKYO (HANNYA)

According to Discogs, the title translates literally to “general election of Japanese rappers”, but Hannya, a solo artist who has worked with Kool G Rap in the past, is the only guy to appear, so I assume this was meant to be a musical version of his own personal political platform. Hannya uses his Guru-esque monotone to ride all over the same instrumental Ski gave The Cool Kids and Stalley for “Do It Big”, but it isn't the best fit for him, as the beat is a bit too busy to support that type of voice work. This song was alright, but “Do It Big” was never one of my favorite tracks (I think The Cool Kids are overrated, although to be honest, I've never paid that much attention to them, so my opinion is pretty much based on their lackluster performance on a single song, which may or may not be very fair), and “Nihonjin Rapper Sousenkyo” follows suit. Hannya would probably sound better over a much slower, far more dramatic beat anyway. Oh well.

4. 24 BARS TO KILL (ANARCHY, RINO LATINA II, KAN, & MACCHO)

The beat for “Prowler 2”, which originally featured Jean Grae, Jay Electronica, and Joell Ortiz (alongside Mos Def, depending on which version you're familiar with) is used again for “24 Bars To Kill”, proving that nearly any group of emcees, regardless of nationality, will sound fucking great over it. The bluesy boom bap just sounds really goddamn perfect for posses to record to, as Anarchy, Rino Latina II, Kan, and Maccho come across as what the Wu-Tang Clan would sound like, had they been from Japan instead of Staten Island. This was pretty fucking nice.

5. JAPANESE TOKKOTAI BANCHO (TETRAD THE GANG OF FOUR)

Remember how awkward Camp Lo sounded on “Back Uptown”? Ski gives the same instrumental to this quartet, who actually do the beat justice. Perhaps the experimental staccato simply works better for rap artists who aren't lyrically stuck in the 1970s (in no way is that meant as a dis toward Camp Lo). This sounds so good, I wouldn't be surprised if Ski gave this to Tetrad The Gang of Four first, and then allowed Geechie Suede and Sonny Cheeba to lace it after running out of other beats for them to use for the original 24 Hour Karate School.

6. MY CITY (GAZZILA)

Since “Arials” (which featured Curren$y, Stalley, Whosane, Terri Walker, and, surprise surprise, Mos Def, although in a limited capacity) failed to make the final cut of 24 Hour Karate School, “My City” may actually sound to you like a brand new song. (I don't understand how, though, since I believe the only people still reading this write-up are the two of you who (a) picked up the original project, and (b) are computer literate, meaning that you could find the “lost” songs fairly easily.) The instrumental is pleasant enough, but I'm not sold that Gazzila was the best outfit for the day: his verses sound alright, but the corny hook, performed in English, makes Kool Keith choruses sound sane. Still, kudos to Ski for going green and recycling all of these beats, eh?

7. HEAVEN’S DOOR (RYUZO & B.I.G. JOE)

I can only assume that Ryuzo and B.I.G. Joe are using the jazzy “Nothing But Us” beat for a mediation on death or as an ode to fallen comrades: remember, there's this whole “language barrier” thing that I'm working through. The artists pepper their verses with enough English words so as to not completely lose the American audience that may only seek this out because of this very write-up, but the bars performed in their native language sound the most natural (obviously) against the Ski backdrop, which sounds a lot better than it did when it was supporting the rhymes of Curren$y and Smoke DZA. This was pleasant enough.

8. RUNNIN’ (BARAGAKI & ZEUS)

Ski's attempt at theme music for an 1970s Saturday morning superhero cartoon series that never existed, originally handed over to Wiz Khalifa and Curren$y (for “Scaling The Building), finds its way into the clutches of Baragaki and Zeus, who both sound okay, as they praise Ski himself and talk some shit (I'm assuming). “Runnin'” doesn't fare much better than its predecessor did, but it sounds decent enough, as the music really carries the artists over the threshold and into their marital bed for some deep-dick cuddling.

9. REMEMBER SHADOWMEN (KGE THE SHADOWMEN)

This is the rare song that dilutes the potency of its predecessor, but not because it is so mind-blowingly transcendent or anything. Instead, this song just exposes the fact that most rap songs are not collaborative efforts: typically, an instrumental is crafted first, and then sold to the highest bidder, who then writes about whatever the fuck they want, usually without any input from the original producer. Most of your favorite songs feature instrumentals that could have gone to absolutely anybody. As such, Stalley's “S.T.A.L.L.E.Y.”, which originally felt like the man's personal theme music, now comes across as an incredibly average song by KGE The Shadowmen. True, this song still sounds okay, save for the awkward hook, but it sounds powerful for all of the wrong reasons. I almost feel the need to retroactively adjust the original review of Stalley's track from 24 Hour Karate School, since now it sounds just so fucking generic. If I were Stalley, I would be really pissed at Ski for giving the beat to a second group of artists. Their quick homage to Camp Lo's “Luchini (This Is It)” was unexpected, though.

10. ROC RATED (ANARCHY, LA BONO, & RYUZO)

During my write-up for 24 Hour Karate School, I stated that “I Got Mines” sounded like a companion piece to “Prowler 2”. “Roc Rated” serves the same function for “24 Bars To Kill”, and not just because Anarchy appears on both tracks. This guitar-driven, highly-caffeinated instrumental sounds much better without Nicole Wray's chorus, which didn't even sound all that bad to begin with, which is a testament to Ski's ability to wrangle the best out of his collaborators when he so chooses. “Roc Rated” and “24 Bars To Kill” should be added to your Ski Beatz 24 Hour Karate School playlist immediately. No, I'm not joking.

11. MCW (MUCHA CUCHA WARU) (TWIGY & DABO)

Rugz D Bewler's “Super Bad” is repurposed for this song, which sounds exactly how a rip-off of Lil' Wayne's “A Milli” would in Japan, funnily enough. I've always liked the way Ski adds or subtracts elements from his instrumental every eight bars or so. However, this track is only alright: it isn't bad by any means, but the calm line readings of Twigy and Dabo don't mesh as nicely with the simple, gimmicky musical backdrop.

12. FOLLOW ME (SMITH-CN)

Uses the “Not Like Me” beat and warrants an overall “meh”. It is what it is.

13. HEY TAXI (ISSUGI & S.L.A.C.K.)

Since the album version of “Taxi” ended up being an instrumental-only affair, this is one of the few efforts on 24 Hour Karate School Japan to not sound like a retread. (True, the original version of “Taxi” was supposed to contain a Mos Def performance, but that ended up being deleted, as did all of Dante's performances, in case I haven't mentioned that fact enough today.) Issugi and S.L.A.C.K. take Ski's driving music and turn it into an aimless ride through downtown Tokyo, and I mean that in the best possible way. Mos Def's version sounds much better, but I'm just glad that someone was officially able to capitalize on this aurally pleasing instrumental. And with that, I'm done.

Physical copies of 24 Hour Karate School Japan contain a bonus track, a remix of “24 Bars To Kill” that features completely different artists. Picking this up off of iTunes or Amazon is one thing, but I'm not in a financial position anymore to drop fifty-plus bucks on an import just to get an additional song. So I'll leave it to the readers: if any of you live in Japan and own a physical copy of 24 Hour Karate School Japan, let me know if the extra song is any good by leaving me a comment below.

THE LAST WORD: Obviously, Ski Beatz's 24 Hour Karate School Japan isn't for all tastes. Just as there are many people who (incredibly fucking stupidly, in my opinion) avoid foreign films because they hate to read subtitles, there will be American hip hop heads who refuse to listen to music that originated outside of their comfort zone. While this project isn't perfect, it does serve as an effective gateway into Japanese hip hop culture, aided and abetted by Ski's original 24 Hour Karate School instrumentals, which act as a bridge between two separate audiences. For the most part, the artists involved with the Japanese chapter of the academy adhere to a similar curriculum as their American counterparts, and they certainly talk as much shit as some of your favorite artists do. Aside from the language barrier, 24 Hour Karate School Japan could easily blend into the rest of your iTunes playlist: the acts involved don't sound as abrasive as you may have feared, if your only exposure to Japanese culture thus far has been anime, Gojira, and the first volume of Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill. Ski Beatz allows listeners to have a unique look into a parallel universe that we can visit while still currently enjoying our current lifestyle, which is rare in hip hop, mainly because most rappers would become apoplectic if they discovered that their producer sold the same beat to an entirely different artist. 24 Hour Karate School Japan comes with a built-in handicap: the instrumentals you're probably already familiar with help ease the transition into an entirely new world, and as a result, this curious experiment actually works.

-Max

RELATED POSTS:

Ski Beatz – 24 Hour Karate School

Something Different: Kenna - Make Sure They See My Face (October 16, 2007)

It's been over a year since I've attempted to review something that isn't a rap album.  Occasionally, I get bored of hip hop, especially the newer stuff, so I'm going to give this series another shot, and whether it survives is dependent on reader response.  So let me know what you think.

Four years after the release of his debut, New Sacred Cow, Kenna Zemedkun, known simply as Kenna for musical purposes, was finally able to drop his follow-up, Make Sure They See My Face, thanks to his friendship with both halves of production duo The Neptunes (Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo), who eventually signed him to their vanity imprint Star Trak Entertainment after his original deal with Flawless (Fred Durst's record label) fell apart.  

New Sacred Cow was chock-full of Kenna's New Wave sensibilities updated for the new millennium, but as was to be expected with anything that sounds even remotely different, it failed to sell any copies.  The project's lack of success was even documented by Malcolm Gladwell in his best-selling book, The Tipping Point, where it was determined that (surprise, surprise) the musical tastes of those within the industry don't jive with those of the general public: no matter how good the music may be (and New Sacred Cow tested well), the mainstream prefers to be spoon-fed generic crap that sounds just enough like everything else to not be too demanding on the subconscious.

The only trait that New Sacred Cow carried that meshed with pop culture was Chad Hugo's wall-to-wall production, which made the album sound like Depeche Mode as filtered through The Neptunes by way of UNKLE.  Which is probably why I liked it so fucking much.  Undeterred, Kenna repeats a similar formula for Make Sure They See My Face, his long-delayed sophomore effort that throws Pharrell Williams a bone (he also had a hand in naming the album) and even features production work from Kenna himself, although Chad still manages the majority of the project.

Due to the Star Trak connection, Kenna was marketed to a younger audience, specifically those who still watched MTV unironically, but Make Sure They See My Face still failed to connect with the mainstream, with radio airplay eluding our host yet again.  However, critical acclaim helped give the project a much higher profile than New Sacred Cow, and the songs contained within have held up a bit better than its predecessor.

Yeah, I just gave away the ending of my review.  What of it?

1. DAYLIGHT

This was a pretty interesting was to start things off. After nearly a full minute of setting the stage with low ambient sounds, Chad Hugo's drum machine kicks in, and Kenna refuses to look back, as he makes proclamations about love and other catastrophes over an instrumental that is alive and full. You could use this as your alarm clock in the morning and you would feel ready to face the day: it's sonic caffeine. Not bad, Kenna. Not bad at all.

2. OUT OF CONTROL (STATE OF EMOTION)

Kenna enters the clubs with the help of this bombastic Chad Hugo beat, which sounds more soulful than the entirety of the last Clipse album, even though this is all noise and no real heart. Kenna strains his voice in order to be heard over the instrumental, but it's okay: this kind of ode to love and anarchy is intended for dance floors, not quiet dissertations. This wasn't bad, but it's a bit of a letdown when compared to “Daylight”.

3. LOOSE WIRES / BLINK RADIO

The instrumental sounds too closely related to Gwen Stefani's “Yummy”, which makes sense, as Pharrell Williams produced both. With “Loose Wires”, Kenna pulls Make Sure They See My Face out of the 1980s and into the present day, and his vocals make the transition seamlessly, even if some of the lyrics are fairly bland. The skit “Blink Radio” immediately follows, and it is completely and utterly useless, as is to be expected. Why are there skits on this album, anyway?

4. SAY GOODBYE TO LOVE

This was the single (the only one, as far as I know), and it is probably the most commercial song on here, and I only say that because I was once informed by a fellow blogger that MTV played this song during an episode of The Hills. (Not that I watched the show or remotely give a fuck, but can someone explain why Heidi and Spencer are even remotely famous? Who out there really cares about their lives? They just seem like a couple of assholes.) Pharrell provides a club-ready beat that owes a lot more to N.E.R.D.'s previous work than it does to 1980s New Wave/synth pop, and Kenna adjust accordingly, with fun results. Yeah, I just used the word “fun”.

5. SUN RED SKY BLUE

A simple guitar loop pairs up with some hard drums for another excursion onto alternative radio. Like with most New Wave songs, the lyrics are almost beside the point (which is why I don't really touch on them throughout this write-up), but when they appear alongside such a searing bit of musical scenery, they acquire a level of depth that they don't entirely deserve. (Say the title of this song out loud. Right now. I can wait. Sounds kind of stupid, don't you think?) But I loved this song all the same. Can't have music without the actual music part, after all.

6. BAPTIZED IN BLACKLIGHT

This song was merely alright, but I needed a breather, so I'm okay. Chad's low-key rumble of an instrumental, mixed with the noise coming from the factory that manufactures the intolerance to Kenna that most Americans are equipped with, results in a track that simply isn't engaging enough. Kenna's lyrics are also inconsequential, although I'm still liking the voice itself. Moving on...

7. STATIC

Out of all the tracks on Make Sure They See My Face, this is the song I hear most frequently, as it has been included in the easy-listening music package that gets piped in to my day job, which isn't known for its clever choices and indie street cred, by the way. That doesn't mean this song is for an elderly audience, though, as it is quite good. I'm fully convinced that “Static” receives this level of consideration because Kenna's first self-produced effort for the project sounds so fucking relaxing, like Thom Yorke on horse tranquilizers after pairing an entire turkey with a fifth of Jameson and watching the director's cut of The Thin Red Line. Kenna's confusion as to whether he wants to stay or should he go is captured perfectly in this melancholy and haunting track: only the very end, which reminds me of The Steve Miller Band's “Fly Like An Eagle”, is a miscalculation. Otherwise, once again, this is quite good.

8. PHANTOM ALWAYS

This song sounds destined to be played during the end of the final act on any given show on the CW, or maybe even ABC Family. Positioning “Phantom Always” immediately after the equally lethargic (I mean that in a good way) “Static” wasn't the best move, though: it drags the energy of Make Sure They See My Face down tremendously, and this song lacks all of the positive traits that the rest of the project carries by the bucketful. So no, I didn't care for this song. Fun fact: “Phantom Always” features The Social Network's Justin Timberlake on background vocals. They didn't help.

9. FACE THE GUN / GOOD LUCK

My understanding is that “Face The Gun” was a throwaway track leaked by Kenna himself to appease his fans during the time when he was having trouble convincing his label to release Make Sure They See My Face, and it was so well received that they worked it into the final product. Thanks to Chad's instrumental, the song is upbeat and catchy, and it acts as a well-constructed bridge between Kenna albums. “Good Luck”, the interlude that follows, is strange and unnecessary, though: Kenna and his backup give listeners a reprise to the hook on “Loose Wires” that makes that earlier effort sound much more depressing than it originally did.

10. BETTER WISE UP

This sounds like a Radiohead song circa the Kid A / Amnesiac studio sessions. Which isn't a bad thing for me, as I love those albums, but if you're a Pablo Honey or an OK Computer guy, consider yourself warned. I wouldn't be surprised to hear Thom Yorke covering Kenna's disparaging commands that make up this song, as this is tailor-made for his sensibilities. Kenna's impression is pretty good, and Chad's production switches up just before listeners can complain about getting bored. The closest comparison I can come up with for this song is UNKLE's Yorke-featured “Rabbit In Your Headlights”; if you like that song, you'll also like this one.

11. BE STILL

Chad and Pharrell bring the 1980s New Wave aesthetic and the new millennium's club-ready rhetoric respectively, but when Kenna is left to his own devices, such as on “Static” and on this track, he aims to...apparently be considered for a slot on the soundtrack to the next film in the Twilight series. That's not to say this is bad: I enjoyed his emo-rock a great deal. I just prefer the more upbeat songs to this one-sided conversation Kenna has with a lover. If you like acts such as The Postal Service or maybe Jimmy Eat World, this will be right up your alley. If you still like Owl City's “Fireflies”, then you need to get the fuck off my blog.

12. WIDE AWAKE

Chad Hugo proves that he is the guy who handles all of the melodies for the Neptunes, as “Wide Awake” displays a maturity that Pharrell's current output couldn't reach even with a stepladder and a pair of stilts. Kenna and Chad finalize their bid for alternative radio (as no rap station would ever look in their direction) with what sounds like a low-grade Deftones song, and I mean that in the best possible way. This was a pretty fair ending, I think.

The UK also received a bonus track, “Rockaway Life”, which was both written by and features Justin Timberlake. I'm not really sure why the label didn't think that affixing a sticker on the front of Make Sure They See My Face's jewel case that said “Featuring Justin Timberlake” might possibly help Kenna move more units. It seems like a no-brainer to me. Anyway, as of right now, I haven't yet heard that track, so I don't have any opinion on it. If you've heard it, let me know in the comments below.

FINAL THOUGHTS: I remember reading a review of Kenna's Make Sure They See My Face that criticized the artist for finally releasing the album at the exact moment that everyone stopped giving a fuck about him, as if that was somehow Kenna's fault. The hell? Isn't a review supposed to help the reader determine whether an album is worth their time and money? For what it's worth, Make Sure They See My Face is entertaining as hell, and it would slide onto radio station playlists with ease today, if any of them grew a pair. Kenna's lyrics rarely stray from the “love song” path, which make most of his verses sound heavily influenced by The Cure and Depeche Mode. But the music is truly what makes this project work: with the push of a button, listeners can switch back and forth between the clubs and the quieter teen movie moments. Chad Hugo (and, to a much lesser extent, his Neptunes partner Pharrell Williams) crafted these beats with the fingers of a master puppeteer, and Kenna delivers on his promise of giving his fans a natural extension of New Sacred Cow. If you're into this sort of New Wave-new millennium amalgamation, then Make Sure They See My Face is pretty fucking awesome.

BUY OR BURN? Sure, Kenna will never be a platinum-selling artist, but that doesn't mean that he doesn't deserve to be. You should buy this album and give him a shot. Once again, it's entertaining as hell, and it's probably cheap to find these days, too. It's worth it.

BEST TRACKS: “Static”; “Daylight”; “Wide Awake”; “Be Still”; “Better Wise Up”; “Sun Red Sky Blue”; “Face The Gun”; “Say Goodbye To Love”

-Max

RELATED POSTS:

Something Different: Kenna – New Sacred Cow

Something Different: Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - Dap Dippin' With... (2002)

I just double-checked the past history of Hip Hop Isn't Dead, and I noticed that I haven't written about a non-hip hop album since November of 2007. I also realized that I made an older comment regarding the likelihood of HHID running a Sharon Jones review, and someone wrote that they would actually want to see that go up sometime. Hopefully, that person still frequents the blog, and I'm sorry that I didn't get to this sooner.

Sharon Jones is best known as the soul singer who used to be a corrections officer on Rikers Island, but unlike a certain other former corrections officer, Sharon doesn't brag about how much coke she's moved or how many yachts she currently owns. (Yet.) A singer all her life, Sharon Jones sang gospel with her church choir, and lent backup vocals to many studio sessions, one of which, a song for funk and soul legend Lee Fields, inadvertently propelled her to stardom. The producers of the track were so impressed by her performance that they invited her to cut a solo song of her own, and the rest is in the history books.

After a lengthy history of creating record labels that no longer exist (such as Pure and Desco), co-producer Gabriel Roth (also known as Bosco Mann), along with saxophonist Neal Sugarman, created Daptone Records, which Jones would eventually be a part of (although she released at least three singles for Desco). Her debut album, Dap Dippin' With Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings (containing songs almost exclusively written by Bosco Mann, who also plays bass), would be the new label's first release. The Dap-Kings of the title are not only Sharon's backing band (born out of the leftover parts of The Soul Providers and The Mighty Imperials), they're stars in their own right, as they have also provided musical accompaniment for Amy Winehouse (after her producer, Mark Ronson, liked what he heard) and even played the instruments for Ronson's own Version. Along with Sharon Jones, the Dap-Kings are responsible for recapturing the essence of soul, something that has eluded many contemporary artists.

Dap Dippin' With Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings proved to be a critical success, and Sharon Jones has seen her profile increase exponentially with each new release.

On with the music!

1. (INTRODUCTION)
This intro receives a begrudgingly-given pass. Not because this isn't a rap album, but because the concepts introduced and the overall sound contribute to the feeling that the album is striving for.

2. GOT A THING ON MY MIND
Like most lovers of music, I believe it to be a very visual experience. Whenever I hear a good song, my mind creates a scenario where the track could serve as the perfect soundtrack to a scene in a film (probably because I'm a film guy, but whatever). This could easily double as opening credit sequence music for a Judd Apatow-esque dramedy, and I mean that in the best way possible.

3. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY
Somehow, Sharon Jones (with assistance from The Dap-Kings) manage to make this song sound like it predates Janet Jackson's original version. Even though Mrs. Jermaine Dupri (seriously?) has the better song, Sharon still manages to make this hers.

4. THE DAP DIP
The song responsible for that annoying-as-shit vocal sample that infiltrated Rhymefest and Kanye West's “Brand New”, but when the phrase is used in its proper context here, it's not any less annoying, but at least it makes sense. This song is only alright.

5. GIVE ME A CHANCE
This is just a great song. That's all I got.

6. CUT THAT LINE
This song isn't even listed on the back of the CD packaging. Of all the songs on this album, this is the one I liked the least, and yet, it still sounds decent. That says a lot about this CD in general.

7. GOT TO BE THE WAY IT IS
For those of you whose musical tastes don't venture very far beyond rap music in general (and especially if you listen to the radio exclusively), the downside of this album is that some of these Dap-Kings instrumental efforts can be a bit hard to distinguish from one another. Just another reason why you folks need to broaden your horizons.

8. MAKE IT GOOD TO ME
Sounds like an outtake from the Motown or Stax vaults. Sharon Jones relaxes a bit and slows the mood down, and the result is this plea to her lover that could be played on oldies radio and nobody would bat an eyelash. (Somehow, that's supposed to be a good thing.)

9. AIN'T IT HARD
The drums that start off this song are certainly hard. The sound is massive, movie score-ready, and is so good that you're distracted from the fact that the lyrics come off as bad grade school poetry.

10. PICK IT UP, LAY IT IN THE CUT
Not much in the way of songwriting, but the track is a fun joyride into the night, driving from club to club on a Saturday night without a care in the world. I miss those days.

11. CASELLA WALK
Although it seems to take fucking forever to get started (the track is over ten minutes long, but the song itself takes up less than three of those minutes), this instrumental piece is the shit. This is some montage-quality stuff: you can plan a heist of three separate casinos in Las Vegas and count your money to this. Fan-fucking-tastic.
FINAL THOUGHTS: Thank God someone had the good sense to both create Daptone Records and sign Sharon Jones. Her voice is a throwback to an era long since past, and Dap Dippin' With Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings is the perfect antidote for what passes as “singing” in the R&B field today. The Dap-Kings also deserve kudos for accurately recalling a time when music was made because of the love of the sport, and not just to peddle fashion lines and shit. A very impressive debut, and a good straightforward listen, which is rare in all musical genres today.

BUY OR BURN? If you appreciate music at all, picking up this album should be at the top of your to-do list. Run out and grab this disc before you take out the garage and paint the trash, or else you don't love music as much as you say you do, and you're a dirty liar.

BEST TRACKS: “Casella Walk”; “Got A Thing On My Mind”; “Give Me A Chance”; “Pick It Up, Lay It In The Cut”; “Make It Good To Me”; “Ain't It Hard”

-Max