I'm a Wyclef stan. While on The Score he pretty much just made me laugh with his crazy off-kilter and free barely-rhyming. But I loved it. While Pras was off ... um ... doing whatever he was doing every third verse and Lauryn was redefining the art of intrinsic rhyming, Clef played the role of the court jester who obviously had skills, yet seemed bored with any and all semblance of convention. And once the Fugees split, he's been on an absolute tear ever since in regularly providing his fans with new product.
Wyclef Jean - Riot (feat. Serj Tankian & Sizzla)
He's got six (and soon to be seven) solo albums to go with the two and a half Fugee records. And I proudly own a physical copy of every one of them. His latest offering from '07 was The Carnival, Vol. II and he capitalized on all his amazing music connections with this one. Don't hold me to it, but I'd say Clef's got a better collaborative posse than Wayne, Akon, or any other hip hop artist out there. Besides collaboing with those two titans I just mentioned, do these names mean anything to you: T.I., Shakira, Paul Simon, Mary J. Blige, Chamillionaire, Norah Jones, will.i.am, or Raekwon? That's just this one album ...
But this "Riot" song specifically, that's what kills me. I'm an undercover System of a Down junkie and I think Serj has one of the greatest voices in all of history. And when two musical geniuses come together like this who are 100% different stylistically and still produce a classic product, it makes me very, very happy. It should make you feel like that, too.
... but do take my word for it.
Showing posts with label Chamillionaire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chamillionaire. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Classic: Riot
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Wah-Lay!
I'm always ... intrigued (careful word choice) to hear the sound when a new music scene is on the come-up from a city on the map not previously represented. While it was a little before my prime, in the mid '90s, Atlanta hip hop came out hard with a sound only capable of being described as Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik with groups such as OutKast, Goodie Mobb, and Parental Advisory in the early years defining their specific genre. Unfortunately, crunk became an offshoot of that as newer Atlanta acts became prominent in the mainstream. But it was something we hadn't heard before. And that's important, no matter what form it takes.
Houston is a more recent example. Children got to see before their very eyes the insanely huge, though temporary, celebration of the Chopped-N-Screwed and candy-painted movement of Texas with the inexplicable rise to fame of Slim Thug, Mike Jones, Paul Wall, Lil' KeKe, and others around 2005-ish. While I personally prefer to look at H-Town's richer history of the Geto Boys, Devin the Dude, and more recently Chamillionaire, no one can doubt the epic nature that distinctive sound took on the rap game for a little while.
Now the Washington, D.C. area is hoping to carve its niche in the hip hop universe on the shoulders of one man. Wale. Not "whale" as I ignorantly thought initially. But the magician/matador-like "Wah-lay"! I quote Phonte (pioneer of the NC sound!) way too much in my explanation of enjoyable and important rap music, but it applies here, too.
"Dope beats, dope rhymes. What more could y'all want?" (c) Phonte
It's a Calculus II-worthy formula that should be taught in kindergarden classes the world over. Wale prevails in his adherence to this formula. And if you're ever going to be formulaic, wouldn't this be the one you'd like to be classified under?
Before listening to the above tape I would never have believed anyone could pull off an ode to Seinfeld, regardless of genre. But Wale sets up each track as a Seinfeld episode experience in that they're methodically yet simply labeled "The [insert reason why it's relevant] Song". It's a beautiful concept that's beautifully utilized to poke fun at himself. Take for instance "The Cliche Lil' Wayne Feature" that was previously known as "Nike Boots (Remix feat. Lil' Wayne)" to earlier fans. That takes guts and humility to call yourself out as such. My personal favorite title is "The Roots Song Wale Is On" as he isn't even afraid to bill his song cementing his underground cred as thoughtfully funny on elaboration, either.
Wale takes chances in crafting his soundscape, but it's so second nature to him that the end product is consistently dope. He incorporated blatant go-go sounds as an ode to his hometown as well as live band orchestration, real drums, and heavy pop remixes, all while approaching his lyricism differently and successfully depending on the track he's adding to. His lyrics are constantly double-take worthy but never do you feel overloaded. If you're not in a thinking mode, he makes the flow just sound good so you can nod out to it.
Get up on Wale before that first official album drops. If not, you'll already be behind. And you'll have to be tutored in the fact that a single man is making rap relevant locally in America's capital. And his name ain't Barack Obama.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Remix Part Three!!!
So I changed the title of my remix project to Remix Part Three!!! That one's to Tyler. Hahahaha!
I redid both my previous big ole remixes and got a new one for y'all to marinate on.
[EDIT: Better versions available here. Download those instead.]
Chris Campbell
I really love making these and inserting what little influence I can have composition-wise and by adding my own verse on each one. I just really, really like it. The only thing is the cursing. I'm not trying to be all holier-than-thou on the subject, cuz I'm definitely not, but I just never want me cussing to be on wax. I don't like it and I don't want it. Every rapper has to make the decision on their own if they waste bars on filler swears, use cursing for important emphasis, or just simply and creatively write around them. I choose the third. So saying all that, I just had to make this a side project, cuz any of my personal Laptop series mixtapes are gonna be me and my features and my scratches all one hundred percent clean for urbody's ears. On that Chamillionaire tip since Mixtape Messiah 3 (downloadable link).
So be looking for that tape for all the hip hop freestyle junkies in the world. Expect maybe a "No One", maybe an old Jay-Z song or two, definitely a "Put On", most definitely a "Hero", and a few others prolly to finish up the tape and for me to have it zipped and downloadable this month.
And since got musical ADD, I'm making a fake radio station interview comedy album, too. It'll be in the vein of the two interviews I have already, but with different guests including famous musicians and some crazy stand-up comics. If it comes out even remotely like I'm planning, it'll be flippin' hilarious. I'll keep ya posted and updated.
Enjoy the mega-remixes and spread em to your friends!
... and so concludes another masterpiece
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