Kanye vs. T-Pain

Once the year 2007 rolled around, there were two people dominating radio music with hit after hit after hit. It was the irrepressible Louis Vuitton Don and Teddy Penderassdown.

Though their early careers couldn't have been any more independent from one another, their unrelenting commercial stardom caused the crossing of paths. Now everyone can attach them effortlessly with the single degree of autotune usage. Simple enough. The first collaboration was gifted to us by Ye relieving Yung Joc of his "Buy U a Drank" rapping duties. Then when Graduation and Thr33 Ringz made their hyped releases, of course both men had to obligingly feature on each others' tapes. Understanding the resulting formula was a monster, DJ Khaled, GLC, and Rick Ross all managed to get the vocally adjusted duo on board for some tracks together before Pain went on his recent self-imposed exile. Who knows what the future holds for the two working together, but Kanye was adamant about making sure the world knew Teddy was a genius in his recording process, so the respect should always be there ... unless Pain's post-"D.O.A." Jigga shots muddied up the waters a little.

2007
T-Pain - Buy U a Drank (Remix feat. Kanye West, UGK, & Trey Songz)
Kanye West - Good Life (feat. T-Pain)
2008
T-Pain - Therapy (feat. Kanye West)
DJ Khaled - Go Hard (feat. T-Pain & Kanye West)
2009
GLC - Flight School (feat. T-Pain & Kanye West)
Rick Ross - Maybach Music 2 (feat. T-Pain, Kanye West, & Lil' Wayne)

... and do the John Wall.

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New Bobby

I've been waiting for this mixtape.

Bobby Ray -
B.o.B vs. Bobby Ray

You should know that Bobby music is essential to me. But I just gotta say thank ya Jeebus for B.o.B's camp coming through with the "No DJ version" immediately. Artistic music needs to be released artistically. Gucci and Wayne and Khaled can keep their drops cuz there ain't nothing to miss. But on stuff I listen to, if it ain't DJ A-Mack then I ain't having it.

But anyways ... while most alter-ego records (see "T.I. vs. T.I.P." & "I Am ... Sasha Fierce") lack any real purpose or execution, Bobby has the talent and variety in his sound to deliver. You got that down south B.o.B soul food next to that rock-tinged singing Bobby Ray record. There's a difference. And both are entertaining. Cop it. Still listening through as many times as I can to catch my favorite joints. Only time you'll ever hear me big up an OJ Da Juiceman track ("I Am the Man"), though. You can write that down. For certain.

... put 'em both together and you got yourself a super spork.

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The Laptop Mixtape [The Originals]

I wanted to give you all a frame of reference for my first mixtape in case you didn't recognize all the instrumentals I went over.

Various Artists - The Laptop Mixtape [The Originals]

Here's the tracklist:

1. A Milli - Lil' Wayne feat. Cory Gunz

2. The Coolest - Lupe Fiasco

3. Brown Paper Bag - DJ Khaled feat. Young Jeezy, Juelz Santana, Lil' Wayne, Fat Joe, Rick Ross, & Dre

4. Heart of the City (Ain't No Love) - Jay-Z

5. Piece of Mind - The ARE feat. Truth Enola

6. Daydreamin' - Lupe Fiasco feat. Jill Scott

7. Building Steam with a Grain of Salt - DJ Shadow

8. Liberation - OutKast feat. Cee-Lo, Erykah Badu, & Big Rube

9. New - The ARE

10. Don'tGetIt - Lil' Wayne

11. Untitled - The ARE

12. Success - Jay-Z feat. Nas

13. Fallin' - Jay-Z

14. If I Ain't Got You - Alicia Keys

15. Never Let Me Down - Kanye West feat. Jay-Z & J. Ivy

16. Champion - Kanye West

17. We Takin' Over - DJ Khaled feat. Akon, T.I., Rick Ross, Fat Joe, Birdman, & Lil' Wayne

18. Mr. Carter - Lil' Wayne

... and so concludes another masterpiece

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I Guess We Not the Best ...

So I'm kinda pissed. I spent a good while writing up and hilariously linking up a DJ Khaled post and home dudes at the Google account services kinda deleted it into oblivion. I had posted the tracks "I'm On" featuring Nas and "Go Hard" featuring T-Kayne. So I guess I'm not doing that anymore. So here's a new post!

Danger Mouse is the beast of a producer behind the on-going Gnarls Barkley project. Hopefully you already recognize his fro and glazed stare from his and Cee-Lo's billion performances at every single awards show and late night program. I'm telling you, that hair is hiding a genius-sized musical cerebellum.

I wanted to give you all an extended taste of his sound catalogue, so here's some linkage unless it gets busted down like Michael Vick volunteering at the Humane Society again.

Pelican City - The Bedroom

Jay-Z - PSA (The Grey Album Remix)

Jemini & Danger Mouse - What U Sittin' On? (feat. Cee-Lo & Tha Liks)

Gorillaz - November Has Come (feat. MF Doom)

Danger Doom - Old School Rules (feat. Talib Kweli)

The Good, The Bad, & The Queen - Herculean

Gnarls Barkley - Surprise

He's very selective when it comes to what projects he gets involved in, but the product always seems to be inventive and fresh. And that's whether it's producing for a band that's not even real, teaming up with alt-rocking Brits, or duoing with the one and only Thomas Cee-Lo DeCarlo Sinatra Green Burton Callaway.

I sweat it, even if I haven't gotten around to loving Sparklehorse, Beck, and The Black Keys yet. I guess even I need ongoing culturing in that sense.

... and so concludes another masterpiece

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