There are really only four kinds of people in the world: musicians, comedians, poets, and presidents. And I just wanted to throw together a post I'll update randomly whenever I see a new one of those kinds of people. Alphabetically, of course.
And I enjoy my list, but you gotta cut me some slack. I have the disadvantage of living in Kentucky ... who wants to come to the neutral Civil War state? I'm exaggerating, of course, as I've missed Weezy, Jeezy, Macy Gray, and Mike Posner shows recently between Louisville and Lexington that I can think off the top of my head. And then there's the unfortunate misses such as the fact that Wale should be in there, but he was stupid and performed at the BET Awards last year instead of fulfilling his portion of the Jigga show at Northern Kentucky University. Hopefully UK can keep up its stellar scheduling to add to the Drake and B.o.B shows that I was able to attend across the street from my dorm. But the real hype comes after the second week of November 2010 when I'll really have a significant comedy list as I got tickets for Jeff Dunham and Dane Cook with my girlfriend. So yeah ... that's all.
Musicians
Audio Adrenaline
B.o.B
Big Daddy Kane
Dana Dane
Doug E. Fresh
Drake
Francis and the Lights
J. Cole
Jason Derulo
Jay-Z
k-os
KJ-52
N.E.R.D
P.O.D.
Playboy Tre'
Reliant K
Slick Rick
Tanya Morgan
tobyMac
Trey Songz
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Whodini
Comedians
Sarah Colonna
Dane Cook
Jeff Dunham
Chris Franjola
Zach Galifianakis
Tim Meadows
Robin Williams
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.
I cannot tell a lie. I never got tired of "Buy U a Drank". It was impossible for me to. I don't know why. It's ridiculous. How could I put up with that God-awful drunken Mother Goose rhyming by Yung Joc over and over again? Was it because I knew that it was shortly leading into the think-about-it-walk-it-out bridge that I so dearly had the desire to act out and slow snap into conclusion? I'd need a lot of therapy time to discover why this song was so integral to my high school livelihood.
"Excuse me, but ... this verse has not been Russell Simmons approved ... uh uh." For everything the original represented to me as my clear cut second favorite song on the high school dance floor (first is "Walk It Out" cuz ... best believe I can walk it out ...), the remix represented the exact same to me in my car. I knew every Kanye line including the dumb intentional slur rhymes of hoe is/po' is/low is/Lois/bogus and standin' there/cameras/Amerie and Rodeo/day oh/monorail/ay yo that literally make me laugh out loud to myself when separating them out linguistically in context. I knew just enough of the UGK phoned-in verses to stall until I burst out belting the immaculately perfect Trey Songz intro of "what's yo name? I'm Tremaine" that amused me way more than it should. This song was a staple of my car rides with the women that got spun to death on my original iPod along with the two Unk remixes of "Walk It Out" and "2 Step". But the chant of "you know my bankroll gotta lotta zeroes" is a classic novelty to save for another time. Say what you want about the caricature he has become and the evils you may think he represents for R&B and hip hop as a whole, but Thelonius Pain [(c) Phonte] struck a chord with the entire world and me personally with this joint. And for that, I will eternally respect him. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw, SNAP."
Question: Is it possible that simply by becoming the "in" thing, that someone could lose all credibility and likability?
That's what I've been struggling with the last few months as a certain former teen-drama star has become the new Lil' Wayne in hip hop. Drake. Right then you either fawned to near fainting, began awkwardly singing "Best I Ever Had", said "that boy's the future", or you all the sudden got a bad taste in your mouth. I happen to now fall in the very last category. When I intro'd dude for the first time on my blog, he was catching stride but not yet even close to a household name. Now he's ... a household name. Somehow his mixtapes completely transformed without ever being touched in my iTunes. Three efforts by an up-and-coming artist, only known to teenage girls as "Wheelchair Jimmy" on Degrassi, used to be overlooked and darn near underground classics. The guy could throw around a metaphor pretty hard and then later came on with a little bit of singing to balance this catchy, well-rounded approach to his music that could possibly hit a target demographic pretty effectively if given the right lane. Apparently the right lane was a bunch of songs with Lil' Wayne. The tattooed gremlin freak who has been inauspiciously running commercial and internet rap music since a garbage feature on the Destiny's Child comeback single, "Soldier", had a new lil'er bro who he wanted the world to hear. A few featured autotuned moans and poop metaphors later and the entire world now had a face to the future of hip hop! A dying genre was now renewed and the balance of power was settled as insurance just in case Kanye stayed eight-oh-eighting while his heart kept breaking. He had a brand new revolutionary sound that would push rap into the next decade and provide the next generation of dudes a role model and girls a heart throb.
And just what did this new musical savior bring to the game that wasn't being brought before? On his breakthrough street single, "Brand New", he sang in autotune while questioning if any of his sexual advances and techniques were of different quality than his woman's past experiences. It's just what the world needed; a rapper using the T-Pain voice to sing about sex! Oh, but it didn't stop there! How did the prodigy follow up his magnificent foray into the spotlight? He dropped a guest verse on the Young Money posse cut, entitled "Every Girl", in which the chorus is "Cuz we like her, and we like her too ... I wish I could f*** every girl in the world, I wish I could f*** every girl in the world, I wish ..." and he asks the given girl he's met at this party to remind him of her name because he's exceeded his quota of alcoholic beverages, passing the threshold of sobriety, and can't separate her from the multitude of sexual playthings he's met at that given party/club/bar/orgy. I don't know about you, but I think the music industry has sorely been depraved of misogynistic binge-drinking anthems. And with such lyricism that hasn't been seen in ages, I can't wait until the Kidz Bop version has been unleashing to fully tap this song's teaching potential to a broader audience. But Drake wasn't content with simply tearing down these two previously unapproached walls in rap music; he had a third single as a clincher to cement himself in legendary, boundary-destroying hip hop lore forever.
"Best I Ever Had" is his current radio-dominating hit, a groundbreaking love story of a successful man who has an amazing relationship with a woman whom he cares for very much. Their relationship is so well founded that they skip all other antics and get straight to the Fred Flintstone (... bed-rocking). She's so proficient in the acts in which they partake that the man passionately indulges to her that she is "the f***in' best, you the f***in' best, you the f***in' best, you the f***in' best, you the best I ever had." But that's where the plot thickens to a level of unparalleled genius. The woman gets hounded by her best friends because, though the man cares for her deeply, he seems to be eerily unreliable in how much he's actually there to spend quality time with her. And on top of that, there are ... rumors going around. Is it possible? Could he in any sense of humanity actually be unfaithful? A successful entertainer who only shows up for physical favors and could possibly be doing the same with other self-respecting, strong women ... how could that be? And that's when it hits you! Spoiler: This story is not only about the individual woman in verse one! The man tells every woman that he has sexual encounters with that she is the best he has ever had! Do you get it? Oh, the irony. This Drake fellow is on some other level of musical ingenuity that simply cannot be touched or even fathomed by anyone in the game right now. It's quite remarkable. And that's not even speaking of the video he and Kanye dropped for it (which I'll let this parody video explain).
Now let me do my clean up on this smidgen of a column I got going right here. I have no problem with Drake's music. He defined his sound before the radio spins came into play, so I can't exactly call him a sellout as the music that's becoming popular was made prior to everything. Now while he's sonically inseparable from a Trey Songz/Weezy ripoff to me, that's beside the point. I respect his catchy song-constructing ability and the fact that he's taken full advantage of the connects that he's assembled in the industry. He has all the right in the world to become a huge artist and get more money than any other new rapper going. I mean, I still sweat his joint "Successful" with Songz, regardless of everything I just wrote. But what I don't respect is the average unintelligent music fan who puts Drake on a pedestal above anyone else in the game. Do not act as if he's the only emcee out there who can hold a tune. Cee-Lo, Phonte, Andre 3000, Mos Def, and plenty others should burn down your house if you do. Do not act as if dude's spit game is actually that nice. He goes for easy punchlines with an actual, respectable eye-opening line sprinkled in every third verse or so. And while he's going to be getting features on everybody's singles approximately for the next two and a half years, do not claim that he's doing something to change the game, no matter how Jay-Z, Mary J, or Jamie Foxx would tell you differently to coercively promote their personal ventures pending on dude's buzz. My God. I will personally shoot you in the face with a Nurf gun full of appropriately shaped glass shards if you do.
Alright ... I'm done. Go back to humming along with that stupid song on the radio with your idiot bandwagoning friends. You're the reason I can no longer enjoy that stupid So Far Gone mixtape that I used to actually play on repeat. Ugh.
Swear, I always feel like I gotta stamp "LATE" on my forehead when I post certain people's mixtapes. I've been having them on rotation in my iTunes and mentally marked as essential favorites, but I forget to speak out on them. The latest of these instances is the dude Novel. I was just bumping the fire newly leaked (which I will buy!!!) Slaughterhouse album and my favorite song happens to be a auditory sample of perfection called "Rain Drops" which features a monster chorus from ... you guessed it. I'd put Novel right up there with Mike Posner as my favorite newer R&B voices out there. You can pick either's vocal chords out from a mile away. And just because he's been putting in work, here's plenty of Novel fodder if this is your introduction to him.
Just because he's so smooth and how he slides into crazy nice falsetto runs he brings up comparisons to Dwele and a tiny bit of D'Angelo, but the man finds just as perfect a home on more up tempo tracks and breaks free entirely because of his way better than par mic skills. I guess it's kinda that Trey Songz lane, too, except Novel can for real, for real rap. Or Drake if Drake could really sing. No knock on Trey or Drake, but Novel kills both of them. Badly. The 808s retake is a great nod to a couple Kanye works as well as other select popular tracks he goes over, while creating a much heavier atmosphere on each and every one. Probably my favorite track is his epic remix of "Amazing". It's simply ... well, you guess. Suspended Animation is unequivocally an album quality collection that fully enthralls you in everything Novel is going for as a fully recognized artist. His remixes of KiD CuDi's "Sky Might Fall" and Gary Jules' "Mad World" especially are beautiful renditions that fully stick with you in every sense. If you enjoy it enough, which you will, then cop the less-than-5-dollars EP. Come on ... you can do it. I promise that missing one McDonald's combo ain't gonna hurt you.
So in most cases I'm a pretty big Trey Songz fan. He puts in work prolly better than anyone in R&B right now behind Ne-Yo. Now while on first listen I think his new mixtape (Anticipation: download link) is a snoozer and that "LOL" joint with Gucci & Soulja is a radiating turd, I dig pretty much all of his freestyles as of late. As well as this song.
Stargate handles production on this track. Talking about rhythm & blues lately ... what good song hasn't Stargate handled in recent years? But anyways, due to Ma$e's latest attempt at a comeback, this track caught my attention again. While I'm doing my internal investigation into my iTunes of songs I didn't remember I had, I found the demo over the same gorgeous acoustic instrumental. Now, dead serious, I don't know which version I like better. Trey Songz does some really great things with his voice on this one, like he does on darn near every track, but Johnta has those pure vocals that come from a dude who's been in the background of the industry and hasn't been forced to change the way he naturally sounds even one iota. But here's still hoping for a day when Austin'll keep a single for himself that'll stick on the radio. But so is the strife of a professional ghostwriter. Oh well.
Who knows if they're samples or Charlie re-did the Drake beat. I mean ... I could prolly just ask him ... but I haven't written an entry the whole summer, so that shows you how lazy I've been. Either way, they're both fire. I wrote up a piece on Drake awhile back and since then he's legitimately exploded on the scene. Just saw him the other night with Jamie Foxx on the new Conan Tonight Show (which I'm extremely impressed with so far). But you know what ... I ain't really feeling Drake anymore.
I know it's blasphemous to say nowadays since he's still publicly brand new, but all the adoration surrounding him bores me. His music is definitely welcomed by me on the radio; I'm all for that. But people are talking foolish now that he's the best out like he's doing anything different than anyone else ... which he's not. He's got his own thing going, but he isn't pushing any boundaries (good or bad) that haven't already been pushed by Phonte, Lil' Wayne, or Trey Songz. He's nice, but ain't that nice.
But who cares. Both these tracks are nice.
... put 'em both together and you got yourself a super spork.
Now I wanna preface this by saying that Drake is about 2 or 3 years removed from being new, but he's flown just enough under the radar that the vast majority (including me) wouldn't know any different. But upon listening to pretty much any of his material, you can feel him immediately as an intense rapper with natural singing ability. I'm not talking Kanye singing. I'm not even talking Mos Def singing. I'm talking could-be-a-straight-R&B artist singing. Like a Trey Songz type dude, but backwards.
Speaking of Trey, they do plenty of songs together. Weezy, too, so listen to it for that if you have to. He doesn't have a for real album yet, but he's got three real strong mixtape efforts. The latest of which came out last night like CH's.
Had no idea, but just checked Wikipedia and he plays somebody on "Degrassi: The Next Generation". All I know is my sister watched that show and if my sister knows a rapper that you don't, then you're in trouble. WHAT!? He was in Charlie Bartlett, too? I loved that movie ...
Plus he's Canadian. Which I'm pretty sure automatically guarantees that you're a crazy talented emcee no matter what. Except for Kardinal Offishall. He sucks. Oh no ... Joaquin Phoenix isn't Canadian is he ... ?
... this was whatcha all been waitin' for ain't it?
Just made this remix tonight when I should've done my chemistry homework due at midnight. Oh well. It's worth it for a Remix Part Three!!! teaser. Also finished the intro song to that album which is a banger with me actually freestyling my verse. I swear, I swear, I swear. Prolly the only time you'll ever hear me freestyle when you finally get your hands on that big ole zip file.
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!
I blended all of these, but every verse and chorus was written as a freestyle/remix to this exact song, so there's no sped up or slowed down or weird flowed verses!
And then I'm in it! Ha! I hope you all appreciate the inspiration if you listen to the whole song! I think it's well worth it, if even it's just for a laugh! But for real, this remix is no joke. You'll feel that the original is incomplete after you listen to "my" version!
Give me some feedback on these comments you can click on below each post! You can even drop a response anonymously if for whatever reason you don't want your name or website attached to it. All the best blogs in the world have discussions and multiple in-responses among the comments, so I'd be the happiest person alive to see some of those on this site! Peace till after the student Poetry Slam tonight!
This site is my commentary and promotion on what you should or shouldn't be paying attention to in music and basketball. I make no money off this site and I claim no ownership or rights of any of the images unless specifically noted otherwise. All images are for demonstrative purposes only under fair usage. No full retail music albums will ever be linked to on this site. All songs posted are for promotional usage only and the majority are released by the artist for free, regardless, though I will remove any and all content with no question if you believe I am infringing on anyone else's property. Besides all that, have fun reading my thoughts. UK Wildcats, Lakers, and OutKast for life. My email: cdcamp3@uky.edu
