She Ain’t SWV

Yup… SWV‘s on the comeback trail. While the jury’s still out on how things will turn out, they’re officially steppin’ out there on this new remix of Chris Brown‘s “She Ain’t You”.  On some real shit, “She Ain’t You” has been one of my faves of this year so far, probably a no-brainer since it’s essentially a combo of MJ‘s “Human Nature” and SWV’s “Right Here” remix. Here, the Sisters With Voices come through with their side of the story, sounding like they haven’t lost a step since their early-mid ’90s heyday. Ain’t mad at it!

Chris Brown feat. SWV “She Ain’t You” (Remix) 

-D!

 

The Vibrant Ideal Reality of ‘Dark Twisted Fantasy’

I might be a lil’ biased here. I’ve been fukkin’ with Kanye West as an artist (or as Kid Cudi would say, “musically”) since the I’m Good mixtape. When he was starting to break out with joints like “Through The Wire” and people were sayin’ he couldn’t rap, I was rockin’ with him. I’ve been readin’ articles on him and his work far back enough to know his seemingly “inflated” ego has actually always been inflated, before there was even a release date on his first album. Of course, none of this makes me special, or has any bearing on what this new album of his sounds like, but it’s safe to say ‘Ye is one of my favorite artists of the last 10 years.

10 Things I Liked About The 2010 BET Awards

Aight, so… a year ago, I dissed BET for puttin’ on a half-assed show that was advertised as “a tribute to Michael Jackson“. I’ve prob’ly referred to BET in a shitty light a number of times on other occasions too. But as much as I dis them for their wack shows and their overall lack of givin’-a-shit, I can also admit that they came correct this year. I wasn’t gonna watch the BET Awards, because I usually don’t, but Twitter fukked around and pulled me in. I figured “ay, what the hell- at least if it sucks, me and my Twitter fam will provide quality jokes and observations”. Lo and behold, these niggas put on the best one I’ve seen since ’03. Well I’ll be damned.

Da Dirty 30: 2000s

Annnd So… after Eminem‘s controversy, Jeezy‘s Snowman shirts, Puffy’s trial (and name changes), Michael/Aaliyah/Jam Master Jay/ODB/Left Eye/Pimp C/Pun/EY’BODY’s death, the breakup of Roc-A-Fella, the fall-off/comeback/second fall-off of Mariah Carey, the disappearance and tragic-lookin’ reappearances of Lauryn Hill, Crunk, Hyphy, Snap, “Intimate Club Music” (blah), the rise of the Southern hip-hop, the decline of New York hip-hop, 9/11, a dumb president, a Black president…

…G-Unit vs. Murder Inc., The Game‘s bipolarity, Keyshia Cole‘s fukked-up family, DMX‘s crackish ways, Tweet‘s song about masturbation “self-love”, the all-around fuckery that was “My Neck My Back”, Nelly sliding credit cards down asscracks, that thong-tha-thong-thong-thong, Wayne‘s Carter series, Usher‘s Confessions, Rihanna getting “Chris Brown-ed” by Chris Brown, Da Band walking for cheesecake, the “Hip-Hop Is Dead” debate…

Throwback jerseys, button-ups, long-ass tees, tight-ass jeans, grillz, BET going to shit, Rick Ross getting exposed, Suge gettin’ knocked the fukk out, Cam’ron wearing pink, R. Kelly pissing on youngins, Alicia Keys wreckin’ homes, Jay-Z becoming a devil worshipper, Jay-Z “retiring”, Beyonce doing eyyy’thing, Mike Jones‘ phone number, Jadakiss’ asthma cough/laugh, Lil’ Jon‘s adlibs, Superhead‘s book, Tahiry‘s ass, Trina’s ass, Buffie’s ass, J.Lo’s ass, Lil’ Kim‘s ass bid, Shyne‘s bid, T.I.‘s bid, Freeway‘s beard, Ashanti‘s sideburns…

Autotune, iTunes, iPods, iPhones, 2-way pagers, ringtones, Being Bobby Brown, SMACK DVDs, BEEF DVDs, singers with names like Lumidee and T-Pain, rappers with names like Chingy and Webbie,  OutKast winning Grammys, Three 6 winning Oscars, Kanye crying over awards, every rapper in existence making mixtapes, rampant file sharing and downloading, Harlem Shakin’, leanin’ back, leanin’ wit’ it, rockin’ wit’ it, crankin’ dat Soulja Boy, jerkin’, and “ballllliiiinnnnnnnn’“…

The 2000s Loved The ’90s!

Ah, yes… as I noted in my first “The 90s Loved The 80s” entry, there hasn’t been as much lifting of ’90s hits by the artists of this decade. Part of that, obviously, is due to how much those artists themselves were sampling from older music. But, there were a few quality remakes and whatnot that took place in the 2000s. Some of them were hot, like Carl Thomas & Faith Evans singing over The Firm‘s “Phone Tap“. Others were eehhh, like Fabolous & Tamia recycling “So Into You“. But here are five that stood out the most to me over the last ten years…

“Get’cha Bling Like The Neptune Sound…”

“Yo, N-E-P, T-U-N, E-S/ The way they lace a beat’s like, one of the best” – Noreaga, “Super Thug” (1998)

There was a time earlier in the 2000s when I still liked listening to the radio and watching BET on the regular. The only time in recent memory that I’ve committed more than an hour to either was when Michael died. Prior to 2005, when “Laffy Taffy” and all of its spinoffs finally broke my threshold for pain, I was still regularly tuned in. A good half of that is due to music produced by The Neptunes.

Through The Wire

With all the reality (and “celebreality”) shows, get-rich-quick game shows, and talented/untalented people trying to become overnight stars… I can’t really name a lot of things on TV that I was crazy about during this decade.

Let’s see: I liked the Making The Band episodes with “Da Band”. Cold Case became a late favorite, after I took forever to catch on to it. Chappelle’s Show is eternally classic. Two & A Half Men cracks me up. VH1 had some good shit before it got overrun with a gang of shows featuring people who all belonged together on The Surreal Life. For the most part, I was “blah” on TV, mostly because I couldn’t even find the shows I DID like without clickin’ thru a bunch of wack shit. But when I did find something that I wanted to tune in for every week, it was rewarding. Case in point: The Wire.

Grindin’…

Speakin’ of mixtapes…

With 50 Cent‘s latest album catching a gigantic magnanimous brick, is it safe to say that G-Unit (as a staff, record label, and as a muh’fukkin’ crew) is basically done? Will we not be given any more “aggressive content” or “harsh realities”, of which Fif loves to talk about in his interviews? Of course we will, whether we actually want it or not… especially with Beanie Sigel sitting at home just waitin’ for that contract to come in the mail (HA!).

Even with the Unit’s time being just about up, I can’t talk about the past 10 years without bringing up that run 50 n’nem had. We all know about Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ and Fiddymania runnin’ wild and whatnot. But the REAL admirable shit about all that is what happened before the superstar status.

The Etherover: My Interpretation Of The Situation

Yeah, I know. I’ma go ahead and assume that I’m not the first person with a blog to talk about this, but I’m a human being too, dammit.

In the first of a few 2000s-related entries I’ll be dropping this month, I will not be using today’s date to wish a “happy 40th” to my second favorite MC. I’ll have other times to give him his accolade, and besides, I’m sure his Illuminati free mason fam will be throwin’ him a party tonight. *ROFL* But I will be speakin’ on something epic that he took part in. Something that had an enthusiast like myself excited during an otherwise ehhh year in hip-hop. It was 2001, I was a mixtape-coppin’ animal, and the battle of battles was taking place: Jay-Z vs. Nas.

This Is The New Stuff!

A cassette of Jock Jams, Vol. 2 and a King Just t-shirt goes to the lucky soul that can correctly identify where I got the title of this entry from. Don’t let the fringe benefits pass you by.

In between listening to lots and lots of old shit, I sometimes decide to live dangerously and check out some new shit too. Every now and then, I come across a song that forces me to repeatedly listen to it- and by choice, not by default like how the radio does. Over the last week or so, these five have found space in my iPod, somewhere between my L.A. & Babyface playlist and more K-Solo songs than I should prob’ly have. Check ’em out:

Alicia Keys “Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart”: My favorite home-wrecker and yours is about to drop her fourth album, The Element of Freedom, next month. Her lead single “Doesn’t Mean Anything” was aight, but I liked it better when it was called “If I Ain’t Got You”. Her new one “Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart”, however, is more like it. If this song doesn’t become a huge damn deal, there is a problem with society at large.

Clipse feat. Cam’ron “Popular Demand (Popeye’s)”: I’ve been a fan of Clipse since “Grindin'” smashed the streets about eight years back (wow). I’ve also been a supporter of Cam’s retardedly wacky wordplay for a good 12 years. And then there’s The Neptunes, who I spent a good four years stanning earlier in this decade. All of these components together, and it’s a no-brainer that I’m rockin’ with this shit here. Daaaaaaaamn.

Amerie feat. Trey Songz “Pretty Brown”: Maybe it’s the Mint Condition sample, maybe it’s not- but I’m fukkin’ with this all day. Along with Trey Songz (who took time off from inventing sex and whatnot), Amerie drops one of those occasional magic songs she’s been capable of every once in a blue. Def Jam better get on their job.

50 Cent feat. Eminem “Psycho”: Much like the homie DMX, Fiddy’s music pretty much covered all the ground it’ll ever cover yeeeaaaarrrs ago. BUT I do still enjoy his interviews, and he still slides thru with some good shit from time to time. This new joint from Before I Self Destruct features Eminem, and they both go somethin’ kinda hard (as they’ve been known to do when they collab).

Ryan Leslie “Zodiac”: Shoutout to Dart Adams for puttin’ me up on this one via his site, Poisonous Paragraphs. R. Les’ new album Transition ain’t half damn bad, and “Zodiac” is the one I’ve been stuck on since I’ve downloaded heard it. Dumb lyrics aside, I can’t help but clap and hit a lil’ semi-step to this shit, and that’s really good enough for me. Shoutout to the Aries and Leo ladies… we’re compatible, babeh.

Next week is Wu-Week. It ain’t what you want babeh, it’s what you need babeh. Until then, y’all have a good weekend… and yeah, “F” love.

-D!