(By Gerry Wang)
RECENT RAP/R&B ALBUMS
by Gerry Wang
Now, I know all you readers are rock junkies. In fact, I think it was
you guys who started lighting Woodstock '99 on fire and ripping women's clothes off. Sick
people. I bet you guys have Fred Durst posters on the wall. Ok, ok, you might be wondering
how I'd know the name of LIMP BIZKIT's lead grunter. Well, I happen to enjoy growling
along to "Faith" once in a while. =)
But my favorite musical genre at this time is rap. I don't like
hardcore gangsta rap. That kinda rap is too coarse and raw. What I like in my hip hop is a
smooth melody and some nice lyrics. It's all about the beat and the rhymes. So I see
rappers like the NO LIMIT folks and I cover my ears. It's atrocious. When your newest hit
is a song called "Hoody Hoo," then you know that label can't produce a good
song. But on the other hand, you have a old school revival in hip hop, led by producers
Puff Daddy and Jermaine Dupri that don't always glamorize killings and rapings. They're
all about making a song you can dance to. Songs that are upbeat, retro, and slick.
So when I go out and buy albums, I have very specific criteria. One, it
can't be gangsta. No WESTSIDE CONNECTION or MACK 10. No more SNOOP DOGG. Second, I have to
be able to enjoy the majority of the tracks. There's gotta be a lot of singles and catchy
tunes on the disc, so I'll be willing to listen to the actual media rather than just
relying on the mp3s. This is why I love the mp3 concept, and why I'm willing to devote a
forthcoming article defending its virtue.
Thirdly, and probably the most important criterion for me to shell out
big bucks to buy music is the price. This is why I love CDNOW. They give you discounts,
plus certificates sometimes. I was able buy KC & JOJO's latest album plus a CD single
for under 10 bucks, tax and shipping including. Sweet! But nowadays, I just take 5 CDs
which are gathering dust or serving as coasters and drive down to WHOREHOUSE and trade
them in on Tuesdays. This is my favorite method of CD acquisition, though economically the
costliest.
So here's the reviews for my 4 latest CDs:
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1.) NAS - I Am
Released singles: "Hate Me Now," "NAS Is Like,"
"K-I-SS-I-N-G," "You Won't See Me Tonight"
Notable guest singers: Aaliyah, Puff Daddy, DMX, Scarface
Street release date: April 6, 1999
Rarely do I ever find an album that I can call a classic. I find plenty
of good albums. But there are only a miniscule amount of albums that I cherish and never
get sick of listening to. Music these days are too engineered to be rushed out to the
public w/ one hit song and a cheap marketing gimmick. Case in point BRITNEY SPEARS, CHER,
CHRISTINA AGUILERA, KID ROCK, and basically all the crap you hear on KIIS-FM.
The singers I just singled out are in no way untalented--except for
maybe CHER, who irritates me a whole lot--but rather they are just pawns in this game of
15-Minutes-of-Fame/One-Hit-Wonder/Who-Sells-More chess. It's the record companies that
have diluted the quality of music in favor of big time profits. Who can blame them? The
formula works. These singers dominate MTV. They get lots of exposure and hence, lots of
moola. I would gladly drop this bitchy outlook and join the BACKSTREET BOYS because the
money's guaranteed to be there.
So it was to my astonishment that I've found my latest favorite CD.
Courtesy of NAS, someone who has dared to defy the record companies and write music the
way he wants to. I've always been a fan of NAS. He is one of the hip hop world's few
lyrical masters. You won't find a song called "Hoody Hoo" by NAS. His songs
express his fury, anger, and existence in a world of crime, drugs, and shootings. The
world's just a gigantic Hell in the ghetto, where NAS has his roots, but he's made it big,
and more importantly he's made it out alive.
But fame has its downsides, and we all know this. You get women wanting
to screw you to get money. You have people kissing your ass to get money. Record companies
bug you about recording shit so they could get money. Everyone's out to get money. The
world is full of greed and jealous. People resent NAS for his success. They think he's a
sellout. But NAS knows better than to settle the score w/ 44's and gats. He expresses his
hatred through his lyrics and music. This is what makes NAS greater than even Tupac and
Biggie.
What is most striking about "I Am," NAS's third album, is the
exotic feel to it. Right from the album cover, where NAS's face is morphed into the Sphnix
w/ a resemblance to King Tut, we sense a Middle Eastern influence on "I Am."
There are even tinges of the Orient in the backgrounds of the songs. It seems that the
beats and melodies were lifted straight from Prince of Persia, and it's this risk-taking
and daringness on NAS's part that makes his music unique. Images of Arabia and the Sahara
sprang up in my head while I listened to NAS's commentary on the state of the world today.
A great experience.
"I Am" also has the highest playbility rating I've ever seen.
I can literally play this CD from Track 1 to 16. And all of them have distinctly different
sounds. Watch for a hint of "Do You Know Where You're Going To" by Diana Ross on
Track 12, and listen to NAS's variation of the elementary school rhyme in
"K-I-SS-I-N-G." And also listen to the bitterness in "Hate Me Now,"
the controversial song that got Puff Daddy in trouble. NAS's music is one of a kind. He's
the gangsta-minstrel. A dying breed.
****/4
Music Scale:
4- a classic; one for the collection
3- satisfactory; worthy of a purchase or at least a listen-through
2- mediocre; get the mp3s
1- atrocious; buy it so you can destroy it and prevent someone else from getting tainted
by its hideousness
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2.) MA$E - Double Up
Released singles: "All I Ever Wanted," "Get Ready"
Notable guest singers: Puff Daddy, Blackstreet, Total, Funkmaster Flex, Harlem World
Street release date: June 15, 1999
Whenever the Bad Boy family puts out something, I always grab it. For
some reason I'm a huge fan of Puff Daddy's work. NOTORIOUS BIG was one of my favorite
rappers ever. Both his CDs, "Ready To Die" and "Life After Death" are
rap classics. PUFF DADDY's own album is a classic. Puff relies on a formula of sampling
old songs and incorporating a more contemporary beat and adding his own lyrics. And the
result is always a hit single that goes platinum.
Right now, the Bad Boy record label is in a bit of a doldrum. Sales are
lower than expected, and the influx of hit singles has diminished. 112's new CD is only
so-so. TOTAL's new CD stinks. And FAITH EVANS has only few good songs on her new Bad Boy
album. Plus now MA$E has decided to retire from rapping to find God. Puff is not reeling,
but he's gettin close.
Hark! What's this I hear about an upcoming PUFF DADDY album? I'm there.
I will buy it the first day it comes out. That's how much faith I have in Bad Boy, and I'm
sure there are millions who share the same sentiment.
So it was w/ eager anticipation that I went out and got MA$E's 2nd
album "Double Up." Mase's style of rap is very unique because well, he ain't
really rapping. He's drawling. He's lisping. Hell, I can rap faster than he can. But
strangely enough, MA$E's laidback low pitched drawl is appealing. It's easy on the ears.
Plus he employs sampling, and I'm a big fan of that. It makes old songs new again, and the
fresh take on an old classic always rekindles interest in the latter. It's a win-win
symbiotic relationship. Both parties make money.
And that's what Bad Boy's all about. There's no violence in their rap.
There's only glamor, glitz, whips, women, diamonds, money money money. And they have lots
of fun. "Double Up" is a fun album, but it's nowhere on the caliber of Bad Boy's
other classic albums. It's not better than MA$E's first album "Harlem World." At
least that one had 6-7 phat songs. "Double Up" can only conjure 3-4 songs w/ hit
potential. My favorite track is "Do It Again," featuring the one and only Puff
Daddy. It makes you wanna get up and get jiggy.
Unfortunately, I didn't get jiggy enough times for me to recommend that
you go out and purchase this CD. But go ahead and listen to it. It's a good album. Just
not great. Just not NAS.
**1/2 out of 4
Music Scale:
4- a classic; one for the collection
3- satisfactory; worthy of a purchase or at least a listen-through
2- mediocre; get the mp3s
1- atrocious; buy it so you can destroy it and prevent someone else from getting tainted
by its hideousness
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3.) MISSY ELLIOTT - Da Real World
Released singles: "She's A Bitch," "All N My Grill"
Notable guest singers: Eminem, Aaliyah, Redman, Juvenile, Lil' Kim, Da Brat
Street release date: June 22, 1999
Missy Elliott has reigned as one of female hip-hop's most outstanding
divas. She has a long history in being the background behind hit songs, usually as a
songwriter/producer. So when her debut album came out, along w/ the smooth as marble hit
"The Rain," I went out of my way to order it on BMG or Columbia House or one of
those organizations that specialize in fucking people in the ass and taking their money.
That album was good, but it didn't have a lasting effect on me. But hey, she can only get
better right?
Missy's new album shines lyrically, but ultimately fails as a whole
because of bland music. There seems to be the same Timbalandesque double beat off a
synthesizer in every song, and it wears thin as the CD progresses. I know this is a
trademark of the Missy/Timbaland connection, but I wanted more diversity on "Da Real
World." She had such a vast range of guest singers so I hoped that they'd bring along
their own trademarks of music. But instead, they were incorporated into Missy's style, and
only brought their voices along.
Take EMINEM, one of my favorite rappers because of his phrenetic style
and outrageously anarchic rhymes. In "Busa Rhyme," one of "Da Real
World"'s best songs, EMINEM just raps along w/ Missy. It's a dope song, but EMINEM
coulda been utilized a little better. Watch for more work between DR. DRE and EMINEM. They
show you how to blend two styles together.
But the other songs on "Da Real World" all sounded the same.
You couldn't tell if it's TIMBALAND & MAGOO or MISSY until they started singing. I
feel I've wasted my time and resources on this album, a decent but insignificant sophomore
album from an otherwise talented female rapper. Get the mp3s.
**/4
Music Scale:
4- a classic; one for the collection
3- satisfactory; worthy of a purchase or at least a listen-through
2- mediocre; get the mp3s
1- atrocious; buy it so you can destroy it and prevent someone else from getting tainted
by its hideousness
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4.) K-CI & JOJO - It's Real
Released singles: "Life," "Tell Me It's Real"
Notable guest singers: Gerry Wang when he's in the car and playing this CD
Street release date: June 22, 1999
When I bought K-CI & JOJO's latest CD, I had no idea what it would
be like. I just know I loved the song "Tell Me It's Real," and I was hoping
there would be more songs like it. I loved "All My Life" and "How Could
You" from their first CD, so I had high expectations for this duo's second release.
Sadly, I was disappointed. There are only 2 songs that I enjoy. And I tried. I tried very
hard to let some others grow on me. But it was useless. I always skipped to "Tell Me
It's Real" and promptly switched to the radio upon its conclusion. So sad.
K-CI & JOJO suffer from song clone-itis. Their songs all have the
same jazzy blues accompaniment (sp?). A lot of R&B groups suffer from this same
malady. DRU HILL, 112, SILK, SHAI all came out w/ new albums, but hurt themselves by
striving to be too R&B and not Pop enough. They would benefit more from following the
examples of BACKSTREET BOYS, N'SYNC, 98 DEGREES and other white bands. Make a song w/ a
chorus that has more sustenance. The lyrics are equally cheesy. It's just because R&B
groups aren't as catchy.
That's what I wanted out of K-CI & JOJO. I wanted more songs to be
catchy. I didn't want this album to just have one feature song. And as much as it crushes
me to say this, "It's Real" only delivers one solitary, enduring hit. Don't buy
this CD, folks.
*1/2 out of 4
Music Scale:
4- a classic; one for the collection
3- satisfactory; worthy of a purchase or at least a listen-through
2- mediocre; get the mp3s
1- atrocious; buy it so you can destroy it and prevent someone else from getting tainted
by its hideousness
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