Tuesday 4 January 2011

The magic number



3 recent songs I'm currently feelin' :

$tarlito - Three's Company (2010)
(From $tarlito's Way 3 : Life Insurance)



His reboot of Yo Gotti's I Shake Life with a new 3rd verse is my preferred car jam of the moment even though $tarlito is a rapper whose nebulous flow and pensive rap persona haven't exactly been well suited to his more uptempo street stompers in the past, but he's still at his best in introspective mode as an exponent of sad-gangsta-rap (which is handy since Boosie's rap career is over and Z-Ro's so hit-and-miss due to his propensity for his own awful production) I've settled on Three's Company as the highlight of $tarlito's Way 3. This breathes new life into rap-as-a-chick metaphor songs by adding another character in the form of a guy. Or is it a drug-game-as-a-chick metaphor song with rap being the intrusive 3rd person? Fuck, I feel like I'm a teenager back in 1995 again listening to I Got 5 On It and interpretting it as a song about gambling or masturbation. Also, is it just me or is 'lito continuing his unlikely penchant for old QB rap with this one, because it sounds suspiciously like a warbling synthesized variation on the orchestral sample on part 2 of Kool G. Rap's labyrinthine fable Thug Love Story?

G. Dep - Gametime (2010)
(From Ghetto Legend)



While G. Dep turning himself in for a homicide he commited in 1993 is probably closure for the family of the guy he shot, I was really hoping him hitting the headlines would result in someone finally uploading an mp3 of the dirty version of the Everyday remix with Faith I've practically begged for twice on here in one of the many tributes/memorials which then appeared about him where all you hoggish bastards just posted Head Over Wheels for the 10875th time instead. Ah well, at least the situation inspired me to check Dep's final mixtape Ghetto Legend from a few months back where we find very little evidence of the mental anguish he was apparently experiencing before he gave himself up in his music, but and there are a couple of joints amongst the dreck, most notably Gametime. He sorta has the same weird drug addict cadence which Ced Gee pioneered on The Four Horsemen going on nowadays but it just adds to the overall griminess with Gametime working best as a distant relative to his most brolic cut Child Of The Ghetto and a decent swansong because we ain't gonna be hearing from this fella again.

G-Side ft. Bentley - No Radio (2011)
(From The One...Cohesive)



G-Side's new album finds them steadily refining their craft as rappers and the Block Beattaz moving into more musically verdant zones which are best described as Peter Gabriel's So album if it was produced by Mike Dean (please believe that's a complimment), but maybe the harsh winter weather has unearthed the unrefined brute in me because the token Burn One joint No Radio is the album's song I'm currently stuck on to due to all 3 rappers coming with them double-time flows (S.T's verse is particularly great) and its more orthodox blend of fuzzy bass squiggles and flecks of country-rap guitar being the intrinsic nuts 'n' bolts pretty much every southern track not featuring a sample of the Paul Oakenfold remix of Mansun's Wide Open Space needs. Ayo G-Side : unless you're gonna employ the services of that PT bloke from My Aura, Sleepy Brown or Z-Ro next project can we have less singing and more Yelawolf and Jackie Chain appearances, plz?

14 comments:

d said...

im likin g-dep based on what youv posted so far, any suggestions on a good startin point for him?

had the same feelin from g-sides album.i think a big part of why a lot of singin sounds shite on rap songs is cos rap itselfs that weird that singin (or any other traditional musical elements that arent tryna sound at least somewhat like rap production) just sounds outta place.

surely you like some of ro's beats? one-two, bottom to the top and rollin are good i think. obviously he needs to find mike dean's number again tho

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

My problem is more with the singing on this album than singing on rap albums in general. That Chris Lee guy's voice just isn't very good.

Yeah, 'Ro's got a few cool self-produced songs, but he needs to get with R-A-L's production team again.

G. Dep songs you need :

G. Dep - Head Over Wheels
G. Dep - Blow More Spots

(Pre-Bad Boy 12" cuts)

G. Dep - Child Of The Ghetto
G. Dep ft. Black Rob - One Day
G. Dep - Everyday
G. Dep - Special Delivery
G. Dep - Doe Fiend
G. Dep ft. Puffy & Black Rob - Let's Get It

(all on his Child Of The Ghetto album)

Black Rob ft. G. Dep - B.R
Puffy ft. G. Dep & Black Rob - Godfather

(From Black Rob's first album and an unreleased white label/mixtape cut)

d said...

cheers for the list man im searchin right now, iv somehow missed out on prety much all non biggie bad boy

i liked chris' singin on the H.I.P. title track despite the lyrics bein a bit cheese but yeh hes not great. i actually much prefer j stalin and jacka's "singing" than matt blaque or lil kev's so maybe m just prejudiced. im pretty sure lil kev is dogshit tho

step one said...

I remember a presenter on MTV saying I Got 5 On It was about gambling. Almost as weird as that pic of Jose with the McMahons.

another G Dep recommendation is 'More Dangerous' off Lil Cease's album. I just dropped it on my latest mix (cunning self promo there)
http://djstepone.blogspot.com/2011/01/dj-step-one-1999-to-2000-mix.html

brad said...

what is jose doing with the mcmahons?

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

Brad, he was at some WWF show in London with his kids.

Step, never heard that. Will dl the mix.

Done, co-sign Jacka's sung hooks. He really doesn't need to use anyone to croon for him when he has that warm melodious Slick Rick-ish voice himself.

d said...

yeh imagine how much greater dont be scared would be with jack on the hook.

or if he lost them hipster spectacles in the video

Anonymous said...

That G Dep song is tough

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

Yeah, someone needs to tell Jacka them specs of his aren't Cazales but some Top Man specials from 2 years ago.

Anonymous said...

After seeing the G-Dep video on your blog a couple of weeks ago I found the mp3 on Vol.3 of this compilation:
http://ladyliyahspot.blogspot.com/2010/10/172-faith-evans-apparences-remixes-vol.html

Also very dope is the song with 8Ball and MJG, skip Diddis verse. The song with Red Cafe is aiight too.

cheers
Jasper

d said...

noones eyewears toppin ghost's in the its yours video( also - the hats!) or cobra clutch

i think the man can dress on occasion tho:

http://www.southernhospitality.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/jacka_139a.jpg

yes, even the kicks

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

Oh shit, thanks Jasper.

Jacka needs some Terminator X shades.

slow motion soundz said...

so...did u guys enjoy the record?

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

Yeah, some real nice stuff on there.