Station’s Creation, an instrumental jam by Nik Furious. This track was unearthed in a recent ProTools recovery, but chopped up real nasty by Nik on this very day and transformed into what you hear now.
Archive for the 'Music' Category
Sorry if I throw a million posts your way this week. I feel like I have to blog my ass off now since I’ll be on the road starting Thursday. I caught today’s ep of FNMTV during the afternoon and well, I think it speaks for itself. No wait, I take that back. I’ll speak for it:
Ne-Yo - Closer (Live)
Whenever I see Ne-Yo I can’t help but think he looks like a less popular version of Chris Brown mixed with Djimon Hounsou. He does use a real band though and that’s kind of cool. Dancers’ outfits suck though.
Pink - So What
Homegirl is really in her element here. Pretty impressive that Hart agreed to do the video. I generally don’t dig Pink - and probably will continue not too - but this video is alright. Great song to get drunk too. In fact, I think I might just go do that right now.
Cassie - Official Girl
Wow. So much to say, check out this week’s full fledged review.
John Legend - Green Light ft. Andre 3000
The beat is wack, the hook sucks, and Andre 3000 employs stream of consciousness rather than structured verse - but god damn would I like to be at that party. It looks like a lot of fun. Especially if it’s not your house.
Ne-Yo - Miss Independent (Live)
Ne-Yo’s gimmick for this album is wearing suits. He also plays off the emerging trend of ‘independent women’ in hiphop. Apparently ballers no longer want to get with guap gulping groupies. Besides the obvious advantages of her picking up the check once in a while, a girl that gets her own cash might support you if your abum flops.
The Bottom Line: Pink obviously takes the gold this week - but I think I’ll give John Legend the silver for a decent party scene.
It’s hard in these streets. That’s the only real excuse I have for not writing this post on Saturday. You know the deal: MTV debuts new videos during FNMTV and I tell you what I think. Easy peasy
Gym Class Heroes - Cookie Jar
I hope this is supposed to be a joke. The ‘white background video’ returns with a vengeance, a vocoder, and shitty synth line. If The Cool Kids are a bunch of lame scene kids - then what the eff is this? I just can’t take any part of this seriously, not with homeboy’s bull nose ring.
The Game - My Life (ft. Lil Wayne)
Game is such a drama queen. Is his life really that hard? Wait till the end where he smears a cross on his chest - in blood. Seriously, how effing into yourself are you? You are not John Lennon, Biggie, or Jesus. And who name drops Kanye twice on a track? As if that weren’t enough, Lil Wayne rides shotgun with a vocoder. Weezy is giving T-pain a run for his money.
We The Kings - Check Yes Juliet (Live)
I’ve never even heard of these oldboys, but it sounds a lot like Panic at the Disco. In other words: they are probably popular, but not for any logical reason.
Solange - Sandcastle Disco
Solange is Beyonce’s sister in case you didn’t know. The song is pretty breezy - but hey, it’s a song about a DJ, I expected as much. Yeah, this is a “white background video”, but I like it more than others I have seen recently. Overuse of CG? Perhaps, but I dig the whole mod/60’s thing. We both know this could have been done way worse.
The Bottom Line: The Game needs to stop feeling himself so much. He is no longer relavant in my musical sphere.
Phoenix Bay, another new hip hop beat by Nik Furious. This electronic instrumental was unearthed when Nik (a.k.a. me) got ProTools back after a few years without his L1 Ultramaximizer.
Legal Green, a new hip hop beat by Nik Furious. Bonus points if you can guess who it’s named after.
Another Saturday, another recap of FNMTV. I’m a bit out of my element this week as I haven’t heard of any of these artists. Frankly, they don’t really coincide with my sphere of musical tastes. So, please excuse my ignorance as I break it down. (and can you believe Bernie Mac just died?)
Donnie Klang - Take You There
First of all, who picks up girls in a liquor store? Second, this Puffy/Klang thing looks like it was specifically devised to compete with the Timbaland/Timberlake sound; it doesen’t compare. Puffy, please back out of the music business and retire to being simply a celebrity. Readers, if you want to see a more accurate idea of how video would have played out, please watch The Boys & Girls Guide to Getting Down.
Morningwood - Sugarbaby
Haha. Morningwood. I love making fun of American Apparel wearing, gold digging, label whoring, hipster girls. The puppet thing is great too. This video is good for at least 5-6 viewings before I get sick of it - and that’s saying a lot.
The Cab - I’ll Run
This video is comprised of a band performance, long shaggy hair flying around, and some people making out in front of public transportation. There’s no tension, conflict, narrative, and no running. Lastly, is the lead singer seriously rocking a non-skinny tie in 2008? What a fashion faux pas! Homeboy needs a new stylist.
Santogold - L.E.S. Artistes (Live)
Santogold is kind of like a skinny Macy Gray, with a simiarly hard to listen to voice. Don’t even get me started on the leotard / jumpsuit outfit. I just can’t get into her steez. Sorry!
The Bottom Line: Morningwood wins the gold medal for “least terrible video” this week along with a special commendation for actually being funny.
From the Ashes, an instrumental song by Nik Furious. This is a bit of a cheat because it’s really just the beat from last week’s Unlicensed Attorneys at Law hip hop track, Pork-N-Beanz. Still, the instrumental is significantly different enough to sound more like a funk track. Plus, this coincides with the debut of the updated Nik Furious webpage featuring a music player.
In Sunday’s FNMTV post I promised a full length review of Bow Wow’s new video Marco Polo ft. Soulja Boy and I aim to please. My only regret is that I can not write a positive review. Unlike Bow Wow’s last collaboration, Girlfriend, Marco Polo just plain sucks.
The Track: Ok. Marco Polo, is that supposed to be slang? I don’t get it. The beat is ridiculous and is basically a ripoff of Jibbs’ Chain Hang Low. The speed up/slow down chorus isn’t helping either. You might be tempted to call it ‘call and response,’ but I’d like to propose something different: retarded.
Bow Wow’s last few singles have made it clear that he can’t carry a song by himself. What’s worse is that the current hiphop climate enables and encourages this. To his credit, Bow Wow does put up two verses to Soulja Boy’s one. Soulja Boy’s delivery is weak and borders on monotone at times. How this kid got a deal is beyond me. He seems content to just shit all over the track and call it a wrap.
Marco Polo is a cut and dry brag track, but it does have a couple comical lines.
Went to the mall and I blacked out / Now my closet full of J’z like a crackhouse.
This is not the matrix, but I am the Oracle. Do you want to get me with me? The question is rhetorical.
Of course there are plenty of poorly conceived lines too. ‘First one to put ice in a G Shock‘ So you put diamonds in a cheap plastic watch. How does this make you a baller? S.O.B. cause girls love the initials. last time I checked, being an SOB wasn’t sweet at all.
There is way too much name/brand dropping on this cut. I think rappers need to cut back, or at least stop promoting the same gaudy shit. Louis Vuitton peaked in the 60s. Oh, and ‘the next Will Smith’? Sure. Whatever you say.
The Video: Basically, Bow Wow and Soulja Boy are doing community service cleaning up a beach/pool. They get bored and decide to have a ‘tween beach/pool party. Marco Polo is a pool game so, that’s how they tie it back to the track.
The connection is tenuous at best, and it certainly doesn’t help that no one is actually playing Marco Polo. More importantly - when did Marco Polo become Peekaboo? And the subtitles. I think this video was made for illiterate, man-babies who need something to watch while Blue’s Clues is on hiatus. The video girls are cute and all - but I can tell that this video is definitely for the teenage set. The whole thing reminds me of a 15 year old’s MySpace inspired fantasy.
I’ve said it before, but Bow Wow really really really wishes he was T.I. He is jocking his style way too hard. He’s even trying to copy homeboy’s body language. Honestly, If I were T.I. (or T.I.P.) I would have to sue. Soulja Boy on the other hand is just the newest member of the ‘how stupid can I look on camera club’. The sunglasses, the backpack, the board ’shorts’. If you ever want to be taken seriously - wear clothes that fit. I can no longer tolerate dress sized white T’s, beaters, long shorts, and other ridiculous fashion choices. I know Bow Wow can dress better - he used to hang out with Omarion for chrissakes!
Oh, and speaking of jocking styles, when did Bow Wow start thinking he was Mike Jones? The phone number at the end was genius self promotion - but how could you rip that off 3 years after the fact?
The Bottom Line: Soulja Boy sucks. Bow Wow can’t do a solo track. This video is an embarassment to hiphop.
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