Tag Archive for ‘hiphop’ at AudioShocker

Skillz I’m not really familiar with Skillz. According to Wikipedia he’s been active for a while as an artist and ghostwriter. I first found out about him via NothingButEverything. I watched the video for Be Alright and I was hooked. I sent the link to Nick and he felt it too, ‘decent feel good track’. It was so laid back that when I got home I decided to peep the whole album, Million Dollar Backpack.

The album features a ton of producers including DJ Jazzy Jeff and ?uestlove. Black Thought, Common, and Freeway are the only named guests.

My favorite cuts:

So Far So Good - Reminds me of a Slum Village cut.

Sick - Great brag track. I dig the beat and all the references. This would be good for a dance battle.

He Don’t Own Me - What is it with handdrums? They are so hot right now!

My Phone - Another name dropping brag track like ‘Sick’, but about girls. Builds up to a great ending.

Hold Tight - The horns do it for me and the rhymes are tight.

Be Alright - Like I said, it’s smooth and upbeat.

Preachin To The Choir - Remember story tracks? This is a rare treat these days.

The Bottom Line: The album has some solid tracks. But as LeVar Burton would say, you don’t have to take my word for it.

It’s time for another round of FNMTV bashing - courtesy of yours truly. In case you missed last week’s post, MTV recently added a new segment called Friday Night MTV as a venue for video premiers and live performances. This salvo of music television begs to be discussed - because it is so clearly bottom of the barrel - but not in a formal video review manner. Consider these video review ‘quickies’.

Lil Mama - I’m What It Is (Strike a Pose)

Old skool rope chains, T-Pain sans vocoder channeling the pied piper, and Missy Elliot style antics make for a pretty kid-friendly video. I wouldn’t hesitate to show this to an 8 year old.

Boys Like Girls - Thunder

The band members all have similar haircuts to other bands, they sing slow and deep at first and then jump up an octave to belt out the chorus. Flashback / performance videos like this are boring. If I want to relive getting drunk in high school and doing dumb townie shit… I’ll look out my window at the douchebag highschoolers on summer vacation.

Shawty Lo - Foolish (Remix)

DJ Khaled has never been on a decent track, so this was doomed from the beginning. Morever, what self respecting rapper wears a beater when he has a gut - and for that matter CAPRIS? I’m not even watching the rest of this video. 39 seconds in and I am over it. I won’t even mention that Baby, AKA The Birdman, drops a vocoder verse.

Vampire Weekend - Oxford Comma

This actually did not suck. The whole thing reminded of a Wes Anderson movie- but one that didn’t suck. In fact, if all of Wes Anderson’s stuff was this short and pithy - Nick and I might like the guy a lot more.

Duffy - Mercy (Live)

I don’t know much about Duffy, but her voice is definitely an acquired taste. I can get into the track, but I’d like it more if it were by another vocalist. ZING! Other than that, this ain’t much to write home about. Here is the original video.

Lil Wayne - A Milli (Live)

It’s no secret that I’m not a huge fan of Lil Wayne’s recent records - but apparently he gets crowds hype. And really, how can I disagree with that? If you can rock ‘em right, you must be doing something right. He did race through the song though - he was def in a hurry to get out of there.

That’s it ladies and gents. You don’t have to go home - you can stay and comment here!