Tag Archive for 'puffy'

Cassie - Official Girl Is Officially Wack

Published
by
neal
on August 28, 2008
in Music Videos
. 8 Comments

Now that the GMAT is over, I finally have time to rant about analyze music videos again. It takes a lot of time to properly put a video in its place, believe me. Today I’ll discuss Cassie’s new joint Official Girl, featuring Lil Wayne, which premiered last week on FNMTV. As you may know, Cassie is a model who got a record deal with Bad Boy after catching the eye of producer Ryan Leslie, or something like that. I’m a bit fuzzy on the details. Anyway, after a year or so hiatus she’s back on the block. I’ll address both the track and the video.

The Track: The beat is courtesy of Danja and smacks of his mentor Timbaland - that is definitely a good thing. The song is basically Cassie saying ‘i don’t want to be a jumpoff, I want to be your girl for reals,’ but it’s insincere and pushy. If she’s so tired, why doesn’t she just leave? Even Keri Hilson (who belongs to the production team that wrote the song) knows the energy isn’t worth it.

It is by ‘label magic’ alone that the super busy Lil Wayne found time to record a verse. It’s not like he even needs the cash right now. (This has seriously been the year of Weezy F Baby) Sadly, if there was any chance of this song being salvageable, the vocoder towards the end crushes it like a boulder.

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The Video: After about 20 seconds you will inevitably make the Aaliyah connection. I mean come on,The bikini top with the hair and the jacket and the black pants, who are you trying to fool Cassie? This isn’t an homage - it’s cheap imitation. The director, Chris Robinson has actually worked with Aaliyah before, so I’m a little surprised. Additionally, Cassie says in an interview “I’ve never seen myself dance like this before.” What I infer from this is that you really stepped up your dancing game.

But I call bullshit. I’ve seen your other videos, so I have a good baseline. Dancing wise, the video doesn’t bring anything new to the table. It’s the same old moves from the same old Aaliyah videos of yore. If this is a ‘new level’ for you, I’m surprised Diddy didn’t bounce your ass like he did half the girls from Making The Band 3! Lastly, the white bikini. Totally gratuitous! It comes out of nowhere and has no relevance to the rest of the video. You aren’t near a pool, the beach, or even outside.

The Bottomline: Hear me out Cassie. You are a beautiful girl - but if you want to stay in the game, you need to learn to sing, act, or at least dance. They call you a ‘triple threat’ in Step Up 2 - but where is the supporting evidence?

FNMTV - Donnie Klang, Morningwood, The Cab, Santogold

Published
by
neal
on August 9, 2008
in Music Videos
. 2 Comments

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.

Down With The Delay Double! I Heard You the First Time

Published
by
neal
on July 24, 2008
in Music
. 2 Comments

I’d like to discuss a trend that has become an increasing annoyance: the ‘delay double’ (yes, I just coined that term). We’ve talked about doubles on the podcast before. Basically, a double is when you record a line a second time, slightly different and layer it back over the original. Puffy explained this really well in an episode of Making the Band. Pretty much everyone does doubles. They are easy to do and give tracks a little oomph.

Proper doubles are subtle and they don’t call attention to themselves. Listen to 99 Problems by JayZ. You barely notice it, but Jay doubles during the chorus. It adds a whole new acoustic dimension. This is what Puffy was getting at.

A ‘delay double’ is when you repeat a certain line or excerpt again for emphasis - but it’s delayed a second or two. For example, you may hear something like ‘Shorty be the hottest thing I ever seen,’ followed quickly by ‘I ever seen’. Often it will be whispered or hushed and extended.

Delay doubles are used extensively in hip hop and pop music. The reasoning is simple: it’s easy and it simulates a listener repeating his favorite part of a lyric. If you hear a particularly good punchline, the kind that makes you go ‘ooooo snap!’ and hip hop heads live for, you may be tempted to repeat the last two or three words. That is what the delay double is after. Producers are trying to encode this reaction into the track up front.

A prime example of offensive delay doubling is Bustit Baby by Plies. Take a listen. He does it on every. single. line. First, there are no punchlines worth repeating. Second, even if there were - repeating the last two words of each line is just plain annoying; your listeners are not deaf! Someone please clue me in - how does this sell records? Is this what’s hot in the street? Is this what you’d call really hood? Sadly, this is not an isolated incident.

Usher and Jeezy are both guilty of misdemeanor delay doubling on Love in This Club. I think I could cosign the delay if it were used a little more sparingly, but things as they are, I want to slap every artist employing it. Other offenders include: Destiny’s Child (Soldier), Mariah Carey (Touch My Body), The Dream’s (I Luv Ur Girl) and heaps and heaps of others. Even Mos Def must be brought to task (Ghetto Rock)!

I’m sorry to say it, but delay doubles may one day unseat the vocoder as the worst thing to ever happen to music.