Tag Archive for 'ryan leslie'

Ludacris - What Them Girls Like? (Our Podcast!)

Published
by
neal
on October 15, 2008
in Music Videos
. 2 Comments

Ludacris is a great lyricist and Chris Brown is a hot commodity. So obviously putting them together gaurantees a hit. That is the theory behind Luda’s new joint What Them Girls Like. I once speculated that I could tell what girls what were thinking. I was right - but unfortunately so: girls in fifth grade aren’t so much into Magic: The Gathering. From this I learned the important lesson that ignorance is bliss. But enough about me, let’s get down to the nitty gritty.

The Track: Luda says it best at the tail end of the track between shout outs to Chris Brown and Sean Garret: ‘It’s too easy’. He’s right. The hand claps, knock, and syrupy flow have me sprung. The track reminds me of Nelly’s E.I. mixed with Drop It Like It’s Hot. I could do without Sean Garret’s vocals. Oldboy should stick to producing - he’s actually good at it.

Luda is big on name dropping - but it’s part of his style. He owns it, just like how Agness Deyn owns that blonde pixie cut. Surprisingly, none of the punchlines are noteworthy. I didn’t find myself running the track back to hear a line again. That is kind of unprecedented for Ludacris. I still like the track, but I am a little disappointed.

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The Video: Luda’s videos typically involve a lot of girls. More specifically, girls dancing, looking good, and being flirtatious. It adds to the appeal of the party and Chris Brown doesn’t do videos unless he can show off his moves. Seriously, show me a video where he isn’t MJing around the dance floor.

I know that all sounds dangerously close to Ryan Leslie’s video, but Luda uses it. Sure, the girls are hot, but that’s not the point. They are a mean’s to a punchline, and the joke is on them. The speech bubbles give each girl a voice, but that voice is exactly what guys want to hear. The video portrays women with the mentality of an Axe Body Spray commercial.

Two more things - At the beginning of verse two Luda drops a line about girls wanting families and security. Look closely at the supporting bubble, you have to laugh. Also, the speech bubbles should really be thought bubbles.

The Bottom Line: Kind of mediocre - I encourage Luda to spend some time on punchlines. They are a signature part of his repetoire.

Ryan Leslie - Addiction Would Be an Overstatement

Published
by
neal
on October 1, 2008
in Music Videos
. 3 Comments

Ryan Leslie. What can I say that hasn’t been said already? You gave us Cassie and Diamond Girl, and for that I am grateful but conflicted. Cassie is hot, but she’s a mess as a performer. Diamond Girl was a hot track but the video tried too hard to channel OutKast and Michael Jackson. Well, I finally got around to watching the new video for Addiction and it’s more of the same. Read on for more.

The Track: The beat is mellow and I’m all about that. Not every track needs wicked knock. I didn’t like the synth at first, but I’ve really warmed up to it. The percussion is well designed too. Hand drums playing off a synth? Yes. Cassie provides the backing vocals, natch. She sounds a little flat and detached, like she’s in a daze - perhaps that’s the point? It’s sort of hypnotic in its monotony.

Fab’s verse had me hooked because of how it handles a pet peeve of mine. I have reviled name-dropping in the past, but Fab turns it around. He incorporates the names into the verse as punchlines and not just as obnoxious references. His lines get better and better: ‘I got you Amy Winedout’, ‘I hop out the suicides looking so Cobain’, and ‘They come back want more grams, right back, like Lindsey out the program’. If that doesn’t get a rise of out of your punchline meter, perhaps you should stop listening to hiphop.

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The Video: The ‘official’ video is your typical ‘white background’ video but in gray. The treatment must have read like this: 2 guys, 4 models, all gray. The ‘2 guys and some models’ concept is not new either. Schwayze did it. So did Lil Wayne and Lloyd. Remember Golddigger? SAME THING. There are plenty more examples. It’s the buddy cop equivalent of music videos: you’re not really sure if Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan belong in the same movie, but it’s easy to watch and you’re too lazy to change the channel.

The ‘alternate‘ version of the video is fairly unremarkable except that it is in color. Alternate videos strike me as a sign that the album isn’t going to stand by itself without being crammed with extras.

Remember George Michael’s Freedom video? No one ever does stuff like that anymore, which is sad. It is the closest thing to a perfect music video I have seen to date. It had models, explosions, good set and costume design, new technology, replay value, and it wasn’t just a taped performance!

The Bottom Line: Decent track, routine video. It happens.

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?