Tech N9ne, F/D-Loc, Twista, Busta Rhymes, Ceza, Jl B. Hood, Twisted Insane, Uso & Yelawolf—”Worldwide Choppers”
#104
An entire single devoted to Busta Rhymes’ machine gun flow. No surprise that the only one who comes across is Busta himself, though in a few places this starts to sound more like Dizzee Rascal. Mostly, though, it’s an incomprehensible novelty.
Jamie Foxx featuring Wiz Khalifa—”Best Night Of My Life”
#108
Foxx likes to keep on top of trends, or at least trendy rappers, so he picks up on Khalifa, who sounds almost as anonymous as Foxx himself. The result is a record that disappears from memory while you listen to it.
Frank Ocean—”Novacane”
#112
The unsettling beat goes perfectly with the unsettling message, which suggests that plasticized, emotionless sex and beauty are as irresistable as they are numbing. It’s the same idea Lil Wayne has been dancing around lately, except Ocean has found music to match. What Ocean lacks is Wayne’s sense of guilt and despair, maybe even lust, along with any apparent sympathy for the woman. So while I like this a lot, it doesn’t go as far as it could, or should.
AWOLNATION—”Sail”
#115
Immediately identifiable as a one man project—those pizzicato string samples are the tip-off—and as pretentious as you might expect from an album called Megalithic Symphony. Striking in its way, but also ridiculous, not to mention self-absorbed. It’s like Owl City for prog-rockers.
Chester See, KevJumba, Ryan Higa—”Nice Guys”
#118
It starts out sounding like a comedy record, and maybe it is, but it quickly turns nasty, and then falsely sincere, and ends up the most misogynistic single of the year (to make the singles charts, at least). Yuck.
Tags: AWOLNATION, Busta Rhymes, Ceza, Chester See, Dizzee Rascal, F/D-Loc, Frank Ocean, Jamie Foxx, Jl B. Hood, KevJumba, Owl City, Ryan Higa, Tech N9ne, Twista, Twisted Insane, Uso, Wiz Khalifa, Yelawolf