Slow as I am, I’ve only now gotten around to watching the Grammy awards (I was at a film noir festival the night they were broadcast, watching Ronald Coleman go insane and murder Shelley Winters while reciting Shakespeare—it was worth it). I have nothing much to add to the discussion except for one thing: did anyone else notice that Eminem and Dr. Dre pulled exactly the same sentimental schtick that Justin Bieber and Usher did earlier in the show? You know, up and coming white kid paying homage to the older black mentor who helped him break into a largely segregated genre? I just wish there had been a video of Eminem meeting Dre like the one they had of Bieber and Usher. Though I suppose that wouldn’t be suitable for network TV, would it?
Posts Tagged ‘Dr. Dre’
Where have I seen this before?
Thursday, February 24th, 2011Hot 100 Roundup—11/28/10
Friday, December 3rd, 2010Glee Cast
“Forget You” (featuring Gwyneth Paltrow), #11
“Singing In the Rain/Umbrella” (featuring Gwyneth Paltrow), #18
Dr. Dre featuring Snoop Dogg and Akon—“Kush”
#49
When a guy spends over a decade making a record about how wonderful dope is, it’s impossible to miss the ironic disconnect. Which isn’t to suggest that Dre is unaware of that irony himself: this is bouncy, funny, and celebratory in all the right ways. As always, Snoop gets off the best lines (“tight as the pants on will.i.am”). Dre has tricks of his own, though, including one of the slyest musical jokes I’ve ever heard, where the piano figure at the end starts coming apart as if it were being played by a stoner searching the keys for notes he could swear he knew just a minute ago.
Rihanna—“S&M”
#53
Having said in interviews that she’s tired of people paying attention only to the dark side of her music, Rihanna opens her new album with a chorus that includes the borrowed joke “Stick and stones may break my bones/But chains and whips excite me”. Mind you, S&M isn’t as dark or taboo as it used to be (though shouldn’t she at least have given us her safe word?), but considering Rihanna’s very public past in regard to sexual relationships, it seems an odd choice at best, a blatant cashing in at worst. This isn’t a bad record, but I find myself hesitant to learn anything else about Rihanna’s sex life, real or imagined. At the same time I keep flashing on Amy Rigby’s song “Year of the Fling”, about a woman who suddenly finds herself enmeshed in the BDSM scene: “At the peak of her binge/A twinge of fear came to unnerve her/But she mastered that/And it served to pervert her further”. What Rihanna went through was horrible and no doubt traumatic, but did surviving it really make her any stronger?
Nelly and Keri Hilson—“Liv Tonight”
#75
I don’t know if it’s this record in particular, or just their overwhelming presence on the charts these days, but I’m beginning to feel as tired of kick drums as I am of electric guitars, if only because they trap artists in a remorseless groove when they might be better off with more rhythmic freedom. That’s certainly true of Hilson, though I have my doubts about Nelly.
Michael Jackson & Akon—“Hold My Hand”
#84
I can understand why people wondered about the vocals on Jackson’s posthumous recordings: he does sound different, though it’s largely because he’s singing in a lower key—his voice was aging, and except for brief exclamations he couldn’t hit those high notes the way he used to. The phrasing, however, is undeniably Jackson, even if it is just an echo of his glory days. What’s more disappointing is his general lack of presence; most likely he hadn’t finished this when he died, but there’s still too much Akon and not enough MJ. What’s more fascinating, and a little creepy, is the homoerotic subtext that runs though the song. I mean, who are these guys singing to? Some unidentified woman? The world in general? Each other? The record is credited as a duet, after all. Who knows? That’s MJ for you—even posthumously, he’s the weirdest guy in the room.
Train—“Marry Me”
#95
Reviewed in Bubbling Under, 11/21/10
Ke$ha—“Blow”
#97
The problem with Ke$ha’s records isn’t that they’re loud and dumb, it’s that she isn’t prepared to go all the way with the concept. When she says that she and her friends are young and bored, it’s a distancing effect that she probably thinks gives the song some sort of satirical meaning and depth. All it does, though, is cement her image as a privileged “artiste” who’s slumming all the way to the bank.
Flo Rida—“Turn Around (5,4,3,2,1)”
#98
Despite the evidence of his previous records, Flo Rida does not live and die by the hook; he lives and dies by propulsive forward motion, so much so that this time he seems to have lost the hook somewhere back on the track. Maybe he should ask Bruno Mars for another one; he’s bound to have a few lying around.
Bubbling Under:
Keri Hilson—“Pretty Girl Rock”
#102
Hilson is an interesting case. Her guest spots can seem anonymous (as in “Liv Tonight”), but her own records are defiantly idiosyncratic, always coming out of somewhere that seems familiar but with a twist that makes them difficult to trace. This one appears to borrow ideas from relatively obscure female artists like Santigold, Lil Jackie, and VV Brown, and at times almost sounds like a tribute record. At the same time it never sounds like anyone but Hilson. At least it would if I could be sure of exactly what Hilson sounds like. I’m still not sure she’s a major talent, but she’s certainly an intriguing one.
Billy Currington—“Let Me Down Easy”
#103
Currington doesn’t have an original bone in his body or thought in his head, but that doesn’t mean he can’t sound classier or more sophisticated than his country-heartthrob competition. He seems like a genuinely nice, laid-back sort of guy. In other words, he’s an old-school country careerist, and if sometimes he’s a little boring, well, that just comes with the territory.
New this week—12/27/09
Saturday, December 26th, 2009Eminem
“Hell Breaks Loose” (featuring Dr. Dre), #29
“Elevator”, #67
There’s no doubt that these are sharper and more to the point than the tracks on the original version of Relapse—less fussy and more energetic, as well (even Dre sounds fully focused for a change). So even though they’re nothing new in and of themselves, they are promising. Maybe Slim Shady has some life in him yet. Whether or not that’s a a good thing at this stage—or at Eminem’s age—is open to question.
Alicia Keys—”Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down”
#55
The hook is still there, but the verses sound like Keys did a Google search for big city cliches—”concrete jungle”, “melting pot”, women working the streets, etc.—and didn’t bother to come up with a single idea of her own. As for her musical abilities, she’s become one the most irritating keyboard players I’ve ever heard—all meaningless fills and runs, quaranteed to trivialize the rare instances she actually has something to say.
Adam Lambert—”Whataya Want From Me”
#72
As much as I respect and appreciate the way Lambert has faced down his conservative critics, I still find myself stopping short when it comes to his music. The best song on his album is a Lady Gaga reject, and on this P!nk reject he achieves nothing except a decent, mediocre imitation of the original owner. If he’s going to keep fighting for the right to be himself, isn’t it time he actually put himself on record?
Robin Thicke—”Sex Therapy”
#79
Thicke tries hard, and his grooves are sexy and intelligent, an achievement both impressive and rare. But then he gets to the chorus, and I’m sorry, but nobody, nobody in the world, not even the resurrection of Marvin Gaye himself, could convince me that Lesley Gore, or anything that Lesley Gore has ever touched, is sexy. Once Thicke puts his warm and tender hands on “It’s My Party”, the sex therapy ends, the session is over, and all that remains is camp. Maybe for those younger than me, who are less familiar with the original, the effect isn’t as extreme, but as far as I’m concerned there’s no way to take this record seriously after the chorus, and no amount of horny falsetto will ever convice me otherwise.
Usher featuring Plies—”Hey Daddy (Daddy’s Home)”
#94
I had no idea Usher felt he had sunk so low that he had to resort to pairing up with The Worst Rapper In the World®, but here they are all the same. The image created by the chorus, of Usher’s lover with her butt in the air murmuring the title phrase, is bad enough, but then Plies steps in, and it turns out that his idea of eroticism is pouring Kool-Aid on a woman’s back and kissing it off before any of it spills. I just hope “Kool-Aid” isn’t code for something even more disgusting.
New This Week
Saturday, May 16th, 2009Daughtry–”No Surprise”
#15
Warning to hipsters: the psychedelic vocal effects that open and close this otherwise boring record do not mean that Chris Daughtry has been listening to Animal Collective and Grizzly Bear. It means that, like all backward looking, self-serious rockers, Daughtry thinks adding psychedelic Beatlesish touches to his records is a sign of artistic maturity and musical growth. I wish I could be sure Animal Collective and Grizzly Bear don’t think the same way.
Eminem featuring Dr. Dre–”Old Time’s Sake”
#25
Depressing fact: Remember that sketch on The Marshall Mathers LP where Eminem’s manager advises him to stop talking about homosexuals and vicodin and rap about blunts and bitches like everybody else? This is where Eminem heeds that advice. More depressing fact: Eminem’s rhymes are more complicated and technically accomplished than ever, but he has absolutely nothing to say. Most depressing fact of all: This is easily the best track from Relapse so far. (Extra special bonus depressing fact: Just for old time’s sake, Dre calls people he doesn’t like faggots.)
Sean Kingston–”Fire Burning”
#29
What does it mean that every time I’ve worked on this list I’ve completely forgotten this record existed? Yeah, that’s what I thought it meant.
Paula Abdul–”I’m Just Here for the Music”
#87
Better than you might expect, if nothing special, but listening to this record is like stepping into a time warp. Abdul, who is 46 and hasn’t had a solo hit since 1995, sings this like she’s the latest bouncy Disney star, with occasional Britney touches. Since a lot of Disney pop is based on late 80s and early 90s dance music, she’s essentially aping, or more likely trying to reclaim, a style that she helped to invent. After 8 years of staring dumbfounded (or worse) at wannabes, who can blame her? It’s lonely there at the judges’ table, isn’t it Paula?
Drake–”Best I Ever Had”
#92
Ultimately forgettable, but check out the phrasing and the rhyme scheme: Kanye’s takeover of rap is almost complete.
Young Money–”Every Girl”
#96
Here’s a rarity, a rap record with Lil Wayne where he isn’t the best thing on it. The full title, of course, is “I Want to Fuck Every Girl in the World”, and Wayne and the Young Money crew not only tell us how they want to do that, but provide an ever-expanding list. Forward thinking and honorable guys, they’re willing to wait three years for Miley Cyrus. They’re open minded, too; listen closely to the fade and you’ll notice that the list includes “midgets” and “retards”. Note to Eminem: If you’re going to be offensive, you need to be funny, remember?
Fast Life Yungstaz–”Swag Surfin’”
#99
Don’t care for Soulja Boy? How would you feel about a cobbled together trio who rap over pseudo Soulja Boy beats about underage drinking and shopping? That’s what I thought. The only thing I want to know is if Polo payed for their studio time.
Update: My bad: Young Money is a crew, not a person. Duh. Now corrected.
