A Brief Thought on Pop Rap

Is it right to criticise 'pop rap'?

I've been mulling this over recently, especially on the back of both recovering my entire library (and hence reviewing the whole thing) and upon hearing Flo Rida's next single. Stick with me here, don't get turned off.

Anyone who reads this will know I'm about the more artistic, lyrical stuff most of the time, of any genre. Hence, it's about to get controversial.

There would be no good music without pop rap, for two very good reasons.

Firstly, without music that was dumbed-down, melody-driven and as lyrically deep as a puddle of horse piss, would there be anything to compare the rest of the stuff too? If everything was up to the standards of Common, Secondhand Serenade or Lupe Fiasco, would they stand out?

"If everybody looked the same, we'd get tired of looking at each other"....wouldn't we?

Secondly, and most importantly depending on your disposition, it's bloody fun to listen and dance to. Would you really enjoy hearing something mentally challenging, or without a beat that hooks you in so much that your legs flail as if independent from the rest of your body?

For this reason, I commend people like Flo Rida for not pretending to be something they aren't. He knows he makes music for clubs, and for people whose library consists solely of anything they heard in a club or Radio 1. And he does a damn fine job too.

Keep an ear out for the next single of his, 'Sugar'. The sample used will both make you laugh, and probably impress you in its adaptability, much like 'Right Round', as well as his trademark break-neck delivery.

But sports fans, don't get me wrong here. I'm a 'hipster', 'alt&punk', 'chillout' (and about most other types of) music guy at heart, and you all know it.

I won't be praising Flo Rida as a "Hip-Hop artist" at any point soon, nor will I ever allow utter tripe such as N-Dubz to ever disgrace my ears. Let's just not forget to have fun.

That wasn't brief at all.

[Req] The Club Tracks of the Year

First off, Happy New Year folks. Here's the latest 'Best of 2008' list, as requested. This one is a bit more mainstream than the other two. It's also longer, so you can either pick out what you want, or just make yourself a big playlist.

This should serve perfectly for your pre-night out music, or a party of your own. You may not necessarily hear all of these songs in clubs, but in my opinion you should. However, you will recognise the vast majority of them, and the odd one that you don't will need to be downloaded ASAP! (Some of the tracks will probably start getting more playtime in clubs in 2009, especially Arab Money.)

Also, bear in mind that this list does not represent how I currently feel about the songs: Some of these songs have been horribly overplayed, and therefore I can't stand them anymore. However, they were great at the time, so they warrant inclusion. (Example: Dizzee Rascal, Dance With Me)

-Kanye West, Love Lockdown
-Kanye West, Heartless
-Common, Universal Mind Control Ft. Pharrell
-Flo Rida, Low Ft. T-Pain
-Grind Mode, So High
-Gym Class Heroes, Cookie Jar Ft. The-Dream
-Lil' Wayne, A Milli
-Ne-Yo, Miss Independent
-A-Trak, Say Whoa
-Chris Brown, Forever Remix Ft. Lupe Fiasco
-Pendulum, Propane Nightmares
-Statik Selektah, Get Out Of The Way Ft. Bun B and Cory Mo
-Sway, Silver and Gold Ft. Akon
-The-Dream, I Luv Your Girl Remix Ft. Young Jeezy
-Utah Saints, Something Good 2008
-Wale, W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E.
-Wiley, Wearing My Rolex
-Wiley, In The Summertime
-50 Cent, Get Up
-Busta Rhymes, Arab Money
-Akon, Beautiful Ft. Colby O'Donis and Kardinal Offishall
-Crookers, Embrace The Martian Ft. Kid Cudi
-DJ Khaled, Out Here Grindin' Ft. Akon, Plies, Rick Ross, Lil' Wayne, Lil' Boosie, Ace Hood and Trick Daddy (!)
-Joe Budden, The Future Ft. The Game
-Kid Cudi, Day and Night
-Lil' Wayne, Lollipop Ft. Static Major
-Maino, Hi Hater Remix Ft. Swizz Beatz, T.I., Fabolous, Jadakiss and Plies.
-N.E.R.D., Everyone Nose
-Ron Browz, Pop Champagne Remix Ft. Ludacris, Jim Jones and Juelz Santana
-Santogold, L.E.S. Artistes
-Shawty Lo, Dey Know Remix Ft. Lil' Wayne, Young Jeezy, Ludacris and Plies
-T.I., Swing Ya Rag Ft. Swizz Beatz
-T.I., Live Your Life Ft. Rihanna
-Madcon, Beggin'
-Akon, I Can't Wait Ft. T-Pain
-Estelle, American Boy Ft. Kanye West
-Sean Garrett, Six In The Morning Remix Ft. Rick Ross
-Lady GaGa, Just Dance Ft. Colby O'Donis and Akon
-Lil' Mama, Shawty Get Loose Ft. Chris Brown and T-Pain
-Dizzee Rascal, Dance With Me Ft. Calvin Harris
-Glasses Malone, Haters Ft. Lil' Wayne and Birdman
-John Legend, Green Light Ft. Andre 3000
-Young Jeezy, Put On Ft. Kanye West
-G-Unit, I Like The Way She Do It

Surely that's enough?

Clearing Up Some Stuff

Hello!

Apologies for not having posted recently, I've been really busy the last few days. I will hopefully get something meaningful up after this one soon.

Also, in case you wondered where the Kanye West-Say You Will Remixes post has gone, I was forced to take them down, DESPITE none of the songs being official, none of the songs ever going to appear on any CDs published by any record company, and despite the songs being leaked onto the internet in the first place.

If anyone can name me another way anyone would EVER hear these songs, please feel free to tell me. Pretty ridiculous, and I'm contesting it as we speak.

The revolution never stops.


Ajay x

Getting Involved

After a constructive conversation with Murray, we decided a good idea for this blog would be if I took suggestions for album reviews.

I got pretty good feedback for the depth and detail in the 808s review (thanks for that people!) so I'm still going to post reviews of any album I have been listening to extensively, however I expect that some people might not be familiar with all of the albums.

Just as a side note, if you see an album over there -> that you don't know and I haven't blogged about, feel free to drop a comment and I'll give a quick synopsis on it. Don't be afraid to try new music.

Anyway, back on track: If you've got anything in particular you want me to check out, put it in the comments, and I'll do one suggestion per week, as well as one of my own choice.

Similarly, if there's anything else aside from music you come across that I've missed or ignored, and you feel it warrants an inclusion on here, don't be afraid to let me know.

The whole point of this is for everyone else to have some decent discussion about music, fashion and other stuff without suffering through the rubbish you can find on public forums. Hopefully, if this really takes off, I can implement a forum into it.

I need your support for this though, so keep spreading the word, keep visiting and keep posting!

Hugs and Fishes,

Ajay x

I'm Surprised I Didn't Do This Before...

Evening, Mr. Bond.

Seemed like a good idea to start up my own blog for you geezers who ask me about music, sneakers and stuff, and it seemed like a fun thing to do!

Keep coming back for new info and stuff, I'm gonna try and keep this up on a daily basis...

Hugs and Fishes,

x