Monthly Archives: July 2009

Song of the Day: “Come Get It” – Yummy Bingham (Feat. Jadakiss)

YES. This song is just too ill to let lay in the dust. Yummy Bingham was producer Rockwilder’s muse (also the godchild of Chaka Khan and Aaron Hall) who recorded this heatwave of a first single in ’05 to little response. It’s a track that should never have been swept under the table. Her helium-like baby voice atop those european horns will never get old, really; especially considering that baby’s singing about pudding. No regular pudding – Yummy’s pudding. Homemade. You get the jist? Jada did and didn’t seem too interested, responding, Honestly, I’m ’bout ready to take a dip in the pool.. Ha. Same.

Song of the Day: “The Beat Is Hot” – Roscoe P. Coldchain (Feat. Clipse & Boo-bonic)

Roscoe P. Coldchain: the little-known lips to The Neptune’s Star Trak label, is some kind of rapper. He’s more than conversational. He’s more than confrontational. He’ll engross you in his monotone rambling about robbing banks, kicking your sister’s ass, and killing your Dachshund; no flinch. I’m Da Vinci – don’t make me draw your pain. Best line ever? His delivery is so careless, it’s untouchable. The Neptunes Present…Clones comp featured his flow genius first on “The Beat Is Hot,” featuring Pusha T of Clipse and Fam-Lay’s Boo-bonic. The track’s beat, courtesy of the space-pop production duo (Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams), consists of a trunk-rattling suction and tingling triangle. It’s undeniably simple, but compliments perfectly Coldchain’s unapologetic apathy. I’ve included a second track for further spit reference: “I’m Not You” (below) by Clipse featuring Styles P (of The LOX) and of course, Roscoe. It’s coke-rap’s finest hour. Culinary chemist!? Amazing. Peep some snaps from the Clipse concert Jackson and I attended (as unofficial Caucasian representatives) this past spring at The Studio at Webster Hall.

Song of the Day: “Everyday of the Week” – Jade

Jade was one of those R&B groups from the 90′s that never fully took off. Like many of the sort, they had their one-hit and it was over. This track came out right around the time MTV (circa ’94) was weaning its audience away from dance music and into the realms of east coast, west coast rap acts. The song’s stuck with me since my car pools to and from Sunday school with Casey Kasem and remains to be of the era’s most enticing.

Song of the Day: “Da Dip” – Freak Nasty

This goes out to all the women in the world (especially her). It don’t even matter yo age, don’t even matter yo color… when this hit airwaves in ’95, booty bounce had officially landed. I remember singing this with other 8-year-old campers at theater camp clueless of its meaning. The video is straight All That and takes me back to the days of Lori Beth Denberg and Keenan & Kel. Makes me crave a Good Burger to go with all that booty. Orange soda, anyone?

Song of the Day: “Pizza” – Adiam Dymott

It seems like for the last hundred years, little bitty Sweden has been the center for all things pop music. Besides cheap furniture, fast fashion and myself, the country’s known for putting out some of the freshest sounds in music. From ABBA to Robyn and Lykke Li, The Cardigans to Britney (yes, she recorded “…Baby One More Time” with Max Martin in Sverige), Sweden has cemented itself as the pop hub. See Adiam Dymott, for instance… The female-fronted rock band has a sound fit for a fashion show. Her mushroom cut is ultra YSL. The indie andro-rocker could become competition for East Ville’s own, Lizzie Trullie, if she releases her debut LP stateside. Watch the video for her second single, “Pizza” here first and see for yourself.

Song of the Day: “Get It Out Me” – Janet Jackson

Janet Jackson has gotten away with more blatant explicitness on the radio than perhaps any other artist. Pre-Nipplegate, the industry icon could release anything and get it played on FM without flinch. She was a sleazy, empowered pop superhero, much like Madonna, but nastier. This track, off her slept-on Control commemoration LP, 20 Y.O., could have hit airwaves as “All For You,” “If,” or “You Want This?” once did, had she not taken her titty out on primetime. At her peak, the woman had 8-year-old girls singing I’m gonna have to ride it tonight as if referring to carousels, and their mothers not caring because it was Janet fucking Jackson. “Get It Out Me” is too catchy to scrap for its inordinate inappropriateness and reads like code for her ability to surpass any FCC regulation. With her signature Jackson coo and shy-girl determination, Janet could once get past any ear. The track’s Jock Jams beat and freestyle melody mask its raunch so well it could easily make the next Kidz Bop compilation. There’s no way this song is about anything other than ejaculation. But who really cares when you know she has some crazy dance routine to guise the fact? We may never know, considering the cut never saw an official single release and didn’t made the Rock Witchu Tour setlist. Dreams will have to do.

Song of the Day: “Freak Like Me” – Adina Howard

Consider this a continuation of my pro-nails appreciation post. Do you see those things? They’re crazy. The song? Even crazier. If the track came out in the 80′s, she’d be a slut. But, no, it came out in the 90′s, so she was an independent woman. The hypersexual and, at times, aggressive hump-tune features Howard proclaiming her sexual demands with the line: It’s all about the dog in me. Taking charge is one thing, but, whoa – the dog in you? Sounds like beastiality to me. It ain’t no thang, though – the explicit joint grinded harder than other g-funk ladies anthems on the radio in ’95 and paved the way for Kim, Foxy, and Khia after her. Props to the nasally guy counting shit down at the end, too. He gets no credit.

Song of the Day, Pt. 1: “Survival In The City” – Sheek Louch (Feat. Jadakiss)

Jadakiss loves The Eagles. He’s rapped atop samples of theirs for years and just recently put a verse on French Montana’s “New York Minute.” My favorite Eagles track of Jada’s is “Survival In The City” with LOX bandmate Sheek Louch. It goes as hard as the original ["In The City"], only with some of the grimiest lyrics out: Mothafuckas will disappear. French’s rhymes sound scrappy (he was signed by Akon..), but the Henley rip is commendable.

Song of the Day, Pt. 2: “New York Minute” – French Montana (Feat. Jadakiss)

Song of the Day: “In The Air Tonight” – Phil Collins

This is probably one of my favorite songs of all time (ask Jackson). Phil Collins is the man. You gotta give it up. Post-Genesis, the guy pretty much wrote the book on air drums without even reading the manual. “If I got it on tape, I was pretty lucky. I didn’t like manuals, I didn’t really know anything about electronic recording, so if I saw the meter moving, I was happy…‘In the Air Tonight’ was just a drum machine pattern that I took off that CR78 drum machine. You could eliminate certain sounds and program bass drums and snare drums, so I programmed a bass drum part into it, but basically the rest of it was already on there…I got a nice sound on the Prophet 5, which was the sound of ‘In the Air.’” (Phil Collins, Robyn Flans interview, Classic Tracks) Whatever he did worked and still has its place in pop music today, inspiring the moody sounds of producers Kanye West (even though his recreation of Collins’s trademark voco-bratto on 808s & Heartbreaks could cause a tumor) and The-Dream.

Song of the Day: “C’mon Ride It (The Train)” – Quad City DJ’s

Have a fucking pep rally wit it.

I just got out of seeing Bruno, so this is only appropriate…

Song of the Day: “Cold Hearted Snake” – Paula Abdul

Everybody knows I live for Miss Janet. But, Paula? I know, I know. The bitch taught Jan all her moves, but, at one time, was a name unto her own. She sold out tours, had multi-platinum albums, and put out some pretty decent singles. “Straight Up” is still one of my all-time favorite music videos, even after the fact the woman’s abandoned her music career for a very public, drug-addled fall from fame [American Idol]. Laughter aside; Paula’s “Cold Hearted Snake” is her talent showcase. With its New Jack slap and simulated symphonic backtrack, the song is, without a doubt, her prime state. It proves once and for all, Paula was once a boss. The video’s like a Center Stage audition, highlighting her tried and true backup formations on scaffolds and a greased dance floor before Rent was ever conceived. Her Laker girl take on Fosse’s oversexed exaggerations are still being copied to this day. Reason being, it never gets old and always looks fresh. Released in 1989, the David Fincher directed short film commemorates Abdul’s choreographic genius. Rekkonize!

Song of the Day: “Tell Me” – Groove Theory

When I was 8, it was likely this was the slowest song banging from my tape deck. It was either Jock Jams or this. It came on my MTV Party to Go compilation, along with Coolio, R.Kelly, and the rest of the ’95 bunch, and played non-stop for at least a good year. The lead singer’s bohemian coo atop the track’s smooth bassline (similar to the Mary Jane Girls’ “All Night Long”) and tambourine-led tempo makes for the perfect 90′s cool down. The song still bangs.

Song of the Day: “Can You Feel It” – The Jacksons

It’s July 4th and I can’t think of anything more American than the Jackson family (given the circumstances). And Al Sharpton was right — “before Obama, before Oprah, there were the Jacksons.” Their talent and drive, triumphs and tragedies, stand as constant reminders that the American Dream is still intact. They’ve epitomized the American family, in all their excesses and eccentricities, flights and failures, for some time now. The video for “Can You Feel It”, directed by Bruce Gowers and Robert Abel, was their last big hurrah as a family band, pre-Billie Jean. Released in 1981 as part of their Triumph album promotion, the video astounded audiences with its tripped-out effects and Mars-like futurism. The song samples Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” riff and later was sampled for Madonna’s classic “Material Girl.” The video is a testament to the Jackson’s bigger-is-better ways and remains to this day one of the medium’s archetypes.

Song of the Day: “I Love You Always Forever”- Donna Lewis

This song was huge. So huge it nearly took #1 from Los Del Rio’s “Macarena” reign in 1996. The Welsh singer only had one American hit. But sample this in a hip-hop song and it could have its second coming. It’s one of those songs you get a kick out of everytime you hear it, but can’t pinpoint the title or artist. Its ticking beat is like running a marathon. And it’s got just enough cheese to keep you full. The video on the other hand, is something Lisa-Marie or Wilson Phillips would do. The shoes on her hands? Come on now… 20 bucks was like 40 in ’96. You can’t tell me you couldn’t have bought something more intriguing.