Friday, April 1, 2011

April's Mix: Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros

This month I have finally delivered the frequently requested, long promised hip-hop mix. Now any hip-hop purists that are reading this (since I don’t know any I doubt there are any who have stumbled upon my page, but if you’re out there, let’s go get drinks sometime) should know that I enjoy FUN rap and hip-hop almost as much as I enjoy GOOD hip-hop, so that will be adequately represented on this month’s installation. I hope you all enjoy ghetto-blasting this mix out of your hoopties.

Track 1 – “This Means You” by Reflection Eternal featuring Mos Def
Reflection Eternal is a duo composed of Talib Kweli and DJ Hi-Tek. Kweli and Mos Def are definitely the reason I started listening to hip-hop. Discovering them in high school really changed my perceptions about the genre. They both have amazing solo careers but I like their collaborations most.

Track 2 – “All of the Lights” by Kanye West featuring Rihanna and Kid CuDi
Kanye is a great songwriter and when he’s not auto-tuning his voice I tend to like everything he does. He really straddles that line between fun and genuinely good. In this track he followed that magical formula for making a fantastic track: feature Rihanna in it.


Track 3 – “Low” by Flo-Rida featuring T-Pain
I remember driving cross country with my friend Steven and we could not get this song out of our collective heads but we couldn’t for the life of us remember the title. When we used a lifeline, and called his girlfriend to find out, we felt like idiots when she told us the name of the song…


Track 4 – “Lapdance” by N.E.R.D. featuring Lee Harvey and Vita
Pharrell and Chad Hugo are an unstoppable duo. Pharrell’s solo stuff is good but when working with Hugo on either N.E.R.D. or on their production team The Neptunes he really manufactures his best work.


Track 5 – “Pursuit of Happiness” by Kid CuDi featuring MGMT and Ratatat
The real lesson here is when Ratatat is working the beats and MGMT handles the chorus you actually can’t go wrong. What a dream team! Kid CuDi is one of my favorite hip-hop artists and, though this happens to be my favorite song of his, he really needs no help from MGMT or Ratatat to be awesome.


Track 6 – “It Wasn’t Us” by Ludacris and I-20
Ludacris is about as gangsta as I get with my taste. This track was produced by The Neptunes and you can really tell by the beats.

Track 7 – “What’s Golden” by Jurassic 5
Doesn’t this song take you way back to 2003? It does for me, but Jurassic 5 are no less amazing today than they were then. I really wish more hip-hop artists were trying to break the mold like these guys. Good beats, good rhymes, and no ego.


Track 8 – “The Rooster” by OutKast
Andre 3000 and Big Boi are such a fantastic team. Their songs are frequently as funny as they are catchy. Also anyone who hasn’t seen their movie, Idlewild should.

Track 9 – “Drivin’ Me Wild” by Common featuring Lily Allen
You can always count on Common to write empowering lyrics for women. One of the things I really like about him is how positive his lyrics are.


Track 10 – “Party Rock Anthem” by LMFAO featuring Lauren Bennett and Goon Rock
Ever since my friend Tim introduced this song to me a few weeks ago it has been completely lodged in my cerebellum. It prompted me to check out LMFAO’s other work and it’s all as good as this song. Also if anyone buys me an “Every Day I’m Shuffling” shirt we will be friends forever.


Track 11 – “Whatever You Like” by T.I.
T.I. is another artist that writes really positive songs about important issues(obviously this song isn’t one of those… It’s just fun). I don’t know how many of you heard about him saving a man from suicide, but that happened. He heard about a guy threatening to jump off a building and thought, “Hey that’s within driving distance of me!” and just went on over and talked the guy off the ledge. The man is a fucking prince!(when he isn’t buying illegal firearms…)
Video

Track 12 – “Ms. Fat Booty” by Mos Def
I like how the story recalled here is almost exactly the same as the one in “Low” only much more eloquent. It was really tough to choose just one Mos Def song(the two Black Star songs totally don’t count…).



Track 13 – “Paper Planes” by M.I.A.
Why does a song that is this damn catchy have to have a completely un-singable chorus!? Regardless it is so much fun. I remember having this going on repeat for weeks after the Pineapple Express trailer featured it.


Track 14 – “Definition” by Black Star
Black Star is the moniker of Mos Def and Talib Kweli’s main collaboration. As far as I’m concerned they are unbeatable. They flow so well together and really broke a lot of ground with their song structure and beats.


Track 15 – “Love the Way You Lie” by Eminem featuring Rihanna
Both having experience from each side of the situation, it is a powerful thing to hear Eminem and Rihanna collaborate on a song about domestic violence.


Track 16 – “Coffee” by Aesop Rock featuring John Darnielle
Aesop Rock is an extremely talented songwriter and producer and this song features John Darnielle from The Mountain Goats. This song(and Aesop Rock in general) was introduced to me by my sister, Rachael who is a huge Mountain Goats fan.


Track 17 – “Hurt Feelings” by Flight of the Conchords
I would be remiss if I didn’t include some Flight of the Conchords on this mix. If you haven’t watched Flight of the Conchords or heard their music you should correct that right away.


Track 18 – “What’s My Name” by Rihanna featuring Drake
As you may have noticed by now I really like Rihanna. She always writes catchy empowering songs and I love her voice. Despite Drake’s math struggles on this track it is a great song.


Track 19 – “Thieves in the Night” by Black Star
I wanted to close the album with the most ethereal, dreamlike, chamber-pop sounding hip-hop song in my repertoire. I know I used Black Star earlier but using them twice is for emphasis. They are the best.

As always hit me up for a copy.
Peace!

4 comments:

  1. Dude, this album has been on REPEAT. It's not only good for when I have guests in my car or house but it's also good for when I'm running experiments on myself at work. Now that I've become familiar with all the songs, the videos will be icing on the cake. Thanks, Brutharrrrrr! 'Specially for the Darnielle (thump thump) cred.
    -Sissles

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  2. Haha, thanks Sissles! Glad you like it.

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  3. you do realize that Flo-Rida is Florida (as in the end of the rainbow) with a little more punctuation

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  4. Haha, I had put that together almost as soon as I started loving "Low". (Sorry for the late reply. I forgot to check the comments on this blog for a few weeks)

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