Ello, ello! (Baby you called I can’t hear a thing…) It’s been awhile (read: far too long) since I’ve posted a sampler smattering of what I’m listening to, but today I felt particularly inspired. So, here goes: a… sampler smattering of what I’m listening to today.
“Toxic” (Britney Spears Cover) (16 Bit Dubstep Remix) – Yael Naim
This remix is by no means new, but it is the definition of fresh. We all know and love the original. Hopefully a lot of you have been enjoying Yael Naim’s sugary cover for years now. But now, 16 Bit have brought it home. Their dubstep remix adds layers of sound that accent Naim’s already fragile-sounding voice, making the cover sound like a music box that could break at any moment. We pray it won’t, and the suspense is half the fun.
Courtesy of Pretty Much Amazing
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“Unforgettable” ft. Young Jeezy – Wheelchair Jimmy
Jimmy’s strength is in hype and production – not hustle or flow; good thing Jeezy’s here to do the sampling justice.
Respect to Drizzy, but this is fully Jeezy’s song: he eats the beat, his tinfoil growl a singular thrill plopped next to Drake’s nice-guy melody, which comes off a little thin. You get the feeling Jeezy could teach him a thing or two—maybe not about lady-killing, but about devouring a mic—but maybe we’re just betraying our uncontrollable excitement for Thug Motivation 103. (Thank Me Later, too!) “Unforgettable” samples Aaliyah’s “At Your Best,” which probably won’t enrage people as much as The-Dream covering “One in a Million.” Tough crowd!
Courtesy of Fader
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“Ribbons” – Lady GaGa
This track was made for all the Pop fiends who were hungry for wonderful, because it is all kinds of that: pop poetry done so right it’s left the building like Elvis, beats so brilliantly bombastic they shake subwoofers from Star Island to Sri Lanka, flow so bubblegum bawse it can only be described as “New York Doll Don Diva,” all combined in a five star Fernando Garibay fusion that makes me think “I’m not your babe, but damn if I don’t wish I was” – ace: all kinds of it. Presents come in different sizes; she likes ’em black, white, big striped, polka-dotted (any and every race, face, size, hidden surprise: all are welcome in the Haus) as long as you do like Dave and wrap. it. up. Gifts are great, just not the ones that keep on giving.
Superlative socio-pop-garage-glam-fab snippetry:
If you can’t afford the best, don’t be stressed, take a rest.
Get a job, do it right, it’s my birthday all night
Only difference between uptown and downtown is
Therapy and val!um, therapy and val!um.
Not lying when I say this, there’s a price to being famous.
Yeah, it’s therapy and val!um, therapy and val!um …
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“Fresh I Stay Pt. 2” ft. Lil’ Wayne – Flo Rida
Weezy kills it per usual – beatin’ bars like he’s incarcerated… oh wait; but Rida comes with a flow hotter than Miami
Put on for my city, and I do it like I’m supposed to
Ballin’ like when Britney cut her hair; I cut the checks, fool
I do that d-d-d-do that, I’m ‘bout my buisness
Like who dat? Who-who-who that pushin’ the Bentley
Everybody staring, that’s Mister McLaren
Loco con dinero like-like I was speaking Spanish
Shine like a Disco
Dimes think its Crystal
Said she gotta twin, then you know I’m callin’ Brisco
I ain’t drink that Dom-P
I ain’t drink that Dom-P
Them shones spilt my bottle on my Parlay Adore jeans …
Silver dollar fresh I stay, I be fresh, all-day, day
Courtesy of HipHopatLunch
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“Hello, Good Morning” (Remix) ft. Rick Ross and Nicki Minaj – Diddy-Dirty Money
I don’t want to, but it’s impossible not to vibe to this track. Diddy makes singles, he doesn’t have money for nothing – no one said it had to be clean either. If careers and legacies were cosmic, Diddy wouldn’t have any constellations – but damn if he wouldn’t have a galaxy of shooting stars around his one Sun. Back to the track though, it has a mellow, sleeper swag to it (dated terminology because Diddy is the proverbial “Hey kids, I’m the cool dad right?” on the block, and as such would use said terminology). The multi-layered beats are relentless with ebbing and flowing dark synth offset by subtle moet chimes and built upon heavy bass and horns: very “ain’t broke don’t fix it” no-fail production – and, well, it… doesn’t fail.
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Playlist:
(The) Epochauserie 