Nostalgia, Here & Now & The Future #1

Right people, it's been a while but I'm back and I return with a feature which I hope will be a regular thing now if the output of new music is flowing like it should be...

In today's industry, where people no longer value albums anymore and even when they do, the lifespan of such album is probably that of 2 weeks, I have decided to slow things down a lil', and carefully pay attention to music that has influenced us, as we were growing up. Not only that, I will also be giving my 2 cents/pence on current music and also be using this blog as a means to showcase what I believe will be big artists in the near future...

One thing I've noticed whenever I'm at work, or ANYWHERE for that matter, is that music has to be playing. It doesn't matter. I literally cannot function for too long if there's no beat, rhythm or ANYTHING in the background. My current (and past employers) will testify for this. At my 1st 9-5, it was likely you'd find me serving customers with the iPod mini on me back in '05. Same thing in university, my lecturer talking too much, iPod video (30GB baby, ballin' outta control) was me. So, it comes to no suprise that this remains the case at my current 9-5 yet I'm doing it with a lil' more purpose. I'm sorry to say that I AM still young and I have fallen victim to the iPod mentality (Apple BEST hook me up, this is product placement at it's finest). When I'm rolling around with my 'mp3 player' or at home listening to errrmmmm...


Listening to errmmm, (X)Tunes....


When I'm listening to music, it's hard to pay attetntion to an LP, without getting bored and fienin' for an 808 or some sort of synths playing so what I've done now, is bring these LP's to work and listen to them whilst I am at the 9-5. That way, I'm actually paying proper attention to it. Probably because I have no choice.


Now, the 1st album of choice is my Nostalgia album...

''I don't know god, I don't know god, I don't know why, I really don't know check the flow...''

Jeez...


Ill-ass intro (lude)....

Right, I'll give you a quick professional breakdown (Translation: Lemme go on a copy & paste mission on Wikipedia)

''CrazySexyCool, the second studio album, is a bestselling R&B/hip hop album by the group TLC, released on November 15, 1994. The album's sound is a blend of R&B/soul and hip hop music that became the commercial and critical high point of the group's career. CrazySexyCool is one of the most successful R&B albums ever released, shipping over eleven million records domestically and selling over fifteen million worldwide. It is the best selling album by a girl group in America. The album features two Billboard Hot 100 number-one hits: "Creep" and "Waterfalls". Other successful singles included "Diggin' On You" and "Red Light Special". The final track, "Sumthin' Wicked This Way Comes," guest stars André Benjamin, of OutKast fame. "Kick Your Game" is the only TLC song in which Left Eye has two verses, instead of the usual one. The album title represents each girl's personality: Left Eye is "Crazy", Chilli is "Sexy" and T-Boz is "Cool". The three words together create one word, "CrazySexyCool", which describes all women's personalities.''


Now that we have the nice, structured breakdown, lemme give you my barefaced, Stan-like, outrageously biased view on what I believe was one of, if not THE best modern LP from a female R'n'B group. In terms of songwriting, production, impact, style & cohesiveness (let's not even talk about the sales), there's not ONE record I believe surpasses this. Hell, the album was SO GOOD, that it's incredibly standard vocals can't take anything away from it. Absolutely NO fillers whatsoever. Every track coulda been a single and a successful ones at that. Major props to Dallas Austin for his overall direction aswell as Jermaine Dupri. We also had the presence of Sean 'Puffy' Combs on the record. Safe to say, I'm a fan of this album, lol....


Next up is the one of the gazillion different we've had over the last couple of weeks....

That's right...

Tha Carter III


The first thing I wanna address is, classic or not?

My pet peeve with this whole debate is, is this record being a classic, actually significant at this point in time? Because if there is ONE thing I know, which ISN'T up for debate, is NO supposed 'classic' will be labeled such within 1 month of it's release. It seems like a lot of people have allowed this whole thing to stop them from fully appreciating this album which I believe is a very good listen.

More than anything, I think it's a refreshing listen. I mean, we do have the odd occasions of nihilistic talks here and there but that isn't the main theme of the album unlike it's predecessor Tha Carter II which many Lil' Wayne fans believe was a superior LP. I do have to say, after listening to CII straight after CIII, he does go in harder lyrically but in comparison to CIII, it's not as innovative, musically speaking...

Bar Lollipop, I'm not too sure what choices they're gonna go with for his singles. I mean, they have just shot the video for 'Got Money' and I think they're currently shooting 'Mrs Officer' which I guess could work considering most of the females I know love that song. Some people wanna see a video for 'A Milli' but I think in this case, it's done what it's needed to do. It's had enough exposure as a street single anyway and even if a video was shot, it wouldn't add anymore exposure than it's already had considering it's probably the main sing he performs live...

See the BET Awards perfomance or even better, check this performance for the MTV 'FN'
show. Absolutely disgusting. A Milli + a live band=heaven, no homo....





I think my main pet peeves are that with the ridiculous amount of tracks he dropped before the album's release, there were some stand-out gems that if were on this album, would have made CIII THAT much better. For example, imagine if he replaced a track like 'Got Money' with 'I Feel Like Dying' or had thrown on the live version of 'Gossip' on there. I mean, I ain't even including most of the catalogue is because it's too extensive but you lot get the point.


All in all, what I appreciate the most about this album is not the actually content. But I appreciate it for bringing a breathe of fresh air to the game. It was an event album. Everyone was talking about it. Everybody was bumping it. It had the fans excited. It had his peers excited. Hell, even the haters were somewhat excited. Dwayne Carter definitely came in and did his job.


Now, we'll be takin' a look & a listen to some new material from established and some not-so established artists. One girl who's caught my hear is a certain Ms. Knowles. No, not Mrs. Knowles-Carter (who saw the way Jay tried to avoid that question on Jonathan Ross, lol) but her lil' sister Solange.


I'll start off by saying I think it was a GREAT move by not following big sis' direction musically and not only that, but style-wise too.

Her music comes across as some sort of Motown/Techno hybrid apparently which kinda irks me because this House music bandwagon is gettin' out of hand. More and more of R'n'B's major players are heading in that direction but at least with Solange's shit, she's added a lil' more flava with it. And we're not speaking in terms of the music only. Unlike her sister's more glamorous image, she's gone with a more 60's/70's oriented look and even assembled some cronies/band to accompany her called the 'Hadley Street Dreams'...

Reminds me a lot of Janelle Monae though who some of you will know, was at one point rolling with Big Boi and his Purple Ribbon outfit but last time I checked, she's signed with Bad Boy. And Janelle was on this vibe since '06. Hey, maybe having Daddy Knowles in your corner will have doors opened for you that wouldn't be the case for another up & coming artist....

Anyway, can't take anything away from the self-proclaimed 'Sol-Angel'. Her single 'I Decided' is doin' very well. It's reached 2 #1 spots in Billboard's 'Hot R'n'B's/Hip-Hop singles sales' & 'Hot Dance singles sales' at the same time which is no easy feat for a debut single. It'd be interesting to see how it does in the UK and Europe in general. I think if she's given some good support, it has the potential to do very well personally...


Anyway, I'm outtie. I start pre-season training in 9 days and I'm developing the gut of an out of work bricklayer. Need to fly off, burn some calories, do an infinite amount of sit-ups and maybe some pilates for good measure...


Peace & chicken grease mothafuckers...