Evan Nabavian continues to search for whatever happened to that boy.
The Neptunes sound died a quiet death some time after Hell Hath No Fury. Prominent or otherwise worthwhile Neptunes tracks have been scant ever since. Maybe T-Pain, Lex Luger, 40, Bangladesh, Hit-Boy, and David Guetta made them obsolete. Maybe Pharrell is having more fun doing other shit. Regardless, save for a couple of flickers of life (“Popular Demand”, “Twilite Speedball”), Chad and Pharrell’s synth bass magic has finally gone the way of funny Simpsons episodes.
Or has it? The past three weeks (a generation in blog years) have given us two Neptunes sure shots. “Everything New” by MMG’s Stalley is vintage ‘Tunes; booming bass with a methodically simple melody. Stalley’s brag rap is competent, but just shy of memorable. On the other hand, “Block Blazer” is packed with No Limit era bounce, albeit with the requisite Neptunes buzz. T.I. and his bros, known collectively as “D.O.P.E.,” might as well have called Mystikal for the hook.
At best, they’re B-grade Neptunes beats, standouts the next Fast & The Furious soundtrack, but they’ll whet the appetites of people like me who still fire up “I Don’t Know” on YouTube before they go out on Saturday night.
Download:
MP3: D.O.P.E. ft. T.I. – “Block Blazer
