Weed in wine glasses, Wonderlic references and squirt gun shootouts. Well played. The difference between BEeFF and their comic-minded peers is that the West LAians understand the difference between satire and irony. Maybe this is a college thing. Still, “Mute’ is the only banger this year that could inspire debates about fakeness and authenticity. Thankfully, no such thinkpieces exist, nor should they. More writers should heed the words of Jay: you are not deep. Nor are BEeFF, they’re just realer than faker than realer than fake fake. That means they’re really fake. Or something.

Download:
ZIP: BEeFF - Leaders of the FAKEWorld (Left-Click)

Onra’s latest strand of funk makes you feel like a baby-faced Prince still elegantly rocking crotch-hugging leather pants and frilly silk shirts. “L.O.V.E” has an obvious post-disco 80s influence with cloudy funk vocals, nostalgic synth-work, and beep-bop you’d imagine little green men grooving to. It’s the perfect soundtrack to hot weather, pool parties and driving a ragged convertible around Florida. Yes, I just described Miami Vice.

The first leak from Onra’s forthcoming Fools Gold debut displays his evolution beyond the vintage boogie-funk of Onra’s 2010 album Long Distance with half-spoken vocal samples and summer vibes. But the Vietnamese-Parisian producer doesn’t just make music for dancefloor disciples. His Eastern inspired beat tapes Chinoiseries I & II contained unique Thai vocal samples from the 50s and banged harder than a ninja assassin smoke grenade. The 30 year old has also drawn more than a few J Dilla comparisons by writers desperate to categorize his protean production.

If you’re a crappy Youtube artist thinking of adding vocals to “L.O.V.E” or any of Onra’s beats, please don’t. I’m wearing a tight pink suit and growing a puffy blonde mullet. I don’t want anyone to kill my excited preparation for Onra’s new opus.

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Sometimes I think it’s amazing that I’m still paying so much attention to Blu. He’s the most singularly frustrating artist I’ve ever been a fan of. He released two albums this year that were drowned in fuzz, and when I say drowned, I don’t mean the kind of fuzz that Douglas Martin enjoys. I mean that Blu held these albums’ heads under fuzz, laughing spitefully while the poor LP’s sputtered for clean sound and thrashed their arms around desperately until they died/were completely unlistenable. That’s as literal as I can get while still being figurative. Blu has a ninth grader’s obsession with weird spacing and random capitalization. He’s unpredictable, enigmatic, apparently a real pain to try to get a hold of and altogether baffling as an artist.

With his talent, sometimes I’m amazed that Blu doesn’t get more attention. As hard as I stan for Kendrick, if we were to go back to December 2011, No York is my number one of the year. Any time the LA rapper clears his head, he unleashes Vesuvius-level fire, as nonchalant as can be. Take the brand new, clean-as-hell single “Kiss the Sky” which has a beat reminiscent of Below the Heavens but finds Blu chopping things up with his one-of-a-kind flow. The guy is just so agile—this kind of ordered, soulful beat doesn’t demand his best, but even a relaxed Blu feels dangerous, like he could side-swipe you at any time, or let off a stream of bars that’ll go straight over your head for the first ten listens (listen to him go from shit-talk, to a mini-story about a crafty girl, to a joke). He’s also got a gift for ceding territory on his own songs to great effect—see his absence on “Annie Hall” or his willingness to give over prime territory here to Mela Machinko, whose vocals seem like a natural extension of the beat.

“Kiss the Sky” is supposedly a reintroduction—but you shouldn’t take that too seriously. Blu, like all the flakes you know, is never one to put too much faith in. Enjoy this, and try to keep your hopes firmly tamped down. Yes, there’s a chance that we’ll get a whole album of songs of this caliber. But there’s also chance that we never hear from Blu again.

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Guido’s vision of “Afrika” starts with the drums. Smacked Djembes incite the ritual around the 30 second mark, ceremonial thumps that set the stage for occult keys and synthesizers that sound like they were stolen from a lost Swizz Beatz vault. “Down Bottom” meets dubstep was once the mathematics in the orchestral lab.

But while the rest of the first wave of dubstep turns to house, juke, and whatever maximal mutation is in vogue, Guido’s operating at the opposite end of the spectrum. His songs feel more meticulous, too aggressive for IDM but not propulsive enough for the dance floor. Nor is their room for nostalgia. He seems to be after a meld of the futuristic and the ancient — blending post-space age synths with the hand drums and the eerie vocals that slither in at the 3:40 mark.  This is taken from his new single “Flow/Afrika.” The B-Side wins again.

The video for “Flow” is below the jump. The beat is great, but adorned by raps from a British MC named Jay Wilcox. We’ll chalk it all up to cultural differences.

See Also:

Son Raw: Guido – Fact 314 Mix

Guido: Free Downloads Giveaway

Get At Me Dogs: Guido’s New Single

Doc Zeus has now written three consecutive posts of praise. The Mayans may still be right.

[Ed Note: My feature on Riff Raff appears today in LA Weekly. Rice included.]

Buddy cop films and Judd Apatow have taught us that the metaphysical chemistry of two opposite bros forming an unlikely friendship is the most powerful thing in the universe. From a certain distance, I could not imagine a partnership more ripe for musical disaster than Riff Raff and Action Bronson. Riff Raff is the ex-contestant on a G-list reality show turned semi-competent novelty rapper, while the gruff Bronson is this year’s great (well…white) New York traditionalist rap messiah and contender for the rapper most likely to body slam cornball wannabes through the wreckage of a flaming table. Despite their differences, the union of Riff Raff and Action Bronson managed to create one of the year’s most enjoyable songs, “Bird On A Wire.”

“Hot Shots Part Deux” is the sequel to their unlikely triumph and is just as deeply weird and enjoyable as the first outing. Rhyming over a slow rolling beat with fellow white boy, Dana Coppafeel, the boys rap about decadent lifestyles of cars, women and weed in verse as outlandishly fly as possible. Riff and Bronson might be as stylistically different as children’s finger-painting and 16th Century Flemish realism, but their artistic DNA remains remarkably similar and thus entirely complimentary. Bronson’s all-in-the-details formalisms might stand on the complete opposite of Riff Raff’s blunt southern drawl and bizzaro fashion sense but both have a unique flair for the Rawsian absurd and lace their rhymes with a love for obscure pop culture .

A true yin and yang element exists in their chemistry. Bronson plays the (improbable) leading man with Riff Raff content to be the duo’s shuffling court jester. As a solo artist, Riff Raff might be the equivalent of an audio urinary tract infection but as the ToeJam to Bronson’s thundering Earl, he manages to find the perfect role for himself. The world doesn’t need a white Soulja Boy, anyway.

I want an album and a tour.

Download:

For a guy that’s always seemed to “get it” – “it” being how to ransack the rap industry for all its worth, Fif doesn’t seem to get it anymore. The Lost Tape is YET ANOTHER collection of great 50 Cent songs that’ll probably get largely ignored by the folks (well, by “folks” I mean bitches) that help propel an artist’s momentum. Curtis forgets that while he’s at his best when he’s making that gully shit (which I sincerely appreciate – never change Fif), it’s the shit for clubs and ladies that gets you a release date on Interscope and decent record sales — always a consideration for a star of 50′s magnitude).

Simply put: Jimmy Iovine won’t let 50 cook this summer if he doesn’t put a hit out there. A solo hit. It isn’t the quality of the music at this point. 50 just shit-talked his way off your playlists. Y’all can obsess over Diddy’s shit talking all you want (and yes, Diddy is a truly gifted shit-talker), but deep down in your hearts you know that Ferrari is the Ric Flair of this rap shit. No one is more disrespectful. Shit, even Diddy was forced to fall the fuck back when 50 picked a fight with him over Mase. 50 won too many times and rubbed our faces in it with glee, so we collectively said “fuck it” and left him to rot in the most hilarious and strange way possible.

I say hilarious and strange because 50 never really “fell off” or went away. He’s guested on a bunch of hits since his personal brand started to wane, so it’s clear that he still knows what a hit sounds like – he just doesn’t want to make one for himself. Maybe he ran outta pop hooks – who knows? But he still has some value to the tastemakers and labels – after all, he just reinvigorated 2Chainz’s ‘Riot’ with a pair of excellent mini-verses and that guy is supposed to be the next one up.

So yeah, The Lost Tape is dope (even with DJ Drama yelling occasionally), but that shit doesn’t matter. I don’t think anyone expects 50 to reach his previous heights, but it’ll take more than an intact sense of humor, coaxing out one of the best Snoop verses in years and introducing us to new/talented weed carriers for us give him the spot he deserves in this game. He’s never getting his old spot back, 2003 was a long time ago and pants fit too tight today. Shame.

Making a great mixtape comes easy to Curtis, but he’s gonna have to rediscover his knack for making POP hits. People can front on the gully shit, but not a pop hit. The closest shit to a hit on this set is 50 and Kidd Kidd going in over Mike Will Made It beat, but I don’t think masses are buying 50 Cent over shit THAT Southern (ironic, given that part of his initial appeal was his slight Southern drawl).

C’mon Fif, capture the hearts and asses of bitches nationwide. You can do it. I believe in you. As for the rest of you, go download The Lost Tape and get some gully in your life again…

Download:
ZIP: 50 Cent – The Lost Tape (Left-Click)

Nicolas Jaar is nominally American. He was born in New York but raised largely in Chile and his aesthetic is continental in the way that the world used to send star scholars to Europe for intellectual polish. He’s not doing so bad for himself, attending Brown and still just 22.  When he’s not fusing downtempo trip-hop, Afro-jazz, avant-garde classical, and pop , he’s kicking it with the daughters of famous Hollywood celebs. Over the last year, he’s collaborated with Scout LaRue (daughter of Bruce and Demi) and Sasha Spielberg (daughter of that Senor Spielbergo fellow). Inevitably, he gets court-side seats to Laker games, excused from parking tickets, and invented the “Slow Down” dance. He’s good.

The beauty of the BBC1 mix is that offers explanation without words. No need to respond to the ponderous interview questions about inspirations and influences. The proof is in the (Electric) prunes. Jaar drops a two hour mix of stunning Gauloise grooves. Between his collaborations with starlets and his sultry slinking style, Jaar almost seems to be channeling Serge Gainsbourg. Then you remember that he’s a 90s baby and grew up with N’ Sync and Beyonce on every station. They’re scattered in the mix too, alongside The Field, Ricardo Villalobos, jazz (Charlie Mingus), Japanese film soundtracks, soul (Marvin Gaye) and 60s rock re-worked (The Electric Prunes, The Grass Roots).

Of course, there are healthy slabs of new Jaar and other artists who have recorded for his Clown & Circus imprint. Not only is the ultimate effect produce a beautiful and bizarre stream of music, it’s a reminder of how fast Jaar has synthesized everything. Rather than show off the contents of his iPod, his Essential Mix reveals the skeleton. Bill Callahan cracks on “America” (also remixed in here), “America, you are so grand and golden.” This may be true, but we still haven’t figured out what’s essential.

Download:

Tracklist:

NICOLAS JAAR :: BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix

01. Nicolas Jaar & Maceo Plex – Gravy Train (Nicolas Jaar Remix) [Get Physical Music]
02. Nicolas Jaar – Space Is Only Noise [Clown & Sunset]
03. Laxx & Farkas – Creature
04. Nicolas Jaar – Don’t Break My Love [Clown & Sunset]
………………………………………………………………………………………..

05. Angelo Badalamenti – Conversation On Twin Peaks [Warner Bros]
06. The Brothers Four – Greenfields [Columbia]
07. Jay-Z – My First Song (Acapella) [Roc-A- Fella]
08. Jonny Greenwood – There Will Be Blood [NONESUCH]
09. Los Ángeles Negros – Tu Y Tu Mirar… Yo Y Mi Cancion [Harmless]
10. LaShun Pace – It’s Me Oh Lord (Acapella Praise) [Shanachie]
11. Jonny Greenwood – Open Spaces [NONESUCH]
12. Pearson Sound – Footloose [Pearson Sound]
13. The Electric Prunes – Holy Are You (There Is No God Edit) [Reprise]
14. Aphex Twin – Ziggomatic 17 [WARP]
15. Keith Jarrett – Tokyo, November 14 (Encore) [ECM Records]
16. My Girl And Me – Always Back To You (feat. Lorraine) [Unknown]
17. Vera November – Last Night Together (You’re Coming Back Edit) [Rough Trade]
18. Nikita Quasim – L’amour L’après Midi [Clown and Sunset]
19. Nikita Quasim – The Way I Felt Today [Clown and Sunset]
20. Feist – Caught A Long Wind [Polydor]
21. Shigeru Umebayashi – Yumeji’s Theme (In The Mood For Love) [In The Mood For Love OST, Higher Octave OmTown]
22. *NSYNC – It Makes Me Ill (Edit) [JIVE]
23. Unknown – Unknown
24. Charles Mingus – Myself When I’m Real [IMPULSE]
25. Bill Callahan – America! [DRAG CITY]
26. The Field – The Little Heart Beats So Fast [Kompakt]
27. Sneaky Sound System – Always By Your Side (Nicolas Jaar Remix) [Modular]
28. Just Friends – Avalanche [Unknown]
29. Pavla + Noura – Don’t Owe Me A Thing [The Prism, Clown and Sunset]
30. Acid Pauli – La Voz Tan Tierna [Clown and Sunset]
31. Igor Wakhevitch – Taddy’s Dream: Ramallah’s Road [Pathé Marconi EMI]
32. Nikita Quasim – Derridu [Unknown]
33. Beyoncé Knowles – 1+1 [Columbia]
34. Anouar Brahem – Vague / E La Nave Va [ECM]
35. Rio Grande – Let’s Groove (Tonight Edit) [Unknown]
36. Gonzales – Manifesto [Sunnyside]
37. The Grass Roots – Let’s Live For Today (Learn To Live Edit) [Dunhill]
38. Marvin Gaye – Inner City Blues (Sk Edit) [TAMLA]
39. Man Friday – Real Love (The Paradise Garage Mix) (feat. Larry Levan) [Nite Grooves]
40. DJ Slugo – What That Do [Subterranean Playhouse]
41. Ricardo Villalobos – What You Say Is More Than I Can Say [Playhouse]
42. Untitled – Untitled [Unknown]
43. Nicolas Jaar – The Student [Wolf & Lamb]

When it comes to Wiley, who the hell knows? It’s fitting for a genre as weird and self-destructive as Grime that its Godfather and head cheerleader come off as a cross between Nas, Lil Wayne, Lee Perry and The Neptunes and Wiley’s evasiveness and refusal to follow any sort of music industry plan guarantees that even those artists might get exasperated with his ways. Unless you’re in East London collecting tape packs, you’ve probably all but given up following the man’s unpredictable release schedule – major media outlets focus on his Ninja Tune albums while readily admitting they’re nowhere near as accomplished as his wildly unpredictable mixtapes.

This latest “10 steps to Grime happiness” sees him unleashing 10 140BPM freestyles for the hardcore massive, moving away from Hip-Hop tempos back into the high speed, high intensity rhyming that’s still as bracingly aggressive as it was 10 years ago while updating the production for the times. Kill Bill & Wu-Tang samples, video-game synths and Trap beats collide but it’s the words that’ll have you coming back for more – few musical weapons are as deadly as Wiley’s voice on a day where he decides to batter the listener with syllables. Don’t wait for the album, you’d be missing the point.

Download:
MP3: Wiley – It’s All Fun & Games Till… (left click)
MP3: Wiley – Step 2
Mp3: Wiley – Step 7

I’ve always been mildly obsessed with the idea of the “single.” It really started after Jigga and 50 made sales/first week sales accomplishments to taunt their rivals with and something for the more shallow (yeah) rap fan to hang their internet commenting hat on. As in: “yeah, the shit was dope but it didn’t sell as much as Nelly.” Well genius, NOTHING sells as much as Nelly – Nellyville was the aural equivalent of condoms. Was it ideal? No. But sales have been part of the conversation for a minute, even after the industry took a huge dump on itself. I promise, that wasn’t a veiled joke about Adele’s weight.

Given the importance we’ve placed on album sales, in a genre probably better suited for singles & EPs, it follows that singles ought to be obsessed about by someone other than managers, labels and A&Rs. That’s where I come in. I just love obsessing about “street” singles, “promo” singles, “single/radio/club” singles and “failed Rick Rawse” singles – probably because I think I have a great ear for these things and I can often predict (fairly accurately I might add) how successful a single is going to be outchea upon the first listen. The only “miss” I’ve had in years is Lil’ Wayne’s “A Milli.” I still don’t get how that song blew up the way it did, but let’s not talk about it anymore. Okay, I also kind of whiffed on J.Cole’s “Workout” as well, but I think that one’s mitigated by that silly shit being a glorified Paula Abdul song. Yeah that. And payola. I still can’t believe that stupid shit went platinum.

I suppose that context is a decent thing, because I can’t think of any specific reason for those last two paragraphs. I guess I’m just a little excited to write about shit I actually like, after a string of posts about underwhelming singles  — hold your fucking jokes, you clever twat you. So what’s got my knickers in a bunch? Well, I’m actually geeked about a trio of songs: Big K.R.I.T.’s “Yeah Dats Me”, Curren$y’s “Capitol (ft. 2Chainz)” and Galactic’s “Move Fast (ft. Mystikal & Mannie Fresh).

KRIT’s latest effort probably won’t light up the world or anything, since labels tend not to put a whole lot of resources behind shit that sounds like this – “this” meaning Bobby Womack’s “Across 110th Street” on MDMA (definitely not lean or weed) crossbred with Willie Hutch and chicken grease. Or in a word, awesome. Given my oft stated preference for more classic NY shit, it’s a little amazing to me that the more “Southern” KRIT sounds on records, the more I tend to like said records – which holds true even when he’s doing more carefree shit like this (not necessarily his strong suit). Too bad he dropped over the weekend when no one was paying attention. Girls should love this shit and as the girls go, so do the dollars. I’m paraphrasing either Tupac or Confucius there. I’m not sure right now. I’m tired.

The same follows for Curren$y’s link up with Titty-2-Links, but that’s because – well, it’s fucking Curren$y. This is what he does. In fact, this kind of shit might be the purest distillation of the Curren$y aesthetic – at least from a production standpoint. This time, Spitta not only goes in over horns (always a good idea), but flutes too (even better)! I think this means it’s music to get high and cop a blowski to (to be fair, I think that’s all music).

And now that I listen a little more closely, he’s still talking that same shit – weed, women, cars et al. As the man says himself “…and my reputation proceeds me.” Indeed, it does Spitta. Titty-4-Finger is essentially an afterthought on this shit. I know I’ve stated my views on the current H.C.I.C., but he’s here in name only. This song is way too Curren$y-esque for a non-Jet to make a proper dent. I don’t know if that’s a knock on 2Necklaces or not, but I know that “Capitol” is one hell of a song. More than makes up for that shitty Wale song that I’m deleting off my copy of ‘The Stoned Immaculate.’

Finally, there’s Galactic’s “Move Fast.” Listening to this shit makes me feel all enlightened and cultured n’shit. Difficult, given my slight disdain for many things N’Awlins. Yeah, I said it, all the voodoo girls they sent to Houston have been awful to me. In case you can’t tell, Galactic is the funk/jazz band playing the music, not the random beige muthafucka muggin it up with Mannie Freshly and Mystikal. I think that’s Dee-1, a promising rapper outta N’Awlins I cared for briefly. Pause. Anyway, Mystikal gives one of the most hilariously effervescent and light-hearted performances I’ve heard from any rapper in years and Mannie is ALWAYS fun to have around – even if he’s just on the hook (or is it the bridge? These double hook jams be stressing a nigga out in a good way).

Galactic’s backing track seems to have inspired the most randomly freewheeling performance I’ve heard in ages – nonsensical proverbs about apples, bananas and cranberry juice, chants, multiple hooks and Lord know what else I missed while I was jigging at my desk. Makes me wonder what we’d have to do get more New Orleans cats to incorporate their local/trademark sounds into rap songs more often – you know, kinda like that dusty DC fuck does with Go-Go. I recall a documentary with Weezy being vehemently opposed to the idea of even being influenced by the brass band traditions down there. I understand that response, but my request remains active.

Wait a fucking minute. I just realized that none of these singles are going to get close to where they deserve to be – in my esteemed opinion of course. Still, I enjoyed writing about them and I’ll enjoy listening for a long time to come. Ultimately, that’s all that really matters to me. Well that and me heading over to iTunes to cop them. Hey, these artist muthafuckas can still eat well without doing J.Cole ‘Workout’ units. Well, maybe not the guys in Galactic – too many muthafuckas splitting that check. Mystikal neither – he’s in jail. Again.

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I might get pilloried by team Passion for writing this, but I think Drake kills it – absolutely kills it – when he makes music at the exact right point in his menstrual cycle. “No Lie” counts among the five Drake songs I like, the first four being “Best I Ever Had,” “I’m On One,” “Free Spirit” and “The Motto” (before they put Tyga on it). If these songs comprised The Drizzy EP, it would be a document of commercial rap’s redemption. On all of these songs, Drake hit the booth looking to project a scrappy rap heartthrob – the sensitive guy in the crew who still gets respect from the street.

“No Lie” hits hard and Drake sings a Timberlake-esque hook, clearly gunning for summer anthem status. He applies pop sensibilities to the 2010 Lex Luger/Southside trap banger and executes perfectly. I think everyone prefers Drake as an able and willing pop star over the wounded starlet we hear on “Marvin’s Room” or the Lil Wayne impersonator we hear on “Headlines” – even if he sounds like an edgy Backstreet Boy on paper.

Oh yeah, this is technically a 2 Chainz song. He’s filler. Not compelling enough to deserve a second look, but not generic enough to ruin a great Drake song. His ultra-ignorant brag rap serves the track well, but he barely raps as well as the average MMG weed carrier. This means he’ll live and die by his taste in beats and collaborators. Come to think of it, “No Lie,” “Neighborhood Hoez” and “Pimps” have the makings of another great EP.

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