A Rhyme: "Fantasies" - Bootleg feat. Left Eye

Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes passed away ten years ago today and a song released by German label Block Starz Music leaked yesterday. The song is characterized by a smooth beat with a sweet flute and a steady protools beat. Left Eye's rapping is different than was usually characteristic of her--it is deeper and a more rugged, probably because around that time she was developing music under the persona of N.I.N.A. That version of Left Eye was on Suge Knight's Death Row records.

For that reason, this song is a departure from what people knew of Left Eye during her TLC days. It offers a glimpse of the type of music the rapper would have released had she not had that fatal plane crash a decade ago.



Source: Creative Loafing Atlanta

A Rhyme: "Party Girl" - Asher Roth Feat. Meek Mill

"I Love College" rapper Asher Roth returns with his new song about a girl who likes to party. Aptly titled "Party Girl," it samples Eddie Murphy's 80's hit "Party All The Time". Asher still has connections to college-oriented music with this song describing the party antics of a stereotypical college frat girl.

Backed by a club-dupstep based beat, it makes for a good track that any party girl would want to dance to. The song also serves to introduce younger audiences to the fact that yes, Eddie Murphy did attempt to sing at some point. It's good, it's straight forward and the rap provided by Meek Mill helps make it more hip-hop and less typically pop appealing to the college crowed. It's not necessarily mainstream but neither is Asher Roth.

A Rhyme: "Lost" - Gorilla Zoe

Gorilla Zoe’s most popular track is undoubtedly “Lost” form his March 2009 album Don’t Feed Da Animals.  Like many artists, his song is about being lost in the business. He has his go-to vices to keep him sane: purple and a chick he met in the club. The words in the song smoothly flow from ear to ear with the slick familiar hip-hop beat in the background and a female vocalist that echoes more of the R&B genre.

This isn’t the most typical hip-hop song but it’s not completely original. Yet it still goes a little deeper than the usual: rapping about money, cars, girls, and the like. It’s a song anyone who is feeling at least somewhat overwhelmed can relate to.  And the song actually tells a story making it more relevant.

Image Credit: Bad Boy South, Block, Atlantic

A Riff: How Hip-Hop Wasn't My Thing

When I was younger, I never used to listen to Hip-Hop/Rap. You could say that I never grew up, but while most of my peers had moved on past the era of 2000s bubblegum pop, I stayed with it and continued listening to the genre and found myself listening to, and liking my local hits and top-40 radio stations. During this time period I even found myself moving into country music and liking it as well. I didn't think this was a bad thing until my peers started talking about artists I knew nothing about. Lil' Fizz--who is that? Hip-Hop and R&B were out of my realm. The only time I was exposed to R&B was in the car when my mom had it on those stations (that was when R&B was good. I still prefer '90s R&B over today's any day.)

Lil' Fizz, member of the boy band B2K, that split in 2004

When I would ask "Who is that?" I would get a flurry of "You don't know who____is?!" It made me feel embarrassed. Then when the conversation came to "Who is your favorite singer?" or "What kind of music do you listen to?" my answers would be criticized. Don't let me bring up the fact that i listened to country music, because as many people know, apparently country music is a forsaken genre. It just doesn't have the mass appeal that other genres do. But I did bring it up and that pretty much stopped the conversation. Unless there was a "Why do you like it? I can't relate to it." It's not about relating to it, I don't related to agriculture being my way of living either, nor do I relate to drug dealing and lusting after women. And since that had such a terrible reaction, I dare not tell them who my favorite singer is. (See my twitter and you will quickly find out who it is.)

A certain...Fatale

Recently, however I have liked Hip-Hop and R&B mostly due to me just being exposed to it more. Undoubtedly the best artist out right now is Eminem. simply because he is so refreshingly honest and raw at the same time, plus, there are not antics. Em just is. And now I like the Hip-Hop genre and R&B too. There is room for Pop and Hip-Hop both in my repertoire.

Image Credit: Randee St. Nicholas, bestylistik.com

Spotlight: Kier's Playlist

Here's a playlist full of the music that I like. Many songs that I like are NOT on here so there may be another one in the future. Enjoy!

A Rhyme: "Good Life" - Kanye West f/ T-Pain

"Good Life" is basically about the life Kanye has always wanted, and the life he now has. The song won a Grammy in 2008 and features John Legend and Ne-Yo on background vocals. T-Pain is featured on the track that samples keys from Michael Jackson's "P.Y.T . (Pretty Young Thing)". Kanye wrote the song along with others including legendary composer Quincy Jones.

This song is great because who doesn't wan't to live a life like that? In the song, Kanye talks about wishing he was living the "Good Life" as a kid and now he has made that a reality. A notable line in the song is " 50 told me go 'head switch the style up/And if they hate then let 'em hate/And watch the money pile up". People are always going to hate on you when ever you try to do something different. But when you end being successful, you're the one who gets the last laugh.

Picture credit: Wikipedia

Credit: Rhapsody