New Music Tuesday #22
Playlists, New Music and AI Rap Beef
There is no Twitch stream this week cus I’ve gotta go film some stuff at Okayplayer for the podcast. I may be able to hop on at around 3pm but I’m not sure if that will happen so at the moment it’s cancelled.
If. you’re gonna be in Brooklyn this week Shouting at The Screen is this Thursday (4/25) at Nitehawk’s Prospect Park theater and our guest is Sydnee Washington. Tickets are right here.
NEWS
This isn’t really news but I need a header so..
Thoughts on Shuffle
Sometimes I will pick a song on Spotify and play that song’s ‘Radio Station’. The last song I did this with was I’m Dreamin’ by Christopher Williams (man oh man was he fighting for his life on the vamp of the song LOL) and that led me to discovering that Father MC re-recorded I’ll Do 4 U.
Artists covering their own songs for streaming is not a new thing at all and I get it but man this version is so toothless. The horns they subbed in on the replay sound limp as hell and the singer who is standing in for Mary J did their best but man that’s a huge shadow to stand in.
He didn’t change any of the lyrics tho and the vocal performance is pretty spot on so that kinda helps it all go down a bit smoother. This also made me listen to the lyrics and there is a part where he calls himself “the black hummingbird” which almost sent me down a hummingbird mating habits rabbit hole but I bet that would probably be me giving his lyrics more thought than he gave them so I chilled. But man what a weird way to describe yourself. Father MC is a creepy weird dude anyway and by weird I mean ‘Aaron Hall-esque’ and I’ll just leave it at that.
Tammy Lucas also popped up on that radio station and it made me remember that she originally demo’d SWV’s Use Your Heart and while their version is absolutely perfect it’s still fun to know that this exists.
Also just found an interview with Tammy Lucas letting the chopper sing on the Neptunes…YIKES! It’s just a clip and the full interview appears to be 4.5 hours long but I think she goes deep into the history.
Gerald levert was also one of the artists that popped up and I don’t know if this makes sense to you but his voice sounds like what I’d imagine Cedric The Entertainer’s singing voice should be.
They even look alike which is makes this theory hit even harder if you don’t think about it too much.
Hearing Gerald also reminded me that the game is missing power singers. Ain’t no more Teddy P’s yelling at you or Christopher William’s fighting for their lives on the vamp or Gerald’s belting notes from the depth of his soul. (I also feel like Gerald as a name is going extinct. Has anyone met an infant aged Gerald?)
Drake Vs Everybody
The rap world is still in a tizzy over Drizzy (#bars? lol) and for those of you who touch grass and aren’t chronically online here’s a brief update.
Drake dropped two versions of the same diss song and while Kenny didn’t respond everybody else did. Rick Ross was one of those people and he dropped a song and in that song he said Drake had a surgically enhanced 6 pack. This inspired a BBL Drizzy AI meme. (I think I am using these words right, they are such dumb words and they make even dumber sentences)
Not to be outdone Drake then dropped a song called Taylor Made where he used AI voice modeling to make his voice sound like Tupac and Snoop urging Kendrick to respond to Drake.
It is truly one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard and it’s a fascinating turn of events. It’s safe to say that we’ve never seen anything like this and I’m just happy that it doesn’t feel dangerous.
While I’m sure that there are definitely some hurt feelings somewhere the battle so far has been very unserious and full of jokes.
It’s gonna be interesting to see what happens over the next week. I still don’t think Kendrick is gonna give a direct response but mostly because he doesn’t really need to at this point.
Long story short: AI won.
NEW MUSIC
Okay enough of me rambling about AI and old music. It was honestly a pretty slow week because people got out the way for Taylor’s new album but a few gems did drop.
VIDEOS
New Boy Sand video, project on the way and a Pateon to go with it.
I guess it’s a green light on Kanye which is crazy but not so crazy. This sounds like an older verse tho. I think what I like most is the concept of Gilga Radio because I love when artists build their own platforms.
Dunno who Salimata is but I like this song
Mez finally dropped! Here’s a video for the project that he dropped.
ALBUMS
FINALLY! This joint bangs.
Mez been around for a minute and I’m happy that he’s finally got something out.
Can’t really go wrong with Al and Oh No
Iman Europe fully produced by Kaelin Ellis? Yeah this gon hit. Period
SINGLES
People have been waiting on Nas & Premier to do an album since 94. It might finally happen.
Blu still goin crazy!
Lucky Daye don’t miss.
I like PawPaw Rod so I like this song.
ADDENDUM
I was alerted to this video of Nice & Smooth doing Hip Hop Junkies in Spanish and I wanted to post it but it won’t embed so click here if you want to have your mind blown by hearing them rap in Spanish.
Sorry about that run on sentence and all my other grammatical errors and typos. That’s my way of showing you that I’m not AI.