Paul very succinctly distilled the thesis of "How the Beatles Destroyed Rock n Roll." To that effect, I wish more of the last decade sounded like this...
-Matt Levine
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
top 10 albums of 2009 - kate miles
[10] S/T - PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART: This album has trickled down my list over the weeks as I've listened to it more. I got it last March and have enjoyed the hell out of it, but geez, "Gentle Sons" sounds a helluva lot like "Just Like Honey". Either way, I'm going to take a leap of faith that if your first album sounds a lot like Jesus & Mary Chain then maybe your second album will sound original, amazing, and just Jesus & Mary Chainish.
[9] 'EMBRYONIC' - THE FLAMING LIPS: When the Vatican reviewers described Avatar as "bland," Conan O'Brien remarked that perhaps the Vatican folks forgot to get stoned before the movie like they were supposed to. A similar train of thought could be used in discussing the Flaming Lips; is Embryonic more enjoyable if you're listening to it with My Little Pony on mute while 2/3rds through a tub of oriental cracker mix? Fortunately for government employees and non-dope dabblers, the Lips ignore the fact that they could easily make one-dimensional albums that appeal mainly to their more fragrant fans; instead, Embryonic is thoughtful, layered and "Convinced of the Hex" is the best 'track 1' of any album I heard in '09.
[8] 'MANNERS' - PASSION PIT:
Since "Sleepyhead" is now on an endlessly played Palm commercial and other tracks from Manners are constantly looped on the crappier FM stations, I now feel obligated to defend my choice of this once little-known Boston band. The reason why Manners appears on my list is pretty simple: I was one of those people who listened to the Postal Service's Give Up all summer long in 2003 and I hadn't heard an album at all like it till a friend in Somerville told me about Passion Pit. It's the perfect music for times of high sentimentality. Listening to "Live to the Tell the Tale" from the pre-Manners Chunk of Change EP was the perfect song for packing for my first x-country move; in the song, Michael Angelakos does *not* tell God to bless inanimate objects (thanks, 'anonymous'). Either way, I *still* highly recommend Passion Pit for weddings, moves, babies being born, funerals, or any other "crossroads" moment. So there.
[7] 'GET GUILTY' - A.C. NEWMAN: Why the hell is everyone now so jazzed about A.C. Newman? Does no one remember 2004's The Slow Wonder? Or did everyone I know just hate that album? (I'm including "Miracle Drug" in my music playing gizmo as a reminder of that album's awesomeness.) Anyway, Get Guilty was my favorite of the New Pornographer alum offerings this year; if you're working more hours at your job than you'd rather be, "All of My Days and All of My Days Off" is the perfect OT anthem.
[6] 'RESEVOIR' - FANFARLO: It kind of sounds like the lead singer of Arcade Fire playing with Jens Leckman's band, which makes for an album that doesn't exactly sound like something brand spanking new, but is still worthwhile through its neat lyrics and use of unexpected instruments.
[5] S/T - XX: I'm not sure what more I can add about this album since it's appearing on lots of lists. If you haven't hopped on the XX bandwagon yet, here is the video that introduced me to them and subsequently got me hooked:
[4] 'NEVERMINT' & 'LOUISE' EP - GRAND LAKE:
You know those asshats who, for no apparent reason what-so-ever, will just announce that they "saw Modest Mouse play an acoustic show at the Middle East downstairs in 1997"? I'm quite sure I will be one of those asshats in the coming years when discussing Grand Lake. Nevermint arrived on my doorstep as a gift when I was still living in Boston last summer and I have been listening to it constantly; it's fun, clever, new - it has many original qualities that have been lacking in a lot of other 2009 offerings. The Louise EP has a Silver Jews cover that is sung with the authority of someone not doing a cover; it causes the people in the metaphorical bleacher seats to perk up and see what's going on. Now that I live out in Oakland they're my new favorite local band, and I have no doubts singing their praises to snooty Brooklyners and picky Bostonians; it's solid stuff.
[3] 'POPULAR SONGS' - YO LA TENGO
Yo La Tengo's Popular Songs is to this year's music as George Clooney's performance in Up in the Air is to this year's movies. Clooney didn't do any press for Up in the Air because he decided it's a been there/done that thing, he's above it/over it, and he's fucking Clooney. But his absence from the press circuit coupled with having been hunktastic and charismatc since the '90s doesn't make his skilled performance any less exciting or pertinent. The members of Yo La Tengo - the fellas now speckled with Clooneyish salt and pepper hair - have also been hot shit since the 90s, and their consistency doesn't diminish that the under-hyped Popular Songs has some of the catchiest ("Periodically Double or Triple") and most moving ("More Stars Than There Are in Heaven") songs of the year.
[2] 'ASHES GRAMMAR' - A SUNNY DAY IN GLASGOW: I wasn't sure what to expect when I sat down for my first listen of Ashes Grammar. On one hand, 2008's Scribble Mural Comic Journal had the hypnotic "5:15 Train," which, incidentally, is a most appropriate song to accompany the wind-down of the evening rush hour. On the other hand, a start-to-finish listen of Journal makes you feel like you're shopping in a hot, overly lit boutique that sells $180 skinny jeans. I was pleasantly surprised - and very wow'ed - that I can listen to Ashes Grammar over and over again. If you like "Two Doves" from the Dirty Projectors' Bitte Orca (which was the only song from that album I enjoyed), then Ashes Grammar will flat out floor you.
[1] 'VECKATIMEST' - GRIZZLY BEAR: This was easy! I had been lukewarm towards Grizzly Bear for a couple of years; as a regular listener of All Songs Considered I knew that Bob Boilen loved them. I thought their cover of "He Hit Me (And it Felt Like a Kiss)" was creepy and mesmerizing. They crept onto my iPod via collaborations with Feist, Dntel, etc. (Lots of this backstory is just to annoy a certain anti-Grizzly Bear creator of this blog, by the way.) But then the Treasure Island Festival in San Francisco happened in October. They opened the show with "Cheerleader," the clouds parted from the sky and the sun came out (literally) and everything changed:
Take *that*, Mr. Jackson. When I returned home from Treasure Island, I was a full fledged Grizzly Bear freak. I asked PGJ if he had ever seen his fellow Brooklyners perform (though Ed Voste is a Cambridge native, yay) and his reply was "ew no". Shit man, even Jay-Z loves Grizzly Bear:
Last thoughts:
I was underwhelmed by Dark was the Night, with the exception of Feist and Ben Gibbard's "Train Song". That duet, in combination with Grizzly Bear being on perpetual tour with Beach House, made for a great year for male/female duets; I haven't been this excited since Peter Cetera and Amy Grant sang "Next Time I Fall" in 1986. Grizzly Bear's "Slow Life" with Victoria Legrand for the New Moon soundtrack is a perfect example of the duet-y awesomeness out there, and the snobs at Pitchfork need to pipe down with their bitching about the New Moon soundtrack. The '00s were filled with horrible movies that had great, memorable soundtracks (I never saw Wicker Park but the soundtrack was all I listened to in the fall of '04), and we shouldn't hold grudges against artists who lend original songs to less-than-hip movies.
And that's all!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
World Collide
Quick post from PGJ...today Slate posted an article, the ultimate in worlds colliding:
"Hova Goes MoMA"
http://www.slate.com/id/2241208/
A few days after making my case Jay's cultural import, Slate takes a slightly different angle but uses my workplace in the headline!
Anyway, I'm not a big fan of the article in general, and posted the following comment:
"Interesting points, but not sure I buy it. Koons, Hirst, Murakami, and all other descendants of Warhol have one set of concerns -- toying with meta-/ironic/playful ideas of celebrity qua celebrity, fashion as substance, ephemera as depth. But Jay-Z has little to do with that tradition. The substance of his art-making is his skill as an MC (poet?), selling his rags-to-riches life story through extraordinary narratives and rhymes, closer to a Bruce Springsteen than an irony-soaked Damien Hirst. Feels like a real stretch to make that connection."
What do y'all think?
"Hova Goes MoMA"
http://www.slate.com/id/2241208/
A few days after making my case Jay's cultural import, Slate takes a slightly different angle but uses my workplace in the headline!
Anyway, I'm not a big fan of the article in general, and posted the following comment:
"Interesting points, but not sure I buy it. Koons, Hirst, Murakami, and all other descendants of Warhol have one set of concerns -- toying with meta-/ironic/playful ideas of celebrity qua celebrity, fashion as substance, ephemera as depth. But Jay-Z has little to do with that tradition. The substance of his art-making is his skill as an MC (poet?), selling his rags-to-riches life story through extraordinary narratives and rhymes, closer to a Bruce Springsteen than an irony-soaked Damien Hirst. Feels like a real stretch to make that connection."
What do y'all think?
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Posted! [by John Broderick]
So. I've only taken the time to skim through all the great posts. Like most of my post-holiday catch-up work, I'm saving it for MLK weekend. I do have a few things to add, or contribute. I apologize if any of this has already been said. If so, just think of me as a complimentary echo.
There were tons of good singles that I had the opportunity to hear through Emerson College's outstanding radio station, WERS. I'd highly recommend streaming it on the web, except on weekends unless you're an a capella/showtunes type.
Albums I listened to this year:
The Avett Brothers, "I and Love..." Patrick had some nice words to say about this album early in the listings and I think that it deserves more mention. I lived in West Virginia for much of 2006-2007 and these guys toured the bluegrass circuit, playing in small clubs in "enlightened" towns throughout the state. I saw them twice, at the Purple Fiddle in Davis and at the Marlinton Opera House - a venue I highly recommend checking out, esp. if you've ever wanted to jump into a time machine. They were fun and ok; this album is really good. Heartfelt, as much pop as bluegrass, and really just pretty damn good. "My heart like a snare drum" is one of the more fun songs I've heard this year - apologies to Lady Gaga and all who flew over my radar - and damn, just give it a listen.
Blitzen Trapper. I think that Furr came out last year, but this is the newish album that I listened to most. Really good, and really fun band live.
The Dave Rawlins Machine: Actually, I havent heard this album, but I spoke with Itty about this band a bit last week. Dave Rawlins is Gillian Welch's musical (and life?) partner, and they play together in this band, and Mr. Rawlins also happens to produce many of the best young alt-country/bluegrass acts around. I saw them in concert with a lineup that would do credit to the old "grand old opry" shows, with bands like old crow and the felice brothers and this crazy skinny young old timer coming on and off the stage to joyfully jam or pluck out songs. I knew that Old Crow would be excellent, and I knew that Gillian would be Gillian, but Dave Rawlins stole the show. Really something else. People say that there are videos of the bands BBC performance online. Check them out. I particularly liked the song "sweet tooth." jesus they were good.
Dylan's Christmas Album: Maybe someone mentioned this, but the emcee of this whole show gave me this as a jokey housewarming gift this fall. It got terrible reviews, and I'm an admitted Dylanophile(word?), but I really liked it. Worth a listen if only to hear Dylan singing in Latin, anyhow. I'm an inveterate singer in kitchens and showers and any old place, and I found myself crooning snatches of "here comes santa claus" until at least January 7th. Usually I don't even really like Christmas songs.
Documentary, "It might get loud." This was interesting. I can't help but think that it could have been better done, but the premise is jimmy page, jack white, and the edge are gathered together to talk about electric guitars. white was interesting, page was charming and endearing, reminding me a bit of my uncle tom (celeste and paul, you know where this is at), while thanks to new television technology i was able to fast-forward through every section that I heard the edge beginning to speak. I feel like most people on this list would like this movie. Inveterate that I am (see above), I found myself singing "ramble on's" section about golem and the evil one in the shower this morning. i don't really know what that's worth to ya.
comment on jay-z. i haven't read all of paul's piece, but i'd like to add, and end with one of my favorite jay-z lines that has a bit to do with his historical reflecting:
...like the late bob marley, (pause)
pardon me, y'all, the great bob marley.
only jay can sing something so throwaway and make it gold.
happy january, all.
There were tons of good singles that I had the opportunity to hear through Emerson College's outstanding radio station, WERS. I'd highly recommend streaming it on the web, except on weekends unless you're an a capella/showtunes type.
Albums I listened to this year:
The Avett Brothers, "I and Love..." Patrick had some nice words to say about this album early in the listings and I think that it deserves more mention. I lived in West Virginia for much of 2006-2007 and these guys toured the bluegrass circuit, playing in small clubs in "enlightened" towns throughout the state. I saw them twice, at the Purple Fiddle in Davis and at the Marlinton Opera House - a venue I highly recommend checking out, esp. if you've ever wanted to jump into a time machine. They were fun and ok; this album is really good. Heartfelt, as much pop as bluegrass, and really just pretty damn good. "My heart like a snare drum" is one of the more fun songs I've heard this year - apologies to Lady Gaga and all who flew over my radar - and damn, just give it a listen.
Blitzen Trapper. I think that Furr came out last year, but this is the newish album that I listened to most. Really good, and really fun band live.
The Dave Rawlins Machine: Actually, I havent heard this album, but I spoke with Itty about this band a bit last week. Dave Rawlins is Gillian Welch's musical (and life?) partner, and they play together in this band, and Mr. Rawlins also happens to produce many of the best young alt-country/bluegrass acts around. I saw them in concert with a lineup that would do credit to the old "grand old opry" shows, with bands like old crow and the felice brothers and this crazy skinny young old timer coming on and off the stage to joyfully jam or pluck out songs. I knew that Old Crow would be excellent, and I knew that Gillian would be Gillian, but Dave Rawlins stole the show. Really something else. People say that there are videos of the bands BBC performance online. Check them out. I particularly liked the song "sweet tooth." jesus they were good.
Dylan's Christmas Album: Maybe someone mentioned this, but the emcee of this whole show gave me this as a jokey housewarming gift this fall. It got terrible reviews, and I'm an admitted Dylanophile(word?), but I really liked it. Worth a listen if only to hear Dylan singing in Latin, anyhow. I'm an inveterate singer in kitchens and showers and any old place, and I found myself crooning snatches of "here comes santa claus" until at least January 7th. Usually I don't even really like Christmas songs.
Documentary, "It might get loud." This was interesting. I can't help but think that it could have been better done, but the premise is jimmy page, jack white, and the edge are gathered together to talk about electric guitars. white was interesting, page was charming and endearing, reminding me a bit of my uncle tom (celeste and paul, you know where this is at), while thanks to new television technology i was able to fast-forward through every section that I heard the edge beginning to speak. I feel like most people on this list would like this movie. Inveterate that I am (see above), I found myself singing "ramble on's" section about golem and the evil one in the shower this morning. i don't really know what that's worth to ya.
comment on jay-z. i haven't read all of paul's piece, but i'd like to add, and end with one of my favorite jay-z lines that has a bit to do with his historical reflecting:
...like the late bob marley, (pause)
pardon me, y'all, the great bob marley.
only jay can sing something so throwaway and make it gold.
happy january, all.
kate miles's etcetera 2009 list
2009 was a weird year. Look at sports: Brett Favre’s "I used to find his flip-flopping annoying but now I think his balls are humungous" 12-4 season to Tom Brady’s “does he even care?” 10-6; the NBA finals didn’t involve Kobe vs. King James but rather Kobe vs… Dwight Howard and Hedo Turkoglu? And A-Rod managed to not smoke the pole in the post-season while the Red Sox got spanked? Yes, 2009 was odd.
Before I dive into my Top 10 for music, I'll start with the Etcetera topics of the year I think are worthy of Paulies inclusion. For instance, the coolest thing to happen in 2009? Beatles Rock Band, by a landslide. The fact that Harmonix was supported every step of the way by Paul, Ringo, the widows, the Martins, Dhani Harrison is extraordinary given that it is after all, just a video game. I'm not a video game person, so every sentence I've written about the game I've wound up erasing for sounding too fifth grade ("It's wicked cool when you play 'Revolution' for the sixth time and Ringo yells, 'take 6!' beforehand," and so on). So instead I've listed two videos that I think illustrate the Big Deal-ness of the game and its brilliant advertising campaign.
BOOKS: So with the economy still sucking and wars still going on and bad news still being the bulk of news, there exists a window of opportunity for escapism books to really thrive, or maybe to be more specific, really trashy and poorly written books that you can easily read in a day. And so we've had a great year for hilarious memoirs, whether they're intended to be hilarious or not. (The numbers for Brooke Shields and Carrie Fisher talking about postpartum depression and hitting the sauce are kind of astounding.) Bookshelves are filled with [mostly] true stories that'll make you feel better about your own life. (Artie Lange's Too Fat to Fish was a late 2008 release, but it's paperback came out in 2009 so I'm just going to let that slide for the sake of including it here.) But the best memoir of 2009 was definitely not Sarah Palin or Elizabeth Hawes writing about wanting to bone Camus, but rather, it's Jodie Sweetin of Full House's tell-all, UnSweetined. Here's a "taste" (to use terminology fashioned by those who put things up their nose that don't belong there): "Looking back, I think I liked the control. I was always the driver, the host; it was always my show. With people waiting to party, I went into the kitchen and returned with a bottle of Jack Daniels is one hand, a bottle of champagne under my arm, and a big plate of coke in my other hand for all my guests. The crowd went wild. Standing ovation. Just how I liked it."
TELEVISION: You know it's a weird year for TV when everyone you know has something to say about an MTV reality show and it's not 1994. And while I have nothing to add to the already on-going Paulies discussion on Jersey Shore, another 2009 TV oddity was this summer's late-night changeover. There was much head scratching and worry over Conan O'Brien taking over The Tonight Show and Jimmy Fallon inheriting Late Night. The worry came from fans fretting that Conan would dumb down his style and all his musical guests would be overweight pop-country acts. The head scratching was the result of choosing Jimmy Fallon for the 12:35 slot. I'm a religious watcher of both, a Conan superfan that showed up at Rockefeller Center around 12:30pm for a 5pm taping of Late Night in 2003. (Needless to say, NBC's recent wrongdoings and Leno's inability to retire like he said he would have created a level of anger and distress in me I could devote a whole new blog to.) Anyway, Conan at 11:35 has been fabulous; the Twitter skits, the return of Andy Richter to the couch, it's all brilliant. As for Jimmy Fallon, I believe in him. Yes, I believe in him despite his complete inability to interview people who he hasn't already partied with. (His interviews with Jason Schwartzmann, Artie Lange, and even the loathsome Kate Hudson are great, but give him Ringo or even Matthew Broderick and he tanks.) However, despite all this, I think he's talented enough to be on TV five nights a week. He has a solid head writer in the hilarious A.D. Miles and his natural talent is plentiful enough to balance out his awkwardness:
And sadly, it looks like this will be the last year that the Paulies will include discussion of Flight of the Conchords. So why not dance to "Sugar Lumps" one more time?
Before I dive into my Top 10 for music, I'll start with the Etcetera topics of the year I think are worthy of Paulies inclusion. For instance, the coolest thing to happen in 2009? Beatles Rock Band, by a landslide. The fact that Harmonix was supported every step of the way by Paul, Ringo, the widows, the Martins, Dhani Harrison is extraordinary given that it is after all, just a video game. I'm not a video game person, so every sentence I've written about the game I've wound up erasing for sounding too fifth grade ("It's wicked cool when you play 'Revolution' for the sixth time and Ringo yells, 'take 6!' beforehand," and so on). So instead I've listed two videos that I think illustrate the Big Deal-ness of the game and its brilliant advertising campaign.
BOOKS: So with the economy still sucking and wars still going on and bad news still being the bulk of news, there exists a window of opportunity for escapism books to really thrive, or maybe to be more specific, really trashy and poorly written books that you can easily read in a day. And so we've had a great year for hilarious memoirs, whether they're intended to be hilarious or not. (The numbers for Brooke Shields and Carrie Fisher talking about postpartum depression and hitting the sauce are kind of astounding.) Bookshelves are filled with [mostly] true stories that'll make you feel better about your own life. (Artie Lange's Too Fat to Fish was a late 2008 release, but it's paperback came out in 2009 so I'm just going to let that slide for the sake of including it here.) But the best memoir of 2009 was definitely not Sarah Palin or Elizabeth Hawes writing about wanting to bone Camus, but rather, it's Jodie Sweetin of Full House's tell-all, UnSweetined. Here's a "taste" (to use terminology fashioned by those who put things up their nose that don't belong there): "Looking back, I think I liked the control. I was always the driver, the host; it was always my show. With people waiting to party, I went into the kitchen and returned with a bottle of Jack Daniels is one hand, a bottle of champagne under my arm, and a big plate of coke in my other hand for all my guests. The crowd went wild. Standing ovation. Just how I liked it."
TELEVISION: You know it's a weird year for TV when everyone you know has something to say about an MTV reality show and it's not 1994. And while I have nothing to add to the already on-going Paulies discussion on Jersey Shore, another 2009 TV oddity was this summer's late-night changeover. There was much head scratching and worry over Conan O'Brien taking over The Tonight Show and Jimmy Fallon inheriting Late Night. The worry came from fans fretting that Conan would dumb down his style and all his musical guests would be overweight pop-country acts. The head scratching was the result of choosing Jimmy Fallon for the 12:35 slot. I'm a religious watcher of both, a Conan superfan that showed up at Rockefeller Center around 12:30pm for a 5pm taping of Late Night in 2003. (Needless to say, NBC's recent wrongdoings and Leno's inability to retire like he said he would have created a level of anger and distress in me I could devote a whole new blog to.) Anyway, Conan at 11:35 has been fabulous; the Twitter skits, the return of Andy Richter to the couch, it's all brilliant. As for Jimmy Fallon, I believe in him. Yes, I believe in him despite his complete inability to interview people who he hasn't already partied with. (His interviews with Jason Schwartzmann, Artie Lange, and even the loathsome Kate Hudson are great, but give him Ringo or even Matthew Broderick and he tanks.) However, despite all this, I think he's talented enough to be on TV five nights a week. He has a solid head writer in the hilarious A.D. Miles and his natural talent is plentiful enough to balance out his awkwardness:
And sadly, it looks like this will be the last year that the Paulies will include discussion of Flight of the Conchords. So why not dance to "Sugar Lumps" one more time?
Monday, January 11, 2010
Becky and Jon's list
Becky and Jon here. Long time lurkers, finally ready to contribute something.
(For context: Becky knows Paul through Lauren W., a high school friend.)
We don't hugely follow music. In fact, the Paulie's are a taste-maker of sorts for us.
One way or another however, we ran into these 5 albums in 2009.
In no particular order:
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
New to us, but difficult to tire of. So catchy. And so French.
Dark was the Night - RedHot compilation CD, Various Artists
All we knew was that everybody and their mother (ie: Sharon Jones) would be playing at Radio City Music Hall on one night. We downloaded the double album and bought primo tickets. The CDs are mildly depressing, but the concert even ended with a "we are the world" sing-along of This Land is My Land since Woody Guthrie's bday was happening across town. Sharon Jones interrupted the whiteys with a much better version.
Fol Chen - Part I: John Shade, Your Fortune's Made
Learned about this album from NPR of all places. Like listening to a crow pick the wires out of a ham radio. In a good way.
Antony and the Johnsons - The Crying Light
Another NPR pick. I loved Antony's voice on Hercules & The Love Affair. So wonderfully androgynous.
Del Tha Funkee Homosapien - Automatik Statik
Not the best album of the year (or of Del's) but it's refreshing to hear an artist that must strive so hard to reinvent his sound with each release. Becky was happy when Jon introduced her to all of Del's aliases (Octagon is still her favorite, despite Jon's insistence that it's "everyone's favorite.")
Look forward to listening to everyone's selections.
Happy 2010!
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Paul Jackson's List: 2009
For this year’s Paulies, I’m devoting my entry to one work from 2009--Sean Carter's latest LP "The Blueprint 3."
But before diving into the entrée, let’s pick at a few appetizers. It wouldn't be a Paulies without a Damon Albarn mention, whose production work on the opening track of Amadou and Mariam's “Welcome to Mali” is typical of his work this decade--a track-suit’d Essex boy bringing global-soul to the masses (doesn't hurt to have Mariam’s Mali-blues-vocals holding it down) [Listen on Lala]. While The Decemberists’s individual albums likely wont make many top 25 lists of the decade, their catalogue is becoming a formidable collection among those of the post-punk era; and their 2009 LP "The Hazards of Love" is the band at their most over-the-top, anything-goes, prog-rock-for-grad-students best. While I haven’t heard the '09 concept albums from Mastodon or Green Day, I imagine “Hazards of Love” to be the most rewarding of the bunch. With "Merriweather Post Pavilion" Animal Collective seem to have taken “the next big step” toward Radiohead-esque credibility and mass popularity (a brilliant record all the way through)…if only their live shows could get similar accolades. Cursive’s “From the Hips” is my selection for song of the year–arguably it has nothing to do with “2009” sonically or emotionally, but it’s a timeless gem of a pop rock song, philosophically astute, and easily the best thing I’ve ever heard come out of Saddle Creek and Omaha [Listen on Lala]. Among the big indie buzz records of '09, I’m enjoying Phoenix’s “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix,” but not ready to say much about it. Same for Dirty Projectors and The xx -- though The xx’s “Crystalised” and Phoenix’s “1901” certainly deserve some song of the year consideration. Also worth noting among the indies, Michael Angelakos’s deranged falsetto was a real highlight of '09, making his band Passion Pit seem like a legitimate "band-to-watch" among so many pretenders [Listen on Lala].
Lady Gaga, what is left to say, except she seems to be the most in control, self aware, and “necessary” female pop star since Madonna. All that Britney lacked in terms of agency, Gaga seems to possess–she's approached pop stardom like a CalTech student, pouring over the theories and theorems, taking Britney and Beyonce as her thesis advisers, and delivering “Paparazzi” as her doctoral project - "A +." [Listen via iLike]
Like any great “obituary moment” (see: Michael Jackson also this year, and Johnny Cash in '03), Jim Carroll’s passing provided an important moment of discovery-cum-reflection–the artist who can write “People who Died” will be forever missed [Listen via Lala]. 2009 had two great rock documentaries worth mentioning--Anvil! The Story of Anvil! was by all accounts the rock-doc of the year, but the Gorillaz '09 documentary Bananaz was a nice reminder of just how good (possibly important) that band really was [Watch on YouTube]. The Pixies, Jay-Z, and Macca (all 40 plus) were my highlights among live music performances. How the Beatles Destroyed Rock n Roll by Elijah Wald--as frustrating but thought-provoking as anything I’d read all year--was my favorite music book of 09. It posits a curious, but simple thesis–the history of pop music from 1900 onwards has 2 eras, pre-beatles 1966, and post-beatles 1967. That one band’s vaguely arbitrary decision to turn away from popular music as a live-based, communal function (with recordings as a secondary, minor concern) forever changed in 1967, and we’re all suffering for it. Music is meant to bring us together, and yet now band's recordings are studied and argued over like academic papers (ahem!). And finally Asher Roth's "I Love College" was my guilty pleasure of the year--it upset me more than anything else from 2009, which means he was doing something very right. (Listen via Lala).
2009: Paulies List: Paul G. Jackson
1. Jay-Z’s “The Blueprint III”
Track List:
1. "What We Talkin' About" (featuring Luke Steele). Kanye West & No I.D.
2. "Thank You". Kanye West & No I.D.
3. "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)". No I.D.
4. "Run This Town" (featuring Rihanna and Kanye West). Kanye West & No I.D.
5. "Empire State of Mind" (featuring Alicia Keys) Al Shux, Janet Sewell-Ulepic & Angela Hunte
6. "Real as It Gets"" (featuring Young Jeezy). The Inkredibles
7. "On to the Next One" (featuring Swizz Beatz). Swizz Beatz
8. "Off That" (featuring Drake). Timbaland & Jerome Harmon
9. "A Star Is Born" (featuring J. Cole). Kanye West, No I.D. & Kenoe
10. "Venus vs. Mars". Timbaland & Jerome Harmon
11. "Already Home" (featuring Kid Cudi). Kanye West, No I.D. & Jeff Bhasker
12. "Hate" (featuring Kanye West). Kanye West
13. "Reminder". Timbaland & Jerome Harmon
14. "So Ambitious" (featuring Pharrell). The Neptunes
15. "Young Forever" (featuring Mr Hudson)
Intro. For the final Paulies of this decade, it feels appropriate to reflect upon one album that’s able to sum up not only the year, but a much wider musical terrain; if such an album can connect back to the decade more broadly, then we really have something. Luckily "The Blueprint 3" is that record.
Prior to the 2009. As he so often does, in 2008 Jay-Z did a scene-stealing guest spot on Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III"; in "Mr. Carter" Jay-Z reiterated a major theme that’d been on his mind since his 2003 record "The Black Album”:
“Far from being the bastard that Marcy had fathered,
Now my name's been mentioned with the Martyrs,
The Biggie's and the Pac's, and the Marley's and the Marcus' Garvey's”
...which is an even better, but similar version of Jay-Z's 2003 lyric from Kanye West’s "The College Dropout":
"The way y’all all follow Jigga,
Hov’s a living legend and I’ll tell you why
Everybody wanna be Hov and Hov’s still alive"
Like most MC's, Jay has no problem boasting about his talent--but in constrast to some youthful posturing, the boast has become focused on Jay-Z's place in history. And as he sees it, it's the very fact of his unprecedented durability--his unlikely avoidance of tragedy--that sets him apart. Compare that to "Tha Carter III"'s previous track, “A Milli,” where Lil Wayne argues for a decidedly smaller point,
“They say I'm rappin like Big, Jay, and Tupac, Andre 3 Thousand/ Where is Erykah Badu at/ Who dat Who dat said they gon' beat Lil Wayne"
By all accounts these were the two greatest rappers alive in 2008--and in arguing for their importance, each of course turned to Tupac and Biggie as precedents. But for Jay-Z, it no longer has anything to do with the flow/verse/style of these rappers, but everything to do with what history makes of them. Hov'a a living legend, a near tragedy, a historical figure--and Hov's still alive.
Interestingly, one year later Jay-Z seems to have ditched this approach altogether – from “What We Talkin Bout” on "The Blueprint 3" we get:
“I don’t run rap no more, I run the map” [With the very next lyric Jay is taking some credit for getting Obama elected].
As he sees it, it's no longer a discussion about himself as an "Important Rapper"; now it's fully a question of Hegelian-historical-necessity-of-Jay-Z -- and in that regard, he'll be taking us into terra incognita for hip hop...
So what are the facts. On “Reminder” from "The Blueprint III," Jay rhymes:
"What the hell have y’all done/ to even have an opinion/ on what I’ve been doing/ What the hell have y’all won?/ Only thing you can identify with/ is losing 10 #1 albums in a row/ Who better than me?/ Only the Beatles, Nobody ahead of me/ I crushed Elvis and his blue suede shoes/ Made the Rolling Stones seem sweet as Kool-Aid too/ ‘96, ‘97, ‘98, ’99, 2000, 2001 and beyond/ ’02, ‘03, ’04, ’05, ’06 and 7, ’08, ’09/ Back to back Double-plat I did what you won’t/ Men lie Women lie Numbers don’t/ Ain’t nothing changed for me/ ‘Cept the year it is"
In fact "The Blueprint 3" did open on top of the Billboard charts, making it his 11th #1 album in a row, passing Elvis, and now only behind the Beatles who had 15 #1's. In the prime of our young lives and throughout this entire decade, we have arguably the most popular solo pop musician of the modern pop era--something that should be acknowledged.
But there's more to winning those 11 albums--the lyric is also likely a reference to Public Enemy's 1988 anthem "Fight the Power" ["Elvis was a hero to most/ But he never meant shit to me you see/ Straight up racist that sucker was/ Simple and plain/ Mother fuck him and John Wayne"]--with Elvis serving as two bookends here. When hip hop was finally gaining steam in the late 1980s as a cultural force, Public Enemy took dead aim at Elvis, needing to take down popular music's king; this was completed 20 years later with Jay-Z's 11th number one album in a row--"I crushed Elvis and his blue suede shoes."
So how did he pass Elvis? In “Onto the Next One, (feat. Swizz beatz)“ Jay rhymes
Hov on that new shit nigga like how come
Niggas want my old shit buy my old album
Niggas stuck on stupid I gotta keep it moving
Niggas make the same shit, me I make the blueprint
Came in the range, hopped out the Lexus
Every year since I been on that next shit
Traded in that gold for the platinum Rolexes
Now a niggaz wrist matches the status of my records
And in“Off That (feat. Drake)”:
"We don’t care what you used to say
Unless how it affects your future pay…”
The history of pop music seems clear on one point–any idiot can produce a one-hit wonder; a dirty Italian vocal group living under subway tracks of 1950s Brooklyn; a Gallic baby; it really doesn’t matter. And while it takes considerable more fortune and skill to make a hit album, history's also provided us with just as many one-album flame-outs. The public gets tired easily.
Around 2001 is when I first started considering Jay-Z as something more than just another Diddy-esque popular MC, specifically with "H to the Izzo." As good as the beats and rhymes might have been, it was Jay's co-option of “izzo” that felt notable–why was he doing it? The phrase was already floating around pop culture; in fact, the phrase felt kind of played out--but despire that, Jay-Z had turned this idiotic linguistic device into a total anthem, something that sounded iconic and of that time.
Now back to 2009. As Sasha Frere Jones covered in his now famous essay on the state of hip hop, there's been a real shift in the way rap music is constructed, relying more on a euro-centric, club-based flow as opposed to a south Bronx, sample-heavy, synth-beat sound. In short, hip hop is getting closer and closer to mainstream pop/dance music, which is what "The Blueprint 3" thoroughly is (a pop record). Is Jay-Z responsible in ay way for this shift? Not even close – but in 2009, just as he's always done, he adapted and co-opted the sound of the time. And he did it to extraordinary success. Niggas want my old shit buy my old album/ Niggas stuck on stupid I gotta keep it moving/ Niggas make the same shit, me I make the blueprint
And in contrast to the way Julian Casblancas seems to have little clue how to adapt his sound and evolve with the time, Jay has done it over and over. Not through stunt tactics a la Britney (or Madonna), but through an innate sense of where music needs to be. In 1998 Jay-Z was "street"– him against the world; in 2001 he was ballin; in 2007 he was bloated and shallow like the culture; in 2009 he's German.
The Blueprint. It's no accident that this series of records is called "The Blueprint" – it’s Jay's inside joke, which he occasionally makes explicit within the record. From "Real As It Gets (Feat. Young Jeezy)":
A hundred million to the good/ And I’m still talking yayo/At a snails pace I won this race that ya’ll trail/ Huh huh Blueprints for sale/ Follow in my footprints you can’t fail/ Set sail
It’s a funny wordplay–Jay is literally selling a blueprint for how to create a series of hit records – you can buy The Blueprint (the album) and the blueprint (his set of schematics for making a hit record, which he breaks down throughout the album). But Jay's challenge to his fellow rappers is that even though he can break it down for you, you still probably can’t follow it—that’s the magic of Jay-Z as musician. In "Clap for Em" Jay rhymes:
I seen Ma$e do it, Seen ‘Ye do it, X came through Caught lighter fluid, Still I came through it, Clap for ‘em, But I’m the Blueprint, I’m like the map for ‘em, I dropped another classic, Made Puff pass it, Nobody could touch Puff Back when Puff had it, Wayne scorchin’ I’ll applaud him If he keep goin’, Pass the torch to him, 50 came through Like Hurricanes do, I thought I finished his ass at Summer Jam too, I had the Illmatic on bootleg The shit was so ahead, Thought we was all dead, Wayne did a milli, 50 did a milli, ‘Ye too, But what Em did was silly The white boy blossomed After Dre endorsed him, His flow on “Renegade” – fuckin’ awesome Applaud ‘em
Is Jay really applauding Mase, Kanye, P. Diddy, Lil Wayne, Nas, and Eminem? Or is it patronizing–clap for em, because those performances are all over, the curtain has been drawn. Meanwhile, guess what, Jay just had his eleventh number one in a row…
Blueprint's best moments. Lest it's unclear, make no mistake--ultimately Jay-Z stuck around because he’s the best rapper of his generation – the best ideas, the best flow, the best wordplay, just a complete MC. In "DOA" Jay says
“I know we facin a recession, but the way you rappin its gonne be a great depression”
This double entendre is not only an attempt to comment on rap, but it's a dig on his protégé/friend/producer Kanye West and his autotuned-break-up abum (808s and Heartbreak). To wit, if you MC's (Kanye) keep using autotune, the results will be a great depression (with Ye's record being the work of a truly great depression...i.e. autotuned rhymes on the death of his mother).
If you happened to live in New York in '09, "New York State of Mind" was easily the most pervasive, car-stereo-dominating song of the year, comparable to the summer of Michael Jackson. That song's towering chorus was the kind of hook songwriters around the world dream about.
A la “A Milli” last year, Jay dropped two crazy-hypnotic word-based beats in 2009, "Onto the Next One," and "Off that," featuring everyone’s favorite new artist of 09, Drake. It's part of Jay's progression--take something hot and make it scorching.
And Finally...
1 year ago, there was a debatable question--who was really in charge of hip hop, who’d earned the right to be called the greatest rapper alive, and most importantly, who was going to close out the decade on top (hip hop’s most commercially successful decade at that). Prior to last month’s mix tape by Lil Wayne, it was mostly notable how quiet Weezy was in 2009, without even mentioning the numerous false starts surrounding his “rock” record and his imminent jail sentence which will keep him out of the limelight in 2010.
This decade was a messy one for pop music -- a ghettoization of alternative/indie; the struggles of commercial record labels; Napster and its progeny; the iPod and changing technologies; but through the varied musical landscape, one musician held it down all the way through.
But before diving into the entrée, let’s pick at a few appetizers. It wouldn't be a Paulies without a Damon Albarn mention, whose production work on the opening track of Amadou and Mariam's “Welcome to Mali” is typical of his work this decade--a track-suit’d Essex boy bringing global-soul to the masses (doesn't hurt to have Mariam’s Mali-blues-vocals holding it down) [Listen on Lala]. While The Decemberists’s individual albums likely wont make many top 25 lists of the decade, their catalogue is becoming a formidable collection among those of the post-punk era; and their 2009 LP "The Hazards of Love" is the band at their most over-the-top, anything-goes, prog-rock-for-grad-students best. While I haven’t heard the '09 concept albums from Mastodon or Green Day, I imagine “Hazards of Love” to be the most rewarding of the bunch. With "Merriweather Post Pavilion" Animal Collective seem to have taken “the next big step” toward Radiohead-esque credibility and mass popularity (a brilliant record all the way through)…if only their live shows could get similar accolades. Cursive’s “From the Hips” is my selection for song of the year–arguably it has nothing to do with “2009” sonically or emotionally, but it’s a timeless gem of a pop rock song, philosophically astute, and easily the best thing I’ve ever heard come out of Saddle Creek and Omaha [Listen on Lala]. Among the big indie buzz records of '09, I’m enjoying Phoenix’s “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix,” but not ready to say much about it. Same for Dirty Projectors and The xx -- though The xx’s “Crystalised” and Phoenix’s “1901” certainly deserve some song of the year consideration. Also worth noting among the indies, Michael Angelakos’s deranged falsetto was a real highlight of '09, making his band Passion Pit seem like a legitimate "band-to-watch" among so many pretenders [Listen on Lala].
Lady Gaga, what is left to say, except she seems to be the most in control, self aware, and “necessary” female pop star since Madonna. All that Britney lacked in terms of agency, Gaga seems to possess–she's approached pop stardom like a CalTech student, pouring over the theories and theorems, taking Britney and Beyonce as her thesis advisers, and delivering “Paparazzi” as her doctoral project - "A +." [Listen via iLike]
Like any great “obituary moment” (see: Michael Jackson also this year, and Johnny Cash in '03), Jim Carroll’s passing provided an important moment of discovery-cum-reflection–the artist who can write “People who Died” will be forever missed [Listen via Lala]. 2009 had two great rock documentaries worth mentioning--Anvil! The Story of Anvil! was by all accounts the rock-doc of the year, but the Gorillaz '09 documentary Bananaz was a nice reminder of just how good (possibly important) that band really was [Watch on YouTube]. The Pixies, Jay-Z, and Macca (all 40 plus) were my highlights among live music performances. How the Beatles Destroyed Rock n Roll by Elijah Wald--as frustrating but thought-provoking as anything I’d read all year--was my favorite music book of 09. It posits a curious, but simple thesis–the history of pop music from 1900 onwards has 2 eras, pre-beatles 1966, and post-beatles 1967. That one band’s vaguely arbitrary decision to turn away from popular music as a live-based, communal function (with recordings as a secondary, minor concern) forever changed in 1967, and we’re all suffering for it. Music is meant to bring us together, and yet now band's recordings are studied and argued over like academic papers (ahem!). And finally Asher Roth's "I Love College" was my guilty pleasure of the year--it upset me more than anything else from 2009, which means he was doing something very right. (Listen via Lala).
2009: Paulies List: Paul G. Jackson
1. Jay-Z’s “The Blueprint III”
Track List:
1. "What We Talkin' About" (featuring Luke Steele). Kanye West & No I.D.
2. "Thank You". Kanye West & No I.D.
3. "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)". No I.D.
4. "Run This Town" (featuring Rihanna and Kanye West). Kanye West & No I.D.
5. "Empire State of Mind" (featuring Alicia Keys) Al Shux, Janet Sewell-Ulepic & Angela Hunte
6. "Real as It Gets"" (featuring Young Jeezy). The Inkredibles
7. "On to the Next One" (featuring Swizz Beatz). Swizz Beatz
8. "Off That" (featuring Drake). Timbaland & Jerome Harmon
9. "A Star Is Born" (featuring J. Cole). Kanye West, No I.D. & Kenoe
10. "Venus vs. Mars". Timbaland & Jerome Harmon
11. "Already Home" (featuring Kid Cudi). Kanye West, No I.D. & Jeff Bhasker
12. "Hate" (featuring Kanye West). Kanye West
13. "Reminder". Timbaland & Jerome Harmon
14. "So Ambitious" (featuring Pharrell). The Neptunes
15. "Young Forever" (featuring Mr Hudson)
Intro. For the final Paulies of this decade, it feels appropriate to reflect upon one album that’s able to sum up not only the year, but a much wider musical terrain; if such an album can connect back to the decade more broadly, then we really have something. Luckily "The Blueprint 3" is that record.
Prior to the 2009. As he so often does, in 2008 Jay-Z did a scene-stealing guest spot on Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III"; in "Mr. Carter" Jay-Z reiterated a major theme that’d been on his mind since his 2003 record "The Black Album”:
“Far from being the bastard that Marcy had fathered,
Now my name's been mentioned with the Martyrs,
The Biggie's and the Pac's, and the Marley's and the Marcus' Garvey's”
...which is an even better, but similar version of Jay-Z's 2003 lyric from Kanye West’s "The College Dropout":
"The way y’all all follow Jigga,
Hov’s a living legend and I’ll tell you why
Everybody wanna be Hov and Hov’s still alive"
Like most MC's, Jay has no problem boasting about his talent--but in constrast to some youthful posturing, the boast has become focused on Jay-Z's place in history. And as he sees it, it's the very fact of his unprecedented durability--his unlikely avoidance of tragedy--that sets him apart. Compare that to "Tha Carter III"'s previous track, “A Milli,” where Lil Wayne argues for a decidedly smaller point,
“They say I'm rappin like Big, Jay, and Tupac, Andre 3 Thousand/ Where is Erykah Badu at/ Who dat Who dat said they gon' beat Lil Wayne"
By all accounts these were the two greatest rappers alive in 2008--and in arguing for their importance, each of course turned to Tupac and Biggie as precedents. But for Jay-Z, it no longer has anything to do with the flow/verse/style of these rappers, but everything to do with what history makes of them. Hov'a a living legend, a near tragedy, a historical figure--and Hov's still alive.
Interestingly, one year later Jay-Z seems to have ditched this approach altogether – from “What We Talkin Bout” on "The Blueprint 3" we get:
“I don’t run rap no more, I run the map” [With the very next lyric Jay is taking some credit for getting Obama elected].
As he sees it, it's no longer a discussion about himself as an "Important Rapper"; now it's fully a question of Hegelian-historical-necessity-of-Jay-Z -- and in that regard, he'll be taking us into terra incognita for hip hop...
So what are the facts. On “Reminder” from "The Blueprint III," Jay rhymes:
"What the hell have y’all done/ to even have an opinion/ on what I’ve been doing/ What the hell have y’all won?/ Only thing you can identify with/ is losing 10 #1 albums in a row/ Who better than me?/ Only the Beatles, Nobody ahead of me/ I crushed Elvis and his blue suede shoes/ Made the Rolling Stones seem sweet as Kool-Aid too/ ‘96, ‘97, ‘98, ’99, 2000, 2001 and beyond/ ’02, ‘03, ’04, ’05, ’06 and 7, ’08, ’09/ Back to back Double-plat I did what you won’t/ Men lie Women lie Numbers don’t/ Ain’t nothing changed for me/ ‘Cept the year it is"
In fact "The Blueprint 3" did open on top of the Billboard charts, making it his 11th #1 album in a row, passing Elvis, and now only behind the Beatles who had 15 #1's. In the prime of our young lives and throughout this entire decade, we have arguably the most popular solo pop musician of the modern pop era--something that should be acknowledged.
But there's more to winning those 11 albums--the lyric is also likely a reference to Public Enemy's 1988 anthem "Fight the Power" ["Elvis was a hero to most/ But he never meant shit to me you see/ Straight up racist that sucker was/ Simple and plain/ Mother fuck him and John Wayne"]--with Elvis serving as two bookends here. When hip hop was finally gaining steam in the late 1980s as a cultural force, Public Enemy took dead aim at Elvis, needing to take down popular music's king; this was completed 20 years later with Jay-Z's 11th number one album in a row--"I crushed Elvis and his blue suede shoes."
So how did he pass Elvis? In “Onto the Next One, (feat. Swizz beatz)“ Jay rhymes
Hov on that new shit nigga like how come
Niggas want my old shit buy my old album
Niggas stuck on stupid I gotta keep it moving
Niggas make the same shit, me I make the blueprint
Came in the range, hopped out the Lexus
Every year since I been on that next shit
Traded in that gold for the platinum Rolexes
Now a niggaz wrist matches the status of my records
And in“Off That (feat. Drake)”:
"We don’t care what you used to say
Unless how it affects your future pay…”
The history of pop music seems clear on one point–any idiot can produce a one-hit wonder; a dirty Italian vocal group living under subway tracks of 1950s Brooklyn; a Gallic baby; it really doesn’t matter. And while it takes considerable more fortune and skill to make a hit album, history's also provided us with just as many one-album flame-outs. The public gets tired easily.
Around 2001 is when I first started considering Jay-Z as something more than just another Diddy-esque popular MC, specifically with "H to the Izzo." As good as the beats and rhymes might have been, it was Jay's co-option of “izzo” that felt notable–why was he doing it? The phrase was already floating around pop culture; in fact, the phrase felt kind of played out--but despire that, Jay-Z had turned this idiotic linguistic device into a total anthem, something that sounded iconic and of that time.
Now back to 2009. As Sasha Frere Jones covered in his now famous essay on the state of hip hop, there's been a real shift in the way rap music is constructed, relying more on a euro-centric, club-based flow as opposed to a south Bronx, sample-heavy, synth-beat sound. In short, hip hop is getting closer and closer to mainstream pop/dance music, which is what "The Blueprint 3" thoroughly is (a pop record). Is Jay-Z responsible in ay way for this shift? Not even close – but in 2009, just as he's always done, he adapted and co-opted the sound of the time. And he did it to extraordinary success. Niggas want my old shit buy my old album/ Niggas stuck on stupid I gotta keep it moving/ Niggas make the same shit, me I make the blueprint
And in contrast to the way Julian Casblancas seems to have little clue how to adapt his sound and evolve with the time, Jay has done it over and over. Not through stunt tactics a la Britney (or Madonna), but through an innate sense of where music needs to be. In 1998 Jay-Z was "street"– him against the world; in 2001 he was ballin; in 2007 he was bloated and shallow like the culture; in 2009 he's German.
The Blueprint. It's no accident that this series of records is called "The Blueprint" – it’s Jay's inside joke, which he occasionally makes explicit within the record. From "Real As It Gets (Feat. Young Jeezy)":
A hundred million to the good/ And I’m still talking yayo/At a snails pace I won this race that ya’ll trail/ Huh huh Blueprints for sale/ Follow in my footprints you can’t fail/ Set sail
It’s a funny wordplay–Jay is literally selling a blueprint for how to create a series of hit records – you can buy The Blueprint (the album) and the blueprint (his set of schematics for making a hit record, which he breaks down throughout the album). But Jay's challenge to his fellow rappers is that even though he can break it down for you, you still probably can’t follow it—that’s the magic of Jay-Z as musician. In "Clap for Em" Jay rhymes:
I seen Ma$e do it, Seen ‘Ye do it, X came through Caught lighter fluid, Still I came through it, Clap for ‘em, But I’m the Blueprint, I’m like the map for ‘em, I dropped another classic, Made Puff pass it, Nobody could touch Puff Back when Puff had it, Wayne scorchin’ I’ll applaud him If he keep goin’, Pass the torch to him, 50 came through Like Hurricanes do, I thought I finished his ass at Summer Jam too, I had the Illmatic on bootleg The shit was so ahead, Thought we was all dead, Wayne did a milli, 50 did a milli, ‘Ye too, But what Em did was silly The white boy blossomed After Dre endorsed him, His flow on “Renegade” – fuckin’ awesome Applaud ‘em
Is Jay really applauding Mase, Kanye, P. Diddy, Lil Wayne, Nas, and Eminem? Or is it patronizing–clap for em, because those performances are all over, the curtain has been drawn. Meanwhile, guess what, Jay just had his eleventh number one in a row…
Blueprint's best moments. Lest it's unclear, make no mistake--ultimately Jay-Z stuck around because he’s the best rapper of his generation – the best ideas, the best flow, the best wordplay, just a complete MC. In "DOA" Jay says
“I know we facin a recession, but the way you rappin its gonne be a great depression”
This double entendre is not only an attempt to comment on rap, but it's a dig on his protégé/friend/producer Kanye West and his autotuned-break-up abum (808s and Heartbreak). To wit, if you MC's (Kanye) keep using autotune, the results will be a great depression (with Ye's record being the work of a truly great depression...i.e. autotuned rhymes on the death of his mother).
If you happened to live in New York in '09, "New York State of Mind" was easily the most pervasive, car-stereo-dominating song of the year, comparable to the summer of Michael Jackson. That song's towering chorus was the kind of hook songwriters around the world dream about.
A la “A Milli” last year, Jay dropped two crazy-hypnotic word-based beats in 2009, "Onto the Next One," and "Off that," featuring everyone’s favorite new artist of 09, Drake. It's part of Jay's progression--take something hot and make it scorching.
And Finally...
1 year ago, there was a debatable question--who was really in charge of hip hop, who’d earned the right to be called the greatest rapper alive, and most importantly, who was going to close out the decade on top (hip hop’s most commercially successful decade at that). Prior to last month’s mix tape by Lil Wayne, it was mostly notable how quiet Weezy was in 2009, without even mentioning the numerous false starts surrounding his “rock” record and his imminent jail sentence which will keep him out of the limelight in 2010.
This decade was a messy one for pop music -- a ghettoization of alternative/indie; the struggles of commercial record labels; Napster and its progeny; the iPod and changing technologies; but through the varied musical landscape, one musician held it down all the way through.
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