DELTRON 3030 RECOMMENDED: WALE ‘Attention Deficit’
After pushing out three solid mixtapes today is the day for Wale’s proper major label debut…and he saved some of his best stuff for it. Unlike what was previously reported the producer list is Kanye and P Diddy free. Instead Wale reached out to David Andrew Sitek of TV on the Radio to bring that raw TVOTR vibe to a new audience. . That sound is always welcome in my book. Beyond my TVOTR man crush, he’s a sensible producer choice here since Wale would seem to be trying to position himself as the next great introspective alternative rapper. You can almost buy that sentiment…but only if you dismiss the obligatory Neptunes track (“Let It Loose”) and the instantly accessible panderings of the lead single “Chillin” (featuring Lady Gaga). I can’t fault an artist for loading up his lead single with tons of hooks and honey. It’s where it goes after that what truly matters. Once you get past “Chillin” you’ll find some great beats (“Pretty Girls”) and some even greater social commentary (“90210″). Culture eviscerating lyrics coupled w/ great pop culture references and the occasional guest vocal are the building blocks to a great hip hop album. However what really sells it for me is what is NOT present. That would be the lack of skits. I’m not sure who ever gave rappers the idea that skits were a good thing to pepper in between songs but I think I can speak for everyone when I say “No Mas Por Favor”. Not even David Gray is that painful to listen to. When rocking your ipod on shuffle just about the last thing you want to hear is “The $20 Sack Pyramid”. If i wanted to force myself to hear unfunny hip hop artists channel their inner groundlings I’d go ahead and catch reruns of Wild N’ Out on MTV.
Highlights: “Triumph,” “Pretty Girls,” “90210,” “TV In The Radio”
Guilty Pleasure Highlight: “Chillin’”
DELTRON 3030 RECOMMENDED – Kid Cudi – Man On The Moon: The End Of Day
Dropping tomorrow is the major label debut from Kanye West’s protegee, Kid Cudi (pronounced Ku-T). After last night Is it still cool to be his protegee? Nice timing, Kanye. For those of you who aren’t thirteen year old teenage girls, last night on the VMAs Kanye West bum rushed the stage and stole the spotlight from some maybe ex-American Idol finalist (she’s not? who knew!) who had the audacity to beat out Beyonce Knowles for best queef or something. Apparently it was a big deal as the Internet was abuzz, treating this incident like it was the Kennedy Assassination. I should know as I had a guest in my apartment that was calling for Kanye’s head on a silver platter. I thought maybe she had a point about Kanye’s total lack of respect…but then I remembered it was the frigging VMAS and she’d soon lose all validity with me when she, after watching the premiere of the trailer to the Twilight sequel, said “That was more amazing than anything I could have ever imagined”
I’ll use that outlandish statement for this debut CD. Cudi’s Man on the Moon is more amazing than anything I could have ever imagined….mind you I had zero expectations and my imagination has been supremely stunted by watching far too much football this weekend. It’s a strong CD more in the vein of Kanye’s 808s than straight forward rap. Not that that is a bad thing. He actually does 808s better than Kanye as he doesn’t rely on the dreaded crutch that is auto-tune.
Bonus: hipsters rejoice, you get a few songs to feature backing tracks by Ratatat!
Highlights: “Pursuit of Happiness”, ” Make Her Say” , “Enter Galactic (Love Connection Pt. 1)”