Metal Lungies

Just like last Tuesdays’ post on the Alkaholiks, I had some trouble finding a decent-sized cover of the single for this post. Plus this cover for the Lovesick 12′ is the closest I could find to a cover for this release of this particular remix of Gang Starr’s “Lovesick”.

This remix is done by someone named John Waddell, whose Discogs profile is pretty sparse; I think his Gang Starr remix might be his earliest release but in the field of hip hop, he did some work for Monie Love & Queen Latifah, among others. Educate me, ML readers, if you have any more info.

With that out of the way, let’s break down the two versions I’m comparing today: The first is the original “Lovesick”, produced by DJ Premier. The remix is “Lovesick (Upbeat Mix)”, produced by the aforementioned Waddell.

The Premier original floats by on a jaunty horn stab, a slow piano line and an understated bass line. Guru ends every verse with some variation of “I’m lovesick” which leads into Premo’s now trademarked scratch chorus: “Love…” “Sick, sick, sick…” I think the “sick” scratch is of Shock G of Digital Underground but I’m not totally sure. Anyone know?

The instrumental is pretty, understated and a lot slower in this version, as compared to Waddell’s remix indicated by the “Upbeat” tag applied to his version. The Upbeat Mix has a kind of 1920s-40s jazz feel to it, oddly enough seeming to foreshadow Premier’s work with Christina Aguilera in 2006 (for comparison’s sake, listen to Aguilera’s “Ain’t No Other Man“). It features a catchy piano line that runs throughout the song, the bass line is a lot bouncier, and a trumpet enters the mix every few lines. Enhancing the jazz feel of the song is the fact that each of the aforementioned instruments solos at the end of each of Guru’s verses. The chorus has changed as well; Guru says “And now I’m lovesick”, the trumpets from the verses blare loudly and there is a little call-and-response that occurs twice per chorus:

Guru: ‘And now I’m lovesick.’

Backing vocals: ‘Hey hey hey!’

Sampled female vocal: ‘Lovesick!’

Backing vocals: ‘Ho ho ho!’

The whole package works really well, and actually manages to be about 50 seconds longer than the original, mostly from the new chorus. A nice addition to your Gang Starr collection (speaking of which, don’t sleep on Know The Ledge’s massive collection of Gang Starr rarities and treats. Here’s a link to pick up part 1 of their 5 part collection.)

I couldn’t find a video with the original version but they made a video for the Upbeat Mix, which I’ve embedded below. I won’t get into too much description for it, but it features Premo on the turntables, Guru walking around with some girls, a jazz band and um, dancers in baggy pants. It’s kinda cool to see Premier & Guru so young though. Listen to both versions below:

Gang Starr- Lovesick

Gang Starr- Lovesick (Upbeat Mix)

Gang Starr – Lovesick (John Waddell Upbeat Mix)

Bonus Beats: While I was searching for the video for “Lovesick”, I found this bizarre video of a bald German man lipsyncing to “Lovesick” wearing an unbuttoned shirt. He actually imitates Guru pretty well. I’m not going to embed it for your own sake but this amused the hell out of me. You can watch it here.

Man, it’s been a while since ML hosted a True Story post. Last one was back in July before I even joined the site. Basically

Earlier today I was in a Chapters (for our non-Canadian readers, it’s a crappier version of Borders or Barnes & Noble) browsing when I felt nature calling. I located the loo and did my business. When I went to the sink to wash my hands, there was a middle-aged lady looking around the bathroom with a puzzled look on her face. As I started the tap, she looks at me and asks:

“This isn’t the ladies room, is it?”

I tried my best not to laugh and shook my head. She thanked me and left. Wow.

I used to be able to listen to gangster rap. Southern Rap used to interest me. Not anymore.

This past year I spent a lot of time re-listening to and discovering the Madlib catalog. Needless to say, the man is a genius; an evil genius. I had owned a copy of his CD The Unseen (Under his Quasimoto persona)  for quite some time, but I had only given it brief listens. Sure, I had some favorite tracks. We even threw some into the podcast. But around New Years I sat down and gave the album a complete listen. Then again. And again. And so on.

Later, I tried to listen to my other rap. It was awful. Everything sounded too loud. All of the vocals were screaming at me. So I went back to Madlib; and up until about 2 weeks ago that was all I listened to. Eventually, I began to ease myself back into other rap, and I started to enjoy my other music again. But not as much. Everything else still sounds wrong. I don’t know what to do. I’m not sure if I’ll ever like my music as much again!!! And its all Madlib’s fault.

I don’t want to post a track, because it might hurt you too. But I have to. It’s a music blog.

Quasimoto- Come on Feet

One of the most head scratching collaborations I’ve ever heard in my life. In what universe do LFO (aka Lyte Funky Ones) and M.O.P. (aka Mash Out Posse) share an audience? I guess they both go by acronyms…Anyway, Brownsville’s finest appear on an light ditty about appreciating life called "Life Is Good" (man, even the title seems to go against anything M.O.P. have said in their songs!)

Danz & Fame, who scored their biggest hit with a song about robbing people, jump in for a few surprisingly conscious bars that certainly aren’t embarrassing per se. But they don’t really fit the song at all and just sound hilariously out of place over LFO’s poppy boy-band-isms.

I should mention this is the album version and it’s been remixed by, um, adding a few scratches to make it more "rap-y". I dunno if they were hoping to capture the Timberland boots crowd with this remix but it stands as a testament to bizarre niche marketing. I should add that De La Soul also appear on a track on this album, but I’ve never heard it.

Here’s are the lyrics for M.O.P.’s verses (apologies if I mixed up Billy & Fame, I do that sometimes)

Billy Danzenie:

My mission is to save this world,
Cause it’s a never ending task
I don’t know where to begin,
And I feel I’m near the end
I don’t wanna live life doin’ petty nonsense
It’s hard to sleep at night with a guilty conscience
You know what’s really a mess, now I feel blessed
But twenty minutes from now, will it all turn to stress?
I’m twenty-seven years old and Brownsville raised
Upset with all the blood, the sweat, and the tears
Lil’ Fame:

Baby it’s on, a mother shed tears, at the same time, a baby is born
On the other side of town, a life is lost
A young thug was knocked off, and the heat was tossed
Damn, life is real, and so tragic
But don’t stop now, live your life, I know it’s hell for the rough,
But don’t talk down on ya man, unless you helpin’ him out
ITS YOURS!

For kicks, go read the rest of the lyrics. They are hilariously stupid.

For those interested, don’t say I didn’t warn you:

Lyte Funky Ones (LFO) – Life Is Good (ft.M.O.P.)

I haven’t seen this mentioned on the internets yet, so we felt it was our duty to alert all of those ML readers who were wishing to carry Santana’s kid. According to Clinton Portis via Comcast Sportsnite via Chick Hernandez’s breakdown. Hopefully we can snip (I know, we’re TOO clever) the Seahawks on Saturday, then a Todd Collins jersey might become a legitimate thought.  I’ll update once I have more evidence.

Edit: Looks like it was a circumcision that Clinton is “claiming”  instead of a Vasectomy, I could’ve sworn that I heard different on the news. Sorry for giving you such errant info, potential mothers of a Santana Moss kid.

Tony Yayo:

The release of Curtis was my best moment. The worst was the day that my mom’s crib got shot up. –

This shit had me on the floor, sorry.

There’s some mildly interesting commentary on the year ’07 in there from people like 9th Wonder, Method Man and Cormega.

But the last comment just stood out to me, I guess. Call me an asshole.

Late pass please! I just saw this on E!, it looks like Hip Hop has FINALLY infiltrated young kids television programming with Hip Hop Harry. I can see it now, kids during recess claiming they are hip-hop cause they watch this. But why isn’t there a Rock N’ Roll Robby or Country Chuck??

Anyway here is a magical clip dealing with dried apples:

For some reason, I think Soulja Boy’s agent better be on the phone right now trying to holla at HHH’s (no wwf) people.

Damn, I haven’t done one of these in a minute! I missed Remix Tuesdays too this week, I’m sorry y’all. I’m in Florida chilling right now and I get a bit lazy.

Anyway, I was checking for places to listen to DJ Premier’s Sirius radio show, Live at HeadQCourterz when I stumbled across the show’s MySpace. They have playlists available for the most recent shows and while I was reading the playlist for last week’s show, I found this:

Kool G. Rap(f. Haylie Duff)–"On The Rise"—(Half A Klip)—-(Latchkey)

I did a double take and checked Wikipedia and they seem to have the same track listed for Half A Klip. Then I went to G Rap’s label Chinga Chang Records’ MySpace and they had a radio rip from Live at HQ of the track streaming. Then I found the image posted above, apparently the single cover.

My mind is officially blown.

Anyway, make your own mind up about this track and listen to it on Ching Chang Records’ MySpace.

The only question I have: What is the audience G Rap is hoping to capture with this? Do Haylie Duff fans (do they exist?) enjoy the work of the Kool Genius? Or vice versa?

Maybe this is one of those Norah Jones situations, where her fans are blissfully unaware she’s been collaborating with Talib Kweli and the dude from Faith No More.

It’s strange that Haylie-Duff.org, a site that bills itself a the "ultimate source for Haylie Duff, isn’t covering this.

Why is this even a single?! The video may be the best or worst thing I’ve ever seen. I don’t even know yet. Check For:
Gymnastics
Masks
Big Words (a la Money in the Bank)
Discovery Channel Gags
Bikes?
Robbery Scenes with smoky suitcases
Windmills
Old men wizards
More Gymnastics
Crew Shots in Paintings
Young Dude doing magic
An adlib that tells you to “Bungee Jump, or something”
And much more….

After all that, I have to ask. Why is Styles P sleeping on a bench? Thats not hard. Thats homeless.

Not a good look.

It’s been awhile since the first instalment with KRS-One and Crazy Town but seeing this song on a blog was what inspired me to start this feature.

This time around, Slim Thug is paired with former Disney teenybopper Hilary Duff for a remix of her song, "With Love".

I can’t vouch for what the original sounds like (honest!) but the remix puts Slim over a synthy beat with hard drums. His verse isn’t AWFUL or anything; it’s just very generic.

But what really detracts from the quality here is that he’s rapping on a FUCKING HILARY DUFF song. I ain’t heard of that!

Anyway, here’s a video of the song with the remix dubbed over. Prepare to be weirded out.