"Success Served Cold is a Remarkable Dish"

Other than @kanyewest, nobody else in the game has as much European swagger as @ryanleslie. Where most Hip Hop artists talk about strip clubs and expensive whips, R Les is rappin' about houses on his arm, European hoes, methusalems and arugula. The single verse is A material, but plain and simple the beat is TOUGH! Most artists couldn't survive a track without a hook, but R Les says I am not your average Joe Hip Hop artist. Check the video below that manages to bottle up the European swagger in a tastefully aesthetic way...

Carnival of Venice is said to be the lead track off his new album Black Mozart. If you're not excited about the album after listening to the track below, then we must not be listening to the same music...#BlackMozart

Ryan Leslie - Carnival of Venice

VIdeos of the Week December 7th

I've always been a huge fan of any sort of high level musical interaction choreography with Hip Hop or electronic music. Maybe it's a soft spot of mine, maybe it's because it's so rarely done well. Either way, the Dubstep Christmas light display video sets the bar extremely high for that specific genre. When you watch, make sure and fast forward a minute or so to the Skrillex part because that's when it gets taken to another level.

In other videos, the one minute BTS video of @SkylarGrey's new video with @Eminem is about as entertaining as it could be in sixty seconds. Yes, the authentic trailer trash in the video does the most winning, but hearing Eminem jokingly get defensive about growing up in a trailer park is pretty entertaining too. Growing up in a trailer park is just about as sad as paying $1 million for an erased hard drive that doesn't have your music on it. I did a post about a year ago on the story and it couldn't have come to a worse end for @ryanleslie. It's a double edged sword when you do your best to not back up your music in multiple places to avoid leaks, but when it's left on one hard drive and that gets stolen, it's even more heartbreaking.

On a lighter note, how bout some Christmas music to get in the holiday spirit? #HellYea

Dubstep Christmas Lights

Skylar Grey ft. Eminem – Cmon Let Me Ride (Behind The Scenes)

R Les Breaks Down on Stage After Being Sued for $1 Million

Karmin & Coach - Sleight Ride (Video)

Cee-Lo feat Christina Aguilera - Baby It's Cold Outside (Video)

Videos of the Week May 25th

Two heavyweight videos hit the internet this week with @realwizkhalifa's Work Hard, Play Hard and @official_FLO's Whistle. Most interesting to me was hearing @ryanleslie talk about his new album and how he's transitioning to more of a Hip Hop sound on his new album. I like his well thought out plan of how he's planning on making money touring rather than with his music. Trying to make his music into advertisements is smart because it's a reacting to current market conditions that a lot of rappers ignore. Similarly, banking on the "live concert experience that you can't download" is a smart business model for the type of music he creates. He's one of maybe a handful of people in the industry who get it and are trying to blaze their own trail because the old way of making money doesn't work anymore. Hey man more power to your creative vision R Les, keep doing what you're doing, enough people will catch on to a point where you're on real TV rather than just R Les TV...#BetOnIt

Wiz Khalifa - Work Hard, Play Hard (Video)

Flo Rida - Whistle (Video)

Jay Sean feat Pitbull - I'm All Yours (Video)

B.O.B - Next 48 Hours (Part 2)

R Les Talks New Album and Plans on Releasing New Music

Fabolous and R Les Are Beautiful Liars

"She said the truth is overrated like underwear,

And if the shoe fittttts, she wanna pair"

It's been well established that @MYFABOLOUSLIFE and @ryanleslie make great music together. It started on @kerihilson's Everything, Everyday, Everywhere and more recently morphed into one of the best songs of 2010 when they got together on You Be Killin' Em. Knowing their past together, you can imagine why I rushed their most recently collabo straight to the nearest iTunes playlist. I mean I might have even thrown it into the baby makin' music playlist inadvertently, IDGAF as long as it somehow found it's way on my iPod.

Even more intriguing, I really liked the original, solo version of Beautiful Lie that R Les cooked up. Add in an point verse from one of the most creative wordplay artists in the game and it's a done deal. Word has it, Les is More is actually going to be released on June 5th, which is nothing short of a miracle considering how many times it's stopped and started. I'll buy it though, especially with this flood of new content including his new promo video for Rain in Australia (below).

Aaaannd as I'm watching the end of the video it says, "Les is More This Summer." I stand by my original statement, I'll believe it when it see it. And when I see it, you better believe I'll be pumped...#LesIsMore

Ryan Leslie feat Fabolous - Beautiful Lie (Remix)

Videos of the Week

Lots of new media from a lot of my favorites that are releasing albums soon like T.I., Big K.R.I.T. and R Les. Don't sleep on that in studio MPC remix of Drake's Crew Love by @MeLoXTRA. That mix was interesting and dope all at once the way he put the samples together. Also, if you don't at least crack a smile when you watch three year old Marek rocking out and damn near memorizing word for word Sexy and I Know It, then you're no friend of mine. Kids really are under-rated sources for entertainment...#Truth

Ryan Leslie - Good Girl (Video)

Three Year Old Marek Sings and Rocks Out To Sexy and I Know It

MeLo-X: Drake X The Weeknd - Crew Love (Live Re-edit)

Travis Porter Ft. Young Jeezy & 2 Chainz - You Don't Know Bout It (Video)

Big Sean and Kanye Perform on New Years in Vegas

Big K.R.I.T. Vitamin Water Uncapped Mini-Doc

J Cole Talks About Tracks on Cole World (Interview)

T.I. Speaks on His Two Personas (Interview)

"Got Rid of the Cris Like Her Name Was Kim K"

While I wouldn't put this in @ryanleslie's Hall of Fame of productions, I still really like the new track he produced and sang the hook on with @CoryGunz. Loco is every bit a Hip Hop braggadocio staple with talk of G5 jets and living the lavish Hip Hop lifestyle. No word yet on what album this will land on, but it's definitely going to end up being a single, potentially on Cory's debut album slated for the second quarter of 2012.

As I'm listening to it, I feel like I've seen enough behind the scenes videos to appreciate all the quirky synth sounds that go int an R Les production. There's a lot going on when you take everything into account and for that reason, producers deserve just as much dap. Their work is the foundation of what you hear and there are only a few artists out that could sound good on any beat. Most need a good beat to sound hot and be relevant, so if you're a reader of my blog you probably feel the same way or at least have the same appreciation for what goes into the final product of a song. Chalk it up to another Young Money protege to watch out for in 2012...#TakinOver

Cory Gunz feat Ryan Leslie - Loco (prod by Ryan Leslie)

"Shawty Thick, Got Cleveland Cavs"

I wrote about the original version of this track like four months ago when I hyped it up as the best @ryanleslie produced track since You Be Killin Em. My opinion hasn't changed over the past four months and when you add in @JColeNC, @Wale and @treysongz, while keeping the same dope beat, I'm going to take the time to hype it up all over again. Even better, @RedCafe even chips in a new verse on the track with even more creative one liners (as the title of the post points out).

Anybody else think the picture above is funny as hell too? With J Cole's "I'm with stupid gesture" and Wale looking completely rigid like he's a frozen block of ice. To be fair, we've all taken pictures where we just look like absolutely retards because of the timing, so I'm not gonna put him on blast too much.

On an unrelated, but related note, I'm still salty that Ryan Leslie's new album Les is More keeps getting pushed back. Now it's slated for a 2012 release, which is a little longer than the few weeks away he promised back in October. I'll be interested to see if that milli he's getting sued for over not ponying up on the ransom for his laptop comes to fruition. Not sure how that works, but if you are on camera offering rewards then I'm not sure how you can get out of that...#Settlement

Great collection of talent below, all remixes should be as good as the one below...#WishfulThinking

Red Cafe feat Ryan Leslie, J Cole, Trey Songz, Wale - Fly Together (Remix) (prod by R Les)

"We All Want to Believe in a Beautiful Lie"

"What would you do if this was your last day on earth?

As for me, I'd be doin' exactly what I'm doin' now"

I've always been a big fan of @ryanleslie and I've been pretty clear about that from the beginning. Dude is a wizard with the keys, percussion and anything else you could imagine that would be in a beat. If you don't know what I mean or haven't been privy to all of his in-studio videos, you need to watch him in his element to understand...

From the start of the beat with the drums, to the layer after layer of syntheizer samples, it's really cool watching him do his thing. Shoot, he can even put most rappers to shame on the mic over his own beats. The complexity of all of his instrumentals become a lot more apparent when you can see all of the elements being added one by one.

The track below is scheduled to surface on his upcoming album Les is More, which was scheduled to drop a couple times already, only to be pushed back. R Les keeps telling us it's coming and it's slated for Fall 2011, so I'll remain hopeful, but mildly cynical that it'll drop before 2012. Whatever the case, it's going to be a great album and everyone should be grateful that a finish product will be delivered at any point considering how much adversity the album has underwent.

Ryan Leslie - Beautiful Lie (prod by Ryan Leslie)

"Your Address is Now Cloud 9"

There's a strong correlation between songs I really end up liking and @ryanleslie producing them. That's not much of a stretch considering he was behind the board on the best Hip Hop track last year You Be Killin' Em. Put it this way, R Les knows how to market himself because every time he produces a high profile beat, he always releases the in-studio "making of the beat", like on Fly Together (below)...

It's not even showing off or rubbing it in everyone's face, dude is just crazy talented when you get him in a studio producing a beat. From scratch, there's so much that goes into the finished product and with every video he releases, I appreciate that more. Hard to mess with him on the synths and he's got a knack for throwing in three or four more elements that do nothing but further augment the synths. To put it lightly, his beats are more like orchestrated symphonies and I haven't been too proud to search daily for finished products of tracks that he produced.

Not sure what @redcafesd album this will land on, but you better believe this will serve as the lead single. Can't even hate on @rickyrozay, who did his thing on his verse too. Just a solid track front to back, neatly wrapped by ya boy R Les.

Red Cafe feat Rick Ross & Ryan Leslie - Fly Together (prod by Ryan Leslie)

Dope You Be Killin' 'Em Remix

Any DJ who values their craft can appreciate creativity and when a song is remixed so well that it puts the original to shame. Me, I'm a fan of sampling and digitally augmenting the finer points of beats, which is why @itsoverturedjs deserve some serious dap for the way they elongated the intro to @MYFABOLOUSLIFE's hit You Be Killin' Em.

Hard to believe it's been damn near a year since the original track dropped, but it's one of maybe 10 tracks I heard in the last year that I haven't gotten sick of no matter how badly radio killed it. That's why when I heard the NY DJ crew It's Overture's Murderer Edit last week, it was like getting a taste of one of my favorite meals, except with a larger serving of the best parts. Feel me on that? It's like the intro to the track was the best part and they broke it down, sped it up and mixed it into the original. In other words, it's a whole lotta awesome and there will be plenty of DJs that'll take this track and use it in a DJ set cliamin' they did it. Go head with that BS, we all know It's Overture did it first, so don't even try and fake the funk.

By the way, I wonder when we'll finally see Les is More? It was supposed to drop July 4th, but it keeps getting pushed back. I liked Gloryand Joan of Arc, so I'd be lyin' if I said I wasn't pumped for the album. Give the people what they want @ryanleslie!!!

Fabolous - You Be Killin Em (Its Overture's Tempo Murderer Edit)

Videos of the Week

@billmaher & @janemarielynch Read "The Weinerlogues"

@IAMSEANGARRETT feat @rickyrozay - In Da Box (video)

@Eminem & @therealroyce59 Perform Lighters at @bonnaroo

@NEWBOYZ feat @ChrisBrown - Better With the Lights Off (video)

@timwestwood interview with @Yelawolf before his performance with Wu Tang in the UK

@RYANLESLIE Performs Joan of Arc at the Apple store on 14th Street in New York City

"Girls Play the Victim So Well, Joan of Arc"

New track by R Les off his upcoming release Les is More, set to be released on July 4th. All things considered with his laptop being lost and then found in Germany after a cool million ransom was put up, it's great to hear the album is finally set to be officially released.

Like only he can, @ryanleslie recorded and released the track all in one day. Unlike most artists, R Les fully understands the use of the internet as a tool for getting his music out and getting people to talk about his music. Not only did he create a web page for this track, it comes with some stylish cover art, fully lyrics and download link. Not much more you could ask for from my perspective and I feel like he deserves some dap for going with the grain in making it easily sharable and artistic for bloggers.

And don't think this is some throw away track either, it's a powerful track that attempts to put more accountability on women by shedding light on some females who enjoy playing the Joan of Arc role in being the victim. Not that it's a woman's fault for getting played on occasion, but some games bad women play on good dudes cross the line. For example, the voicemail at the end of this track or R Les talking about writing from a jail cell, filling the pages with a mix of spiteful rage and sorrow over the girl he once cared about.

In my opinion R Les is at his best when he goes hard on the verses and soft on the hook, like on the song below. Throw in a guitar sample over some synthesizers and you've got a noteworthy track worth a few listens...

Ryan Leslie - Joan of Arc

|Download

You Know You've Made It As An Artist When...

...you set the reward for your stolen laptop at $1 million. If you didn't hear the original story, R Les was out on the town on October 23rd in Cologne, Germany at a nightclub called Loom when his laptop (mac book) and external hard drive were stolen out of his car. In response, @RYANLESLIE quickly took to the streets and put out a YouTube video offering a $20,000 reward for the return of his stolen tools. In the video he mentions how much he loves touring Germany and how the intellectual information that was lost included many of the tools that contributed to his success. At the end, he also mentions the email address he set up for any tips or information on the whereabouts of it (ryanleslielaptopreturn@gmail.com)(see video below).

When a couple of weeks passed without a significant lead, R Les was prompted to up the ante from $20,000 to $1,000,000. Say WHAT?? $1 million? Now I'll be the first to admit, if I had a hard drive get stolen, or even worse one of my external hard drives, I'd be wrecked because so much meaningful stuff is saved on there, but willing to pay a $1 million to get it all back is a steep price you'd think. Still the bounty was upped and very publicly, too, with another video and verse dedicated to the event...

"Said they tried to take a piece of me,
Out in Cologne, Germany...yea
So if you're wondering where I am
Then look for me in Rotterdam
Said they stole a little piece of my heart
So I'm on my way to Stuttgart...yea
Find me outta next words?
When I finish with them in Frankfurt"

Evidently not though, as he then later divulged that he'd been secretly recording his album Less Is More and all of the tracks were on his laptop/external hard drive. Ouch!

But like everything with $1 million bounties on it, the laptop/stolen bag finally turned up this week when a man name Bernd P. (name changed) "found it while walking through the forest in Stommlerbusch, near Cologne" (HAH!) (Source Bild.de). With the goods safely returned, Hip Hop and fans of R Les can breathe a sigh of relief and hope that all of his intellectual property was kept intact. The only things that remain to be seen now are 1) Were the contents of the laptop/hard drive copied prior to the return of the laptop (wouldn't be fun to see his new album slowly leak) and 2) Is he going to pay the $1 million reward for the return of his stuff. While the answer to number 1 remains to be seen, he has yet to pay up for the return of his goods prompting a bit of an uproar as Bernd P. is reaching out to media outlets for coverage. For example, deeva-tude.com is shining light on the story as well as the website sosickwithit.com (who has been in touch with Bernd) is reporting that there is in fact plenty of reason why the laptop reward was upped to $1 million, as it may contain a whole lot of personal stuff, *secrets* that could be of worth to Ryan. We'll see where this all goes, but the story has yet to have a conclusion and I for one am pretty pumped to hear his live instrumentation driven new album Les Is More.

Bonus: Check out his recent performance with Kanye at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC where he spits his verse off Christina Dior Denim Flow...

"You Can't Take Me Out My Swagger"

You can call it opportunism, I call it a creative marketing. Not gonna lie the picture above should evoke plenty of emotion after last night's complete asswhooping dismantling of the helpless Cavs by the hot girl that left plain old Cleveland for greener (pun intended) pasture$. Lord knows we don't have to keep belaboring how Bron Bron was laughin' it up with his former teammates on court who looked more like they wanted to reel in a lost autograph opportunity as they stayed true to their much stronger allegiance to their former teammate, while at the same time disregarding a city who would like nothing more than for him to tear an ACL as they lick their $250 million dollar wounds caused by his departure. Sure Lebron came off as a dick for how he left Cleveland and when he did it, but we're only villainizing him because he cares about his image and wants to be well liked. He's like the nice guys who has been consistently nice for so long that the first time he does something for himself, it's so out of character that he comes off as even more of a self centered ass than...well a self centered ass would have. Cleveland try going title-less for 100 years like a Cubs fan (RIP Ron Santo), maybe you were lucky to have a taste of glory for a half decade? Either way, I was happy no incidents came out of his return to Cleveland because all it would have taken was one Coors light to be dumped on his head and the whole Ron Artest thing could have happened...#JustSayin

I digress...solid marketing by @TROYAVE, using the whole Bron image above as a segway to his new mixtape Bricks in My Backpack, which ties together the whole powder/bricks reference. Couple interesting notes about about Troy Ave, who hails from BK. First off I had never seen a domain name ceased by Homeland Security, like www.troyave.com did. Who knows how all that happened, but he is in fact signed by Voicez/Universal Def Jam and if you're looking to become familiar with some of his music, give a listen to his freestyle to Kanye's Runaway or click below to check his XXL Famous Factory interview where he talks about selling 40K mixtapes out of his trunk...

Fact @TROYAVE is not lacking in confidence after rising out of the concrete jungle of BK and it always seems like cats outta NY have an ultra competitive edge to their swagger, which makes it even more surprising there haven't been more artists come out of NY in the past 10 years. Maybe he'll keep this internet buzz going with more tracks like the one below that R Les hooked him up with. Isn't the flashiest of beats by @RYANLESLIE, but nonetheless, it's a bouncy, head nod worthy effort that comes off as noteworthy when you listen to his verses. Anybody else feel like his ad libs sound like @50CENT? Real similar in flow after a couple listens, which isn't necessarily a bad thing for a dude on the come up....check it out...

Troy Ave - Swagger (prod by Ryan Leslie)

|Download

"Diamonds Spinning Round the Bezel Thats Tornado Watch"

"I met this Milf at the All-Star getting action

A cougar with more rings than Phil Jackson"

It's safe to say that Lloyd Banks has been reaping the benefits lately of all these @kanyewest aided collabos. It definitely turned my head when I saw Kanye pronounce on Twitter:

"Yo man Loyd Banks prolly the most underrated MC in the game...Man he deserve to be top 5 at least!" (Sept 8th)

While I'm more than hesitant to give @lloydbanks that much credit, I will concede he's dropped a few verses over the years that have turned my head (think here). The track below is going to be on his Hunger For More 2 album due out on November 23rd, which will be released by his new record company EMI since he was released by Interscope last year. Bet the folks over at Interscope are kicking themselves now after this career rejuvenation provided by a couple singles Beamer, Benz, Bentley and Any Girl.

You better believe the unsung hero of the track below is ya man @RYANLESLIE. You wanna talk about subtly killin' the beat, but barely being mentioned (even on blogs) on the production credits. That's some bullshit in my opinion, dude works wonders on a keyboard and this is no exception. I'm hands down giving best verse award to Kanye who parallel parks on this track, no hands style on his verse, only to be followed up by a strong to quite strong verse by @MYFABOLOUSLIFE. Pretty hard to critique this one with the bubbly synthesizers, bangin' beat and top notch verses.

Give you weekend playlist a shot of steriods...Kenny Powers style...(shouts out to Lil' Wyte on that background highlight clip)

Lloyd_Banks feat. Kanye West Swizz Beatz Ryan Leslie & Fabolous - Start It Up (Prod by Ryan Leslie)
|Download

"I’m the Authority of Model Seniority, They Call Me Les but They All Need More of Me"

This whole G.O.O.D. Music Friday (or Saturday in this instance) is turning out to be a pretty badass weekly gift from Ye. I thought last week's edition with Jigga leading the way with a strong effort from the unheralded @cyhidaprynce was a solid cut, only to be bettered this week by another marathon of lyricism put on by a similar, but slightly different crowd. You'd think there would be potential for @kanyewest, @pusha_T or even Cudi would take this track over and win the top verse...but then outta nowhere swoops in @ryanleslie for the kill.

Best part of the track by far is when the beat transforms from a bouncy, rolling upbeat vibe to more of a b-boy style beat with more percussion leading up to the beat calming completely for R Les to absolutely murder his verse. My guess is that Kanye let R Les have more than a little creative control over the beat. I hope that was the case anyways because they're both production geniuses in their own right and this song is a perfect example of a tale of two beats meshing together for an epic collaboration of Hip Hop talent. It's as if they divided it up 50/50 with Ye and Pusha T taking on the bouncier 808 flavor before the beat gave way to a slower, more deliberate feel which catered to Banks, R Les and Cudi's style more.

Check R Les's verse below:

"It’s time for a lesson in model behaviour
Damn, look at all the bad b-tches I gave you
Man, I can see the flaws to your flavor
Look like wonder woman and still need a savior
Maybe its a billionaire maybe its that cocaine
I done seen drugs and money run the whole game
A good girl lost in the city life
Agent Provocateur holding titties right
I’m haute couture of hoes galore
Give my girl a newport ’cause she’s smoking yours
I’m the authority of model seniority
they call me Les but they all need more of me"

Beautifully crafted and delivered sir Ryan Leslie, you continue to fly under the proverbial radar, leaving fans with tracks like this that leave Hip Hop fans all dumbed out wondering why he doesn't put out more material. I'm not tryin' to give him all the credit neither 'Ye, you've still got us all eating out of the palm of your hand every Friday anxiously awaiting another track that will probably be better than the last and leave us salivating for your materpiece eloquently titled Dark Twisted Fantasy.

Kanye West ft Kid Cudi, Pusha T, John Legend, Lloyd Banks & Ryan Leslie – Christian Dior Denim Flow
|Download

"Louis Vuitton Shoes, She Got Too Much Pride, Her Feet Killin' Her, I Call It Shoeicide"

Yea it happened again...The Takeover...where a song I recently added to the iPod and have yet to listen to completely takes over. I'm talkin' like that triple-take you instinctually find yourself doing when a fine woman passes and you can't help but become fixated. There is little doubt in my mind that when Ryan Leslie and Fabolous get together on a track, it's not fair to everyone else in Hip Hop...all other artists might as well sit back and watch the clock wind down to zero because it's O-V-E-R W-I-T-H!

Case in point, their first notable collab last year with @misskeribaby in the mix with Everyday, Everywhere, Everything. See video below:

Man I remember when the snippet of that track leaked and I thought it was Christmas. Come to find out the full version with Fab's verses took it to another level of audio meth style addiction.

In comparison, the new one below is off @MYFABOLOUSLIFE's new EP titled There Is No Competition: The Grieving Music EP due out tomorrow Aug 31st. I've always been a huge fan of John David Jackson's wordplay since he entered the rap game, he's creative on a whole different level with his lyrics and comparisons. Case in point his little 5 percenter, where 95% of the world will probably pass over it wondering WTF he's talking about. Start of the 2nd verse:

"Yea I know that's what they all says,
She got a donkey with her, Juan Valdez"

If you don't remember Juan Valdez, you must not drink coffee, see pic below:

Sure it's plain to say a girl has a nice ass, but to take it a step further with a Juan Valdez reference is just plain stupid and deserves far more praise than I'm able to give with letters and words on a blog. Serious...serious daps & lbs are in order for that quotable.
Other lines like:

"Shorty in the streets
Still handle the home
Enough class for wine
Still handle Patron
When them other girls call I hand her the phone
And she hand em the tone"

and he even puts a wrap on the track with a Drake-esque semi-acapella heartfelt ending...

"And you just came from the gym clothes
And a fitted cap
And some Timbos
And a pair of flats
Well trimmed toes
Camera in the mirror BBM pose"

I'm inclined to say this might be my favorite track in the past month, it's that front to back good. When it comes to paying homage to women creatively on wax, there are none better than F-A-B, y'all remember Can't Let You Go? Maybe the wit is what makes it all worth it, but when you give him a top notch beat to take off with, there aren't many better at weaving words together like Fab.

UPDATE: Check the video..

Shouts out to @RYANLESLIE on the beat too, you're still on the All-Underrated producer team and still amaze me with magic you pull on them keys man. I'm tellin' you, the track is Pringles good man, one play won't do it justice...

Fabolous - You Be Killin' Em (prod by Ryan Leslie)
| Download

Asher Roth Takes Pride in a Positive G.R.I.N.D.

I don't know if you've been to Asher's website lately, but it's pretty freakin' cool. Very 3D, artsy, interactive and engaging, solid effort on that Asher. He's doing his own celebrity marketing by getting friends and celebrities alike to hold his mini-Asher Roth license plates in pics, like the one above with Ryan Leslie. Cool idea in my opinion...

Anyways, a whole lot of people enjoyed his newest mixtape, Seared Foie Gras W/ Quince & Cranberry because it was the last we had heard from him since he was snoozing in the Bread Aisle. While the tracks on that mixtape were pretty high quality like Muddy Swim Trunks, many fans of his tracks craved something original, something creative and fresh...like...everyone song on his past album.

So patiently we waited for about a year until we hear finally that despite being out of the limelight, Asher has been on his G.R.I.N.D. or you could say he is G(etting) R(eady) I(t's) a N(ew) D(ay). Usually people don't like mixing politics and polarizing pop culture opinions with music (see Rage Against the Machine), but I feel like as long as it doesn't dominate the lyrics and remains mostly positive and constructive, I've got no problem with stating and backing up a strong opinion.

This one is less political as it is downright positive and inspirational. Yea it may come off as too sing-songy for hardcore Hip Hop heads, but give it a couple listens, you'll be better off. The repeatability of lyrics (hook especially) lends to the positive, upbeat rhythm of the track. It's a fast paced critique of the American work ethic and what we strive for as people, who get caught up in valuing money and sometimes lose perspective of the unbelievable gift we all have that is life. Without overtly stating, this song is a lyrically positive reinforcement of faith by Preacher Roth. The best part of the track without a doubt is his monologue at the end where he get's a little serious, but manages to come off extremely genuine and unrehearsed when he talks of believing in yourself and never giving up on the daily Grind and losing focus of how blessed you are...

"So it's not about fame and fortune,
It's about believing and believing in yourself,
And understanding that this life is, it's life,
It's liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,
And happiness is not about getting what you want all the time,
It's about loving what you have,
So get ready it's a new day"

As long as it's genuine and doesn't come off contrived, there is always a place for positive spirituality in music. Forget Hip Hop or Rock or Country, it doesn't matter what genre, if an artist can come off as real as Asher does in this track, I will always back positive tracks like this. It's a shame that (like Asher says below), it probably won't get the radio play it deserves "considering the positive undertones", but that isn't going to prevent me from sharing the hell out of it so that it can have the desired positive effect on the masses...

Even if life is working you over and you feel like you're losing the everyday G.R.I.N.D., you still have the right to have a positive outlook and although faith is oftentimes mixed with religion, it doesn't need to be. Faith to me is a word that means the refusal to panic or the ability to believe that good things will happen to you in life. If you feel panicked or believe someone is always out to get you, you're lacking faith and should listen to uplifting tracks like this more often.

I'll now climb down off my soap box and leave you alone to listen to some positively fresh new Asher Roth, who is one funny mofo and someone you should definitely follow on Twitter for some consistently entertaining quotes like this one he posted a few hours ago...

Asher Roth - G.R.I.N.D. (Get Ready It's a New Day)
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LOL is Overrated...Whatever Happened to the Old Fashioned Ha Ha?

When was the last time you actually laughed when you wrote "lol"? Grow up Peter Pan, lol has become the expression you put when you have nothing to say...whatever happened to uncomfortable silence or just not answering? Are we really that soft as a culture that we have to humor people everytime they think they're being funny (I sure hope so, my confidence is dependent on that) or is it just lazy flirting (both). Everyone knows lol has lived it's shelf life and it's about to get put on special sale...what's special sale you ask? I'm talkin' that "oh the price just got marked down by 50% at the grocery store cause whatever you're buyin' is damn near rotten" type of special sale...no need to patronize anymore...keep it 100 with exclamations, CAPS, even mix it up with a hehe if you're feelin' frisky, just don't be lazy with an lol...man that shit grinds my gears and in the words of Jigga, society "WE OFF THAT!"...

I needed to get that off my chest...as for the music, you may be wondering to yourself what does the person above have to do about laughing or even more importantly the track below, Fat Joe's new single Ha Ha feat Young Jeezy. Seem rising producer extraordinaire Scoop Deville also put his mark on this track with what you could call an "attention grabbing" beat. If you accused me of being a favoritist of loud, percussion laced, heavy beats I'd applaud you for payin' attention.

Now when I use the face "attention grabbing" I mean beats like this here by Dr Dre (Detox may or may not end music as we know it) or the legendarily low A Milli beat by Bangladesh or this heat rock by DJ Khalil this here by Polow da Don, maybe these two by Timbo/Danjahandz shoot I'd even give a long hard look at this Ryan Leslie beat.

Now I'm not trying to compare this beat to those in the last paragraph, but I will compare it to Scoop's first beat I Wanna Rock with Snoop. Considering how many artists freestyled over the beat, it's pretty clear that the whole Hip Hop game took note of the production credits.

Time for you to take note of a bangin' first single by Joey Crack...oh and a little bit of Jeezy mixed in...sorry auxiliary, replaceable artists, the beat gets the dap on this one...

Fat Joe feat Young Jeezy - Ha Ha (prod by Scoop Deville) Hoott!!!

Who Rocked it Better? Whatcha Say vs What U Say

Imogen Heap

Who
Did
it
Best?

Loon VS Jason Derulo

First a little background on the original sample taken from Grammy nominated English singer songwriter, Imogen Heap. She is incredibly talented vocally and her music has a very Indie vibe that can be described as a mix of electronic, folk and alternative. Put it this way she plays tons of different instruments and exhibits her stylistic independence by frequently sampling her own music to create organized chaos.

Which leads us to more modern Hip Hop...where producers are thankfully sampling creative music from other genres in an attempt to further break down the "traditional" barriers of "Rap" in favor of a more sophisticated sound that is more respectable to people who wouldn't usually listen to what pop culture understands as raw Hip Hop or Rap.

*FYI...I'll frequently refer to Rap as a more of a negatively connotative term that describes the realer side of Hip Hop and is characterized by explicit lyrics and simple production. Hip Hop, on the other hand, I will use as a term of endearment to describe an advancing genre of music characterized by innovative individuals that choose to produce real, emotion evoking music characterized by intelligent lyrics that serve to further cast light on the black cloud that some Rap music has cast over what's now accepted as Hip Hop. We clear on that?

Back to the topic at hand...in one corner we have the under appreciated Loon, who has blessed us with guest verses on tracks like:

Dream feat Loon - Krazy Hot!
Ryan Leslie feat Loon - My Woman Hott!!

Both tracks show his knack for being able to tell a story and give some love to the women while weaving his way through the beat seamlessly. He clearly brings it with intelligent, well conceived verses, something that I can respect because it reflects real talent and the ability to write.

In the opposing corner we have Jason Derulo, who, lucky for him, is teaming up with JR Rotem to create quite a buzz for his new album with his single Whatcha Say. You may or may not know him from these unreleased hits:

Jason Derulo - Keep it on the Hush Hot!!! (1st single that got him on the map)
Jason Derulo - Blind (prod by JR Rotem) Hot Slow Jam!

His vibe is definitely more pop/R&B, but he's clearly got a great voice and commercial appeal with his sound.

You make the call, who took Imogen's sample, flipped it and did it the best? (LINKS RE-UPPED 04/2010)

Imogen Heap - Hide and Seek (fast forward to 2:50 if you want to hear the sample) New Link Re-Upped!!
Listen to Hide and Seek


Loon feat Christopher - What U Say Classic!!! New Link Re-Upped!! 05/02/10
Listen to What You Say

Jason Derulo - Whatcha Say (prod by JR Rotem) New Single Hot!!
Listen to Whatcha Say

****Acoustic Version Bonus:
Jason Derulo - Whatcha Say (Acoustic Version) Better Than the Radio Version!!!
Listen to Whatcha Say (Acoustic)

GWDJ verdict: I will always favor Loon's well crafted verses over Jason Derulo's pop infused, radio friendly R&B ballad. On the other hand, I do appreciate the way JR Rotem added his touch to the beat, there's no getting around his undeniable talent as a producer. Final vote goes to Loon because as much as I love JR's beat, I really think Loon's first verse on his version is untouchable and gives him the slight edge.