"I ain't Hov, I just know what I know." - Freeway, Flipside (featuring Peedi Crack)
I'm so yawning at the screen right now.
The Emancipation of Mimi, Mariah Carey. It's like that, y'all. It's like that, y'all. It's like th-th-th-that y'all. Just get it. I'm recommending the iTunes version with two bonus remixes of It's like That (one of which features Fat Joe whose two current singles might even make me cop his album). It is just a solid, solid, contemporary R&B album with some particularly special moments. Stay the Night is the best song on the album, hands down, but I'm also digging Shake It Off and Fly Like a Bird. If Nelly had stayed home instead of lacing a track with weak vocal stylings, it might be a perfect album for a post-Glitter Mariah. Even with that one misstep, Emancipation moves to the head of the class in what has been an underwhelming year for me for albums so far in 2005. It makes me anxious for a lot of the other hip hop tinged albums that have had promising lead singles. Common, Gorillaz, Mary J. Blige, I'm just sayin', step your game up. Mariah's on fiya.
Side note: I can still remember the days of Mariah releasing two versions of tracks for urban and pop radio (and I know lots of artists did it in the mid nineties but Fantasy was maybe the most egregious) and am so glad that isn't the case anymore.
Fade To Black, Jay-Z. The best parts of Fade to Black are the studio sessions. The different producers on the album are such characters (but DJ Quik and 9th Wonder, where ya at?): Rick Rubin the grizzled veteran who has Mike D working on Tibetan Freedom tracks upstairs while S-Dot is getting his hard rock grimy on in the basement; Just Blaze getting clowned for his video game jones; Kanye West's youthful exuberance and vision; Pharell's infinite coolness. My favorite moment though is Jigga and Timbaland in Miami. Timbo throws a few beats at Jay while Jay softly chides him, "He ain't got that bounce." Timbo plays a hot beat and tries to sell Hov on it. It will eventually become Potion for Ludacris but it isn't hot enough for The Black Album. Then Timbaland hits a button. Oooh whee. Jay's head starts nodding. His lips start moving. The wheels in his head start turning. Dirt Off Your Shoulder is born. That's some magical shit.
The concert footage is good too and probably the finest Rap show to ever happen but R. Kelly's appearance was unfortunate and a reminder that the two went out just a year after this "retirement" show and that Jay has performed several times since then. He and Beyonce kill it, though. Mary J. kills it. That Madison Square Garden crowd kills it. It is a showcase of why and how we can still love hip hop in the 21st century.
Left of the Dial, HBO Documentaries. I used to think Randi Rhodes was grating on Air America. Her voice is screechy and she has so very little patience for alternative viewpoints. As I spent the few weeks getting acclimated to the station in it's brief time before the long hiatus in LA during it's launch last year, I just couldn't get with her program. After watching the documentary, I kind of love her. I love her self-doubt and her desire to be recognized for what she had already accomplished and being able to step back from her a little bit and see where it all comes from, I get it now. Somebody has to be the unwavering screaming voice of liberal and progressive sensibilities and Randi does an wonderfully infuriating job of it.
What else I love about Left of the Dial is how it's showcase of the startup of the radio station showcases the liberal idealism and optimism that I hope most people on the left have. They are trusting that things are happening the way they are supposed to. They believe strongly that they will succeed. In the face of incredible setbacks, they spring into some inspired action that puts the station in even more homes a year later than they ever expected.
That makes me smile and makes me proud of those people trying to hold the banner for the political battles I think are important.
That said, I still can't really deal with Janeane on the Majority Report.
