The Audacity of Dope

Talking with a director buddy of mine and we agreed that Hype Williams’ visuals here are not very impressive, but I must admit, this song has grown on me the past few months.  Kanye’s verses are poor for his standards (almost sounds like the corny cameos he’ll make on big pop records like Katy Perry’s “E.T.” remix), but overall, the song works.

Besides…”BLOOOOOOP BLOOOOOOP!“

Jermaine might have my favorite record out at the moment with this one. “THAT’S THE HOOK RIGHT THURR!!!!”

While I don’t think this single is necessarily one of Asher’s stronger lyrical performances recently, I wonder if there are people out there that still don’t realize he can really rhyme.  If so, you must not have peeped the EP with Notttz, nor some of the random leaks from the past year.  I’m looking forward to Asher’s sophomore album solidifying his place in the game and erasing any thoughts that it was solely about “I Love College.”

The homies at Fortune Sound Club in Vancouver, BC wanted to make sure our Seattle readers know that MPC wizard and all around dope beatsmith AraabMuzik will be performing on Thursday, September 22nd.  If you’re in the area or can make the trip, it should be a dope show.  Here’s one of my favorite tracks off his newly released instrumental album, Electronic Dream.

Robin Thicke kinda has this lane on lock, but I’m not mad at this track from John West and Pusha T.  If you want a fun game, pretend that all of Pusha’s verses towards a girl are actually dedicated towards coke.  Sometimes they fit a little too well…

ActuaLOL @ the Nuvo product placement though.

Why does summer have to end?!  Why can’t life always be this easy?!  And when am I gonna be invited to a pool party with Maxine Ashley?

Wow.

Yet another immaculately conceived and executed video from Mack and Ryan, this time co-directed with their “My Oh My” collaborator, Jason Koenig.  We’re still witnessing Mack’s rise to stardom, but when it’s all said and done, I think “Otherside” will be his defining track.  I don’t know if it will be his best (though it’s hard to beat such a heartfelt, no holds barred view into his battles with addiction), but the combination of the song’s impact/resonance with his fans and what it must have meant to him to record it make it the most notable track in his catalog…so far.

Don’t miss his performance opening for Wiz Khalifa at Bumbershoot this weekend, aka the next stepping stone in his path to stardom.

Here are the newest visuals from the homey David Dallas, all the way from New Zealand to NYC. I really like the vibe of this record and the video too, plus…he rapped with a kitten in his hoody. I mean…come on. Epic.

The video was conceived by Special Problems (production company behind Alicia Key’s HP commercial) and sees 7 different directors/animators interpreting 7 parts of the song. Each person was given a segment of the song and access to David Dallas. A few rules were put in place. Each scene was to be shot on a different format: 16mm film, VHS, Stop Motion, 3d Animation, and during the creation of the video, the directors were not allowed to know what each other were doing. The result is a series of beautiful, very different images pieced together to make the video.

Download The Rose Tint if you haven’t already!

I feel like I should post more non-hip-hop related content on TAOD.  And has Nabil EVER put a foot wrong with his videos?  Unlikely.

Seeing footage like this from the promotional campaign for Frank is bittersweet.  While the challenges she faced a few years later undoubtedly contributed to the classic nature of Back To Black (her pain was our gain), it’s interesting to think what could have been if she never got too deep in to depression and drugs.  Frank is a more upbeat record — emotionally, not necessarily tempo-wise — though “I Heard Love Is Blind” is one of the more caustic songs on the album.  If the lyrics truly depict a situation she went through with her boyfriend at the time, I can’t imagine hearing anything more gut-wrenching coming from your lady.

We shouldn’t be surprised though, she was handing out ether left and right on that record.  Sorry ladies, but she got at a TON of y’all with this one:

RIP Amy.