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Dancing Like It's 1999

2009-08-23T21:20:41Z

Ah, 1999, we hardly knew ye: we were so caught up in preparing for the looming millennial ball drop that we dropped the ball on savoring the waning days of a thousand-year stretch that began with the founding of Norway and ended, as usual, with Dick Clark holding court in Times Square, as I'm pretty sure he'd done every year since around the time of the Norman Conquest. (The big difference at 1999's New Year's Eve parties was that people seemed to be listening to a lot more Prince, for whatever reason.)

Blame the Y2K bug for our inattention. But at least we danced. Oh, how we danced. Basement Jaxx, Underworld, the Chemical Brothers, Moby and other relics of the rave era were enjoying proper pop credibility. Dr. Dre was "Still D.R.E.," while Britney was, well, still Britney, but without the "b*tch." Le Tigre proved that riot grrrls were down with the disco. And the underground was teeming with activity, from U.K. garage to minimal techno. Relive it all with our five-hour playlist of the best dance tracks that 1999 had to offer. Don't you deserve a break from the "oughts"? Thought so. Check a sampling below, and get the whole thing here at Playlist Central.

Michael Jackon's Birthday Playlist

2009-08-21T21:00:12Z

Today, Saturday, August 29, Michael Jackson would've been 51 years old. Obviously this is a very bittersweet occasion. As news unfolded that Jackon's death was ruled a homicide, and with the obvious loss that we all felt with his passing, it's tempting to get bogged down in sadness. But, we'd like to take this opportunity to celebrate his life and his music.

Below, you'll find a sample of some of his best songs, and you can listen to a full playlist right here. And, of course, you can always sign up for your free Rhapsody trial membership to get the full experience: dozens of playlists, radio stations, blog posts and, of course, all of his best work in high-quality audio. So kick back, throw Thriller on repeat and celebrate one of the best who ever did it.]]>

Q&A: Sa-Ra Creative Partners

2009-07-24T06:27:17Z

The sound of L.A. group Sa-Ra Creative Partners is hard to pin down. Their brand of psych urban music straddles the line between funk, soul and hip-hop. It references Funkadelic, Prince, Sly & the Family Stone and J Dilla, but ultimately the music manages to sound like nothing you've ever heard. It's jerky electro, ethereal hip-hop and secular gospel. It's beautiful music that is, at times, difficult to listen to. Consisting of (from left, in photo at left) Om'Mas Keith, Taz Arnold, and Shafiq Husayn, the group became darlings of the underground in 2005 with a series of 12-inches and remixes. They released their debut album, The Hollywood Recordings, in 2007, and followed up this year with Nuclear Evolution: The Age of Love. In that time, an entire echo-system of psychedelic soul acts sprang up, but Sa-Ra remain at the forefront. Even if you haven't heard of the group, it's likely that your favorite artist has. The trio has worked with Erykah Badu, Kanye West, Dr. Dre and John Legend, among many others. In fact, Keith is currently serving as Diddy's musical director.

We recently caught up with Om'Mas Keith. By chance, we spoke with him on the afternoon of June 25, just when the news of Michael Jackson's death was reported. We discussed Jackson's influence on the group, as well as a wide range of subjects including Thelonious Monk's funeral, Keith's father, the group's future, and the influence of Sly and the Family Stone. ]]> Keith: Michael Jackson dead at 50, breaking news. It's officially 3:24 Pacific Standard Time. Wow. I just don't even understand -- I just left a meeting with a power player over at Paradigm Agency in Beverly Hills, and was just informed that Michael Jackson is looking for tracks. I'm looking at a piece of paper written by a f*cking mega agent at an agency right now. Two days ago she wrote Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson is looking for music, and the go-to is Peter Lopez. It's like … wow!

Rhapsody: I don't think anybody saw this coming. Maybe his family did or something, but I don't think anyone in the music industry saw this coming.
Well, we all know what cardiac arrest means for people in their 50s. It means an unhealthy lifestyle -- or whatever it means, there was something going on that Michael wasn't telling nobody about. Whatever; we're gonna find out. But all I know is that his work with Quincy Jones and Rod Temperton changed the entire world.

Yeah, yeah it did.
Three of my heroes. Three of the Sa-Ra's heroes: Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones and Rod Temperton. Three people that are all visionary. Those are the people we follow. We follow in the line of our ancestors who know about process, procedure, strategy, politics, manipulation, war, pact.

As far as process, as far as actually building music, what can you say about what you took from the people you mentioned?
What you learn from the masters is that there is really no way to go about making music other than the path of least resistance. So what that typically has meant for people who are really successful is they just do it without anyone bothering them or without anyone getting in the way -- unresisted creative flow. For some people, that may mean not allowing people into your cipher when you create, so that you can work as efficiently as you may need to. For other people, that may require allowing many, many people around you, so that you may work as efficiently as you may need to. And then of course you have everything in between, which also includes having no one around and then having someone around within the same day. Knowing when to pull the trigger, knowing when you need to be alone, and knowing when you gotta call m*th*r f*ck*rs in to get the sh*t done. That's what Quincy knew. Quincy knew how to sit there, at his piano with a cigarette, maybe a shot of Jack Daniels, and score the damn film. And then take a break, and make the phone call and call in Hubert Laws and call in Ron Carter and call in Eddie Van Halen and cut the record, and get it popping. It's stages, so that's process, procedure. You have to know the task at hand. Ok, we're gonna make a record, what do we have to do? Whatever we have to do we know in the end we have to have vocals, we have to have instruments, we have to have songs, chords and ideas.

You come from a musical pedigree; your parents are jazz musicians, right?
Yeah, absolutely -- not only my parents, but my grandparents. My great-grandfather was f*ckin' George Gershwin's copyist.

Were you introduced to jazz when you were a kid? Was that always the atmosphere?
Oh yeah; well, my parents were traditional jazz musicians in every sense of the word. In the womb … Thelonious was playing in the womb. I was at Thelonious' funeral. I was there with my father. I was in Straight, No Chaser. I was born in 1976. Thelonious died in the '80s. I have a very fond memory -- I have a very unusual memory, a kind of macabre. That was my first experience of death! It was seeing Thelonious lying in St. Peter's church in Manhattan.

How old were you? Did you appreciate what you were seeing?
I was probably five. All I know is that I was a drummer, and Max Roach was in the house band at the funeral. So I remember specifically Max being my hero at that very young age; because I was a drummer by the time I was three, I remember Max Roach! Sitting in the pews, man. I was very conscious. I remember I was a little weirded out, even now I'm recalling the feeling -- it was weird. Because my dad was so a part of the New York jazz scne. My dad was one of Miles [Davis'] great friends, my dad was one of Thelonious Jr.'s greatest friends. My dad knew f*ckin' John Coltrane. My father made his career as an avant-gardist. Playing with cats like Lester Bowie and Sun Ra. My father was in Sun Ra's band.

Who was your father?
His name was Michael Keith. You can do some research. You know he was just one of those cats that was on the scene. He was savvy. Truth be told my dad was a dope dealer, too; don't get it twisted. That was the order of the day.

Yeah, avant-garde jazz musicians probably don't make that much money.
I mean come on, man. Especially avant-garde ones who are playing f*cking sh*t that no one gets anyway, in that era. So my parents were hippies, man. They got it. They knew it was about peace, love and having fun.

Do you carry over those sensibilities into your life and music?
Hell yeah. All of us do. As the Sa-Ra we are channelers of truth and channelers of the majesty of our ancestors. We channel the majesty of our ancestors. That's one of our main goals of life is to do that.

You can hear that. You can hear so many different threads of modern music within your music.
It's part of the repertoire; I was just talking about that today. Listen, people don't even use the word anymore, because they're so far detached from what that encompasses. For us, it's a nonstop quest to upload information.

I love that you guys did that "Just Like A Baby" on the new album.
Oh!

It was funny -- when I got this promo and put it in I didn't really look at the track listing, and I was kinda listening through it and I was like, I can hear some Sly & the Family Stone here, definitely.
And there it was, right there. That's so funny that you mention that because Questlove hit me and he was like, "Man, I know y'all got the original masters to do that." And it was like, "Nah. We just went in and did that." See, "Just Like a Baby" was a science experiment. "Just Like a Baby" could be parallel to a college-level master project, so to speak. We said we are going to go here and use what we know, to have then the technology embodied on the original recording, and go ahead here and do a cover of it. Do a rendition. But in our rendition we're going to try and go verbatim, sonically. And I think we achieved that because our approach was probably just like Sly, and because our equipment was probably just what he had.

But were y'all driving around L.A. in an ice cream truck with a bunch of cocaine? Isn't that how Sly recorded "There's a Riot Goin' On"?
He had the truck outside. He would often just have the truck parked outside the mansion and would rather be in the truck recording than be up in the house. Yes. We wasn't in an ice cream truck, but we're students of music, man. We speak to people, we know cats that were around, we saw the pictures. We know, "Oh, he's using this? Oh this was the mike placement? Oh you mean to tell me it was an Omni microphone, there was only one overhead? Oh!" I mean you know what I mean? All that type of sh*t. "You mean they didn't use 16 microphones on the f*cking drums like they do now? And make that sh*t sound so crisp that you can't even take it?" No, it's just one. Get back to basics. Don't make it so hard on yourself.

You guys working on any new music?
We're making new music every day. I'm working on a solo record. I have a joint-venture deal with a company called Plug Research. Shafiq has a joint-venture deal with a company called Plug Research. Taz is currently working on his solo album, and we're finishing his solo album up. So before the end of the year, you will see the release of yet another Sa-Ra record and three individual and unique solo records for the members of the group. So five releases in one year, if we can even pull out four -- but I'm gonna make sure that we deliver five releases by the end of the year.

What label are they all gonna be on?
Well right now this one's on Babygrande, both mine and Shafiq's are gonna be on Plug Research, Taz is closing his deal so we can't speak on that right now, that's private information. And the Black Fuzz album, which is probably what we're going to release at the end of the year, is in negotiation right now with all the major labels in the game. So right now we're in a position where all the four majors are bidding on us, and it's gonna be funny because the very same label that we severed our ties with is in fact indirectly the same label that may in fact put this album back out again -- after they paid for it and let it go, they 'bout to pay for it again! Ain't that a b*tch?

Are you guys working on the new Erykah Badu album?
Yeah. In fact I just received my first bit of paperwork from the label today; that's funny you mentioned that, because right before I got on the phone with you I got on the phone with my lawyer confirming the producer declarations and all the agreements coming in for the work on the new record.

Yeah, I know your work on that album blew a lot of people's minds. Is your work on the new one going to be a continuation of that?
I would like to hope so. For anyone who doesn't know, the Associated Press listed her album as one of the best f*cking albums of last year.

Rhapsody Playlist: Discount Divas

2009-07-10T19:46:12Z

Xtina, Celine, Mariah and Elton are cool and all, but there's no beating them old school divas. Goddesses like Billie Holiday, Dusty Springfield and Gloria Gaynor utterly and totally epitomized concepts like grace and class. Plus, they all made some timeless music, from smoky, jazzy ballads to dancefloor anthems. For the perfect overview of history's greatest divas, dig into this killer playlist. May your beloved Rhapsody inspire you to party all night in a vintage sequined evening gown!

More Bang For Your Old-School Soul Buck

2009-07-07T18:10:14Z

The world is still waiting for a definitive answer to the eternal question, "How old is old school?" But for the purposes of this playlist, let's say mid-'60s to mid-'80s, and let's include everything from gorgeous falsetto ballads to down-home Southern chitlin' circuit blues to wave-hands-in-the-air big-city disco to deadly deep-dish funk to even a couple movin'-on-up upper-middle-class strivers getting their grown-up suburbia on. At just 69 cents per song, how can you go wrong?

Give In To "Boom Boom Pow" Before It's Too (Thousand And) Late!

2009-06-05T22:01:07Z

"Boom Boom Pow" by the Black Eyed Peas has now been the most popular song in the country for nine weeks and counting with no end in sight, making it the weirdest and most outlandish song to work up that kind of batting streak since ... what? "Hey Ya!" (nine weeks, 2003-2004)? "Macarena" (14 weeks, 1996)?? "Bette Davis Eyes" (nine weeks, 1981)??? Mighty impressive, either way, and what cannot be denied is that it is also the most shamelessly ridiculous and unabashedly catchy confection to hit the radio this year (only competition: "Poker Face"), and it's inescapable for primarily that reason.

So you know what? If you're not among the millions (if not billions) of human beings who've already surrendered to the song, you might as well. Otherwise, you'll certainly regret it 99 years from now (2108!), when you hear it on the intergalactic oldies station wired into the computer chip in your brain and it reminds you how life felt in the summer of 2009 the way no other song possibly could. And if that's not enough of a reason to embrace "Boom Boom Pow," here are 10 more.

]]> 1) People who think B.E.P. are "just trying to do what's popular" these days (as opposed to when they were, er, serious political artists or whatever) are nuts. If the group was merely trying to be popular, why would they come up with a song so over-the-top it's incomparable to anything else on the air? Doesn't make sense!

2) R&B and hip-hop artists are somehow under the insane delusion now that Auto-Tune is appropriate only for dreary "emotional" songs. Okay, maybe T-Pain's an exception when he rides on boats with the Lonely Island, but have you heard that Kanye album? Jeez. At least B.E.P. know how goofy funky robots are.

3) Speaking of robot funk, it's somewhat clear from the sound of "Boom Boom Pow" that B.E.P.'s "future" isn't so much 2108 as the freak-a-zoid early '80s glory days of "Planet Rock" and "Jam On It" and Zapp. Whose own electro-polyrhythmic future was, in turn, '70s Kraftwerk. Who just wanted to be the 1960s' Beach Boys but didn't know how, since they were German. Neat, huh? (Also worth a mention, since Will.i.am does: early '80s Detroit techno pioneers Cybotron.)

4) Chickens are jacking Fergie's style. Chickens! Real ones!! With beaks and feathers and everything! (Also, she used to be in Wild Orchid -- how cool is that?)

5) Nobody ever rhymed "8-bit" with "apes***" before, I don't think. Which pretty much cancels out the part where they quote Kanye quoting Daft Punk, right?

6) My wife opines that the Black Eyed Peas are now the B-52s of hip-hop, which is probably true when you think about it. She also says the beat of "Boom Boom Pow" reminds her of "Can't Do Nuttin For Ya Man" by Public Enemy.

7) Other people have compared the rhythm to the subcultural genres "hyphy" and "funky house." How about we just take their word on that one.

8) It was very courageous, I believe, to risk the shamrocks and shenanigans and drunken Irish-American hip-hop wrath of House of Pain by stepping on all those pesky leprechauns. Boom shalock lock boom indeed.

9) The phrase "boom boom pow" appropriately suggests something from a comic book. And honestly, has there ever been a bad "boom boom" song? Pat Travers' "Boom Boom (Out Go the Lights)"? Paul Lekakis' "Boom Boom (Let's Go Back to My Room)"? John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom"? Trio's "Boom Boom"? Outhere Brothers' "Boom Boom Boom"? Vengaboys' "Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!!"? The Jimmy Castor Bunch's "Bom Bom"? Living Things' "Bom Bom Bom"? Nope, those were all great, too!

10) This kid, who analyzed the song in even more detail than I have, is clearly wrong!

Summer Jams, the '09 Edition

2009-05-12T23:47:18Z

Forget baseball, politics, apple pie or a vague disdain for the corporate aristocracy, the element that binds American society together in an increasingly atomized post-millennial milieu is the Summer Jam. Think Jay-Z, Rihanna, Outkast or Beyonce. Think the moon landing, except with more sex, better hooks and less Nixon. It's the alpha and omega of pop music -- bigger than big and blasting out of ever car stereo, club speaker, poolside radio and computer headphone. Who’s going to put the bump in your trunk this year? Here are our picks for the contenders.

2009-03-25T16:11:57Z

Over the past two years, Flo Rida rose from obscurity and quickly established himself as one of hip-hop's most commercially viable artists. If you've been to a club in the past 16 months, you've probably danced to one of his songs. Mr. Rida has owned the digital music realm as well. "Low," his hit collaboration with T-Pain, sold upwards of 500,000 MP3s in a single week, more than any song in the history of pop music. Earlier this year, he broke his own record when "Right Round" was downloaded 636,000 times. His success is a testament to his talent. With an ever-pliable flow, the Florida emcee traverses his tracks' ever-shifting rhythms, while using his knack for melody to ensure a primal, immediate dancefloor decadence. It's both sinister and sexy, and it makes for irresistible pop music. In celebration of Rhapsody's premiere of his sophomore album, R.O.O.T.S., we're offering a one-stop Flo Rida guide. Listen to his new songs, check out a photo gallery featuring some of hip-hop's most muscular leading men, and read about his thoughts in an exclusive interview.

LISTEN: Hear Flo Rida's new album, R.O.O.T.S., exclusively on Rhapsody.

BROWSE: Check out our exclusive Q&A with Flo Rida.
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EXPLORE: Check out Rhapsody's Essential Florida Hip-Hop Albums.

ROCK THE RADIO: Hear Flo Rida and other anthems on our station of hits, In Da Club.

LOOK: Check out Flo and other hulking heartthrobs our Muscle Men of Hip Hop gallery.

LISTEN: Turn it up and play the definitive playlist of Top 100 Hip-Hop Club Tracks.

Rhapsody Reviews: Spirit Delux

2009-02-02T22:55:41Z

Rhapsody Reviews: Text about music -- remember that?

Leona Lewis
Spirit Deluxe
Leona Lewis's much-heralded, chart-topping debut gets the deluxe treatment all the kids are so crazy for these days. Three new tracks are included: Her aching cover of Snow Patrol's "Run" (which has already achieved the honor of being the U.K.'s fastest-selling digital release ever); the soulful "Forgive Me," which more than earns the British chanteuse the title of "the next Mariah Carey;" and a dancefloor-ready cut of her mega-hit "Bleeding Love."

Related: Leona Lewis picture gallery.

Best of 2008: T-Pain

2008-12-30T19:16:24Z

We asked some of our favorite musicians to tell us about some of their favorite artists, songs and moments from 2008. Here's what auto-tuned R&B sensation T-Pain had to say about the year in music.

Why Your Album Deserves To Be In Year End Best Lists
I really don�t know. A lot of good albums came out this year. You get me. Everybody hearing all the hits I�m making for everyone. The hooks that I�m doing and the concepts I�m coming up with. It�s an album of that.

]]> Personal Achievement You're Most Proud Of
Not being lazy with my music. This album is more musical than the other ones because I sat down and tried to figure out music. I wasn�t very good at playing the piano and listening for chords. I wouldn�t take the time to figure out a chord. I�d just play a single line. Now I actually sit down and figure out the chords. I�m not lazy with it anymore. Now it makes about thirty minutes to make a song instead of ten.

Most Expensive Purchase of the Year
My new album.

One Thing You Cut Back On Because Of Recession
I don�t buy much. I�m not one of those people to buy stupid crap. I�ve always been in a recession. I�m always saving money. I still have my signing bonus money. I keep my money close to me. I want something to show for my work. A lot of people think I�m balling out of control. I got old-ass cars that cost 3 grand.

Biggest Disappointment of 2008
My biggest disappointment of 2008 was to see how people reacted to Obama getting elected. Specifically, black people. Black people went crazy that we had a black president, thinking this is going to happen and that�s going to happen. [Obama] is going to be a better president [than Bush], but to me it felt like reverse racism. The same thing that we hated George Bush and his people for doing � that�s exactly what we�re doing. That don�t make it fair. I didn�t like how people started acted when Barack got elected. Like the girl in Memphis who got arrested for slapping a white police officer and said, �My president is black. You can�t do better.�

Hottest Hook of The Year
�Green Light,� John Legend

Favorite Album of The Year
Theater of the Mind, Ludacris

Favorite Singer of The Year
Jazmine Sullivan

Favorite Producer of Year
Andre 3K

Favorite Website of the Year
http://www.worldstarhiphop.com

Favorite New Artist Of 2008
Tay Dizm

He Said/She Said: Singles of the Year

2008-12-23T18:13:00Z

Angela Bruno: So, here it is, Chris. It's time for the big dance. The senior prom of all blog posts! Except that I've blocked out almost all the details of all proms I've attended. Especially that year when I was everyone's back up date � . But these songs, no, I'll never forget em. Especially with the way you played these breakfast, lunch and afternoon-snacktime at the office. Ah, the memories �

Ne �Yo, "Closer"
AB: Not gonna lie. I pretty much despised Ne-Yo before this song. Then he started wearing really nice suits. And when this song came out � March? � it sounded like dancing-under-palm-trees. Which is just so me.

Kanye West, "Love Lockdown"
AB: Favorite memory: rubbernecking to watch this LIVE on the Paramount lot at the VMAs. Only topped by watching Ellen's reaction to its video premiere on her show. Only matched by my reaction to it premiering on Ellen .

The Academy Is �, "About a Girl"
AB: That dude must be on the Rachel Zoe workout plan. Not only does he look like a chick with an eating disorder � but he is clearly embattled by inflated male ego/insecurity. That's right, bah humbug, I feel sooo bad for you.

John Legend, "Green Light"
AB: I thought I was so over Legend's lothario-hidden-under-the-guise-of-classy-cabaret-esque-piano-man shtick. 'Cause, when you break it down, this song is really only about the urgency of his � boner. Sorry, can I say boner here? But, like I said, nice suits. And Andre's on it. Best line: "I heard you when you told your girl when, oooh he can get it/admit it/ you did it."

Webbie, "Independent"
AB: According to this song, if I work hard, I'm a "bad broad." And according to this squad of romeo-geniuses, a "bad broad" -- by definition (if you don't know, now you know) -- "She cook, she clean, neva smell like onion rings." (Phew, got all three! Thought I'd never make the cut.) This is where you spell everything out �

Mariah, "Touch My Body"
AB: Oh Mariah, back on the crazy train. How you infuriated me this year. That "wedding" to Nick Cannon. That other wedding to Nick Cannon. The rumors about you two procreating. Please god no.The ill-explained allusion to physics. Oh yeah, and put some CLOTHES on. As me and my girlfriends have hypothesized, she probably got married in a mohair thong bikini. And you, Chris, force-feeding me gossip about her all year long. You fueled the flames!

T.I., "Live Your Life"
AB: Just the absolute JAM. Played on cue by you on all those ice-coffee-and-chair-dancing-fueled summer afternoons. Hold up, I'm getting misty eyed.

Katy Perry, "Hold N Cold"
AB: Katy Perry, I salute you. And I'll even forget "Kissed a Girl" while I'm at it too. Serious karaoke potential. But you wouldn't know anything about that �

Paramore, "That's What You Get"
AB: I love Paramore/Hayley. Loved 'em/her from the get. Don't know why, just do. Plus, you know it's a good song when all the women shoppers at H&M are singing along to it. That is a bond you can't break.

Young Jeezy, "Put On"
AB: Wasn't that into "Put On" � until I watched an a cappella troupe sing it. Total Street Cred Points Earned : -763!!! And while apparently it's not okay to smell like onion rings, it's apparently okay "her weave look like curly fries." Copy paste other lyrics about � fish sticks, tartar sauce, pockets full of celery, asparagus, they know he got that broccoli �.

Jim Jones, "Pop Champagne"
AB: Champagne gives me an immediate hangover. And Jim Jones makes me immediately projectile vomit. But for all his misogyny, megalomania, arrogance and douchebaggery, this song serves its party-purpose. Darn it.

Jesse McCartney, "Leavin'"
AB: I credit the success of this song to ... you playing it incessantly, grown men singing along to it (aka all of my coworkers), my (literally) escapist tendencies, the paltry success rate of my romantic endeavors, his boyish good looks .... total summer jam.

Danity Kane, "Damaged"
AB: I credit the success of this song to ... my playing it incessantly, grown women (aka all of my friends) singing along to it, my (literally) escapist tendencies, the paltry success rate of my romantic endeavors, their boyish good looks .... that breakdown at the end is simply delicious.

Usher, "Love in this Club"
AB: Maybe Jeezy is just hungry: "it's going down on aisle 3, I bag you like some grocercies." Plus, listening to any other songs on Usher's album is like moving mountains [cue the laugh track]. Real talk: I was beyond obsessed with this song � and could not for the months of march-may start my day without listening to this at least twice every morning.
CR: Jeezy also delved into produce metaphors on "Put On" (asparagus, broccoli, etc.)

Leona Lewis, "Bleeding Love"
AB: How could you not get swept away in the Leona Lewis zeitgeist that was the first half of '08? How could you not expect it to fizzle out soon thereafter?

Lil Wayne, "A Milli"
AB: So much has been said that there's not much left to say. I've had conversations I never thought I would have about Weezy with people I'd never thought I'd have them with. Total Street Cred Points Earned: 375! The only thing I regret about my year with Weezy is not getting wise to him post-Hot Boys, pre-T3. Total Street Cred Points Earned: -19.

Yung La, "Ain't I"
AB: I'm forfeiting this round. I can't pretend like I've actually heard this song before. Total Street Cred Points Earned: -27.

T-Pain, "I Can't Believe It"
AB: I can't believe how nonplussed I am. Total Street Cred Points Earned: 444!

Jonas Brothers, "Burning Up"
AB: Camilla who?
CR: U mad.
AB: Holler at me Joe Jonas, I'll make the pain go away � that was too much eyebrow for one relationship anyway. Plus, I went to Catholic school grades K-12. [Wink.]
CR: Christ on crutches, the boy wears promise rings.
AB: Oh, sorry, I got distracted. This song totally caught me by surprise � in a good way.

Taylor Swift, "Love Story"
AB: I give her props for calling out Joe Jonas [loyalty is not my best quality]. But the thing I love most about this is your completely unironic love for Taylor Swift. ALL you.

He Said/She Said: Beyonc�/Sasha Fierce

2008-11-26T19:46:47Z

Chris Ryan: I am ... underwhelmed. Usually doubles are so conceptually robust that they demand the extra acreage; or they come at a time in an artist's career where the fever pitch of creativity demands a big canvas. This joint is about as long as Thriller and despite all the talking-points memos going around about B's beguiling "split personality," the two poles of Beyonc� seem to be "slow jams" and "club bangers."

Angela Bruno: I am ... going to ignore 85 percent of this album. Or, I'm gonna wind up saying something I'll regret. Like, oh, her artistic bipolarity only reminds me of that commercial for a product-which-shall-remain-nameless where a woman sees her totally-slummed-out-on-the-inside reflection in the mirror due to a lack of "freshness." Which, actually, is quite applicable here. (Forgive me Sasha, for I know not what I say!) I feel like I'm betraying a good friend, like LC and Audrina or vice versa (depending on whose side you're on). What happened to that brickhouse-ness that only B'Day can invoke?!?! Sigh. I may have to disagree with you on the acreage, though. B covers a whole lotta ground: Buzz Lightyear ("Single Ladies": "Here's a man that makes me then takes me/and delivers me to a destiny/ to infinity and beyond"), Dave Matthews ("Smash Into You," ummm "Crash Into Me"), Ren�e Zelweger (in Jerry McGuire, "Hello"), Pavarotti ("Ave Maria," WTF?), career criminal ("Diva": "this is a stick up, stick up"), you know. Shall we dissect (further)?

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"Halo" (I Am ...)

CR: Of all the I can't-believe-it's-not-"Take a Bow"/"Bleeding Love" jams on this side, I think "Halo" is my favorite. Ryan Tedder, blonde homie out of OneRepublic who wrote "Apologize," wrote this one.

AB: Don't make me sing the chorus to Tamia's "Stranger in My House." Between this and "Ave Maria," it's like she and Michelle Williams had a Freaky Friday moment. I look to Beyonc� for the escape, for the Cartier neckties, Hermes briefcase. Not for some purpose-driven-life mumbo jumbo. Empty calories, por favor. But I gotta say, if she does what she did last time -- release a video for every song -- I'm gonna no doubt turn to mush and love it. As far as the ballads go, "Disappear" is more my speed.

"Radio" (Sasha Fierce)

CR: This sounds like the same untz-untz Euro trance stuff I'd hear in trashy untz-untz Euro trance clubs in Ireland in 1999; wherein I'd try and push up on Irish girls who had the same never-ending battle with their pancake makeup that B seems to be having with the pronunciation of "everyday" ... which is the long way of saying I find this really endearing.

AB: 1) I'm totally telling your girlfriend. 2) Another alter ego! As far as the "errrryday" and "qurrrrrr" ("car"), she totally sounds like Kim (Countess Vaughn) from the acclaimed sitcom Moesha. 3) Musiq'snewsongizsomuchbetta. 4) Crap, this is growing on me.

"Video Phone" (Sasha Fierce)

AB: Silk-lined blazers! Diamond-creamed facials! My girl is back! As R. Kelly (on "Ringtone"). But I'll take it. This takes me back to halcyon times. Slithery and slinky and bursting with product-placement potential! Aside from "Single Ladies" and the spot-on simplicity of "If I Were a Boy," this is my most favorite jam on the album. On loop. Best line ever: "You breakin' up my focus, boy you cute and you ballin'."

CR: I hear you, Mrs. Brightside. Far be it from me to disparage product placement in a song. Chris Brown's "Forever" is a karaoke-jam for all-time. I was kind of thrown for a loop when I was under the impression that this was actually a song about the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. That Beyonce was taking on the voice of all the unwitting victims of spying from private eyes (they're watching you!). But it works a lot better your way.

Q&A: T-Pain

2008-11-12T22:48:49Z

More than perhaps any other modern R&B performer, T-Pain understands that today�s artist is best viewed as a spectacle -- and that the spectacle is art. Witness his entrance to this year�s MTV Video Music Awards on elephants; or his Rhapsody pre-VMA party where the man born Faheem Rasheed Najm was flanked by mimes that looked like rejects from an Insane Clown Posse casting call. Even his singing voice is a novelty that borders on gimmick. The stringy robotic affections of auto-tune at once set the singer apart from the R&B flock, and also grant him a mechanic�s anonymity, giving the effect of a musical mask. It is singular and universal, and it also sounds pretty damn dope when you�re lost somewhere on the Sunset Strip at 3 a.m.

We caught up with the Tallahassee singer one late Saturday night in September as he was preparing to take the stage. As his wont, T-Pain was worried that the audience didn�t really want T-Pain since the opening DJ was rocking electronic beats. �If I had Daft Punk DJ in front of me, I�d feel a little less nervous right now,� he admitted, before adding, �Daft Punk holla at your boy T-Pain. If you did it with Kanye, you can do it with me.� In our brief but revealing conversation, he explained the concept for his new album, exclaimed his love for neo-soul and Roger Troutman, and spoke on upcoming projects such as T-Pain Is Dead and T-Wayne.

Rhapsody: What�s the concept for your new album, Thr33 Ringz?
T-Pain: The concept [for Thr33 Ringz] is comparing the [music] industry to the circus. The circus has its acts, and the industry has its artists. The way you get into the circus is to be able to do something amazing that no one else can do. The only thing that the circus has that the industry is missing is a ringleader.

By your top hat, I�m guessing that you�re that man.
Oh yeeeaaah.

You, Musiq Soulchild, Raheem Devaughn and J. Lyric are all on the same track ("Reality Show"). Where did you get the inspiration to do an R&B posse cut?
When I did the song, I was originally going to do it by myself. But when I heard the beat, I wondered who I could feature on here since I have a lot of friends in the industry. I thought, let�s get Musiq Soulchild, and he came through. And then I listened to it and thought Raheem Devaughn would�ve killed it, and I got Raheem to do a verse. I put them all separate, but after listening to it, I decided instead of trying to figure out who�s the best, that I would just keep all of the verses. It�s pretty much like a neo-soul super song �I�m a big fan of neo-soul. I still listen to India.Arie, Musiq Soulchild, Anthony Hamilton and Raheem. It�s still in my blood and it�s in my music. I use a lot of it in my music, actually.

What kind of soul did you grow up with?
Not much. I didn�t get into music until �99. I�m not the type who was singing when they was born, and dancing when they�re two. I don�t know how people do that. I�m just saying, you gotta learn to walk.

I love the video for "Can�t Believe It," especially how it looks. Will this be the visual aesthetic for the entire album?
I�m getting the same director and the same editor for all the album�s videos. All the videos are going to be a continuation of the last video. "Chopped N Skrewed" is going to begin where "Can�t Believe It" left off, and "Freeze" is going to pick up where "Chopped N Skrewed" left off. All the albums back in the '80s had this [consistency]. All albums back in the '80s had a theme. All the videos had the same theme, everything they did in public was to that theme. I had this whole album mapped out as soon as I dropped the second album.

You already have the next one mapped out, right? The T-Pain Is Dead joint?
That�s pretty much going to be an album between albums. It�s not necessarily going to drop to keep the buzz going as it is going to show that I do all kinds of things. The reason I�m calling it T-Pain Is Dead is because it�s going to be full of stuff that�s not T-Pain. There�s going to be rock 'n� roll songs, alternative songs, songs without an auto-tuner. Live bands. I�m going to do some neo-soul. I�m going to do songs for girls, about girls and with girls. My dream is for Timbaland and Pharrell to executive produce it.

Do you think that people focus too much on the fact that you use auto-tuner?
I brought it back. I didn�t start it. I didn�t invent the damn thing. People think that I feel that way when I say that I should get respect or recognition for bringing it back. And they say, �What about Roger Troutman?� But my first album started out with the melody for �California Love.� I put him on the credits, and I probably could�ve gotten around that by saying that we didn�t use the lyrics and you can�t patent the melody. But I wanted to give him credit for that because he has a lot to do with what I�m doing right now.

Did you hear Troutman before or after you started singing?
Oh, way before. He really got me into music. When you use the vocoder, you have to know how to play the piano. Just to hear what he was playing with that on his voice, and the tube in his mouth. [The vocoder] takes concentration and coordination, really. You have this tube in your mouth, and the whole thing that makes this tone is that there�s electricity going into your mouth. And if you let spit get into that thing, you�re going to get electrocuted. Two things in the world I don�t fuck with: electricity and heat. Changing a spark plug is out of the question for me. Nah, nah, nah. Trying to not get spit going into a tube that takes up a third of your mouth. Try to concentrate on that and play keys and sing at the same time. I�m good on that. �When I found that there was something that you could just put on top of your voice, I was very thankful.

Does it bother you that everyone is using the auto-tune?
It bugs me when people act like they created it or brought it back. It�s like, you don�t realize what I just did? Lil Wayne will tell you right now that the only reason he is doing it is because of me. He saw that people accepted it. And Kanye called and said, "I got to borrow your style for a second." He�s kept it a little longer than he said he would he was going to, but at least he gives me the props.

What�s the status of you and Wayne�s collaborative project, T-Wayne?
The T-Wayne project is coming after my album. We still have to finish it, and we have four record labels between the two of us. It will probably come out either late this year or early next year.

Q&A: Michelle Williams

2008-10-30T23:26:32Z

Michelle Williams' new album, Unexpected, actually came as a surprise to Williams herself. After two gospel albums, the Destiny's Child alum returned to the studio to work on her third solo effort, this time with a breakup on the brain. The resulting album was, "Alright," says Williams. After calling for backup � her mother � she scrapped it and went back to the studio. "My mom was like, 'You sound so bitter! Make music that people can dance to.' And that really helped me � like even if you are upset, still dance!" And dance, you will. Unexpected is, in a way, Williams' coming out party. With producers like Stargate and Rico Love manning the boards, she successfully sheds some of her good-girl image with a sound that's covered in sequins and sass, delivering a hybrid confection that's deceptively sweet ("Thank U") and naughtily nice ("Private Party"), a blend of R&B ("Hungover") and Euro-pop shimmy ("Lucky Girl"). Here, Williams speaks on her new attitude and more.

[Click the "Continue Reading..." link to listen to a playlist featuring the music discussed in this post.]

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Rhapsody: Where did this new sound come from?
Michelle Williams: Working in the studio, I kinda didn�t know how the album was gonna turn out � until it was done. But the first song I did with [producer] Rico Love, "Hello Heartbreak," once we got through recording that song, I guess it did set the tone in a way for the rest of the album and we felt that we were really on to something � because nobody would have expected that to come from me. So, I was like, "Let's keep with it." By the time we were done with the album, we knew we had something special.

Rico Love is an extraordinary writer; he actually used to be on Usher's label a couple of years ago. And I guess that didn�t work out, but I think Rico tapped into a gift that he didn�t know he had � he would write his own raps, he was a rapper at first, and he just started dibbling and dabbling into writing. One day, one of his singers didn�t show up and ... producers have singers sing their demos for them and Rico had to sing it on his own and he really liked it. He offered some vocal stuff on the album as well. Even his writing style, you could tell he's a rapper because he doesn�t write anything down. He just goes in the studio, records whatever he's thinking and that�s the song. It's cool to work with somebody like that.

You've got that "Percolator" shout out on "Hello Heartbreak," but it was, in part, also inspired by Annie Lennox of the Eurthymics? What were your other influences?
I'm from Chicago � and that's where the "Percolator" came from. But some of the songs definitely have that � sometimes vocally � I could see listening to my music how she did influence my music. But you listen to so much music and you kind shelve that way, way in the back of your head and not know that. Like, growing up, when you parents thought you weren't listening to them � you really were. You kinda store things in your subconscious ... and I think that�s what happened. I wanted to go for Prince and Sheila E. for "Lucky Girl" and "Till the End of the World." I guess [I was inspired by] '80s artists.

So, why did you choose to reannounce yourself with "We Break the Dawn"?
I thought it was so fitting to just kinda bust out into the scene with the title. I'm breaking something � breaking boundaries, trying to break stereotypes of the genre of music that people think that I should only be doing ... because my first two albums were gospel. And I love gospel music. Gospel is rooted in me and it's not going anywhere -- but at the same time, I wanted to challenge myself and do something new. And I'm finding that people are happy about it; they're excited about it. I'm keeping it fresh and respectful. To me, that's all that counts.

Did you have any qualms about making that transition?
At first I did because I was worried about what people were going to say. I didn�t want to be called a hypocrite. I can say I believe in God 'til I'm blue in the face ... but I still get called a hypocrite. But I just try to make sure that I live my life in a great manner, in a respectful manner. God is beautiful; he's so big and we even try to put him in a box?! So, I feel that whatever music I'm doing, I wanna make sure that you still see God in it.

What are some of the concepts behind the songs on the album?
"Hungover" was such a different, dark edgy sound for me. I was just ready to try it. "Hungover" is kind of a throwback to Diana Ross' "Love Hangover." So, it reminds me of that kinda thing, where you're just caught up � you don't know what happened. "Lucky Girl" is about you're in that state of mind where you just found somebody that takes you to that level in a positive manner � and you're feeling lucky. And "Private Party" � it's a fun song. I can not wait to perform that song. It's basically telling that person that you're ready, you're open and it's me and you � and inviting him in. I'm running the show and I'm letting you know. "Till the End of the World," it's kinda asking that question � "Will you be there for me, through thick and thin? Good or bad? Can I count on you?"

For this album, was your experience with Destiny's Child kind of like a bootcamp?
It was ... and that was greatest, greatest, greatest thing that could have happened for me music-wise. I learned so much that will be with me forever. Our work ethic taught me � you HAVE to work. You can not sell albums by sitting at home. You're building a brand, so you gotta be out there and you gotta work.

How have your experiences on Broadway � in Aida and The Color Purple � influenced you as an artist?
Me playing Suge Avery in The Color Purple � she was very feisty, very sassy, very direct. And I kind of took that and I was like, "Wow. My 'no' should be 'no,' and my 'yes' should be 'yes.'" I've absorbed some qualities � but the good ones.

How did you feel singing "he works me like a fulltime job" [on "Lucky Girl"]?
[Laughs.] I didn�t write it! I didn't write it! "He works me like a fulltime job" � it's not necessarily sexual � it could be intellectual. He keeps you on your toes. He keeps you thinking. [Laughs.]

R.I.P. Levi Stubbs (1936-2007)

2008-10-18T00:35:01Z

Fans of any '60s icon share a similar gripe: the legacy of too many great artists is inextricably tied to too few of their songs in heavy rotation on oldies stations. These select tracks get played and played out, and eventually even the lifelong Beatles fan reaches for the dial during the third daily course of "Yellow Submarine." Today, I cued up the Four Tops after reading about the passing of the band's leader, Levi Stubbs, who died in his sleep in his Detroit home at the age of 72, and was reminded about how this predicament is particularly hard on the stable of artists from '60s Motown: The Jackson 5 is relegated to "I'll Be There"; Stevie Wonder, a Motown artist with as deep and wide-ranging catalog of any, is on three times an afternoon with "For Once in My Life." For the Four Tops, the heavy-rotation hits come between 1964's "Baby, I Need Your Loving" and their final Top 10 in 1973, "Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got)." Of the handful of stuff between these bookends, some, like The Big Chill-approved "It's the Same Old Song," represent Motown's streamlined mainstream operation. Others, like "Reach Out, I'll Be There," speak to the group's power in the studio. But it's the outlying, oddly successful hit "Bernadette," a tune that is among their most popular and their most enduring, that best demonstrates Stubbs' power as a performer. It's the rare example of a heavy-rotation hit that lives up to its responsibilities.

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The quality of "Bernadette" -- a Holland-Dozier-Holland song we've all heard how many times? 1,000? 10,000? -- isn't much like most other candy-ass stuff that Barry Gordy had successfully hocked to white teens through the early part of the '60s. It's scary and hateful. It's desperate. The last Four Tops hit of the decade, the song's central character comes alive in Stubbs' vocal, seething with jealousy and anger, allowing his possessive, hateful anguish to send his voice shredding into the rafters. As he flies off the handle, the other Tops -- Duke Fakir, Obie Benson and Lawrence Payton -- spell out their own deep anxiety in their tortured, wordless counter melody. It churns along to the relentless hammering of the snare drum and piano, increasingly shrill, unyielding, until it meets the ghostly exclamation point (nearly a scream!) of the Andantes, Motown's go-to lady back up singers, at the end of each verse. About two minutes deep, Stubbs' voice cracks while demanding, "Keep on lovin' me!" Then, there's another bizarrely perfect element � a brief moment of silence � before he's back at her throat, standing in the street, screaming her name. "Bernadette" has been playing on repeat since I started writing this, raising the hairs on the back of my neck. 10,000 times later, it'll have the same effect.

Are there countless other examples of Stubbs performing with such iconic, singular intensity? Certainly -- both on other hits ("Reach Out") and the plethora of B-sides and scrapped sessions that only came to light in the last decade. Stubbs' version of the Beatles' "Elenor Rigby" has all the bleak loneliness of the original, but he endows it with a soulful, cocksure strut, as if he's lonely and trying to convince you that he couldn't care less. In this -- the ability to deliver the spirit of these tunes, to own them, to entreat them with "guts and ass," as Bukowski once admired -- is the essence of Levi Stubbs' legacy. And it's one that, in his passing, is not only of a great artist, but also a hero of anyone who's ever stood out in the street, desperate or elated, flushed with passion or rage, looking for their voice.