Nardwuar is a celebrity interviewer, for those who don't know. He has a wide selection of videos on Youtube, where he interviews numerous artists from an array of genres. I've been watching his interviews a lot over the past couple of years, and was originally hooked from the interview he did with Pharrell & N.E.R.D, in 2008.
He pulls out rare & unknown facts to the artist he's interviewing, and gifts them with work that have influenced them, making him unique is his own right. Following on from the success of his Youtube channel, Nardwuar has been working with Pharrell on his new channel, 'I Am Other'; gaining him more exposure & hook ups. Over the two channels, he posts these in-depth interviews that average 10 minutes, and gain extra information on the personality.
His unique interview style, and individual artist knowledge have made him one of the most respected out there, and I suggest you check out his work. He is bound to have met up with the majority of your favourite artists. His most recent interview is with Hudson Mohawke, member of TNGHT & producer for Kanye West, where Hudmo is looking pretty blazed haha. However, I have linked the most famous interview he did with N.E.R.D and Pharrell below.
So I haven't posted in a while, and I thought i'd carry on from the R&B Classics post I wrote earlier on in the blog with some more of my favourites. Although, this time I will include songs from the mid 2000s which feature hip-hop more predominantly, which are rooted in the smoother beat.
A couple of my favourite songs that fall under this category, are "Slow Jamz" by Twista (Featuring Kanye West & Jamie Foxx) & "Ride Wit U" by G-Unit & Joe. Both flow well lyrically, and feature a catchy beat. Looking back now, at "Slow Jamz", produced by Kanye, shows how his productions from that era to now have changed dramatically. Nowadays his songs are completely different and are a lot more upbeat and powerfully delivered, presenting how far he has developed his production skills over the years. The development can be seen most in "Yeezus". I plan to write my thoughts on this album in another post in the near future.
Like I said in the Classics post, the 1990s & the 2000s presented R&B in a unique light. The hip-hop genre was full of these chilled out songs, just as much as it was with 'gangsta rap'. Causing for a weird yet enjoyable blend. Anyway check em out below.
An artist who has been releasing some decent work lately is 'French Fries', from France. After hearing "Hugz", I started to research him, and how he got into music. From scanning various articles about his musical tastes growing up, he seemed to have got into producing music and deejaying through his father being a sound-engineer.
It's clear that his production is influenced by American music // culture. The name of his musical alias, 'French Fries', supports this. His work nowadays has stemmed into a broader musical taste, whilst keeping the hip-hop and house elements at the core.
The unique sound of hip-hop rooted in house, is something I am a fan of, and makes me excited to hear his future releases. I have linked the previews of both "Champagne"& "Hugz" below. These are two of his biggest productions in my opinion.
Out of the 'current-crop' of rappers that have been the face of hip-hop in the past few years, Big Sean is one of the best in my eyes. His next album will be dropping next month, and whilst no official track list has been announced, he has released a couple of songs to tease us listeners into what he has got in store. Just yesterday he put the song "Fire", on SoundCloud. I was a fan of this song from my first listen - which is something rare for me, so I thought i'd blog it.
I am really looking forward to his new album, along with the new Pusha T album, "My Name Is My Name"- also scheduled to drop next month. According to the rumoured line up, Pusha is going to feature on Big Sean's album and vice-versa. So hopefully there will be more huge songs featuring their collaboration, such as "Mercy".
I have linked GOOD Music's "Mercy", a well known song featuring Big Sean, and his new song "Fire" below. Two songs which present Big Sean's lyrical versatility, on very different beats.
Dutch electronic producer Legowelt has produced an array of songs & remixes that i've really been feeling recently. I thought i'd share my thoughts on his work and mention a couple of song's that i've been listening to a lot, and why.
After stumbling across his SoundCloud and really liking what I heard, I carried out a bit of research on his past work, and listened to the various mixes he has done on his website. To my knowledge he's been producing for a fair amount of time as Legowelt, as well as under many aliases. I found he's been getting more exposure over here through mentions by UK DJs, as well as showing up for the Boiler Room & mixing for Rinse FM.
One of his stand out piece of work is the Memphis rap tapes series, which is complied from old rap tapes. These along with his futuristic techno house remixes & productions make him one of my favourite producers out there at the moment.
I have added two of my favourite songs from his board collection to this post below, "Azurian Sunset", and the remix of Chrissy Murderbot's "Friendship". Both have the same techno // house vibe, and feature silky and easy listening beats. As well as establishing an intense atmosphere. I for sure, still have a lot of listening to do to understand more about Legowelt, and look forward to doing so.
One of my favourite gaming franchises of all time is Rockstar's 'Grand Theft Auto'. I pretty much grew up playing the titles Vice City // San Andreas & GTA IV, and now i'm eagerly awaiting the 5th release, GTA V, on the 17th September. Without talking too much about the overall games in this post, the way Rockstar complete these titles is flawless. It's refreshing to see their method of releasing a game like a film, and fully concentrating on all elements correctly. As a customer I appreciate & enjoy this approach, even if it means having to wait in the unknown for a long time for information.
However, for this post i'll focus on the game's soundtrack. This is one of the many aspects I am looking forward to experiencing in the next instalment in the series, and one I really enjoy from the others. The various radio stations featured are always carried out with either witty and/or over-the-top hosts. Perfectly fitting the songs with the generation the game is portraying. The stations usually cover a range of music from hip-hop, to rock, to classical. Enough to please the majority.
I thought i'd write a post discussing the artists // radio stations on Grand Theft Auto which I listened to the most when driving round the animated worlds. 'Beat 102.7' is the radio station of choice for me when playing GTA IV. This is tailored to a hip-hop audience, with artists such as Nas, Saigon and Busta Rhymes. I have previously mentioned my love for east coast hip-hop. I found a youtube video of the full 45+ minute 'Beat 102.7' station, which is played on the game as a loop. I have linked this below... I also enjoyed listening to 'The Vibe 98.8' on GTA IV. An R&B based station, which featured classic tunes from the likes of Minnie Riperton, Ginuwine and Marvin Gaye.
Additionally, on San Andreas my favourite was 'Radio Los Santos', a west coast hip-hop station. Classic tunes from N.W.A, Snoop Dogg & Ice Cube defined the areas that San Andreas was presenting. Hood rivalries didn't get much better with "Nuthin' But a 'G' Thang" playing in the car, haha. Whilst on Vice City, 'Flash.FM' was my favourite, a collection of pop songs which felt just right cruising the Miami world, with the comic host Toni providing over the top remarks to complete the atmosphere.
These are just my opinions on the soundtracks, and I'll probably write a review of what I thought of GTA V and it's soundtrack when it's released. Maybe in the mean time i'll do a post on my favourite game in the franchise, and why.
Most people who know me know that I love a bit of classic R&B, hip-hop soul, or whatever you call it - you know the genre. Through a deep sea of favourites, i'll try and pick a couple to kick off the R&B section on this blog. Through growing up in the late 90's mid 00's, I was led into these tunes as they got air time on the radio and on various music channels. Nowadays, the majority of house // electronic // hip-hop DJ's sample R&B tunes and either use them in a mix or to create their own edits & songs.
Female signers with a rapper featuring with a verse seemed to be a common trend. While although it's still a bit strange hearing Joe Budden, a now member of hip-hop supergroup Slaughterhouse, rap a verse on a Christina Milian song, I still enjoy it. I know this was a method to bump up the earnings and hit a new audience, and i'm not complaining. To my knowledge it was pioneered by Biggie and Puffy during the throwback 'Ready to Die' promotions for a couple of the albums songs, and this method of production was triggered. Anyway, maybe I wouldn't have been into these tunes as much if a hip-hop influence wasn't present... I doubt it as I still love this sub-genre to this day, but it's obvious loads of people were.
But yeah, I know loads of classic R&B songs can be either solo male // female, a group and sometimes even the R&B artist features on a hip-hop song. But the rapper featuring is clearly a trend in 90's & 00's R&B. Anyway... to wrap up, below i've posted three classic R&B tunes all featuring a rapper, and neither are sitting dusty in my iTunes library.
They are, "Boy - Mariah Carey Featuring. Cam'ron", "Best of Me (Part 2) - MYA Featuring. Jay-Z" & "All I Have - Jennifer Lopez Featuring. LL Cool J".
