Whatever you think about KanYe West, there’s no denying his ability to surprise.
A year after KanYe’s super ego pushed him into an ill advised stage invasion during Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards – an act that prompted Barack Obama to call him a “Jackass” – KanYe was back at the scene of the crime. However, rather than berating Taylor Swift as he had the year before, he was exchanging sickly sweet tributes with the country singer: the pick of which came from Swift who spouted this gem whilst performing an emotional ballad. “Thirty-two and still growing up now, who you are is not what you did, you’re still an innocent. Everyone of us has messed up too, I hope you remember today is never too late to be brand new.” An act which prompted KanYe to apologise to the public once again for last year’s indiscretions.
If you find West’s new found humility surprising you should check up the lineup of talent on his new single, ‘Monster’. The record features the talents of Hip Hop heavy weights Rick Ro$$, Jay-Z and hottest ticket in town, Nicki Minaj. Nothing out of the ordinary there you may think, until you see that the record also features the talents of Justin Vernon – A.K.A bearded folk warbler Bon Iver. Apparently KanYe sought out the talents of Bon Iver after hearing his breakthrough track ‘Woods’. This resulted in Bon Iver packing up his bags, flying to KanYe’s studio in Miami to lay down some tracks in between enjoying herbal cigarettes with hip hop’s glitterati – which must be the absolute antithesis of the usual day in the life of a respected folk minstrel.
‘Monster’ is potentially KanYe’s most exciting single yet. What’s most surprising is Nicki Minaj’s mind blowingly dexterous verse that mixes the ragga style growl of Lady Saw with the cutesy baby voice of Marilyn Monroe to create one of the most original vocal styles the hip hop world has heard in years.
‘Monster’ will be included in KanYe’s forthcoming album ‘Dark And Twisted Fantasy’ due for release November 16th
Erykah Badu’s ‘New Amerykah Part Two’ has undoubtedly been one of the most well received urban albums of the year so far. Featuring heavy doses of retro soul, Erykah’s most recent work has come as a marked contrast to some of the more electro and pop influenced R&B which has dominated the charts of late. Gaining some of the best reviews since her legendary 1997 debut ‘Baduizim’, ‘New Amerykah Part Two’ has incidentally been Badu’s most commercial successful work in a decade and has put her right back into the R&B big leagues.
The remix for Badu’s latest single, ‘Window Seat’, looks set to keep her on heavy rotation on urban music stations during the upcoming months. After previously working with A-list rappers such as Common, The Roots and Lil’ Wayne; the southern songstress continues a trend of working with some of the industry’s most talented rappers by hooking up with Rick Ro$$ – a man who’s starting to gain a reputation as rap’s go to guy for hit remix verses. The video also features a snippet of Badu’s former single, ‘Can’t Turn Me Away (Get Muny)’ – a former Shazam Tag Of The Day and a record with source material also sampled by Notorious B.I.G. no less.
In the past four years Rick Ro$$ has risen from relative obscurity to become one of the biggest rap stars on the planet. The southern rapper has already scored four number one albums and is currently only being held off of the number one spot on the Billboard Chart by Eminem – one of the few hip hop artists who can rival RR in popularity.
The road, however, has certainly not been a smooth one for Rick Ro$$. A violent and shockingly personal beef with 50 Cent, that probably would have finished a lesser rapper, has pockmarked his career so far. Targets for 50’s disses have included Ro$$’s former life working as a prison officer, lack of employment in his early years and even his son – yet Ro$$ has remained one of the successful rappers in the game. A fact that’s made obvious due to the fleet of Maybach Mercedes Ro$$ can habitually be seen in.
His latest track doesn’t deter much from his persona of southern rap gangster. References to Mississippi crime boss Larry Hoover, Rolls Royces, $1,000,000 jewellery and cocaine feature throughout. It’s in no way shape or form groundbreaking but Rick’s skill with a metaphor gives the record a spark of originality. He even manages to make DIY seem threatening. “I’m self made, you just affiliate. I build the ground up. You bought it renovated.” ‘Blowing Money Fast’ is everything you’d expect from a gangster rap record and a bit more. Currently # 2 in the Shazam New Release Chart ,‘B.M.F. is sure to be one of the biggest hip hop tracks of the year.
