common & just blaze: the light '08.

dl: COMMON f/ MARSHA AMBROSIUS - The Light '08 (It's Love) (Smirnoff Signature Mix) (YSI)

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While it may seem lame to blog about corporate MP3 offerings, Smirnoff's latest inclusion in the Smirnoff Signature Mix Series is quite divine. This week, producer Just Blaze (Jay-Z - "Show Me What You Got", Diddy - "Tell Me", Kanye West - "Touch the Sky") teams up with rapper Common and Marsha Ambrosius (formerly of Floetry) for a recreation of Common's 2000 single "The Light". The original version of this song is arguably Common's most commercially successful single, falling short of Top 40 status at #44 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. Some regard it as one of hip-hop's classic love songs, an open letter for the whole world to read declaring Common's love for then-girlfriend Erykah Badu.

Eight years later with a new beat and vibe, "The Light" is just as charming. While the feelings for Erykah might not be there anymore, this song still makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Admittedly, part of that warm-fuzzy feeling may rise from the rather emotional piano line paired with the "shoutout to J. Dilla" from Common. Is it bad that I get a little teary every time someone mentions his name?

This is the second offering from Smirnoff's Signature Mix Series, preceded by DJ Premier and KRS-One teaming up to rethink Boogie Down Productions' "Criminal Minded". Next week promises a collaboration between Q-Tip and Cool & Dre, putting a spin on A Tribe Called Quest's "Midnight".

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- BUY IT - SITE IT - SPACE IT - HYPE IT - WIK IT -

jay electronica: act one, eternal sunshine.

JAY ELECTRONICA came to me coincidentally while I was doing a bit of research for my last post about the GotdioN remix of Erykah Badu. Ms. Badu has this to say about him:

"Jay Electronica, the person...hmm, I wouldn't even call him a person, cause he's a weird lookin' cat. His ears are kind of pointy, he has a square head. He looks kind of like he's an alien from somewhere, really. But in a very beautiful way. Like uh, like some kind of mythical creature who would have a bow & arrow on his back, with wings under that bow & arrow."

Long story short, Jay Electronica is the first artist to be signed to Erykah Badu's record label Control FreaQ. In fact, the label was created solely after Badu first heard his music. She says so on "Act 1: eternal sunshine (the pledge)", which features an intro by her and producer Just Blaze. The song itself includes Jon Brion's compositions from the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind overlapping with rhymes, interviews, and soundclips from films (including the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory). Apparently Act 1 is the first of three, the final of which will be his full-length debut album.

It would surprise some to learn that Jay is from New Orleans. I have yet to understand this element of surprise. There are plenty of intelligent, intriguing rappers in the south. They're just not getting airplay, but in hip-hop's current state even the intelligent, intriguing artists from the east and west coasts aren't getting much airplay. Sex, club jams, and novelty tracks sell these days like hotcakes. Do hotcakes actually sell fast? Instead, let's just say that they sell like Nintendo Wiis.

Jay shows a lot of promise in gaining the south respect that the holier-than-thou "real" hip-hop artists deny it. He's very concerned about his artistic integrity, having turned down a contract with Universal to work with Badu at Control FreaQ. He's innovative. He's weird. He's a lover of Willy Wonka. He's a beautiful alien. That's really all that matters.

d/l: JAY ELECTRONICA- Act One (snippet) (YSI)
d/l: JAY ELECTRONICA- Act One: Eternal Sunshine (the pledge) (YSI)
d/l: JAY ELECTRONICA- Bitches and Drugs (produced by J. Dilla) (YSI)
(amazing hip-hop)
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