general elektriks + pigeon john: crush.

dl: GENERAL ELEKTRIKS f/ PIGEON JOHN - Crush (alt)
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I walked into "Crush" having no idea what to expect, and my mind was blown as I encountered a sample of "When Doves Cry". Purple Rain ranks in my unofficial top ten albums of all time, to the degree that it may even be number one. This should have been so wrong. BEYOND WRONG.

Funny thing. I wanted to believe that the first time I listened to the song--I shouldn't like this, so I won't. But the pure "WTF" factor kept drawing me back in, and by the fourth time I was pumping my fist along and all skepticism was diminished.

Pigeon John embodies a less annoying version of will.i.am. His charm rests in his self-awareness of his loser-like tendencies, while will.i.am thinks he's the shit when he's quite the opposite. Like, he's so the opposite of the shit that he's constipation.

But I digress. Pigeon John's chorus of "I got no game, no game, no game at all" seems like an anthem for scrubs and chumps, but anyone who's ever had a crush can relate. You're at a party and the cutest motherfucker walks past you. They go chill with some friends, and you're sitting there sipping your drink, peeking back over and waiting for your moment to introduce yourself. You start thinking of crazy schemes to get your future boo's attention, but by the time you've worked out your diabolical plan... they're walking away hand-in-hand with someone else! No one else at the party is really doing it for you, so you start thinking you might as well, er, do it to yourself. Masturbate, I'm talking about masturbation. But no matter how much you wank it out, you'll never be able to wank out those thoughts of your crush. Pathetic, but c'est la vie. Pigeon John knows your pain. But only Pigeon John.

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

immuzikation: mgmt remix.

dl: IMMUZIKATION - Just Another Call With You (MGMT vs. lots) (YSI)
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Immuzikation has been popular on the blogs lately. And with good reason! Mashing up Daft Punk and LCD Soundsystem with MGMT, Yelle with Weezer, Justice with Boyz II Men*, Ratatat with Enon, Jay-Z with The Postal Service...the fun just doesn't stop. This Georgia boy knows where the party's at, and I'm personally inviting all of you to crash it with this new joint he sent my way. It goes a little something like this...

• MGMT - "Just Becuz" + Soulwax - "Another Excuse (DFA Remix)" + Prince - "When Doves Cry" + Chromeo - "Call Me Up" + Afrika Bambaataa "Planet Rock" + Stardust - "Music Sounds Better with You" = "Just Another Call with You"

"Just Becuz" is nearly five years old, recorded when MGMT were still at Wesleyan University. It's a bit dancier than most of their new stuff, yet it remains one of my favorite MGMT songs of all time. Long story short, Immuzikation is my mash-up GOD for doing this mix.

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- SPACE IT - HYPE IT -
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* Um, can we talk about Soulja Boyz II Men?

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PREVIOUSLY ON ITMS!!: Download the original "Just Becuz" and an ol' skool mix of "Kids". (link)

skillz: 2007 rap up.

I keep getting hits on Google from people looking for the Skillz rap up for 2007, and I feel like it's a total disservice to NOT post about it.

As I said in last year's post, Skillz has been on the hip-hop scene since 1992 hustling all over the place, ghostwriting, freestyling, and dropping an annual rap-up since 2002.

This year's effort comes with a first-- a video, complete with supporting visuals such as an Amy Winehouse lookalike. It features references to...DJ Drama, The White Rapper Show, Cam'ron, 50 Cent, All-Star Weekend, Jennifer Hudson, Mims, Fantasia Barrino, Tony Yayo, Jay-Z, Amy Winehouse (duh), Robin Thicke, Bobby Brown & Whitney Houston, Karrine Steffans, Don Imus, Russell Simmons, Oprah, Anna Nicole Smith, Akon, Three 6 Mafia, ringtone rappers, Virginia Tech, Barry Bonds, Ray J, Diddy, Eve, Rihanna, Paris Hilton, the final episode of The Sopranos, Hurricane Chris, Lupe Fiasco, Britney Spears, Jamie Lynn Spears, O.J. Simpson, Usher & R. Kelly, Kelly Rowland, Beyonce Knowles, Jena Six, Michael Vick, the iPhone, Foxy Brown, Lil Wayne & T-Pain's omnipresence, Kanye West, Souljah Boy, American Gangster, UGK & Outkast, DJ Khaled, T.I., and Lauren London.

Personally, I think this is a huge step down from the 2006 rap-up. Did he really have to cut out paying his respects to those who passed away? There was no reason to mention Mims, Hurricane Chris, or Souljah Boy. All he needed was the line, "For most of the year, a ringtone rapper would make a hit and his career would disappear." Can we get a holler to Donda West, Ike Turner, Pimp C, Yolanda King...Kurt Vonnegut?

Not to mention that the animal rights activist within me is a little outraged at the line "It's a damn shame what they did to Michael Vick. You can't kill dogs in your own backyard but you can go to Iraq and kill whoever you want." Seriously? I can understand that he's trying to be socially conscious. I can understand that he's trying to make a point about taking a dog's life vs. taking a human life, even if I'm not certain I agree with it. However, I just can't get over the fact that he's trying to JUSTIFY dogfighting. Pssh!

Problems aside, Skillz gets kudos for simply coming up with such a cohesive look at 2007 as a whole. And you can't help but giggle at the line, "Kelly Rowland falls and yall think it's cool, Beyonce falls and yall take it off of youtube." When you put it all into perspective, the reason this rap-up sucks so much probably has more to do with 2007 sucking elephant-balls as a whole.

If anything good came out of 2007, I finally learned how to appreciate Prince. How? I made friends with a cassette tape of Purple Rain while locked away in a studio working on my printmaking senior thesis. Because of this, I direct your ears to the bonus track, which features Skillz rapping over "Darling Nikki."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------d/l: SKILLZ - 2007 Rap Up (YSI)
d/l: SKILLZ - 2007 Rap Up (Jimmy Rose Remix) (YSI)

d/l: SKILLZ - 2006 Rap Up (YSI)
d/l: SKILLZ - 2005 Rap Up (YSI)
d/l: SKILLZ - 2004 Rap Up (YSI)
d/l: SKILLZ - 2003 Rap Up (YSI)
d/l: SKILLZ - 2002 Rap Up (YSI)

BONER TRACK: SKILLZ - Darling Nikki freestyle (YSI)

- buy it - site it - space it - hype it - wik it -

kele le roc: so don't give away...my song

KELE LE ROC adds new depth to my last post. First off, she is a huge Prince fan. Secondly, she has accused Justin Timberlake of stealing the chorus for his hit song "My Love" from her song of the same title "My Love (Garage 10 Below Mix)". Oh snap.

This may be a stretch, but doesn't this coincidentally echo the story of Effie White in Dreamgirls? Sorry. Golden Globes are still on the mind.

Returning to Kele Le Roc, her animosity towards Timberlake is illustrated further by the posting of Mad TV's "Like I Am You" on her page. The video accuses Justin of copying the style of another of Kele's idols, Michael Jackson.

Unfortunately, Justin isn't the only person who has been accused of biting other artists in the recent news. His buddy Timbaland, master of turning obscure samples into hits, has been accused of using many aspects of Finnish musician Janne Suni's song "Acid Jazzed Evening" for Nelly Furtado's "Do It". To make matters worse, Timbaland also submitted the beat in 2005 as an "original ringtone" called "Block Party". You can watch videos featuring the clips here and here, or check out the original sound-files on somethingawful.

Frankly, I'm not sure how I feel about either of these instances. As someone pointed out on the somethingawful forums, "There's a saying in the music industry that the only true copyright for a piece of music is to make it famous before someone else does. Sorry." Sure.

It's also clear that Timbaland is a crazy sampler, particularly evident in Czar's samples of the week at The Thomas Crown Chronicles. However, in most cases, Timbaland gives credit to the original artist. You can't get away with sampling Stevie Wonder without paying the checks. The debate here is that Mr. Mosley supposedly took a track that was available for free to download and used it to produce his own "original" work. It's a tricky situation. I am conflicted inside because even if Timbaland did steal the song, I only lose an ounce of respect for him. An ounce.

But fuck. I'd be pissed if he stole my shit. Pissed.

On the other side of things, I would like to hear Kele's original version before I make the judgment that Justin stole her arrangement. Currently, she has made a version of her song with the original chorus over Timbaland's instrumental available, and I'm not sure how much it proves just yet. Have a listen to it, and decide for yourself.

DOWNLOAD: KELE LE ROC f/ MISTA MILL- My Love
(R&B jam sung over "original" instrumental by Timbaland)
- buy it - space it - site it -

DOWNLOAD: TIMBALAND- Block Party (ringtone)
just added!

Before I get accused of biting myself, let me give major credit to Beauty n the Beat for this post.

BLOGWATCH: Arjan Writes brings us a song by Alice Smith, who (as he says) "can solely rely on her raw talent as opposed to being dependent on Timabland-inspired big beat productions that are ruling the U.S. charts." Not a good day for Timbo it seems...On a different note, Funky16corners has a new mix up featuring Otis Redding, Betty Harris, and much more. Bigstereo has (funky fresh) bandanas for sale!

prince: golden globed.

LISTEN: PRINCE- Song of the Heart
(soundtrack tune, streaming at AOL music)
- buy it - site it -

For me, the best news coming out of the Golden Globe Awards is that PRINCE won for Best Original Song. Sure, Jennifer Hudson took home Best Supporting Actress, but let's face it...we saw that coming from a mile away. Seeing Prince nab an award after Mr. Timberlake tried to deliver a slap to the face was great. Seeing Timberlake present the award? Priceless.

This feud is no feud at all. Prince is a superior artist on so many levels-- producing, writing, and performing every aspect of his music. Just because Timberlake is topping the charts now, that doesn't mean that he will have any relevance to the history of pop music in the future. Like, I love you Justin, but you need to become your own man before you start talking big. I saw you tryin' to act cute on TV, and it wasn't cute. Just stop. Make some brilliant pop music under the direction of Timbaland. Don't act like you're ground-breaking.

Returning to Prince, "Song of the Heart" is an amazing (not to mention gosh-darn cute) song.