Friday, December 19th, 2008
9 inches of snow, apparently. That, is a shame. I have an exam this evening, but in the mean time here is some fantastic music:
Duffy feat. Wale – Warwick Avenue [mp3]
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The guitar comes in, a little vinyl cracke in the background, it swooshes into the beat and Wale rhymes over a lush beat and some thick strings. In his typical style of wordplay and wrapping each line into the next, he’s frustrated but still clever as he raps “You make me beat around the bush/Just to beat around your bush.” Duffy, though her appearance in her own track is limited (this is a remix, mind you), has a gorgeous voice. In the last 30 seconds of the song she really gets to shine, pained voice and all.
Colin Munroe – Piano Lessons [mp3]
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A pleasant piano plinking in the background, Munroe’s vocals in this track are fascinating – they get shifted up and down to pleasant intervals in the middle of a sentence, creating an oddly disjointed experience that comes together rather nicely. Joell Ortiz’s verse is pretty crisp, about a girl he’s crushing on who is learning to play piano.
Colin Munroe feat. Wale – Will I Stay [mp3]
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I’m not sure how I know the background beat already, but it’s reminiscent of some fabulous 70′s ish. His voice is so smooth. Dropping almost every 4th beat during the verse, the anticipation leading up to the chorus is great, and right after the first chorus Wale chimes in. He knows exactly when to ride over the beat and when to let it drop. The chorus itself is great, his “woah”s are the perfect crossover into power-pop anthem territory. Production note: the processed falsettos he throws into his songs is so funky, I’m feeling it.
And because the weather is just so perfect, it’s time to revive my favorite rap from a commercial ever. “Gifted like christmas ’cause I love to (w)rap” is a fantastic line and it’s telling that Common can make a better commercial than most rappers can do in a whole album.