Songs I'm Feelin'

Did this once before. A lil different from Music Monday in that some of the songs aren't necessarily new and also may be a lil lighter ( ya, gayer, Nick, woooo). Shut up. Anyway, can this song be stopped, or is it officially one of the greatest songs in musical composition history:

Jason Derulo - Whatcha Say


The question is: Do I sweat it because of the rap or because it's a remix of an old song on the OC? I think we all know that answer (the latter). Much like The OC, Fox's 4-season young adult drama that brought us Seth, Summer, Ryan and Marissa, this song is good over and over and over again. Ummm whattchaaa sayyyyy.....

Lloyd Banks - Best Kept Secret


OK, Banks. Bringing it finally with some old school flow and a chronic beat. I love Lloyd Banks. His first CD was one of my favorite albums of all time. Seriously, I played that thing as much as any other. Love puns and metaphors and the Punch Like King brings em always.

Wycleaf Jean - Streets Pronounce Me Dead
Wycleaf is like Diddy to me. Ya, he's a little corny from time to time, but he gives me bangers than I wanna bump when I'm partying. Remix this with a big beat and it would be fiyahh in the clubs. Ladddiiiess...


Green Day - 21 Guns
Wait, wait, it's possible to NOT sing this song all day after you hear it?? Cause I've never been able to. Like it or not, and I don't really, Green Day is still ill. They've been bringing it for years. Plus anytime a rock band goes up an octave in a chorus (One, twenty-one guns) it's a recipe for a hit, just like the midget voice, screaming Latin gibberish and more recently, the auto-tune. Fall Out Boy does the Octave Up more than anyone. Probably why they're crispy.



Party on brosssss.

--Nick

Can't Stop Ma$e

(Friend and sometimes blogger Anthony wrote this piece. Consider him our rap correspondent.)

Em - Ay - Dolla Sign - E.

For those of you who don't appreciate the fine art of phonetic spelling, I just spelled out one of the most unlikely cultural icons of our generation - Ma$e.

And for those who don't know, I'm a huge Ma$e fan. I love the guy. Loved him ever since he blew up with Diddy in the late '90's and loved him for his whole story.

I legit got giddy when Ma$e came back last time with the timeless banger, "Welcome Back."

If you look at the scope of what this guy has done, I'm really not alone. I would argue people might even like Ma$e more than Diddy. Anytime you're part of the Bad Boy Family, you have a place in people's hearts. But, the truth is, Ma$e just has that place more than most people.

Truth be told, he only has three albums under his belt. His second album, "Double Up," wasn't received as well as his classic first one, "Harlem World." He doesn't even have nearly the same amount of hits or appearances as many other rap icons, but Ma$e's legacy is much more about his story.

After he killed it on the "No Way Out" CD as well as on "Life After Death," including chronic guest appearances on the hits "Been Around the World" and "Mo Money, Mo Problems," Ma$e released his first album, the aforementioned "Harlem World."

Not even a joke - Ma$e went 4x Platinum. Say that out loud to yourself. Ma$e is a four times platinum rap artist. The guy wasn't even really a product of his environment - his emcee skills are good and he's always been unreal to listen to. You're tellin' me that you can't still bump "What You Want," "Feel So Good" or my personal favorite, "Lookin' at Me"? That album is a straight classic.

After "Double Up," Ma$e realized he'd been living too much of the high life and decided to retire and become a minister. Mason Betha was no longer going to grace the mic as the guilt of partying had started to weigh on him. (To be fair, I'm going through the same period of self-doubt right now. Did pass my liver tests, though, biatttttchhhhh).

So much to my dismay and that of his other superfans, Ma$e fell off the rap planet before hopping back in the rocket and showing up with his new CD, "Welcome Back." I'm big on record sales and, well, Ma$e sells. His two albums post-"Harlem World" have been certified Gold by the RIAA (totaling 5 million for his career - an incredible number considering he was just supposed to be Diddy's sidekick. This wouldn't be that different than finding out Murphy Lee or Obie Trice had sold 5 million albums.)

"Welcome Back" gave us the hit title track along with "Breathe, Stretch, Shake" which still blows clubs out when it comes on. After the "Welcome Back" stage, Ma$e was in all sorts of rumors involving G-Unit but apparently Diddy didn't want to relinquish his superstar and the negotiations frustrated Ma$e to the point of going back into seclusion. Ma$e even called his time with G-Unit a mistake as he didn't believe it sent the right message. Also, 50 Cent said it sucked because he was the second-best slow-flow rapper in the group and it made him realize even more how bad he actually was. OK, I made that part up. But it's probably true.

You get what you pay for with Ma$e. He's gonna give you the lispy, slow flow with a lot of quick rhymes and some crispy punchlines. Many people argue Ma$e inspired some of the fire rappers out today including Fabolous, who uses a similar style of delivery. You're tellin' me people would be disappointed to have Ma$e as their college graduation speaker? Followed by a quick little concert? You're kidding. Nick and I used to joke the greatest moment of our lives would have been if our speaker got cancelled and Ma$e showed up to wax lyrical.

Anyway, the long and the short of it is Ma$e is back -- again. He squashed his beef with Cam'ron and recorded a new single (seen here on Music Monday - good looks by DJ Perk). He supposedly has another album in the works. And since 2009 is the year of the comeback (and the summer of The Kid), Ma$e is looking to make a splash. Apparently, Ma$e was inspired by the death of Michael Jackson (a similar, but probably less famous artist) and didn't want to keep his greatness to himself anymore. It Feels So Good.

No one knows why Ma$e is so revered or so interesting to people. But the truth is, I would read a Ma$e book in a second. I mean, from partying with Biggie and Puff to changing his lifestyle to become a preacher to coming back and rolling with the ever-turbulent G-Unit crew? This is good, readable material.

Anyway, get ready for rap to make a solid run this summer. In the next few months, we're looking at a new Fabolous CD, a new Lil' Wayne CD, Jay-Z's new one and possibly a new one from Ma$e.

I honestly might be the most excited for Ma$e.

(Late) Thursday Throwback: Cassettes

(Every Thursday WKFTB will bring you a throwback, something that reminds us of our late-80s-early-90s childhood. Couldn't post yesterday, but I couldn't leave it out. Today's edition: Cassettes).

It's only fitting that the day after the passing of a music legend, we bring you one of the first ways peeps my age listened to tunes: cassette tapes. Everyone remembers their first batch of these. I believe my first cassette was actually Michael Jackson, which is what prompted this post. It was MJ's Bad, which I late had on CD of course (first CD, btw, Boyz II Men.)

Cassettes were first used for dictation and other stuffy endeavors before becoming the music recording tools we came to know them. Then they somehow became known as "tapes." Remember the Home Alone craze where everyone had secret recorders and stuff? Plus those little carry microphone kits where you could record your own music/voice/etc.? All of a sudden you saw a whole lot more of these blank suckers around:

Pretty sure they had the shortest lifespan too. The awkward time between 8-tracks and CDs was relatively short. Hell, people like my dad still clung to old record players claiming the "sound was the best quality." Maybe. The awful screech noise when you had to rewind or fast forward a tape was unbearable. Picture that guessing game if you wanted to skip around tracks. Nah, bro, you're listening to the whole album.

And, oh man, if you ever got the cassette jammed in the radio, or if you came back and saw your dog got it or something, and came back to this:

Ruined. Thing was toast forever. Sure, you could try and manually finger loop that stuff back in, but it was the worst task.

Other sweet cassettes I remember having: the Wayne's World soundtrack and Green Day's Dookie.

Anyone remember their first tape?

Song of the 90s?

OK, so the Blogfathers and bunch of EB and Boston people were out a few weeks ago and we started a little mucked debate, namely what was the biggest song of the '90s? What song that we all love can you throw on and everyone will love, even today, at this very moment?

Well weirdly enough we had settled on two Biggie songs. Most everyone said it was BIG - Juicy. Tough to argue:



But I had my own camp. You see to me it doesn't get any bigger or better than Mo Money Mo Problems with Puffy, Biggie and Ma$e. I'm saying there's zero chance this song comes on and everyone isn't pumped. Even more so than Juicy because it's more upbeat. Woooo:



PS. How awesome is the dancing in that video? Love it. That epitomizes the Bad Boy Era. The dancing is whack and over the top, but they make it work somehow. Also, how big is Tiger Woods? Guy was being mimicked back then.

Any thoughts on this? Any other nominees? And don't say Gangsta's Paradise.

What I'm feeling...

Hmmm...since I already stole his tribute today, should I also impede on Jake's Music Monday?? Nahhhh..but I been meaning to post some songs I've been feeling lately. Here are a few random ones:

When I'm chillin/cruising:


When I feel like dancing: (the most simple video of all time??)


When I'm feeling punky:


When I feel like partying: (My name is...Willllliammmmmss, so nice to meet you)


For the hell of it:


--Nick

New Music Monday

Here are a couple of new beats for ya....

Katt Deluna ft. Lil Wayne "Unstoppable"
I'm still up in the air on this one...is it fire?


Busta Rhymes feat. Young Jeezy and Jadakiss "Conglomerate"
I'm with anything that Jeezy is on......is Busta played out yet though?


Lloyd Banks "Don't Come Around"
The PLK (Punch Line Kid) is back...lyrically he murders, he has a bunch of newer shit out, go youtube it.


50 Cent "Play this on the Radio"
Put this on here because he goes at Lil Wayne a little bit....song is aiggght though.


Ya Boy Ft. E-40, Kurupt, & Glasses Malone "Superstars"
Feeling this one, Glasses Malone and Kurupt are fire.


Stat Quo Ft. Bobby Creekwater & Kanye West "Say You Will (Remix)"
I've always been on Stat Quo, I think he has some skills. Had to throw it up here just for that....


- JPerk