REVIEW: Believe Me by Lil Wayne

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFswqe0lhkI


I....don't know how to feel about this one. I mean, it's certainly....interesting, but...man, I get the feeling I really should like this song more than I do. Oddly enough, though, I don't hate it either. Yeah, we might wanna look pretty in depth in to this one.

First off, contrary to what the popular belief is, Lil Wayne and Drake both have talent and can really show their stuff when they put effort into their work. Often times, however, we get nothing but disappointing crap like Love Me and The Motto.It's a real shame, too, because I know they're so much better than that, and why they constantly decide that they want to throw their credibility out the window is beyond me.

In this instance, though, it's strange as they don't lean toward either side when it comes to the lyricism on this track. It's ok, but far too often does it switch sides from Lil Wayne and Drake bragging about their success and saying that they'll protect anybody who tries to mess with any member of their clique, and it becomes really distracting really fast.

Next up is the beat brought to us courtesy of Vinylz and Boy-1da. It's good, certainly not too boring, but it really feels like it's missing a lot of heft or weight to carry it through all the way. It's not so much weak as it is just...average.

In the end, this song is very polarizing. I can't say I really hate it at all, but I don't like it too much either. I'm giving it a 2.5 out of 5, and we'll see how Tha Carter V turns out.

REVIEW: Shell Shocked by Juicy J, Wiz Khalifa, & Ty Dolla $ign

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zss1EHSuT1A


Ok, this song isn't on Billboard at all, and that fact is astonishing because not only does it need to be, but it needs to debut in the top 10. I swear, this is a song that if you don't end up enjoying the hell out of it after checking it out once you're done reading this review, then I really have to question why.

It has become a trend, lately, where crappy rappers with crappy music making skills come together to make a theme song for a crappy movie, and to everyone's surprise, the song is phenomenal. It's like when they went to make the song, they each said "Look, guys, I know we suck at making music, but this movie is most likely gonna be complete s**t, so we really need to give it all we got for this song so that it can make money." We saw it happen last year with We Own It by 2 Chainz & Wiz Khalifa where Wiz was at the top of his game, yet surprisingly it was 2 Chainz, one of the worst rappers in the game right now, rise above and actually end up being the better on that track, and it's happening this year with the song we're discussing today, Shell Shocked.

The instrumentation on this is bombastic, energetic, flavorful, and really feel like a shot of a blue lightning bolt moving right through you in pure awesomeness. The synths can be a bit grating at times, but because of their sheer pulsating fire and passion, I'm definitely more than willing to let that slide.

The wordplay and string of rhymes on this are clever and outright amazing. Each rapper on this raps about how they've got the back of the person in question using several puns relating to TMNT which, as many times as they're used, never get old or stale in the slightest. Kill The Noise & Madsonik (two no names who will probably fade in to obscurity after this, which is a shame because they're both awesome) handle the chorus extremely well and deliver what is now easily my new favorite catchphrase ever. "Knock knock, you about to get shell shocked." I will be quoting that for generations to come. Wiz Khalifa manages to top his performance on We Own It and deliver even more awesome lines, Juicy J spits fire and delivers some awesome wordplay and rhymes of his own (and keep in mind, this is the guy who gave us Bandz A Make Her Dance), but by far the biggest surprise for me comes from Ty Dolla $ign. He only uses half of his infamous autotuned singing (which even that isn't that bad) and really shows what he's capable of when he's not working with terrible producer DJ Mustard.

Overall, this song is just flat out awesome, and I will hear no word to the contrary. It is with that that I give this song the highest of honors, and give it a rating of a 6 out of 5. This song breaks the awesome meter, and will probably wind up on my best songs of 2014 list even if it never charts.

Wow, three positive reviews in a row. I hope I can keep this...*sees Believe Me by Lil Wayne & Drake on the charts*...well. This should be interesting. See you next time, folks.

REVIEW: Fancy by Iggy Azalea

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-zpOMYRi0w



From looking at my 10 Worst Hit Songs Of 2013 List, you'd probably make the assumption that I despise brag rap. You'd actually be wrong. I despise brag rap when it's done incorrectly. In order for a brag rap to be properly executed, it has to have a beat that's strong and engaging without grating on the listener's nerves, clever wordplay, a string of good rhymes, and a lot of charisma from the artists on the song. If even one of those things is out of place, it could place the whole song in jeopardy of being terrible. Unfortunately, the brag raps from the past few years that got popular have been nothing but absolute garbage. Seriously, who can really say they genuinely enjoy songs like I'm On One by DJ Khaled, The Motto by Drake & Lil Wayne, Drank In My Cup by Kirko Bangz, Back In Time by Pitbull, or any limp song like them? This brings us to the song we'll be discussing: Fancy. How does it hold up?

Well, surprisingly well if you ask me. Why is it that I say that? Well, let's find out.

To start, there's the beat & Iggy and Charli themselves. A lot of people have compared this song to Rack City by Tyga, but that comparison's actually pretty unfair if you think about it. Both beats are incredibly simple, yes, but the beat to Fancy is more upfront with a lot of force and presence coupled with hi hats and gang vocals that really lend the song a lot to work with. The beat to Rack City, on the other hand, is dull, muddy, flat, and extremely lifeless to the point where not even the gang vocals help. Iggy Azalea and Charli XCX bring a lot of energy and flavor to Fancy whereas Tyga sounds like he's narcoleptic. Also, a lot have said that the beat isn't strong enough to hold up Charli's strong voice, but honestly I find this beat to be really flexible and able to conform to her strong voice, so it really works for me. So yeah, it's a check in those areas.

Next are the rhymes and the wordplay. Not really much to say here. They're really clever and well strung together. Iggy's been in the rap game for quite some time now and really commands the respect she deserves, and I think she really does a good job of it, so she has mine. There's one lyric, though, that everyone really takes issue with, and that's when Charli XCX says she's in the fast lane from LA to Tokyo, pointing out that the two are not connected. Well, duh, anyone with an understanding of basic geography would be able to figure that out. All she really means is that she's on her way to being well known worldwide. People are really overthinking that line.

Overall, this song is amazing. The things that Iggy and Charli list might not be fancy, but hey, what're ya gonna do? Not a great song, but definitely one that I do think is really good. I give this a 4 out of 5, and I really hope to hear more from both Iggy and Charli in the future.

REVIEW: Boom Clap by Charli XCX

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOPMlIIg_38&feature=kp


I'm not a big movie person, and I haven't seen The Fault In Our Stars, but from what I've heard and seen, it looks pretty good and worth checking out. That said, the one thing I feared was that the lead single of the soundtrack to this movie would be a schmaltzy, cheesy, boring love song that wouldn't be all that good. Did that happen? Well, kind of. Here's what I mean by that, it's got cheesy elements, but it's actually very bombastic and has a good amount of energy behind it. And who's the mastermind that brought us such an amazing hit? Why, it's nothing more than Charli XCX.

Now, Charli XCX is what I like to call "Dev if she was any good." The reason I say this is because the two songs that Dev was tied to that got popular (Like A G6 by Far East Movement & Backseat by New Boyz) absolutely sucked. She was easily the best part of each song, but given how monotone and flat she was, I knew she couldn't carry a song on her own, and that was affirmed when In The Dark came out in 2011. The two songs Charli XCX has been featured on (I Love It by Icona Pop & Fancy by Iggy Azalea), on the other hand, are arguably extremely awesome. She has a lot of flavor and energy behind her voice (even if they are covered in effects and autotune) and really knows how to bring a lot to a song in order to liven it up. One question, however, still remained. Could she carry a song on her own? Well, in the case of this song, I'd say she did remarkably well.

Charli really knows how to make a song really upbeat while keeping the initial emotion in tact, and it shows here. She tones it down for the verses yet gives the chorus her all, and that really works in her favor. The lyrics are really sweet in the way that she describes this guy without being battered down with very many (if any at all) cliches, and as mentioned before, the production is lively and energetic while keeping the lovey-dovey mood in tact.

I do have one major complaint, however, and that would be that the song seems to be pretty unfinished. Seriously, the chorus is admittedly amazingly catchy, but it takes up the majority of the song. The verses are incredibly short and really don't give Charli the ability to show off how good her lyricism can really be, and I really wanted to see more than we got.

While it does knock the song down a few pegs, it's still a minor hindrance and doesn't prevent me from enjoying the song as much as I do. I give the song a 3.5 out of 5, and I really hope we hear more from Charli XCX in the future.

REVIEW: Rude by MAGIC!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIh2xe4jnpk


Why is this song in the top 10? Why is this song in the top 5? WHY IS THIS SONG SITTING AT #2?!?!?!? Seriously, if there's one song that really doesn't deserve the success it's attained, it's this one. Sure, there are some songs that it's awesome that they get the recognition they get despite not being deserving of it, but this definitely isn't one of them.

Let's start with the instrumentation. If there was ever a song that was the definition of cod reggae, this was it. The production on this is just so slow and boring, and it really doesn't mix well with the tone of the lyrics and the emotion conveyed in lead singer Nasri Atweh's vocals.

Speaking of the vocals, why are they so God awful and whiny? Seriously, do I even need to explain how much this guy sounds like a total crybaby?

Finally, there's the lyrics, and my God I thought they'd be the saving grace of the song, but nope. They just keep reminding me of how awful the song is. It starts off innocent enough with a guy ready to go ask his girlfriend's father for his blessing so they can get married. The song takes a turn for the worst, however, when after the father gives a simple "no," Nasri acts as though the girl's father just stole his wallet and blew all his money on useless junk. Okay, maybe that's exaggerating a bit, but from what we know, the father didn't make any inflammatory remarks of any sort nor did he do anything to Nasri and/or cause him complete torment when he was in the relationship with the girl. The problem here is pacing. No detail as to why Nasri thinks the father is "being so rude," and it just escalates way too quickly. Not only that, but to add insult to injury, Nasri says he's just gonna marry the girl anyway. Dude, if you were gonna marry her anyway, why did you bother asking for her father's blessing? Why are you so disrespectful of his wishes? Seriously, I don't think I've viewed someone as so much of a dick in these relationship songs.

I'll give Atweh some credit for actually being pretty charismatic in this song, which is what bumps it up to a 1 out of 5, but even still, this song's success was unwarranted and unneeded, and I won't be surprises or disappointed if they never have another hit.