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Pop Rock Nation

Author: Money Mike

  • Single Life: Special Beyonce Edition: Single Ladies and If I Were a Boy

    For her upcoming third solo album, the lovely Beyonce Knowles has decided to grace us with two singles at once. “If I Were a Boy” and “Single Ladies” are the two opening tracks from her new, as yet untitled album, which is scheduled to hit stores in mid-November. The videos premiere later today, but until then, I’m sure you’re wondering what the songs sound like (if you haven’t heard them already). You can check them out for yourself on Beyonce’s website.

    “If I Were a Boy” is something of a departure for Beyonce. Before actually hearing the song, I was a little concerned that the theme and the song would rip off Ciara’s recent hit “Like a Boy”. While the two songs are thematically similar, Beyonce’s song is more mature from a lyrical and musical standpoint (it should go without saying that Beyonce is a much better singer than Ciara ever will be). I would have loved to hear Beyonce go for the full-on rock treatment and use live drums here, but the song’s still pretty impressive. On the other hand, “Single Ladies” starts off in the same let’s-go-to-the-club vibe as previous Beyonce/ singles like “Jumpin’ Jumpin’” and “Get Me Bodied”. As such, it’s significantly less enjoyable than “If I Were a Boy”. It’s not a bad song per se-again, the beauty of someone as vocally talented as Beyonce is that anything she records is going to at the very least be interesting. However, it’s certainly a letdown after “If I Were a Boy”. Let’s hope that her upcoming album contains more material like “If I Were a Boy” and less material like “Single Ladies”.

  • Infatueighties: #79: The Show

    For someone who considers themselves a serious hip-hop fan, there’s surprisingly little hip-hop on this Top 100 list. I think there’s maybe 8 rap songs on this list (now when I decide to do the Nineties list, that might be a different story). That said, the songs that did make it to this list are stone cold classics, and Doug E. Fresh and MC Ricky D.’s The Show certainly qualifies.

    For a song with essentially no chorus, there are tons of hooks here. The scratched “oh my God”s, the dinky keyboard (allegedly played by a very young Teddy Riley of Guy and BLACKstreet fame) playing the “Inspector Gadget” theme, “six minutes, Doug E. Fresh, you’re on”. The kids who turned this song into a classic didn’t seem to mind the lack of a hook. I can clearly remember sitting on the school bus in Southfield, Michigan, reciting this song word for word with 25 other kids. I betcha the kids today can’t do that with a Lil’ Wayne song! (said in crochety old man voice)

    While Slick Rick’s turned into a hip-hop legend (and was far more influential as an emcee than a lot of folks are willing to give him credit for), Doug E. Fresh has sort of turned into a hip-hop journeyman. He’s never released an album worthy of his talents, although a Greatest Hits album is looooooong overdue. He’s probably better known these days for his appearances on every VH-1 pop culture special known to man, as well as for being hip-hop’s only Scientologist (trying hard not to make a face here). Questionable religious practices aside, we’ll always have “The Show”, right?

  • The Sunday Seven 10/12/08: The Train To Happytown

    This was supposed to be the week where the whole guest columnist thing kicked off, but due to…uh, technical difficulties, let’s just say that ain’t happenin’. So you’re back to checking out my music collection this Sunday evening.

    It’s been a good musical week for me.I finally located a copy of Ryan Adams’ “Heartbreaker” at a Best Buy in Virginia, I snagged the new Metallica CD, I saw my buddy Mitch Hood play a kick-ass show, and I relived my teenage years by watching VH-1’s Hip Hop Honors, only minus the pimples and the awkwardness.

    For those of you new to the Sunday Seven, I place my iPod on shuffle and discuss the first seven songs that randomly pop up. I anticipate being able to do this for a while, as said iPod contains over 18,000 songs. However, again, I am entertaining offers for contributors, so if you think you have something interesting to say about your music collection, drop me a line. I’ll shoehorn you in as quickly as possible.

    OK, enough of me blabbing. Let’s put the machine on shuffle and see what comes up:

    Track 1    : I’m the Magnificent by Special Ed (from Youngest in Charge, 1989)

    Edward Archer, the rapper who went by the stage name Special Ed grew up mere blocks from me in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. When he hit with “I Got it Made” at the beginning of ’89, there was a definite sense of hometown pride. “Maginificent” is a remixed version of a song from his debut album. The video was directed by and features Malcolm Jamal Warner, who you probably know as “The Cosby Show”‘s Theo. Speaking of Cosby, Special Ed wound up appearing on several episodes of the sitcom as a rapper that Rudy snuck into a nightclub to see.

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