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  • It’s Wayne’s World, We’re Just Living In It


    So how ’bout this, folks?

    Lil’ Wayne’s “Tha Carter III” LP, which was released this past Tuesday, sold nearly half a million copies in it’s first day of sales. It’s on pace to sell 850-950,000 copies in it’s first week, which would make it the biggest first week sales of 2008, the biggest first week sales for an album in almost a year (since Kanye West’s “Graduation” last September), and would place it 4th on the list of biggest hip-hop first weeks, behind the aforementioned Kanye West album and the second and third Eminem albums. It would also immediately make it the 4th biggest selling album of 2008 to date, behind Jack Johnson, Mariah Carey and Alicia Keys.

    So I ask you, reading public, what is it about Lil’ Wayne that makes him so special. ‘Cause, I’ll be real here. This guy’s been around for a decade and some change and has made not one single song that’s moved me. While I don’t mind his guest appearances on others’ records-most of the time (he ruined the remix of Usher’s “Love in This Club”, he’s always outshined by whatever artist he appears with. I also raise an eyebrow at his sudden transformation to “Best Rapper Alive”, simply because a) as long as Rakim, KRS-ONE, Big Daddy Kane, Slick Rick, Jay-Z, Nas, Ghostface Killah, Common, Talib Kweli and a host of others are still alive, Weezy shouldn’t be mentioned within 500 feet of that particular conversation, and b) if anyone remembers how Wayne sounded back in the early days of Cash Money, it’s hard to imagine that he got as good as he is (which is still not mind-blowing), without help from someone else (and several folks have gone on record saying they’ve ghostwritten for Wayne).

    All of this to say-why do *you* think Lil’ Wayne is so popular?

  • Have Your Cake & Listen To It Too

    So me and fellow MHW staffer Paul have had a friendly debate about Flobots that has lasted for about a week. At one point, he compared the ‘Bots to Cake, and that’s when my “oh no he diiiint” antenna went up. I kid slightly, of course, but I don’t really see a comparison between the two, specifically seeing as how Cake has been one of my favorite bands for the past decade or so and after one listen of Flobots’ “Handlebars” I wish to never hear that band again.

    Anyhow, those of you familiar with Cake probably think of them as a joke band, or a novelty band. There’s certainly something about John McCrea’s deadpan, almost-spoken lyrics and the periodic trumpet solos that lends creedence to that. However, the band’s had a much longer string of hits than any “novelty” act can boast, including “The Distance”, “No Phone”, “Never There” and the awesome “Short Skirt/Long Jacket”. Furthermore, the band’s actually an extremely tight instrumental unit, rocking efficiently and intelligently. And while some of their music is played for laughs, it’s with a dry and sarcastic humor far beyond anything the Flobots could potentially come up with. OK, Paul, I’ll stop now 🙂

    I actually got to see Cake live at a radio station gig a couple weeks ago (where they performed on the same bill as Cracker…that’s a joke within itself). Although McCrea’s asides proved that he’s not wrapped too tight, they put on a tight show. I’m definitely looking forward to their new album, scheduled for release later this year. Meanwhile, I leave you with the uproarious video for “Short Skirt/Long Jacket”…

    …Well, I was going to…but, again, I can’t find a version that’s embeddable. So, even better, here’s the video for their awesome cover of “I Will Survive”. Enjoy.

  • NKOTB’s "Summertime": Haven’t We Seen This Video Before?

    So GG and I have done enough trying to explain why two men in their thirties are New Kids on the Block fans (well, he’s straight…at least I can explain away my excuse). The video for “Summertime” debuted on VH-1 Sunday and I have to say…as much as I like the song (and think it was a stroke of genius on the part of whoever picked it as a single), the video is kind of meh.

    I don’t know if it’s the fact that Jonathan Knight looks quite uncomfortable surrounded by all those women or the fact that Joey McIntyre needs to do just a wee bit more work on the 6-pack. I mean, it’s fine for what it is, but with the song’s title and nostalgic vibe, I think they could have done better.

    I also can’t help but think that I’ve seen portions of this video in other NKOTB videos…although that may have been the intention. To wit…

    Now here’s the New Kids’ most recent video prior to “Summertime”, 1994’s “Never Let You Go”

    (note, similar “party” scenes)

    Now, here’s the video for 1990’s “Games”

    (again with the party scenes…and check the Marky Mark cameo)