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Tag: Timbaland

  • Janet Jackson’s "Discipline": FAIL!!!!

    http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003813980

    At the beginning of the year, Janet Jackson’s “Discipline” was touted as one of 2008’s most anticipated releases. It was her first album for Island Def Jam after two consecutive albums on Virgin had met with dwindling sales in light of the infamous Super Bowl incident with Justin Timberlake. First single “Feedback” was widely blogged about, MTV lifted it’s ridiculous four-year ban on Jackson, and it seemed like the album was capable of restoring Janet to the heights she enjoyed as one of the biggest selling female artists of the Eighties and Nineties.

    So, um…what happened?

    Despite “Discipline”‘s #1 debut on the album charts, it quickly sank. Scanning close to 200,000 units in its first frame, it’s barely doubled that in the 3 1/2 months since. “Feedback” didn’t catch on at radio, despite a radio-baiting Timbaland remix featuring Ciara. None of the follow-up singles caught fire, either, as “Luv” met with a middling response at urban radio and its pop counterpart, “Rock With U” bombed. To add insult to injury, Janet’s found herself outsold by contemporaries like Madonna (ironically teaming up with Timberlake) and Mariah Carey, not to mention the reissue of the 25 year old “Thriller” album, which has scanned nearly 200,000 more copies than “Discipline” in roughly the same amount of time, with significantly less promotion.

    Janet has resorted to the age-old artist trick of taking her label to task for what she calls inadequate promotion of the album, and has indicated that Island Def Jam is more or less pulling the plug on “Discipline”. Hell, if I was L.A. Reid, I’d probably do the same thing. I honestly don’t think the album’s relative lack of success has anything to do with the label’s efforts. They shot two videos, put Janet on just about every TV show they could think of, made nice with MTV and basically gave “Discipline” every chance to succeed.

    At least some of the blame has to go with Janet herself. “Discipline”, while not an awful album by any means, isn’t the stylistic equal of Janet’s most successful work. “Control”, “Rhythm Nation”, “janet.” And “The Velvet Rope” were fairly ballsy works, even if they trafficked in the mainstream pop/R&B realm. Janet had her finger on the pulse of what worked at radio while still maintaining some semblance of artistic credibility. Her last two albums have reeked of flop sweat, from the duets with Nelly to the alignment with producers-of-the-moment on “Discipline”. It sounds like Janet chasing trends as opposed to setting them, something that is quite disappointing in light of these comments Janet made shortly before the release of “The Velvet Rope” in 1997.

    “The applause will die. It happens to every single person in this business…It’s okay. I’d rather for people not know what I am, what I have, or who I am and to accept me for me”.

    So, the question then becomes, can Janet get her groove back? While the days of Janet Jackson, world-class megastar are probably over, I don’t see why Janet can’t continue to put out Gold, if not Platinum albums (and “Discipline”should have no problem crossing the half-million mark once Janet goes on tour). Step one would probably be to go back to Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. The former Time members may not be the producers of the moment anymore, but they know Janet best. They bring out the artist in her. Think of the abomination that was “20 Y.O.” and remember that the album’s two best tracks, “Daybreak” and “Enjoy”, were Jam/Lewis tracks (with no Jermaine Dupri input). Next? How about dropping the nymphomaniac image? A sexual Janet was a breath of fresh air in 1993, interesting in 1997, boring in 2001, desperate in 2004, and in 2008, everyone is over that shit. Don’t be a one-trick pony. Madonna didn’t make “Erotica” for ten years, you don’t need to sing about your titties and vajayjay on every damn record. The reason folks liked those early Janet records so much is because they were relatable and autobiographical. A concept album about being a 42-year old woman in a contented relationship, dealing with career issues and wanting to start a family (while also contending with a pre-existing family of nuts?), now that’s the kind of album I wouldn’t mind hearing from Janet. As Prince once said “act your age, not your shoe size”. Not to say she should button herself up to the neck, but give the coochie a break, girl. Damn.

    The final thing to do would be to accept the fact that your star has dimmed somewhat and stop blaming people for things. Yeah, what MTV did to you was fucked up (and racist), but it was your idea to expose your breast in the first place. If she’d just fessed up initially and said “Hey, this was a publicity stunt that went awry”, people would have forgiven you a lot more quickly. It was your decision, you suffer the consequences. Same goes here. She strayed away from her artistic template and sold out with “Discipline”. Unfortunately, as she’s learned, selling out doesn’t always equal cashing in, and this is why the former Princess of Pop finds herself in the situation she’s in now.

    Hmmm…she also might wanna think about putting out a no-holds-barred autobiography. Now that’s some shit I would read cover-to-cover!!

  • What Kind Of Fu**ery Is This? Best Of Music 2007

    I hate putting these lists together. Ok, I lied. I love doing it. But it’s so hard. Putting all of the songs and albums together that I heard in 2007 into one conclusive list is tough. There are even things that came out in 2007 that I know are good, but that I haven’t even listened to enough to make a solid decision on.

    Vital Idol

    But let’s start with the American Idol stuff. I guarantee that I’m the only one thinks about Idol albums on “best of” lists like this. In 2007, a bunch of Idol albums came out with the best being Elliot Yamin’s self titled debut. Carrie Underwood followed up her big hitter rookie album with another strong album titled Carnival Ride. I’m certain more than one song on the album is about Tony Romo. Kelly Clarkson argued with Clive and released an album that’s emotional and all her own, but yikes, does that mean I have to listen to her downpour of depression? Even Katharine McPhee dropped an album that was actually decent. It bricked (and caused her to get dropped from her record deal), but it was much better than it had any right to be. In late 2006 (but they count here for me for being so late in the year), Fantasia and Taylor Hicks put out good albums, though both didn’t sell. And Hicks’ debut got him dropped from his deal. So much for the idea that all Idol winners are stars. Also, Ruben Studdard’s third album dropped and it was a mess and a half. Not surprisingly he was also dropped from his deal as well. There were others that I didn’t get a chance to listen to like Kellie Pickler and Bucky (that dude should just drop his last name).

    The two albums that dropped late in the year were from Season 6 winner Jordin Sparks and runner up Blake Lewis. While Lewis is going to get shredded because he doesn’t have a great singing voice, his album is the better of the two. It’s creative and in a style you’d expect from him. Sparks’ isn’t creative, and that’s the downfall. She’s at a weird age in which she’s too old to be Hannah Montana and too young to be a sexy songstress. I’d expect much better from her in the years to come. As for Blake, he’s probably not going to last long in this game, but he gets an E for effort. At least Break Anotha was hot.

    One Shot

    I still haven’t been able to give enough time to Lupe Fiasco’s second album, The Cool. I love the single, but in order to put it on a list like this, I have to give it more than just the random listen that I did. I apologize to Lupe. Next time, release your album a little earlier bruh.

    Big Ups

    There are a bunch of albums that I really liked, but didn’t love, or simply haven’t listened to enough to know if I love or not. Unless it’s something I know I’ll love immediately, music and me aren’t necessarily always love at first sight. Joni Mitchell’s Shine is impressive considering I wasn’t raised on Mitchell and thus haven’t heard a lot of her classic work. But when two of my closest friends both told me to give it a shot, I did. And when one of them decided to send me all the songs in e-mail, I really couldn’t say no. To say I was impressed is an understatement. I was also impressed with Bruce Springsteen’s Magic. It’s really the first album of his that I’ve given a hard listen to since The Rising. The single Radio Nowhere was genius. Chrisette Michele is an artist that didn’t get much love, and one can understand why. It’s not a pop album at all. Her I Am is an album that I had to listen to more than once in order to get it, and I don’t even think I’ve fully gotten it yet. It’s very much an R&B/soul/jazz clash that’s void of bubble gum. Joss Stone’s Introducing … is a fun album that takes advantage of her voice and gives her good material to work with. She does good stuff with not only Common, but Lauryn Hill, and no one did anything with Lauryn Hill except for her own ego.

    Maroon 5’s It Won’t Be Soon Before Long came strong out of the blocks with the funky Makes Me Wonder and stayed strong throughout. Talib Kweli and Common also hit with albums this year. Kweli’s Eardrum was consistent throughout and for rap fans, is right up there with the best hip hop releases of the year. But I thought there was definitely something missing. It might just be Kweli. I love his rhymes, but he lacks charisma, and that’s why I think I’d rather listen to a lesser rapper like Kanye, but also one who makes complete songs, even though toe to toe, he can’t flow with Kweli. Common’s Finding Forever wasn’t as good as Be, but it found many spins in my iPod. Spins? To me, The People was one of the bangers of the year. Timbaland took the “featuring …” to another level with Shock Value. It was chock full of radio ear candy. One of the things I love about Timbaland is that he simply enjoys getting people to go crazy in the clubs, but he is not afraid of experimenting with different types of artists. He’s not going to go completely left, but he’ll rock with One Republic and The Hives and then on the same album throw a bone to his old buddy Magoo. He still can’t rap though.

    Ne-Yo and Rihanna converged with Hate That I Love You and at that point, I pretty much considered them one and the same. I found Ne-Yo’s Because Of You superior to his first album. Maybe it was the title track that I loved so much. But I just found more reasons to listen all the way through. Rihanna’s Good Girl Gone Bad was the one album that you could’ve thrown on at a party and not had to worry about changing the music for an hour. She had the biggest single in the world and seemingly grew up right before our eyes. Have you seen the video to Hate That I Love You? If not, go now. You can always come back here. I won’t mind.

     

    One Love

    The list of albums that I loved is much shorter. Though Alicia Keys hasn’t yet made that one near perfect album, she came closer to that goal with As I Am. It’s a much stronger album from a song writing perspective and as with any Alicia Keys song, you know you’ll get your goodie bag of awesome love songs. Like You’ll Never See Me Again was a brilliant second single. Jay-Z’s American Gangster and Kanye West’s Graduation were the two hip hop albums that I played most this year. With Jay-Z releases, I usually get a copy at least a week and a half before it comes out because someone had a bootleg and burns me one. Don’t worry y’all, I then go buy a copy when it’s finally released. With this one, I didn’t hear it until it dropped. I was slightly worried that it would be rushed, but after it was all said and done, it’s one of the best albums of his career. It’s on the soulful tip like The Blueprint, but is even more retro. And it also features the party jam of the year, Roc Boys (And The Winner Is …). We in the house, house, house. West’s Graduation came out of the gate with two singles that weren’t the type of radio song that you were used to. There was no Golddigger to be found. But he sampled Daft Punk and found his black Kate Moss. Stronger might’ve been my single of the year if I had a vote.

    The release date on Elliot Yamin’s debut album wasn’t circled on everyone’s calendar. But when Wait For You dropped, I knew I’d love probably everything on this album. He waits for his girl in Wait For You, sees warning signs in their relationship in Train Wreck, and then kicks her to the curb and wants to date her friend in Movin’ On. But he makes it all better with the iTunes only In Love With You Forever. Dreamgirls was probably my second favorite movie of 2006 (why Rocky Balboa of course) and even if the acting sucked (which it didn’t, and Eddie Murphy was robbed), I would’ve still loved it because of the awesome soundtrack. Even though technically the soundtrack was released in late 2006, I listened to it more than any other album in the first half of 2007. From Jennifer Hudson’s roaring rendition of Jennifer Holiday’s And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going to the bad a** Steppin’ To The Bad Side, it’s the shortest hour car ride ever. And I’ve probably listened to it no less than 35 times.

    My favorite album of the year isn’t a surprise. It’s not an original choice, but oh well. Amy Winehouse may be locked up at a looney bin with Britney Spears pretty soon, but at least someone in the looney bin will be able to sing. Ok, that was mean. I enjoyed Brit’s Blackout more than I probably should’ve and still think Break The Ice should be sent to the clubs immediately. Winehouse and producers Mark Ronson and Salaam Remi created soul music that simply isn’t created these days unless your name is Anthony Hamilton. Though Rehab was the hot single, Love Is A Losing Game and Tears Dry On Their Own are the real head turners. Back To Black is one of the few anythings I gave 5 stars to this year.

    Favorite Song Of The Year

    It’s true that I live in a whole different house
    But that doesn’t mean I won’t come around
    I’m still best friends with your mom have no doubt
    We’ll still make time to hang out
    I promise I won’t let you down

    I will admit to liking things that others won’t even dare listen to. One of my favorite songs of the year was the Carrie Underwood song I’ll Stand By You, which was only found on iTunes I believe. My favorite sing isn’t earth shattering and it’s not going to hit the charts anytime soon, but it was the most meaningful to me. Not simply Babyface anymore, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds penned a song that could’ve been written for me. Not Going Nowhere is a love letter to his son about why he and his ex-wife Tracy Edmonds (Edmonds-Murphy?) decided to be best friends. It really touched home with me because my ex-wife and I made a promise to each other that we would put away any hard feelings we have for each other and work to keep our family together. Our two sons are too important for pettiness and so far, we’ve done that. I live 2 minutes away from my boys, have them whenever I want, and life isn’t really all that different. The boys will have to deal with us having new significant others (and they’ve really done great in that area), but having a family with divorced parents is much better than having a divorced family. Thanks ‘Face.

    I know you feel a little scared
    I know you think it’s not fair
    And you think it’s all your fault
    But it’s not I swear
    If it wasn’t for you things could never be so cool
    So I thank you
    For being the one in our life
    That showed both of us we did something right

    (forgive the ads in the beginning)


  • VH-1 Hip Hop Honors ‘07

    This year, VH-1 gives honors to Snoop Dogg, Missy Elliot, and A Tribe Called Quest. Two of those things is not like the other. I guess in order to get ATCQ honored, we have to sit through Snoop and Missy. Oh well, it’s worth it. Tracy Morgan is hosting. I wonder if he’ll dress up like Hustle Man, like when he was on Martin.

    • Does KRS-One really go by KRS-One Tha Teacha now?
    • I wonder is Missy Elliot is going to show up in that rubber balloon suit tonight? I can’t stand the rain, rain, rain.
    • Wait, they’re honoring Whodini and New Jack swing too? Does that mean we get some Teddy Riley up in here?
    • Isn’t Kerry Washington supposed to be blind? Wait, that’s just in Fantastic Four.
    • Missy says that she met Timbaland through Magoo. Can anyone throw Magoo a bone these days? Where is that dude?
    • At least we know Tweet is still alive.
    • Timbo decided to bring the guns to the gun show.
    • Eve and her hair decide to make an appearance. Wait, that’s probably not her hair.
    • Nelly Furtado and her ass decide to make an appearance.
    • Ciara and her Adam’s apple decide to make an appearance.
    • Is Diddy supposed to pronounce the H in homage?
    • Look at Waterbed Hev dancing in shorts.
    • I feel like a kid again listening to Guy.
    • Andre Harrell describes New Jack Swing as a merging of hip hop, R&B, and funk.
    • I wish I could be as cool as Doug E. Fresh.
    • Someone give T-Pain his synthesizer back. He needs it. He’s making me not want HER.
    • If Kool Moe Dee was this big when he rapped back in his day, they’d have called him Heavy Dee.
    • Ne-Yo is doing Remember The Time, which was produced by Teddy Riley and is new jack swing, but Eddie and Iman and her bird were nowhere to be found.
    • All I wanna do is zoom a zoom zoom zoom and a boom boom, just shake your rump. That might be the greatest lyric of all time.
    • Wait, is that Chauncey, who Kanye said was from Blackstreet and was as black as the street was? And if so, where’s Dave Hollister when you need him?
    • LL is out to talk about Wild Style and you know Timbo is in the back like, “My arms are bigger, and I can fit two microphones and a turntable on my arm.”
    • Rappers don’t age well, or at least you’re not used to seeing old men with shades on rockin’ the mic.
    • Well, except if you are KRS-One.
    • Grandmaster Caz just said, “Grandmaster Caz and Wild Style, greatest of all time.”
    • Who did Whodini piss off to have Nick Cannon, Nelly, and Don Chi Chi to represent them?
    • Pharrell seemed a little light in the ass to rap off Doggystyle compared to Ice T.
    • Common and Skateboard P actually did a great job with Scenario in setting up Busta Rhymes for his big spot, and the man just doesn’t have it anymore.
    • Tribe still has it. They need to put out an album immediately.