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Pop Rock Nation

Tag: Young Jeezy

  • Jay-Z Runs San Jose

    I attended the Jay-Z concert at the HP Pavilion on March 24th in San Jose and though it was a bit rough early on, I’d have to give the show a solid thumbs up.

    Because I was coaching my sons’ little league baseball team earlier that evening, I figured that showing up late to the concert wasn’t going to be an issue. I didn’t need to see Trey Songz perform anyways. He performs for the ladies. If I wanted to see a sweaty dude take his shirt off, I’d watch UFC. Wait.

    I’d also heard that Young Jeezy was going to follow Trey and if I were to say that I was a huge Young Jeezy fan, I’d be lying to all of you. I couldn’t name one Jeezy song.

    Jay-Z Runs San Jose

    But I’m a big Jay-Z fan. I was there to see Jigga and it didn’t matter who else was going to be there.

    I got there in the middle of Trey Songz’s set and after he performed, there was a short intermission and we (I was with my cousin Tomiko and my friend Christal) went to get some beverages and to use the restroom. The bar was packed and it took forever to get served, but I wasn’t all that bothered. The less I saw of Young Jeezy, the better I would be.

    But then I heard a familiar sound from the bar. It was as the sound of Auto-tune dying. I hoped it was just the CD track of Jay-Z’s D.O.A. playing over the loud speakers, but I wasn’t too sure and peaked my head out towards the stage. It was Jay, and he was already flowing. We hurried back to our seats. Where was Young Jeezy?

    After only what seemed like a few minutes, but was probably closer to a half hour, Jay-Z handed the mic to Young Jeezy. Young Jeezy was Jay-Z’s half-time show. And that’s when I got on my Blackberry to pass the time.

    I haven’t been about to find any reason as to why Jeezy didn’t do his set before Jay. Maybe they didn’t think the Bay Area was feeling Jeezy and would’ve been antsy waiting for Jay? Was Jeezy late? Did he oversleep? Whatever it was, I wasn’t happy with the half-time act and couldn’t wait for Jay to get back on stage.

    When Jay came back on, he went through many hits and songs from his latest album The Blueprint 3, backed by his Roc Boys band. And after about another half hour, he finished Thank You and acted like the show was over. But then he decided to go into what he dubbed OT (overtime).

    OT was designed for the older Jay-Z fans. In fact, he mentioned that OT was going to be all older songs and for the newer fans who are now Jay-Z fans because of his latest album, they might’ve wanted to check out so they could beat traffic, unless they wanted to learn.

    OT was exactly what he described it would be. He performed verses from songs like Money Ain’t A Thing, Ain’t No *****, and even a less than popular Jay-Z song from his second album, Where I’m From, which is also the song Diddy jacked for Angels. After that, he was about to dip into one of my favorite Jay songs, Dead Presidents, but then he stopped and said it was going too far back.

    For most of the older tracks, he just did the memorable verses that the fans would know and would move on (to the next one). He ended the show with Encore before doing some interactive stuff with the fans, including the Roc Wave.

    Jay-Z is not what you’d call a standout live performer. But he’s as cool as they come and had the crowd in his hands. He even shouted out Bay Area favorite Too Short as a Too Short song played behind him.

    He didn’t have a Bay Area State Of Mind, but he didn’t need to. The crowd loved him.

  • Vote NO for Young Jeezy’s My President

    I hate writing articles that make me sound like I’m not a fan of hip-hop. Because I am. 20 years ago, I was one of those kids with a fresh blank tape, sitting in front of the radio on Friday and Saturday nights to tape the hip-hop shows that played on my local radio station. Hip-hop is as much-maybe even more of-a part of me as any other musical genre in existence.

    That said, I’m pretty disgusted with the state of current hip-hop. It’s too profane, too fixated on material items, and the emcees just aren’t talented. There’s no wit involved anymore, no love for wordplay. It’s just some bozo chanting idiotically over a beat, which is what some people think rap was from the get-go. Aside from a handful of artists pushing the genre forward (or keeping it afloat) like Kanye, The Roots, Ghostface, etc., I can take or leave most modern-day hip-hop.

    Which brings us to the travesty that is Young Jeezy’s “My President”. I’d managed to successfully avoid this song until inauguration day. I was flipping through channels and saw this video pop up on (of course) BET (amazing that Black Entertainment Television serves up the most degrading and insulting images of black Americans of any television network). First off, I have no time for Young Jeezy as a rapper. He sounds like a crackhead with emphysema. Secondly, what should be a celebratory (or at least pointedly political) song is ruined by the fact that Jeezy seems to have no worldview beyond his little box. “My president’s black/My Lambo’s blue”. Really? And you’re a fucking idiot. Not even a cameo from the usually fairly reliable Nas can save this song from severe hot messitude.

    See for yourself…

  • New Music In Stores & Online: 9/2/08: NKOTB, Young Jeezy & More!!

    Young Jeezy's "The Recession" hits stores today.

    Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend. The industry’s 4th quarter officially gets underway with a plethora (like that word?) of superstar releases to kick the month off. Here’s this week’s Hot List.

    Young Jeezy: “The Recession”-

    First off, Young Jeezy has two Platinum albums (three if you count his debut with Boyz N The Hood. This dude doesn’t have a proper website? Anyhow, I’ve made my disdain for “coke” rap pretty clear on this site, and they call this guy “The Snowman” for reasons that are not weather-related if you know what I mean. Not only do I find him morally repulsive, he’s also not particularly talented, with a voice slightly reminiscent of that of an old man on a respirator. However, folks seem to like the guy, he just scored a Top 10 hit with “Put On” (featuring a slumming Kanye West), and this album will most likely add to Jeezy’s stack of Platinum. What can ya do?

    New Kids on the Block: “The Block”-

    Theyyyyyy’re back! After a fourteen-year absence, Donnie, Danny, Jordan, Joe and Jon are back together and on record store shelves with their semi-self titled fifth studio album. Me and GG have already gone more in-depth with this album than any two people with penises should probably go, so you probably don’t need any more info regarding this record. However, in case you do, be aware that it would take a very special record to get me to add anything that features anything with Akon OR The Pussycat Dolls to my collection, so that should give you a reasonably good idea of my excitement for this album. For those of you serious music fans tsk-tsking, shut the hell up. I have Elvis Costello records too. Liking literate, well-constructed music and enjoying cheesy pop are not two mutually exclusive things.

    Donnie Klang: “Just a Rolling Stone”-

    This guy not having a proper website, I can understand. Having only watched about 1 1/2 episodes of Diddy’s “Making the Band 4”, I only know that Klang auditioned for the group that later became known as Day26. Somewhere along the line, Diddy separated him from the group and here we stand. Seems like Puff is trying to push Klang and Bad Boy’s answer to Justin Timberlake, and it’s hard to argue with “MTB4″‘s success, as both Day26 and girl group Danity Kane debuted at #1 on the charts with their albums. This one may be a sleeper. Although I think they should have changed the dude’s name first. Even saying the name “Donnie Klang” in my head makes me giggle a little.

    Brian Wilson: “That Lucky Old Sun”-

    Listening to some of the songs from this album on Brian Wilson’s site, it’s obvious that the guy still has the gift for melody (as well as some fantastic harmonies). After forty years and a great deal of mental issues, that’s pretty admirable. “Sun” is an autobiographical song cycle featuring frequent collaborator Van Dyke Parks. In addition to the typical pop tunes, there’s a spoken-word element mixed in. That makes me cringe a little bit, but the album has gotten some pretty good reviews, so it may all work out well after all.

    Terrence Howard: “Shine Through It”:

    Yep, Oscar winner Terrence Howard has followed in the footsteps of Bruce Willis and Scarlett Johansen and made a CD. While it certainly sounds interesting (it’s not the expected R&B or hip-hop derived record, instead sort of sounding like John Legend meets Esteban), I’m not exactly rushing to the record store to check it out. Chances are, if God gave you talent, it was probably only meant to be in one entertainment medium, but I guess the millions of actors-turned-musicians didn’t get the memo (or vice versa), huh?

    Rounding up all the rest: now-generation classical performer Joshua Bell takes on Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons”, Broadway legend Michael Feinstein takes on Frank Sinatra and Southside Johnny takes on Tom Waits, all on their new albums. An Olivia Newton-John charity concert makes its’ CD debut, featuring guest shots from Cliff Richard, Barry Gibb and Richard Marx. Sadly, there’s no John Travolta. Metal band Underoath releases a new record today,as do electronica/rock collagists UNKLE. A two-CD Chemical Brothers hits compilation arrives in stores, and for those of you who collect wax, the Coldplay and Radiohead catalogs make it onto vinyl for the first time.

    Happy shopping!!