which_chick | (no subject)

I drove out to Philly (three hours of mind-numbingly dull PA turnpike) for NYE festivities. As I tooled along exceeding the speed limit, I popped in the rap compilation CD that my brother Joe (the attorney) made for me. I'm not real sure what Joe's doing listening to rap music, but apparently something in it speaks to his condition, or perhaps the condition of his clients. I didn't ask. Anyway, since I had three hours of driving, I had plenty of time to listen to the CD to see what I liked and what I didn't like.

1. Monsta Mack -- Sir Mix-A-Lot No. Kinda catchy, but not. I really liked his track I Like Big Butts, a tune that was popularish when I was in college, but this wasn't as entertaining as that and I found found it kind of squeaky. He's got some flair with the language, but not enough to sell me on this track. Also, the squeaky thing drove me up the fucking wall. No.

2. So Whatcha Want -- Beastie Boys No. Beastie Boys were a feature of my high school years. Brother Joe had a tape of them that we listened to on the way to and from school. I don't know what album it was but it had the You Gotta Fight for Your Right to Party song on it. *sigh* I don't adore the Beastie Boys, but I can listen to some of their stuff. This was not one of the ones I can listen to. It's competent, and it's got a nice driving beat to it, but it isn't something I want to listen to. I don't think I'm that angry anymore, or something.

3. Intergalactic -- Beastie Boys Yes. This, I can listen to. It's got a geek feel. It's neat. I can do this. I like how the parts go together and it sounds like Beastie Boys but not as whiny as they can be sometimes. This one was a win and got space on my hard drive.

4. 1234 -- Coolio Yes. This sounds like a dance track. It's workable as long as I try very hard to not associate it with disco. I gave this provisional space on the drive. Coolio doesn't have the lyrical fluidity of some of the other artists I got on this CD, but he isn't sucky. This might grow on me.

5. Fantastic Voyage -- Coolio Yes. I liked this one better than the previous. I understand that it sounds kind of lounge-singer-ish but it stuck in my head. This got hard drive space primarily on the strength of the contrast between the lyrics and the refrain. It kept making me laugh and I think it's a good example of structure.

6. Hand on the Pump -- Cypress Hill Yes. I have to admit that Duke of Earl is one of my very favorite oldies songs. That it got sampled to provide the backing for this first pissed me off and then made me grin like a fool. I really appreciated the unresolvedness of Duke, Duke, Duke, Duke of -- (repeat). Ya'll saw Who Framed Roger Rabbit, right? Like that. Also, I liked the way the lyrics flowed and this track had solid, effective layering of the different bits.

7. Hits from the Bong -- Cypress Hill Yes. I liked this a lot. It's music that *sounds* like being stoned. (Everyone please not to be asking how I know that.) Lovely. Full marks for this.

8. My Name Is -- Eminem Oh, yes. Apparently I have been living in a cave for the last... what... six or seven years? Yeah. It's a 1999 album, so about that long. Dunno how on earth I missed this one. I mean, yeah, Eminem was on my radar as white rapper boy from Detroit, which is apparently where Non-Beastie white rapper boys come from, but I didn't listen to the shit. How the hell did I miss this? It's delightful. There's lyricism. There's clever narrative. There's attention paid to the words -- I was impressed with the flow. He's got actual talent, buckets of it, and he *knows* it. Lovely stuff. (It ain't bragging, motherfucker, if you back it up.)

9. Jump Around -- House of Pain No fucking way will I ever listen to this again unless I'm tied into a chair with my eyeballs pinned open a la Clockwork Orange. The primary objection is not the lyrics. It's the pteradactyl screech that goes on without surcease every couple seconds through the whole fucking song. Yick. Without the pteradactyl screech, it might be tolerable.

10. Humpty Dance -- Digital Underground No. This was popular when I was of an age (college) and I *never* liked it back then. I still don't like it. I also don't think the guy has near the talent of some of the other folks on this CD. The rhyme isn't laid down with the confidence, smoothness, or liquidity of a master. Not impressive.

11. Cowboy -- Kid Rock Yes. I think we all know how I feel about Kid Rock at this point. I should probably go pick up Devil Without A Cause at some point. High points: the guitar licks that the song starts with are appropriately Dueling-Banjo. They also, for some reason, reminded me of some of the pseudo-western music in Trigun. Later on it's got a very Next-Whisky-Bar feel to it, and I approve of that too. As for the vocals, I like the way his lyrics work and I think he's got a good handle on structure. Also, generally he's got quite catchy refrains, and this song is no exception. It's not an overly complex track, but it speaks to my condition.

12. Mama Said Knock You Out -- LL Cool J No. It just didn't do anything for me. Lyrically not complex or interesting. Repetitive. I got bored.

13. Mission Impossible Theme -- Limp Bizkit No. It's okay, but nothing that impressed me enough to give it a home.

14. OPP -- Naughty By Nature Yes. Yet more evidence that I've been living in a cave is the fact that I thoroughly enjoyed MC Hawking's tune Entropy, which arrived on a friend's mix CD, without any idea that it wasn't its own thing but was a cover (or something) of OPP. (This was news to absolutely nobody but me. Clearly, I live in a cave.) Anyway. It's very solid work with solid lyrics and a sound track that I'm already happy with (because it's on the Entropy song). I can't really endorse the, y'know, actual advice of the song, but the execution is very solid.

15. Fuck Tha Police -- NWA Yes. This track is not an unreserved yes -- it's an uneven effort and I do not like all the verses the same. However, the first versification (by Ice Cube) is laid down well, with rhythm, authority, and lyricism. I was impressed. Rock on with your bad self, there. The second versification (by M. C. Ren) is uneven and laid against the first, falls short. As its own effort, it probably wouldn't look as bad. It's passable and stuff, but it suffers by comparison to the first. The third versification (Eazy-E) doesn't do it for me, but I think technically it's better than M. C. Ren's effort. Anyway, if the whole thing had been done/written (there's some value to be had in delivery and in composition and I have no idea who wrote what) by the Ice Cube person, I would probably have liked this track better. His work did the most for me on this song.

16. Gangster of Love -- Geto Boys No. I don't need five and a half minutes of an uninspired discussion of fucking. I've fucked. I know what it's like, and I'm pretty sure I had more fun with it than these people. I found nothing here to amuse me -- no rhymes, no licks, no sense of rhythm that made me want to shift my redneck whitebread ass. Yes, I KNOW there's Sweet Home Alabama there and I am still not moved.

17. Real Slim Shady -- Eminem Yes. I found this delightful, clever, and smoothly executed. It's catchy. Eminem, on this track and the previous, has very, very few moments of "That does NOT rhyme or flow, what the fuck were you thinking?!" and a lot of moments of "Damn!" Probably I should get more of this. I'll keep you posted.