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Gangsta Boo – ‘Kill Bitches’

Brad Stabler: “Some shit ain’t never gonna change.” That’s for damn sure – all you have to do is say “new Gangsta Boo” followed by “BeatKing” and of course it’s going to pop off. Nothing really surprising here, up to and including the chorus and how great the whole tune is. An easy (8)

Anupa Mistry: I’m on the fence about this because rap fans have both critiqued and celebrated male rappers for lyrics of similar temerity. At this point, ‘Kill Bitches’ doesn’t add anything new to the conversation aside from serving as a reminder that after last year’s electric, Sinjin Hawke-produced banger ‘Yea Hoe’, Gangsta Boo can still give you that old Memphis clapback. (4)

Tayyab Amin: Gangsta Boo’s sounding hard as hell on this and she’s making me wanna go start on someone. I’m cool with recurring motifs in artists’ works (“Yea, hoe!” and the chorus from ‘Hard Not 2 Kill’ in this case), they tend to help solidify artists’ personalities for me. This beat is tight, too – the twisted siren and tense piano loops propagate general aggression and paranoia that add a lot more weight behind Gangsta Boo’s words. I’m into it, though it never sounds like anything more than a mixtape cut. (7)

Son Raw: Far be it from me to speak for the dead, but I’m fairly sure that if A$AP Yams were still around, Tumblr would have 500% more BeatKing related tags. I’m usually on the fence about this kind of period piece, but the Memphis to Houston axis still has so much more to offer and the low-key Gangsta Boo revival is the perfect vehicle for it. I’m gonna be blaring this loud as fuck in a residential area and they’re gonna have to deal with it. (8)

Claire Lobenfeld: For the sake of full disclosure, in middle school, I punched another girl in the face for dissing Gangsta Boo. I pretty much feel unity with everything she does on GP, but this could go a little bit harder. Still, when you’re flinging insults at a meditative pace, I think you are badass embodied: Your anger isn’t calculated; it’s so real, it’s just zen. Into BeatKing’s horns, too. (7)

6.8

https://soundcloud.com/prince3eg/hardrocklover

Prince – ‘Hardrocklover’

Claire Lobenfeld: In the week that Miguel was finally able to give us evidence he’s figured out how to go full Purple, the man himself pokes his head out and says, “No, son. This is how you do this.” (7)

Brad Stabler: I thought that Prince was well past the point to be tossing out any surprises, but this is quite a beast. The problem comes when you have to decide whether or not it’s actually good, and well, the jury’s still out. I appreciate a good Eddie Hazel impression as much as anyone, and those verses are neat, but the chorus is this uncomfortable mash of nu-metal and neo-soul that’s got me feeling quite a few ways, none of which are pleasant. A chorus-free edit forthcoming, I hope? (5)

Son Raw: Who wrote this, the Lonely Island? Prince’s best material has always been tongue and cheek but this one will inspire more giggles than swoons. Plus I’m pretty sure the hard rock lovers went the way of the Jheri curl sometime around when Slash came off drugs – whoever’s left probably won’t get the Red Bull and Patron shouts. (4)

Anupa Mistry: Ugh, Prince has summoned his inner queen and is just staring down at us with disdain from his purple perch up on high via a track about seducing a whipped cream-loving woman. I will take it. Shade me Prince, block out the light ’til my Seasonal Affective Disorder kicks in even though its summer. Even though the line “Ain’t no rapper trying to be a singer,” is very specific, something about this song feels like Prince is coming for all of us with our shit millennial tastes in everything from music to alcohol (“Red Bull and Patron”). There’s no one else who can deliver a diss track in falsetto, salute. (9)

Tayyab Amin: Me being a young Muslim brother and Prince being, well, Prince, I should really take his word for it if he’s saying ditch the Babyface in the bedroom. But what for, this? I fully lost it and burst into laughter at “Damn, you just want me to be another rip in your jeans. [guitar twangs]” It’s big, cheesy, funny and clumsy and I can dig it so long as I don’t have to take these solos seriously. (5)

6

Happa – ‘Crickets’

Claire Lobenfeld: While I like this track throughout, it’s a grower, not a shower and certainly not for sitting on your couch with headphones, but here we are. I’d like to hear this out, where I think it would work nicely to lull you into that rave calm where drugs are unnecessary because the beat is just that hypnotic. (6)

Tayyab Amin: The lead melody’s catchy enough to make for an effective second wind on the dancefloor, but it’s perhaps too familiar to really stand out uniquely in musical memory. There are plenty of things going on outside of that to draw the ear’s attention, though – namely those drawn-out drones iced over the top plus the fuzzy hi-hats that the beat occasionally stumbles into. It’s pretty standard-fare idea-wise and it’s executed well. It’s not as if Happa’s looking to expand our horizons here, rather just keep us moving and I’m vibing with it. (6)

Anupa Mistry: There’s a lot to love about Toronto in the summertime. Growing up, one of my favourite things was a weekly day-to-night beach party on Sunday afternoons where hippies and house heads would go to dance without the constraints of the club. This song reminds me of making my way there, traipsing along a trail with the bugs and the birds, following the slightly pitched up din and emerging though a clearing (or, in 2015, finally making it past security after having your glass bottles confiscated) into the rumble and energy of the soundsystem. Happa did good here. (8)

Son Raw: If you’re going to go for dirty and loopy, you’ve got to go all the way otherwise your track is just kind of boring. To Happa’s credit, he totally understands this, and he pushes ‘Crickets’ way into the red. Every abandoned mannor squat party needs that one 5am tune to lose yourself to. (7)

Brad Stabler: This guy is proving to be consistently excellent at making things that sound like he’s boxing himself in on purpose. Therein lies the ruse: Happa always conjures up a subtly bonkers melody or extra percussion that works like a sneak attack right when things seems they’re on a lock. This is no different with ‘Crickets’, but it’s a pleasure hearing how mean the end result winds up being. Would gladly hear that main synth line fight for survival over a system. (8)

7

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Pharrell – ‘Freedom’

Brad Stabler: A serious change of direction and some gospel still can’t wash down the bad taste of ‘Happy’. We still need at least another year, after which you can add three more points to this score. (4)

Claire Lobenfeld: I still don’t have Pharrell fatigue, but this does nothing for me. I’d rather be in ‘Blurred Lines’-‘Happy’ hell than have to listen to this at the same rate those tracks were burned. ‘Freedom’ is slightly lifeless. And, you know what nerds? I totally agree with this, Skateboard P is just better at hiding his references post-Gaye family fracas. (4)

Son Raw: Pharell’s Achilles’ Heel has always been his cornball lyrics, but “First name is Free, Last name is Dom” might take the cake. You could overlook that sort of clunker in an N.E.R.D psych-pop song about asses, but this goes for gravitas and still ends up sounding like Despicable Me outtake. Excuse me while I go listen to The Clipse’s ‘Nightmares’ on loop. (2)

Tayyab Amin: “So tonight, if you have beautiful English blood in your body I want you to show the rest of the world what freedom looks like… I want them to hear what English freedom sounds like!” – Pharrell at Glastonbury. As someone who has lived in England for their whole life but does not have English blood, I’m curious as to what English freedom is exactly. Freedom to colonise a quarter of the planet and then systematically deny the idea that their own actions would have subversive socioeconomic impact on other people and their descendants? Turns out English freedom looks like a Glasto crowd who’d go on to shout the n-word at the Yeezy set and wear Native American headdresses if they could. (The festival’s ban on them is the first of many reparative steps, we’ll have to wait and see about bindis and Hindu deity prints.) Anyway, I think a lot of tourists come here and believe that we’ve got everything figured out, but there’s plenty to protest about in the UK for sure.

Even considering the idea that his audience is the cameras rather than the crowd, this still seems like an odd place for Pharrell to really push a song of this ilk with the context of growing public awareness of the oppression of black people in the US especially. Pharrell seems undoubtedly well-intentioned, but it begs the question: Who is he speaking to with this song? I don’t want to take away from the positivity he’s spreading, but by speaking in abstractions to come across as universally inclusive, Pharrell runs the risk of muddying his message. Sure, we’re all people, and people can be amazing, however we wouldn’t be getting more songs about freedom if people were truly free; If you’re using your platform to spread this song to those that benefit from the oppression without actually mentioning the oppression in it at all, how much are things going to change? (6)

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Tommy Genesis – ‘Execute’

Son Raw: You can see the stitches in this thing: a whole lot of Tyler here, some Yeezus there, but the key here is that Tommy Genesis actually raps convincingly and commits to the concept 110%. Too often these days being “arty” in rap feels like an excuse to deliver an underwhelming performance but not here, even if the song sounds like something out of a Run Lola Run sequel. (7)

Tayyab Amin: Awful really don’t let up, huh. Tommy Genesis’s prompts to create whatever it is you want to see stays true to the Awful way of doing things, though I feel like she doesn’t stray far enough from the beaten path on this one. My ears are trying to seek out any vocal highlights in vain, it’s as if her versatility isn’t really shown off on the track. For the most part, her flow is like a constantly impending shortness of breath, which takes away from her conviction. She’s got bars, though. (6)

Brad Stabler: There is nothing I can say about this except that it’s fucking awesome. (9)

Anupa Mistry: I love that there’s a cabal of women emerging from the Awful Records fold right now but while I really rate Abra’s new one Rose, I think Tommy Genesis might need some work. Her confidence is killer but, at least on this track, that flow weak. (5)

Claire Lobenfeld: Lifeblood. (8)

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https://soundcloud.com/badboyrecords/puff-daddy-finnagetloose-feat-pharrell

Puff Daddy – ‘Finna Get Loose’ (feat. Pharrell)

Son Raw: Now THIS is the Pharell I want to hear. Puffy can assault all the Football coaches he wants as long as he comes up with ideas like merging James Brown vamps to Public Enemy paranoia on classic Neptunes funk riddims. I’ll echo the SoundCloud comments: all this needs is a Chuck D verse. (9)

Tayyab Amin: Vocals that sound like an impersonation of James Brown via Future and an instrumental that should surely have been destined for interlude status – I’m not fully convinced by this one. Lyrically, it’s a song made of ad-libs and it has the energy of a warm-up. It hardly called for making a big deal out of the outro and it looks like the Puff Daddy resurgence that no-one asked for is now upon us. (4)

Anupa Mistry: I always wonder how ‘0 to 100’ would’ve sounded in Diddy’s hands because he consistently brings heat even though, compared to the musical landscape, it might sound wacky AF — like this one. Remember when he started spending time in Ibiza and worked with fellow futurist Kelis to give us ‘Let’s Get Ill’ years before rappers and singers would touch a dance track? ‘Finna Get Loose’ merges that manic dancing-Diddy energy with James Brown slackness and the best of that saturated, tightly-coiled Neptunes bounce. In the late 90s and early 00s, Puff was often positioned as an unimaginative thief, pillaging the archives of black music for samples that he’d leave intact. It made him a lot of money, influenced a generation producers on scouting out sounds and now, years on, his instinct for nostalgia and a purer sound continues to guide him toward hot shit. (8)

Claire Lobenfeld: And just when I thought Pharrell maybe had nothing left for me, he reinvigorates Puffy for 2015. Anyone who knows me well, knows that seeing the No Way Out Tour in 1997 was a defining moment of my life. (Wow, I was much cooler at 11 than at 29.) That Puff is still able to have a vice grip on nostalgia, but still remains part of the conversation, whether you like it or not, is proof of his “Thought I told you that we won’t stop” vision from the 90s. And this goes! It’s not some new revelation, but I bet I will hear this out this summer. I guess it was totally ok for the producer to be all up in the video. (7)

Brad Stabler: (2)

6

Final scores:

Tommy Genesis – ‘Execute’ (7)
Happa – ‘Crickets’ (7)
Gangsta Boo – ‘Kill Bitches’ (6.8)
Puff Daddy – ‘Finna Get Loose’ (feat. Pharrell) (6)
Prince – ‘Hardrocklover’ (6)
Pharrell – ‘Freedom’ (4)