Tag: Nas

My Top 25 Kanye West Songs of All Time

This Sunday, I will see one of the most controversial and lauded and loved and hated artists of the 21st century in concert – Kanye West. As a music lover and hip hop fan, there are few rappers and producers that have been more influential, exciting and sometimes frustrating. Musically, I agree with his own assessment that he’s a genius.

In honor of Sunday’s concert, here are my personal top 25 Kanye tracks from his eight album discography that began in 2004 with The College Dropout and currently ends with this year’s The Life of Pablo.

Here goes:

25. “Everything I Am” from Graduation (2007)

24. “Fade” from The Life of Pablo (2016)

23. “Two Words” from The College Dropout” (2004)

22.  “New Slaves” from Yeezus (2013)

http://youtu.be/IyOL-f_UO5k

21. “Last Call” from The College Dropout” (2004)

20. “Amazing” from 808s & Heartbreak (2008)

19. “All Falls Down” from The College Dropout (2004)

18. “Blood on the Leaves” from Yeezus (2013)

http://youtu.be/SPhsSzfAoBA

17. “We Major” from Late Registration” (2005)

16. “Stronger” from Graduation (2007)

15. “Famous” from The Life of Pablo (2016)

14. “Power” from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)

13.  “Heard ‘Em Say” from Late Registration (2005)

12. “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” from Graduation (2007)

11.  “Gone” from Late Registration (2005)

10. “Roses” from Late Registration (2005)

9. “Monster” from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)

8. “Flashing Lights” from Graduation (2007)

7. “Black Skinhead” from Yeezus (2013)

http://youtu.be/QF7_tsKaRx8

6. “Through the Wire” from The College Dropout (2004)

5. “N****s in Paris” from Watch the Throne (2011)

4. “Gold Digger” from Late Registration (2005)

3. “Runaway” from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)

2. “Jesus Walks” from The College Dropout (2004)

1. “All of the Lights” from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping Movie Review

In the humorously titled Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, there’s a gag involving the terrific Will Arnett that only takes up maybe three minutes of screen time. He plays the host of “CMZ” (think TMZ) as he hilariously chats with his staff of gossip reporters and furiously downs big gulps and other assorted beverages. It struck my funny bone so much that I found myself wondering how good a movie would be if it were just about them. Then I remembered that taking memorable three minute bits and stretching them into feature length comedies usually doesn’t work.

There are other moments in Popstar that work. Yet it didn’t quite change my theory above. Fans of “Saturday Night Live” are familiar with The Lonely Island, Andy Samberg’s music group responsible for several YouTube friendly videos packed with catchy lyrics and musical icon cameos. Here, Samberg and his colleagues Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone (that pair share directing duties) make up The Style Boyz – a hip hop pop trio that hit it big. Yet it’s Kid Connor (Samberg) that was the Justin Timberlake (who cameos), Beyoncé or Method Man of the group and branches out on the solo tip. Taccone’s Kid Contact becomes his DJ and Schaffer’s Kid Brain leaves the business to become a farmer in Colorado (wonder where that development will lead to??).

We pick up as solo act Connor4Real is set to debut his sophomore album, which is a disaster looming. Along the way, Popstar parodies the extreme narcissism of its industry while throwing in plenty of ridiculous songs. None of them really hold a candle to the brilliance displayed in the granddaddy of music doc spoofs, This is Spinal Tap.  As mentioned, there’s just not enough solid material to totally justify the 90 minutes here.

One mistake is that the Lonely team who wrote the screenplay seem to believe that cameos count as jokes. There are tons and tons of cameos. Admittedly some work (Seal’s bit is a trip and Timberlake gets to flex his comedic chops), but many others leave no impression. For the performers not playing themselves, a little of Samberg’s Connor goes a long way. Sarah Silverman and Tim Meadows are mostly background players as his publicist and manager. And the versatile Joan Cusack pops up so briefly as Connor’s hard partying mom that I can only think her part was left on the cutting room floor.

While there are laughs to be had here, you’re probably better off looking up the trio’s SNL work. They’re shorter and more consistently funny. See if you can find Arnett’s scenes too…

**1/2 (out of four)

Top 90 Hip Hop Songs of the 1990s: Nos. 50-41

This evening on the blog, we’re breaking into the Top 50 of my personal favorite 90 singles of the 90s decade. If you missed my first four entries of this blog series, simply go to the Music tab category and use your incredible scrolling abilities to track them down.

Let’s get to it!

50. “Mo Money Mo Problems” by the Notorious B.I.G. featuring Puff Daddy and Mase (1997)

The second single from Biggie’s posthumous Life After Death project, this is one of the brilliant rapper’s most mainstream tracks with its sample of Diana Ross’s “I’m Coming Out” and its assists from Puff and Mase.

49. “Shoop” by Salt-n-Pepa (1993)

One of the most infectious singles from the greatest rap girl group in history.

48. “N.Y. State of Mind” by Nas (1994)

With its propulsive DJ Premier beat, this is a highlight of Nas’s terrific debut album Illmatic.

47. “New Jack Hustler” by Ice-T (1991)

Ice-T hit a home run with his single off the New Jack City soundtrack, which he also costarred in.

46. “Ice Ice Baby” by Vanilla Ice (1991)

So… yeah… if you don’t this should be on the list – I will ask: do you know all the lyrics? Thought so.

45. “C.R.E.A.M.” by Wu-Tang Clan (1994)

This pioneering and very large hip hop group had one of their best with this single from their Enter the 36 Chambers debut album.

44. “Award Tour” by A Tribe Called Quest (1993)

One of the most innovative rap groups ever, this is Tribe’s first single off their Midnight Marauders album.

43. “I Got 5 On It” by Luniz (1995)

A green anthem for the ages, Luniz staked their place in rap history with this jam.

42. “All About the Benjamins (remix)” by Puff Daddy featuring The Notorious B.I.G. and Lil Kim (1997)

The creme de la creme of Bad Boy got together on this banger from Puff’s debut solo album.

41. “Still Not a Player” by Big Pun featuring Joe (1998)

The late Pun has his signature hit with this party starter featuring R&B singer Joe.

And that’ll do it for now! We’ll enter the Top 40 tomorrow.

 

Top 90 Hip Hop Songs of the 1990s: Nos. 90-81

All right you 1990s hip hop heads – here we go! A couple of months back, I gave you my top 90 R&B songs of the 90s and tonight on the blog, we begin my countdown of this blogger’s personal favorite hip hop singles of that glorious decade.

Some ground rules: notice I said “singles”. It’s an important distinction. I’m not picking deep cuts that weren’t released as commercial radio fare. If you want a list of best underground rap tracks, there are search engines named Google and Yahoo and allegedly Bing. So this is a rather mainstream list… if you don’t think one of the entries on here will begin lyrically with “Stop, Collaborate, and Listen…” – you would be mistaken.

Now that we’ve established the game, it’s time for this playa to start the list. Like the previous list, this will be a nine-part series updated daily (hopefully) giving you ten jams to reminisce over! So let me clear my throat and get this started:

90. “If I Ruled the World” – Nas featuring Lauryn Hill (1996)

Two years after his iconic debut release Illmatic, Nas’s first single off his follow-up album gave him one of his biggest hits with an assist from Fugees member Lauryn Hill.

89. “They Want EFX” by Das EFX (1992)

This duo had their largest hit with this #1 charting hit.

88. “Luv 2 Luv U” by Timbaland and Magoo (1997)

Before he became one of the greatest producers in the world, Timbo teamed up with sidekick and Q-Tip soundalike Magoo for this dance club jam.

87. “How I Could Just Kill a Man” by Cypress Hill (1991)

The cannabis loving group’s debut single is one of their finest.

86. “Get At Me Dog” by DMX (1998)

This one is DMX’s very first single and it’s his second highest charting track ever. It set off a string of memorable tracks from the Def Jam artist.

85. “Nappy Heads” by Fugees (1994)

Two years before they found international success, Lauryn, Wyclef, and Pras had their first hit here.

84. “Ain’t No Future In Yo’ Frontin'” by MC Breed and DFC (1991)

This is seriously one of those songs I completely wore out for the first half of the 90s. For that reason alone, it earns a well deserved spot.

83. “Get Money” by Junior M.A.F.I.A. (1996)

Biggie’s side group that featured Lil Kim and Lil Cease had their best track here.

82. “Let Me Clear My Throat” by DJ Kool (1996)

Simply put, one of those most ridiculously infectious dance club bangers ever created. This DJ gets some fantastic assists from Biz Markie and Doug E. Fresh.

81. “Changes” by 2Pac (1998)

Mr. Shakur makes his first appearance with this posthumous Bruce Hornsby sampling track.

And that’s all for now, friends! Part two covering numbers 80-71 drops tomorrow.