ALBUM REVIEW: Kid Cudi – Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager

“Rock star lifestyle might not make it…” – Gucci Mane, “Wasted”

This may be a vastly inappropriate statement, but I actively want Scott Mescudi to never stop using cocaine. One of the benefits of the drug, as compared to the marijuana he feted on debut album Man on the Moon: The End of Day is a pronounced mental acuity, a sharpness of thought that accentuates every emotion and makes highs higher, lows lower and all experienced with a hyper reality, a “really realness” that makes all expression truly intense. Kid Cudi made a very conscious decision to embrace his own popularity, and to in many ways, become a rock star in hip hop’s clothing. However, in living a lifestyle of celebrity, he became a star in the universe, a vast vacuum that sucks you in and never lets go. When days and nights don’t exist but are instead all moments trapped in a parallel universe of fame, your world view is eternally altered, and the result is this album. This is not the cocaine rap of the Clipse. This is the cocaine rap of Kid Cudi. The Clipse listened to Biggie and never got high on their own supply. Instead they sold it all to the Cleveland native Cudi, who alongside a plethora of producers from all realms explores the perils of fame and addiction with a premium on truth and honesty on an album that approaches perfection.

http://www.youtube.com/v/ICaTsTkBPV8?fs=1&hl=en_US

This album opens with the gospel bellow of Cee-Lo Green on “Scott Mescudi v. The World.” This isn’t Tupac advocating a “fuck the world” attitude, this is the battle of a man against his own sanity, aware that he has done untold damage to it, but aware that in choosing to be a rap star in 2010, there’s next to nothing he can do to escape. There is an airy helplessness to this album. Cudi, a rapper, doesn’t even really rap. When he does, on tracks like “Ashin’ Kusher,”he comes off like a XXL freshman mixtape emcee instead of a Vitamin Water sponsor and featured actor on a HBO drama. This album is intentionally underwhelming in many ways, a de-evolving portrait of the artist as a young man instead of a dope release. There are two schools of thought here. If you like Cudi as an emcee, don’t buy this album. If you are a fan of him as a person, and want to journey into the depths of his soul, or are a nerd and enjoy the place where psychology and sociology blur lines, this album will be a favorite.

Lead radio single “Erase Me” features Cudi’s mentor Kanye West outshining his student at delivering an effortlessly dop sixteen bars about the vapid nature of nightlife culture. Jim Jonsin’s heavy rock riff production is fun unobtrusive pop, the background music to another night in another Manhattan loft, champagne in the glass, lines of coke on top of the toilet, the smell of reefer wafting through the air. To many, this life would be pointless, but for Cudi, it’s all he knows. Kid Cudi’s manager and lead producer Emile guides this album beautifully. I presume this is because he was there firsthand to watch his artist’s manic descent into “Mr. Rager’s” madness. That track, with Cudi’s empty boasts about his prodigious party lifestyle of excess is a winner, as is most of Emile’s work here as an executive producer ensuring an album that is a guided and focused journey into the void.

On a pure hip hop level, the album’s finest production and track is the intensely emo and self reflective “The End.” Where most emcees do these tracks and they feel like empty songs meant to be “some emo Cudi or Wale shit,” this IS Cudi, on an album where the sounds of cocaine snorting play a prominent role, more emotionally raw than usual. Reach and DJ Syzygy, the young Chicago tandem Blended Babies, infuse this track with the same dusty, kickdrum led soul that makes fellow Chicagoan’s Kanye West’s production of “Drive Slow” an incredible success. GLC and Chip tha Ripper are two of the most underrated guest emcees in hip hop, and Nikki Wray has been extremely busy singing on hooks of excellent productions as of late, her comeback to mainstream success nearly complete.

In fact, Wray’s presence on the album outshines that of Mary J. Blige, who sounds bored on hooks here. These are not the same quality of hooks as the hooks on her own records, or those she famously did with Jay-Z. She’s here on a thematic level because she is a survivor as well, but she has been a survivor for awhile now, and gone from her voice is the truly intense pain of her struggles in the mid 90s. It’s a true shame that will likely be rectified in live performance, but if you’re going to use Mary, it has to be her epically attempting to cover an epic hook of an epic song like U2’s “One,” or, it needs to be as impact filled as “Can’t Knock the Hustle.” “Don’t Play This Song” and “These Worries” are good, but it was frankly an attempt that unfortunately fell short.

Kid Cudi is a bigger blipster than every blipster in the world combined on this album. In perpetuating the stereotype of coke and weed fueled partying and an incessant desire to lead a life of excess, this album is expected. However, Cudi pulls no punches here and is terribly honest about the degenerate path of this existence. With a retinue of top producers ably guiding him down the sonic path to reclaim sobriety, the album succeeds in being dark, sparse and redemptive. However, if wanting a hip hop record where a hip hop artist makes hip hop rhymes about a hip hop lifestyle, this is the wrong album. This is the 21st century. This isn’t about weed, bitches, Hennesey and the club anymore. This hip hop generation is about weed, coke and rehab, rinse, wash, repeat. If that paradigm shift occurred and you weren’t aware, here is a primer.

FOUR STARS

ALBUM REVIEW: N.E.R.D. – Nothing

Let’s call it apropos that Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo and Shay Haley, the eclectic rap trio N.E.R.D. entitled their fourth studio album with a November 2nd release, Nothing. The group has proven that in no one ever really dies that hip hop, soul and R & B can find life in the most bizarre of musical corners. Thrash metal, elegant rhythm and blues and electro rap wrapped in songwriting structures and production qualities that recall John Lennon and Phil Spector’s wall of sound amongst a plethora of classic influences. When successful, we get tracks that advance the cause of musical fusion from their first top singles “Lap Dance” and “Rock Star” to the amazing pop ballad “Maybe,” and extending to most current top tracks “Everybody Nose” and punk hop smackdown “Spaz.” In ten years of recording the pairing have never had a number one pop hit. However, without their daring sonic explorations, the work of artists like the Black Eyed Peas, Lil Wayne and a laundry list more would have no true birthplace. N.E.R.D. may be hitmakers for everyone else, but in making music for themselves ascribe to a higher plane of talent, one which finally on this album may yield a break through the glass ceiling of their own success to number one.

http://www.youtube.com/v/F6ZfA5QZDHY?fs=1&hl=en_US

This may be the first time that a hip hop album pays tribute to the Beatles, Beach Boys, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and the Moody Blues without directly sampling “Help!,” “Sloop John B,” “Chicago” and “Go Now” respectively. The trio are music fanatics and clearly have a more than fair grasp and appreciation for radio friendly pop of any generation. Unlike other producers who lazily take from the original source, N.E.R.D. decided to replicate iconic bands in the thematic sense, a bold move that shows the musical maturation of the three individuals involved. This is not a 60s concept album. The album kicks off with “Party People” and “Hypnotize You,” tracks aimed at their hipster leaning but hip hop appreciating core fanbase. The tracks have the funk swing of Chromeo, but done with a far less ironic flair. There are no electro overtones, just classic disco funk, something out of the Gap Band library, swinging, sexy and completely accessible. T.I. on the Michael Jackson “Wanna Be Startin’ Something” riff stealing “Party People” showcases a faster cadence than his usual trap storytelling ATL drawl which works here, but the opening of this album feels perfunctory and expected, and by comparison to a large portion of the middle, is a let down.

There are a plethora of bizarre highlights to this album. Chad Hugo aping Robby Krieger’s Doors guitar lines on “Help Me,” the Beatles’ esque song and track structure of the ebullient “Victory,” “Life as a Fish” coming straight out of the 70s AM rock canon of “Horse With No Name” hitmakers America, the Screaming Jay Hawkins styled funky protest rock of “It’s In the Air,” and the punch in the throat of “God Bless Us All” which is clearly tailored to be for Pusha T and Malice, but, things being things, the track is more than adequately handled by the underrated flow of “Skateboard P.” Sexy and bassline driven lead radio single “Hot and Fun” is a competitor but two levels above an absolute yawner when reflected against the brilliant exploration of the rest of this record. Fortunately for them, their success is not borne in mainstream acceptance in iTunes downloads or album sales. Their success is in being iconic style leaders and appreciated live performers, and in having production credits on hit songs from 1992’s “Rump Shaker” which Pharrell is credited as a writer to the Swedish House Mafia’s international hit dance single “One” in 2010, the N.E.R.D. project is more a way for the uber creative trio to exorcise creative demons.

In final, this is an excellent album. Far from perfect it is truly experimental in that it allows Pharrell, Shay and Chad the ability to explore some untapped musical areas of interest. Luckily, it is done at a level of success we have had yet to see in hip hop. This album cements the permanent status of N.E.R.D. as perpetual hip hop outsiders. However, as the most successful true outsiders in the history of the genre, wherever they lead, hip hop tends to follow, always successfully.

4.5 OUT OF FIVE STARS

CRATE DIG: Mya feat. Blackstreet, Mase and Blinky Blink – Take Me There

Welcome to the newest regular feature here at True Genius Requires Insanity, the “Crate Dig.” As you may already be aware, we strongly feel as though it’s time to advocate a “back to basics” movement in music. We feel that instead of everyone being an innovator, that some of us need to be preserving the importance of original source material. To that end, the “Crate Dig” will feature members of the TGRIOnline.com staff, the “Hustlers of Culture,” digging through their mental crates to remember the songs that made them appreciate music. There will be some amazing, and yes, embarrassing choices here, but always the key impact is to remember when music was not something to be over studied, remixed, downloaded, forgotten and torn asunder. We’re remembering when music was simply a song you liked, and really couldn’t tell you more than a sentence or two why. Sit back, reminisce, and enjoy the building blocks of music appreciation.

http://www.youtube.com/v/cB2QI2mCyfU?fs=1&hl=en_US

Song: Mya feat. Blackstreet, Mase and Blinky Blink – Take Me There

Year released: 1997
Year “discovered” by me: 1997
Reason discovered: This song has absolutely no right to be this great.

I was a Mya stan in 1997. I felt she was easily the world’s most attractive woman, and I was madly in love with her as well as Lauryn Hill. Somewhere between the two I felt was the recipe for the perfect woman in my life. As has been mentioned in this space before, I was a college radio DJ. The radio station at Providence College is right down the hall from the newspaper office and across from the non-cafeteria dining option at Slavin Center, so, it goes without saying that there were times where I would easily spend 24 straight hours between the three places. I used to love Tuesdays when the new tracks would come in. I’d scour through white label records and CD singles, often using our spare studio to pore through selections to have the most eclectic shows humanly possible. Seeing that there was a Mya and Blackstreet single featuring Maseand his little brother, I was sold. I was a big fan of all acts involved, and frankly didn’t care that the song took a sample of the Rugrats theme. It was three of the hottest acts in my hip hop and R & B universe at the time all on one track. A winner.

This may be the most confounding production choice of Teddy Riley’s career. I’m certain that given it is a soundtrack song he was paid handsomely for it, but it sounds like a Macguyver plot. Here’s the Rugrats theme song, Mya, Blackstreet, Mase and a VHS tape of the TV show. In an hour (minus commercials), make a convincing pop trending R & B song for a nine year old. Of course, the man who in the same lifetime produced both “Rumpshaker” and “Teddy’s Jam” has zero problem with this task, and cranks out a track that the Jackson 5 could have performed over in 1975. Mason Betha’s rhyme here isn’t exactly the best, but he wastes a bar to mention the names of Rugrats protagonists Phil and Lil in one of the most forced rhymes in quite some time. The xylophones on this track are wonderful, and begs the question why there aren’t more songs that have featured the instrument from this point forward.

A great producer can make chicken salad out of chicken shit. A hall of famer takes that chicken salad, eats it, finds more chicken shit and makes chicken cacciatore. Teddy Riley, ladies and gentlemen. A hall of famer.

Die Antwoord/Rye Rye – 9:30 Club – 10/27/10

I am fairly certain that amongst the aging urban hipster set, I’m the only journalist willing to stand up and tell you that I was a major proponent of the rap/rock fusion era. I’ll also be that guy who will stand up and tell you that I love the rap/EDM fusion thing possibly even more. I’ll tell you that I loved both of those movements because they felt honest. Fred Durst is a redneck from Jacksonville, Florida. Having been to Jacksonville, Florida, Limp Bizkit at their rawest and emotive best weren’t going to get much deeper than “No Sex,” or much harder than “Nookie,” and “All N 2 Gether Now” and “Rollin'” in being able to rap with DMX and Method Man were definitely going to be the pinnacle of their expression. I love the Black Eyed Peas these days because Will I. Am has great taste in EDM producers, and is at least smart enough to find the talents who can best express his creative vision. There is a clear and honest attempt at having a unique expression to themselves, amplified by great production that makes those eras personal favorites. All of that being said, though clearly culled straight from central casting of my particular likes of the last 20 years, I cannot cosign South African hip hop and dance duo Die Antwoord. After watching them perform at the 9:30 Club last night, I find them silly mindless pop in the worst way, so painfully derivative of everything that in getting wrapped up in their artistic presence and well crafted dance productions, you forget to note that yes, they are charismatic emperors, but they also are wearing no clothes.

Let’s not split hairs here. We give Die Antwoord a pass in America because they’re foreign. It’s what we do. If it looks funny and speaks with an accent, our collective nationwide ADD gets sucked in, and for a year we buy tickets and t-shirts, and in five years laugh at how appallingly stupid we all were. Yo-Landi Vi$$er is a pigment deficient meld of Lena, the female lead singer of Aqua of “Barbie Girl” fame and Nicki Minaj. She was small, spritely and oddly attractive, the same kind of hot wrapped in a layer of bad girl filth encapsulated in Brittany Murphy as Eminem’s love interest in 8 Mile. Do I want to hear her on hooks? Sure. I love “Barbie Girl.” Fun track. Do I want to hear her kick flows? Yes. I love Nicki Minaj. But for 90 minutes last night, I felt like her cuteness was forced, part of the bizarre hipster meme that Die Antwoord tends to feel is being foisted upon the audience. Rapper Ninja kicks flows with a cadence that variates between Tupac’s bravado and the cute pop, on beat wordplay of rap veterans like Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick. Would I have paid money to see Rick the Ruler, “The World’s Greatest Entertainer” and the legendary Mr. Shakur on stage together? Absolutely. Would I pay to see those three gentlemen in the person of a  tattooed Afrikaaner hipster? No. Again, the whole act feels forced, and while tracks like “Evil Boy” and “Enter the Ninja” are certifiable one hit wonders, there’s not much else past that to hold my interest.

The highlight of the show wasn’t the live performances, but rather the spoken word interludes between tracks where you truly got to see the people behind the blustery bravado of their triumphant and awkward battle cries. After screaming at the top of his lungs in a manner consistent with 2 Pac in his Strictly 4 My Niggaz phase that “Only God can judge me!,” Ninja then proceeded to teach the crowd filthy insults of his South African “zef” hipster culture, but refused to say “pussy” when translating the word for “your mother’s private parts” in Afrikaaner. This screams the type of “poser” depths that only Shifty Shellshock at the heights of Crazy Town’s hit success with 2001’s “Butterfly” could approach. Ninja seems to be a highly charismatic and intelligent young man. He fronts a group where he approaches the stage in a black hooded cloak that appears to be straight out of the video shoot for Wu-Tang Clan’s “Da Mystery of Chessboxin’.” However, his appropriation of hip hop culture to swaddle himself in the veneer of cool is so boring and expected that it sucks all of the positive and fun vitriolic force out of his words and instead makes them comedic noise, a college art project on hipsters jacking hip hop instead of the great music meant to inform an era of pop that given the near sellout crowd that it deserves to be.

Opener Rye Rye saved the night as she tends to do. Her blend of traditional dancing found in Baltimore city clubs and productions that are eminently accessible and unlike much of anything else make her a fantastic performer as a concept. Where she takes things to the next level is in having a cheery demeanor and ever present smile in performing that enlivens a room. She has a sound and style that works in any era, and as a devotee of Baltimore club music, any time I can hear DJ Sega’s Philly club remix of Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA” with Porkchop’s KW Griff produced banger “Bring in the Cats” blended within, after Blaqstarr’s great productions of “Bang” and “Shake It to the Ground,” and Chicago’s Million $ Mano’s “Witch Doctor,” I’m set. Rye Rye’s performance is a gateway into party culture that is open, friendly and a fantastic time. Between her and her terrific background dancers, it’s a non stop good vibe throughout that on this particular evening saved the entire night.

Rye Rye engaged my feet, Die Antwoord engaged my senses. On a dance music level, the entire night engaged my mind, but when Ninja and Yo-Landi opened their mouths, it sounded like something I heard before and liked for three or four minutes and nothing more. Pop is ultimately expected to be disposable. However, it’s in striving to make it so accessible that it achieves memorable dare say legendary status that the good become great. Rye Rye, moving along that path to greatness quite well. Headliners Die Antwoord? Good, but along the road to great, dead on arrival. but wow. In five years, we’re definitely going to remember how stupid we were, and enjoy it for the disposable garbage it was.

TGRI RADIO – EPISODE 9: The Baltimore Club Conversation w/ James Nasty (and Murder Mark)

The future of Baltimore Club Music? Take a listen HERE, or check the left side of the site!

Outside of the rising production credits of DJ Pierre and Murder Mark, the story of 2010 in the retooling but perpetually party rocking genre of Baltimore Club music is the rise of James Nasty. Playing U Street Music Hall’s Halloween party this Saturday night is one of many great accomplishments for the selector. A populist club DJ very reminiscent in production style to veteran Rod Lee of “Dance My Pain Away” fame, Nasty has had a fantastic 2010. Finding his own style as the headliner at the “next generation Taxlo” the Friday night weekly Moustache Dance Party at Baltimore’s Ottobar, he’s now aligned with the revised Bmore Original Records, and his single “Back It Up” is presently in rotation as a perpetual part of KW Griff’s Friday night mix on 92Q. As club music retools and new names like DJ Sega become top veterans and mentors, it’s names like James Nasty who are now at the forefront of pushing the genre ahead and being ones to watch. For 45 minutes, James and I discuss the nature of club music, past, present and future.

At roughly the 25 minute point, we’re joined by 2010’s Best Club Music Producer at voted by the Baltimore City Paper, the aforemntioned Murder Mark who joins the conversation and has some very pointed, poignant, honest and charismatic comments about the present and future of the genre.

Enjoy!

THE DROP: The Mickey Factz Interview

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XXL Magazine’s Top 10 Freshmen list is the newest wave of vaunted measures to best ascertain the future stars of hip hop. In the last two years, the list has yet to yield a #1 hitmaker, but has absolutely allowed the record industry to have a far more informed idea as to who are the performers best poised to carry the industry ahead into the 21st century.

In 2009, Bronx native Mickey Factz made that list. A lyricist who idolizes Joe Budden and values wordplay above all else, the emcee has worked with every rapper making consistent strides toward top line success on the lists of the past two years, recently touring with GOOD Music’s Big Sean. Factz signed a deal of late with Sony imprint Battery Records, and will finally see his anticipated debut, The Achievement, see the light of day. Having recorded it for two years, it is a testament to his skill and dedication that it will finally reach the airwaves.

At Monday night’s Unruly Records’ Direct Drive Record Pool and Listening Party at U Street Music Hall, I had the opportunity to discuss the nature of grinding, staying focused and putting together a solid debut with the affable emcee.

Enjoy!

THE DROP: The Rye Rye Interview

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As we’ve stated on this site before, Baltimore native and rising dance motivator Rye Rye’s re-ascendance to the top of the international underground is a wonderful story and cause for celebration. It’s been quite the journey from dropping bars over amazing hot mimimalist Bmore club track “Shake It to the Ground,” as her debut album Go! Pop! Bang! has an anticipated early 2011 release. She’s a favorite of anyone who has ever heard her hyperkinetic b-girl take on the universe, and the very combination of perpetual motion and entertainment. Her resurgence after giving birth to her daughter Kennidi and a plethora of other personal issues is nothing short of one of the finest stories in music of 2010 and proof that dedication and excellent live performance can carry a talent far and overcome obstacles in any generation.

Rye Rye’s summer and fall have been filled with nearly non-stop touring. Her performances as an opener for MIA have in some cases eclipsed those of her mentor. Last night at the 9:30 Club, opening for weirdo South African hip hop appreciation society Die Antwoord, she charmed the hearts of a throng of people wanting to hear songs about the stength and sinister nature of a man’s penis.

I had the opportunity to chat for a bit with the emcee and exciting dancer about the nature of balancing motherhood and touring, her upcoming album, career aspirations and what she’s listening to these days.

Enjoy!

Moombahton Massive – U Street Music Hall – 10/27/10

http://www.youtube.com/v/wqPRdzrjWpU?fs=1&hl=en_US

The easiest point of comparison for last night’s epic Moombahton Massive at U Street Music Hall is the legendary 1988 Slam Dunk Competition at the Chicago All-Star Weekend. The finalists were Michael “Air” Jordan of the hometown Chicago Bulls and “The Human Highlight Film” Dominique Wilkins of the Atlanta Hawks. Both earned their nicknames and a place in the hearts of basketball fanatics and popular culture because they could dunk. It wasn’t even so much that they could dunk, it was that in the expression of slamming a basketball through a hoop, they were creative visionaries who had the ability to capture imaginations in the simplest of tasks.

Literallly every major producer of the gestating genre of moombahton was waiting for tonight with bated breath. This was indeed the All-Star Game for the genre. Much like the All-Star Games were in the image rehabbing and rising in popularity 1980s of the NBA, this was a joyous events behind the scenes as regional, national and international stars could meet. However, when tip-off occurred it was an exposition of the grace, energy and power of something exciting, different and on the rise.

Calgary’s A-Mac opened and ran through a retinue of his own lighter yet still tremendous pop fare, which as moombahton started seven months ago was seen as cutting edge, forward thnking and really fun. His edit of A-Trak’s remix of the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s “Heads Will Roll” and Modjo’s “Lady” are still fantastic, but now sounds like Tiffany’s “I Think We’re Alone Now” as compared with MARRS’ “Pump Up the Volume.” Both were #1 hits in 1987, and both have merit, but are horses of a different color and breed.

Turntable Lab representer and Bersas Discos Records founder DJ Sabo was up next, and altered the landscape of moombahton forever. Let’s call it “moombahstep,” and let’s talk about his giant edit of Bob and Earl’s “Harlem Shuffle,” aka the horns responsible for the opening of House of Pain’s “Jump Around.” The sound is an iconic call to preparing to mosh and jump, and moombahton went from just being a sexy, Dutch house, cumbia and reggaeton related two stepper to having explosive depth and and harder tone. Sabo is also the man responsible for introducing house, alternative pop and bhangra elements to the genre as well, as he has taken favor to Cam Jus’ remix of MIA’s “Boyz” to great benefit in that area. Sabo’s set cast a wide net and returned more fruitful than ever before.

The Netherlands’ Munchi, the best producer of any genre under the age of 25 in the universe committed felony assault on a crowd with basslines last night. In his US debut, the man who has been making beats since he was roughly 11 years old ran through his string of inventive instant classics, namely his and frequent collaborator David Heartbreak’s reworkings of Big Pun’s “100%” and The Beatnuts’ “Off th Books” bringing lilting woodwind melodies to the party, extending into new tracks from his forthcoming debut EP for T & A Recordings invoking the theme to iconic 80s 8-bit Nintendo game Tetris. Munchi is to moombahton as DJ Sega is to club music. We took a brief detour from moombahton into Munchi’s kuduro flavored club music, his remix of Steve Starks’ “Git Em” sounding like a DJ Sega track with tribal drums being danced to by a herd of elephants. The set was completely insane, and as Sega’s club music does, re-sets all previous notions of wild and bizarre directions where elctronic dance music is headed.

In Dave Nada’s headlining farewell to DC set, the pater familias of moombahton ascended to new levels of terrific. We’re all completely aware of Dave’s talents as a producer, and they were on display here. From the now iconic tracks that started it all to his latest work in his Sol Selectas tandem with DJ Sabo, he was magnificent. However, it was his skill in masterfully DJing a set that icorporated every single element by pretty much every single producer of what has made his seven month journey into manhood as a professional possible that was inspiring on this night. Dave Nada created moombahton. Somewhere along the way, because what he created is so great, he’s been blessed to have been touched by a team of creative sources that may likely be greater than he is at what he invented. But in syntheszing those elements and nurturing the genre by makng the jagged edges smooth, or in honing directions the movement makes, he’s the leader moombahton needs to succeed. Like Deep Dish, Tittsworth, Scottie B, Toy Selectah and a likely plethora of others (who we could never likely entirely name in full, even if we tried) who have all in ways we’ll likely never understand influenced Nada and shown him how to be a steward of dance, his set showed a conscientiousness along with the typical punk inspired face smashing and heart melting side of the top selector and producer. It was a magical moment and another point of arrival of a humble man destined to be a superstar.

Moombahton has finally arrived in full. The world is not ready.

Dale!

CRATE DIG: Cover Girls – Show Me

Welcome to the newest regular feature here at True Genius Requires Insanity, the “Crate Dig.” As you may already be aware, we strongly feel as though it’s time to advocate a “back to basics” movement in music. We feel that instead of everyone being an innovator, that some of us need to be preserving the importance of original source material. To that end, the “Crate Dig” will feature members of the TGRIOnline.com staff, the “Hustlers of Culture,” digging through their mental crates to remember the songs that made them appreciate music. There will be some amazing, and yes, embarrassing choices here, but always the key impact is to remember when music was not something to be over studied, remixed, downloaded, forgotten and torn asunder. We’re remembering when music was simply a song you liked, and really couldn’t tell you more than a sentence or two why. Sit back, reminisce, and enjoy the building blocks of music appreciation.

http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/video/x12shi?additionalInfos=0
Show me -The Cover Girls
Uploaded by clcbarueri. – Explore more music videos.

Song: Cover Girls – Show Me

Year released: 1987
Year “discovered” by me: 1987
Reason discovered: Freshest sound I’d ever heard

When I was nine years old, I had three musical favorites. Michael Jackson, Prince and George Michael. Everything else was good, but those guys were great. Rap was around, Motown was a huge influence, and I loved the teen pop of the day, but my big favorites were that triumvirate. However, one day, I’m in the car with my mother on the way to school, and everything changed. It was hip hop, it was dance, and there were horns everywhere. As I’ve chronicled in this column before, I was a GIANT nerd at this point, so suffice to say, I wasn’t exactly dancing to this sound, it was more like I was wildly gyrating and appearing to have the onset of a seizure. Seizing movements notwithstanding, I waited for Donnie Simpson, then of DC urban powerhouse radio station WKYS to identify this sound, and he said, that was “Show Me,” by The Cover Girls. I wrote it on the inside of my notebook, and from there on out, if I heard anything on the radio that remotely sounded like “Show Me,” it went on the inside of my notebook. Names like Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam and Stevie B soon joined, and then one day while reading Right On! magazine at the supermarket, I saw a pic of the Cover Girls, had a giant crush on the trio, and a name for this sound I loved: freestyle.
 
I became compulsive about freestyle. Being nine and in retrospect easily confused for a closet racist, I presumed that because Latinos were at the top of the heap in singing freestyle songs that I could find more of it on traditional Spanish speaking radio. I didn’t, but there, I discovered Celia Cruz, Tito Puente, Enrique Iglesias and salsa, merengue, bachata, cumbia and a plethora of other sounds.
 
Being a fan of freestyle, when Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam came out with “Head to Toe,” I was hugely into it, and was amazed when it freestyle went from something I JUST heard on the radio and saw on urban video shows like local CBS affiliate WUSA-TV 9’s Friday night “Music Video Connection” to something competing alongside and soon topping Poison and Richard Marx for #1 on Casey Kasem’s “America’s Top 10.” However, even though there were tons more, including TKA and related group K7 in later years, I blame freestyle and namely the Cover Girls for really blowing open the doors of dance music to me. I really got into the house of MARRS’ “Pump Up the Volume,” and much of Queen Latifah’s early work and the Jungle Brothers because I really loved hip hop/dance fusion. But something about the little extra of the Latin sounds in freestyle keps that sound fresh and exciting to me to this day.
 
With tonight being the largest night in the nascent history of moombahton, this Crate Dig, regarding how I got into Latin sounds felt appropriate.
 
Dale moombahton!

Moombahton is massive. A brief history.

The moments along the way where I saw the mainstream potential of the sound are obvious. Foremost would be when Toy Selectah and DJ Sabo got involved. Toy, a mastermind of he development of every significant Latino rhythm that ever crossed over (and aware that Mexican teens were already into and over raverton from years before), and Turntable Lab’s Sabo already having started the Bersas Discos imprint, rescuing classic Latin and tribal sounds and preserving them forever. Toy has been a steward of the movement, his influence a guide to Nada going deeper into the cumbia rabbit hole to best understand the roots of what he has discovered. Sabo? He’s likely the best producer of the sound, his tracks lacking the tremendous insistence of other’s prodctions and instead feeling completely relaxed, as if he’s guiding us, whereas other tracks feel like you’re alongside the DJ in the journey into the potential of the sound.

The other moments have involved seeing moombahton travel across social settings and succeed. Last night, I saw a crowd of urban trending, hip hop loving, dance music appreciating post-hipsters and bourgeoisie at the Rock Creek Social Club’s “Good Life” event go ape for the sound, realizing it’s Latin and dancehall impulse. Nada’s birthday party, the July 3rd “Tormenta Tropical” introduced DC’s underground dance community at large to Sabo and his Bersas Discos crew, U Street Music Hall was packed to capacity and again, filled with people awestruck, once again appearing as though they’re watching the opening to 2001: A Space Odyssey. Some of the best nights of the summer were of course at Nada’s Moombahton Mondays at Velvet Lounge, not just for the music, but for watching straight laced people who typically would never be into underground dance movments literally getting sucked into the venue, having fallen prey to the hypnotic sway of the sound. Sunday nights on the outdoor patio of DC’s 18th Street Lounge were major as well, as watching K Street bottle service types rocking it back and forth was a sight to behold. Even more amazing than that, DC’s Hot 99.5 (a radio station lampooned by many underground types for it’s pure top 40 format) featuring the sound in the midst of DJ Chris Styles’ Frday night peak hour radio mix.

Moombahton has expanded to be internationally incredible. The leader in the international expansion of the sound, the Netherlands’ Munchi is the next great world renowned undrground DJ. Only 18, there was a time when having discussions about moombahton with Chris Kelly where we’d discuss him and his stateside collaborator David Heartbreak in hushed tones, just generally being impressed with how honest to the traditional sound but completely forward thinking their compositions were. Munchi’s “Metele Bellaco” sampling Afrika Bambaataa’s “Planet Rock” and Heartbreak starting his success by sampling the Ying Yang Twins’ “Saltshaker” opened the doors wide, as it both globalized the sound on a physical and genre-specific level. Speaking of international, Calgary’s A-Mac had the first big moombahton hit, his moombah-electro habit meeting up with A-Trak’s remix of the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s “Heads Will Roll,” the Doobie Brithers’ “long train Running” and his edit of Modjo’s “Lady” expanding the sound into more expectantly underground areas with brilliance.

The most wonderful concept about the sound is the interplay between technology and brotherhood. The entire genre has been developed wonderfully and without ego or agitation. Underground producers bring sounds to the table only if they’re quality, as producers understand that stewardship of the movement lies in developing consistent excellence. With the advent of Twitter, top tracks get co-signed directly out of the box. Imagine if when Baltimore club was resurgent in the early 2000s if Twitter existed. There would be significantly fewer low-quality of craftsmanship bootlegs floating around diluting the sound and it’s ability to gain credibility. Moombahton’s bloodlines remain as pure as chopped and screwed Dutch house with a twist of cumbia’s can.

From Chicago’s Rampage and Nader’s freestyle explorations to Baltimore’s Uncle Jesse heading in a disco house direction, DC’s Cam Jus keeping things sexy, Philly’s Emynd heading straight for the heart of downtown clubs, and so many more brilliant stops along the way, moombahton has surprised listeners and producers alike, and awakened the imaginaton of dance music. So much of what has been recent has been entirely dervative of established norms. Moombahton is radically different and requiring a true understanding of how Latin sounds and disparate other melodies can co-exist peacefully. Moombahton is accessible, but nothing, and I mean NOTHING sounds as bad as a moombahton track that slightly misses the mark. Thankfully, we have this genre pretty much safely in the hands of a talented few, instead of being prostituted by all.

From such humble and heartfelt beginnings, moombahton’s now in Rolling Stone, and the next big sound. It is a testament to the talent and professionalism of the top DJs and producers involved, and the extreme and increasing force of the internet as a medium that this has occurred. “At the club, I shake my ass,” indeed.

Dale moombahton!