The year 2000 was a year of jubilation for many, the Lox included. Initially conscripted to serve in Bad Boy's army by the lure of the Notorious, they surely felt played by Mr. Combs suspect tactics. The lead single off their lone Bad Boy offering was based on a Rod Stewart sample and featured more shiny suits in the accompanying video. The only time they seemed appealing was on the title track "Money, Power, Respect" featuring DMX, with whom they shared management.
That management also happened to be the Ruff Ryder team and they somehow freed them from Diddyland to get them onto their own label. The next offering had the Lox sounding more comfortable, but funny enough they didn't shed the slick production more often linked with Mr. Combs. "Ryde or Die Bitch" featured cute labelmate Eve and a poppy beat by Timbaland. Maybe they weren't in shiny suits but this was made for the radio.
Still the Lox show why for some reason they still manage to be appealing to this day. The Lox never come off as consistently grimy to me. If not ghetto, they seem more working class. They still present the rough edges, but there is a charm about them. They know better. But they wallow in the muck anyway. And with the slightly Latin breeze blowing through this beat, they are free to kick mud around after the rain shower.
Each member runs off a mixture of ideal scenarios and attributes of their dream lady, let's call her Ghetto Madonna. She definitely is resourceful ("Got the brand new spring Prada shit in the fall"), curvaceous ("Don't matter what size panties, fitting her small"), and pretty much a freak of the highest nature ("Gave me head cause the movie was wack (Yes the beat stops here for emphasis), word"). She also shows at least a working knowledge of violent measures necessary for the drug game, but that's neither here nor there.
Its all silly fun. Enjoy a throwback to when gas was still around $1.50 and all those cars in the video seemed okay to own.
Showing posts with label plea deal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label plea deal. Show all posts
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Plea Deal: Rell - If That's My Baby
There are many guilty pleasures in life. And I am tired of pleading ignorance and denying the things I love that might not be so highly ragarded by the cognoscenti. And so for the guilty pleasures I offer these Plea Deals. I will continue to enjoy them. And I will not be ashamed.
Now for my first installment, I offer If That's My Baby by Rell. At his height he was the go-to hook singer for the Roc-A-Fella record label appearing on records for each of the label's more prominent rapper stable. This track was his shot in the dark to capitalize on the minimal name recognition he did have. In the male R & B crop, the field is mediocre and there is no stand out. It is too easy to just fall to the way side because everybody pretty much sounds the same. A small scrawny black kid with a gritty church-honed tenor doesn't exactly wow the masses. He disappeared after this track but reappeared on a Young Gunz single. After that, I haven't heard much.
But I remember seeing the video to this song one time on a Saturday night video show on BET. I believe I was at my former institution in Connecticut probably recovering from a hang over or just experiencing general malaise on an autumn night. I heard the song and it was just so comically honest, I jumped on my ethernet connection and found that song. I remember I was one of like 7 users who had it, but I bumped that joint.
There is no amazing musical achievement exhibited in this song. The lyrics aren't exactly awe inspiring. But I aways feel that rhythm and blues was the best music for telling a story. Even though the current crop of artisans in ths particular field are wanting, still the tracks have the ability to evoke a soap opera right in front of your eyes. R. Kelly's "Trapped In A Closet" is an extreme example. But good ol' R & B can put some drama in you. It can just not only move you physically but entertain you as well. This is something it had to inherit from its ancestors like slave songs to gospel and blues.
Rell offers a simple taste. Simple story known across genres: cheating dog gets caught. But in this twist Rell is speaking to the mistress, the homewrecker who claims she carries his child. And with ease we are drawn into his thoughts and side of the hypothetical conversation as he explains his anguish and expectations. Like the lyrics, the music is straightforward and simple, held together by a solid bass line and a reoccurring electronic organ to evoke a churchy feel to the proceedings.
To add even more pleasure to the whole party, I am a sucker for the use of natural vernacular in song form. By the end, our boy has ad-libbed that the child's name and facial features better be reminiscent of him if indeed he is the father. It's not even four minutes, but every time the shuffle delivers it to me, I smile. Ignorant unnecessary drama at its best.
Now for my first installment, I offer If That's My Baby by Rell. At his height he was the go-to hook singer for the Roc-A-Fella record label appearing on records for each of the label's more prominent rapper stable. This track was his shot in the dark to capitalize on the minimal name recognition he did have. In the male R & B crop, the field is mediocre and there is no stand out. It is too easy to just fall to the way side because everybody pretty much sounds the same. A small scrawny black kid with a gritty church-honed tenor doesn't exactly wow the masses. He disappeared after this track but reappeared on a Young Gunz single. After that, I haven't heard much.
But I remember seeing the video to this song one time on a Saturday night video show on BET. I believe I was at my former institution in Connecticut probably recovering from a hang over or just experiencing general malaise on an autumn night. I heard the song and it was just so comically honest, I jumped on my ethernet connection and found that song. I remember I was one of like 7 users who had it, but I bumped that joint.
There is no amazing musical achievement exhibited in this song. The lyrics aren't exactly awe inspiring. But I aways feel that rhythm and blues was the best music for telling a story. Even though the current crop of artisans in ths particular field are wanting, still the tracks have the ability to evoke a soap opera right in front of your eyes. R. Kelly's "Trapped In A Closet" is an extreme example. But good ol' R & B can put some drama in you. It can just not only move you physically but entertain you as well. This is something it had to inherit from its ancestors like slave songs to gospel and blues.
Rell offers a simple taste. Simple story known across genres: cheating dog gets caught. But in this twist Rell is speaking to the mistress, the homewrecker who claims she carries his child. And with ease we are drawn into his thoughts and side of the hypothetical conversation as he explains his anguish and expectations. Like the lyrics, the music is straightforward and simple, held together by a solid bass line and a reoccurring electronic organ to evoke a churchy feel to the proceedings.
To add even more pleasure to the whole party, I am a sucker for the use of natural vernacular in song form. By the end, our boy has ad-libbed that the child's name and facial features better be reminiscent of him if indeed he is the father. It's not even four minutes, but every time the shuffle delivers it to me, I smile. Ignorant unnecessary drama at its best.
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