A World Without Michael Jackson

(Note: this entry appears on all the Tim Girton blogs)

It's taken me this long to blog about the death of Michael Jackson because I wanted to gather my thoughts before I went off half-cocked and unbalanced.

From the top, I was a fan of his music. I grew up with it. While a lot of kids wanted to be Michael, I worried less about the singing and performing and more about the hair. There was an imaginary race in which the little kid with the big voice was trying to grow his afro larger than mine. Who won? That didn't really matter, but it was the beginning of the Jackson Effect on my youth.

At the time when he wanted to break away from his family and establish his own identity, the natural rebellion was building in me. Neither of us were as dramatic as some, but we wanted to be individuals. There were stumbling blocks. After the love song to the rat ("Ben") there wasn't much success for Mike. My own bits of individuality caved to peer and family pressure and I conformed to the idea that the black kid couldn't be the smart kid.

In my late teens and Michael's twenties, "Off the Wall" and "Thriller" caught the public's attention in a huge way. That's where we diverged. I was still the shy kid still afraid to express myself because it wasn't cool. I remained a fan of the music, but I started to gravitate toward Prince as the icon that would be the individual that I couldn't bring myself to be.

Michael was still there, though. I respected the fact that he broke MTV's barrier against black music, with Prince closely following. As I started exploring me, Michael was going into hyperbole, purchasing Neverland Ranch and buying a zoo to fill it. The plastic surgeries got to the point of self parody which showed me there was a limit to self indulgence.

I started on the journey that I continue on now. Back in the day, I had friends that argued that Michael was better than Prince or that Prince dominated Michael, but I wonder what would have happened if Michael's idea of a Prince duet had actually come to fruition. That was the genesis of the song "Bad" but Prince balked.

Having said all that, I am not blind to the dark side. The stories continue to come out about Michael's foibles, financial issues and the even darker charges of pedophilia. There seemed to be no one there to check him or even check on him. His will has surfaced in which father Joe Jackson gets absolutely nothing because of the child abuse he subjected Michael to.

My spirit misses the art and wonders if someone could have stopped some of the bad parts of his life, particularly if the father wouldn't. I have been blessed to have embarked on a earthly and spiritual journey that will keep me from moving on any dark thoughts and actions like that.

I wish Michael well on his next journey. Perhaps that life will be better than this.

Fare well and I'll see you when I get there.

Drake featuring Trey Songz - Successful

Random Lyric:

I get it, I live it

To me there's nothing realer

Just enough to solve your problems

Too much'll kill ya

Are there high hopes for a song like this considering our stance on generic singers? We're still trying to figure out who Drake is and what he does, but we already know Trey sounds like any number of other young R&B singers. They all sing out of their natural register to fit the record corporations definition of where the hit octave is. The results are usually pretty bland.

After listening to it a few times, you wonder why they bothered to put Trey on the track. Drake's the real star here and Trey, while he's a different voice and he handles the more avaristic properties of the song, didn't need to be there. With his singing and his rhyming, Drake seems like he had it already.

The best is a simple drum machine with some low synth lines attached. It sounds pretty much like what a 10 year old would put together if this was his first time using an 808. Luckily, Drake's lyrics and slow flow rescue the song. Rather than rapping about how much money he has, he sings the praises of being successful. It succeeds.

Banger or booty: banger

Previously by Drake

The One (with Mary J Blige)

Best I Ever Had

Every Girl (with Lil Wayne, Jae Mills & Mack Maine)

Previously by Trey Songz

I Need A Girl

Plies - Becky

Random Lyric:

Just got Becky, I can't move

I love Becky, yes I do

The beat is bananas and Plies' mush mouth flow is on point, riding the drums exactly he should.

My problem is that Plies can rhyme the dumbest things sometimes. This is one of those times. This is also one of those times when you can't figure out what's going on in his head. He's one of the smartest brothers in the game, but he purposly comes off as the stereotype of the stupid rapper. When you put out lyrics that say "I'm your good, you my goonette" or "you my property, I'm yo' owner" both of which come from "Want It, Need It," you get confused.

And then here comes "Becky," off the forthcoming album "Good Affiliated" and you think, here we go again. The song itself is simple enough. It's all about the artist begging for a certain type of sexual pleasure. However, since "Becky" is slang for a white female, the implication is that he can only find what he's looking for with a white female. That's not going to make the sistas mad at all, is it?

All in all, hot beats, good (is mush mouthed) flow and dumb lyrics. Sounds like a recipe for big success or big failure but we can't so-sign this.

Banger or booty: booty

Previously by Plies

Nasty Girl (with Ludacris)

Want It, Need It (with Ashanti)

Put It On Ya

Pants Hang Low

Come On In (with Sean Garrett and Akon)

Out Here Grindin' (with DJ Khaled, Akon, Rick Ross, Lil Boosie, Trick Daddy Ace Hood and Lil Wayne)

Amerie - Why R U

Random Lyric:

Wasted all my time

And here I am still crying over you

Over you

This one is confusing. Amerie is singing sweet lyrics to a man who is the only guy she's caring about. It's a love song in the tradition of the lyrics she wrote when she was being nominated for Grammys.

So why did her producers handicap her with an old beat from the Ultramagnetic MCs? That's the confusing part. Here's an artist who has a recognizable voice and some accolades and some producer puts a big 808 sound on it? Remember how disappointed you were when you heard Alicia Keys sing "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore" and about half way through a potential torch song classic, somebody decided you needed some big beats? You get the same effect here. A song full of pining love for a man that Amerie considers the only one is destroyed because someone had cleared a sample and couldn't wait to use it rather than trying to find the right music for the song.

So here is a potential winner that sounds like it's a patchwork of disparate elements masqurading as the come back song for Amerie. The original song was called "Ego Trippin'." That's exactly what the producers were doing here. It sounds like they tried to recreate the Mary J. Blige sound from the early 90s, but forgot that Puff Daddy is nothing more than a talent thief, not a real producer.

Banger or booty: booty (with apologies to the talented Amerie - it's not her fault)

Mariah Carey - Obsessed

Random Lyric:

All up in the blogs

Say we met at the bar

When I don't even know who you are

So here you have the diva, the icon, Mariah Carey. She's beautiful. She's perceived the be just crazy enough to keep the gossip bloggers interested. She's a cougar in the sexiest sense of the word. She's singing a song that seems to be aimed squarely at Eminem, whom she may or may not have had a date with a bunch of years ago.

She's an alto with a 5 octave vocal range and is one of the few (possibly the only one) who can sing in the "whisper register." Various sources have named her among the greatest voices in music.

And now it's time for a new album so what is the one thing a producer can do to try to give her a hit sound? There are those that would put some music together and let the butterfly sing. Looking for the next banger, and we're always looking for the next banger, we checked out the first single from Mariah's coming album "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel."

Red flag number one: it's produced by The-Dream. Red flag number two: he puts the Auto-Tune on the voice of a generation. Yes, we know that's the hot copycat sound for an artist or, in this case, producer who is so lame as to have run out of ideas. But this is Mariah. Terius, what the hell were you thinking? Mimi doesn't need all that.

But despite The-Dream's best efforts to ruin the song and perhaps kill Mariah's career, she takes over the song and shines through. She's been in the game too long to have a simplistic producer destroy her fantastic body of work. Through all of the above challenges, she's still Mariah Carey.

Banger or booty: banger

Previously by Mariah Carey:

My Love (with The-Dream)
I Stay In Love
Just Stand Up (with Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Rihanna, Fergie, Sheryl Crow, Melissa Ethridge, Natasha Bedingfield, Miley Cyrus, Leona Lewis, Carrie Underwood, Keyshia Cole, Leann Rimes, Ashanti, Ciara)

Mary J Blige featuring Drake - The One

Random Lyric:

Way I walk, way I talk

My swagger

Boy you know every boss

Wanna have her

This must have been intimidating. You're a new artist and you find out that you're going to be on song by the legendary Mary J. Blige and produced by Rodney Jerkins, who indentifies himself in every song he puts together (which is annoying) as Dark Child. Imagine Drake walking into that recording session.

Well, if we still recorded songs like that. These days you can be on songs where you never meet the other artist, but it's a romantic image anyway.

Speaking of annoying, why on earth did Dark Child put the Auto-tune on Mary J's pristine voice? Are you kidding? Did he not think that the Queen of Hip Hop Soul had a strong enough presense on her own? Did he miss the millions and millions of CDs and singles that she's sold on the strength of her raw vocal power? Think about it. Sean "Puff Daddy P Diddy" Combs kills most careers shortly after he works with an artist, but Mary has perservered.

At this point, you have to wonder if Rodney is just being a jerk. You have one of the realist voices in the history of music. Don't be playing like that. And yet, Mary J overcomes Jerk's computerized interference and makes the song her own anyway. Another Mary J Blige banger.

Banger or booty: banger

Previously by Mary J. Blige:

Remember Me (with T.I.)

Just Stand Up (with Mariah Carey, Beyonce, Rihanna, Fergie, Sheryl Crow, Melissa Ethridge, Natasha Beddingfield, Miley Cyrus, Leona Lewis, Carrie Underwood, Keyshia Cole, Leann Rimes, Ashanti and Ciara)

50 Cent - Okay, You're Right

Random Lyric:

Please don't interrupt me when I'm talking to my jeweler

He's putting diamonds all over my Franck Muller

Wasn't there something we used to like about 50 Cent? Was it the swagger he had when no one really had it at the time? Was it a fresh sound? Was it the fire and drive to succeed?

These days everyone has swagger. Nothing really new that when it comes to Curtis. The formerly fresh sound now sounds like anything else Dr. Dre is putting together. Big beats, big synths and slow beats per minute. Sounds like all the rest. But what about the drive to succeed? Well, he's had success with music and Vitamin Water so where's the fire now?

Think about it. To generate sales on his last two projects, he's picked a fight with Kanye West and lost. Right now, he's feuding with Rick Ross and, when it comes to sales, losing here, too. Are we done with 50 Cent? The answer can be found with the G-Unit. Yeah, we know the response there. What G-Unit? Most posses go away at some point in an artists career, but G-Unit crashed and burned with high profile problems from The Game and crying from Young Buck. And when was the last time you were caught in public wearing G-Unit clothes.

On this track, 50 continues the downward trend with another wack track. Don't worry, he's going to be okay living off the proceeds of Vitamin Water and talking about folks on ThisIs50.com. Whether you're a fan or not, he's not going away anytime soon.

Banger or booty: booty

Previously by 50 Cent:

Crack-A-Bottle (with Eminem & Dr. Dre)

I Get It In

Get Up

Jeremih - Imma Star (Everywhere We Are)

Random Lyric:

Imma keep my aim

Gotta make the big shots

In my linen suit

Louis V flip flops

One hit record and it's nice to see his modesty is intact.

If you didn't detect it right away, that's sarcasm. Just knowing how the record corporations see it as their job to screw new young artists with really bad contracts, one hit doesn't mean you can put yourself on a pedestal just yet. How laughable is it to hear him sing about all his ice and all his cars. Did he mention that they're all rented?

Just as we have laugh at rappers with that opinion of themselves, thus we do with Jeremih. That's actually a shame because, while he's stuck in the same fake tenor sound as most male R&B singers, his doesn't grate on the nerves quite as much. The beat is simple but hypnotic. What brings the song down is the lyrics. In an era when General Motors went bankrupt and the record corporations are lying about their poverty, do we really think a guy that sang one song successfully has all that money?

Sorry, Jeremih. We like you, but we know better.

Banger or booty: booty

Previously by Jeremih:

    My Time (with Fabolous)

    Birthday Sex

T.I. featuring Mary J. Blige - Remember Me

Random Lyric:

When the world needed Tip

Ask where he was at 

But we he need something back 

Fade to black

The image makeover of T.I. continues. It actually started before he started serving his one year bid. As evidenced by songs like "Dead and Gone," Tip has been showing contrition over the machine gun charges. In his most recent songs, he mentions that he's going to be away for a while and he hopes his fans will be there when he gets out.

Now that he's in the pen, out comes a song with one of music's biggest guns (so to speak) Mary J. Blige. He's been hinting about his circumstances at various times, but this one is as specific as it comes and probably timed to come out just as he went in. Now that Mr. Harris is in, he urges us to remember him.

We all know, though, that a year is a long time in hip hop, which is still very much a "what have you done for me lately" genre of music. Perhaps T.I. can overcome that. After all, rap's biggest stars have shown that it can be done. Jay-Z takes time off and still comes back hard. LL Cool J used to put CDs out with space in between. And it can be argued that T.I. is a big star.

The flip side is this. When was the last time we had a hit from Dem Franchize Boyz or The Game? They were big one moment and gone the next. Hopefully he's got a pen and a pad and we get another banger a year and a day from now.

Banger or booty: banger

Previously by T.I.:

    Dead and Gone (with Justin Timberlake)

    Live Your Life (with Rihanna)

    Ain't I (with Yung L.A.)

    Just Like Me (with Jamie Foxx)

    Swagger Like Us (with Jay-Z, Kanye West and Lil Wayne)

    Wish You Would (with Ludacris) 

Previously by Mary J. Blige:

    Just Stand Up (with Mariah Carey, Beyonce, Rihanna, Fergie, Sheryl Crow, Melissa Ethridge, Natasha Beddingfield, Miley Cyrus, Leona Lewis, Carrie Underwood, Keyshia Cole, Leann Rimes, Ashanti and Ciara)

Jay-Z - D.O.A. (Death of Auto-tune)

Random Lyric:

This ain't politically correct

This might offend my political connects

Okay, so Mr. Carter already got our attention with the title. How long have we been wishing that the Auto-tune sound would die? It's creative when one or two people use it. It's lazy when everyone does. There is a balance between talent and technology and things are seriously out of balance right now.

Jay-Z acknowledges all the above in D.O.A. (Death of Auto-tune). He compares himself to Sinatra at the opera while saying he knows this isn't a number one record. That's probably true. The record companies have too many connections to push their own agenda and right now, they've made it clear that that computerized sound is part of their plans. Why else would people can legitimately sing be forced to use it? Is it to cover up for artists that clearly are manufactured by the record corporations for image alone? Jay calls for rappers to go back to rap. Is that a reference to Kanye West or Gorilla Zoe?

The flow is typical Jay-Z and the beats are New York based, which is what he does. Who else but Jay could stand up to the nonsense we've had to deal with since everyone started to imitate T-Pain? Who else has the juice? Thank you Jay. No, it's not a number one record, but it could be the first salvo and rescuing our music.

Banger or booty: banger

Previous songs by Jay-Z:

    My President Is Black (with Young Jeezy and Nas)

    Brooklyn Go Hard (with Santogold)

    History

    Boyz (with M.I.A.)

    Swagger Like Us (with T.I., Kanye West and Lil Wayne)

Webstar & Jim Jones featuring Juelz Santana - Dancing On Me

Random Lyric:

Shawty ain't let me leave

When I move she move, she ain't let me breathe

When you listen to this jam, you wonder if this was something that Ron Browz had done. All the elements are there like "Pop Champagne": minimalist beat, Auto-Tune enhancement (if you could call it that) and Jim Jones jacking another song. At least that's what it sounds like. When we heard "Pop Champagne" we felt like it was probably already a finished Ron Browz project that Jones shoehorned his way into. The Webstar track sounds just like that. Guess that's the perks of being a record executive and an artist.

That being said, this one would make you turn up your speakers even if Jones was absent. Webstar's previous claim to fame was the novelty rap "Chicken Noodle Soup" with Young B. Now he's making a bid to jump out of the one-hit wonder cycle. This could accomplish that, but he's still not establishing himself as a force in music because once again there are other people on the track and, while the collaboration works but it seems equal parts Webstar, Jimmy and Juelz and not really like his own thing.

You head nods even harder on repeated listenings despite the stripper lyrics. At least it's not as blatant as some recent offerings from other immature artists. "Dancing On Me" works.

Banger or booty: banger

Previously by Jim Jones:

    Na Na Nana Na Na (with NOE and Brittney Taylor)

Previously by Juelz Santana:

    PaYow (with Huey and Bobby Valentino)

Sean Kingston - Fire Burning

Random Lyric:

Shawty got a super thing

Hotter than the sun in the south of Spain

The poppest of all pop/dancehall acts is back with a new joint and he's brought his friend with him. Problem is, his friend is named Auto-Tune. For all the success of his first album and his first singles, did the 19 year old cross over sensation need such a flavor of the month sound to his vocals. When you hear the song, its sound is already flavor of the month Europop.

And yet he's sold nearly 400,000 downloads so can we really hate on him? Not really

But with only Kingston and Sean Paul representing the islands in music at the moment, it would have made us happier to have something that sounded more like Jamaica and less like a mainstream act who sings funny. And that's the way this one strikes us. Sean grew up in Kingston (hence his stage name), but we don't think this is a track that would be listens in the land of his youth.

Our feelings are mixed with this song. We wish the young man continued success, but where does he go from here? The fat black man doesn't seem to have a lot of longevity on the pop music side of things.

Banger or booty: both

Previously by Sean Kingston:

    On the Corner (with Gorilla Zoe)

Fabolous featuring Jeremih - My Time

Random Lyric:

I don't even need a watch

I don't even see a clock

Soon as I walk in

It feel like me o'clock

The reintroduction of Fabolous starts out perfectly by having a new singer who's claimed the number one spot sing your hooks. Most of the time, these collaborations don't work, even though every record corporation is convinced they do. Look at how many time you see duets and partnerships and think that it ought to be hot. Then you listen to the song and wish you had that 4 minutes of your life back.

Fab's flow is a bit sing-song but that's in keeping with incessant snare, while Jeremih still sounds as hungry as any new artist. "Birthday Sex" notwithstanding, here's an artist that's not full of himself yet. He's on his grind, trying to make it happen, which just so happens to be the subject of the lyrics here.

The drums sound like they could be played by a marching band and, if this is a hit, expect FAMU to use it in their halftime shows this fall. Over the summer break, certain bands might want to start learning it, just in case.

This represents a different style for Fabolous. Instead of being a laid back rhymer who barely opened his mouth, he gets his message out very clearly. This is where he should be in his development as an artist. Too bad he couldn't leave out the drug reference. Stop using words like "Pyrex" and this could have gone from good to great.

Banger or booty: banger

Previously by Fabolous:

    Good Lovin' (with Slim and Ryan Leslie)

    You Got Me (with One Block Radius and Baby Bash

    

Previously by Jeremih:

    Birthday Sex