Singles, Remixes & MP3S
“Letter from God to Man”
by Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip
(Sunday Best)
Last year, an English indie-rap duo called Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius
Pip released “Thou Shalt Always Kill”—a modest hit, reaching
number 34 on the UK pop charts. As novelty records go, it was fine,
largely because it had one great moment, when Scroobius Pip marshaled a
plainspoken litany so stunning it left the rest of the song in the
dust: the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, ad infinitum, all the
way up to “the next big thing”—each of them, we were informed, or
maybe reminded, was “just a band.”
Unfortunately, the pair now takes themselves seriously. On “Letter
from God to Man,” producer Dan Le Sac constructs his track by cutting
up Radiohead’s “Planet Telex,” which sounds fantastic made over. Not so
much the lyrics, which sound inescapably pompous even filtered through
Scroobius Pip’s innately dorky voice: “Religion became a tool/For the
weak to control the strong/With all these new rules and ethics/Survival
of the fittest was gone.” Thanks, prof.
“Out Here Grindin'”
by DJ Khaled
(Koch)
Last year, a Miami hiphop radio personality called DJ Khaled
released “We Takin’ Over”—a modest hit, reaching number 28 on the
Billboard Hot 100. It was a largely lousy mainstream rap record: bland
soup with a magic egg at the bottom in the shape of a brilliant Lil
Wayne verse that begins, enchantingly, “I am a beast/Feed me rappers or
feed me beats.”
Unfortunately, Khaled will baldly recycle his formula as long as
someone lets him. On “Out Here Grindin’,” featuring Akon, Rick Ross,
Plies, Trick Daddy, Lil Boosie, Lil Wayne, and Ace Hood, the Runners’
production has some spring in it, and Wayne is on such a roll he could
be sleepwalking and still murder the competition. Not that it’s
especially difficult here: Everyone else just sounds dead. Not Khaled,
unfortunately, who as usual screeches his own name so often he makes
Mike Jones sound like a mute. Seriously, is there a more depressing
and/or less talented figure in modern music than Khaled? He rarely
produces, doesn’t rhyme, and owns a Rolodex. Wow. Anyway, Weezy was
taken off the official release and replaced by Young Jeezy. Everybody
loses. 