Under Construction

Message Bookmarked
Bookmark Removed
Not all messages are displayed: show all messages (113 of them)
I think my mp3s are mixed up with some of the titles, which one is that? For me that's a pleasant enough ballad with some nicely creamy touches in the mix.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 8 November 2002 17:56 (twenty-one years ago) link

The one about kittens, Ned

Just spotted this in the Missy Thank You's in the booklet:
"MARCELLO - good looking, you're a sweet gal!"

(s)he gets everywhere!

Jeff W (Jeff W), Friday, 8 November 2002 18:01 (twenty-one years ago) link

Wow! There's influence. ;-) And yes, we're talking about the same track. There's a lot of subtle contrast going on in it I really like (works better for me than "Nothing Out There for Me").

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 8 November 2002 18:07 (twenty-one years ago) link

So after making through it once, I say four definite duds, four definite classics and the rest in between. My favorite track is the one that Meth guests on, sounds like The W, only bettah!

Yancey (ystrickler), Friday, 8 November 2002 18:09 (twenty-one years ago) link

Jesus the TLC song is awful.

Yancey (ystrickler), Friday, 8 November 2002 18:10 (twenty-one years ago) link

There is one thing I'm definitely annoyed with now, that 'exclusive' bit. Her equivalent of X-Clan going on about 'vanglorious'...

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 8 November 2002 18:11 (twenty-one years ago) link

I totally concur, Ned. Using "This is a Missy exclusive" as her mic warmup is a dud. Are we to assume that when she doesn't start with that she's biting?

I dislike "Back in the Day" for the same reason. Why is she just telling us over and over that this is ye ole skool when it's already so obvious that it is? Those rhymes just aren't that interesting. The Jay-Z opening is smooth, but it goes on too long with those lines. (I might have that track title wrong)

Yancey (ystrickler), Friday, 8 November 2002 18:23 (twenty-one years ago) link

Agree with Ned's last comment.

is "the legend" wot's under construction? or is it hiphop?

More the latter. But it's the attitude that's the target rather than the music.

The intention is clearly stated in the first bit of chat, but is underlined in the last (at the end of "Can You Hear Me"), which feels spookily pertinent now post the Jam Master Jay shooting.

In summary:
Good album. No more than two not-so-great tracks, I'd say. A lot more accessible than ...So Addictive.

Jeff W (Jeff W), Friday, 8 November 2002 18:24 (twenty-one years ago) link

I like Jeff W.'s summary. Ain't changing the world, sounds damn good nonetheless.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 8 November 2002 18:31 (twenty-one years ago) link

Okay, halfway through and I'm DYING. "P***ycat" is ASTONISHING. Ned belongs in the penalty box for that "creamy touches" remark. Really, this is best ballad EVER WRITTEN. It's "Rock The Boat" with lyrics!

The "vainglorious"/"The red, the black, and the green, SISSIEEEEEEEEES!" parts of the X-Clan album were great.

Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 8 November 2002 19:48 (twenty-one years ago) link

This album just makes me smile. Like every sound makes me happy.

Sterling Clover (s_clover), Friday, 8 November 2002 19:57 (twenty-one years ago) link

NB: Missy has released exclusive remixes to both major chicago "urban" stations. Each of them has an extra verse/chorus where she praises the station. i.e. "b 96 keep you twerkin/them other stations can't work it... dance dance/keep it movin'/b 96 got the groove n'/keep it smoov yeah"

Sterling Clover (s_clover), Friday, 8 November 2002 20:12 (twenty-one years ago) link

This is really a good album. Better than the Underworld album, easily.

Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 8 November 2002 20:13 (twenty-one years ago) link

Ned belongs in the penalty box for that "creamy touches" remark.

But I meant that a positive thing!

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 8 November 2002 20:24 (twenty-one years ago) link

YOU KNOW WHY YOU ARE IN THE PENALTY BOX. Don't try to play innocent.

Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 8 November 2002 20:54 (twenty-one years ago) link

Eh? Clearly I missed a line in the song. ;-)

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 8 November 2002 21:01 (twenty-one years ago) link

Okay Ned, reread what you said, then go back and LISTEN TO THE SONG'S WORDS.

Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 8 November 2002 21:36 (twenty-one years ago) link

Hey, this 'absorb the lyrics indirectly' deal works better than I thought!

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 8 November 2002 21:55 (twenty-one years ago) link

"Gossip Folks" is fucking ridiculous. Use of horse latin in the chorus of your song = INSTANT CLASSIC.

Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 8 November 2002 22:07 (twenty-one years ago) link

even tho 'work it', in my opinion, didn't, i am confident that i will like this lots because i am mostly unfamiliar with actual old-skool hiphop and nostalgia for unlived (physically and emotionally) times is always the best kind

mitch lastnamewithheld (mitchlnw), Friday, 8 November 2002 23:04 (twenty-one years ago) link

Okay, halfway through and I'm DYING. "P***ycat" is ASTONISHING. Ned belongs in the penalty box for that "creamy touches" remark. Really, this is best ballad EVER WRITTEN.

I agree. Astonishing. More like this, please.

Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Saturday, 9 November 2002 00:26 (twenty-one years ago) link

on trk 5. um, WOW. it's really a matter of keeping with it to figure out HOW great it is.

M Matos (M Matos), Saturday, 9 November 2002 07:29 (twenty-one years ago) link

The nostalgia of the references work for me especially in the song Funky Fresh Dressed. Not so much the MC Lyte sample (from Self Destruction) in the chorus (which is great), but the part where Ms. Jade goes into Paul Revere mode.

JoB (JoB), Saturday, 9 November 2002 12:33 (twenty-one years ago) link

my fav. nostalgia moment is the sugarhall drop with the "bang a dang diddy bang bang biddy" or however (i forget the actual nonsense syllables)

Sterling Clover (s_clover), Sunday, 10 November 2002 01:31 (twenty-one years ago) link

What I actually like is the fact that a fair number of the references aren't ones I know offhand, or not as well. Tom made this point above, but combined with the ones I do know, it sets an atmosphere without rubbing things in my face -- a balance someone like, I dunno, the Strokes misses. ;-)

Sugarhall drop? Sugar Hill studios in Kingston? I like that!

Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 10 November 2002 01:36 (twenty-one years ago) link

what the heck is horse latin? i can't understand it.

d k (d k), Sunday, 10 November 2002 01:42 (twenty-one years ago) link

horse latin is still experimental.

Sterling Clover (s_clover), Sunday, 10 November 2002 01:44 (twenty-one years ago) link

waaaaaah i want it i want it i want it i want it i want it i want it i want it i want it

jess (dubplatestyle), Sunday, 10 November 2002 02:12 (twenty-one years ago) link

"Horse Latin" = variation of Pig Latin. You insert "ilz" or "iz" into the middle of every word you say.

Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Sunday, 10 November 2002 03:25 (twenty-one years ago) link

what are they saying?

?!!!

d k (d k), Sunday, 10 November 2002 06:11 (twenty-one years ago) link

gossip folks reminding me of the puppies = delight. not enough people have run with the 95 south/69 boyz/dis n dat torch

boxcubed (boxcubed), Sunday, 10 November 2002 23:44 (twenty-one years ago) link

bc just the words "95 south" make me tingle

(don't forget "project pat"!)

Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 11 November 2002 00:49 (twenty-one years ago) link

haha this reviewing it while you're still listening to it for the first time is fun, but after having absorbed it further over the weekend... I like it even more!

The "exclusives" thing doesn't bug me so much now (I think my initial negative reaction was down to kneejerk rockist tendencies: "hey, that's the tenth time U done that on the album, girl!" Once you start searching individual songs it doesn't nearly matter so much anymore). On the other hand, I've cooled a bit on the narratives, some of which seem unnecessarily defensive (and pre-emptive). Why say "I'm not apologising for this song/record"? Why not just let the songs stand for themselves?

Jeff W, Monday, 11 November 2002 10:51 (twenty-one years ago) link

'people always say, "yo dat's too nasty" and "why yo mouth so vulguh? why you gotta sing all these nasty rekkids and all that?" but I be representin' for the ladies and we got something to say. we been quiet too long, ladylike, very patient. we ain't get mad when prince had his ass out. we thought he was gonna turn around to the front and have the front out, too. but, you know, that didn't happen.'

i like that.

i love the beyonce one. she rebukes her for being submissive to her controlling boyfriend.

i like the jay-z one.

'slide' is all hard and stuff. twankies. i love that.

'go to the floor' is good. rich people buy boats.

the tlc one is really hecka sad. chhhh. i don't even want to listen to that. i felt too sad to listen to it before the answering machine thing was done. it's just some silly song but it's still super-sad. ;_;

i've only listened to 'meat is murder' all the way through a few times, too. and it's even sillier, maybe. but it's just too much. it's silly but it's intense. actually, it's not that silly. i'm not sure what i mean by 'silly.' both of them are pretty serious, i guess. i don't know.

i don't know.

and the remix with 50 cent is dumb. he sounds dumb and i hate him. she says REEEEEEEEEEEEEEMIIIIIIIIIIIIIXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX forty-five seconds into the song! for gosh sakes, wasn't there a better time before then? i mean, it's almost a minute in. i don't mind people saying REEEEEEMIXXXXXXXX on the remix but this remix sucks and you didn't need to do it forty-five seconds in.

d k (d k), Monday, 11 November 2002 11:11 (twenty-one years ago) link

rich people buy 'boats' or 'votes'? at first I thought the former, now I ain't so sure

zebedee, Monday, 11 November 2002 11:42 (twenty-one years ago) link

what I'm noticing a lot is how electro the record is--that's part & parcel of the whole "retro" thing, but it's interesting how buzzy the beats are, very Kraftwerk (w/o the whole sped-up thing most '80s electro had to it), and yet they sound futuristic in a different way than the older stuff, not retro-futurismo at all, just like tomorrow will/would/might/could etc.

M Matos (M Matos), Monday, 11 November 2002 16:07 (twenty-one years ago) link

Oh man talk about retro.. the blatant ref. to Arnold Schwarzenegger in Kindergarten Cop took me back.

Sterling Clover (s_clover), Monday, 11 November 2002 17:57 (twenty-one years ago) link

"i 'kill at will' like solid ice." man, i couldn't love jay-z more right now.

jess (dubplatestyle), Monday, 11 November 2002 18:06 (twenty-one years ago) link

whoops that's "solid water". haha, the joke doesn't really work otherwise.

(which i think jigga realizes, since even more hilariously, he clarifies a few lines later: "get it? ice cube."

jess (dubplatestyle), Monday, 11 November 2002 18:11 (twenty-one years ago) link

and says it slowly so that we can get it, cos we're not as clever as he is. I love that moment, too--a joke he's letting us in on (the tone of voice, not the punchline so much)

M Matos (M Matos), Monday, 11 November 2002 20:07 (twenty-one years ago) link

Great line, I'm pretty sure I would have got it eventually but the explanation's even funnier. Tthe "REEEEEMIIIIIIX" bit is good too, the track's just the same as the single up to then, then there's a brief pointless guest rap, and after that it's just the same as the single again. Fantastically redundant, but you can't listen to "Work It" too many times.

I've only listened to this once, I thought I might be able to keep up buying it on the day of release but, oh no, you're all pretty much done and dusted. What's next, then?

Acrid bitterness aside, I love the block rockin' old school middle act and the photos to go with it, I'm predicting an amusing trend for old school boomboxes to go with your British Knights.

Mike (mratford), Monday, 11 November 2002 20:26 (twenty-one years ago) link

there's a winking fr*mm* reference in one of the later songs, isn't there? (leading me to believe that missy sent the googlers). and jigga's DO YOU SEE moment is indeed great. i'm a tad underwhelmed, but i've yet to give it a proper listen.

mitch lastnamewithheld (mitchlnw), Monday, 11 November 2002 22:57 (twenty-one years ago) link

oh and i love the talking.

mitch lastnamewithheld (mitchlnw), Monday, 11 November 2002 23:05 (twenty-one years ago) link

Jay-Z's EPMD reference was even better, I think (wish I could quote it off the top of my head - only heard it once so far but it was something like "talk shit on your EP and you'll need an M.D."). Ha!

Nate Patrin (Nate Patrin), Tuesday, 12 November 2002 23:28 (twenty-one years ago) link

I'm leaving work now, and making a beeline to buy the CD!! (then making a beeline to see Neko Case, but that's another story...)

Sean (Sean), Wednesday, 13 November 2002 01:25 (twenty-one years ago) link

"this track is safe".

mark p (Mark P), Wednesday, 13 November 2002 18:42 (twenty-one years ago) link

haha I really thought that meant safe at first! I don't know, the youth of today with their strange slang terms...

Jeff W (Jeff W), Wednesday, 13 November 2002 18:53 (twenty-one years ago) link

That's such an old slang term... I can't believe it's still used...

Ben Williams, Wednesday, 13 November 2002 18:57 (twenty-one years ago) link

haha mark that SITE is safe. is tomas brian fellows?

jones (actual), Wednesday, 13 November 2002 19:22 (twenty-one years ago) link

No, he's Dustin Hoffman!

Nate Patrin (Nate Patrin), Wednesday, 13 November 2002 19:28 (twenty-one years ago) link

also,if anyone is still reading,i would like to know the answer to the gossip folks question above as well...

robin (robin), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 02:42 (twenty-one years ago) link

five years pass...

everybody had a zipper jacket and half of these thugs had a glove to match

Darryl Strawberry (The Reverend), Tuesday, 23 September 2008 14:37 (fifteen years ago) link

underrated: missy's doowop harmonies during luda's verse on "gossip folks"

Darryl Strawberry (The Reverend), Tuesday, 23 September 2008 14:39 (fifteen years ago) link

I <3 this album so mucho mucho

Darryl Strawberry (The Reverend), Tuesday, 23 September 2008 14:44 (fifteen years ago) link

is it actually missy doing those harmony bits?

They're a '90s odd couple. And an odds-on choice for laughs. (blueski), Tuesday, 23 September 2008 14:46 (fifteen years ago) link

half a decade on (!) i think i love 'gossip folks' even more than 'work it'. she sounds like a car screeching on tarmac and it is awesome.

ALSO this was otm:

(Haha I have now put the Trina album on and it's sounding JUST AS GOOD! So I think a) both are grebt; b) I am tipsy and happy and should go to bed for real instead of listening to my new CDs...)

― Tom (Groke), Friday, November 8, 2002 1:04 AM (5 years ago)

lex pretend, Tuesday, 23 September 2008 14:55 (fifteen years ago) link

sounds like her voice xp

Darryl Strawberry (The Reverend), Tuesday, 23 September 2008 15:18 (fifteen years ago) link

half a decade of fremme neppa vennette

Darryl Strawberry (The Reverend), Tuesday, 23 September 2008 15:19 (fifteen years ago) link

"If you need me on the phone to curse out the hoes/ I'M READY!"

Darryl Strawberry (The Reverend), Tuesday, 23 September 2008 15:25 (fifteen years ago) link

MISSY: Don't let him blow your high, go out and have a nice time. Is you sure about that?

BEYONCE: Girl, I do not get high!

lex pretend, Tuesday, 23 September 2008 15:34 (fifteen years ago) link

Pussy don't fail me now.....

After The Hurricane (The Brainwasher), Tuesday, 23 September 2008 16:45 (fifteen years ago) link

(love this album, my 2nd or 3rd fave Missy album)

After The Hurricane (The Brainwasher), Tuesday, 23 September 2008 16:45 (fifteen years ago) link

eleven years pass...

The bit about the beginning about how you never see Bill Gates and Donald Trump arguing with one another hasn't really aged well, has it?

Matt DC, Wednesday, 15 April 2020 16:05 (four years ago) link

P much every rap reference to Trump from 1985-2014 indicates how the braggadocious can be rooked by the bullshit of a bigger braggart.

donald failson (sic), Wednesday, 15 April 2020 16:40 (four years ago) link

one year passes...

Lol I put on Under Construction for the first time in years and had the same reaction as Matt above.

Tim F, Friday, 22 October 2021 03:38 (two years ago) link


You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.