I can't be the only one who's ridiculously excited for this album.
― The Brainwasher, Sunday, 25 October 2009 19:11 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
have we spoken about "Russian Roulette" yet? It's kind of low-key and understated for a lead single but I think it sets the tone for the album/era really well...
― The Brainwasher, Sunday, 25 October 2009 19:12 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
BTW the second single is "The Wait Is Ova" produced by Chase & Status (some UK dubstep guys that I'm not familiar with):
― The Brainwasher, Sunday, 25 October 2009 19:42 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
'Russian Roulette' is great and huge and great.
― abcfsk, Sunday, 25 October 2009 19:46 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
Is it really that hard to spell 'over' correctly?
― Samuel (a hoy hoy), Sunday, 25 October 2009 19:48 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
i think "russian roulette" is hella boring but "the wait is ova" sounds dope, kinda wish they didn't repeat the title so much, seems out of place kinda, but way better than 'russian roulette'
― everybody loves am0n (J0rdan S.), Sunday, 25 October 2009 20:14 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
Yeah "Russian Roulette" isn't the most exciting song - especially for a first single - but like I said I think it sets the mood/tone for this era really nicely. This really dark, tense, almost macabre sort of sound and image she's flirting with... there's hints of industrial and gothic influences.... it's really cool! Apparenly "Run This Town" was supposed to be a solo Rihanna track for this album, so when you take that into consideration as well as "Russian Roulette", the snippet of "The Wait is Ova" and her recent promotional photos:
you get an idea of what she's going for this era, and I'm quite excited for it. This year has been so boring to me pop-wise lol
― The Brainwasher, Sunday, 25 October 2009 20:25 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
oh and Dream/Tricky only have one song on this album btw
― The Brainwasher, Sunday, 25 October 2009 23:23 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
someone on PopJustice compared "Russian Roulette" to Madonna's "Live To Tell"... and the more I think about it the more that comparison makes total sense.
that 1st pic is stunning
― oops i accidentally made it personal (surm), Sunday, 25 October 2009 23:25 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
it's from her Vogue Italia editorial, shot by Meisel. The whole thing is brilliant.
― The Brainwasher, Sunday, 25 October 2009 23:26 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
makes sense.
― oops i accidentally made it personal (surm), Sunday, 25 October 2009 23:28 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
― The Brainwasher, Sunday, 25 October 2009 23:29 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
loooooooove the top one
― oops i accidentally made it personal (surm), Sunday, 25 October 2009 23:29 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
it looks like blackface
― everybody loves am0n (J0rdan S.), Sunday, 25 October 2009 23:30 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
a blackface tucan
Rihanna’s new music is so top secret that even Tricky Stewart doesn’t know if he will have the album’s first single. The hitman behind “Umbrella” spoke exclusively with Rap-Up.com again to reveal the monstrous results of his recording sessions with the superstar.
RAP-UP: Rihanna’s fourth album has a release date of November 23.TRICKY: Yes, yes.
RAP-UP: Last time we spoke, you hadn’t yet recorded with her. What became of your studio sessions?TRICKY: I can’t talk about what happened, but it’s really good for me *laughs*. We delivered a very, very big record, but I can’t say what the name of it is or anything, just for the simple fact that it’s actually top secret. It’s definitely going to be a single. It’s either going to be the first or the second single. I do know that.
RAP-UP: So you produced the new song and The-Dream wrote it. Is anyone featured on it?TRICKY: Yes. I can say it’s a rapper. I’m not gonna say who *laughs*.
RAP-UP: Is the track uptempo?TRICKY: Yes, it’s uptempo. It’s a club banger and it’s edgy.
RAP-UP: Would you say it’s bigger than “Umbrella”?TRICKY: No, it’s different. It’s a superstar taking a step in a totally different direction. This album is different than her past works.
RAP-UP: How so?TRICKY: It’s just an artist at work. This is Rihanna coming into her own and going from being a girl that has been singing big, huge hit records, and the artist is awake and alive and moving on this project. She knows exactly what she wants to say, she knows how she wants to feel. It was an amazing experience working with her and just really getting into her headspace of what she wanted to do.
RAP-UP: When will we be able to hear the first single?TRICKY: Everything’s about to happen really fast, so it’s not gonna be long. It’s gonna be here in the next couple days.
RAP-UP: How many songs did you record with her?TRICKY: Right now, it’s just the one, but it’s a monster song. And really when it’s all said and done, all we had was “Umbrella” on the last one, so if it’s like that, I’m cool with that. [Editor's note: Tricky and The-Dream also produced "Breakin' Dishes" off Good Girl Gone Bad.]
RAP-UP: Was it different working with her this time versus last time?TRICKY: Yeah, it’s always different because once everyone gets bigger, it’s even harder just to get everybody in the room. We ended up going over to Paris andworking over there, coming to New York—it’s been a lot of flying around for one song.
RAP-UP: What else can you tell us?TRICKY: Her album is crazy and she’s really just stepped up her game as an artist—not stepped up, but there’s an artist at work.
RAP-UP: Do you know who else she collaborated with on the project?TRICKY: I know she wrote some songs with Ne-Yo. Ne-Yo has some great songs on there. She’s even being secretive with the music of the other producers too.
RAP-UP: Is she writing anything herself?TRICKY: I really don’t know. I think she probably did write on some of these songs. She’s definitely lending her leadership.
RAP-UP: Everyone knows Rihanna for her fearless fashion. Is that going to translate into her music?TRICKY: Yeah, definitely. I could say that. The attitude of the fashion and the attitude of the music—that’s what she’s into. It’s gonna be a complete vision.
― The Brainwasher, Sunday, 25 October 2009 23:31 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
sorry, not tucan, a quetzel
not that i wouldn't smash, but you know
― everybody loves am0n (J0rdan S.), Sunday, 25 October 2009 23:31 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
i agree that the image & feel is dope - "the wait is ova" is pretty tantalizing, just wish that "russian roulette" 'set the mood' in a way that wasn't as boring as it is
― everybody loves am0n (J0rdan S.), Sunday, 25 October 2009 23:32 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
Editor's note: Tricky and The-Dream also produced "Breakin' Dishes" off Good Girl Gone Bad.
argh, thought Timbaland did that one
― modescalator (blueski), Sunday, 25 October 2009 23:34 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
nah Timbo only did "Lemme Get That," "Sell Me Candy," and "Rehab"
― The Brainwasher, Sunday, 25 October 2009 23:34 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
"sell me candy" is the best song on that cd, "umbrella" aside
― everybody loves am0n (J0rdan S.), Sunday, 25 October 2009 23:36 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
hope Rihanna remix Hamster on a piano on this
― Sébastien, Monday, 26 October 2009 04:00 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
lol @ "breakin dishes" slipping terius' mind. don't blame him!
i like rihanna's ballads a lot more than her bangers, "russian roulette" has grown to incredible on me
― lex pretend, Monday, 26 October 2009 16:26 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
it was Tricky not Terius and I'm pretty sure he meant "Umbrella" was their only big single off the album and the interviewer misunderstood that he meant the whole album when adding that pedantic note
― President Deez (some dude), Monday, 26 October 2009 17:01 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
breaking dishes was pretty great, tho
― abcfsk, Monday, 26 October 2009 17:43 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
O-M-G.
― The Brainwasher, Wednesday, 28 October 2009 00:38 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
These photos are amazing...like a Grace Jones you can hang out with.
― we are normal and we want our freedom (Abbott), Wednesday, 28 October 2009 01:02 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
that clip of "the wait is ova" sounds awful -- is that what dubstep sounds like? ugh
― crazypoxyfule (some dude), Wednesday, 28 October 2009 01:51 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
lolll
― k3vin k., Wednesday, 28 October 2009 02:30 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
dudes are drum'n'bass producers who crossed over to dubstep recently, they're pretty awful but very successful. Snoop dogg used a beat of theirs for this shite single earlier in the year.
― Pedro Paramore (jim), Wednesday, 28 October 2009 02:41 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
grace jones called, etc
― musically, Wednesday, 28 October 2009 02:43 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
""sell me candy" is the best song on that cd, "umbrella" aside"
You're insane.
― Giorgio Marauder (I eat cannibals), Wednesday, 28 October 2009 02:50 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
it's a good album cover, but i'm growing slightly weary of this look as a whole -- feels the slightest bit tried.
― oops i accidentally made it personal (surm), Wednesday, 28 October 2009 02:54 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
that's a quick turnaround, ramz
― a goon boy (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, 28 October 2009 02:55 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
maybe "wary" is a better word than "weary"
i'm not tired of it yet but i'm apprehensive
― oops i accidentally made it personal (surm), Wednesday, 28 October 2009 02:56 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
i mean, previously all i said was i like the fotos, and i still do -- and i do really like the album cover. but it certainly doesn't feel particularly fresh or new
― oops i accidentally made it personal (surm), Wednesday, 28 October 2009 02:57 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
(and isn't it supposed to??)
It doesn't feel "new" per se, but I like her references and the people she's working with to construct her image (Ellen Von Euwerth - who did the album cover -, Anothony Mandler, etc.). Nightclubbing/Slave To Rhythm-era Grace Jones meets Rhythm Nation-era Janet with her own litte twist on it.
― The Brainwasher, Wednesday, 28 October 2009 03:03 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
Unwerth**
― The Brainwasher, Wednesday, 28 October 2009 03:04 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
yeah i'm being picky. it also carries a certain amount of potency when considered in light of recent events. i guess a part of me wished for something a little less formulaic, a little more fresh, for lack of a better word. i keep thinking "sunny dominatrix" woulda been great. but for what this is, it's executed really well
― oops i accidentally made it personal (surm), Wednesday, 28 October 2009 03:09 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
lol at wikipedia
Rihanna then continued recording the album with production duo Chase & Status. After listening one of their track, "Saxon," Rihanna got in contact with Chase & Status and wanted to work with them because she loved the feel of the drums and wanted a similar thing for her album.[35] They had a pair of sessions with Rihanna and worked together for a few weeks in an undisclosed location.[35] Chase & Status worked with her on songs that had a dubstep vibe, although whenever Rihanna didn't like something she would let them know.[3] On one of the tracks, Rihanna had came up with a cool melody and cool idea to give the song the kind of vibe she wanted.[3]
― a goon boy (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, 28 October 2009 03:11 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
The new single sucks -- sounds like a Beyonce castoff.
― lihaperäpukamat (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 28 October 2009 03:12 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
ahh exciting shit that interview with tricky
― Jacques_Lamure, Wednesday, 28 October 2009 03:21 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
I cannot buy the idea that Rihanna is in any way an active participant in the crafting of her music, videos or style. If she has all this personality and insight I have no idea why she hides it so well.
― musically, Wednesday, 28 October 2009 03:40 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
I don't think she takes a primary hand in songwriting on most of her tracks, and she definitely comes across as kind of blank as a persona, but I tend to believe she's pretty hands on with her image and style, if only because if Def Jam or whoever was dictating that stuff she'd probably just look like a standard R&B chick and not all gothed out.
― crazypoxyfule (some dude), Wednesday, 28 October 2009 03:42 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
She has writing credits all over her first two albums, GGGB is the only album she didn't write on btw... and she did co-write "Disturbia" and has co-writing credit on "Russian Roulette" so.... the whole "blank slate" thing may not be so true afterall.
― The Brainwasher, Wednesday, 28 October 2009 03:44 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
they'd still be marketing her as a pseudo-exotic precocious island girl
― a goon boy (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, 28 October 2009 03:45 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
yeah she's definitely in control in terms of her image/style, her whole persona is kind of "detached" though, I think that's her schtick or whatever
― The Brainwasher, Wednesday, 28 October 2009 03:45 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
i think she has an idea of where to go with her image & probably lets professionals take care of it after that - she definitely doesn't seem to have any ideas besides the general launching pad like gaga does
― a goon boy (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, 28 October 2009 03:49 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
lex you're otm about how a lot of these songs make sense in context, Russian roulette worked much better as a setpiece
― 囧 (dyao), Monday, 16 November 2009 13:02 (5 days ago) Permalink
omg at 'rude boy' :^O
― 囧 (dyao), Monday, 16 November 2009 13:09 (5 days ago) Permalink
russian roulette is still a drag for me. this is a decent album but not something i'll be listening all the way through very often i don't think
― peed on tree (k3vin k.), Monday, 16 November 2009 14:47 (5 days ago) Permalink
ok so can anyone explain the size 10 lyric in "stupid in love"? it's such a striking opening line but i have no idea what it's referring to.
also, the "fire bomb" narrative: whoa. that is pretty next-level.
― lex pretend, Monday, 16 November 2009 15:01 (5 days ago) Permalink
i'm not sure it refers to anything another than ne-yo's hallmark clunky-but-well-meaning observational grasp of what makes lady ire tick and also the fact that a more plausible (for rihanna) insulting dress size number wouldn't really fit into the metre.
thought 'fire bomb' was kinda garbled personally but i guess it's just me.
― r|t|c, Monday, 16 November 2009 15:33 (5 days ago) Permalink
russian roulette is offputting because I keep on expecting her to end the chorus with 'roulette' to complete the rhyme
― 囧 (dyao), Monday, 16 November 2009 15:36 (5 days ago) Permalink
I think the size 10 lyric refers to Rihanna finding another woman's clothing (underwear?) in her boyfriend's car or apartment. It's the only thing that makes sense to me.
― !Alicia!, Monday, 16 November 2009 21:10 (5 days ago) Permalink
haha yeah that does make way more sense actually - soz ne-yo. that would mean the guy in question wouldve been having an affair with a girl more than twice the size of rihanna?? or do they have numbers on knickers now, i dunno.
― r|t|c, Monday, 16 November 2009 21:38 (5 days ago) Permalink
majorly pissed I'm not at this Rihanna thing tonight especially if Jeezy shows up :(
― david cam'ron (tpp), Monday, 16 November 2009 21:58 (5 days ago) Permalink
JEEZY SHOWED UP <3 <3 <3 <3
― lex pretend, Monday, 16 November 2009 22:08 (5 days ago) Permalink
so did jay-z but i was so majorly conflicted by the way my first experience of, like, this former hero/legend figure being to fucking "run this town" which improves not one jot live
great show anyway - too little from the new album but that's the nature of the internet-streamed nokia showcase i guess. get the feeling that the proper rated r tour will be pretty special.
― lex pretend, Monday, 16 November 2009 22:11 (5 days ago) Permalink
noooooooooooooooooooooooo Beyonce + Jay-Z are in town tonight too and I'm in bed watching crappy tv fml
― david cam'ron (tpp), Monday, 16 November 2009 22:11 (5 days ago) Permalink
melissa's size 10 theory is that it's a slightly odd way of saying "perfect 10" which makes more sense than anything else we've thought of. erika and i did mull over the "found some other chick's size 10 clothes" theory but you'd think this plot point would be expanded on later in the song if so.
― lex pretend, Monday, 16 November 2009 22:12 (5 days ago) Permalink
when jeezy came out it was a true litmus test of the UK audience - half the people going "uhhh" and the other half going OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG and punching the air - melissa and i sang every word of "hard" SUCH A GREAT SONG
― lex pretend, Monday, 16 November 2009 22:13 (5 days ago) Permalink
i would totally see a rihanna rated r tour - pretty much love the album
― house of flying jaggers (J0rdan S.), Monday, 16 November 2009 22:24 (5 days ago) Permalink
also jeezy
I've been in too good of moods to listen to this album.
― estebutt bannez (The Reverend), Monday, 16 November 2009 22:30 (5 days ago) Permalink
i was exhausted the first time i heard this and have since never really sat down to listen to it properly, but my goodness 'Fire Bomb' is really dark, isn't it? If I'm not mistaken, she's driving her car w/ leaking gas tank etc. to her ex-boyfriend's house, with the intention of crashing through his windows and blowing them both up?
― wrapped up, packed up, ribbon with a donk on it (Alex in Montreal), Tuesday, 17 November 2009 06:18 (4 days ago) Permalink
I thought this was absolutely fucking dreadful on the first listen. It actively ruined my journey into work. Lumbering, portentious, really badly produced, one or two tracks aside.
'Hard' is pretty good but as soon as Jeezy came in I realised I'd rather be listening to The Recession. Also it doesn't help that Rihanna is, like, a really bad singer and only a few people have successfully written or produced for her voice. Putting it so upfront and dead centre in the mix was a really bad move.
Apart from Pon De Replay and a few others it's always felt like people were giving Rihanna songs they could have given to Britney or anyone else. This feels like the first time anyone's put together an entire album with Rihanna in mind and it feels like everyone got so focussed on creating a monumental pop moment that they forgot to write any decent songs. I almost gave up midway through the Slash track.
It feels like everyone made a mistake by plumping for 'claustrophobic nightmare' over 'defiant "fuck you"'.
― Space Battle Rothko (Matt DC), Tuesday, 17 November 2009 09:55 (4 days ago) Permalink
"rude boy" is this close to getting programmed out though, it feels inappropriate and out of place.
Lol, that's the one I liked the most. It had me wishing they hadn't taken eight tracks to get to a half-decent beat.
― Space Battle Rothko (Matt DC), Tuesday, 17 November 2009 09:57 (4 days ago) Permalink
the album sounded a little tiresome on first listen but instead of being a "grower" it really OPENS UP and reveals that each ingredient does get a chance to breathe. really is a wonderful album, almost perfect for where rihanna is now, and the only misstep in my book is the will.i.am bit. the slash track is really, really great for me..repetitiveness at its best. slash doesn't contribute anything of notice, which is a positive.
― abcfsk, Tuesday, 17 November 2009 10:44 (4 days ago) Permalink
― lex pretend, Tuesday, 17 November 2009 11:27 (4 days ago) Permalink
idk matt i think "fuck you" would've been a really easy and obvious route to go for, and would likely have been diluted by the fact that it's already such a common perspective in r&b. the swagger tracks here are fuck yous, anyway, but a really specific and distinct kind.
her voice can have a harsh edge to it but she can sing - i hesitate to bring out the grace jones comparison given how hard she's fishing for it, but they both have a similar grain in their voice. it works really well with the claustrophobic feel and arrangements, and the recurring use of repetition - makes it feel pretty uncompromising at times.
― lex pretend, Tuesday, 17 November 2009 11:47 (4 days ago) Permalink
"Also it doesn't help that Rihanna is, like, a really bad singer"
LOL
― titchy (titchyschneiderMk2), Tuesday, 17 November 2009 11:52 (4 days ago) Permalink
I think I meant sonically rather than lyrically - I'd much rather they'd have gone for something triumphant rather than claustrophobic. I think the album they actually released sounds like the obvious route.
― Space Battle Rothko (Matt DC), Tuesday, 17 November 2009 11:53 (4 days ago) Permalink
rihanna and GJ dont have simililar voices at all IMO - that only seems like a similiarity now cos of rihannas newly 'risque' image.
― titchy (titchyschneiderMk2), Tuesday, 17 November 2009 11:53 (4 days ago) Permalink
yeah i think it'd been a running issue for me so far listening to this record trying to second-guess if i would have the same reaction as matt had i/we not all had our meta-narrative eye in. and yet while i don't find myself particularly rushing to deny any of those criticisms, nor am i unhappy to keep putting this album on; in fact i'm not sure it is an off-putting "claustrophobic nightmare" so much as it is quite um, juvenile, with all the attendant good and bad half-baked ott gothy energy (but still energy all the same) that brings. (like, wrt the question writer/producer shepherding i've no trouble believing 100% that rihanna's coping mechanism actually is locking herself in her catwalk armour bedroom with some boshing drum n bass and singing vengeful mavado choruses.)
which all probably sounds quite dispassionate of me; falling down the "you go girl/ooh in your face breezy!" rabbit hole is more unsatisfactory still, however.
― r|t|c, Tuesday, 17 November 2009 13:22 (4 days ago) Permalink
all in all, 'fire bomb' is emerging as the pick of the bunch anyway - still not sure i quite get it as such but the combination of cliffhanger danger and giddily inchoate crazed resolution is enduring in a way little else on the album is i think.
― r|t|c, Tuesday, 17 November 2009 13:28 (4 days ago) Permalink
(like, wrt the question writer/producer shepherding i've no trouble believing 100% that rihanna's coping mechanism actually is locking herself in her catwalk armour bedroom with some boshing drum n bass and singing vengeful mavado choruses.)
This would be kind of awesome actually! Actually I think a slightly juvenile attempt at claustrophobia is what bothers me about it. It's such a lazy path to go down, especially given that this is the point in Rihanna's career where she should be ascending to Biggest Pop Star In The World status and instead they've allowed the Chris Brown incident to become the pivotal moment of her career and thus given her a load of schlocky goth-crunk by numbers* to wax pissed-off over.
*I was going to say 'Mikey J knockoffs' but thought that might be overegging the dismissive pudding, even though G4L is totally grimey.
― Space Battle Rothko (Matt DC), Tuesday, 17 November 2009 13:39 (4 days ago) Permalink
you don't think she's made a claustrophic, pissed-off album because she's...feeling claustrophobic and pissed-off?
i like that she hasn't made any obvious Biggest Pop Star In The World moves - snore, seriously. that shit comes so much more naturally to golden girl beyoncé. that way lies GGGB retreads and redone being wheeled out. DNW. but it's not a withdrawal from pop, exactly - indeed this sort of cold, dark album is virtually a rite of passage for huge pop stars (madonna - erotica, janet - velvet rope, kanye - 808s).
"fire bomb" is probably my pick too; for a song with a narrative so unarguable, it's surprisingly ambivalent.
― lex pretend, Tuesday, 17 November 2009 13:49 (4 days ago) Permalink
happily that seems to be the one song rihanna wrote herself, according to wiki anyway. (it doesn't know who produced it though.)
― r|t|c, Tuesday, 17 November 2009 14:03 (4 days ago) Permalink
incidentally rated r reminded me of the recession too (crossed with the cheryl cole album... kinda) but weirdly the trigger wasn't the jeezy appearance but that stupid "we danced underneath the candelabra" line in 'te amo' reminding me of jeezy's terrific "you see me standing here / like a chandelier" lyric in 'holiday'. (cos chandeliers DO hang there simmering and silently resentful of what's below them!)
of course the really irritating thing about it all is you do actually get hanging candelabras i think , but i still picture rihanna and her lesbian friend under a table like tiny cartoon mice anyways.
― r|t|c, Tuesday, 17 November 2009 14:04 (4 days ago) Permalink
when i first heard that line i was like "candelabra? are you sure?" but apparently:
Accordingly, the term "candelabra" has entered common use as a collective designation for small-based incandescent light bulbs used in chandeliers and other lighting fixtures designed to provide decoration as well as illumination.
not sure how much i trust those wikipedia credits yet; but if rihanna did write "fire bomb" herself, i'm definitely impressed. the scenario, the imagery, the tension between stupid teenage self-destructive thelma&louise romance and crazed take-you-down hate-filled revenge.
― lex pretend, Tuesday, 17 November 2009 14:11 (4 days ago) Permalink
Fire Bomb (J. Fauntleroy II, B. Kennedy, R. Fenty)Produced by B. Kennedy for Team BK
THIS fucking booklet, btw.
― Andy K, Tuesday, 17 November 2009 14:36 (4 days ago) Permalink
haha written by the candelabra culprit!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Kennedy_(producer)
ew gross
― r|t|c, Tuesday, 17 November 2009 15:10 (4 days ago) Permalink
Instruments Piano, Keytar
― Andy K, Tuesday, 17 November 2009 15:17 (4 days ago) Permalink
it's a good idea that if you're a female who is gonna have jeezy rap on your song that the beat be basically a jeezy beat -_-
― house of flying jaggers (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, 18 November 2009 04:18 (3 days ago) Permalink
I'M SUCH A FUCKIN LADY
― samosa gibreel, Wednesday, 18 November 2009 04:39 (3 days ago) Permalink
xp otm
― steenpunk (The Reverend), Wednesday, 18 November 2009 16:32 (3 days ago) Permalink
I'm liking this. "Fire Bomb" is amazing. 80s Stadium Rock as Homicidal Revenge Fantasy is such a fantastically perverse strategy.
Can't really imagine having a problem with "Rude Boy" also.
― Tim F, Thursday, 19 November 2009 12:25 (2 days ago) Permalink
more of a suicide bomber jihad thing than mere homicide - even better!
i don't have a prob w/"rude boy" really, more of a prob with it being on rated r
― lex pretend, Thursday, 19 November 2009 12:34 (2 days ago) Permalink
see the thing is part of me hears a kinda happy ending love story in 'fire bomb'... bit like a thelma & louise where geena forgets to tell the other one know what she finna do. like they'll always be together once the car blows! jihadery just seems tawdry.
― r|t|c, Thursday, 19 November 2009 13:20 (2 days ago) Permalink
oh absolutely, it's totally romantic! i mean, there's something dumbly romantic about jihad too i guess. "the only move for me and you is to go out blazing..."
the tension between stupid teenage self-destructive thelma&louise romance and crazed take-you-down hate-filled revenge.
― lex pretend, Tuesday, November 17, 2009 2:11 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
― lex pretend, Thursday, 19 November 2009 13:29 (2 days ago) Permalink
it's kinda not hate-filled at all though, is the rapidly-fading-from-memory-slash-caring distinction i think i was trying to make; it just seems crueller the way you put it.
aaaaanyhow i definitely think there's some sequencing issues with this - 'stupid in love' is an ok song but a huge drag placed where it is, and then followed by 'rockstar 101' anyway afterwards - everything suffers as a result. likewise 'rude boy' gets all the trite awkwardness accusations (that 'te amo' should imo really be receiving) when it would be a perfectly fine bit of filler were it properly used to keep a general upward curve going at some point in the album.
― r|t|c, Thursday, 19 November 2009 13:43 (2 days ago) Permalink
you don't think a mad house/wait your turn/hard/rockstar 101 opening sequence would be a bit much? i quite like the disorientating oscillation between the wounded balladry and sneering grinds in that section. also "stupid in love" sets out the context in a relatively obvious way which would seem trite further from the start.
"russian roulette" feels oddly buried in the middle there.
― lex pretend, Thursday, 19 November 2009 13:49 (2 days ago) Permalink
i haven't listened to this album enough, but my initial impression is that the "wounded balladry" approach, while beautiful, is a little lofty -- there doesn't seem to be quite enough (talent) there to justify the approach.
― oops i accidentally made it personal (surm), Thursday, 19 November 2009 13:57 (2 days ago) Permalink
liiike it sounds like a little girl playing in a diva's dressing room
― oops i accidentally made it personal (surm), Thursday, 19 November 2009 14:02 (2 days ago) Permalink
idk; i kind of agree that i'm rarely wowed by the virtuosity of the songwriting ("you act like a jerk" etc) but i think this makes her more...relatable? more traumatised, more convincing in the awkward process of rebuilding her self-image.
i essentially like "g4l" - LOVE the intro/outro - but in betweeen it could well do with losing a couple of minutes.
― lex pretend, Thursday, 19 November 2009 14:04 (2 days ago) Permalink
xxp no sure, i'd probably chuck 'rockstar' somewhere further behind as well. ai haven't worked out exactly how it would play out (this would probably take me years having never finished a mixtape for anyone in my life)(no actually i did once and STILL REGRET IT!!) but i am convinced there are better solutions. bear with me!
and yeah like i said, that oscillation is indeed one (slightly oblique) way of reading/enjoying/wait-there's-a-difference?-ing it.
― r|t|c, Thursday, 19 November 2009 14:14 (2 days ago) Permalink
Only just been listening to this record, but think that Rude Boy is a definite highlight.
― Josh L, Friday, 20 November 2009 10:58 (Yesterday) Permalink