2014
Tag: Mike Dean
Blame Game ( song ) … Kanye West ( featuring John Legend )
2010
audio review : Hold My Liquor ( song ) … Kanye West ( featuring Chief Keef + Justin Vernon )
“Calling-up your uncle’s place,” Justin Vernon sings, “Shit’s all over the place”. I guess that part, the song’s melodic highlight, is supposed to be the bridge, but it should be the chorus. The real chorus, sang by an Autotuned Chief Keef, is comparatively lame.
I’m glad he doesn’t rap, but there should be two verses. Kanye West’s one, which reveals a romantic theme undetectable in the “nigga”-ridden hook, makes for a song that’s structurally awkward. Not that the spacey instrumental isn’t a form of drunken tranquility.
my rating : 3 of 5
2013
audio review : Somewhere In America ( song ) … Jay-Z
It’s not the horn loop but the pianos that make the beat special. They carry it along with the ghetto elegance of a Dr Dre production circa 2001. It’s actually produced by Hit-Boy and Mike Dean. The best part is when the drums drop out and are replaced by what sounds like stringed instruments of some kind.
That’s the part rapper Jay-Z, wise enough not to bog the vibe down with one of his lame hooks, has sex doll Miley Cyrus dancing to. “Twerk, Miley,” he commands with a giggle. It’s a random way to end this semi-song and the music seems a bit slow to do that particular dance to, but it’s a cute nod nonetheless.
my rating : 4 of 5
2013
Hand Of The Dead Body ( song ) … Scarface ( featuring Ice Cube + Devin The Dude )
1994