4:44 (Album) - JAY-Z

Back To Basics

When listening to JAY-Z, the hip-hop and rap master, you expect powerful beats and a huge amount of production value. This album takes us to a time and style of simplicity in rap. Relaxed beats on repeat as the artist raps and sings over the beat. Nothing crazy fancy or over produced, only the sublime beats and voice of JAY-Z on each track.

Each track isn't terribly repetitive, I'm just saying that they are simple and straightforward. Some of the songs are pretty mediocre, they sound alright, but the instruments used aren't that innovative and lyrics are just alright. However, there are a few songs that are more fun, more creative and I genuinely will listen to in the future. Overall, I wouldn't say the most impressive thing about the album is the music, it is the idea in general, the concept and the daring move to do relaxing, chill music instead of the modern popular radio hits. 

The message of the lyrics is raw and real, it is in your face and the language is something that we should all listen to, even if it makes us a little uncomfortable or awkward, see "The Story of O.J." as an example. My favorite song is "Caught Their Eyes" with Frank Ocean, its sound is the album's best use of simple and well made, repetitive sounds and I'll be listening to it for a while.  

JAY-Z could have written a bunch of garbage with electronic tropes to be played all the time, but this record shows how much he is in the music business to make new and innovative music. This album isn't his best and that's okay, it is the experimentation and strength in creativity that really stick out. I am excited to see what JAY-Z does down the line, and I would want to hear more music like this from him.

Kill Jay Z: 6 --- The Story of O.J.: 7

Smile (feat. Gloria Carter): 6 --- Caught Their Eyes (feat. Frank Ocean): 8

4:44: 6 --- Family Feud (feat. Beyoncé): 6

Bam (feat. Damian Marley): 7 ---  Moonlight: 5

Marcy Me: 6 --- Legacy: 5

Track Average: 6.2

Originality: 7

Longevity: 6

Flow: 8

Red Score: 6.8
(This video does have some inappropriate visuals, warning)

Ra Ra Rasputin - Boney M.

Historical Groove

What an odd subject matter, seriously, I don't know exactly why Boney M. decided to write a song about Grigori Rasputin, however, this song is amazing so why not write it about him?

This song is so good in so many ways, it is hard not to write essays about it. The first thing to address is the wonderfully infectious beat, no being with a soul could resist dancing to this song, especially as it enters its second half. The mixtures of claps and rolling drums that coordinates masterfully with the specifically Russian sounding balalaika create something truly inspired by the rhythm driven music of Mother Russia. Also that seriously funky bass line is hidden but totally wonderful.

The next thing to focus on is the call and response between the vocals, taking turns in verse and chorus while harmonizing wonderfully makes this song be better and better every moment.

Lastly, for this blog post, the sheer tenacity to write a disco in the 70's about a Russian man from the 1800's is mind boggling. I have no idea who came up with this and why, but I sure am glad they did because from Just Dance to throw back dance night, this song is always a beloved entry.

Originality: 9

Instruments: 9

Vocals: 8

Longevity: 10

Red Score: 9

Crash - Usher

An Unfortunate Wreck

Usher used to be king of RnB and Pop and he still is very much in the game, I would to pay money to see him and some other people at a show for sure. Those days of creating new music are mostly over though, or at least with this song, it shows that Usher is running out of steam. He still has talent for sure, but this song is not a good show of it. Let’s break down why this song does not stand out at all. First, the bass of the song and throughout is a great sound, but it doesn’t really do anything, it feels like it is the same few notes and just long strings of synth pad. The other slight drums and various parts don’t stick out. If I wasn’t listening for them, I wouldn’t be able to recall that they are there at all. It isn’t like I haven’t listened to the song much, I listened to it at least 10 times from beginning to end, and I literally can’t recall any melody or and instruments specifically or any tune. After the bland hip-hop slowish music, let’s look at Usher’s singing. His falsetto is good, just like in other songs, but it loses any meaning after using it throughout the whole song and it becomes almost non-existent as it slips behind the other noise in the song. His other parts of the song are forgettable and just filler for the time. The song sounds like a bridge from another song, but just elongated for 3 and a half minutes. It isn’t really horrible, just bland and feels unfinished and blatantly unnecessary. I would recommend just listening to “Yeah” again and skipping this song altogether.   

Originality: 3.2

Instruments: 4.7

Vocals: 4.9

Longevity: 2.5

Red Score: 3.8