Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds

Jive: 2006

I assume the request for this album is for more insight into Timbaland productions than ol' Justin here. I'm all for that. Mr. Mosley may occupy a genre lane that I seldom dwell myself, but I cannot deny how influential he was for so many decades. Nor can I deny that, when I did hear some crossover R&B hit, the ones that caught my attention and, dare I say, even liked, had a Timbaland co-sign on it. Yes, going all the way back to Ginuwine's Pony.

If you want my thoughts on Mr. Timberlake, as always I'll point to a Todd In The Shadow video, specifically his Trainwreckords dismantling of Man Of The Woods. Most of my over-arching sentiments are covered there, but here's an additional wrinkle. Even at the height of his popularity, I couldn't help but feel Justin was something of a Great White Hope for the R&B sector. So many American folks wanted him to succeed because they were so desperate for someone like him to succeed. There were plenty of pretty boys mugging in music videos before him, but they were often black or Latin or weirdly European or packaged with a pile of other pretty boys. Finally here was someone who not only freed himself from post Boy Band failure, but excelled in a field few of his ilk had dared to tread. Again, that Timbaland co-sign went a long, long way in the '00s.

FutureSex/Lovesounds is Justin at his peak, and it's arguable this is Timbaland at his peak too. Mr. Mosley's greatest strength was taking contemporary sounds and getting maximal punch from them with minimalist space, and you hear that in spades. Electro house one of the current hot trends? Make the lead single something of a riff on that, SexyBack not only crushing the Top 40 clubs, but even finding its way into the sleazy underground too (seriously, I knew DJs more prone to rinsing out DFA or Ed Banger records having this in their crates).

Funk was seeing a mini-resurgence thanks to Prince's return to Warner Records, and you can definitely hear his influence on many tracks, such that a micro-feud emerged between them. Yeah, sexy never really left, but its undeniable this album helped bring its funky potential back to the forefront after crunk's dominance. Oh, there's a crunk on here, because of course there would be, Three 6 Mafia doing the guest spot.

The things Justin sings about? Well, it's right there in the title, right? Half the tunes are about picking up girls at the clubs and whatnot, the other about bitter breakups. How these land for you probably depends entirely on how you view Mr. Timberlake's cache of pop world good will, which has significantly dwindled in recent years, no doubt. Still, when some of those operatic moments hit, like in What Goes Around... Hard not to get swept in all the melodrama that made FutureSex/LoveSounds one of that year's biggest albums.

DJ Shadow - The Outsider

Universal Records: 2006

(a Patreon Request)

Above all else, you could not mistake DJ Shadow's third album as being released at any point other than 2006. There's a line about Dick Cheney shooting a guy! That's, like, soooo 2006, man! I guess all the hyphy tracks kinda' date this album too. Yeah, the Bay Area sound massively caught on the following decade, which some may argue is in favour of The Outsider for being that ahead of the game, but let's be real here. No one was turning to DJ Shadow for hot new sounds of San-Fran hip-hop in the year 2006, nor any time before or after. They were turning to DJ Shadow for his unique, seminal take on sampling, turntablism, and trip-hop, somehow expecting he'd ride that Endtroducing..... style forever after. Mr. Davis knew what was what though, hangin' out with dudes like Turf Talk and E-40, and was more than willing to gamble on their sounds, needing something new and fresh lest he grow stale as an artist.

It could have worked. As mentioned, hyphy was blossoming in the world of hip-hop, riding the same wave of frenetic, synth-heavy, party rockin' rap that had turned crunk and grime into huge movements in their regions. It would have been a shock to the DJ Shadow faithful, no doubt, but at least they would understand the abrupt change of sound, and maybe even vibe on it based on the genre's own merits. Unfortunately, DJ Shadow didn't commit to it, instead book-ending The Outsider with a half-dozen hyphy tracks, creating a drastic tonal clash with all the far more musical efforts within the record's creamy centre.

Even without the hyphy, The Outsider could generously be considered overly eclectic. Let's assume you skipped all the way past the David Banner featuring Seein Thangs (whoa, David Banner feature; it's 2006 alright), instead kicking things off with Broken Levee Blues. Cool, some guitar jamming and little spoken-word dialog. Nice an' chill, yo', still capturing that vintage DJ Shadow smooth downtempo- HOLY SHIT! How did we smash right into thrashy speed-punk from that? I'm spazzin' out here! Gotta' love it, and it looks like we're getting into some freaky psychedelic jazz-funk action in Backstage Girl after. So it's gonna' be this kinda' album then.

Nope! A little score work in Triplicate / Something Happened That Day, and suddenly we're into the domain of indie rock, complete with a Brit warbler who's not Chris Martin, but sure sounds like him. And let's not forget the psychedelic folk from Christina Carter in What Have I Done, because Joanna Newsom was a thing in 2006, I guess? Is this even a DJ Shadow album anymore? What is this album? Oh yeah, that one with the hyphy in it. I'd forgotten it started that way, but here's a couple such closers as reminders.

No wonder Mr. Davis called this album The Outsider. It sounds like an artist trying to fit in various musical scenes with nothing in common other than having an interloper playing in their respective sandboxes.

OutKast - Stankonia

Arista: 2000

Wu-Tang Clan may have opened my ears to the possibilities of what hip-hop could sound like, but OutKast's Stankonia obliterated whatever biased barriers I had left. Not that my reaction was much different from everyone else who nabbed a copy of this album, Big Boi and André 3000's fourth LP lauded for its fearless genre-bending music by even the most cagey of rap veterans. Folks in the know were already hype to OutKast's potential though, even if the duo continuously exceeded expectations at this point in their career. I was coming in raw, with no knowledge of their history within the Atlanta scene. All I knew about Southern rap was whatever No Limit Records was churning out, and Stankonia sounded nothing like Master P. Then again, Stankonia sounded like nothing else on the market period.

For one thing, this album was among the first, if not the first, of major records in American hip-hop to inject the breakneck pace of drum ‘n’ bass rhythms into the scene. I’m sure some UK act had done the deed prior, or at least lyrically conscious MCs were spittin’ verses overtop Roni Size cuts, but music intended for raves was well outside the interest of this continent’s ghetto regions. Figures, then, it’d take these OutKast types to make that bold step into 155BPM territory with B.O.B. and smaller track ? (yes, it’s called that). Big Boi and Mr. 3000 weren’t satisfied just aping some rhythms though, making use of their newly acquired studio to indulge in all sorts of electronic sounds and productions. Red Velvet is pure electro, Snappin’ & Trappin’ goes weirdo electro (wasn’t really called trap yet), Gangsta Sh*t blasts heavy southern bass funk, Slum Beautiful fears no time signatures, and I’ll Call Before I Come tinkers with a drum machine like a toy box in Prince’s hands. And don’t forget all those funky Moog worms about So Fresh, So Clean, Xplosion, and Stanklove.

Stankonia was also where André started feeling the soul-croon itch, which initially gave his chums pause whether they were going to lose his rap talents. Instead, Big Boi let him run with it, and the result was some of OutKast’s most endearing songs ever, including their first major hit with Ms. Jackson. There’s also freak-out rock with Gasoline Deams, P-funk soul with Toilet Tisha, salsa with Humble Mumble, and plenty of quirky dalliances within multiple interludes. It’s funny how the more traditional hip-hop cuts with Spaghetti Junction and We Luv Deez Hoez, while fine enough productions, are almost forgotten amongst the genre bending going on. Well, no, you’ll never forget the hook in We Luv Deez Hoez.

Listening to Stankonia, it’s easy to understand why many OutKast fans were hesitant in embracing Speakerboxxx / The Love Below. This album finds the duo seemingly at the threshold of exploring amazing new approaches to hip-hop, whereas the latter, though a passion-project, was a step back. The relative lack of anything since has only made hearts grow fonder for this stank.

OutKast - Speakerboxxx

Arista: 2003

To write about OutKast’s double-LP opus Speakerboxxx / The Love Below is ultimately an exercise in doubling one’s word count, the two ‘solo albums’ so radically different from each they demand divided attention. Fortunately for me, I’ve long set a precedent of reviewing individual CDs of multi-disc releases, and if there’s ever an album that needs this, it’s OutKast’s technical last album (to date). No, I don’t count Idlewild, the soundtrack merely one part of that project’s main focus: making a movie about OutKast, set in an old-timey ragtime era, because of course they would.

Before venturing into Big Boi’s album, here’s a bit of forgotten trivia first. When the double-disc came out, the CD you’d see upon opening the tray was André 3000’s The Love Below. This, despite Speakerboxxx long considered the CD1 due to its position in the main title, being the advertised front cover, and the name everyone automatically associates with this release. I bring this up because it points to one of the idiosyncrasies that made OutKast such a unique entity within hip-hop’s landscape. They thrived on dashing expectations, whether something big and bold like genre fusions on their albums, to something simple like tricking hip-hop heads into playing the disc they wouldn’t care for if they weren’t paying attention.

Speakerboxxx though, they’d be totally fine with, especially all those trunk rattling Southern bass jams. Big Boi always was the more ‘traditional’ hip-hop part of OutKast, and with a full LP to indulge himself, unleashes plenty of beats for the booty and body, and tons of rhymes for the lyrical heads. Ghetto Musick, Tomb Of The Boom, Flip Flop Rock, and Last Call have no problem getting rowdy and crunk for the sake of it, while funky soul worms its way in Unhappy, Bowtie, The Way You Move, and Reset. And though Dré 3000 doesn’t do much in the way of rhyming on Speakerboxxx, he does lend his production to a few esoteric cuts (Ghetto Musick, War, Church), bringing this CD as close to the vibe most point as vintage OutKast.

Not that Big Boi lacks lyrical back-up without his partner in crime afoot. Mr. Patton has plenty on his mind to spit, getting a few street tales and perspectives out on War, Knowing and The Rooster. He’s not hesitant in calling in some outside support too, Speakerboxxx featuring one of OutKast’s biggest guest spots ever with Jay-Z dropping in along with your usual plethora of Southern rap names (Killer Mike, Goodie Mob, Ludacris, Lil’ Jon & The East Side Boyz). At a time when crunk was primed for its takeover of all things hip-hop, it’s quite refreshing hearing such bass heavy music with some effort put into lyrics. Hell, Last Call with Lil’ Jon is probably one of the best non Lil’ Jon-produced Lil’ Jon tracks out there (pst, it was André 3000 at the console there too). Oh, the wonders we could have visited upon had OutKast kept going this route in the ‘00s.

Various - FabricLive.38: Craze

Fabric: 2008

*cover art brought to you by FabricLive's “Melting Material On Predators” period*

Hey now, what have we in our midst? A real DJ! Three-peat DMC Champion at that. Okay, competition winners aren’t that rare in FabricLive’s history, but the music DJ Craze’s plays here is one Fabric hadn’t ventured into: Miami bass! Haha, I bet the label figured he’d do another drum-n-bass or regular hip-hop mix, so props for Mr. Aristh Delgado for adding yet another notch in the series’ already eclectic assortment of genres. True, previous FabricLives occasional drop a tune or two inspired from the Floridian scene, but Craze’s roots run deep in streets among Ocean Drive, and he shows no qualms in using Fabric’s prestige as a love-letter to the city's musical innovations.

And why not? Miami bass and freestyle were thriving genres for a large chunk of the '80s and '90s, a melding of hip-hop and urban R&B utilizing Kraftwerk electro as the genetic backbone. So successful were these offshoots that they practically subsumed electro-proper altogether, one kicking off the bass music scene as its own unique entity, the other taking electro to the top of American dance charts long before anyone else did. Even as those scenes faded from popularity as the '90s wore on (folks grew weary of those Numbers samples, I guess), they maintained a faithful following in their native Miami, of which Craze undoubtedly grew up surrounded by.

That said, the first few tracks had me worrying we wouldn’t be getting that, two cuts from Cool Kida giving us a taste of... ketamine crunk? No, just no. Who even likes such sluggy slop like that? Craze does come correct with some real crunk in Bangers & Cash’s Loose (you know what they’re talking about), but dammit, this CD was advertised as old school. Give me the classics, mang!

Ask, and you shall receive, Craze making no bones about what this mix is showcasing once he drops the original Miami Vice Theme from Jan Hammer. From there, it’s the vintage booming south (Miami Jam Crew’s Pretty Girls; Lushus’ Ho Fo Sho; Fresh Celeste & M-4 Sers’ Give It All To Me), mint freestyle classics (Beat Club’s Security; Debbie Deb’s When I Hear The Music), and even tasty technobass (DJ Magic Mike’s Cutz The Record; DJ Laz’ Red Alert).

Smartly, Craze mixes things up with tunes from newer acts (Chromeo, Armand Van Helden, Blaqstarr, Switch) who definitely owe some debt to the groundbreaking and shaking bass work Miami’s pioneers accomplished. Ending everything off with killer ghetto anthems like Kid Sister’s Pro Nails (produced by Craze’s turntablist compadre A-Trak) and DJ Assault’s Keep It Pushin’ (with too many names on the remix), and FabricLive.38's a CD any self-respecting bass head should hear.

Was This Worth The Pennies Paid For It?
Miami bass isn’t for everyone (including the previous owner, apparently), but any set that throws technobass into the mix is an automatic win for yours truly.