Loosies Of The Week, Feb. 28-4

Welcome to yet another Loosies Of The Week, a wrap-up of this weeks singles, throwaways, leaks, and any other loose tracks I find. We got appearances from banger-steady companions, mainstream Rap characters, and an Indie comeback.
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Tyler, The Creator - What The Fuck Right Now

Continuing the slew of remixes Kanye West's The Life Of Pablo has received, Tyler, the Creator hops on the Industrial beat for 'Freestyle 4' with the ad-lib help of A$AP Rocky. The result is a wildly vibrant track that mares Tyler's abrasive vocals with a beat that match his style perfectly. Essentially a one-off track, presumably made during his studio sessions with A$AP Rocky during his GOLF radio side project, as evidenced by the music video, the track sees Tyler embracing his rap origins despite his wantingness to escape from it. While the track does slide off in terms of attraction, going on too long for the attention-span it warrants, 'What The Fuck Right Now' is a feral track combining two untamed beasts. 

Ironically enough, during this entire boasting process, Tyler really focuses on those who can't hold their money and invest it poorly. Hearing him come with the same verbal aggression as those bragging off the lid as their money drains down the toilet is just hilarious. Talk about filing your taxes and not renting cars take over for frivolously tossing money around and buying things far out of one's budget. Typically Tyler poked fun at such madness through direct parody, his Young Nigga was a prime example of this, but now he's throwing shade at them without a comedic front. 

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JMSN - Cruel Intentions

As the lead single to his third LP It Is, 'Cruel Intentions' is equally expansive as it is common place. The song nearly eclipses the six minute mark, an oddity for singles as plainly spoken Pop as this. What I know of JMSN is limited, with appearances of his finding their way on various albums I've heard, but not hearing enough of his original work to judge interest. That being said, Blue Sky Black Death and Ab-Soul are different enough artists to appear with that I'm intrigued. His crooning seems shallow at first, but the passion is surely there, galvanizing about love gone wrong. Nothing special sure, but the way he works some Funk elements in the distant background provides some nice contrast. 

Also never noticed it before but JMSN sounds an awful lot like Justin Timberlake. He never peaks as high as the Pop sensation, but his soulful compaction works well with these slow-moving motions. Unfortunately the length seems to bite the song in its long legs though, as it could've easily lasted half as long with the same impact. Something as emotionally self-effacing as this, you'd expect the progression to comply with the growing tension. Rather, the song ends exactly where it starts. If that's intended to make a statement about the cruel cycles of life, it worked, but as a piece of music meant to be ingested it gets stale about midway through. 

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Joey Fatts - Farrakhan

Joey Fatts appeared on 'Dopeman,' one of my favorite tracks on Vince Staples' Summertime 06', so let's see how this combo works again. Turns out, with 'Farrakhan,' the swapped roles as lead and feature did them wonders again, as these two work in unison together with speed splitting flows that bounce and thump over a classic West Coast beat. There's a couple slight changes that keep it interesting, mainly the play toy piano that caps the song and runs underneath its belly throughout. Other than that this is a straight-forward street banger that goes hard and doesn't let up. 

I appreciate the hook too. With Joey Fatts at the helm of this track we actually get some buoyancy in the chorus that doesn't happen in Vince Staples hooks, ones that typically just have the title repeated over and over. They beam the verses straight into one another, and straight into the chorus, leaving little room for breaths, something that replicates the ferocity of the streets nicely. Surprisingly, it isn't Staples' verse that takes control here, Fatts does his best to compete and excels in ways Staples didn't. His final verse is steady and stripped bare, determined to strike fear in the eyes of those who he's intimidating. 

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A$AP Ferg x Migos - Trap Anthem

Ever since I heard Quavo appear on The Social Experiment's Surf I knew there was something up with Migos. They weren't typical Trap, even though they gave off that impression. Or at the very least they know of move than they let off. Hasn't yet given me enough reason to delve into this deep mixtape catalogue, but whenever loosies appear with associated acts I always check it out. 'Trap Anthem,' with A$AP Ferg, someone who I think is doing genuinely interesting things with Trap, tipped off my earlobes that I gotta listen. And it didn't disappoint. 

Long story short, this track slaps. If you need something to blast in your janky car radio come Spring look no further. An arpeggiating synth cascades profusely in the background, but it's really the dirty bass that takes over the production. Not only does it whip across the system, it pounds it; working both left to right, and front to back. What little room is left goes to the emcees who all flaunt their flows like a matador showing off around a bull. Ferg's the best, as expected, with a devilish flow that slithers and swoops through the gaps of air. Besides that though, and completely cacophonating the track, are ad-libs bursting in the background. Coming from all four rappers, they add yet another dimension to the densely layered track, but do suffer from an alarming chaos. Thankfully the track's only two and a half minutes, anymore and the off the rails setting would've caused head trauma.

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M83 - Do It, Try It

This is worrying. As the lead single to his just announced, highly anticipated LP Junk 'Do It, Try It' is largely a disappointing work that harbors none of what M83 an interesting Dream Pop outfit. For comparison, the lead single to his last LP Hurry Up, We're Dreaming was 'Midnight City.' I assume you know 'Midnight City,' everyone does, and everyone loves it. Not only was it a critical darling, it had massive crossover appeal and saw M83 dance gleamingly into festivals and concerts around the world. The song, a basic SynthPop track, incorporated small ideas into foreboding statements, making annoying sounds enticing. 

'Do It, Try It' doesn't feature any of that juiciness. If the repetition of the title is what's suppose to draw listeners in for the catchiness factor, it's failed immensely. Much like the addictive vocal chops on 'Midnight City,' which I know, if you've heard the song, that you could recollect right now, this one doesn't have anything that would warrant someone's memory. With a barrage of synths, and some janky piano playing (really the only good part of the song), there isn't much else to discuss. As the hyper modulation hits in the chorus I roll my eyes, knowing the progression is done to maximize redundant SynthPop measures that we've heard a million times. There's even a buildup into the chorus, akin to a pre Dubstep drop. Really? I need the passion to find its way into the verses through the production, not just to wait until the moment M83 decides to put full emphasis on it. Also, this is the opener to the LP, even though it doesn't hold any factor to call it such.

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2 Chainz x Lil Wayne - Gotta Lotta

You know you've reached a point in your musical understanding where you start to appreciate Pop Rap for what it is. It's the circle of life. Only listening to what's popular cause you know no other, reaching into the depths of the underground and resenting what plays on the radio, deepening your knowledge of the genre, then coming back and seeing some worth. Both Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz used to be jokes to me, gimmicks in the game, and while they aren't conceivably better, I can appreciate why they exist. 'Gotta Lotta,' a single from the two's collaboration album ColleGrove, sees both go hard over a Trap-laced beat, doing what they do best. 

I'm also at the point where autotune, if done right, and that's incredibly important, becomes appealing. Not sure what it is, but Wayne spiraling the chorus with a mechanized melody is just frenetic, regardless of the overall silliness Wayne presents his lyrics. The drums, sloppily done but benefited from the overall chaotic nature of the drug-infused track, fill in each crease if there were worries of silence occurring in a Lil Wayne x 2 Chainz song. The latter throws in a nice verse, nothing special, but there are some minor changes happening to his vocals that keeps it interesting during his moments.

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