Lookee here … fresh new video by a fresh new artist named Estelle. She’s on John Legend’s new record label, and I hear she may be coming through Charlotte soon …
In the meantime, check out the clip:
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This article appears in Mar 5-11, 2008.
Fresh new video
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Kanye really needs to stop trying to sing. I don’t think he’s even close to being on-key in those first few lines. It’s almost painful to listen to.
Well, Jeff, Kanye’s singing falls in a long line of rappers singing on tracks. Q-Tip and Queen Latifah did it in the late 80s — most notably on songs like ‘Buddy.” The trend really got going with Snoop’s sing-song approach on The Chronic and was soon bitten by West Coast rapper Domino. Years later, Jah-Rule sang on a ton of his own tracks and scored major success — at lest in terms of sales. Then Eminem blew on a few tracks … and then a lot of other cats — like 50Cent — did it. I’m not counting guys like Andre of Outkast or Lauryn Hill because they essentially made primarily singing albums. Looking at the singing of MCs like Q-Tip, Jah, Eminem and Kanye, the appeal goes back to the pure hip-hop audacity that — yes — these guys cannot sing but they don’t give a shit and can make a great song while singing off key. That’s pure hip-hop. Check Snoop’s new song “Sexual Eruption (aka Sensual Seduction).” His voice sounds like shit, but it’s not supposed to sound good really. It’s also a very punk sensibility. Those old punk cats couldn’t even play instruments, but that was the point. Anyway, that’s my two-cents worth!
Umm, what the hell was that video all about?