Quick Hits, Vol. 15 (Jungle, DJ Mustard, T.I., Run the Jewels, Bobby Shmurda)

Jungle - Jungle.  Jungle is a funny word when you write it two times quickly.  I wasn't sure if I had just typed Juggle or Bungle or some other weird word, and now staring at it to make sure I was right, it just looks like a funny word. Anyway, these guys strike me as modern soft rock.  Some Christopher Cross/Michael McDonald stuff going on here with their soft harmonies and synths.  Their label says Jungle makes "mesmeric, kaleidoscopic modern soul that’s unmistakably born in the UK but has true global appeal."  That may be true, I have no clue, but sounds lame.  Here is the single I have heard a few times on the radio, Busy Earnin':

Get yo dance on!  A friend had told me that he went to their live show and it was amazing.  From listening to their album, not sure I get that, but I'm also not a huge soul connoisseur, either.

DJ Mustard - 10 Summers.  Mustard is a producer who has been behind a slew of popular tracks for folks like Y.G. and T.I.  He is also one of those annoying guys who has to have the same little phrase intoned at the beginning of each song, with "Mustard on that beat, Ho!" at or near the beginning of every single song. (Although you might think it says "Muzzaonnabee oh.")  Also, according to the Internet, Mustard is the guy who came up with having "Hey!" repeated behind a beat throughout a song, like in Iggy Azalea's "Fancy."  No clue if that is true that he was the originator, but that element is definitely here in these songs.  This album is collaboration victory lap of sorts for him - full of guest spots from YG, Lil Wayne, Big Sean, Jeezy, 2 Chainz, Rick Ross, etc.  The hit is "Face Down," with Lil Wayne, Big Sean, and YG.

Look at that mustard bottle chain!  Yes!  The beats are definitely good, although there is not a lot of variation between them so that listening to a whole album bleeds together to where you aren't sure if the song changed or not.  And the rapping is also uneven, as should be expected when 20 different guys are doing the lyrics.  All of that in mind, this is the kind of thing to just bump to in the background without trying to worry about paying attention to lyrics.

T.I. - Paperwork.  I kind of wish that T.I. had spent his time in jail more productively.  Paper Trail was a freaking top notch album - Ready for Whatever, Live Your Life, Whatever You Like, Swagga Like Us, No Matter What, You Ain't Missin' Nothing, I'm Illy - with the exception of "My Life Your Entertainment," I thought every song was great.  Since then?  No Mercy and Trouble Man were both pretty mediocre (Ha!) and this new album is more of the same.  It's not terrible, I still think T.I.'s laconic tone and smooth flow are great, and some of the beats on here are interesting, but when compared to Paper Trail, this is much weaker.  The hit is "No Mediocre" with Iggy Azalea, but other than having kind of a cool Carribean steel drum, Miami Vice soundtrack vibe to the beat, its pretty dumb.

Random aside - it really stresses me out when people don't check their e-mails.  I'm sure everyone has their own system, but I sat next to a guy at a dinner the other night and noticed that the mail icon on his iPhone had over seven thousand in the little red alert balloon above it.  WTF!  I'm sure its all spam and he totally knows what he is doing, but dude!  Check your e-mails!  What if Groupon had a great teeth whitening deal and you missed it!?!

Run the Jewels - Run the Jewels.  I remember this coming out a year or two back (although Spotify lists it as a 2014 album) but I never could find it to listen to.  I dig Killer Mike's solo album, so it sounded like a good fit to me and Rolling Stone liked it.  But it is only now that #2 blew up and got a lot of critical love that I have actually heard the thing.  I like it a lot.  The beats are original and different with strange sounds like an F1 car speeding around a track.  My favorite one features Big Boi - "Banana Clipper" and has an 808 thump underneath some echoing reverb-y sound that reminds me of running a record backwards.  And Big Boi is a stud - love his tough sound.  "Run the Jewels" is also a keeper, ominous synth with breakneck tambourine and similarly speedy flow about ganking someone's stuff.

Bobby Shmurda.  I was driving into Dallas last fall and switched the radio over to K-one-O-fizzoh, like back in the days when I lived there.  This song came on (apologies in advance for the language, but the radio version ("Hot Boy") isn't the video):

That beat is freaking sick.  Super basic - low bass hits, high hat clicks, Kansas tornado sirens, understated synth, the caw of a crow every once in a while.  I immediately grabbed out my phone to Shazam the tune and figure out who it was, and found out about Bobby Shmurda.  Which was really too bad, because he appears to be a complete moron who happened to fire up one really hot track off of a beat he says he found on YouTube.  I watched this brutally long interview with him and something called Global Grind TV and holeee crap.  Not only does he come off as ridiculously dumb, but the fact that he is pushing a dance move from his video that appears to just consist of the most basic of moves (see about 2:22 in the video) is even worse.  Soooo, no thanks.