Quick Hits, Vol. 201 (6ix 9ine, Dave Matthews Band, Alt J, The D.O.C.)

6ix 9ine - Dummy Boy.  Just even writing the name of this guy makes my old skin crawl.  If you thought that I might dislike an album by a new rapper with a ton of tattoos on his face and more news articles writing about his antics and indictments than his rap, then you would be entirely correct.  This album sucks.  A few of the beats are interesting, but this guy's rap tone makes Meek Mill sound like Josh Groban.  Just a slice below screaming - the best parts of each song are the guests he's brought on to help him rap the tracks.  You know how sometimes Eminem gets screamy when he's really trying to show you the depths of his anger or frustration?  Or like when some douchey QB is miked up in the huddle and trying to psych up his guys with garbage platitudes?  THIS OUR TIME!  WHO HAS THE TIME!  WE IS THE TIME!  That is what this guy sounds like when he raps.  "KIKA" and "WAKA" (literally titles of his songs, for real) are prime examples of this garbage.  His biggest hit features Nicki Minaj, and he actually sounds like he tries on it, so I'll give you that one.  "FEFE," with 330.6 million streams.

OK.  That beat is great.  I can totally understand listening to that beat and enjoying that song.  But his verse is plain jane and Nicki has the better lyrics for sure.  I might add that track to my popcorn rap playlist, but otherwise, nope.  Especially the two tracks on here where he's trying to grab onto the latin groove movement thing, those are horrible.

Dave Matthews Band - Come Tomorrow.  Oooh yeah!  DMB is still out there, churning out vaguely rocking, highly anthemic tunes about joy and living in the now.  Unfortunately, I literally just thought that the initial single ("Samurai Cop (Oh Joy Begin)") from the album reminds me of the new Mumford and now I'm screwed.  What went from a pretty good impression of it just soured into curdled disappointment.  A few of these songs are actively painful to listen to, like "That Girl is You" or "When I'm Weary."  Seriously, "That Girl is You" is like fingernails on a chalkboard.  There are some better tunes on here, like the Samurai Cop one (which definitely sticks in my head), "Idea of You," or "She."  Most of this one kind of glides by in a DMB haze, I just listened to it again and now can't recall what any of the tunes sound like.  Samurai Cop is the most streamed (but it is the first song and the first single), but I'll give you "Here On Out," second most streamed at 3.9 million.

Oh no.  Was his music always helplessly cheesy?  This is worrying me.  These lyrics hurt me, and then the added french horn and strings, to give it heft and gravitas, as he sings about needing you so and falling into your eyes, and says that you are not only light as a butterfly but also heavy as a rock.  Nooooooooooooo.  Schmaltzy, sticky, sweet dreck.  Will let this one sing to the bottom of the ocean.

Alt J - Reduxer.  An album of remixes of their last album (Relaxer) full of rappers taking a slum trip down to these terrible beat-layered versions of the original songs.  Even Pusha T sounds lost on this.  Don't waste your time.

The D.O.C. - No One Can Do It Better.  Nice!  Another great find because of that Original Gangsta book that I read.  I have heard this dude's name before, and I guess heard him rap as well, on old school Dr. Dre hits, but I'd never known that he had his own album.  This is good stuff - has the same vibe and sound as classic Dr. Dre and N.W.A.  The top track very well could have been a hit for Dre, but I really don't recall ever having heard it before now.  "It's Funky Enough," with 4.7 million streams.

High quality acting by Eazy E in there.  Yikes.  But the combination of that cool ass G Funk beat, to go with his smooth flow jumping on the beat, and the good yell-along chorus?  Slice of goodness right there.  Over 6 million views of that video.  He also does a cool last track of the album - "The Grad Finale"  - which boasts the NWA guys dropping verses for him.  The whole album is pretty solid.  Went platinum (even though I never noticed it back then) and spawned two hit singles.

Crazy thing, he got into a bad car accident a few months after the album came out, and almost died.  As part of the injuries from being thrown from his car in the accident, his larynx was crushed, and he wasn't able to make anything near the same tone of voice as you hear on this album.  Instead, his voice was raspy and rough and weak, as you'd hear on his next album, Helter Skelter.  Poor guy, that album has very few streams, and for good reason, because it sucks.  Here is the top track, "From Ruthless 2 Death Row (We All Part)," with only 150k streams.

Tough to keep it going with that voice, and his production took a big hit too by leaving Dre and his smooth beats.  Sad story really, although I just found an article showing that he apparently recently got his voice back after 25 year.  Maybe he's about to stage a big come back with Dre by his side...  I'll let this second album fall in the trash, but that first one is solid.