Quick Hits, Vol. 215 (Ghostface Killah, Saba, JID, Weezer)

Ghostface Killah - Ghost Files - Bronze Tape.  I love Ghostface.  Sweet, old-school beats crafted from old soul samples and clips of gangster/western/kung-fun movies.  His angry flow over the top, just swinging punches and throwing down in every track.  A simple google search didn't tell me what the movie lines come from on this particular album, but they're freaking perfect - some gangsters who get off with murder and laugh in the face of the lawmen who tried to stop them.  But literally, this album bangs from start to finish, no filler, all classic Wu-loving tracks, tailor made for me to nod along to.  BUT, in an odd turn, this is a third version of a mixtape, called The Lost Tapes, which was released in 2018 and then remixed twice, once by Agallah, once by Bronze Nazareth.  So this is the last of those - I haven't even tried the others to see if they are better.  More work for me!  Here is the one with Raekwon on it - "Watch Em Holla," with 46k streams:

Yeah, baby.  Ghostface has a great vocal sound, and Raekwon also has a classic sound.  There are a couple of normal collaborations - Snoop & E-40, that one with Raekwon - but then loads of dudes I've never heard of, with weird names like Hus KingPin, Planet Asia, and Styliztik Jones.  Whatever dude.  Do your thing.

Random aside, 'Face has some classic albums in his catalog - rapheads all pump his 2000 album Supreme Clientele, but I also love 2006's Fishscale, which was the first of his solo albums that I ever purchased and bumped all the time while doing work around my first house.  I bring those up because none of their songs are in his top ten most popular tunes as of right now.  Which is weird.  And none of the songs from this album have that many streams - not sure how something this solid can completely fly under the radar - maybe because the dude puts out so many mixtapes, people get tired.  I'll keep this.

Saba - Care for Me.  This is that laid-back, backpack style of rap, chilled beats with smooth vocals quickly fitting loads of words into the cadence of the track.  Lots of piano and jazzy horns, less deep bass, more snares and spacey effects.  Has a similar feel to the Chance the Rapper stuff.  Top track is "LIFE" with just over 8 million streams.

Definitely one of the best on the album, with an elastic bass kick that sounds cool as hell.  Overall though, the album just bores me.  Nothing on here feel essential.

JID - DeCaprio 2.  This guy is freaking awesome.  Like Kendrick at times, like Wayne at other times, representing Atlanta all throughout.  The track with A$AP Ferg reminds me of how much I like that dude, and although there are other cameos on this, it is JID's verses that do the most work.  Method Man puts in a good verse, but still, its all JID all the time on this disc.  "Jest Da Other Day" is some Lil Wayne sounding fire.  "Slick Talk" is truly slick.  He even makes a J. Cole song sound good.  That J. Cole one has the most streams, but I'm gonna give you the one right behind it, "151 Rum" with 24.8 million streams.

The flow of those words is so smooth, it just draws out like taffy into the distance and never pauses for a single breath.  And I like the beat, with that droning Middle Eastern sounding instrument weaving through.  If only the song was longer - I need more...  "Hot Box" with Method is greatness, very laid back beat and Method's sleepy lyrics.  This is a very good mixtape.

You know who else is freaking awesome? Lizzo. I love her ACL performance a few years back, and she has a new track out called "Juice" that is just plain freaking fun.  Looking forward to a new album...

Weezer - Teal Album.  There was a time when I would have called Weezer a favorite band.  Likely never the actual number one top band at that time, but definitely up there in the conversation.  The Blue Album was just too perfect for me to ignore as a classic.  In the many albums since then, they have never reached that peak, but they have gone from pretty good (Pinkerton, Green Album, Red Album) to meh (White Album, Make Believe) to awful (Hurley, Raditude, Pacific Daydream).  This one falls into that final category for me.  I know they're trying to continue their ironic, winking ways by covering a bunch of cheese anthems like Toto's "Africa," but I'm so freaking sick of hearing that stupid song, this entire thing is tainted by it.  I'll admit I thought it was funny the first time I heard it, but now that it is being played on every style of radio - pop, alternative, rock, easy listening - and other public places - sporting events, pre-concert mixes - I'm ready to never hear that shit again.  Please.  So this is an album that triples down on that schtick, with some Michael Jackson, some Tears for Fears, some Eurythmics, some A-ha, and then a few left field ones like TLC's "No Scrubs" and Sabbeth's "Paranoid."  They're all kind of entertaining for a minute, but they're also just too generically faithful to the original, so what is the point?  Turn "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" into a chugging semi-metal "Hashpipe" thing.  Don't just play the exact song, note-for-note.  Its not interesting at all.  Here is "Take On Me," a pretty straight-forward reproduction.

I mean, how cool that they got Stranger Things kid Finn Wolfhard to play Rovers Cuomo, and that they pay homage to the original video's black and white drawing style.  All of that is super neato.  But the actual song?  Do I really need to hear that anymore?  No, dear reader, I do not.  This album can disappear.