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Fire Starter: B.O.B.
If Outkast ever morphed into one person, chances are Decatur, Georgia's B.O.B. would be the result. The recent high school grad shares equal parts Andre 3000's left-of-center point of view and Big Boi's quick wit. And both qualities were on display last summer when he managed to sneak into T.I.'s Club Crucial and perform "Cloud 9," his woozy anthem to Mary Jane. Now signed to Atlantic Records through producer Jim Jonsin's Rebel Rock imprint and co-managed by Southern music vet TJ Chapman, B.O.B. has been working with Jonsin and David Banner on his yet-untitled debut and recently dropped the mixtape The Future.
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Mixtape Monday: Young Jeezy Spots Kanye West An Ad-Lib; Yung Joc Sports A Gumby Slope
— by Shaheem Reid, Jayson Rodriguez and Joseph Patel, with additional reporting by Rahman Dukes
DJ: DJ Smallz
Representing: The Dirty South
Mixtapes: Smokin' R&B Four and Best Thing Smokin' Four: Rockstar Energy Drink Edition
411: Mr. Smallz hasn't been in Mixtape Monday for a while, but he's doubling up this week with two new joints that have recently captivated the Southern hip-hop community. And because he's such a nice dude, he's throwing in some rhythm and blues for good measure.
Joints To Check For:
- "Ringtone" by Miss B (featuring Yung Joc) from Best Thing Smokin' Four: Rockstar Energy Drink Edition. Joc hooks up again with his accomplice from "I Know You See It" for some off-key crooning and sexual overtones about cozying up with ringtones. The Georgia peach — best known on the solo tip for "Bottle Action" — raps about going to the club looking for groupie love and possibly fulfilling some Patrón-fueled fantasy.
- "Hustle" by B.G. (featuring Young Jeezy) from Best Thing Smokin' Four: Rockstar Energy Drink Edition. Gizzle still has that N.O. slur, but he hasn't sounded this crisp since Bryan "Baby" Williams was his CEO and he and Lil Wayne were labelmates. The theme isn't as fresh (every week there's a record about hustling that hits the Net), but the production is as sturdy as the security doors at a trap house, and Jeezy makes another A-caliber cameo (love the Master P-esque ad-lib!). "To who it may concern, I am not a drug dealer," he rhymes. "I'm just playin'/ How much you trying to spend n---a?/ I'm just sayin'/ In the Aston Martin looking like James Bond."
- "Put a Little Umph in It" by Jagged Edge (featuring Ashanti) from Smokin' R&B Four. The first single from JE's Jermaine Dupri-produced all-ballad LP, Baby Making Project, is about you know what. "When you put a little umph in it, that's when I lose control," they sing on the hook. "When you put a little umph in it, keep squeezing and I can't let go/ Could you put a little bit of umph in it, tell me how much you love it."
The verses go a little something like this: "All I wanna do is get you off, said you wanna be my girlfriend/ Baby girl you done paid the cost." Ashanti gives her take from the ladies' POV: "I wanna please ya, not tease ya."
Don't Sleep: Other Notable Selections This Week
- One Shot and Big Mike - Million Dollar Flow
- DJ 2Mello - Undercover R&B
- Trajik - Welcome to Grimey Dille
- P-Cutta & DJ Drama - Street Wars 18: Go Hard or Go Home
- DJ Kool Kid & Beanie Sigel - Return of the Broad Street Bully
'Hood's Heavy Rotation: Bubbling Below The Radar
- Hurricane Chris (featuring Jadakiss, the Game, Lil Boosie and E-40) - "Ay Bay Bay" remix
- Lil Boosie (featuring Fat Joe, Jim Jones, Jadakiss and Webbie) - "Wipe Me Down" remix
- Lil Wayne - "I'm Raw"
- Bottom of Da Map - "What's Da Bizness"
- Disturbing Tha Peace - "Celebrity Chick"
- T.I. - "Raw" and "My Swag"
Celebrity Faves
Greg Oden was the top pick in the NBA draft on Thursday, and according to the 7-footer, if he got the chance to select rappers from a draft pool, his top pick would undoubtedly be Lil Wayne.
"When Lil Wayne gets on [a remix,] he turns it from OK to 'This is that joint right here,' " Oden said about Weezy. "Other than the 'White Girl' remix, 'cause [that song] was still hot no matter what. But with Lil Wayne on it, it was better. [Same with the] 'Party Like a Rockstar' remix, the 'White Girl' remix and 'Get It Shawty' remix. And then the 'Can't Tell Me Nothing' remix with Young Jeezy, that's my jam."
The Streets Is Talking: News & Notes From The Underground
Young Jeezy is the only other MC who will appear on Kanye West's Graduation LP this summer, and the Snowman didn't even have to spit a verse.
"I don't have any rappers on my album," West said. "Not just because I'm trying to make a statement of being an MC — I want people to get into my album and zone out. You never asked Marvin Gaye, 'You have such and such doing a background track?' I do have an ad-lib from [Young] Jeezy. That's because he has that line, 'Hey Snowman, can I get an ad-lib?' So I asked for an ad-lib. Where the rappers do appear is on the remixes."
Jeezy is on the remix to "Can't Tell Me Nothing," and look for Kanye to spit at least one new verse on there as well.
As for Kanye's other single, "Stronger," everyone by now knows that it borrows its beat from French house duo Daft Punk, who were introduced to Kanye through his DJ, A-Trak. The DJ told Mixtape Monday that Kanye has really gotten into several groups from the French dance-music world. A-Trak, meanwhile, is currently remixing "Stronger" and has just launched his own record label, Fool's Gold. He and his partner, Nick Catchdubs (of The Fader magazine), plan to release records this year from "hipster" rappers like Kid Sister and the Cool Kids. ...
The diamond-flooded Hustlenomics "H" on his rope chain is such an eye-grabber it's sometimes hard to focus on anything else Yung Joc is rocking. That is, until you take a gander at his dome and peep the throwback haircut he's been sporting. Yup, Joc is on some Bishop in "Juice" type of stuff, taking it back with a Gumby slope.
Before boarding a plane on Friday, Joc admitted that he got the new cut to attract attention. "I wanted my own lane. One thing I've learned: You gotta know when the recycling curve takes place. Every 10 years, something comes back in style. Like look at 10 years ago, Master P was the biggest thing out. He was the Ice Cream Man. His ad-lib was 'ugggh!' Ten years later, Young Jeezy is hot, he's the Snowman. His ad-lib is 'yeeeahhh!' My haircut is older than 10 years, so you can say the recycling curve comes in 10s and 20s [year increments].
"I knew nobody else was gonna be bold enough to do it," he added about bringing back the Gumby.
Joc says he was thinking about a retro cut for a while. It was all a part of his master plan to stick out a little bit more. He started with the shell-toe Adidas, but since they were still very much in fashion, he didn't get the response he wanted. Then he came with the dookie rope but had to find something to separate himself from everybody else like Lil Wayne, Nas and Nick Cannon, who were also wearing ropes. That's when the "H" came in, and it's a perfect conversation piece and promotional item for his upcoming summer LP, Hustlenomics.
"I was on 2.7 million Web pages within two days of me wearing the 'H' in public. I did the research," he said. He then took it to his hair, getting elaborate designs like a depiction of SpongeBob cut into his fade. Now here comes the Gumby. "I'm going to get people talking about my haircut; that was always one of my favorite haircuts," he said.
For the record, Joc says people have been calling his cut "fresh" and "dope." ...
You think Vincent Chase and his boys are the only celebs who get it on in Medellin, Columbia? Nah. Young Buck shot his latest video for "U Ain't Goin' Nowhere" down there. When we saw him last week on the BET Awards red carpet, he marveled at how beautiful the women are in Columbia. Stateside, Buck Marley has been cozying up with the Queen Bee Lil' Kim. We actually saw them out to dinner together a few weeks back. The main thing the Mayor of Cashville, Ten-a-key, wants us and everybody else to know about is not his love of woman, but of his camp, the G-Unit.
Despite rumors of him denouncing 50 Cent and his crew a few weeks ago in Atlanta, Buck said it's all false and that he's only throwing praises at Fif.
"Everything is beautiful," he said about his status in the clique. "50 is ... putting me in my lane to be able to do me. I'm here to support 50 with everything he's doing. It's always going to be good. You can never take a G out of this G-Unit."
For other artists featured in Mixtape Mondays, check out Mixtape Mondays Headlines.
For a full-length feature on the role of mixtapes in the music industry, check out "Mixtapes: The Other Music Industry."
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Photo: MTV News
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