Yahh Trick

Since I've been in such a rap mood lately I've decided to bring to you another hilarious rap video that I've come across. I'm sure a lot of you have heard of Soulja Boy. He's a young rapper from Chicago known best for his hit single "Crank That" in 2007. Now the most popular opinion is that he's a horrible rapper with god awful songs and annoyingly repetitive lyrics. PopMatter's Interviews Editor Evan Swadey says,

Though Soulja Boy can still crank out a good production here and there, he ultimately comes off as a less-imaginative Lil' Jon, relying more on the hook than the actual melody. The most grating aspect of the entire album is simply how Soulja Boy feels that a chorus can constitute of nothing more than a single spoke phrase repeated roughly 50 ties within the span of a three-minute song. Aside from the fact that every track on the album can be trimmed down by at least a minute, this repeated vocal sample technique is used mainly to distract from the face that as a rapper, Soulja Boy's talents are unbelievably weak.

I would like to branch away from that and bring up the fact that most rappers now a days are completely self absorbed and take themselves way too seriously. (Reference Gucci Mane in my previous post) Soulja Boy is a rare exception that I've found. Its most apparent in his songs and videos that he hardly takes himself seriously. Sure, some rappers rap about stupid things, and Soulja Boy definitely does, but his videos add a greater sense of humor and practical joking than one would find in most videos now a days. Even Swadey says "while it is predictably mediocre, few could have ever expected it to be so utterly bizarre. As a matter of fact, it borders on unintentionally hilarious."

Soulja Boy- Yahh Trick Yahh

In this video, Soulja Boys' obnoxious video game comes alive to help him talk about a new crude and audacious way of getting people out of your face. Soulja Boy and Arab walk around their town screaming " Yahh Trick Yahh" at all the people that try and talk to them. The two eventually end up at their school in their class room where they transition into a new song "Report Card." Report card starts off with the lyrics, "You Know When You Just Get Your Report Card, And You Have All F's On It? You Just Wanna Take It Back To The Teacher And Say To Throw Some D's On That Bitch!" The rest of the song doesn't really stray too far away from the main point. To make my point for me, Soulja Boy ends the song by adressing the viewers and saying, "I was just playing kids. Y'all know I made straight A's. Listen to "Soulja Boy tell 'em." Stay in school." This statement is finished off with the cheesiest of all cheesy smiles in existence.

I truly believe that this kid is just living and enjoying what life has given him while continuing to have fun doing what he does best: putting out another crazy, hilarious song. He has his own website and youtube.com page that he is constantly managing. He responds to fans and keeps them updated on his life.

Perhaps the most surprising of all is that Soulja Boy not only produced his album, Tell Em, himself, but he also did almost all of the production work. Personally, I feel that the few outside producers actually created some of the weaker points in the album. "Sidekick," produced by The Package Store, is one of the worst songs on the album. It serves as a repetitive and annoying advertisement for the Sidekick Cell Phone. Regardless, I do recommend this artist to you, the reader, and encourage you to look him up on youtube. I easily spent 30 min watching him do ridiculous things. His stream "Rich N***a Shit" is quite funny. There is even a Gucci reference in the first part.

The State vs. Radric Davis

I would like to starts off by admitting that Gucci Mane's new C.D., The State vs. Radric Davis, was actually impressive. The album has all the characteristic Gucci traits you would expect. The lyrics are for the most part simple and laughable. Like I've said before, I think Gucci Mane is thug, and I consider him worthy of street credit, so when all his songs are about him and other ridiculous claims I just laugh to myself because only Gucci Mane could do it. He makes up for any other criticism by always providing unique and catchy beats with a deep bass.

The first song "Classical" starts off with trans meditation chanting of Gucci and him rapping about himself. Needless to say I was laughing at this. Another song that I need to mention is "Lemonade." It is 4 minutes and 6 seconds of yellow. The song is too much to be able to describe with anything other than the lyrics which can be summed up with this verse:

Canary yellow lemon watch, big bird yellow top
Yellow Polo, Polo, slippers white and yellow polo socks
Gucci Mane be pumpin dawg, he don't got all he say he got
Just stash one Lemon homie, I can supply them the 50 glocks
Yellow boat parked at the dock, Yellowbone gon' make it drop
Flip da flop mine up the top, then go buy me a yellow yacht

The video for this song is just as hysterical; It is obviously a play on yellow with a Sin City-like color scheme and has beautiful yellow cars, girls, chains, watches, clothes and shoes which he flaunts about without hardly swaying from where he's leaning. The video classically ends with a fade out on Gucci Mane yawning. Consequently I was left in a fit of LOL (yes I just said that). Only Gucci Mane.

The rest of the album is stereotypical rap, all about himself, money, women and drugs. Gucci raps on beat and with decent flow, constantly dropping his classics: "Gucci," "So Icy," and "Burr." He combines talents with a range of artists including Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, and Usher.

On Hip-Hop DX, an album review blog site, Andrew Noz write, "But maybe this is purposeful. The State vs. Radric Davis is neither a grand statement nor an empty radio concession. It's just a solid collection of Rap songs" about the new album." I agree that its not the most influential or epic album, but with two songs already gaining recognition, it wont be long till everyone has this album. I look forward to see what crazy video he puts out next.

Gucci Mane, so icy boy, shining like a lightening bolt

It would be reasonable to say that I hardly find rappers that I truly respect. Most rappers seem to articulate through their songs how 'gangster' and 'thug' they are. I say prove it! That is just what rapper Gucci Mane has done. Though I admit that his talent is amusing at best, he has risen to my challenge and passed with flying colors.

Born Radric Davis in Birmingham, Alabama in 1980, Gucci Mane sold cocaine during college; he was later busted and lost his scholorship. In May of 2005, Gucci Mane was attacked with his crew in a house. During the assault a member from the attackers was shot and killed my Gucci Mane's crew; his body was later found by a nearby middle school. Speculation has been drawn that the attackers were provoked from a legal altercation concerning the rights to the 'So Icy' song that he produced with Young Jeezy. It is rumored that the attackers were sent by Young Jeezy to steal Gucci Mane's infamous Bart Simpson chain and during the altercation it was Gucci Mane that actually did the killing.

Perhaps the most ridiculous of the public instances that I'm aware of has to be during a performance by Gucci. In the middle of his set, a lady from the audience is too close to the sound box and bumps it on accident, causing the song to skip a bit. Gucci Mane is audible saying that she needs to watch out. The girl ignores him and turns her back. What happens next is almost too ridiculous to understand. Gucci Mane pushes the girl forward, she attempts to get in his face as body guards surround her, then from behind the camera Gucci runs into the frame, jumps into the air, and lands a sucker punch right to her face. Video here.

Now I definitely cannot say that I support anyone of these things, so for the record, I DO NOT SUPPORT ANY OF THESE THINGS. I would just like to say that Gucci Mane is one crazy character and continues to surprise me every day. I think his a tad bit off the wall and definitely insane, but for all that I support him as a rapper because his music is just like him, entertaining!

Panic!

Panic at the Disco! burst into the mainstream music scene with their single I Write Sins Not Tragedies in January of 2006. Out of Las Vegas the band is comprised of Brendon Urie and Spencer Smith. In July of 2009 the bands two other members, Ryan Ross and Jon Walker left the band stating creative and ambitious differences. According to their official website, "Though the four of us have made music together in the past, we’ve creatively evolved in different directions which has compromised what each of us want to personally achieve." Personally, I feel they did great together. The band released their first major label album in 2005 entitled "A Fever You Can't Sweat Out" and three years later realease "Pretty. Odd." which reached top 2 on the billboards. I consider myself to be a good fan because I have seen them perform live atleast 5 times. And I can tell you that I only do that for my top favorite bands. Every show is full of energy and Urie's engaging bounciness and odd faces.They were initially discovered by Pete Wentz, famous bassist of band Fall Out Boy. Wentz took the band on as their project and they soon released their hit, "I Write Sins, Not Tragedies." When they first burst onto the scene there was hardly a band like them. Though many either love or hate the band, I find that their instrumentals mix well with Urie's vocals to make a unique sound of baroque pop punk and emo. The lyrical quality is fantastic and articulate:

It's these substandard motels
On the corner of 4th and Freemont Street
Appealing, only because they're just that unappealing
Any practiced Catholic would cross themselves upon entering
The rooms have a hint of asbestos
And maybe just a dash of formaldehyde
And the habit of decomposing right before your very eyes
Along with the people inside
What a wonderful caricature of intimacy

They are unique. Their sound is different. So why did they split? We'll never know. During their reign on the main stream network they gained great recognition. Their shows would sell out and they were constantly on the radio. After they produced their second album, which was vastly different from their first, interest died out in fans. Maybe it was the difference that made them die or maybe they were just a one hit phenomenon. Either way the band has officially split and does not seem to be on the rise in their career.

Since Ross and Walker's departure I have not had much a desire to see them. Ross al

ways added character with his crazy make up and I cannot seem to appreciate bands with only two members. I will say that "A Fever You Can't Sweat Out" and "Pretty. Odd." are great C.D.'s and personal favorites of mine. Some songs to pay attention to are Its Time To Dance, But It's Better If You Do, When The Day Met The Night, and She Had the World.