Music for a Monday: The Return

A happy rap future

That's right. Still here. Still working that Music for a Monday.

Post Black Album and retirement, every time Jay-Z drops anything, it becomes a spectacle merely because Jay's done it. Doesn't matter if the music is good (American Gangster at times) or bad (Kingdom Come, most collaborations with Beyonce). He goes on the radio with annoying-ass Angie Martinez, he pops up on stage with one of his famous friends, and the internets go nuts. Sometimes it's fun. Most of the time it's annoying in its contrivance and complete disregard for the quality of the substance.

Such is the case with the "Death of Autotune" joint. Beat is nice (and Klezmatic), flow is solid, and rhymes are pretty lame, honestly. Sure, it's fun that Jay is gunning for people. And yes, it's appreciated that he, too, is tired of rappers singing into their computers. Thing is, though, he kind of rhymes in circles after advancing an "argument" that requires a soundbyte, not a song. And he makes exceptions for his friends because, well, who knows? Not that Jay's Autotune takedown required a scientific approach, but his criteria are vague to the extent that they even exist. The song is not much of a diss track, not a sturdy defense of rapping, and mostly just one man's discursive opinion. Maybe Jay should have started a blog?

Irregardlesst ("That's not a word!" they cry), the best thing about the song is that it introduced the world to the fact that No ID listens to Janko Nilovic and Dave Sucky's Psyc Impressions album. It's a really good one, loaded with instrumental riffs that scream out for sampling. In fact, No ID had been to this well before: last year, he put together a beat--actually, he just appropriated a song--for a dude named Q da Kid using source material from the same record. And I am fairly certain there is a horn riff in the second song listed below that appears on the intro to someone's album, though the name is escaping me. (If you can help me, use the comments section.)

Enabled by tastemaking internets that seem to post anything anyone with an email address and an MP3 sends along, the rap world is now, more than ever, a copycat place where one man's song is ten other dudes' freestyle fodder. So, in this spirit of immitation, let us hope that even if nothing else comes out of the fleeting "D.O.A." moment, more producers get their hands on Psyc Impressions and do what they do in service of liberating so much fertile material.

- Janko Nilovic and Dave Sucky, "Duty Free"
- Janko Nilovic and Dave Sucky, "Shadow of Our Life"
- Q da Kid, "On a Mission"

You can buy Psyc Impressions here. You can check Q da Kid here.

Also: Help with this, please.