![]() Titled Section.80, it was released exclusively on iTunes.Īs the buzz on Lamar continued to build, Dr. That same year, Lamar released his first full-length independent album under Top Dawg Entertainment. He also put out a fourth mix tape, Overly Dedicated. In 2010 Lamar dropped the K-Dot tag and began using his own name. ![]() Lamar and these other performers eventually formed their own rap collective, Black Hippy. He went on to release two other acclaimed mix tapes, Training Day (2005) and C4 (2009), steadily working with other up-and-coming West Coast rappers like Jay Rock, Ab-Soul and Schoolboy Q. ![]() The project was enough to get Lamar a record deal with Top Dawg Entertainment, a respected California independent label and feeder to major labels. At age 16, in 2003, he circulated a mix tape called Youngest Head Nigga in Charge, which drew a lot of interest in his native Southern California and beyond. He adopted the moniker K-Dot and began performing his lyrics as a rapper. But this isn’t a plush, sensual number - the instrumentation behind her has a different agenda, as a synth vibrates with sustained, buzz-saw intensity.Lamar's family was directly touched by the violence of the streets, yet he remained thoughtful and soft-spoken, ever the keen observer, even as a child. In a rare moment of levity, she sings dismissively about a suitor - “you think you’re 2Pac, acting like a poet” - and then responds to herself in an amusingly high-pitched voice, like Prince‘s alter-ego Camille or a member of Alvin & the Chipmunks: “You ain’t 2Pac, bitch!” On “Just the Way I Like You,” Tinashe works in steamy Janet Jackson mode. “Looking 4 It” borrows the hook from Jaheim‘s 2001 classic “ Looking for Love” and merges it with Tinashe’s unhurried saunter. Tinashe is fluent in several decades of R&B and has an easy way of translating that past language into the present. ( Sam Smith effectively used the same ploy, breaking in the States with “Latch” and then releasing ballad after ballad.) Only “Worth It” pushes the tempo - that song is produced by the Bay Area’s Iamsu!, who effectively works from the same playbook as “2 On” producer DJ Mustard. The singer’s new mixtape, Amethyst, is a step in the opposite direction: At just seven songs, it’s a highly concentrated dosage of Tinashe’s semi-molten style, further proof that “2 On” was a smart bait-and-switch, a fleet dance track from a singer who preferred deliberate motion. Tinashe, ‘Aquarius’: Track-by-Track Review This made sense considering her favored mode - treacly, slow-burning - but it also diluted her impact. Her major-label debut, Aquarius, both refined and narrowed her aesthetic - dispensing with, for example, the ’90s hip-hop soul feel of Black Water‘s “Just a Taste.” But Aquarius also stretched and pulled the singer’s sound almost to a breaking point, as the album sprawled over 18 tracks and 55 minutes. ![]() Not for Tinashe: Black Water was less than 35 minutes long, cohesive and concise. Mixtapes can serve as places where artists can experiment without major-label pressure, exploring many directions simultaneously. Of course, these things rarely happen overnight - Tinashe honed her sound over the course of several mixtapes, notably Black Water, released just a few months before her first hit. So You Know You Can’t Dance: Watch Tinashe Teach ‘The Whip’ in New Episode ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |