Rollie Pemberton, we need you!!!

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Terror Squad: "Lean Back"
To date, 2004 has been a pretty dull year for commercial pop. 12 months ago, 2003 had already produced a slew of unconventional trunk-rattlers, from "Crazy in Love" to "Hey Ya!" to "Ignition (Remix)"-- and "Milkshake" still lay ahead. Now Juvenile tops the charts with a chorus showcasing the disturbing invocation, "She workin' that fat," while Fat Joe's similarly questionable refrain ("My niggaz don't dance, we just pull up our pants") nips at #2. It is obviously the Summer of Gross.
Adding insult to injury, "Lean Back" is about as generic a pop track as you're likely to hear these days-- one I liked better when I thought the chorus was reinventing Jay-Z's Rocawear brand as a dance craze (it turned out to be "do the rockaway"). Riding Lil Jon's crunk wave, "Lean Back" is mired in menacing death-star production, a wiggly Asian synthline, and a standard-issue beat as autopiloted as any Usher slowjam. It offers no variety whatsoever-- a basic loop that never changes once over the song's four-and-a-quarter-minute runtime, even for the chorus. I'd expect more from producer Scott Storch, whose blaring Casablanca-heyday horns treble-blasted streets on last year's "Crazy in Love".

Still, respect is due to Fat Joe for flaunting some crazy-ass pancake makeup in the video-- a sort of accidental 400-pound transvestite geisha chic that's much further ahead of the curve than he meant it to be. Androgynous thugs, y'all need hugs. [Ryan Schreiber; August 10th, 2004]

― djdee2005, Saturday, 14 August 2004 05:22 (twenty-one years ago)

Ryan Schreiber was the drummer for the rock band Gay Dad.

― djdee2005, Saturday, 14 August 2004 05:23 (twenty-one years ago)

1) Scott Storch didn't produce "Crazy in Love"

2) Yes, Blueprint-era Jay-Z is very quotable, but FIND OTHER IRONIC HIP HOP QUOTES PLZ OK THX

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Saturday, 14 August 2004 05:43 (twenty-one years ago)

i don't get what's so disturbing about the quotes he mentions or what's so conventional about usher slow-burn trax.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Saturday, 14 August 2004 05:59 (twenty-one years ago)

i've been trying to figure out for a while now if "crazy" was storch produced or not. i've seen it credited to him and 'tuff jew' production, and to richard harrison. what's the real answer? (at any rate, anyone should know by now not to expect all that much from scott storch yet)(yeah yeah 'murda murda')

that "stand up tall" review might be worse still, but in a different, 'couldn't be bothered', way (as opposed to ryan's 'finding things wrong where they might be right' kind of way)

― m. (mitchlnw), Saturday, 14 August 2004 08:57 (twenty-one years ago)

so, what've learned here:

- ryan pitchfork likes scrawny indie girls with no ass.
- ryan pitchfork wears tight pants.
- ryan pitchfork has a poor grasp of grammar and word choice.
- ryan pitchfork only likes rap or r&b if it sounds "weird."

stop the presses!!

― jess, Saturday, 14 August 2004 09:04 (twenty-one years ago)

learn about r pemberton

(richcraft harrison, yeah)

(fuck lean back anyway!!)

― prima fassy (mwah), Saturday, 14 August 2004 09:48 (twenty-one years ago)

I apologize for the constant self-promotion, but here was my response: http://governmentnames.blogspot.com/2004/08/i-generally-dont-like-to-pick-on.html

― Al (sitcom), Saturday, 14 August 2004 12:59 (twenty-one years ago)

I like Scott Storch anyway though, and Tuff Jew is his production thing which makes it even better. He did lots of work for Sarai.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Saturday, 14 August 2004 14:18 (twenty-one years ago)

i do love the fact that "tuff jew productions" exists, i should've noted. maybe i haven't heard enough of his work, actually. wanna do me a quick 'storch top 5', sterling?

― m. (mitchlnw), Saturday, 14 August 2004 14:32 (twenty-one years ago)

god I love negative reviews that make the track sound awesome (please mire more sounds in menacing death-star production and wiggly asian synthlines please thanks)

― Ryan Schrieber (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 14 August 2004 14:39 (twenty-one years ago)

mire more songs

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 14 August 2004 14:40 (twenty-one years ago)

haha wtf i forget why I changed my name there

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 14 August 2004 14:41 (twenty-one years ago)

i don't get what's so disturbing about the quotes he mentions or what's so conventional about usher slow-burn trax.

she's working that fat = "disturbing invocation" = summer of gross = finding larger people sexy is gross? is that the logic of his "disturbing"???

slow motion and lean back are pretty undeniable.

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Saturday, 14 August 2004 14:42 (twenty-one years ago)

also, Al i've been reallly enjoying Government Names.

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Saturday, 14 August 2004 14:43 (twenty-one years ago)

1) Let Me Blow Ya Mind
2) Baby Boy
3) Murda, Murda
4) Poppin' Them Thangs
5) X
6) (And She Said) Take Me Now
7) Can't Hold Us Down

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Saturday, 14 August 2004 14:43 (twenty-one years ago)

nice, thanks! there are a couple i haven't heard

― m. (mitchlnw), Saturday, 14 August 2004 14:47 (twenty-one years ago)

fuck Scott Storch's geeky ass (I'm speaking from pure jealousy here, I wish I could be the token white guy who works with all the people he does)

http://www.lilkimzone.com/images/ev_l_662.jpg

(also, thanks, M@tt!)

― Al (sitcom), Saturday, 14 August 2004 15:00 (twenty-one years ago)

- ~~ryan pitchfork likes scrawny indie girls with no ass~~
- ~~ryan pitchfork wears tight pants~~

― take my word for THAT, seriously, Saturday, 14 August 2004 16:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah fuck Scott Storch! But have you seen his car???
http://www.caranddriver.com/assets/image/423200315348.jpg

― scg, Saturday, 14 August 2004 17:17 (twenty-one years ago)

1) Let Me Blow Ya Mind
2) Baby Boy
3) Murda, Murda
4) Poppin' Them Thangs
5) X
6) (And She Said) Take Me Now
7) Can't Hold Us Down

I'd say the beat to lean back is better than more than half of that list. Which is saying something.

― djdee2005, Saturday, 14 August 2004 21:49 (twenty-one years ago)

I actually agree with Schreiber that 2004 has been dire compared to 2003.

― jaymc, Saturday, 14 August 2004 22:31 (twenty-one years ago)

The year is only half done and halfway through the year EVERYONE always says how crappy the current year is. Also "Lean Back" is grand.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Saturday, 14 August 2004 22:49 (twenty-one years ago)

2002 > 2003 > 2004 IMO, but 2003 seemed a hell of a lot worse last August than it did last December.

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Saturday, 14 August 2004 23:00 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, current music never reaches the stratospheric heights of 1969/76/81/88/94/2002

― djdee2005, Sunday, 15 August 2004 01:04 (twenty-one years ago)

This thread = zzzzz X 100

― David Allen (David Allen), Sunday, 15 August 2004 01:13 (twenty-one years ago)

"then go take a nap."

― djdee2005, Sunday, 15 August 2004 01:21 (twenty-one years ago)

How the fuck do i post images, epmd was supposed to show up there.

― djdee2005, Sunday, 15 August 2004 01:21 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.soundcircuit.com/artists/profiles/images/epmd1.jpg

― djdee2005, Sunday, 15 August 2004 01:22 (twenty-one years ago)

I hope you feel dissed.

― djdee2005, Sunday, 15 August 2004 01:26 (twenty-one years ago)

"Ryan Schreiber was the drummer for the rock band Gay Dad."

lol, it's so ammusing to me that I get this joke. I feel guilty for it.

― Kate Silver (Kate Silver), Sunday, 15 August 2004 01:52 (twenty-one years ago)

1. Who are Gay Dad? I keep seeing them as a punchline; what's the setup?
2. Airplane peanuts are hard to open, men and women approach relationships differently, white people cannot dance very well, Starbucks are everywhere and Pitchfork doesn't cover rap very well. I get it.

― David Allen (David Allen), Sunday, 15 August 2004 01:58 (twenty-one years ago)

1. Who are Gay Dad? I keep seeing them as a punchline; what's the setup?

David -- go to this thread. All will become clear.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 15 August 2004 03:56 (twenty-one years ago)

and today "coolie dance" became "coolie stank". but that would've been forgivable had they not felt the need to condemn move your body's "stale narrative" ARGHH

― m. (mitchlnw), Thursday, 19 August 2004 10:54 (twenty-one years ago)

may the circle be unbroken

― jess, Thursday, 19 August 2004 11:07 (twenty-one years ago)

i've nothing against ryan schreiber or most of his writing, but the chap seems like a complete weirdo. there's a really deranged quality to much of his writing that is quite unpleasant at times. i picture him with a crazed fixed smile on his face as he types, maybe like the richard d. james heads in the windowlicker video.

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Thursday, 19 August 2004 11:13 (twenty-one years ago)

WTF is stale about girls getting up on each other on the dancefloor?

"God, you know, I really want to like "Baby One More Time", but where's the plot?"

Also: Tortoise to thread.

― David R. (popshots75`), Thursday, 19 August 2004 12:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Move Ya Body isn't about girls getting up on eachother, just girls getting up on the dancefloor in general. This is a crucial distinction, as Nina Sky are sisters.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Thursday, 19 August 2004 14:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh, yeah...

― David R. (popshots75`), Thursday, 19 August 2004 14:54 (twenty-one years ago)

maybe it's some kind of white stripes thing.

― Mark (MarkR), Thursday, 19 August 2004 15:12 (twenty-one years ago)

white, albino - mark's on to something here!

― scott pl. (scott pl.), Thursday, 19 August 2004 15:20 (twenty-one years ago)

we could use roll13's skills to redeem that review of the masta killa review from today as well..

― bill stevens (bscrubbins), Thursday, 19 August 2004 15:31 (twenty-one years ago)

one month passes...

not sure about this (from today's 'knuck if you buck' review): "their voices and inflections are so thick and Southern they might as well be from another planet. "

― m. (mitchlnw), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 13:23 (twenty-one years ago)

brilliant. brilliant.

― peter smith (plsmith), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 13:25 (twenty-one years ago)

atliens har har

― m. (mitchlnw), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 13:29 (twenty-one years ago)

everyone's already used the zombie crunk comparison, so let's just say john carpenter! plus, they have to say another planet, because southerners don't have a home country. ("mexican accents so thick they might be from mexico!")

oh, i give up.

― mike h. (mike h.), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 13:37 (twenty-one years ago)

I was in Chicago this weekend, but I couldn't get a ride to the Pitchfork offices. I think it would've been a funny thing to do. I'm thinking of doing a blog so people know my wacky opinions on modern hip-hop. Would people read it and stuff?

― Rollie Pemberton (Rollie Pemberton), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 18:53 (twenty-one years ago)

seven months pass...

It's pronounced ROH-lee?!

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 9 May 2005 18:24 (twenty-one years ago)

i'm so confused.

― blackmail.is.my.life (blackmail.is.my.life), Monday, 9 May 2005 18:26 (twenty-one years ago)

so am I!

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 9 May 2005 18:56 (twenty-one years ago)

ROH-lie....like ROLLIE FINGERS! BEST MOUSTACHE EVER!

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Monday, 9 May 2005 19:06 (twenty-one years ago)

but no, my point is that it's NOT like rollie fingers! unless i have been mispronouncing 'rollie finger' all these many years!

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 9 May 2005 19:21 (twenty-one years ago)

this shit runs deeper than we thought.

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Monday, 9 May 2005 19:24 (twenty-one years ago)

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