Jay-Z “What More Can I Say (9th Wonder Remix)”
So once again this is old news, but I recently downloaded this album, so sue me. This will be the first post of two that will probably destroy all of my indie cred, however Pitchfork likes to gush all over Mr. Z, so I might be safe. When “The Black Album” came out and I finally got around to listening to it, I fell in love with it. Hell, I’ll admit it, I love Jay-Z. As everyone knows, after the album came out tons of remix albums came out including the infamous “Grey Album” which was a pairing of “The Black Album” with The Beatles “White Album”. Somewhere recently, I’m sure it was on Pitchfork I saw some gushing over 9th Wonder’s remix of the album called “Black is Back”. So I had to hear it. Unfortunately, the version I downloaded had some annoying mp3 encoding errors, so I need a new copy, but this song was error free. This is going to sound dumb, but this song came up on random while I playing Hexic, and I was immeadiately hooked.
This remix takes the bit of old school soul production that the original had and amps it up to the nth degree. The original version was rather joyous, but this song takes that joyous to a whole new level. This version is like a huge celebration, all in honor of how badass Jay-Z is. Starting off with a gorgeous soul sample, instead of the Gladiator sample of the original, it just gets better from there. If there’s one thing that I like about some of the current producers in rap these days, Kayne West and, apparently, 9th Wonder, is that they sample amazing old school soul songs. It never fails that I end up researching and downloading the sampled song. I haven’t done my research on this one, but it’s not far behind. So, the soul sample loops itself throughout the whole song, which may sound repetitive on paper, but the sample is so rad it just doesn’t matter. The beat is bangin’, and by the way that may be the only time you hear me say that phrase, and just adds to the celebratory feel of the song. The only thing I haven’t mentioned is Jay-Z’s rhymes which are top notch on this track. He sounds so confident that I can’t help but believe every bit of bragging he spits out. I just want to DJ a party and play this song, and get down in the crowd and dance with everyone! That’s one of the main points of rap right, to get people to shake their ass? Well this one definitely succeeds.
This is sort of “black market” album, considering it’s not an offically sanctioned remix album, so you won’t find it in stores, but if you go here you can you buy it. You might be able to find it cheaper somewhere else, but I’m not sure. If I find it for cheaper I’ll let you know. Hell, you might be able to find it on iTunes. I’ll admit, I need to quit being a pirate and buy it. It’s on my list, which is growing, yet decreasing at the same time as I finally buy albums I’ve loved for years. You didn’t hear me say this, but find it and hear it at any cost, but if you must pirate it, at least support 9th Wonder and buy the damn thing if you dig it. After all, piracy is wack, unless you’re stealing from Metallica, who deserve it for being pussies about Napster.