What I'm listening to right now

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

SONG OF THE DAY: "Put Your Twos Up" by Rizzle Kicks

From time to time, I will set a theme for a series of SotDs that can last anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, depending on how much material I wish to cover. This week's theme will be rap songs!

RAP WEEK SONG #3!

Rizzle Kicks is the best rap group going today, hands down. With both members of the group at only 22 years old, they are proof that hip-hop is and most likely always will be a young man's (or woman's) game. They are also doing something that almost no one else in rap is doing these days: making the genre fun again! Their songs are goofy, dancey, upbeat, and exciting. It always amazes me how seriously rappers take themselves when the style of music lends itself so well to headbobbing, danceable beats. Yet, so many in the genre are concerned with how awesome, tough, and rich they are.

(I don't put up with that in real life, so why would I put up with that in my music? If you met someone who was talking about themselves like that at a party, wouldn't you be a little disgusted or even offended by the egotistical asshole? Wouldn't you walk away and talk to other people about what a jerk that one guy is? I would. I just don't get the appeal of that kind of behavior in music when it's so obnoxious in all other parts of my life.)

Sorry about the ranty tangent there...aaaanyway, Rizzle Kicks are nothing like that. They have the best beats of anyone around, their songs are full of life and energy, they blend singing and rapping extremely well, and they rap and sing about girls, doing dumb things with their friends, being young, being in love, and having fun. You know, stuff I enjoy doing and can relate to. Fortunately, you could not hear a word they say and still love the music. It's just that good.

Rizzle Kicks is just two kids named Jordan and Harley from the U.K. (yup, two British rappers...don't see that every day), which is also proof that the U.K. consistently produces the best music. Us Yanks need to start paying more attention. They started out rapping over indie songs for an early mixtape, then started recording their own music, which is around the time record labels became interested. Since then, RK has recorded two albums (each including a track produced by Fatboy Slim), appeared on tracks by Olly Murs, Ed Sheeran, Mayer Hawthorne, and others, and have undeniably blown up.

Their first album, Stereo Typical, was released in 2011 and featured seven insanely catchy and insanely good songs, and seven pretty okay songs. But last year, upon the release of Roaring 20s, we began to see the group come into their own a little more. Roaring 20s is a very eclectic record, heavily featuring horns and piano, often in a style reminiscent of ragtime and big band songs. There are two laidback, jazzy love songs ("The Reason I Live" and "I Love You More Than You Think), reggae-influenced songs ("Me Around You" and "Wind Up"), and revved-up club-bangers ("Lost Generation" and "Skip to the Good Bit"). They also reference Harry Potter ("That's Classic"), sample '90s classics ("Unbelievable" by EMF on "Skip to the Good Bit"), and try out heavy, minimalist beats ("Jive" and "Lunatic").

There are many other unexpected sounds that come out over the course of 14 songs, and it proved to be a frustrating listen at first. But the singles kept me coming back, and I soon began to see the album for what it is: two guys who are influenced by a hundred different styles trying to filter them all through their own lens, allowing them to color the end product, while still allowing it to remain their own creation at the end of it all. Each track is catchy, unique, and fun. For what some of the tracks lack in quality, they make up for in variety; you never know what's coming next, keeping you interested and coming back for more. The whole album is an exciting trip that never slows down or fails to surprise.

"Put Your Twos Up" is Rizzle Kicks' second collaboration with Norman Cook (a.k.a. Fatboy Slim) operating as producer and songwriter, following Stereo Typical's "Mama Do the Hump." While no single track could sum up all the Rizzle Kicks have to offer, this track is the best approximation of how fun and unique these guys are. So turn your stereo (or laptop) up, and get ready to raise your glass, shake your ass, and party 'til the night is through!


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