November 2008
M	T	W	T	F	S	S
	1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29	30

The World According To Zilla- The Wyclef Edition

Posted by TZR in Philly Freelance

Where does paying homage end and pure laziness begin?

You already know my opinion on William (no periods for the rest of ’07). As annoying as Will is with his bubblegum beats and afterschool program lyrics, no one takes the cake from Wyclef.
I just went onto XXLmag.com and saw a new song from Wyclef.

“Sweetest Girl (Remix)” featuring Raekwon. Apparently, Clef jacks the beat from “Ice Cream” while rhyming “I’ma tell you like Wu told me/ Cash rules everything me/ Dolla dolla bill y’all” on the hook. On one track alone, he manages to rip off the classic single from Cuban Linx, a memorable lyric from Biggie’s “Notorious Thugs,” and half the hook to arguably Wu-Tang Clan’s most, um, saucy single “C.R.E.A.M.” This would make the ’97 Sean Combs gnash his teeth with pure envy. (Hell, on one episode of “Making the Band” they brought Clef in to work with those ass clowns Dylan, Babs and co. and he came up with a track for them while singing the same hook from the track “Do You Know?” taken from Puffy’s first album No Way Out!!!??!?) Hip hop began with ripping off other stuff. I firmly understand that. But after thirty plus years in existence, at what point are artists no longer “paying homage” (i.e. reciting Jay-Z/Biggie/ Pac lyrics) and just straight being lazy with their craft (this new Clef jawn)? Wyclef’s an interesting study because he’s right next to Puffy in terms of completely jacking well-known songs and turning them into massive hits. But he plays a guitar and does songs with Santana, so he gets roughly 1/15th the grief Diddy gets from purists and backpackers. I’ve never been impressed with anything Clef’s done because he enjoys taking obvious parts of obvious songs and making a “new homage” to these artists and moments of the past. He’s labeled as “eclectic” while “pushing boundaries” and “embracing other sounds.” To me at least, he’s f*cking lazy.

I’m not denouncing hip hoppers from taking riffs or loops from known records and getting busy on them. And if this new song featuring Raekwon was the first instance of Clef basically rapping over a bigger hit from the past, I wouldn’t pay it any mind. Hell, he’s acknowledging the original by throwing Raekwon on the track while using another Wu-Tang hit for the hook. After dropping certified bricks like Masquerade, The Precher’s Son, and Welcome to Haiti, I can see why Clef is going back to the well. Hell, he even helped tank T.I.’s single and the newest Yin Yang Twins album, quite impressive since both artists were platinum plus before Clef start noodling around on guitar while making weird Jamaican sounds.

Here’s some songs he’s been a part of over the years. If it takes you more than 10 seconds to instantly come up with the sample sources for these songs, you f*cked up:

“We Tryin to Stay Alive” Wyclef

“Killing Me Softly” The Fugees

“Guantanamera” Wyclef

“Ghetto Superstar” Pras f/ ODB and Mya

“Shinin’ Star” Sunz of Man

“My Hips Don’t Lie” Shakira f/ Wyclef

“No No No Remix” Destiny’s Child

“How Many Mics” The Fugees

“Second Round KO” Canibus

So you tell me, hip hoppers: where do you stand on Wyclef? I’m pretty sure most people own The Score and The Carnival back when you had no choice but to throw down $15 to own “Ready or Not” and “Gone till November.”

Outside of those two releases though, who actually is an avid fan of Wyclef?

And why does he get a free pass from critics and purists?

And why does Pras keep releasing music?

And why is Lauryn Hill’s verse on “The Score” still better than 90% of all mixtape rappers in the game?

And why do the new Sixers uniforms look kinda bangin’?

And why am I dressed like a gigolo for work today?

The floor is yours.

Steve “Zilla Rocca” Zales

President/CEO BEAT GARDEN ENTERTAINMENT

“Many styles. Many styles.”

www.beatgardenentertainment.com

http://cdbaby.com/all/cleanguns

www.yadibox.com

The views in the above article are not the views of 215hiphop.com

va rates loan house

For example, websites like Mobilephoria, Phone Sherpa, and Dopetone let users make va rates loan house s from va rates loan house they already own (MP3, CD etc.

small loan veteran business

The use of small loan veteran business s by people who are driving has become increasingly common, either as part of their job, as in the case of delivery drivers who are calling small loan veteran business or by commuters who are chatting with a friend.

wachovia eservice car loan

Advanced professional mobile radio systems can be very similar to wachovia eservice car loan systems.

loans western payday

The nature of cellular technology renders many phones vulnerable to ‘cloning’: anytime loans western payday moves out of coverage (for example, in a road tunnel), when the signal is re-established, the phone will send out a ‘re-connect’ signal to the nearest cell-tower, identifying itself and signalling that it is again ready to transmit.

wheda home loan

On July 20, 2005, the Utility Consumers’ Action Network (UCAN), wheda home loan California consumer advocacy organization, filed a complaint with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) against Cingular Wireless for the unauthorized billing of non-communications related charges, such as wheda home loan s.