This... Is... Kind of good? Wait, no... I don't know, no... Yeah,
maybe... Wait!!! hmm, this is the music made for Zane Lowe's
voice over career. Rye
Rye is the pseudonym for Ryeisha Berrain from Baltimore. Momentum has been
picking up since 2009's debut single 'Bang', which
featured none other than M.I.A,
who signed Rye Rye to her record label N.E.E.T (which is
in connection with Interscope). Rye Rye toured with M.I.A, recorded a few independent
songs, including the aforementioned Bang with M.I.A. Her music career stalled
when she became pregnant, which meant her album was pushed back. This setback
has created problems because music has moved forward, M.I.A has moved
backwards, to be honest... And Rye Rye finds herself knocking on 'Pop's' door
looking for famed writer and producer RedOne to take control of her music - ticking
the boxes, selling her soul, destroying raw talent, etc.
Sharing song credits is ultimately giving away your credibility as
an artist. It's like stating you’re not good enough to be in the hands of your
own material. Rye Rye has moved from being in a well-regarded position to a
position that's laughable, just like the endless talentless hacks spat out of
television shows like X Factor, Pop Idol and now The Voice. 'Drop' has some
respectable moments of hip-hop and dance, but the pop structure and recycled
beat takes over pretty suddenly. 'Holla Holla' has some infuriating lyrics.
Mentioning the common, but extremely frustrating "swag" /
"holla holla" etc. The bass is nice and heavy, unfortunately
the track falls down on its standard instrumental and simplistic structure. Rye
Rye falls further and further away from her respectful position with 'DNA'. Porcelain
Black makes an appearance singing on the chorus. The chorus is bog
standard pop with little melody or 'catchy' sounds, think Lady Gaga, Nicki
Minaj and Rihanna, just without the 17 year old girls going crazy, as Rye Rye
is rather unknown to the abnormal Radio One listening machine.
'Crazy Bitch' has Akon delivering the vocal on the chorus. If you’re living
in 2022 or unfamiliar with Akon, he released the annoyingly catchy 'Lonely'
back in 2005. A standard acoustic guitar is used as the focal point, with a well-produced
beat. It’s not hip-hop, and it's not exactly pop (except the chorus) it's
R&B. Akon plays his part and is arguably the best thing to come out of this
album. 'Hotter' has a lovely beat and the bass takes over towards the
repetitive refrain of "keep it cool whilst the record spins" /
"It's getting hot in here, It's getting hot." Rye Rye raps
nicely, however her accent and volume of speaking is incredibly difficult to interpret.
What's the point of this music if you can't even understand the lyrics. It's a
mix between pop and hip-hop with standard beats and messy vocals.
M.I.A's produced 'Sunshine'
makes Lady Gaga's 'Telephone' seem even more fake and inappropriate. I'm
talking about the melody, which has Gaga pretty much taking the progressions of
Sunshine (from 2008) and turning it to gold. Side note, it would be interesting
to go back and see how much 'fame' Gaga would have picked up if she didn’t look
like a twat. Yes, Sunshine... M.I.A sings the delayed and reverberated chorus
which has a very friendly happy melody, with Rye Rye rapping furiously on the
verse. This track is the real focus on the album, and has the best Rye Rye
vocals, and the best produced beat which M.I.A carefully produced without the
need of extreme bass and basic snare drums. Disappointment increases with the
following track 'Boom Boom'. I can't stress how annoyed I am listening to
this. Words cannot describe my hate, for this track... But I can try. People
living below the poverty line, deserve a shared profit of this song, because
it's so bad. All the prostitutes deserve a grant from Interscope, because they authorized
this songs release. Vengaboys, deserve to be mad, because this song is completely
meaningless and has no artistic concept. Boom Boom ultimately takes a Vengaboys
chorus recycles that with a horrifying Ke$ha
instrumental and lyrics that make me crave for something intellectual. It's not
bad, it's awful. Awful doesn’t show my hatred for this track, I physically need
to show you how shit this track is.
'Better Than You' has been hovering around for a while and
takes sampling and the use of M.I.A to improve the stature of the track. The
beat is the best on the album and has Rye Rye rap clearly with an excellent
vocal style. 'Never Will Be Mine' takes Rye Rye to the 90's with club
music of Ibiza and the use of Robyn at her disposal. Robyn sings the chorus and the trance
instrumental comes in with a thrilling beat and Rye Rye rapping over a light
drum pattern and synth drone. Robyn steals the show with her brilliant vocals.
'Dance' is an improvement with Rye Rye rapping magnificently well. The chorus
is again, pretty standard and annoying and repetitious, but the verses make up
for this. 'Shake Twist Drop' has legendary production team The Neptune’s at the
helm. M.I.A would be proud of this beat because it sounds like a Kala B-side.
The little bits make up for the minimal vocal by Rye Rye who finds herself in
lost territory on this track. It's unusual for an album to twist and turn like
this. Rye Rye goes from horrific lyrics to excellent lyrics. Instrumentals go
from excellent to terrible, back to excellent then to terrible again. This is more
of a compilation mix tape than a studio album, because this isn’t a usual
process for an album. Many years of recording, producing and childbirth has
aged this album even before it's had a chance. I thoroughly believe Rye Rye
would have been on top of the game, had she surfaced in 2009. It's a shame
she's beginning to come out in a time of trance pop songs under the Nicki Minaj
era. This album is disappointing to say the least.
~Eddie
3.0
