Third Time's The Charm

Are you feeling pretty healthy right now? Well I'm not cause, " my watch sick, yeah my drop sick, yeah my glock sick."

Sorry. Bad joke, I know. Just couldn't resist.

Now down to the serious stuff. Contrary to popular belief, Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr doesn't just rap about sex, drugs and money, though those things do come up, and often. Hidden underneath, Mr. Carter has a couple different messages racing through his head and his lyrics, and that makes his music pretty damn good.

If you haven't caught on by now, I'm talking about infamous rapper Lil Wayne, who's sixth album Tha Carter III came to be under my perspective eyes and ears. First, a little background. How are we ever to understand the often misunderstood Wayne if we know nothing about him?

Wayne grew up in New Orleans and his parents divorced when he was only two. Wayne was enrolled in a gifted program at school in his youth and by the age of eight had written his first rap song. Originally involved in drama and plays, Wayne accidentally shot himself at age thirteen and shortly afterwards decided drop out of school to focus on pursuing a career in music, even though he was an honor student.



Wayne was in a group called The Hot Boys until 2001, though he put out his first solo album in 1999. That album went over well, but his next two didn't quite have the success of his debut. It was the Tha Carter series that brought Wayne back into the spotlight.

Tha Carter III was released in 2008 and is Wayne's sixth solo album, making him a well-seasoned rapper, something you can hear in the music. The first song "3 Peat", like a lot of rap songs, has message sandwiched between sexual innuendos and cursing. Most of it's ego-centrical, but some of it's about Wanye's "being back and in business."

The second song, "Mr. Carter" was strangely good, in a not-so-obvious way. Wayne speaks on how far he's come and Jay-Z's collab only makes the song that much better.

Speaking of collaborations, Weezy (as he's often referred to as) has a boatload of them in this album. Jay-Z, T-Pain, Babyface and Robin Thicke are just a few of the many artists to add their style to Wayne's sound. Wayne seems to have picked up this habit from a man mentioned several times in the album, especially in the song "Dr. Carter", by the name of Mr. Kanye West. West produces some of Wayne's songs on this album, and it looks like Wayne's happy to have West there. But back to the songs!



"A Milli" is the second single from this album and if anything else, it's catchy as hell. Out of the four singles released from this album, this is the only one I really liked. "Got Money" wasn't bad, but it wasn't exceedingly spectacular. I have always held the opinion that "Lollipop" is a nasty song and I still have that opinion. The song, to me, doesn't seem to fit in with Wayne's style and has that feel of a "record company encouraged" hit. Lastly, I also didn't enjoy "Ms. Officer", which felt forced in it's sexuality and just poorly done.

"Dr. Carter" was one of three songs on the album that really blew my mind. The lyrics, "Where is your originality? You are so fake" basically describe this genius song. Wayne, essentially, is giving advice to young aspiring rappers through the song, posing as a kind of rap doctor. Lyrically solid and addictive, this is one of the best songs on the album.

The other two songs that really made this album for me were "Tie My Hands", an ode to post-Katrina New Orleans and a dive into Weezy's soul as he calls out to the city that nurtured him and has been through hell and back, and "Dontgetit", which is more or less a song/monologue where Wayne just talks about life, African-Americans in today's society and people hating on him.



There isn't too much or enough I could say about Wayne, he's a complicated kind of guy. He seems to truly express himself through his music and from what I can tell, he's a smart guy who seems to live in two different worlds, but they somehow blend.

If you're a rap lover, this album is a must. If you're a rap like, this album is a must. If you're not big on rap, listen to a couple songs, and not just the singles, and decide for yourself. As Weezy would say, "You have to do you."

-Whitni

Three Weeks Of Magic - The SMP Radio Show

Hey guys, long time no see!! Here are the first three weeks of broadcasts from the SMP Radio Show. Oh how lovely...

Song title, then musician’s name, with album name in parenthesis.

Week 1 - April 9, 2011:

1) Everybody Come Outside - Pomegranates (Everybody, Come Outside!)

2) 16 Military Wives - The Decemberists (Picaresque)

3) Under Cover Of Darkness - The Strokes (Angles)

4) Let's Stay Together - Al Green (Greatest Hits)

5) Holiday - Vampire Weekend (Contra)

6) Electric Feel - MGMT (Oracular Spectacular)

7) Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da - The Beatles (The White Album)

8) He Doesn't Know Why - Fleet Foxes (Fleet Foxes)

9) Waterloo Sunset - The Kinks (The Kinks Kronikles)

10) The Girl Is Mine - Michael Jackson (HIStory: Greatest Hits)

11) Yeah Yeah Yeah - New Politics (New Politics)

12) I Want You So Bad I Can't Breathe - OK Go (Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky)

Week 2, April 16, 2011:

1) Wake Up - Arcade Fire (Funeral)

2) Elephant Gun - Beirut (Elephant Gun EP)

3) The Bucket - Kings Of Leon (Aha Shake Heartbreak)

4) Tighten Up - The Black Keys (Brothers)

5) Kids - Two Door Cinema Club (Tourist History)

6) Awake My Soul - Mumford & Sons (Sign No More)

7) Here Today - The Beach Boys (Pet Sounds)

8) If There’s Love - Citizen Cope (Live at the World Cafe Vol 15)

9) Smile - Eyedea and Abilities (By The Throat)

10) Lisztomania - Phoenix (Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix)

11) A Mirror Without - Royal Wood (A Good Enough Day)

12) Destrokk - MGMT (Time To Pretend EP)

13) Losing My Religion - R.E.M (Out Of Time)

Week 3, April 23, 2011:

1) Little Secrets - Passion Pit (Manners)

2) Moneygrabber - Fitz & The Tantrums (Pickin’ Up The Pieces)

3) Henrietta - The Fratellis (Costello Music)

4) Two Weeks - Grizzly Bear (Veckatimest)

5) Forecast Fascist Future - Of Montreal (The Sunlacdic Twins)

6) Never Gonna Give You Up - Rick Astley (Whenever You Need Somebody)

7) What Would You Say - Dave Matthews Band (The Best Of What’s Around)

8) Wolf Like Me - TV on the Radio (Return To Cookie Mountain)

9) Read My Mind - The Killers (Sam’s Town)

10) Everything’s Happenin’ So Fast - MGMT (We (Don’t) Care)

11) Reptilla - The Strokes (Room On Fire)

12) Boy With A Coin - Iron & Wine (The Shepherd’s Dog)

13) The Resistance - Muse (The Resistance)

14) Video - India Arie (Acoustic Soul)

15) Walking The Dog - fun. (Aim and Ignite)

Springtime In The City - - NMM

I hope wherever you guys are, it's nice and warm! We are officially in spring and moving our way towards summer, and you know what that means? Summer music!! Here is a song that could definitely get some constant play on anyone's summer playlist. Upbeat, but not annoyingly pop-py, all with a nice jazz influence.



The song is "The City" by Patrick Wolf, an English singer-songwriter who has been recording since 2003. He's releasing an album called Lupercalia in June and calls the record, "really romantic and extremely honest." Just what we need for the summertime :)

-Whitni

Feel That Celtic Swing (NMM)

Two words Mondayers - Celtic punk. Now, I know I'm about a month too late for St. Patrick's Day, but that doesn't mean I should forego posting about this unique not-so-little band who hail from Los Angeles. Flogging Molling is a seven-piece band Irish-American band that started making music in 1997, and haven't stopped since.



Flogging Molly has released five studio albums to date. This song, "Don't Shut Em' Down" is from their latest album, Speed of Darkness., which will be out May 31st. Fun fact? The band's name comes from their early experience playing in the bar, Molly Malone's, so much that they felt like they were flogging it to death. Hmmmm..., you know, there's a Molly Malone's in Cincinnati....

-Whitni

You Are Here - New Music Monday

Ever feel like a tourist in your head, or in your own life? I know I get that feeling sometimes, and I know I'm not the only one. If it makes you feel any better, Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie knows how you feel as well. DCFC's new single, "You Are A Tourist" came out today and it perfectly exemplifies that feeling of their being ..." a burning in your heart."



This song is off their new album Codes and Keys, which is going to be released May 31st. To say I'm excited for this album would be an understatment; I have come to expect great things of Death Cab and they have always delivered. We can only wait and see what greatness these boys will show us.

-Whitni

SMP Pic Of The Week

Fall Out Boy might be suburban punks, but Green Day rules the neighborhood. In 1987 (whoa!), the punk rock band was started by Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt, 15 years old at the time. The band was originally called Sweet Children, but later on they changed it to Green Day, referencing their fondness of marijuana. They went through several drummers before settling on their now permanent drummer Tre Cool. Their debut album, 39/Smooth, was released in 1990 (yea!). They were well known underground, but Dookie (1994) allowed them to break out to the rest of the world. They found immense success, and their next two albums, Insomniac and Nimrod, were received with largely positive comments. Their popularity began to decrease in the late 90s and early 2000s, but they bounced back with American Idiot in 2004. Their most recent album, 21st Century Breakdown, released in 2009, ended their longest break between album, and you can expect a new album in the near future. Green Day is well known for songs like, ‘Basket Case’, ‘Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)’ and ‘21 Guns’. But, more than anything, Green Day gives millions of teenagers the chance to sing/shout the feelings they can’t put into words, suburban or otherwise.