[Review] Trina - Amazin'

Artist: Trina
Album: Amazin'
Release Date: 4th May 2010
Producers: Jim Jonsin, J.R. Rotem, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, DJ Frank E, Mario Winans, Hitsquad, Oddz N Endz, Schife, OhZee, CP Hollywood, KParn, Maxwell Smart, Blackout Movement, DVS Productions, Young Yonny and Bigg D & Lamb.
Guests: Diddy, Keri Hilson, Lil' Wayne, Rick Ross, Lady Saw, Nicki Minaj, Flo Rida, Git Fresh, Lyfe Jennings, Kalenna Harper, Shonie & Monica.

Despite only having a handfull of successfull female rappers in the industry, the gender fight for the 'Queen of Hip Hop' title is very competitive. While Lil' Kim unarguably held the position in the mid to late 90's, a series of legal troubles and issues within the music industry and record labels have resulted in a lack of recent material being released, and her popularity has also faded.

Foxy Brown may have also been a competitor for Kim in the past, again she has been in the middle of pointless legal disputes which have kept her on MTV news for the wrong reasons.

But it seems every male (and some females if you read the rumours) are all after one name whom has become linked with Young Money rapper, Lil' Wayne..... Nicki Minaj. Nicki has exploded onto the scene like Drake did last year with feature after feature, and now it is almost certain that she is sitting on the thrown. She has already appeared on various other albums such as the new Usher CD, Ludacris's Battle Of The Sexes, as well as hooking up with Mariah Carey, Bobby Valentino, Lil' Wayne and the rest of the Young Money crew.

So has all of this taken the shine away from Trina? The Miami rapper has always been consistant on the Hip Hop scene, and is returning with a 5th studio album - 'Amazin'. While I was left disappointed with her last CD, I was still a little bit skeptical with the new album. Rumours appeared on the internet of collaborations with Lady Gaga and Diddy, I wasn't sure whether or not this would materialise into some sort of super CD.

However, when I got this copy of the album, and looked through the tracklist, I was left puzzled as to why the Lady Gaga collaboration had been replaced with Dirty Money's Kalenna Harper. It was sort of reminiscent of two years ago when we were promised that Christina Milian was going to be singing the hook on 'Single Again', the lead single on the last album. Whether this was due to some sort of legal issue with the record labels, fans who want to hear the Lady Gaga version of the song can still find it on Youtube.

The album starts off quite positive, witht the lead single, 'Million Dollar Girl' with Keri Hilson and Diddy featured. The song is very commercial, and seems to carry more of a pop feel than would you get with the rest of the album. While female rivaly has been quite sharp in the past, with various feuds between the artists, it is quite suprising to see Trina feature Nicki Minaj on the album despite most of the attention now switching to the Young Money artist. And if you think that was a suprise, it was also strange seeing her ex, Lil' Wayne on there too, especially since we have learned that Weezy has since fathered several children to several women....almost at the same time!

Overall, the album is strong, but I was a little bit disappointed that there is no more than a handfull of songs which I enjoyed. 'Dang A Lang' is a very sexual song, as the title suggests, but apart from that, there does not appear to be the flabour that you would expect after seeing the list of producers. J.R. Rotem has been a hitmaker of late, but he did not shine on this time out, as did J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, and it is the same throughout. Maybe the label blew the budget on getting Nicki Minaj.

5/10

[Review] Timbaland Presents: Shock Value II

Artist: Timbaland

Album: Timbaland Presents: Shock Value II

Release Date: 4th December 2009

Guests: Justin Timberlake, JoJo, Brandy, Drake, Chad Kroeger (from Nickelback), Miley Cyrus, Nelly Furtado, SoShy, Katy Perry, Sebastian, Esthero, The Fray, Jet, Daughtry, OneRepublic, Keri Hilson, D.O.E. & Attitude.

Producers: Timbaland,& Danja.

I have always had the belief that music producers never get the credit that they deserve. For example, everytime 'In Da Club' by 50 Cent gets played, people recognise it as 50 Cent's song, without realising that that trademark fire beat, actually came from Mr Andre Young's computer, AKA Dr Dre. The same can also be said for Chris Brown's 'Forever' which came from super producer Polow Da Don, and T.I. and Rihanna's 'Live Your Life', which in fact was created by a man called 'Just Blaze'. Hip Hop fans may know this, but those who dance to these songs in the club will only give credit to those whos vocals are laid down, and get replayed over and over in your head, and often get pasted into social networking sites when lyrics to popular current songs get branded around.

But would you know who produced the club smasher 'Get Ur Freak On' by Missy Elliot, without using Wikipedia? And what about 'Sexy Back' by Justin Timberlake in 2006? The answer is Timbaland.

It is only recently that producers such as Timbaland have started making a name for themselves. After all, they made the actual beats under these songs, yet get little credit apart from a mention in the album notes. Fans of JLS and Jason DeRulo may hear that their songs are getting a huge amount of radio play, but the trademark "J-J-J-J-J-R" at the start is actually the producer inserting tags onto the beat, trying to get a little bit more recognition, despite this being critisised by people in the industry. J.R. Rotem has produced for many top artists without establishing himself as a celebrity.

Timbaland has broken through this however. The Sexy Back hitmaker broke the rules for music producers by becoming famous. It was in 2007 when he released 'Shock Value', and went with some of the biggest names in the business to bump popularit. Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado and Nicole from The Pussycat Dolls were on there, and the singles kept coming. Now, two and a half years later, Timbo is back at it again, with a sequel.

However, in the run up to this new album, Timbaland has received less than positive reviews for the production he has given other artists, myself included (see my Jay-Z - Blueprint 3 album review). The three tracks he produced for Jay-Z were dull and tuneless, the beat he had made for Jamie Foxx was forgetable, and the four beats he supplied The Pussycat Dolls second album were leagues below the standard of his production pre-2008. We were beginning to wonder if Timbaland had given his all, or maybe, he was keeping something back for himself, that he did not want anybody else to have...

The album is once again a collection of who's who in the music industry, and once again, a mix of genres, styles and direction. Aside from the DJ Felli Fel intro, which I felt was pointless and out of sync with the rest of the album, it does kick off properly on the right foot. Track 2, features Justin Timberlake, and is called 'Carry Out'. I will be honoust, it is not a 'Sexy Back' beat that will hit you in the face like a 'text message sparked grammy award night fight in a rented Lamborghini', and it sure won't be on the radio getting played nonestop, but I do think it will be a hit. Track 3 is called 'Lose Control', and features the lady that recently came 3rd in a poll for being the most beautiful and barely legal in the US, JoJo. Although she has been quiet of late, she explodes onto this track, which is a tricky little beat, and in my eyes, Timbo's best on the entire album.

Track 4 with Brandy is rather dull, but then the Drake feature becomes a eye opener again. This is the artist I have given the titles of 'MC of 2009', 'Newcomer of 2009', 'Protege of the future', and he certainly lives up to these on this song. Drake's verse once again goes deep and shows of his unique multi syllabic rhyming abilities.

A lot of this album seems to fade into the average pile. The track with Miley Cyrus is, in my opinion, a waste of a potential smash hit, but instead sounds very manufactured and dry, and the track with Chad from Nickelback has not even got a play next to it on my iTunes because it only registers when it has been played all of the way through, which is something I find hard to do.

I was suprised that 'Morning After Dark' has become a big hit, as it is a dwarf compared to other hits that Timbaland has made, maybe this is due to his large fanbase he has carried over from 2007 into 2009. In fact, I am starting to get the impression that Timbaland works hard on each beat, but only the hook section, leaving a rather dull section under the verses, and this falls into that catogory. The Katy Perry song 'If We Ever Meet Again' is not catchy, but certainly is near the top of the album list, and also marks the first use on the CD of Autotune. Maybe Katy's name may carry this song onto the radio.

I was also impressed with 'Underflow', a track with the Irish band, The Fray. The song is like a slowed down heartbreak song, and again, this is on the 'potential single list'. OneRepublic make another appearance on this album, with a song called 'Marching On', but it does not live up to 'Apologize'. In fact that seems to be the theme of the album - "The sequels are never as good as the original." They said it about Jaws, Free Willy, Jurassic Park and all of 50 Cent's albums since 2005, and I get the impression with this, that Timbaland is still a talented producer and artist, but the last album was so good, that we are expecting too much.

Three big names missing from this album that were promised, are Jay-Z, T-Pain and Chris Brown. Jay-Z was suppose to feature in a song called 'Rumours' with Keri Hilson, and in fact, his verse was one of the best of his career, but did not make the final cut, and the same with T-Pain, although after you hear that song, you will understand why it missed the selection process. Chris Brown was left off a song called 'Maniac' because it was feared people would relate him to the song title after the terrible event earlier this year, when he released the first image of himself in that shocking album cover.

Overall, I feel that this album will sell, but in today's conditions and with a lack of a definate smash hit, it may struggle to match the last album sales, but still a good effort.

6/10