Loop Diggin' Thursdays 05.01.08: Second Wind, Part...Whatever

Posted by Phil Watts, Jr on 05.01.2008

Here, I play record exec and hook up singers from past and present with producers who could straighten them out.

SECOND WIND: THE 2008 "You know this ain't gonna happen" Edition

It's been a long time since I did one of these. It usually works like this: I take a rapper, usually one who's down on his luck these days, then I hook him or her up with a decent beat-maker who could make their album sound tighter. However, I was thinking about the pitiful direction R&B has been in over the past couple of decades, and thought about doing one on R&B. Then I thought, why limit myself? So this time, I'm going to go all over the place, taking artists from past and present, and hooking them up with producers from past and present, and even going so far as specify which period of the artist's career I'm interested in seeing working with which producers in a specific point in their careers.

Lauryn Hill (1996-2000), produced by Arif Mardin (1970-1981)

Whenever I bring up the Fugees, 9 times out of 10, it's always prefixed with the words "…are overrated." Not only because I think that Wyclef and Pras are CLOWNS, but because Lauryn has lots of potential to be a great artist, but because of the massive hype and ego, she will never met it. People will usually answer back, "What about the MISEDUCATION album?! How in the hell can you say that after coming out with an album like THAT? You's a HATER!!" Then I'd tell them, "Oh yeah…you mean that album she did over 10 years ago? And what has she done since? …Anybody?…Anyone?!" The truth of the matter is that, as talented as she is, there is no one there that could harness that talent into more than just one good album. This is why, if I had the power, I would call on Arif Mardin to help her. Arif was the man responsible for cultivating the careers of Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway (both together and as soloists), and Aretha Franklin, and even guided Chaka Khan through her solo career. Now look at the caliber of those artists, and look at their catalogue…and just think about what he would've done for Lauryn! He would definitely make her worthy of the hype surrounding her…just like he helped make Aretha worthy of the title QUEEN OF SOUL.

Ceelo (present), produced by Fred Wesley (mid 70's)

Ceelo called himself THE SOUL MACHINE in one of his albums. Fred Wesley would make him earn that title. Fred Wesley was one of the many talented musicians that played a huge role in the Godfather's sound, particularly the early to mid 70's material. Fred was the horn arranger, an incredible trombonist, and composer in his own right. Even in moments when the Godfather was slacking, he held it down for him (when it came time to do soundtracks like BLACK CAESER, James Brown didn't want to put no effort in a soundtrack. He wanted to just throw his unused vault material in there, call it a 'soundtrack' and that's that. Fred thought that was stupid on James' part, so he went behind his back and recorded some new material himself!) In my opinion, Ceelo's high-pitched vocals would go much better with a wild band behind him as opposed to the production of today (no disrespect to Dangermouse, but still…) That way, he could cut loose a little bit. As for guest, well…there are those three other guys he used to roll with…

The Whispers (present)/Pete Rock (present)

Remember that unauthorized Pete rock instrumental album, SURVIVING ELEMENTS? After listening to "Midnight and You", more and more, I think of the untapped potential that Pete Rock has as an R&B producer. In my opinion, Pete could stand to work on that potential. Not to say that he should stop doing Hip-Hop. Far from it. I just think that it would be interesting to see him do an R&B project. Making R&B is a different animal than making Hip-Hop, since Pete would be forced to switch the arrangements more instead of having one constant groove like most producers would. Since this is something that Pete has always done, I think he's more than capable of pulling it off. So why hook him up with such vets such as The Whispers? You see, the Whispers have always been open to working with producers that most veteran artists wouldn't. After 14 years in the game, they had their first major hit Leon Sylvers III just when he was starting to come to his own, and they were working with LA & Babyface before everybody else jumped on the bandwagon. In my opinion, this combo, if done right, would revitalize both Pete and the Whispers. Plus, I would have Little Brother's Phonte and Justus League singer Darren Brockington write their songs, and as vocal arrangers (since many of ther R&B vocals have a little Whispers influence in it). Come to think of it, I would have Phonte dig up at least one song that he was going to do as his retired Percy Miracles character and hand it to the Whispers. Being that these are the guys that gave us "CHOCOLATE GIRL", they'd definitely find a way to make it work!

Michael Jackson (present) produced by J-Dilla (2000-2005)

40 years ago, Michael and his brothers made the journey up to Detroit to begin their careers in the music industry. In my world, Michael would make another trip to Detroit to revitalize his career, this time to work with J-Dilla. The main thing about J-Dilla is RANGE. How many other Hip-Hop producers can go from smoothed-out Hip-hop (his SV catalogue) to harder-edged shit (DONUTS) to Soul (Erykah Badu, Balil) to Club shit (Frank N Dank's material; "Give It Up", "Jungle Love", etc.), to 80's style synthesizer shit ("MC Squared", his ELECTRIC CIRCUS material, etc.), to jazz covers ("Think Twice")? This man would give MJ a lethal combo of all of this, and give him a new sound that would surprise people, both MJ and Dill fans alike. This colab would make MJ move forward and show that he does indeed have something left in the tank, while giving Jay Dee a bigger stage. If only…

Herbie Hancock (1980-present) and Madlib (present)

JAZZ AND HIP-HOP COLLIDE!!!
One of Jazz music's most prolific artists who was never afraid to think outside the box and a beat-maker who is deeply influenced by him and shares his outside-the-box mentality. Both have made more records than people could keep track of, and most of them will go straight over people's heads. Think about the madness that would happen if these two ever got together! A whole bunch of off-kilter cords and whacked out samples to create what could possibly be the greatest Jazz/Hip-Hop fusion album ever. By the way, good luck to the MC who's brave enough to attempt to rap over it!!

Destiny's Child (2000-2005), Produced by Norman Whitfield (1973-1979)

If there's any hot-hot-hot group that needs to be tempered, it's Destiny's Child. Yeah, they had hits, they had plaques, and they had girls wanting to be them and guys wanting to bang ‘em. Thing is, there's that stigma of being known as BEYONCE And Them Other Two Chicks. Because of that stigma, they still have a lot to prove AS A GROUP. That's why I would send B, Kelly, and Michelle over to Norman Whitfield. Norm was the man who put the Temptations through HELL! He worked them to death to make them a fine-tuned unit. He pulled out all the stops with brilliant musical arrangements and classic, memorable songs…and he made sure those boys were worthy enough to sing over it! He would treat Destiny's Child in a similar fashion, making each member pull their own weight and bringing out harmonies in them that they didn't know they could pull off. He'd let them know when to play their vocals up and when to play it down. The road would get long, and hard for them, but by the time Norm gets through with them, they would be a totally different group.

The Commodores (present)/Jamiroquai (present)

Remember a few years back when Lionel Richie announced a Commodores reunion tour that they were going to do the moment that their keyboardist, Milan Williams, recovered from cancer? (Unfortunately, he passed away.) I imagine that even if Milan recovered, The Commodores would have a pretty hard time getting back in practice, with Lionel concentrating on his pop material all these years (with some Commodore ballads thrown in for good measure), and the band not being as tight as it used to be. That's where Jay Kay comes in. A lot of people were taken aback when Jamiroquai shifted from the more jazzy, soulful offerings to more late 70's funk/disco and 80's electro-funk. NOT ME. Not everyone is capable of making that kind of music these days without it sounding forced, and Jay Kay is one of the handful that could pull it off. With them getting back in the groove, and Kay Jay and Lionel sharing songwriting duties, it would be as if they never split up in the first place. However, for this to really work, Jay would definitely have to leave his ego at the door (Hey---there's a good reason why you've been losing band members, you know!)

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But before I go, my thought's on Jean Grae's RETIREMENT, which I could sum up in three words:

YOU'LL BE BACK.

MUSICAL OUTRO:

"Show & Tell", by Al Wilson, who passed away on April 21. He was 68. He had a great voice and aside from a few songs like "The Snake", "Show & Tell", and "I Got A Feeling…", he hasn't had any songs that were worthy of a voice like his. However, that didn't stop him from making it work, as most good singers would. Also, rest in peace to Lawrence Lloyd Brown of Harold Melvin's Blue Notes. He was 63.