Image Credit: Joseph Roberts/PR Photos; Bob Charlotte/PR Photos (2)Diddy sure knows how to assemble a dream team. For “Shades,” a newly leaked track that may or may not appear on his long-delayed Last Train to Paris LP with his group Dirty Money, the impresario scored guest vocals from both Lil Wayne and Justin Timberlake. Getting these guys together for his album is quite a coup on Diddy’s part. But does the quality of the song live up to all that star wattage?
Not quite. I won’t pass final judgment on “Shades” while it’s just an unofficial leak — but right now, this song could really use a brisk edit. It opens with some dazed mumbles from Weezy, who rambles on for a minute (“She must be the one/I look in her eyes and see the sun/Even on rainy days”) over a beatless ambient background. Then a highly processed male voice, which I’m assuming is Diddy’s, starts singing. He meanders on for a while before getting to the song’s first hook: “Girl, if you want, I’ll pour a gallon of gasoline on my heart just to light your cigarette/Girl, if you want, I’ll do anything for you/I’ll even take off my shades.” There’s a nice sequence after this layering bright vocal harmonies to heaven, then some more tuneless wandering from Diddy, then more harmonizing.
Finally, well after the four-minute mark, Timberlake finally shows up. Sounds like he’s been listening to a lot of Young Money. His half-spoken verse includes a number of the elided end-of-line similes that Wayne’s crew has popularized on hits like “BedRock”: “I can read your mind, read your mind — Professor X/We could press rewind, press rewind — VHS,” “I’ma bend your body, bend your body — Magneto/Let me have my way, I’ma have my way — Carlito,” and so on. Hearing Timberlake’s voice on a new song is rare these days, so I hate to complain, but I can’t help wishing he’d sing more and rap less.
Diddy’s camp has not confirmed whether or not “Shades” will appear on Last Train to Paris. Have you heard the all-star collab? How do you like it?
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This is boooourns…..
Well these guys aren’t really musicians–they’re entertainers. I for one am entertained by the suckiness of this.
Ok, that’s just an insult. Wayne is a musician. How can you say that ? He lives and breathes music. I honestly don’t know why he got on this track because it’s rediculously bad.
When Lil Wayne went to prison earlier in the year and reportedly films all those videos on the Eve of his jail sentence, is was reported that he filmed his clip for Diddy & Dirty Money for a song called “Strobe Lights”. Dun no if this is that track or if thats been scrapped & this new song has taken its place, but the only news here is that Justin is on this song. “Last Train To Paris” is has been shelved forEVAH it seems. First for Diddy to change reecord distributors from Atlantic to Interscope, and now with no solid hit, he keeps pushing the release back. If he waits to the over crowded holiday release schedule, the album is going to bomb. The album was originally supposed to be an ‘experimental dance album’ after Diddy spent hours working with the likes of Felix da Housecat. Not one track thats been released is a ‘dance’ track, so once again, you already know that whatever album Diddy set himself out to create has morphed into something ELSE. A hip-hop release with a story…yeah look how well thats working for Ne-Yo’s slew of new singles from “Libra Scale”. When will these people learn, folks just want good music to nod their heads to & shake their asses to?! Doesn’t matter how many guest stars you get on a track or album if the tracks suck.
Diddy released a mixtape for LTTP with Felix Da Housecat featuring Diddy’s alter ego, Electro Black. I like it. But that’s all that’s been released that’s been truly in the “experimental dance” vein.
In both Diddy’s MTV show, “Making His Band”, and on the BET Awards aftershow he hosted, he said that he couldn’t release the album until the label felt satisfied it would sell. They wanted something more commercial and less experimentative, more in the vein of what he’s always done. His single, “Goodnight Goodmorning” has gone Gold and has received some airplay, unlike his first two singles, “Angels” and “Love Come Down”. I think they are scrapping the whole idea and doing something completely different than what was initially intended. Right now it seems, they’re going for the “tried and true’ formula of what works for hip-hop and Top 40 artists. Also, Diddy received somewhat of a setback this summer right before his planned June release when Jay-Z said auto-tune was dead – and the world of hip-hop seemed to agree with him. Since LTTP was supposed to be heavy on the autotune, people just weren’t into the new release.
I, for one, was SOOO looking forward to picking up LTTP this week! I hated to hear it was pushed back to December, but without radio adds/play, what is he to do? Deliberately set himself up for failure by releasing an album whose style/theme/sound is not in vogue or without a solid hit (airplay or Platinum sales) single? I think he’s doing the best he can with the situation. It’s not like he can don a pink wig, a muppet costume or a bikini made of whipped cream and act all weird and/or sexually suggestive on a music video to viewers and radio program director’s interest?
I hope this December date finally pans out. Every leaked track I’ve heard so far (from the original album/concept) I LOVE! But if I have to constantly be told to wait, I might not be interested anymore when it finally shows up.
thoes r mii boyzz rite here kon dhat
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