Ev'rybody Know Me

美国南方的脏口双人组Youngbloodz的2005年专辑《Evrybody Know Me》发行了附赠DVD版，不曾想这个DVD版的发行竟带来了Youngbloodz组合成立以来最大的成功！他们此前最好的成绩仅仅是1999年的首张专辑《Against Da Grain》创下的Billboard 200专辑榜的第92名，这张专辑至今也仅仅卖出去了29万8千张，而他们的第二张专辑《Drankin' Patnaz》甚至连这个榜前200名的边都没摸着。这回附赠DVD版一发行，首周的成绩就达到了8万5千张，居然奇迹般的冲进了排行榜的前五名，这绝对是Youngbloodz大放烟火庆祝的事情了。就这张专辑的音乐本身也并无太多可圈点之处，充斥着带有美国南方方言和语言习惯的脏话，被这两个圆滑的家伙高速度，又押韵的说出来，据说吉尼斯世界纪录有一项是发牢骚最多的纪录，我想大概就是这种人在演唱会上创造下来的吧，不知道这两位仁兄有没有兴趣去挑战一下。他们除了会骂人以外，再有就是吓唬人了，恐吓和威胁在歌词中出现的频率可能比脏字们低一些。不过昙花终究是昙花，他们这种没有创新的，老套的脏口说唱专辑，必定不会在排行榜上停留太长时间的。艺人介绍："Sean Paul" Joseph和DJ Jeff "J-Bo" Grigsby是在在佐治亚州首府亚特兰大的一所中学Miller Grove里认识的，并且从高中的时候开始他们就在一起研究音乐，这两个说唱音乐的追星族离开了他们原来的说唱团体，于是就组成了Youngbloodz。他们开始的时候加入了亚特兰大的说唱音乐组织the Attic，在这里他们锻炼、学习并且提高自己的说唱音乐水平。然而他们两个并不安分于在这个小团体内，梦想着成为说唱明星的他们频频出现在各个唱片公司的门口，即使是上街买东西，也要到唱片公司的门口观光一圈才肯回家。在那些唱片公司的门口，Youngbloodz向人们展示着他们自己的才能，不仅为过路的行人，也为大门里的那些唱片公司工作人员。也许真的是这种热情感动了唱片公司的人们，唱片公司的大门终于对他们展开了。一个通知送到了the Attic，他们的成员可以和LaFace唱片公司的执行主管P.A.进行一个面对面的会谈，就是在这次会谈之后，双人说唱组合Youngbloodz顺利和LaFace唱片公司签约。1999年9月14日，Youngbloodz发行了他们的第一张专辑《Against Da Grain》，2002年11月12日，第二张专辑《Drankin' Patnaz》发行，2003年8月26日，Youngbloodz又发行了他们2002年专辑的附赠DVD版《Drankin' Patnaz [Bonus DVD]》。 by Jason Birchmeier Drankin' Patnaz, the 2002 YoungBloodZ album, arrived right in the midst of the initial crunk uprising, and it helped push that style into mass public consciousness in a major way, with the Lil Jon-produced "Damn!" breaking into the Top Five of Billboard's Hot 100 -- a noteworthy milestone at the time. But three years later, in 2005, "crunk" had become the new "bling-bling" -- a trendy rap style that proliferated at lightning speed, to the point where its sudden omnipresence reached the point of parody, and indeed, snarkier pop culture commentators were quick to lampoon it just as they had "bling-bling." Ev'rybody Know Me arrived around this time, in December 2005, and it pales in comparison to its predecessor. What a difference three years make! YoungBloodZ haven't changed much in those three years. They're still the same rambunctious Atlanta duo they were before -- witty, grimacing Dirty South rappers with a taste for cush and candy-paint cars, white Ts and white wheels, drank and stank. But while they sounded cutting edge in 2002, they sound middle of the pack in 2005, and that's despite working with many of the same producers as last time. Of course, there's a mammoth Lil Jon production here that stands head and shoulders above every other song on Ev'rybody Know Me: "Presidential." From the opening synth stab, it's obvious that this is straight from the lab of the King of Crunk. There's a lot that's amazing about this song, from how YoungBloodZ make "George Bush" seem like a dope name to drop ("What we smokin'?/That cush/Presidential sh*t/George Bush") to how Lil Jon's endlessly recycled production style remains powerful. But there are 15 other songs here, and none of them comes close to matching the appeal of "Presidential." Not even A-list producers such as Scott Storch, Jazze Pha, Mannie Fresh, or Mr. Collipark can conjure up a fresh song idea. Rather, each of these well-paid producers turns in a third-rate retread: Collipark's "It's Good" sounds like a "Wait (The Whisper Song)" remix, Fresh's "What tha Biz (If I)" sounds like a "And Then What" remix, and so on. The exception would be Storch's "Chop Chop," which does sound fairly unique; it just doesn't quite work as well as it should. Anyhow, there's not a lot of use in overexamining why Ev'rybody Know Me feels disappointing. In sum, it's a run-of-the-mill crunk album with a killer single, an album that doesn't come close to matching its relatively superb and much fresher predecessor.