This week I have the pleasure of being introduced to DJ Drama and his single “My Moment” featuring 2 Chainz, Meek Mill, and Jeremih which falls to the number 100 spot from 94 last week with a peak position of 89. I had never heard of this artist before, but research shows that I have heard a great deal of his music. It seems DJ Drama is the mastermind behind the Gangsta Grillz mixtape series as well as the personal DJ to rap mogul T.I. This track is featured on his latest album Quality Street Music released in early October.
We open with the synth hook and obligatory talking and move quickly to the chorus sung by Jeremih. The “T-Pain” autotune effect is featured exclusively. We are introduced to a surprisingly positive and uplifting theme, the idea that these “talented” individuals live their day to day lives but have a passionate love of music and given their chance, their moment, they will prove that they are worthy of fame. Not the most original thing I have heard, but it beats the hell out of drug references, talking about hoes, or generally not making any sense.
The beat drops at approximately 150bpm (yes, I checked). You can almost taste the south in this beat despite the artist and producer being from Pennsylvania and Canada, respectively. This beat was expertly crafted by producer T-Minus who has done extensive successful work with Young Money/Cash Money Records artists (and is responsible for a few of my favorite hip-hop songs of the last 2 years). Heavy emphasis is placed on the deep 808 style bass drums while a complicated hi-hat roll keeps things moving. It is a typical trunk-lid-destroyer beat, but the synth line keeps things interesting. With slight accents added in the chorus, the beat stays the same the entire song.
"Purple Drank"
The first verse commences with 2 Chainz doing his best Rick Ross impression, slow, punchy and almost taking his time to think of the next line. He speaks of his father naming him over the phone from prison, and from there his ascension to fame and fondness of sippin’ syrup. For you squares out there that is a mixture of prescription strength cough medicine, soda and sometimes hard candy that is also known as “purple drank”. We move back to the chorus and onto verse two which features Meek Mill. Meek is relatively unknown in the mainstream, but with his recent release of his debut album Dreams and Nightmareshe might become significantly more relevant. Unfortunately, he fails to say anything personal or enlightening. It is a typical “I came from the bottom, I was a thug and now I have a boutique automobile, but I am still a thug,” banter. His delivery and word arrangement are great, but his subject matter is shallow, pointless and predictable
Most rappers are tougher than this man, but without the makeup who knows?
(Other than inferring that his peers were bitches and then simply jests “RuPaul”. That made my laugh quite a bit). We come around once again to the chorus and then Jeremih gets his own short verse and back once again to the chorus to close the song.
What we fail to hear throughout the song is a single verse from the lead artist DJ drama. He talks in the intro and outro, but contributes no actual vocal work to the song. Someone else produced the beat, it features 3 other artists, and it is still billed as being a DJ Drama song. Perhaps it was his idea to use this purchased beat and assemble these people? From where I am sitting he has done absolutely no work and is taking the majority of the credit. Perhaps his name is a springboard for the featured artists.
Overall we are looking at a solid beat with decent verses and a moderately catchy chorus, a positive message that most people can pretend to relate to and some potentially up and coming artists. This seems like the sort of song that will be more interesting in its later stages as a remix, which I cannot wait for. As this song is doing significantly better on the hip-hop and rap charts, it is hard to damn it to deserving to be low on the mainstream totem pole. Top spots on the Hot 100 and core rap charts are reserved for people like Drake. With the steady chart decline, this song may be off the radar fairly quickly. With that said, I heard that god-awful Kelly Rowland song from last week on the radio today, so what do I know?