Highlights From PJ, City Girls, Jozzy & A Look Back At A Pivotal Missy Moment
6/22/20
Well, it is officially summer, and whether you feel optimistic about that this year is up to you, but at least, here’s the latest playlist to get you through the week. Also featured below we look at some playlist standouts, as well as the anniversary of an essential Missy album.
Playlist Highlights: Elements, Rhymes, and The Sublime
“Element” - PJ
One of the most rewarding things about watching Issa Rae’s show Insecure is getting to drool over the series’ music curation. Every episode is interwoven with refreshing Hip Hop and R&B songs by newcomer artists, each of which seamlessly fit into whatever is going down in the plot. In particular, I am constantly impressed with the plethora of female hip hop artists that get featured on the show (granted, Issa herself dabbles in rap), and the series has spotlighted an immense variety of femcees that everyone should get to know. The most recent season’s (4, which just wrapped) soundtrack alone includes songs by Yung Baby Tate, Jucee Froot, Poe Leos & Kay Dinero, TeaMarr, and Rico Nasty, just to name a few. One of the standout tracks of the season, though, is the breezy “Element”, by RnB/HipHop singer/songwriter Paris Jones, aka PJ. PJ first branched out to pursue a solo career only in 2015, but by then had already begun to make a name for herself in the industry penning songs for the likes of Chris Brown, Fantasia, and Ty Dolla $ign. On “Element”, the LA-based, North Carolina-native begins by crooning over a wavy and synth-y string melody, before seamlessly spitting bars and showing off creative and clever lyricism. It’s quite the beachy summer track, perfect for blasting through open windows while cruising on the highway down a coast somewhere (or at the very least, imagining that you’re doing so).
“That Old Man” - City Girls
"This Old Man" is an English language children's nursery rhyme that dates back to the 1870’s, with lines like “This old man, he played one, he played knick-knack on my drum”. “That Old Man”, however, is an energetic trap bounce track by the City Girls with lines like “I make a n***a pay a fee right before he lick it/I’ma ride that dick like a broom on Wicked”. The track leaps out from their new album, City On Lock, which surprise dropped this past week after someone shamelessly leaked it early, much to the dismay of the Girls. “That Old Man” is a raunchy but playful bop that somehow manages to successfully weld together classic toddler nursery rhyme melodies with hard knocking bass and aggressively sexual lyrics. City On Lock comes nearly two years after the duo’s double whammy albums from 2018, Period and Girl Code, which made the Girls famous via hits like “Act Up” and “Where The Bag At”—and their greatest contribution to the culture—the meme-tastic, emphatic stating of the word PERIOD (see song called “Period”). The past two years for the Girls have been difficult—JT was released in October from serving a sentence in prison and Yung Miami recently lost her ex-boyfriend and father of her son, Jai Wiggins, who was reportedly shot and killed. Regardless, the City Girls have persevered and pulled through, and City On Lock, with “That Old Man” in particular, provide a much-needed boisterous contribution to the 2020 summer rap scene.
“Pleasantville” - Jozzy
Have you heard of Jozzy? Well even if you haven’t, I’ll start off by saying that she wrote Billy Ray Cyrus’ verse on Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road”—you know, that little ditty from last year that shattered multitudes of records. On top of that small little feat, (which made her a Grammy winner) Jocelyn “Jozzy” Donald is a queer rapper, singer and songwriter who also happened to have gotten her start working under the wings of Timbaland and Missy Elliott and has penned songs for the likes of Fergie, Pharell, and Tinashe. Since last year, Jozzy has steadily been releasing her own singles, including the punchy Lil’ Wayne collab “Sucka Free” and the lo-fi Tommy Genesis collab “I’m Gone”. On her latest single, “Pleasantville”, which dropped this past week, Jozzy is all on her own this time, and has never sounded better. On the dream-like song, Jozzy shows off a refreshingly light and airy singing voice, as well as a more soothing side to her rapid fire rapping, all over a quiet, piano-led tempo. With “Pleasantville”, (as if the title wasn’t evident enough) Jozzy temporarily transports you to a colorful and carefree place—perhaps a respite we all need right now. As Jozzy explains about the track: “The world is so messed up right now. Quarantine hit and everybody was having to deal with their demons, get closer to God, become a better person and just sit with themselves and their thoughts...I hope “Pleasantville” gives everyone a little salve for their soul.”
This Week In Rap Herstory: Missy’s Real World Turns 21
The so-called “Sophomore Slump” is one of the biggest fears that an early career musician has to face. They make an unexpected splash with their debut album, get showered with accolades and esteem, and then are expected to deliver that same level of magic again, if not better. 21 years ago to date, Missy Elliott found herself in just such a predicament, when she dropped her second album, Da Real World on June 22nd, 1999. Missy was fresh off the major blow up she had after her 1997 Supa Dupa Fly, which debuted at number 3 on the US Billboard 200, topped the US Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart, was certified platinum, and sold 1.2 million copies in the States. Missy herself admitted her fear of the “Slump”, stating that while recording this 2nd album she felt very pressured to succeed.
The rest is herstory. Da Real World debuted at number ten on the US Billboard 200, sold 131,000 copies in its first week, and solidified Missy as an artist who was going to being stay put. It received critical acclaim from music critics across the board. AllMusic declared it an "excellent follow-up" that is “clearly a Missy Elliott album in most respects, with Timbaland's previously trademarked, futuristic-breakbeat production smarts laced throughout." Da Real World is noted for showcasing a raunchier and darker style to Elliott, and it spawned three iconic singles: "All N My Grill", "Hot Boyz (Remix)”, and most importantly—"She's a Bitch"—for which Missy Elliott explained that she was reclaiming that word in a positive way, by expressing herself with it as a "strong woman in power".
In classic Missy form, the album is teeming with guest appearances from all her friends in high places, many of whom were at early stages in their careers at the time. The long list includes Beyoncé, Eve, Eminem, Da Brat, Aaliyah, Big Boi, Lil' Kim, and more, and overall, the album is 17 tracks long so while I won’t go into all of them, I would certainly say that each of the three singles are definitely worth a revisit. In addition to those, I’d like to point to at least one other personal fave that didn’t individually chart: “Smooth Chick”. Right off the bat, it begins with Missy declaring the words “Party Time!”, before then kicking it into high gear with an infectious horn beat by Timbaland, over which Missy then sensually spits very Black Widow-esque bars, such as “I'mma show you all how to work the spine (Uh)/If you a playa then you sure ain't mine/I'mma cut you off like circumcise (Uh)”. In the end, not all of the tracks on Da Real World are worth relistening to per se, but the album definitely produced multiple iconic hits and more importantly, served as the clincher that has made Missy immortal, and thus it is worth commemorating. (On a side note: also this week, The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce selection panel announced the members of the next Walk Of Fame class—which includes Missy…And Salt-N-Pepa! Congrats to all!)