Melanie Fiona Samples The Zombies And Gives It To Me Right

Seriously, the instrumental background of the Zombies late 1960s classic "Time Of The Season" features one of the hottest, slinkiest beats ever. That funky guitar and organ, the piano coda, the knock-kneed drum sound and breathy "ah" just scream electric acid sex and I am surprised it hasn't been sampled earlier. Actually, a rapper named Necro did sample the beat and chorus for a stupid and filthy single called "Who's Your Daddy" a few years ago and he did it quite poorly.

Now, in 2009 (42 years after the original) two singles have been released featuring the crazy good beat. The better of the two is by Melanie Fiona, a Canadian R&B singer who has had a minor hit in her home country. I've been hearing "Give It To Me Right" on DMX satellite radio and have been crazy about it ever since. Between the beat and Melanie's soulful voice, it has a sweet Amy Winehouse feel that is both retro and really fresh and cool. She's currently managed by Jay-Z's Roc Nation, so I'm really hoping for big things from this really awesome song. Listen here.

Mook N Fair's "Who's Your Daddy" is more straight up rap, the duo rhyming over the chorus and beat from the song. It's not as clever, and the rap is very basic brag raps about money. You can listen here.

Oh, Kanye! How Do You Expect To "Run This Town" With Lyrics Like These?

Jay-Z just dropped a new single, and I'm really loving the beat and the Rihanna-sung hook. The lyrics are the usual Hova stuff, bragging about having money and fame and such. But Kanye, whom I usually love but has been slipping on his guest spots of late, turns in such a laughable third verse I can't help but wonder if he's just phoning it in anymore.

The first third of the verse makes lyrical sense, it's about the subject of the rest of the track -fame and fortune. Slightly disjointed, jumping from "everybody on my dick - no homo" to talking about buying his family cars to not wanting his picture taken at church. It fits with the theme, but the segues are poor.

But then comes the comedy gold. Kanye jumps to the topic of girls following him around and focusing on one in particular. This line is classic misogynistic stupidity:

"She got a ass that'll swallow up a g-string/And up top, unh... Two bee stings"

I think it's the "unh" that does it, I just lose it at that moment. Such a sick description of a woman's body, too. BUT! It gets better...

"And I'm beasting/Off the riesling/And my n----- just made it out the precinct"

Pure nonsense! And I hate the use of the n-word, even by African American rappers. But the first two lines make no sense at all. And he keeps going:

"We give a damn about the drama that you do bring/I'm just tryin' to change the color on your mood ring"

Are we still discussing Ms. "up top, uhn, two bee stings"? Because I would think after that comment, the mood ring color would need to be changed from Orange-Red for aggressive to Violet for "in love." Meanwhile, let's talk fashion with Kanye:

"Reebok, Baby/You need to drop some new things/Have you ever had shoes without shoe strings?"

I have, Kanye. I have. Oh wait, still chatting up that ass that swallowed up a g-string? My bad. Keep insulting her footwear choice, that usually gets the ladies in bed.

I just devolves into random Dr. Seuss rhyming games after that but 'Ye does manage to bring it round to the chorus at the end:

"You feelin' like your runnin', huh? Now you know how we feel"

Y'know, because we gonna run this town tonight... Rihanna, bring the vocals! The video is hot, though:

Jay-Z - New Music - More Music Videos

"Swagger Like Us" - T.I. Samples M.I.A. With Help From Kanye, Weezy Baby and Hova

To think, it was about one year ago I hit Best buy before work so I could buy M.I.A.'s new album the day it dropped. I played it non-stop, turning all my friends onto the brilliant songs, especially "Paper Planes." That song was number two on my list last year, the album number one. But even I could never have predicted the kind of insane success she would have, thanks to the Pineapple Express trailer.

Apparently T.I. is among M.I.A.'s legion of fans, since he samples one line from the second verse ("No one on the corner has a swagger like us") for his new track "Swagger Like Us" and gets the three of the most skilled line-slingers in the game, Kanye West, Lil' Wayne and Jay-Z, to join him. A few primo lines spill out, like Jay's "Can't wear skinny jeans/cause my knots won't fit" or Kanye's "How's it feel to wake up and be the shit and the urine?" but I was really expecting more from The Best Rapper Alive, Lil' Wayne. But however hot (or not) the lines are, I'm just happy to seem someone else repping my girl Maya! T.I.'s Paper Trail drops Sept 30th.