BFRED’S TOP 25 ALBUMS & SONGS OF 2012

Posted on January 14, 2013 | 4 Comments

uggh-2012-albums-songs

THE TOP 25 ALBUMS OF 2012:
1. Santigold Master of My Make-Believe
2. Schoolboy Q Habits & Contradictions
3. Sleigh Bells Reign Of Terror
4. Kendrick Lamar good kid, m.A.A.d city
5. Brandy Two Eleven
6. Future Pluto
7. Jessie Ware Devotion
8. Rick Ross Rich Forever
9. Iggy Azalea Trapgold
10. Miguel Kaleidoscope Dream
11. Wiz Khalifa Taylor Allderdice
12. Tame Impala Lonerism
13. Solange True
14. Beach House Bloom
15. Roc Marciano Reloaded
16. WZRD WZRD
17. Frank Ocean channel ORANGE
18. Ka Grief Pedigree
19. Action Bronson & Party Supplies Blue Chips
20. Purity Ring Shrines
21. Mac Miller Macadellic
22. Heems Nehru Jackets
23. Ab-Soul Control System
24. Nas Life Is Good
25. Grimes Visions

THE TOP 25 SONGS OF 2012:
1. GOOD Music “Mercy”
(Produced by Lifted, Mike Dean, Mike WiLL Made It, Hudson Mohawke)
2. Future “Turn On The Lights”
(Produced by Mike WiLL Made It)
3. Miguel “Do You…”
(Produced by Jerry Wonda, Miguel & Arden “Keyz” Altino)
4. Nicki Minaj f/ 2 Chainz “Beez in the Trap”
(Produced by Kenoe)
5. Elle Varner “Refill”
(Produced by Pop)
6. Schoolboy Q f/ ASAP Rocky “Hand On The Wheel”
(Produced by Best Kept Secret)
7. Solange “Losing You”
(Produced by Dev Hynes)
8. French Montana f/ Drake, Rick Ross & Lil Wayne “Pop That”
(Produced by Lee Beats of The Amazinz)
9. Frank Ocean “Pyramids”
(Produced by Frank Ocean, Malay & Om’Mas Keith)
10. Kendrick Lamar “Swimming Pools (Drank)”
(Produced by T-Minus)
11. Sky Ferreira “Everything Is Embarrassing”
(Produced by Dev Hynes & Ariel Rechtshaid)
12. Chief Keef f/ Lil Reese “I Don’t Like”
(Produced by Young Chop)
13. Usher “Climax”
(Produced by Diplo)
14. El-P “The Full Retard”
(Produced by El-P)
15. Rihanna f/ Future “Loveeeeeee Song”
(Produced by Mex Manny, Luney Tunez & Future)
16. Best Coast “Up All Night”
(Produced by Jon Brion)
17. 2 Chainz f/ Drake “No Lie”
(Produced by Mike WiLL Made It & Marz)
18. M.I.A. “Bad Girls”
(Produced by Danja)
19. Miguel “Adorn”
(Produced by Miguel)
20. Nicki Minaj f/ Chris Brown “Right By Your Side”
(Produced by Pop, Oak, Flip & JProof)
21. Twin Shadow “Five Seconds”
(Produced by Twin Shadow)
22. Nas “Bye Baby”
(Produced by Salaam Remi & Noah “40″ Shebib)
23. Bruno Mars “Locked Out of Heaven”
(Produced by The Smeezingtons, Mark Ronson, Jeff Bhasker & Emile Haynie)
24. Rick Ross f/ Drake & French Montana “Stay Schemin’”
(Produced by The Beat Bully)
25. Jai Paul “Jasmine”
(Produced by Jai Paul)

UGGH…NICE WATCH IN 2012:
The DJ Paul & Juicy J Collection
The Perry Collection
The Nile Rodgers Collection

PREVIOUSLY: BFRED’S TOP 25 ALBUMS & SONGS OF 2011

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Posted in Best Of List

THE HOWIE TEE COLLECTION

Posted on January 14, 2013 | 6 Comments

howie-tee-collection-uggh
New York City had no shortage of marquee hip-hop producers in the late ’80s and early ’90s, so perhaps it’s no surprise that Hitman Howie Tee a.k.a. Howard Thompson often gets overlooked when discussing the golden era’s key composers. Best known for creating stars like Chubb Rock and Special Ed, Howie was instrumental in paving the way for the new wave of hip-hop that took hold of NYC in the mid-to-late ’80s. Queens had Marley Marl, and Brooklyn had Howie Tee, the borough’s biggest name brand producer at this pivotal time.

After getting his first taste of the industry in 1983 as a DJ, keyboard player, and producer for electro rap group CD III, Howie stuck close to fellow Flatbush natives UTFO and Full Force. The crew were were suddenly thrust into the spotlight when “Roxanne, Roxanne” inspired the “answer record” meme of 1984, and Howie became the DJ sidekick/producer to Full Force’s new female rapper, The Real Roxanne.

Howie developed a fruitful relationship with Roxanne and UTFO’s label, a burgeoning independent called Select Records. Thanks to his work with Select throughout the late ’80s, including classics for his cousin Chubb Rock and Flatbush teen Special Ed, Howie ushered Brooklyn hip-hop out of the old school drum machine era and into the new world of multi-layered funk and jazz samples that would epitomize hip-hop’s golden era.

He realigned himself with Uptown Records in the early ’90s, where he achieved massive crossover success with R&B group Color Me Badd and signed another Flatbush teen, Little Shawn. His clout faded in the mid-’90s, but Howie’s indelible influence on hip-hop had already been made. Experience his underrated catalog with this compilation of 30 Howie Tee bangers…

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE TRACKLIST + LINKS…

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Posted in R&B, Rap, Uggh...Presents

THE DJ PAUL & JUICY J COLLECTION

Posted on July 25, 2012 | 2 Comments


For the last decade, hip-hop has been dominated by a sinister 808 sound that’s weaved its way through crunk, trap rap, and everything within their orbits. Sadly, Memphis duo DJ Paul & Juicy J don’t get enough credit for helping to develop and popularize this aesthetic in the early-to-mid ’90s, despite all their fame and noteriety as the core members of Three 6 Mafia.

As producers, they took Southern club music from the celebratory spasms of Miami and New Orleans to a dark place, both thematically and sonically. Starting in 1991, their underground mixtapes, both solo and together as Triple Six Mafia, expanded on the ominous promise of “Triggerman,” creating a local sound that M-Town could call its own. By throwing gangster rap and horrorcore influences into the mix, they were instrumental in creating the first hardcore Southern rap sound east of the Mississippi.

They rose to national prominence in the wake of No Limit’s success, signing a distribution deal with Relativity Records for their label Hypnotize Minds. I’ll never forget listening to 1997′s Chapter 2: World Domination for the first time in the dorm room of a high school friend from Memphis, and being blown away by how weird it sounded to my East Coast ears.

In the 2000s, their music got bigger, goofier. They won an Oscar by producing a bad song for a good movie about a pimp. They had a pretty entertaining reality show on MTV. But through it all, they deserve credit for staying true to their core sound in a way that few successful hip-hop producers have. They’ve rarely produced for artists outside their circle, they’ve never signed an R&B artist, and they’ve never really strayed from the gritty gangster rap that they came up on.

Simply put, DJ Paul & Juicy J planted an important sonic seed that spread out everywhere across the South. Without them, there would be no Drumma Boy, there would be no Shawty Redd, there would be no Lex Luger. DJ Toomp and Lil Jon might still be making Miami-style bass records if the Triple Six had never come along. I combed through the archives to assemble this compilation of my favorite works by Paul and the Juice Man. Enjoy…

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE TRACKLIST + DOWNLOAD LINK…

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Posted in Rap, Uggh...Presents

THE PERRY COLLECTION

Posted on July 25, 2012 | 2 Comments


Korean pop music is everywhere these days, but my own introduction to the genre came in 2000 when various college friends exposed me to the era’s K-Pop hitmakers, who are now considered “old school.” Amongst all the sappy ballads and cheesy boy bands, the music of YG Entertainment always stuck out to me, particularly the group Jinusean, who completely floored me with their 2001 album The Reign. I didn’t need to speak Korean to appreciate the big, neck-snapping beats that gave the duo’s hip-hop drenched LP its distinctive sound. I soon discovered that an artist named Perry, who rapped on several of the LP’s tracks, was also the producer responsible for creating its music.

Although he’s one of the most influential figures in modern Korean music, Perry Borja is not Korean. A native of Modesto, California who was raised by Chammorro immigrants, Perry was exposed to the burgeoning West Coast hip-hop scene in the ’80s before relocating to his family’s native country Guam as a teenager. It was there that he began making music with high school friend Noh Seung-hwan (a.k.a. Sean), who would serve as Perry’s introduction to the Korean music scene after his group Jinusean became the marquee act for veteran Yang Hyun Suk’s new label YG Entertainment.

In the early ’90s, the notoriously traditional Korean music scene started opening up to modern Western music, thanks to pop groups like Seo Taji & Boys (of which Yang Hyun Suk was a member) incorporating elements of hip-hop, alternative rock, R&B, and house into their songs. When Yang started his new label YG, hip-hop became the focus, and Perry became his go-to hitmaker, cranking out 12 stellar albums in 5 years for a variety of artists (including his own solo album). It’s remarkable to hear how effectively he injected the aesthetic of hardcore American hip-hop into YG’s early music, which quickly established the label as one of the “big three” Korean record companies.

Over the last decade, Perry’s output has gradually decreased, as he has evolved into more of a mentor to the new generation of YG hitmakers. But he should be honored by all for pushing the boundaries of Asian pop and helping hip-hop find a home in modern Korean music. Enjoy my compilation of Perry’s best…

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE TRACKLIST + DOWNLOAD LINK…

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Posted in Rap, Uggh...Presents

THE NILE RODGERS COLLECTION

Posted on July 25, 2012 | 2 Comments


Disco is often considered a musical anomaly, a cheesy gimmick that existed on an isolated aesthetic island before dying out in the late ’70s. And while the disco’s direct lineage to house and other later dance music movements is well documented, little attention is paid to the way disco morphed and made its presence felt in New Wave and the pop rock of the ’80s. A fascinating musical figure at the center of this era is Nile Rodgers, the last great disco producer.

Best known as the co-founder of Chic, Rodgers, alongside his partner Bernard Edwards, made some of the most brilliant music of the late disco era. Nile played guitar, and Bernard played bass. Together, they injected new levels of musicality into a genre that was fast becoming cliché, creating in Chic a disco band that thought like a jazz fusion band. They had seven straight chart-topping singles, produced albums for Diana Ross, Sister Sledge and Johnny Mathis, and provided the musical backbone for hip-hop’s first hit record, “Rapper’s Delight.”

After Disco Demolition Night famously kicked off a nationwide backlash, times were tough for disco’s posterboys. A few years later, David Bowie recruited Nile Rogers to produce his “pop” album Let’s Dance, in a clear attempt to capture the NYC cool of Chic’s hits “Good Times” and “Le Freak.” Suddenly, Nile was once again an in-demand producer for white New Wave acts looking to inject some funky dance flavor into their sound. He produced huge hits for INXS and Duran Duran, and the album that made Madonna a true pop icon, Like A Virgin.

Nile continued to explore new musical frontiers, moving into scoring films and video games (his first gig was creating the music for Eddie Murphy’s Coming To America, including the infamous “Soul Glo” commercial). In the ’90s, his records got a new life after the Trackmasters and the Hitmen raided his catalogue for samples, providing the soundtrack for the jiggy rap era’s biggest hits, including “Mo Money Mo Problems,” “Gettin’ Jiggy With It,” “Been Around The World,” and “Cold Rock a Party.” Check out my compilation of 30 songs created by this diverse musical genius…

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE TRACKLIST + DOWNLOAD LINK…

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Posted in Pop, Uggh...Presents

BFRED’S TOP 25 ALBUMS & SONGS OF 2011

Posted on January 6, 2012 | 2 Comments


2011 was a slow year for Uggh…Nice Watch, but a great year for music.

THE TOP 25 ALBUMS OF 2011:
1. Drake Take Care
2. The Weeknd House of Balloons
3. Frank Ocean nostalgia, ULTRA.
4. Jay-Z & Kanye West Watch The Throne
5. Toro Y Moi Underneath The Pine
6. Das Racist Relax
7. Wiz Khalifa Cabin Fever
8. J. Cole Cole World: The Sideline Story
9. Wiz Khalifa Rolling Papers
10. Cults Cults
11. 2 Chainz TRU REALigion
12. Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire Lost In Translation
13. Chris Brown F.A.M.E.
14. Mac Miller Blue Slide Park
15. Danny Brown XXX
16. Juicy J & Lex Luger Rubbaband Business 2
17. Washed Out Within and Without
18. A$AP Rocky Live.Love.A$AP
19. Young Jeezy TM103: Hustlerz Ambition
20. Yelawolf Radioactive
21. 50 Cent The Big 10
22. James Blake James Blake
23. Big Sean Finally Famous
24. Lykke Li Wounded Rhymes
25. Kendrick Lamar Section.80

THE TOP 25 SONGS OF 2011:
1. Kanye West & Jay-Z “Niggas In Paris”
(Produced by Hit-Boy & Kanye West)
2. DJ Khaled f/ Drake, Rick Ross & Lil Wayne “I’m On One”
(Produced by T-Minus, Nikhil S. & Noah “40″ Shebib)
3. Tyler, the Creator “Yonkers”
(Produced by Tyler, the Creator)
4. Chris Brown f/ Busta Rhymes & Lil Wayne “Look At Me Now”
(Produced by Diplo, Afrojack & Free School)
5. J. Cole f/ Missy Elliott “Nobody’s Perfect”
(Produced by J. Cole)
6. Frank Ocean “Thinking About You”
(Produced by Shea Taylor)
7. Wiz Khalifa “The Race”
(Produced by I.D. Labs)
8. Meek Mill f/ Rick Ross “Ima Boss”
(Produced by Jahlil Beats)
9. Drake “Marvin’s Room”
(Produced by Noah “40″ Shebib)
10. M83 “Midnight City”
(Produced by Justin Meldal-Johnsen & Anthony Gonzalez)
11. Ace Hood f/ Rick Ross & Lil Wayne “Hustle Hard (Remix)”
(Produced by Lex Luger)
12. SBTRKT f/ Drake & Little Dragon “Wildfire (Remix)”
(Produced by SBTRKT)
13. Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire “Huzzah”
(Produced by Necro)
14. Rihanna “We Found Love”
(Produced by Calvin Harris)
15. Allen Stone “Unaware”
(Produced by Lior Goldenberg)
16. Kreayshawn “Gucci Gucci”
(Produced by DJ Two Stacks & Adeptus)
17. Mac Miller “Donald Trump”
(Produced by Sap Da Beat Man)
18. Drake f/ Lil Wayne “The Motto”
(Produced by T-Minus)
19. Frank Ocean “Swim Good”
(Produced by Midi Mafia)
20. Future “Tony Montana”
(Produced by Speaker Knockerz)
21. Lil Wayne f/ Rick Ross “John”
(Produced by Rob Holladay & Polow Da Don)
22. T.I. “I’m Flexin’”
(Produced by Big K.R.I.T.)
23. Rick Ross f/ Drake “Made Men”
(Produced by 2 Tall Beats)
24. Beyoncé “I Miss You”
(Produced by Shea Taylor & Beyoncé Knowles)
25. Meek Mil f/ Rick Ross “Tupac Back”
(Produced by Mike Will)

Now let me see about actually finishing some Uggh…Collections in 2012…

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Posted in Best Of List

THE DEVANTE SWING COLLECTION

Posted on February 14, 2011 | 14 Comments


The genius behind Jodeci has fallen on hard times over the last decade, with rumors of drug addiction (and an embarrassing TMZ video) taking the place of hit records. But none of this changes the intensity of the impact that Donald “DeVante Swing” Degrate had on the sound of ’90s R&B music in a prolific five year period. A freakishly talented instrumentalist with a freaky side, the Virginia native wrote and produced nearly every song Jodeci ever performed, inspiring a generation* with his achingly sincere, hyper-sexualized slow jams.

Before Jodeci’s breakthrough in 1991, DeVante did some co-production work at Uptown Records, including the radio version of Al B. Sure’s “Missunderstanding” that became a #1 R&B hit. He continued to make big moves as a songwriter, using the talkbox-heavy “Jodeci Sound” to create hits for everyone from a 50-year-old Al Green to a 16-year-old Usher. In the mid-’90s he developed his own training camp of artists and producers called the Swing Mob, which famously introduced names like Missy Elliott, Timbaland, Ginuwine, Tweet, Static Major, Darryl Pearson, and Stevie J to the industry. He executive produced the #1 Dangerous Minds soundtrack, and before long he was being managed by Suge Knight, spending a lot of time with 2Pac, and crafting Jodeci’s ambitious third album.

In the next few years, everything fell apart—Death Row died with 2Pac, K-Ci & JoJo went solo, and the Swing Mob artists started signing with other labels. By the late ’90s, DeVante had been completely eclipsed by his former protégé, Timbaland, as mainstream R&B’s biggest innovator. His career fell into a 15 year black hole, marking a tragic end for one of music’s brightest stars. Spark one and zone out to my compilation of 30 DeVante classics…

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE TRACKLIST + DOWNLOAD LINK…

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Posted in R&B, Uggh...Presents