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It almost feels wrong to call Press Play, the forthcoming album from Diddy, a solo effort. The Whopper-loving impresario is joined by a chartload of guests on the record, which arrives in stores on Tuesday; Christina Aguilera, Mary J. Blige, Big Boi from OutKast, and Jamie Foxx are all given a chance to share Diddy’s studio time. Seriously, it’s like his birthday party invitation from a few years ago, only with production credits by will.i.am and Kanye West.
Press Play opens with a looped sample of Tears For Fears’ “Head Over Heels,” and it’s repeated enough times to inspire worries that he’s returned to his really-obvious-sample ways. Thankfully, it doesn’t stay in that rut because it’s so all over the place; the long list of guest stars makes the album sound a little schizophrenic. And supersized King-sized, too; its skits, songs, and gratuitous uses of the word “motherfucker” clock in at 78 minutes, just a few seconds shy of the limit that a CD can handle. There are a few decent songs buried in there–and Making the Band fans will recognize the hook Christina Aguilera’s singing on “Tell Me”–but Press Play only reaches euphoric heights on the bouncy “Thought You Said.” Brandy’s vocal performance and the song’s jittery beat almost made us forget about Diddy’s lackluster flow.
Diddy – Thought You Said (featuring Brandy) [MP3, link expired]
Diddy – Press Play [Torrent Portal]
No one can say anything bad about this man. First off – this amazing cover makes him look like a hip-hop Max Headroom. Second, his dancing in the “Come to Me” video is so tragically bad that it’s absolutely brilliant. It’s like something that an awkward white teenager might do when he wants to “rock out” (speaking from personal experience here).
Third… do you really need a third point? He’s the greatest.
A lot of the tracks that have leaked so far from “Press Play” sound pretty amazing given Puff’s limited artistic ability.
This track is immaculately produced and performed (again given his limited abilities as an MC) and I give him props for trying to do something different here but it sounds a little bit dated. I’m getting flashbacks to the Roni Size, LTJ Bukem, Olive era of coffee table drum n bass and trip hop.
BTW more Diddy leaks can be found here.