Roddio Jukebox

So i’m at work last night and one of my co-workers who is also on Twitter (@Colden2) tells me that he just got this Ultimate Luther Vandross CD (which they NEVER are & I don’t like them, but that’s another post). Ok, cool. Then the brother, knowing full well he was baiting* me, tells me that the Luther vandross/Mariah Carey version of Endless Love is better than the Lionel Ritchie/Diana Ross version. Actually, what he really said was that Mariah Carey sung her part better than Diana & Lionel’s was better than Luther. I guess you could make a case for this, but I just took each version as a whole…and still gave him the side eye. At first I immediately said no, no, & HELL NO followed by a series of no’s and then a no. Then I thought, NO! I also took into account his personal bias (of which he claims is not a factor) towards Mariah’s talent (among other things) as to why he says that. And as much as love Luther(R.I.P.), I will not go into my belief in the fact that everything he touched was not turned to gold(case in point). That’s not what this is about. I believe that the original Ritchie/Ross pairing is way better than the Vandross/Carey version. This also brings up something about remakes that I want to come back to one day.

Oh, and to make matter worse, I come home, check Twitter and see this in my stream. Ladies and gentlemen of the internet, help me out. Check out the two versions of the classic song and you tell me which one is the better version. And yes, I realize that my personal bias of the original song may have colored my choice, but once again, nope!

Lionel Ritchie / Diana Ross version

Luther Vandross / Mariah Carey version

P.S.

I’ll take this battle over original or extra crispy any day.

* – I can’t believe it took this for me to post. *SMDH*

I’ve always maintained that MF Doom (now going by just the name of DOOM*) in any of his various forms, is one the hottest emcees out there. He’s your favorite rapper’s, favorite rapper’s, favorite rapper. It is REDONKULOUS that he’s not as known as he should be. “Villain’ll hold the mic like he’s mean and his tummy hurts. In a clean pair of ripped jeans and a bummy shirt”. Fuck Little Wayne or ANY of these other popular clown ass rappers out here right now(I’m looking at the likes of you, Soldja Boy, etc). Naturally, you don’t have to take my word for it. Check out this mix from the Big La, Todd Kelley’s Artist Spotlight: MF Doom (scroll down for it)

Also, peep out these videos from various Doom projects:

Madvillian – All Caps
* – Yes, folks, the all caps spelling is not new. He put it out there a couple of years ago.

King Geedorah – The Fine Print
“Render unto Geedorah what is Geedorah’s. 10 to 1 he sees you through a beeker and a Tweezers”

Viktor Vaughn – Vaudeville Villain
“Viktor the director flip a script like Rob Reiner
The way a lotta dudes rhyme their name should be “knob shiner”
For a buck, they’d likely dance the Jig or do the Hucklebuck
To Vik it’s no big deal, they’re just a buncha knuckle-fucks”

Jake One w/ MF Doom – Trapdoor
OH MY GOD, I love this song! I play it in triplicate every time I hear it. Probably did it while writing this post.

DangerDoom w/ Talib Kweli – Old School
“And since when lyrical skill had to do with killing a cat, what type of Chitlins is that?”

Da Supafriendz – Vast Aire w/ MF Doom
“Give him some skin, a real country bumpkin
Get up off his property, villain, fuzzy lumpkin
Dumpin, enough raw lead to leave a forehead sunk in
When he’s on tour, keep your paws off him pumpkin dumplin”

MF Doom – HEY!
“I only play the games that I win at. And stay the same with more rhymes than there’s ways to skin cats”

What I’m saying is that if you don’t know this cat, you need to. That said:

It’s always good to see the brother getting his due props from anywhere. Check out this Youtube video (found via @HumanityCritic on Twitter)of the mighty Mos Def speaking on his favorite DOOM verses.

Oh, DOOM’s new album, BORN LIKE THIS is in stores now. Go get it. iTunes and Amazon, also.