ByronCrawford.com: DJ Green Lantern - Yes We Can: Album Review

DJ Green Lantern, Yes We Can: The Mixtape (Mixtape, 2008)
In the interest of fairness and equal time and not sweating having to come up with something else to post about on a hump day, I figured I'd go ahead and take a look at this Green Lantern Barack Obama mixtape hosted by Russell Simmons.

OnSmash has a link, if you wanna DL and have a look.

INTRO

A bunch of news clips from around the time when Obama secured the Democratic nomination, with extra dramatic-sounding music in the background.

BLACK PRESIDENT RMX PT. 1

A god-awful remix of that silly black president song from Nas' dreaded n-word album. They've added T.I. synths, and a girl singing, "Change the world," during the chorus. Nas is joined by David Banner, Busta Rhymes, and Talib Kweli.

STAND UP

Obama giving a speech about how we've got to stand up, over a budget Kanye sped up soul track, interspersed with Ludacris shouting, "Stand up!"

NAS SPEAKS ON POLITICS

Over the sample Pete Rock flipped for "The World Is Yours," which is a nifty touch, Nas basically admits that he knows jack shit about politics, but now he thinks Obama might change the world.

MAKE IT OUT

The production on this bad boy is so obnoxious, it could be on that first Lupe Fiasco album. It's too bad, since Styles P's verse is surprisingly astute, at least by the standards of this mixtape. Cassidy's verse? Not so much.

THE AMERICAN DREAM

Jay-Z explains how Obama running for president shows a kid from the Marcy Projects that he can be anything he wants when he grows up. Then he threatens to leave the country if McCain is electing. Or, to be clear, he says he's looking at getting a spot in another country, in case McCain gets elected. He might still get one even if McCain loses. He's got money like that.

ONE MIC, ONE PEOPLE

One of Obama's speeches about spreading the wealth, over the instrumental from Nas' "One Mic." For what it's worth, Obama really has been borrowing the rhetoric of socialists, when you know good and well he doesn't have any plans for large wealth redistribution.

RUSSELL SIMMONS SPEAKS ON OBAMA

Russell Simmons, who sounds especially lispy, explains how political change isn't just gonna come from lobbyists. Or, some such bullshit.

WAITING ON THE WORLD TO CHANGE 2008

God no, it's a rap remake of John Mayer's "Waiting on the World to Change." You know, that silly fake Curtis Mayfield record about political apathy among today's youth.

YES WE NEED A MIXTAPE!!

Angie Martinez, the woman with perhaps the most obnoxious speaking tape possible (and yet, she's a professional broadcaster!) jokes about how presidential candidates now have to have mixtapes.

PROMISED LAND

Def poetry alert! Everyone cover your ears. Then Kanye West starts rapping. It's not everyday you hear him get political. Think that time when he said George Bush doesn't care about black people, except more rhythmic.

BLACK PRESIDENT RMX PT. 2

Because it worked out so well last time, another remix of Nas' "Black President." This one hardly bears any relation to the original, aside from the sample of 2Pac telling us we're not ready to have a black president. (I don't get it...) Rhymefest's verse is one the album's real standouts. But the girl who comes on after him is just... awful. Not only does she ruin this song, she just ruined this month.

MY LIFE

Obama rattles off some of his bio, over the beat to that song the Game did with Lil' Wayne. They've also cut up the Game's voice saying, "Cuz it ain't about race now." (Several weeks after the fact, it's hard to even remember Game dropped an album this year. Damn.)

LICK A SHOT

Maybe the most asinine thing Jay-Z's ever done. And keep in mind, he did that song about diamonds on the Blue Streak soundtrack.

RUSSELL SIMMONS ON CHANGE

I got up to take care of something during this one.

OBAMA FOR PRESIDENT

Wyclef busts out his fake Bob Marley for Obama. You wonder if there were actual lyrics to this written down on a sheet of paper, or if he was just riffing.

THE MOMENT

Similarly, I'm wondering if Charles Hamilton freestyled this, or if spitting every line as if it just occurred to him is part of his schtick. You know, like that song Public Enemy did on the He Got Game soundtrack. My bad for going a little bit back in my references. Speaking of which, the beat from Eminem's "Lose Yourself" arouses my inner 21 year-old.

FIND UR DREAMS (INTERLUDE)

Oprah, on a mixtape. Get the fuck out of here!

GEORGE BUSH'S HIGHLIGHT REEL

A montage of Bushisms, set to a sitcom-style laughtrack.

KING GEORGE

Is this Tori Amos? The fuck? Yep, it is. I'm not gonna lie, I fucking love her voice. Then Mikkey Halsted, who's always being mentioned, kicks a verse about President Sieg Howdy. This might be cool, if it wasn't such a clusterfuck. And did they censor something he said? On a mixtape? Roffle.

OBAMA ON HIP-HOP

That interview Obama did with Sway the other day re: hip-hop, with Kanye West's "Champion," or whatever it's called, playing in the background. Obama brought up some good points, despite the fact that it's obvious he could give a rat's ass about hip-hop.

LETTER TO OBAMA

Joell Ortiz writes a letter to the president about the fact that his mom's got a nasty rock habit. And I don't mean that she likes to sing along to a Rush tape, if you catch my drift.

AIN'T NO SUNSHINE

Oh no, it's an Akon cover of that Bill Withers song. If the production wasn't hot garbage, I could see this getting played on the radio. Akon's just got the magic touch like that. He shits excellence. He's even got Kardinal Offishall turning up on the white hip-hop station here in St. Louis.

IT'S MY TIME

Oprah again? Also, we've clearly entered the point in the mixtape when they're gonna let a bunch of no name (for a reason) start rapping. Let me guess, Green Lantern's got some sort of production deal with these guys, and he figured maybe they could gain some fame on the back of the election.

COLORBLIND

The gayest thing I've heard since the last time I heard the Knux' "Cappuccino."

WE NEED BARACK

A reggae guy rambles about how we need Barack Obama, I'm assuming. Maybe one of McCain's people will have this translated, and we'll find out the lyrics are mostly about smoking weed.

WHAT WE NEED

What sounds like one of those cruise ship R&B musicians with a Yamaha DX-7, who's constructed an entire song out of Barack Obama soundbites. Then there's a few more bits from the same Jay-Z interview that's excerpted elsewhere on this tape.

YES WE CAN OUTRO

A little more def poetry, just to top things off.

COMMENTS: If you can hardly stand watching clips of Obama's speeches on the evening news, you're gonna wanna steer way the fuck clear of this bad boy. Every track on this, it's mofos talking about change we can believe, and hope... I'm gonna be sick. If the music wasn't so god-awful, this might actually be amusing, not unlike that Howard Stern clip where he interviews people up in Harlem to find out if they know anything at all about Obama's policies.

BEST TRACKS: There isn't anything really worthwhile here.

BONUS VIDEO: Eddie Murphy "First Black President"