Every time Birdapres works with a strong producer it becomes more questionable why he remains Vancouvers most underrated rapper. Peanuts & Corn released Alleged Legends, his well-crafted project of mutated working-rapper blues with DJ Moves. Of course, Mcenroe delivers strong beats for Birds second project on P&C. At the risk of sounding redundant, Mcenroe has once again outdone himself with the production on Nothing Is Cool, his most hit-heavy album to date. Theres a lot going on in these up-tempo beats. Perhaps some of the credit is owed to Birdapres, a consummate beat digger, who co-produced the album. Not only did they collaborate on the beats, but both contributed vocals. And they sound natural together, whether theyre trying to rock the "Party People, act like "Grumpy Old Men, reminisce about beat digging ("Break Merchant), or pull cards with the best of them ("Supposed and "F*@k You 2K3). They also get conceptual on tracks like the Mafioso story of "Family Business or "The Worst Person, which attempts to construct, Weird Science-style, the worlds worst person. "Nothing Is Cool, "5000 Watts, and "South Slope rock the party almost as much as the hyperkinetic "Party People. Plus, Stace Prints and John Smith make good use of the albums only two guest appearances. Now that Nothing Is Cool is one of the best hip-hop albums of the year, maybe Gordski will stop sitting on his long-delayed Birdapres collaboration.
Is there a message people should take away from Nothing Is Cool? Birdapres: That it's really not all that bad, but it's not really all that good. Beyond that, the whole Nothing Is Cool thing comes from, on both of our parts, being bombarded with so many trends that after a while they don't impact you at all. The icing is blown off the cake.
What was it like co-producing with Mcenroe someone who is used to producing alone? Pretty interesting, actually. From the beginning, Mcenroe knows I've got records. Mostly I supplied the source material and he moulded it to his signature sound.
Was there anything that you guys didn't agree on? Oh yeah, there was a lot of stuff that ended up on the cutting room floor. For example, Mcenroe had a really hot beat that was in 3/4 time. I couldn't write anything to it.
Do you think Nothing Is Cool will be a hit? There's potential for it to be a hit, or at least for it to reach a wider audience. We'll definitely leave that to fate.
(Peanuts & Corn)Is there a message people should take away from Nothing Is Cool? Birdapres: That it's really not all that bad, but it's not really all that good. Beyond that, the whole Nothing Is Cool thing comes from, on both of our parts, being bombarded with so many trends that after a while they don't impact you at all. The icing is blown off the cake.
What was it like co-producing with Mcenroe someone who is used to producing alone? Pretty interesting, actually. From the beginning, Mcenroe knows I've got records. Mostly I supplied the source material and he moulded it to his signature sound.
Was there anything that you guys didn't agree on? Oh yeah, there was a lot of stuff that ended up on the cutting room floor. For example, Mcenroe had a really hot beat that was in 3/4 time. I couldn't write anything to it.
Do you think Nothing Is Cool will be a hit? There's potential for it to be a hit, or at least for it to reach a wider audience. We'll definitely leave that to fate.