Hip Hop has been built around sampling other genres and experimenting with beats. And in the 21st century, the new frontier for Hip Hop is EDM (Electronic Dance Music). I haven’t found anyone who does it consistently well to the point where the artist can make a whole album out of it. XV, Chiddy Bang, and Khadafi Dub come close but either fall short due to their pop tendencies or lack of mastering the fundamental beat differences with Hip Hop. London emcee, Master Shortie, has his go at the EDM scene with Studying Abroad. He gets by on the expected party tracks but fails to impress and hold my attention throughout.
The smartest thing Master Shortie did on this mixtape was feature a lot of people to sing the hooks. A key element to EDM songs that I’m realizing is incorporating words. They’re used as useful advertising tools. The DJ or producer will either sample a catchy line from another song or have singers repeat a chorus for the listener to replay something in their head along with the beat. As for the beats onStudying Abroad, none of them stand out for any good reasons. The majority of them are high energy LMFAO knock offs. “Hello Hello” is a nice break from the rest of the mixtape as it reminds me of Chromeo’s production. The production on “Common People” confuses me because I’m not sure if it’s a joke or insulting due to its annoying simplicity, never mind the lyrics. It starts off like Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” and then morphs into a weird, giddy Dubstep beat.
Let’s focus on Master Shortie, the emcee. My gripe comes with the clash between his desire not to rap about typical luxurious lifestyle of cars, drugs, and women but attempt to make party music. Sure on “Hello Hello” I’m ok with him using Grandmaster Flash’s flow to rhyme simple bars over a minimal beat. But then on a track like “Prodigal Son,” where the beat is as close to a Hip Hop one as you can get, I need more substance or complexity than “f*ck the ego and being bougie/I ain’t into no la di da/I just want a menage a trois/and I don’t celebrate Mardi Gras/so there’s no reason to party nah.”
Going back to “Common People,” I’ve decided that I’m insulted. I’m not entirely sure if he suggests that sleeping with “common people” is a blessing for him as a reprieve from the upper class and their snobbish ways, or if it’s a condescending boon for us, commoners, to be looked upon with favor from someone who’s made it in the music industry. Either way, I didn’t appreciate the way he presented his message. Maybe it would’ve helped his case if he associated himself more with the “common people” instead of constantly addressing them as another social class he views from afar.
Master Shortie has some homework to do before I feel comfortable calling him Master. I guess I did learn a couple things from this mixtape, though. Grey Goose and wine may taste better than it sounds and people still recognize a good pun-Studying A-Broad. At least, that’s how I read it.
2 / 5 bars
