I was one of those brontosaurus in the ’90s who slept on E-40. I’ll admit it. Hate him or love him, Fortywater introduced a lot of slang, not the least of which most rap fans attribute to other Doggs in the game. In the ’00s he continued to push the envelope as he attempted to take the Yay’s hyphy movement national. Unfortunately, we were merely left with the snap-crunk residue at the end of the day, but don’t hate on Charlie Hustle… he keeps it movin’. Witness the first single from his upcoming double-album, Revenue Retrievin’, “The Server”. I recently DJ’d a wedding for two good friends of mine (with my mello, Jon Oliver). With a Senegalese groom and a bride from Jersey, I took it upon myself to embark on a two-week crash course in West African music, learning everything I could about soukous, zouglou, mbalax, coupé-décalé and a pound of other styles. My untrained ears perked when I heard the new E-40 joint, and although I can’t place the style, let alone the song that the producer (Rick Rock?) used here, it definitely caught my attention. So, let me know what you think, even if you aren’t grippin’ the block like flyers. I just wish Jay-Z would have put half as much effort on his 11th album as E-40 seems to be doing here:
E-40 – The Server | Sic Wid It / Warner Brothers / BME
