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The Ron Browz Problem

Posted 09/30/2008 at 3:21 PM  |  Comment?

Ron Browz feat. Jim Jones: "Pop Champagne (Remix)"

Ron Browz: "Pop Champagne (Instrumental)"

Busta Rhymes feat. Ron Browz: "Arab Money"
from the forthcoming B.O.M.B.

G-Unit: "Straight Outta Southside"
from T.O.S. (Terminate On Sight)

Nas: "Ether"
from God's Son

Big L: "Ebonics"
from The Big Picture: 1974-1999

Ron Browz is having a strange moment. The Harlem producer behind some of the most rigorous East Coast rap of the last decade is indulging his inner "urban-pop" and redefining a career that was distinguished but little-heralded. The man behind Nas' "Ether" and "Last Real N***a Alive," Big L's "Ebonics" and Lloyd Banks' astoundingly slept-on "Playboy" has a radio hit under his own name called "Pop Champagne." Thing is, it's post-T-Pain autotune whineboxing. At first "Pop Champagne" seemed like a shot in the dark that just happened to pierce America's predilection for all things autotune. Now there are whispers that Jim Jones, looking for a followup to the "Ballin'!" craze, is looking to snatch "Pop Champagne" as the first single for his new project on Columbia. The relatively unknown Browz may have a battle on his hands. But is the song any good? It's catchy enough and the spare production--listen to the instrumental--is a bit terrifying, a real exercise in nothingness, deep into the void with drums and Vincent Price horror movie keyboards. Still, the question is prosaic at this point. "Pop Champagne" has something so few songs have these days: life, legs, interest.

Browz has got another potential hit in the chamber, too. "Arab Money," a hilarious but seriously offensive Busta Rhymes song features Browz on the hook, utilizing the vocoder again, imitating an Arabic battle cry and singing "We gettin' A-rab money!" The song is undeniably infectious, a whirling dervish of a beat that recalls Timbaland's experiments in bhangra. Word from fearless leader and E.I.C. Danyel Smith was folks were doing the synchronized dance to "Arab Money" during Busta's set at the Q-Tip show at NYC's Knitting Factory last night. Smells like another hit.

But has the producer betrayed some informal commitment to records like "Straight Outta Southside," easily the meanest, best song on G-Unit's recent hot mess? Is his brand tarnished by "urban-pop," whatever that is? Will he go full-blown T-Pain and turn into a pinch-hitting singer/producer? Only time will tell.

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