Album: Here Comes the Fuzz
Artist:
Mark Ronson
Release Date: 8/26/2003
Genre: Hip-Hop
Loaded with guest artists and packed with danceable beats, DJ {$Mark Ronson}'s first record, {^Here Comes the Fuzz}, is less a showcase for the New York-based artist's {\turntable} skills and more of a radio-friendly {\pop-rap} party album. A rising star on the NYC club scene since the late '90s, the occasional Tommy Hilfiger model and son of {\glam rock} icon guitarist {$Mick Ronson} previously produced tracks for other hip downtown scenesters, including {#Saturday Night Live} regular {$Jimmy Fallon} as well as singer {$Nikka Costa} and rapper {$Sean Paul} -- both of whom return the favor here. Much in the same way as {$DJ Shadow}'s {^Endtroducing...} or {$the Avalanches}' {^Since I Left You} used {$the Beastie Boys}' {^Paul's Boutique} as their template to display an eclectic and voracious record-collecting habit, {$Ronson}'s {^Here Comes the Fuzz} mixes {\funk}, {\hip-hop}, {\soul}, and {\rock} into an "everything goes when you're having fun" cocktail. While never displaying the innovative vision or giddy melody-mixing heights of either of those albums, {^Here Comes the Fuzz} does still resonate with the pulse of youthful ego driven by libido and hot wax. To these ends, rappers {$Ghostface Killah} and {$Nate Dogg} take the mic over a funky cowbell and the string section of {$Dennis Coffey}'s {&"Scorpio"} on {&"Ooh Wee."} Similarly, {$Mos Def} and {$M.O.P.} add Brooklyn street cred to {$Ronson}'s catchy if a bit obvious co-opting of {$Lenny Kravitz}'s hit {&"On the Run."} Perhaps most interesting though, are {$Ronson}'s attempts at actual songwriting such as on the cosmopolitan {\disco} plea {&"High,"} featuring vocalist {$Aya}, and the {\punk} à gogo of {&"I Suck"} with {$Rivers Cuomo}, which finds the {$Weezer} frontman doing his best {&"Let's Go to Bed"}-era {$Robert Smith} warble against a sample from {$Labi Siffre}'s {&"Too Late."} ~ Matt Collar, All Music Guide