Sound Byte

The Massacre, 50 Cent Sony BMGEven if hip hop isn8217;t your scene, 50 Cent8217;s second album The Massacre is popish enough.The rapper1...

The Massacre, 50 Cent Sony BMG
Even if hip hop isn8217;t your scene, 50 Cent8217;s second album The Massacre is popish enough.

The rapper8217;s teamed up with hotshot producers Eminem and Dr Dre for this one too. Candy Shop, the first single featuring 24-year-old Olivia, the newest R038;B entry into the rapper8217;s inner circle G Unit, has already topped the Billboard charts. This is just what Eminem and Dr Dre who8217;ve mixed the track are good at: A sinister, seductive hookline, while 50 Cent spews lines like, I melt in your mouth girl, not in your hand.

Get In My Car, which starts off with a ridiculous drawl, is a cuss word-infested track that runs on a neat guitar riff8212;a sure hit with the rap pack. Tracks like I8217;m Supposed To Die Tonight take an autobiographical turn, where 50 Cent refers to his assassination attempt in 2000, where he took nine bullets. Also, you wonder about what8217;s lined up for the Batman and Robbin video, featuring the 8 Mile man himself. Marshall Mathers in a Batman suit and the G Unit head as Robin?

After his 2002 grand slam debut Get Rich Or Die Tryin, 50 Cent sure has the Grammy bling again with this album.

Hori Hai8212;A Festival Of Colours Beat of India
WITH the spirit of Baisakhi in the air, it8217;s time to tune into some more sounds from the fields.

Benaras-based Sucharita Gupta manages to strike a fine balance between thumri and folk in Mori Chunar Bhijal Jaye, one of the finer tracks in the album. Mohal Lal Kanskar8217;s Khele Hamse Hori follows a narrative style, when he sings about Krishna playing Holi in Brindavan. The singer from Mirzapur has rustic appeal, compared to Gupta8217;s trained vocals. Rajbir8217;s Aa Jaiyo Shyam is a more lively rendition that speaks of the indigo-skinned Krishna, and Radha.

The 10-track album explores various aspects of Holi, moving from gulaal-stained cheeks in Lallan Singh Gahmari8217;s Mora Phagun Mein Jiyra to the colour of the soul in Urmila Srivastava8217;s Charara Rang De.

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Though you8217;re not satiated merely listening to these folk singers8212;the essence is in watching the entire performance, complete with flailing arms when they hit a crescendo, and instruments unique to their music. But if you8217;re in the mood for some music that goes beyond the commercial Rang Barse variety, then this is it.