The seventh and eighth songs to reach #1 posthumously were both rap features.
In 2004, Soulja Slim appeared on a Juvenile song called ‘Slow Motion,‘ released several months after Soulja’s shooting death the previous November. He also co-wrote the track.
That makes three shootings in a row (following John Lennon and The Notorious B.I.G.) for these posthumous hitmakers, after two plane crashes (Otis Redding, Jim Croce) and a drug overdose (Janis Joplin). Ah, the life of a rock star.
Continuing my countdown of last year’s best films…
Best Films of 2023
#3. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
I enjoyed 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse but didn’t fall head over heels for it the way so many others did. It took this sequel, five years in the making, to fully indoctrinate me into this incarnation of Miles Morales. But I’m all in now, baby.
To an even larger extent than its ground-breaking predecessor, this movie expands the landscape of animated filmmaking, exuding artistry and unbridled imagination in every frame. The film feels like a comic book come to life in four dimensions — I’ve never experienced anything quite like it.
Tied for the ninth spot on Village Voice’s Pazz & Jop poll is Rihanna’s ‘Work,’ probably the least interesting song on her excellent album Anti. Anti shows up at #13 on the albums list.
Coming in at #11 is ‘No Problem’ by Chance the Rapper. His album, Coloring Book, was named the fourth best of the year. If this song is any indication, Chance the Rapper isn’t for me, although I’ve heard enough good things about him that maybe I should give him another chance.
Wrapping up a rather depressing two weeks of Billboard tracks — how many boring, offensive or boring and offensive songs can be popular at once? — we land at #14 and a new track from Nicki Minaj.
In the 13th spot was Meghan Trainor with ‘Lips Are Movin’,’ which sounds like the freaking Beatles compared to most of this dreck.
I have high hopes for Minaj, though, even if I’m unimpressed with Drake and Lil Wayne, her collaborators on this track. Minaj is always interesting, if nothing else.
Here’s one of those all-star rap collaborations that crop up all over the place. It’s interesting how rap is the one genre where it’s expected that everybody shows up on everybody else’s records.
Certainly there are guest stars and collaborations on albums of all sorts (the new Brad Paisley features duets with Carrie Underwood, Blake Shelton and Don Henley) but in rap, it’s an expectation.
First you have the apprenticeship phase, where a rapper makes guest appearances on other people’s albums before releasing his own. Eminem made his splash rapping alongside Dr. Dre before he dropped his first solo album. Nicki Minaj had done about a dozen celebrated guest turns before her album came out. It’s an effective way to introduce an artist to the fans and build excitement so that even a debut album can be a smash hit upon release.
Meet Me In Montauk 