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	Benny Blue The Meaux Project S/R, 2009 Rated 3 out of 5

Listen to MC Eiht - Thuggin’ It Up Meaux Remix

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Benny Blue -  The Meaux Project Side A
Benny Blue -  The Meaux Project Side B

This double-length album is a collection of remixes from Pittsburgh, PA producer, Benny Blue. He is with the Steel Town Sounds crew, a collective of Pittsburgh producers.  For this effort, he has taken a collection of diverse hip hop and R&B tracks and remixed them using a distinctive jazz, funk, and R&B-sampling sound.  Overall, the tracks are mostly breezy and understated, with a few having a higher energy.  In some cases, they fit the tracks perfectly.  In others, though, they lack enough punch to match the vocals.

After a brief intro, the album gradually eases into a stutter-stepping version of Detroit MC Royce Da 5′9″’s Hip Hop.  With just piano chops and drums, the track is very sparse and light.  It works decently, but leaves the listener wishing there was a bit more to grab onto.  This seems to set the trend for the early part of the set.  Kanye’s We Major is still piano driven and jazzy, but has a bit more meat to it.  Again, though, something feels like it is missing.  He finally hits his stride two tracks later, on a funky reprise of California hardcore rapper, MC Eiht’s Thuggin’ Out.  Here, the understated nature of his production becomes an asset, lending a smoothed-out west coast vibe to the track’s tough rapping.  On the following track, however, the haunting track for Busta Rhymes’ club banger Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See.  That sets the pattern for the rest of the first disc.  He does however, do a first rate job on Slum Village’s Selfish, lending the track a cool Robin Thicke vibe that would sound at home on a lazy Sunday afternoon drive.  The second disc picks the energy up just a bit though.

After a long intro with some interesting found movie audio and an awkward remix of Rich Boy’s Throw Some D’s, side C gets into the best few tracks of the whole set.  Mos Def’s Summertime is another lazy groove, but with a fuller, soulful sound.  Like the Slum Village track, it is perfect for Mos’ raps.  Diddy, Loon, and Usher’s I Need A Girl gets a light, funky treatment, and  Pussy Cat Doll, Nicole Scherzinger’s Supervillain is a really nice Latin disco bounce for the roller rink.  Method Man & Busta’s What’s Happening is the one of the higher-energy tracks on the set, with a spare funky bassline and syncopated drums.  After this, the album again recedes into slightly too light territory.  Masta Ace’s INC Ride and AZ’s Doe Or Die are decent, but not terribly memorable.

This double album has it’s share of high points.  Where it fails, however, it errs on the side of too sparse and light.  Still, the best tracks definitely make it worth a spin.

Chop Steak is an Austin, TX hip hop and R&B producer.  He also has his own blog.

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