Top 10 Interludes: Bite-Sized Strife, Emotion, and Life
We all know they're sitting there nestled away in the tracklists of our albums. Those little skits and one hit beats that serve as segues to the "real" songs that make up the meat of the CD. But the great thing about these interludes is that they have an advantage that the full-length songs don't. They aren't on the album to try to get an artist more plays or more recognition, they are inherently meant to be the least listened to tracks the artist will release.
With this kind of freedom, most musicians (or at least the good ones) use these opportunities to share their sense of humor, reveal something about themselves, or at the very least make the most glorious minute and a half they can.
For that reason I give you the top 10:
1. Music (Intro) - Lauryn Hill // The Re-Education of Lauryn Hill
One of the most beautiful minute and three seconds I’ve ever heard. You wonder if it’s because you’ll only hear so little of it that makes the song so perfect, but there are times where you sit and think the horns could lull you off into a deep sense of bliss forever as Lauryn softly whispers wisdom into your relaxed waxing ears.
2. Kim & Cookie (Interlude) - Outkast // Stankonia
The modern tragedy of our world. People talking a whole bunch of shit and not amounting to nothing. And the worry is that while this is a joke, you wonder if it’s really not just a verbalization of everyone’s intentions towards the "endgame." But isssss alllll goooooooo….
3. Take the Picture Off - RJD2 // Dead Ringer
A seriously badass minute of masterful turntablism. As if a bomb is slowly fading into your earshot and by the time you recognize it, it's too late to run away. Not much else to say, the music really speaks for itself.
4. Howhere (skit) - Ludacris // Word of Mouf
A skit that brings us back to the fact that a sense of humor is one of the most important traits you can have when being a rapper. There’s always a sense of revealing humanity when you drop the “acting hard” attitude and let shit slip that makes you laugh. And of course “Area Codes” is right after this track. The abominable homan.
5. Where Are My Panties? - Outkast // The Love Below
Andre has one of the most acute senses for human relationships of almost any person on the planet. But he wears his heart on a sleeve and reveals readily that he only knows so much about this because he is so helplessly lost in love. Where Are My Panties is truly one of the most poignant staging’s of the softer side of The Game which no one ever really seems to want to own up to. The fact that André so easily lowers the façade of his gangster persona (even if it’s just for the ladies) adds fully to his strength in the ability to show vulnerability where others equate that only to weakness. A thought fear dominates.
6. All of the Lights (Interlude) - Kanye West // My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Of course, Kanye is able to show off a softer side through composition. Now while in my opinion this isn’t as deeply revealing as André’s. It’s still equally as successful in expressing emotion.
7. Cartoon (Interlude) - SebastiAn // Total
It's necessary to pull ourselves out of the rap world for a little bit because there are people in other genres doing it so well, it would be a crime not to mention. Our man here SebastiAn has a whole slew of little side beats and introductions that all make it almost impossible to choose just one. Ultimately Cartoon won out just because of it’s uniqueness, but literally his entire album Total is a diverse and fantastic gem.
8. Baby feat. Prince Zimboo - Major Lazer // Guns Don't Kill People...Lazers Do
Another album that is literally perfect all the way through, Major Lazer immediately carved out a wonderful unheard of sound in the electronic world. This interlude is both enlightening and hilarious but even just the ability to make a beat from a baby crying in of itself is a feat to be praised. That breast is yours this breast is mine, don't get out of line
9. College - Animal Collective // Sung Tongs
I was going to include a few more skits from Kanye, but I felt like this interlude kind of summed up all his old stuff perfectly. It's not very apparent why this appeared somewhere in the middle of Sung Tongs, but at the same time it makes perfect sense. This little song is just so well done in it’s meandering simplicity that it proves so much more than any of us ever could do in verses and a chorus. Minimalist high brow.
10. Lornaderek - Aphex Twin // Drukqs
A fair amount of people probably listen to Drukqs and pass on the “artsy" tracks in search of the rest of the hardcore beatz, but Richard D. James' interludes and “mini-songs” are some of the most poetic little ditties you will ever hear. This one is no different, but somehow it takes on a whole new context by being an audio clip taken from the real world. Just the timing and the perspective it gives us; to his parents Richie boy was just turning 28 while working on this album. It captures some of those brief moments in life that are impossible to be perfected when replicated through art. I hope your card came...
Bonus Track: Bamboo (Interlude) - Outkast // Speakerboxxx
This is a bonus track just because Big Boi’s son is too fucking cute. More proof that Big Boi and André are both just fly as fuck teddy bears ruling our fair city of Atlanta. Makes me miss home like nothing else.
So there you have it, listen and enjoy those little things in music.
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