Jam of the Week: Ninjasonik - "Hold The Line (Darth Baño Remix)"

Covering Major Lazer's "Hold The Line," these hipsters from Brooklyn have put out a pretty fun track with an interesting video. The pace is upbeat and things generally seem to be happening here. I don't really know what that means either but sometimes I miss seeing people in flannel when it's ironic and not necessary (Hanover townies don't count).

Runners up after the break...

Runners up:

Beyoncé - "Sweet Dreams"

As always, Beyonce groin-shaking is automatically in contention and would otherwise be a JOTW if it weren't a bit old. I have a remixed version of this song on a mix I have and it's really catchy. Remix here.

J. Cole - "Simba"

J. Cole's video is decent and his flow is good. And if you've followed AMDAL / JOTW's for a little while now, you know I have a soft spot for one-shots and no hook (chorus lines). That said, I'm using this video to rant about Jay Z's latest album Blueprint 3.

BP3 is good. Really good. But Jay Z is getting old and with it, he's becoming self-conscious. You can't tell in his rhymes, which are both bravado-filled and technically excellent, as expected. Still, I can tell he's scared of the next-big-thing. BP3 is largely a collaborative album, filled with hit makers like Pharrell, Rihanna and Kanye West and Kanye West. No, I didn't stutter, Kanye's on there twice. I don't know why either. Sure he's guaranteed to entertain, but his rapping's decent at best and I think sub-par compared to his usual work. Drake is on here and as Vulture said a while ago, he didn't even get a verse! Drake is the most skilled and clever wordsmith out there right now. If you don't believe me, go back to Sep 30's JOTW and listen to the first 2 minutes of Money to Blow on repeat. Same story with AMDAL's golden child, Kid Cudi. And where was Lil Wayne? WTF? If he's not going to do a real collabo, that's fine, he can do what he did on the awesome Reasonable Doubt and it'll be fine. But this is a little ridiculous.

I call this the Renegade effect - Eminem crushed him on his own track (ask Nas). To avoid this, Jay Z either brings on inferior rappers like Kanye West, or Young Jeezy, hushes up-and-comers like Drake and Cudi, or keeps guys like Em and Weezy off the record entirely.

To his credit, Jay tries to bring people up. Enter J. Cole. J. Cole's verse on A Star is Born kind of sucks, but clearly Jay sees something in him. His lyricism is pretty decent above, so maybe he'll be a new breakout artist. As long as he doesn't become the next Memphis Bleek. We'll keep our eyes on him.

Har Mar Superstar - "Tall Boy"

A funny video with a good beat, cool visuals, more hipsters and Eva Mendes. Enjoy. Clearly AMDAL-worthy.

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - "Tha Crossroads"

Up here for no other reason that it's a classic. Enjoy this and their very good song with Mariah "Mrs. Nick Carter" Carey here.