Mark Ronson ft. Ghostface, Trife & Nate Dogg – Ooh Wee
From the land before Winehouse…
[Video]
[5.44]
Al Shipley: It was funnier to think about this rich kid buying himself a real life rap song with real life cool rap people before he actually hit it big and people started taking his corny paint-by-numbers shit seriously.
[3]
Zach Lyon: Just a disparate track, from the point in his career where it seems like Ronson just grabbed everyone willing to collaborate, threw them at random on different tracks and told them to do something, anything, fuck unity. He always seems ecstatic to be working with these people, but here it only comes through as forced spirit.
[3]
Ian Mathers: I have mixed feelings about Ronson, but, uh, maybe he could produce a couple of tracks on Ghostface’s next album? Ghost always sounds awesome over old, string-laden samples, but usually those wind up being his more laid-back tracks, whereas this one is just as punchy as “The Champ” — “All he did is plug me in, I got the charger,” indeed. The first 1:45 or so of this is just perfect, Nate and Ghost turning in great verses and Nate killing a much sillier hook than most of his classic ones, but “Ooh Wee” gets deducted a point or two for the minute or so when it features anyone but Nate or Ghostface. Because that’s clearly a waste of everyone’s time.
[8]
Martin Skidmore: Ghostface Killah is one of my all-time favourites — he almost always sounds so urgent and insistent. Here Ronson buries him and Trife in bell and string and horn sounds too much of the time, irritatingly, and Nate’s vocal also becomes almost background. I wish Ronson was more willing to let the vocals come forward, because although his music is fairly bright and lively, if overly busy, he swamps most of the parts I’d like to actually hear.
[6]
Edward Okulicz: The strings are so slick you can’t really dance for fear of falling over, but it’s really amazing how this completely falls apart at the chorus (if one insists on calling it that) and never really manages to recover. A point for “hate, dog” rhymed with “Nate Dogg”, mind you.
[4]
Asher Steinberg: Unimpeachable, albeit totally untouched sample, meets top 10-15 rapper of all time famous for his way with 70s disco breakbeats, meets Nate Dogg. A great concept in theory, marred by Ghostface’s mic-sharing generosity (not that Trife is a bad rapper or anything), Nate’s awkward double-time interlude, Lilo’s girlfriend’s brother’s crappy scratching, and the self-conscious retroist pall that hangs over the whole thing. Plus, Ghostface’s verse loses steam after his awesome onomatopoeic imitation of a slot machine.
[6]
Alfred Soto: That Ghostface and the Dennis Coffey sample pickpocket this track without the listener even flinching is no surprise. The surprise is Nate, who evokes a real soul star instead of reminding one of a well-deployed sample. Prime Ghost it’s not, but it deserves more attention.
[7]
Anthony Easton: The electronic noise, the horns, the rabid, almost manic obsessive of it, so quick, so decisive, cheap and cheerful, and a delightful intensity.
[7]
Michaelangelo Matos: Not much going on here except the opportunity to LOL @ Ronson’s shaved head full of words.
[5]
I started reviewing this but after a minute I decided to just listen to Boney M instead.
yall are hating this song is dope