CD Review: Stand Up - Goddes and She
Thursday, June 5, 2008 at 8:09PM 
One of the years highly anticipated CD’s delivers the goods. STAND UP is the follow up to God-des and She’s debut release REALITY and the Hip-Hop/Vocal divas pick things up where they left off. Top of the World opens the set with killer energy. Dj Pain 1 conjures up a groove right out of the pages of the Kanye West handbook while God-des brings the energetic and playful rhyme flow. The thing that pushes this track over the top is She’s vocal which is the icing on the cake making this song a sure hit record and one of two of my favorites on the entire album.
Where most emcees and hip-hop groups struggle to make a catchy tune WITH substance, God-des & She prove they can write a hit record and address many topics from love to politics, anytime they want to and the listener will still enjoy it even if you’re not a hip-hop fan. Songs like the title track, Ja Da, the ever popular Love You Better, Give Them What They Want, Inside Your Eyes and This Is The Life (my other personal favorite) are all solid Hip-Pop hits that contain the right formula to be heard on the radio stations world wide, right now. Fall Apart finds She taking the lead and vocally riding a neo soul groove, even though I was hoping for a lot more from this song it still falls into pocket with the others. Nevertheless, these are the songs that “stick to your ribs” and are the stand outs on Stand Up but the ladies always divert from lush sounds and catchy melodies to deliver some solid hip-hop in true God-des and She form. So Gone, A Little to Different, Hey Mister President and I Hate Your Ex-Girlfriend are all familiar territory for these ladies while songs like Hollywood and Lick It, featured in The L Word, attempt to push the ladies into new territory.
The combination here doesn’t work nearly as well. Hollywood is begging for a Neptunes, Timbo or Just Blaze treatment to really push things forward. This should’ve been a solid dance floor jam but it falls short somewhere and the same goes for Lick It. Again, I know the song is quite popular from The L Word fame and all but I can’t help but feeling that the artist and song aren’t quite connected. This is the first time I’ve really heard the ladies deliver up raw, unapologetic SEX and it seems like our God-des is a little uncomfortable playing a dominatrix sex kitten which is what I feel is needed when delivering a song called Lick It. The beat is moist and sexy and the vocal delivery is more brash and a bit comical as opposed to brash and sassy.
Overall, STAND UP delivers and with all of the current hype and attention on the queer divas known as God-des & She, this is the right record for them to be releasing right now and a must have for any music fan. 'Stand Up' gets 4 out of 5 Rainbow Mics.
- Bellson
Reader Comments (3)
Lick It.. produced by soce, the elemental wizard.
i love this album. love you bette is my JAM!
Goldenrod Music is an independent music distribution company who has been merging music, politics and culture since 1975! Focusing on music from non-dominant cultures, our catalog features a diverse mix of genres, including folk and singer-songwriter, Native American, Celtic, gay & lesbian artists, new age and more. Our artists include Melissa Ferrick, Ani Difranco, Vance Gilbert, Joseph Fire Crow, Holly Near, Girlyman, Mark Weigle, Ellis Paul, Eva Cassidy, God-des & She and many many more. Make sure you check out our website at www.goldenrod.com!
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