The Genius of Mannie Fresh

During it's heyday, I was never really on the Cash Money bandwagon too hard - of course it was kind of difficult since they were EVERYWHERE circa '97 - '02. And who can forget when Lil Wayne introduced "bling-bling" into the American lexicon *facepalm* But yeah...after that era came to an end, and things for them kind of dismantled there was Mannie Fresh standing in the wake. His emceeing abilities leave much to be desired but I fornicate with his production (BTW, "fornicate with" will be used in lieu of "fux with" just because it's just some nerdy shit to do, and the double entendres that can be inferred depending on the context are hilarious. I told you I was easily amused). Anyway, it takes a truly special mind to take two HUGE 80s R&B tender-lovin' slow jams and interpolate them into Southern hood anthems the way he did on his 2004 release "The Mind of Mannie Fresh."

Somehow, some way he managed to take "Make It Last" by Keith Sweat and Jacci McGhee...

Keith Sweat - Make It Last Forever ft. Jacci McGhee.mp3

...and flipped it to become "Shake That Ass" featuring Lil Mo, a dutiful anthem to strippers and their skill at their, um, craft:

Mannie Fresh - Shake That Ass ft. Lil Mo.mp3

(This is SO not safe for work)

Same thing with "Nite and Day" by Al B. Sure, who probably got so much tail off this one song which I'm certain is what enabled women to overlook the fact that he really had only one eyebrow...

Al B. Sure - Nite and Day.mp3

Mannie took the quiet synth strains and added a shitload of bass and some hi-hats to make "How We Ride" with Bun B and David Banner...

Mannie Fresh - How We Ride ft. Bun B & David Banner.mp3
(once again, SO not work safe)

So yeah - I dunno if I'd go so far as to say he's brilliant for flipping those songs like that, BUT the fact that he took apples and made them into oranges that still faintly resembled apples is pretty damn remarkable. I have been forever tainted by his renderings of my childhood favorites - now, if I happen to hear "Make It Last" somewhere, I start singing "Just shake that ass!" and it's just all sorts of wrong >_<