82 THE BEAT, Friday, April 4, 2014

MUSIC ››››››››››››››››››› Reviewed My Girl Reviewed by DENNIS ASIIMWE

DON MC’S COLLABO makes one want to join in

It is difficult to figure out what the ingredients of a good collaboration (or collabo, as the industry prefers to have it named). You could say should be a good tune, yes, but we have come across good tunes performed my mediocre artistes. It could have something to do with the production style, but once again, some ordinary producers have come up with startlingly good collabos. My take is much simpler: it should be about two artistes that have musical chemistry with each other, so that when they merge on a track, it’s seamless. And some musicians seem to be able to do this with anyone; Don MC is such a fellow. His track My Girl, which he features Reef HD, is part of a long line of collabos where he has simply absorbed someone into his music. The track follows the old rap and hook approach that never gets old. The simple but effective production style in this song is clever because it lets you focus on the lyrical material and the two artistes strutting their stuff. And while a song about a girl who blows your mind sounds like another cliché, to their credit, the pair give it some oomph with their vibrant approach and the chemistry between them. Hip hop’s ability to act as a foil for cross genre collabos has given us some wonderful music over the years and this track continues with that tradition. It’s a song where neither artiste loses their identity, Don MC dropping his lines with that unassuming style that makes him an industry favourite and Reef HD sounding like an industry veteran on that hook, which he absolutely owned. My Girl is a song where a trusted simple style and a great pairing of musicians come together, very well.

Russell Crowe (centre) with co–stars in a scene from the film Noah

BIBLICAL NOAH COMES TO THE SILVER SCREEN FILM

››››››››››››››››››› Film: Noah Stars: Russell Crowe, , Director: Genre: Adventure/drama Running time: 136 mins Rating: PG-13 for violence, disturbing images and suggestive content Showing at: Cinema Magic Naalya A film based on religion is bound to cause some controversy, and the filmNoah , which opens this Friday at Cinema Magic, is not an exception. It has been banned in many Middle Eastern countries, and there are claims that Pope Francis refused to meet with the lead actor, Russell Crowe, to stop from giving it legitimacy. Critics point out that there is no mention of the word God in the entire film, and the ‘Creator’ in the movie is an fallible one, who admits to making mistakes and then tries to correct them; and in the end disagrees with Noah on the fate of humanity. Russell Crowe stars as Noah, while Jennifer Connelly is Naameh, his wife. Anthony Hopkins plays Methuselah, Noah’s grandfather; while his three sons are played by (Ham), Douglas Booth (Shem), and Leo McHugh Carroll (Japheth). plays Lla, an adopted child of the family. ”Cinematically, Noah is every bit the sumptuous spectacle the story deserves,” writes Tom Glasson for the Concrete Playground. “With the highlight being an enthralling time-lapse chronicle of the ‘first seven days’ from the Book of Genesis. No matter your faith (or even the absence of), this is an accomplished piece of direction and a powerful story of belief, devotion and, perhaps, obsession.”