Pitchfork

In which the fallout from the subprime mortgage crisis hits hip-hop. Though not, apparently, the lavish feel of big-time summer hip-hop singles. Young Jeezy's new one with an Auto-Tuned Kanye West, "Put On"-- peaking so far on the Billboard Hot 100 at #36, a couple of slots above New Kids on the Block (?! etc.)-- is a grandiose, cruising-ready anthem built on a mix of horn-like synths and UFO-like synths, an eerie keyboard riff, and stuttering bass drums. The producer, Drumma Boy, invests the track with some of the sweeping urgency he gave The Inspiration's "The Realest", though with more of that recent trancey Florida feel than its predecessor's rock-flavored instrumentation.

"I'm high as a satellite/ I see those flashing lights," sings West in his cybernetic guest spot, after Jeezy rasps about his jewelry, his car, his gun, his weed. Though it's a great-sounding track, the duo's "man the top sure lonely" stance contrasts with the video's focus on foreclosures and unemployment-- the unglamorous side of the inner cities romanticized in clips like DJ Khaled's star-studded "I'm So Hood"-- all symbolized here by a Raiders black-and-silver American flag. But really, hip-hop videos should be more controversial than New Yorker covers

[from The Recession; due 09/02/08 on Def Jam]