The 333 Best Pop Songs of the 2000s: #232

#232: "Up All Night" (2007) - El-P

El-P (which is short for "El Producto," which is the non de plume of Jaime Meline) might have been born white, but he stayed up all hours honing his skills so that he could be taken seriously as a rap artist. He doesn't sound white, but he doesn't sound black, either. He sounds convincing.

El-P co-founded and co-owns the Definitive Jux record label, home (at one time or another) of underground/alternative/avant-garde rap artists such as Aesop Rock, Cannibal Ox, Del the Funkee Homosapien, RJD2, and Dizzee Rascal. El-P has not only promoted and distributed their records, he's also helped produce them, and he's had a hand in producing records for/with other acts such as Madvillain, MF Doom, Zach de la Rocha, and Trent Reznor. El-P makes records dense with atypical sound effects and unusual samples; they're not always pleasant to the ear, not always appealing upon first listen, but they're meaty, often layered with discordant melodies and strange time signatures.

With "Up All Night," El-P finally found a strong melody (strong for El-P, at least) to match with his tough productions. Not that this record is jingle-friendly (as it's not), but that there's an apparent verbal hook. The verbal hook here, though, remains possibly the least interesting aspect of the record. What really snags the listener is that strange, wobbly synth lick; it sounds futuristic (as do many effects in El-P records), but it's hard to catch: it jumps in and squiggles right out. The drums roll all around it, off the beat (which the guitar provides), and the effect of the two matched with the implicit, impending doom suggested by the lyric, suggets an armageddon awaiting us--and El-P has prepared for it.

I'm certainly not one to believe that the world is always soon to end, but when I hear this record, I could understand why some might think so. It's wickedly-chilling, and it's innovative enough that it'll take a few years for mainstream rap artists to pilfer it for it's goods. El-P'll be ready for 'em, though. He wasn't born yesterday.