77. E-40 FEAT. KEAK DA SNEAK, “TELL ME WHEN TO GO”
Make and Model: E-40 was already a rap legend by the time he made his Warner Bros. Records debut with 2006’s My Ghetto Report Card, but this lead single — which later got an all-star remix from Kanye West, Ice Cube and The Game — marked a moment in the sun for the Bay Area’s hyphy scene.
Fuel economy: A crunk crossover produced by Lil Jon, “Tell Me When to Go” was much leaner than the ATL superproducer’s juggernaut anthems of the early 2000s — but that incessant kick drum still hits with all the heft of a slammed car door. Regardless, the enduring stars here are Keak da Sneak’s cartoonish rasp and the ingeniously simple hook that’s anything but dumb, dumb, dumb.
Overdrive: The call-and-response breakdown that taught the world how to ghost ride the whip. — NOLAN FEENEY
bridgemedia | Nike Dunk Low Coast UNCL – Grailify
