Here Comes the Fuzz [Clean]

• Artist: Mark Ronson
• Rating:
• Release Date: August 26, 2003
• Genre: Rap

Review

Loaded with guest artists and packed with danceable beats, DJ Mark Ronson's first record, Here Comes the Fuzz, is less a showcase for the New York-based artist's turntable skills and more of a radio-friendly pop-rap party album. A rising star on the NYC club scene since the late '90s, the occasional Tommy Hilfiger model and son of glam rock icon guitarist Mick Ronson previously produced tracks for other hip downtown scenesters, including Saturday Night Live regular Jimmy Fallon as well as singer Nikka Costa and rapper Sean Paul -- both of whom return the favor here. Much in the same way as DJ Shadow's Endtroducing... or the Avalanches' Since I Left You used the Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique as their template to display an eclectic and voracious record-collecting habit, Ronson's Here Comes the Fuzz mixes funk, hip-hop, soul, and rock into an "everything goes when you're having fun" cocktail. While never displaying the innovative vision or giddy melody-mixing heights of either of those albums, Here Comes the Fuzz does still resonate with the pulse of youthful ego driven by libido and hot wax. To these ends, rappers Ghostface Killah and Nate Dogg take the mic over a funky cowbell and the string section of Dennis Coffey's "Scorpio" on "Ooh Wee." Similarly, Mos Def and M.O.P. add Brooklyn street cred to Ronson's catchy if a bit obvious co-opting of Lenny Kravitz's hit "On the Run." Perhaps most interesting though, are Ronson's attempts at actual songwriting such as on the cosmopolitan disco plea "High," featuring vocalist Aya, and the punk à go-go of "I Suck" with Rivers Cuomo, which finds the Weezer frontman doing his best "Let's Go to Bed"-era Robert Smith warble against a sample from Labi Siffre's "Too Late." [Here Comes the Fuzz is available in a "clean" version with profanity removed.] ~ Matt Collar, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Intro	Mark Ronson	Mark Ronson	(1:26)
Bluegrass Stain'd	B.J. Scott, Anthony Hamilton, R.N. Hughes, Mark Ronson, Guyora Kats	Anthony Hamilton, Nappy Roots, Mark Ronson	(4:12)
Ooh Wee	N. Hale, Mark Ronson	Ghostface Killah, Nate Dogg, Trife & Larceny Of The Snakes, Mark Ronson	(3:30)
High	Mark Ronson, Bill Chang	Mark Ronson	(4:06)
I Suck	Rivers Cuomo, Mark Ronson	Rivers Cuomo, Mark Ronson	(2:55)
International Affair (Lyrics)	Mark Ronson, Debi Nova	Tweet, Sean Paul, Mark Ronson	(3:25)
Diduntdidunt	Mark Ronson	Mark Ronson	(3:59)
On the Run	Mark Ronson, Dante Smith	M.O.P., Mos Def, Mark Ronson	(2:37)
Here Comes the Fuzz	Nikka Costa, Mark Ronson	Nikka Costa, Freeway, Mark Ronson	(3:10)
Bout to Get Ugly	Anthony Hamilton, Mark Ronson, Clifford Smith	Anthony Hamilton, Mark Ronson	(3:33)
She's Got Me	Mark Ronson, Daniel Merriweather	Mark Ronson, Daniel Merriweather	(3:49)
Tomorrow	Mark Ronson, Debi Nova	Q-Tip, Mark Ronson, Debi Nova	(3:56)
Rashi (Outro)	Mark Ronson	Mark Ronson	(2:03)

Credits

Guyora Kats (Juno), Trife (Vocals), Tweet (Vocals), Tim Izzo (Saxophone), Mark Ronson (Executive Producer), Mark Ronson (Distortion), Bill Chang (Bass), Dave Scott (Design), E. Thompson (Sample Source), Dennis Coffey (Sample Source), Bill Chang (Guitar), Mark Ronson (Beats), The Average White Band (Sample Source), Mark Ronson (Vocals), Rivers Cuomo (Vocals), Larry Gold (Horn Arrangements), Greg Gigendad Burke (Art Direction), Fania All-Stars (Sample Source), Mark Ronson (Guitar), Mark Ronson (Bass), Guyora Kats (Wurlitzer), Nikka Costa (Vocals), Mark Ronson (Horn Arrangements), Printz Board (Horn Arrangements), Rakim (Sample Source), Roxanne Lowitt (Photography), Guyora Kats (Fender Rhodes), Saigon (Vocals), Debbie Nova (Vocals), Freeway (Vocals), Greg Gigendad Burke (Design), Ghostface Killah (Vocals), Nappy Roots (Vocals), Mark Ronson (Scratching), Eric B. (Sample Source), Lenny Kravitz (Sample Source), Larry Gold (Conductor), Sean Paul (Vocals), Boney M. (Sample Source), Larry Gold (String Arrangements), Mark Ronson (Wurlitzer), R. Eli Ball (Sample Source), Jack Stuart (Sample Source), Daniel Merriweather (Vocals), Justin Stanley (Producer), Debbie Nova (Keyboards), Aya (Vocals), Mark Ronson (Percussion), Rhymefest (Vocals), Howard Benson (Vocal Producer), Nate Dogg (Vocals), Anthony Hamilton (Vocals), Debbie Nova (Vocal Arrangement), Mark Ronson (Keyboards), Printz Board (Trumpet), Mark Ronson (Fender Rhodes), Mark Ronson (Producer), Daniel Merriweather (Guitar)