Midnight marauders, illmatic and the infamous are prob my top three ny albums

Yeah, same. It's all gotten quite pathetic at this point. I truly believe that Wayne had his moment, and that he was probably the best in the game for a bit. But somehow he got the idea that he was like... something the world would never be able to live without. Seriously, I think that happened because he just won't stop trying to be Mr. Hip-Hop, even though it's obvious to everyone but him that the game has changed so much that nobody even expects anything from him anymore.

He made a few really good albums, one great album, a few good to great tapes, and some unforgettable guest spots.

The only thing that separates Wayne from any other rapper who briefly held the title is that Wayne went ahead and released 20 albums full of absolute shit, while most of the other folks realize their time is up and either fade into cult-level obscurity to fiddle with their formula, or they just fucking give up!

His battle with Birdman/Ca$h Money (which nobody cares about) is just a way to stay in the headlines. Nobody cares about The Carter 5. Nobody cares about freeing Weezy. He needs to accept that he is not a high artist of hip hop. He never really had that in him. He's more of a personality and a presence and a brand.

Which is fine! That's what Snoop Dogg is, and Snoop's made it work. He has a few straight classics, but he's mostly just a cartoon character. Wayne needs to just accept that that's where his career and his decisions have taken him. At least Snoop seems to understand that Kendrick Lamar is the real deal now. I look at the cover of No Ceilings 2 and I just want to laugh at how utterly out of touch Wayne actually is with the current hip hop landscape.

For what it's worth, I think Jeezy is aging with more grace than Wayne.

Fuck it.

I watched a making of Late Registration vid the other day.. and Kanye looked so passionate while he was recording it at the studio. Beautiful!

the fucked up thing - in hindsight - is that Rebirth is the album that everyone hated when it came out. (Well, not me). But if you look at it in his discography now, it's the last time he really took a chance and did something interesting and ballsy. We can debate how successful it was - but at least he was trying TRYING to do something different.

I'll contend there's good stuff post Carter-III... IANAHB, Carter IV, even the first Young Money album, No Ceilings... but I mean, he's put out a harddrive full of material since and so much of it was on autopilot "I aleady proved myself so why bother trying?" mode.

Ultimately he created a body of work so vast that the bad has outweighed the good which is totally unfortunate considering how good the good was.

Yo I just realized Madvillainy was heavily influenced by Beefheart (& maybe Zappa as well?), even Pinata to an extent. I googled it and found out Madlib is a fan of both. That's so fucking sick.

Yeah.. Wayne is pretty much a nostalgia artist at this point, it's sad. At last Tha Carter 2 will always remain a fucking classic though.

Zappa is sampled on Madviallainy.

I wasn't aware!! Haha, I'm so excited to know that Beefheart and Zappa inspired two of my fav musicians from the last 10-20 years: Madlib and D'Angelo.

By the way, I'm a huge Beefheart fan but I don't know much about Zappa's work. The only album I've heard from him is "We're Only in It for the Money" which I really liked. Can y'all put me on?

"the jar is under the bed"

What you guys think of the Vigilant Citizen's take on Kendrick Lamar's latest album? http://vigilantcitizen.com/musicbusi...imp-butterfly/

this was really interesting. Thanks!

I know I've talked about it before, right? But TPABF is such a weird album. It is one of the most important albums of the year I think. And at the same time, not one I enjoy listening to.

I know that sounds confusing. But what I mean is that it's really deep, and there's all these layers to pick at lyrically. It is probably deeper than Good Kid even. But the funny thing is I've probably spent more time this year READING ABOUT this album than listening to it.

On the flip, the album is super important to me because it led me to a bunch of other albums that have meant a lot to me. If I never heard this album then I would not have investigated Kamasi Washington's THE EPIC. Or Robert Glasper Trio's COVERED. Or The Young Jazz Giants' s/t album.

The craziest thing about this album to me is that what should be the defining hip hop album of 2015 instead just led me deeper into the rabbit hole of discovering recent jazz albums I might have overlooked.

So while I feel like TPABF is this really important record that all rap fans need to hear... I feel contradictory stating that there's a bunch of other rap albums this year I put above it purely based on my own listening habits.

I haven't read that article yet.. I just wanna say that TPAB is easily my album of the year, as well as one of my favorite albums of all time.

I love the Coltrane influence on This Free? Interlude, the way he used his voice to flow like an instrument. The robotic vocals effect on You Ain't Gotta Lie's hook. The hard ass drums on How Much a Dollar Cost. Kendrick's scream at the beginning of "u". Rapsody's verse on Complexion is the best female MC verse of the decade (much better than Nicki on Monster)..

There are just so many layers to it and each one of them is so great, whether it's the production, lyrics or very high level of technical rapping. I can really go on and on about how much I love every song. Such an incredible album.

"I know if I'm generous at heart, I don't need recognition
The way I'm rewarded, well, that's God's decision."

I love how Kendrick is getting praised by pretty much every legendary black music artist/pioneer out there nowadays.

George Clinton called him the funkiest man in the world. Prince said Alright is in his playlist and added (something along the lines of..), "when this song comes on, no one can stop me!" (can imagine him jamming along to it, awesome), D'Angelo and Stevie showed him love, etc..

Wow, heavy praise from Prince!

NR: I know we've talked about the labyrinthine complexity of TPAB before, likening it to. "Ulysses of hip-hop albums" and whatnot, so I get where you're coming from.
But at the same time, I've never actually been in a position where I couldn't listen to songs from the album and experience extreme joy and satisfaction. Tackling the whole thing can be a bit of a chore, but honestly ... That album is the definition of "fire."
Not since MBDTF has such an elevated hip-hop statement been made. Every song is a gem, and the overall effect of the album is hard to dispute. I hope eventually you come to a point where you can get some genuine joy out of listening to it, because I think it's worth it.

Best/most enjoyable rap album since MBDTF? I can agree.

I'm sure I will get there. But I'm not yet.

Dark Twisted never felt like work to me. But Good Kid, Acid Rap - those actually were albums that took me time to enjoy. And I loved them after a while.

"u" is probably the only song I need to be in the mood to enjoy.. maybe Mortal Man as well.

Rolling Stone's top 5 albums of the year:

1. Kendrick Lamar "To Pimp a Butterfly"
2. Adele "25"
3. Drake "IYRTITL"
4. D'Angelo and the Vanguard "Black Messiah"
5. The Weeknd "Beauty Behind the Madness"

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/li...-2015-20151201


Drake's tape and Adele over Black Messiah (which technically came out last year, but whatever)?..