Yeah I saw you were kinda trippin on the song lengths. I actually wrote a pretty hefty reply to that "my biggest problem is that Lupe be the one doing the rapping" comment, but I lost it...
I was going to give you some shit for being super hard to read, but now it seems like you hadn't heard the record at te time? And now you have and you're digging it?
I hope so, because I've always been like warm on Lupe. I liked the Cool, and I thought I liked Food & Liquor (a recent spin of the 5-year anniversary edition-- which come on... Who does a 5-year anniversary edition of anything?-- kinda bored me to tears and I was forced to reconsider my entire opinion of the album).... I never listened to Lazers, and I'm not sure why I was excited for this record but... Jesus, it's really goddamn artful. It's thematic, cinematic and BIG like a slightly more airy, pop friendly MBDTF. It's got that lovely cover art
(Is that design by the same guy who did the packaging for 808's?) and mostly it's fresh as hell.
"Mural" is my jam right now. What a killer track.
Other tracks don't necessitate the length... Like "Chopper," which would have been perfectly fitting as a 3 minute banger.... Some of the songs sound a bit out of place next to the more (can't believe I'm saying this)
George & Ira Gershwin-like beauty of "Summer," "Mural," "Dots & Lines," "Fall," "Madonna.." Etc.
But the lesser songs have a lot to love about them. (Though there was no need to rhyme "FARTS" with "art" and "smart" on "Adoration of the Magi"... Really, that was totally uncalled for. Haha)
I think it's safe to praise Lupe for taking some chances. This may well be his MBDTF, and while it's got nothing on Ye, It's still an admirable attempt to prog-out hip hop. Plus, I like the Anime references
Not as solid and straight up deadly a record as B4.DA.$$, but as far as I'm concerned B4.DA.$$ is an undisputed success, and one of the strongest debuts in years.