[Severian]

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

Yes. Good hard hitting track.

Album?

[Severian]

So... it's pretty telling that nobody has said a word about the new Joey Bada$$ album, All-American Bada$$, that came out like two weeks ago. In 2015, this thread was pretty stoked about B4DA$$, as forgettable in retrospect as it may ultimately have been. I think the engines that once powered this thread are failing a bit, but hopefully I'm wrong.

I've listened to a few tracks, and I just don't really hear anything particularly special or interesting.

Anyway, here's the cover or something:

 

It's pretty sad when there are so few hip-hop artists out there that can really hold anyone's attention. There was this album and that new Lupe Fiasco joint, and they were just GONE, almost before they arrived. Even Future's albums have failed to hold interest.

The new Kendrick is a work of art, and Frank Ocean is doing some crazy and interesting stuff, but the genre isn't really in a very good place over all right now.

[Rob Instigator]

Hip Hop is dying, just like rock and roll did in the early 90's

[louder]

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

Hip Hop is dying, just like rock and roll did in the early 90's

Heck, it might be.

The kids see the likes of Joey and Lupe as "dusty", "corny" and "preachy".

[louder]

Originally Posted by Severian

Well, amidst all the hubbub, there's been a surprising amount of backlash from the "Kendrick's overrated" crowd. At least in my experience. A lot of my hip-hoppy friends are taking issue with the praise being heaped upon him. It's kinda weird.

Not surprising. The hip hoppy crowd isn't down with the half rapping half singing shit, club friendly bangers, Mike Will production, Rihanna feature, etc.

DAMN. is my favorite Kendrick album. I don't care.

[louder]

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

Yes. Good hard hitting track.

I think you're talking about "DNA."? Whatever.

[Rob Instigator]

I think you are correct. I confused track name and album name.

[louder]

XXX.
LOVE.
DUCKWORTH.
GOD.
LOYALTY.

Are my top 5 songs on the album as of right now.

[h8kurdt]

So I've spent pretty much most of this afternoon watching Nardwuar videos. Especially his more recent ones with a pretty incredible list of rap artists you guys should really check out

Kendrick
ASAP Rocky
Vince Staples
NERD
Drake with 40

It's incredible how blown away they are by his research. You can see their cynicism towards interviews be broken down as the interview goes on.

Interesting fact I learnt-It was through the Pharrell interview that Nardwuar got an interview with Jay-Z. Supposedly Pharrell was so blown away by the interview that he nagged and nagged Jay-Z to let him be interviewed by Nardwuar.

And Sev, you should totally watch the Drake one. He comes across as a really interesting guy who certainly knows his stuff. He also mentions his friendship with Kanye.

[Rob Instigator]

Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott, and D.R.A.M. tour this summer. Houston TX show July 15.

That will be a fucking KILLER show!

[Severian]

Originally Posted by h8kurdt

So I've spent pretty much most of this afternoon watching Nardwuar videos. Especially his more recent ones with a pretty incredible list of rap artists you guys should really check out

Kendrick
ASAP Rocky
Vince Staples
NERD
Drake with 40

It's incredible how blown away they are by his research. You can see their cynicism towards interviews be broken down as the interview goes on.

Interesting fact I learnt-It was through the Pharrell interview that Nardwuar got an interview with Jay-Z. Supposedly Pharrell was so blown away by the interview that he nagged and nagged Jay-Z to let him be interviewed by Nardwuar.

And Sev, you should totally watch the Drake one. He comes across as a really interesting guy who certainly knows his stuff. He also mentions his friendship with Kanye.

I appreciate the thought, but I just simply can't do Drake. I can't. I've seen him be cool and sort of humble and self-deprecating, and I've seen him be a total shitstain. None of it would matter if his voice didn't make me want to puncture my eardrums. I even stay away from the tracks he guests on at this point ("Fuckin' Problems"). I just can't do it.

[louder]

What do you think about the following song and video, Sev?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vyzIp12DRQ

[Severian]

Originally Posted by louder

What do you think about the following song and video, Sev?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vyzIp12DRQ

Well, I'm at work, so I had to turn that video off right quick, and get my headphones in (NSFW warnings in the future please... I pretty much live at work these days).

Anyway. It's the kind of thing I would have been into in 2004. It sounds an awful lot like Madvillain. I don't think I'm a fan of this WIKI chap, but I like Kaytranada as you know, so I'd probably put it on a playlist. But I wouldn't rock it on the reg.

Video is kinda terrible.

[Severian]

Pretty excited about the new Gorillaz album that comes out tomorrow.

It kinda feels like this year's Wildflower (Avalanches) ... which was basically 2014's Random Access Memories ... but I have faith in Gorillaz. Plus, Vince Staples, Danny Brown and De La Soul are involved. Sooo, yah.

 

[louder]

Originally Posted by Severian

Well, I'm at work, so I had to turn that video off right quick, and get my headphones in (NSFW warnings in the future please... I pretty much live at work these days).

Anyway. It's the kind of thing I would have been into in 2004. It sounds an awful lot like Madvillain. I don't think I'm a fan of this WIKI chap, but I like Kaytranada as you know, so I'd probably put it on a playlist. But I wouldn't rock it on the reg.

Video is kinda terrible.

I totally see the Madvillain comparsion. I don't know, I like it. *shrugs* Wiki is a pretty good MC. He's better live than on record; a very passionate and energetic performer.

Watch this when you have time, y'all. It's worth it.

[louder]

Originally Posted by Severian

Pretty excited about the new Gorillaz album that comes out tomorrow.

It kinda feels like this year's Wildflower (Avalanches) ... which was basically 2014's Random Access Memories ... but I have faith in Gorillaz. Plus, Vince Staples, Danny Brown and De La Soul are involved. Sooo, yah.

 

He got Vince and Danny on the record because his daughter stans them! So cute and adorable of both.

The guest list of Humanz was partly directed by the fandom of Albarn’s own 17-year-old daughter, Missy, who loves artists like Vince Staples and Danny Brown. "Some of the decisions for this record were fueled by wanting to impress her still."

 

[Severian]

So Humanz is not getting the kind of GREAT reviews that Plastic Beach and Demon Days did, but it's not getting reviews quite as bad as those The Fall got.

I'm not judgung yet myself. I like the tracks I've heard, especially "Ascension" and the one with Pusha T and Mavis Staples (I forget the name, don't actually own the album — yet — just streaming).

But it occurs to me that Gorillaz are less hip-hop than they are, for lack of a better word, "alternative." Having rappers on your albums doth not a hip-hop group make. I guess they're hip-hop adjacent enough to be talked about in this thread, but this isn't a DAMN.-level event for hip-hoppers.

Still, I'm giving it a warm welcome. More interesting than most of the shit out there.

[Severian]

Louder, noisereductions, h8kurt, and all other Kanye fans, or hip-hop/sampling appreciators who also have a social conscience... Help me out with something, friends.

This thought just dug its way into my brain today and wouldn't let go, and I'd love to hear any input from anyone regarding this matter. I also posted about this in a hip-hop forum, so I'm looking for any feedback I can get.
Here goes...

It recently occurred to me that Kanye West's sampling of "Strang Fruit" in the Yeezus track "Blood on the Leaves" might be considered deeply insensitive or even offensive to some listeners. I'm not saying I feel this way, necessarily... I'm just saying I totally understand how it could be construed this way.

"Strange Fruit," written by Abel Meeropol in protest of the lynchings of black Americans in the early 1900s and later popularized by Billie Holiday and Nina Simone, is a devastating and deadly serious song that shines a light on America's greatest shame — the lynching deaths of approximately 1,500 black Americans during the early 20th century.
** (See note at the bottom of rant.)

While "Blood on the Leaves" certainly is a powerful and dramatic song in its own right, it would not surprise me if people were offended by the chorus being used in a song that, while still dramatic, is ultimately about far more trivial matters such as relationships, marriage, divorce, and people wanting things from Kanye.

It's always been one of my favorite songs of his, and I believe he has paid a lovely tribute to the memory of Nina Simone. But ... the original son, "Strange Fruit," is one that reportedly made Billie Holiday vomit nearly every time she sang it. So I ask you, as fellow Kanye fans, was this sample used in bad taste? What do you think and why?

As you all know, I love Kanye more than Kanye loves Kanye ( ) so I'm not accusing him of anything. I'm just trying to stimulate a conversation, and process this thought that hit me like a hammer.

** Note: This is merely the peak period for lynchings in the U.S. They have happened throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. In fact, there was even a "lynching" as recently as March of THIS YEAR. No rope was involved, but it counts, according to prosecutors of this case:
Timothy Caughman's murder: A lynching in Trump's America

 

[Severian]

hellOOOOOO

[evollove]

Never heard the Kanye song. I just now read the lyric. It mostly sucks, but perhaps with music the lyric has more force. On paper it's mostly about how great he is and how shitty she is. Sampling "Strange Fruit" was a very, very poor choice, both artistically and morally. If he wanted to pay tribute to Nina, he should have sampled a different track and written words about an entirely different sort of woman.

There are other problems with this song. Example:

Now you sittin' courtside, wifey on the other side
Gotta keep 'em separated, I call that apartheid

The fuck? Look up the word "apartheid" you brilliant wordsmith.

My two cents. From someone who doesn't particularly like Kanye. Or hip-hop.