"And it don't stop..." OFFICIAL Hip-Hop Discussion Thread

Yeah, I totally forgot that happened, somehow. My bad.

Also, Dom Kennedy dropped a new mixtape with almost no hype at all. I haven't listened to it yet, but I thought I'd give people the heads up since his previous mixtape was a great listen.

 

Culdesac is decent, but have you guys listened to EP? I could care less about his hipster cred. I really liked the beats he chose, I liked the hooks he sang himself, and I thought he killed the raps. Freaks and Geeks is excellent, I really liked Lights Turned On just from an energy standpoint. I feel like he is growing into himself as an artist. I remember the I Am Just a Rapper mixtapes from last year being meh. Clever rhymes, but odd delivery, weak beats. But he is getting progressively better.

I thought this was fire. His verse comes in at about 2:40


But thats just me, I think he has potential, even if it is a more commercial sound.

 

I'm not super stoked on Lasers, but I'm digging this track. It feels like it should be more Lupe being featured on a John Legend album though.

 

This won't be for everyone, but I've been recently turned on to Die Antwoord. They are a rap (rave, techno, all sorts of shit thrown together I guess) group from South Africa.

I've been listening to their album $0$ non stop for the past week and it's really growing on me.

Again, not for everyone but it is different than most music out there with a very unique style. They are mean to be almost a satire group, and there is a lot of references to South African culture a lot of people wouldn't get.



Here is one of their more famous videos. Very different stuff.



There have been a few different versions of the group, like the Constructus Corporation and by far the best rap names ever, MC Totally Rad and DJ Fuck. Their album? FucknRad.

Some of their older stuff released under different names has been based off of live performances and released with graphic novels and different types of art. It's a pretty cool way to pair with the music, and gives it a lot more context.

 

Pharoahe Monch's new album W.A.R. came out today. Monch has got to be one of the most unappreciated legends of hip hop around. His work on Organized Konfusion was classic and his last two solo albums have both been incredible. The way he has been treated by labels is a crime against humanity. Get this album, and if you haven't listened to his previous stuff, get all that too. You won't regret it. One of the best lyricists to ever touch a mic.

 

Here are my feelings on Childish Gambino.

I've listened to EP. I have Poindexter. I have Culdesac, and they're all pretty good listens. On top of that, he shows actual progression, which is great to hear from a fairly new rapper. He's a promising if amateurish rapper -- I have no problem with his actual output, especially considering he's a busy guy doing it for free, as a hobby.

It's in the reception.

I know it's not his fault, but when I hear yuppies swoon over the fact that he talks about yuppie shit (like expensive eyewear) and uses indie samples (as opposed to R & B or soul), it makes me suspicious. When I hear them go on to act like he's reinvented the wheel, it makes me annoyed. When that's used to denigrate other rap music, it makes me pissed.

I can't count how many times I've heard people (including famous people) say stuff like, "oh well most rap is so and so, but he's such a different breath of fresh air, his lyrics are so clever, his flow is so good, etc." It reeks of appropriation, of, "this music wasn't worth anything until it pandered to me by talking about organic peanut butter." I know that he's just speaking about his experience, but it pains me when critics use his life to invalidate others.

I feel like rap is the rare art form that gets blamed when the listener doesn't get it. I don't go to violin concerts and claim superiority over the performers without ever having picked up a songbook, so why do people that have no idea what a scheme, bar or cadence is, and often don't even understand the lyrics, get so superior about it? Makes me mad.

And when somebody like Gambino comes along, it just gives them a chance to say, "see! they're not ALL like that!" When in reality I could list 20 rappers you've never heard of who are easily better than him. Which is OK. He hasn't been doing it that long or that seriously.

I told you my thoughts were long.

 

Old song, new video, timeless shit (feel free to skip all the beginning shit):

 

That song reminded of something I've become more discerning about as I've listened to hip-hop and rap over the years, and it's that a lot of rappers don't really concern themselves with cadence. Many of the rappers that have been posted in this thread just seem to find a good beat, and then spit lyrics they've been working on without any concern for how those two things should fit together. I'll listen to the song that's been posted, and it'll get my head nodding, but then when I go to find more of their material it's just disappointing. This is why rappers that work with one producer usually have much better albums. The producers are the guys that really have an ear for music in the rap industry, and they can guide a rapper on how he should flow over a particular beat so that the song matches what's in his head.

I think this song is a good example of what I'm talking about.


Give it a good listen, and you'll notice that their rhyming matches the hits of the snare, which is pretty rapid. I hope that's a little food for thought the next time you listen to a new artist.

 

Pharoahe is nice definitely, but he (along with 75% of solo albums released) has what I call Busta Rhymes Syndrome. A Busta guest spot? Fuck ya. Busta concert? Most definitely. Busta in a group (LONS, Flipmode). I'm there.
But a full album of just Busta Rhymes? Ya I'll listen, but it doesn't get much replay value. He simply can't carry an album on his own in my opinion, and doesn't do a good job of selecting the right guest spots. Same with Pharoahe Monch. Yes some of the tracks are incredible, but as a whole it's not an album that I'll be going back to time and time again. He is the type of artist that is a great addition to an album, not carrying it as a whole. That's why Organized Konfusion was so great, because of the balance.

Take Raekwon for example. A whole album of just him would be the worst, but he chooses an extremely wide variety of concepts/beats and most importantly guest spots that add to the album. He or whoever makes that call realizes this, and the execution is great.

There are only a handful of hip hop/rap artists that can carry an album on their own, which I think is a whole other can of works that can be saved for another post.

 

Uhhhhmmmmm

And that was from when The Source's mics still meant something. His only other solo album was pretty good as well. It's main fault was that it took Pharoahe 8 years to get it released, and it just couldn't live up to that hype.

 

What are people's thoughts on Lil B? I've been hearing about how he is a retard and genius from different sources periodically for the past year or two. After trying out a bunch of his songs I have to say, I don't get it. He seems like a moron to me, but maybe I'm missing something.

Also, Big K.R.I.T.'s Return of 4eva came out. I'm listening to it now so I don't have any thoughts on it quite yet but I've been excited about this album ever since Krit Wuz Here, which was one of my favorite tapes in recent memory. Dude has a great flow and swagger. Southern hip hop done right.

 

I'm excited for Tyler's new album "Goblin" in May. I dig Yonkers more than anything I heard off of "Bastard."

Also, check out another member of Odd Future: Frank Ocean. He sings more than raps and comes across as Drake-esque on some of the tracks on Nostalgia/Ultra. I've been listening to this one a lot lately.

 

RE: Lil' B.

Swaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaag.

Dude's a genius.

 

Thank you for this valuable contribution. I'm now slightly more convinced that Lil B is a moron.

 

Think about this.

You had to ask if the man who's made such songs as "Ellen Degeneres" and "Hoes On My Dick". As well as my personal favorite, "Violate Your Bitch" was a genius or just plain retarded?

I mean, really?

 

I know that I am probably a little late mentioning this since the cd dropped more than a week ago, but what do you guys think of the new Wiz Khalifa album, Rolling Papers? Personally, I really like his style and think that overall, his album is pretty mellow and chilled out. A great cd to pop in and smoke a blunt to. Also, Wiz is great at creating catchy choruses to his songs. I could see many of the songs on his album popping up on the radio in the near future. My personal favorite track is The Race, but there are many more solid songs. Love to hear everyone's thoughts on Wiz...

 

I generally feel the same as you. He's not going to blow your mind but he's great if you just feel like having fun. Like a good action movie. I thought his album was fun but Cabin Fever had a better concentration of fun music.

 

Call me an asshole, but I'm not feeling these last two albums. Cabin Fever was Wiz trying to go hard and get in your face; that's not what first drew me in to his music. Listen to Prince of the City 2, Flight School or K&OJ, and you'll see what I mean. It was all about chilling out. Music that you could drift away to:



As for Rolling Papers, I dunno. I'm still undecided. All the tracks sound alike, it seems, and none of the tracks have stood out to me yet.

In other news, check out the best interview ever:

 

Wiz is interesting to me cause he is blowing up. I really like him as a personality, and he seems like a chill solid dude, but he really never impresses me. I mean, his flow is laid back and doesn't change much and rarely do I catch myself hearing a rhyme of his that makes me go "Damn". Id like to see him throw down a banger or switch it up, but thats not him, and he is just high as hell and chilled out, which is fine. I just get tired of people thinking he is some massive talent. He is what he is.

 

Is anybody here into battles? I'm also trying to find new heads to discuss battling with; if you like wordplay, humor and insults, it's pretty much the purest form. Sort of like the difference between stand-up comedy and situational comedy.

Anyway, I've been trying to find good battles to get people that might not be a big part of the scene to get involved. It's sort of hard, because it's gotten kind of incestuous, and there are a bunch of in-references. I've chosen a couple battles that I *think* fit the criteria:

- Accessible to a casual fan

- Good performances on both sides

- Easy to understand

There's a bunch of ad stuff in the beginning. I usually find it all skippable.