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The new Big Sean album is just another Big Sean album. Meh. The Eminem verse he was trying to hype up in interviews is unsurprisingly unlistenable, as he's still on that annoying choppy ShadyXV flow. Rappity rap raps. This is gonna be a slow year for hip hop..
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feeling the same yeah.
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Oh man, that Big Sean is out already? Jesus, that didn't even register on my radar. I feel bad for Big Sean. I like him as a person (least I think I do... he seems fairly sane and humble and likeable), but he is just NOT a great rapper. I actualy have started to skip through his verses in Kanye tracks. "See Me Now" is such a great song, but its momentum is halted by WAAAYYY too much Big Sean. His overlong verse is carried entirely by the beat. Anyway, yeah, I think it will be a slow year. That's why I was looking through older café threads... thought maybe talking about the past would be more fruitful at the moment than talking about the present or future. |
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Yop, came out just a couple years after MBDTF, I think, making it something of an anomaly in the 33⅓ canon if I understand things correctly. It was written by Kirk Walker Graves, who is pretty green and doesn't seem to have much professional writing to his credit other than a handful of contributions to Noisey and Pitchfork, and nothing of note since the book came out in 2014. Part of me wonders how in the hell he landed the deal, with virtually no résumé. But he's a fan, and he is determined. |
Oh, and he also went to Princeton, which he really wants you to know... Otherwise, why would he answer such a straight-forward question in such a grandiose manner:
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HAAAAAHAHAHAHAAAA!!! Ok friend, we get it, you've got words. It's an interesting and wholly readable statement, if you're a fan of Kanye West who wants to read about how awesome Kanye West is. But as an answer to such a simple question, it's pretty frustrating. It's also canned as hell. I'd rather hear a genuine (re: live) answer to the question than a ponderous meta-analysis of modern culture. Save the pontificating for the book, G! .... Anyway, I read the introduction (book hasn't arrived yet, blast it!) and it was interesting. I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be a fan of the guy's style though. |
if an album is "uneven" then it is NOT "masterful"
what horrible verbal diarrhea posted above.... I hate that shit. |
Never mind about Big Sean...
Big Sean raps about murdering Donald Trump in new freestyle... Praises Kanye and Jay-Z Lol. |
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Not sure that's a rule. Actually I'm fairly certain it's not. There's no mutual exclusivity between "masterfulness" and "evenness." Imagine Abbey Road, for example. It is "uneven" structurally and in terms of quality, as the first half contains a crap song and the second half is just one long-ass song that's awesome. It is masterful, however, by all accounts. Your logic would dictate that any album that is not entirely consistent (e.g., songs in first half are better than also-good songs in second half) cannot be masterful, and I would take issue with that. Quote:
Yeah, I kind of agree. Like I said, fun reading for a Kanye freak, but is it actually goo music writing? Ehhh... I know it's not great journalism. |
masterful applied to an album of songs infers no dud songs to me. I personally see Abbey Road as perfect in all ways.....hahhahahaha
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I can't help but pick up some of those 33 1/3 books because they're about albums I love... I've yet to read one that I thought was really good though.
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Maybe I will write one. Seriously, if all they require of their authors is some (apparently minimal) experience, a college degree, very little talent, and a near-clinically-obsessive lov of music then... shit, I'm simply THE guy. ;) Honestly I think MBDTF is a bad choice for a book like this. It's too obvious, for one thing... the best music journalism explores the most interesting qualities of music and recording in an environmental and cultural context. I LOVE MBDTF, but that album isn't great because of its relevance to anything outside of the musical realm, nor is it great in spite of the odds being stacked against it. It's great because it is Kanye West drilling deep into, and doubling down on, everything about him that was over-the-top and decadent. It's great as a singular document... it represents Kanye turning all elements of Kanye up to 11, and making music that was big and audacious enough to go with the ego. And because despite how awful all of that sounds in theory, the music itself is just so goddamn good. It almost feels like a cop-out that, in 2014, there was a book about one single Kanye album, and that album was MBDTF, the one that set the bar impossibly high and kind of put Ye's future in jeopardy for a bit. I think the story behind Late Registration would be MUCH more interesting. When MBDTF came out, it was basically just the biggest musician in the world throwing a huge party and making the biggest album of that year. Not really much of a story there. I think the story behind Late Registration is much more intersting. Rocafella hit-boy overcomes sophomore slump by ditching virtually every aspect of modern hip-hop, hiring a George Martin figure (Jon Brion), and making an album based on the the Beatles' chamber-pop experimentation on Rubbrr Soul. Now THAT album was an against-all-odds success, and there's something marvelous about the production and recording decisions made by West and Brion throughout the record. 808s & Heartbreak would also be an excellent story, for obvious reasons. Writing about MBDTF is awesome, but who the fuck would choose to write about Thriller over the world-beating, epoch-making Off the Wall? Who would choose to start writing about the Beatles with Sgt. Pepper? I don't know... seems like a missed opportunity. MBDTF is my favorite Kanye album, but I think I'd rather read about pretty much any of the others. |
Graduation or 808s for me.
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Oh shit guys, Sampha's new album.. fucking INCREDIBLE.
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Got my 33⅓ book on MBDTF.
Guys, it's so small! As I told evollove yesterday in a pm, the writing is ... kind like snarky music writing a la pitchfork mixed with fan fiction. Not excellent. Also, the author has an intersting (interestingly stupid) take on "George Bush doesn't care about black people" that I find borderline insulting, given the circumstances surrounding that event, and the (I'm sorry) unpleasant truth to what Kanye said. The author chooses to zoom in on Kanye's shaky voice and inability to articulate, ultimately calling the whole thing a missed opportunity to say something profound. I believe this is not only inaccurate, but insensitive. Kanye is pretty obviously "on the spectrum" of Autistim, and he's been public about his mental and behavioral health issues. Mr. Princeton author is showing his stripes as a bit of an ignoramus, and also a shitty Kane West fan by displaying such poor judgment and lack of insight on this issue. One can't support Kanye's stupid beefs with Taylor Swift and condemn his ballsiest political statement, and expect to be taken seriously as someone who understands Kanye's music and what it means in a cultural and political context. Kanye's lack of eloquence in speaking is not the result of a stupid mind. It's the result of a slightly unhinged one, one that doesn't always know how to handle social situations and interactions. But even if that wasn't the case... WHO THE FUCK CAN BLAME A GUY FOR HAVING A SHAKY VOICE WHEN HE'S CALLING OUT HE ORESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES IN FRONT OF THE ENTIRE WORLD? So far, I'm enjoying this little thing more because I like reading about Kanye than because it's any good. Why the hell was he even talking about "GBDCABP" in fucking 2014? In a book about MBDTF? Katrina was already nearly a decade old when this book was published. Stay on track, Princeton! Aaaaanyway, again, fun reading for a guy who enjoys reading about Kanye. Mostly well (or well-enough) structure sentences, even if the attempt to over-intellectualize is blatant and a failure. Will comment more as I go. |
Are there any stories that are not well known about the recording process in the book? Everyone knows it was in Hawaii etc etc I just didn't know if it was one of the 33 1-3s where it's just the writer being a cunt the whole time or if it was an actually informative one like the VU&Nico one
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I think it depends on the 33⅓ book. Or, rather, the author. This guy seems to be have a pretty broad focus, discussing culture and politics and the digital age, and using a lot of metaphors to make global, grandstanding statements. I really did just get the book, and Neil Gaiman's "Norse Mythologies" came out today, so between that and working my attention has been divided. I haven't enountered ANY stories about recording yet actually. Shit about Matt Lauer, George Bush, Twitter/Facebook, etc. I'll let you know though. |
There's a new Lupe Fiasco album out. I didn't know until 5 minutes ago, or I forgot. It's not Drogas. It's "Drogas Light." Drogas will come out soon or something.
These are not great days for hippity hop. Not great indeed. |
hippy hoppy is dead. Just like Rock n roll, Jazz, and whatever the fuck Mumford Fleet & Foxes Sons is supposed to be.
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Eh. Fleet Foxes and Father John Misty are both obscenely overrated, but they've done nothing to deserve a name mash-up or comparison of any kind with Mumford & Sons. Mumford & Sons is/are(?) (I genuinely don't know or care in this case ... not an actual guy and his sons, but also not a singular noun) SHIT. Just deliberately off-putting, both musically and aesthetically, far as I can tell. If the OC was still on, their music wouldn't be youthful enough to make the soundtrack. I also don't think they're very representative of contemporary pop music of any kind. But what the fuck do I know about that, really? Not a lot. Did you know Train has a new album out? Fucking Train! They were a blip on the radar of repulsively mundane filth when I was, like, 18! How the he'll are they still making new music that ANYONE cares about or wants to buy? Wanna know what Train's new album is called? a girl a bottle a boat ... !!!!!!! ??????????? Yup. a girl a bottle a boat, all in lowercase with no punctuation. Can you fucking believe that?! What the fuck does that even mean?! It's like wearing a sign that says, "I'm so boring that your life will shorten if you look at me," while standing in a ghost town wearing cargo pants. OFFENSIVELY shit. OFFENSIVE! Guess what's on the cover? A girl on a boat. Probably with a bottle in her hand, I don't know, I didn't notice the details because my brain pulled me away from that miserable image after about a nanosecond. |
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Looks good huh? I never saw Notorious, actually (yeah, I know... you'd think I'd have been there on opening day, especially with how into BIG I was back then and in the '90s) but I guess the dude who played Big is reprising his role, which leads to some continuity issues, but whatever. Shared universe biopics! |
That guy they cast as Tupac sometimes looks uncannily like Pac himself, other times looks goddamn NOTHING the fuck like him.
In Seinfeld-speak, he's a two-face. Jerry: "Like the Batman villain?" George: (exasperated) "If that helps you." |
so the privileged son of a career politician won Grammy's for Hip Hop and thanked god over and over again as if god gave a fuck about some whiny short bitch rappin an entire album about how the record labels thought his music was shit and how he is now an "independent" artist and standing up for "indie" artists. hahaha what a fucking silver-spoon-in-his-fucking-mouth JOKE. he won a Grammy for a goddamn jingle
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That's not even a little bit fair. I don't think he should have won either, and yeah he kinda grosses me out with his gratuitous sweetness, but Chance is alright. |
hahahahahha who gives a shit about fairness when it comes to pop culture snark? hahahahahahha
It is tough to see 23 year olds never take hats off because their male pattern baldness would wither away their sex-appeal..... |
I agree. As a 25 year old man who's balding myself I think it's much more attractive to embrace it than to have a stupid hat permanently attached to your head.
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Chance stealing Curtis' look
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Bob the Builder, Super Mario and Andre 3000 come to mind when I look at him. Heh.
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http://chanceraps.com/2017-spring-tour-vip
You can now get to play paper, rock, scissors with Chance for $75.. |
New Future album is out. Self-titled, 17 tracks, no features.
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Huh? Studio album of mixtape? I had no idea this was happening. Absolutely no idea. And that's funny because I read music sites daily. God damn that guy is dropping a fuck ton of music. Really, compared to the Pushas and the Kanyes, who sprinkle us with feature for years in between albums, Future drops a new album at least once a year. If only ANY of it could be REALLY good. That would be sweet. Like, Honest was a good album, and his mixtape trilogy had some great moments, but he's never put out anything that was REALLY good. |
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I found a YouTuber with roughly Future's level of energy to explain why Future wears masks. While wearing a mask.
Lazy guy with cat on Future ^ I like this guy though. There's just something about him. Even though he's just lying down and droning into the camera like a stoned doofus, I feel like I could watch more of his deadpan musings. Is this the effect Future has on the small pocket of music fans who actually really like him? Or is it just the cat in the video that's holding my attention? EDITED TO ADD: It's the cat. That cat is fucking adorable. Looks a lot like my cat, who has been hanging out with me for 11 years, keeping me sane. I love my cat, man. |
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Where are you hearing it? It's not on Apple Music or iTunes (yet... still listed as a pre-order with a release date of Feb. 17.) I guess this confirms that it's an album though. iTunes is selling that shit, so it's a retail mixtape at least. Not a "traditional" mixtape like 56 nights/Beast Mode/Monster. |
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A few thoughts: 1. Future and Migos make a fine double-bill without adding stupid ass Tory Lanez. Even Kodak Black, who I like, will make the show painfully long and monotonous (THREE mumblers and a Drake clone with less personality than Drake????) I don't understand the need for such a massive bill. If I went, I'd go for Kodak, leave or take a nap for Tory, and come back in time to see one or two Migos tracks before watching 1/2 of Future's set TOPS. But I don't have to worry about it because I'm not going anywhere near this. 2. Why the fuck are Young Thug and A$AP Ferg mini-fonted like that? Thug is arguably the biggest name in the entire bill! Terrible promotional work, that. Advertisements should be printed up for each of the different potential shows. If I was working PR for this shit, I would make posters for the boring Future/Migos/Kodak/Tory shows, and call that the "Nobody's Safe" tour (SPOILER: everyone is safe, unless falling asleep and wasting money constitute "danger")... THEN I'd make a separate poster for the shows with Thugger and Ferg. Like, HOLY SHIT, FUTURE+THUGGER ARE COMING UP YOUR ASS!! (Special guest: A$AP Ferg). Because that's a legitimately big-top show right there. ... If those shows with the (SNAKE EMOJI) and the (PRAYING HANDS EMOJI) are going to feature Future, Migos, Tory, Kodak, Thug AND Ferg, that's straight up terrifying. I can't imagine sitting through that much tepid crap in one evening. And I don't like Thug, but I actually think he'd put on a good show, and I think his star is even more on the rise than it has been in recent years, so WHY is he subjecting himself to this shit? He should be touring with the Flaming Lips or something. Actually... Flaming Lips + Young Thug would be a pretty fucking interesting combo. I'd see that. Not a bad idea, Severian! 3. THIS POSTER WAS MADE USING THE "PAGES" APP FOR MAC OS/iOS. Yep. It was. Not even a premium or professional version. This thing was made on someone's MacBook or iPhone or iPad. Probably took about 10 minutes. Just thought I'd point that out. I could make this exact poster for without putting my phone down. As someone who works in print media, this is pretty motherfucking sad. Remember when your posters were mini woks of art? Hand drawn or prepared by professional artists using complicated digital art programs? Or, perhaps better yet, when they were photocopied collages assembled by members of a band using exacto-knives, glue, whatever room was available in the van, and maybe a 24-hour Kinko's? Fuck this poster with its goddamn emojis. |
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Doesn't even touch DS2?! Wow. It's difficult to imagine how something could be so disappointing and uninspired that it "doesn't touch" the high water mark of disappointing anti-inspiration set by the modern king of disappointment and anti-inspiration. For the record, Rob thinks Future is a genius. Think about some of our past conversations about hip-hop, and what Rob has taken issue with, and let that sink in. Rob Instigator thinks fucking Future is a "genius". ... Sorry Rob, but you knew what you were doing when you said that ;) |
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