[noisereductions]

Jay-Z took all his albums off Spotify. :\

[Severian]

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

what makes you think Jay Z is a NICE GUY? why wouldn't he mouth off on a copycat?

I know you love to push buttons, but Kanye is not a "Jay-Z copycat." That might be the most ridiculous thing you've ever said. If you seriously think that is the case, then you have a fundamentally broken understanding of... like... a fuckload of shit, and there's no point even trying to explain all the myriad ways in which you are completely and totally off base.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

Jay-Z took all his albums off Spotify. :\

So? You have all of his albums except for the new one, and you weren't gonna find that on Spotify anyway. Put them on your phone or iPod or whatever if you want to listen to them.

(Another sucky thing about Spotify: you can't put your own songs into your Spotify library. Totally something you can do with Apple. Just sayin'. )

[noisereductions]

yes I have his albums. Yes I could rip them to my phone (you don't seriuosly think I own an ipod do you???). But that negates the convenience of not having to do that right? Those albums WERE on Spotify. I could listen to them anytime. Now I have to think ahead. And waste space on my phone to do so.

BTW there is a way to import CD's to Spotify, but it's convoluted. It's one of the reasons I've considered switching to Prime Music or whatever it's called.

Anyway, I just think it's lame. He put out an album so removes his albums at the same time to try to drive others to Tidal. Boo. I think these exclusives are dumb.

I fear it sets a sketchy precedent. I worry of a future where instead of paying $9/mo for Spotify you're asked to spend $9/mo for Sony Music On Demand and $9 for Universal Music On Demand and $9 for...

[louder]

I think the "I" on Kill Jay Z is just the general public.

[h8kurdt]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

yes I have his albums. Yes I could rip them to my phone (you don't seriuosly think I own an ipod do you???). But that negates the convenience of not having to do that right? Those albums WERE on Spotify. I could listen to them anytime. Now I have to think ahead. And waste space on my phone to do so.

BTW there is a way to import CD's to Spotify, but it's convoluted. It's one of the reasons I've considered switching to Prime Music or whatever it's called.

Anyway, I just think it's lame. He put out an album so removes his albums at the same time to try to drive others to Tidal. Boo. I think these exclusives are dumb.

I fear it sets a sketchy precedent. I worry of a future where instead of paying $9/mo for Spotify you're asked to spend $9/mo for Sony Music On Demand and $9 for Universal Music On Demand and $9 for...

And it's shit like that why I'm gonna pirate it.

After the debacle of Frank Ocean's Blond (or was it Chance's last one?)
album the CEO has said he'll never do exclusives for albums. The idea is dumb and doesn't help anyone in any way.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by h8kurdt

And it's shit like that why I'm gonna pirate it.

After the debacle of Frank Ocean's Blond (or was it Chance's last one?)
album the CEO has said he'll never do exclusives for albums. The idea is dumb and doesn't help anyone in any way.

Chance's last album wasn't an album in the industry sense. But of course, it was an album, just an independent one that's only available to stream and was partially bankrolled by Apple Music for a 2-week exclusive. (Actually, maybe it *is* an album now, since it was allowed to chart and win a Grammy? ... But whatever, Chance says it's not, and other people say it's not, so I guess it's... not.)

I think you're thinking of Frank's album, Blond(e). But it was actually the Endless release that he put out right before Blonde that was "released" by his record company (Universal?) and got him out of his contract so he could go ahead and make Blonde a self-released exclusive thing. I don't know why he did it like that... no physical edition and whatnot... but that's what he wanted.

So I think it was Universal (or whatever company) that said, "Wow, thanks to streaming exclusives we just missed out on releasing one of the biggest albums of the year, so fuck that shit we're not doing it anymore.)

Thing is, I think there are only a few artists that could even get away with releasing exclusives, and most of them are artists, like Frank and Kanye and Chance Jay and Beyoncé -- "of-the-moment" artists with solid, super loyal fans who are going to definitely do whatever they have to do to hear a new album. I don't think just anyone could get away with that kind of thing. Can you imagine James Blake actually being successful with an exclusive? Or, like, Aphex Twin? I kinda can't. I think a lot of people would just not listen. Those artists still have solid fan bases, but they're not at all large enough to make this a big draw.

Anyway, whatever... I'm really opposed to the whole thing. It's the market taking the reins and forcing the cnsumer's hand, and then saying "Look at how much people love this! Even though, y'know, we have them no choice!!"

Streaming is super useful, I have to admit, but it's not the same as having a copy -- even a digital copy -- of an album. Something you can put where you want, and hear whenever you want, and once you buy it it's yours, and fuck the world.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

yes I have his albums. Yes I could rip them to my phone (you don't seriuosly think I own an ipod do you???). But that negates the convenience of not having to do that right? Those albums WERE on Spotify. I could listen to them anytime. Now I have to think ahead. And waste space on my phone to do so.

BTW there is a way to import CD's to Spotify, but it's convoluted. It's one of the reasons I've considered switching to Prime Music or whatever it's called.

Anyway, I just think it's lame. He put out an album so removes his albums at the same time to try to drive others to Tidal. Boo. I think these exclusives are dumb.

I fear it sets a sketchy precedent. I worry of a future where instead of paying $9/mo for Spotify you're asked to spend $9/mo for Sony Music On Demand and $9 for Universal Music On Demand and $9 for...

I didn't think you didn't have an iPod. Or MP3 player of some kind. That's what I meant... not "iPod" specifically but "iPod or whatever.

Like, I use my iPod to listen to music a lot because it's just in my car, on a mount, and it has a ton of space, and it just plays music. I'm constantly using my phone for everything under the goddamn sun, so it's easier for me to just use my iPod (or whatever!) like a CD player instead of draining the battery to play music when I need it for other stuff.

Anyway, I think I read that Jay's albums disappeared from Spotify a while ago. Like, maybe a month?

EDIT: FUCK, I just checked Apple Music and while most of his albums are still there, Reasonable Doubt and Blueprint are not. What the fuck? Those are the albums most people will want to play if they want to hear Jay Z.

[Severian]

4:44 earned Jay his first "Best New Music" on Pitchfork since Watch the Throne.

They wrote an OK review, but I feel like they missed a lot. Like, they didn't even mention "Caught in their Eyes" and they only directly referenced "Moonlight" in passing, before going on to talk about the effect of sampling iconic women's voices. Sheesh!

I feel like if you're going to review an album, you should spend some time on the album's standout tracks. More time on the music than on the surrounding cultural events, or how the album fits into an artist's legacy. How can you know that with an album that's five days old? I mean, barring legacy-making or artist-defining albums, that is.

Jay-Z has been doing this for 21 years. I don't need to read about those years, or what his family life is like or whatever. I'd like to read competent writing about the music on the album; not an album review/tabloid story mash-up.

Music writing sucks a taint. For all the bitching I do about it, I don't think I could do any better. I'd want to write about every song, especially on an album like 4:44, which is so lean and compact and smooth. But people wouldn't want to read about that. They'd want to read about Tidal and Beyoncé and Blue Ivy Carter.

Fuckin Frank Ocean is on this crazy hot streak with features, and he turned up for a track that samples Nina Simone and rocks the house! How could that go without a mention?

[louder]

"The Story of O.J." video is now on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM7lw0Ovzq0

Watch it, NR. I insist.

[Severian]

I'm still just playing this album over and over. This almost never happens anymore. Happened with DAMN., and happened last year with Pablo and Nicolas Jaar's SIRENS, but that's pretty much it for attention-holding albums of the last 2-or-so years.

[louder]

Originally Posted by Severian

I'm still just playing this album over and over. This almost never happens anymore. Happened with DAMN., and happened last year with Pablo and Nicolas Jaar's SIRENS, but that's pretty much it for attention-holding albums of the last 2-or-so years.

Yeah bro, I think this is my favorite album of the year.

I'm glad Pitchfork gave it a good score, because it deserves to shine, but I don't even bother with their reviews anymore.

What do you think about the vid I posted?

[louder]

It hurts me to know this album won't really get the credit it deserves. It reinvented and expanded Jay as an artist. It's pretty much a masterpiece in my opinion.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by louder

Yeah bro, I think this is my favorite album of the year.

I'm glad Pitchfork gave it a good score, because it deserves to shine, but I don't even bother with their reviews anymore.

What do you think about the vid I posted?

It's not better than DAMN.

It's more joyful and up-my-traditionalist-alley than DAMN., but that album is pushing on some boundaries that I don't think are fully clear to us yet. DAMN. is not carried by the production, its carried by Kendrick's vision. BLIND/DNA and DUCKWORTH. put that album on a completely different level.

I think 4:44 is awesome as fuck, but I think the best part of it is the instrumentation and production. Jay's rapping has always been really good, but it's the samples and flow and mood that make 4:44 great. No ID has outdone himself.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by louder

It hurts me to know this album won't really get the credit it deserves. It reinvented and expanded Jay as an artist. It's pretty much a masterpiece in my opinion.

I dunno. Remains to be seen whether it reinvents anything. To me, it mostly just puts a nice fitting period at the end of Jay's career. He can retire from rapping now, and probably should. I really wanted him to come back with one more great album, and I wasn't sure it was possible, but he has. So I think it's time to call it a day.

It has expanded the reach of his cultural presence by taking on more social and political and cultural issues and focusing less on bling. That's great. It's a nice conscious album. It's Jay's redemption. If he quits while he's ahead, it will make him go down as one of the best. I feel like his legacy in that respect was starting to slip.

But now I see it's "gone platinum" (rolleyes) in four days or whatever, so he'll probably be back to bragging about his entrepreneurial awesomeness soon.

The whole Tidal x Sprint thing is idiotic. He's trying to guarantee his #1 album streak won't be interrupted, and he's stacking the books. I think that's lame.

But still -- amazing album. Just really amazing. Beyond my expectations.

[louder]

Originally Posted by Severian

It's not better than DAMN.

It's more joyful and up-my-traditionalist-alley than DAMN., but that album is pushing on some boundaries that I don't think are fully clear to us yet. DAMN. is not carried by the production, its carried by Kendrick's vision. BLIND/DNA and DUCKWORTH. put that album on a completely different level.

I think 4:44 is awesome as fuck, but I think the best part of it is the instrumentation and production. Jay's rapping has always been really good, but it's the samples and flow and mood that make 4:44 great. No ID has outdone himself.

Yeah, it's probably not BETTER, but I prefer it. Feel more emotional attachment to it anyway. "Kill Jay Z" and "Smile" and "Marcy Me" hit the spot for me.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by louder

Yeah, it's probably not BETTER, but I prefer it. Feel more emotional attachment to it anyway. "Kill Jay Z" and "Smile" and "Marcy Me" hit the spot for me.

Oh hell yeah, it's a spot-hitter for me too. Big time. It's full of just moment after moment of powerful, resonant beats and turns of phrase. Almost like Graduation, really. It reminds me of that album with its condensed, tight, non-stop high kind of vibe. No skits, no slow moments, no pauses or skippable tracks.

DAMN. is Kendrick's least dense album in a while, but it's still very Fucking dense and heavy emotionally. There's a lot to unpack there. And I love it, and it's my album of the year so far, but I can see how 4:44 is more ear candy. I find myself skipping tracks on DAMN. even though I love all of them (except "LOYALTY," which I just don't get), because I get into the vibe of the first few tracks. They're intense as hell, and then it goes on this odyssey, and snaps back into focus with DUCKWORTH. So I'm usually in the mood for either the first half or the second half, or I just listen to BLIND/DNA and then DUCKWORTH on Fucking repeat

But yes, I totally feel you. I still like DAMN. better, but 4:44 is hot shit. "Caught their eyes" and "Moonlight" and "Kill Jay Z" are my favorite tracks.

Side note: I am *positive* that NR will love this based on our previous conversations about our preferences in hip-hop, and how he and I both dig the big euphoric shit, which is why we fucked with TLOP right out the gate, and why we both struggled with the complex, labyrinthine aggro-jazz of TPAB (though I eventually found a spot for it, and maybe he didn't).

[Rob Instigator]

I'm loving on Lil Wayne's Magnolia freestyle https://youtu.be/6ihxhXekMUU

"and all these bitches got ass/
how'd they get it so fast?/
They didn't have that in da past/
I'm still gonna smash"

[Severian]

Tyler, the Creator is releasing a new album, Scum Fuck Flower Boy, out July 21.

 

I don't actually care. Not a bit. But it's hip-hop news, so... yah.

[noisereductions]

I don't think I've ever liked a whole Tyler album. Every one has some great songs. But I don't enjoy his albums beginning to end.