[noisereductions]

Originally Posted by Severian

I get Q-tip and everything, but there are some artists who are making hip-hop the most exciting and adventurous genre in the world, and q-tip hasn't been among them in a while.

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

jump to 2:33

[louder]

Originally Posted by Severian

I think he should be one of Yeezy's choice co-producers for the new album. I get Q-tip and everything, but there are some artists who are making hip-hop the most exciting and adventurous genre in the world, and q-tip hasn't been among them in a while.

I think returning to anything even resembling a traditional approach to production will ultimately be a hindrance to Kanye's momentum. So I say make it spacey, make it snarly, make it weird and make it hurt. Otherwise, the world may just get sucked up into Drake's asshole, where Drake currently resides, and all hope will be lost.

i have faith in Q-Tip. i know he's usually associated with 90's rap, but he can be a lot more diverse than most people think. let's not forget he produced "That's My Bitch" off Watch the Throne which is far from traditional.

[noisereductions]

Q-Tip is always 110% man. His solo albums are so slept on too.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

Pac was really into poetry. As such, he does a lot of cool stuff w/ Onomatopoeia, slant rhymes, enjambment... it's just a lot of it is lost on most people because they're paying more attention to the lyrics.

"Picture perfect, I paint a perfect picture" <--- he loved cramming in a bunch of the same consonant in a single line like that. Y'know?

or what about

"Don't trust my lady, cause she's a product of this poison
I'm hearin noises, think she fuckin all my boys, can't take no more
I'm fallin to the floor; beggin for the Lord to let me in
to Heaven's door -- shed so many tears"

^all in rapid delivery.

Is this what they teach in those non-science majors I've heard about?

Nah, I'm actually surprised. You're making me want to listen to 2pac, and I'm just not that big of a fan. Never been a hater, but I don't know where the few Pac albums I own are because I listen to them sooo infrequently.

Of course he blows many of his early-90s hip hop superstar brethren out of the fucking water when it comes to lyrics and flow, but as I said recently, the one album I really love through and through is The Don Killuminati. Hurt M-Badd's beats were so much more fitting for Pac's style than those handled by Dre.

Honestly I think it's the only 2pac album that feels like the work of a genius. If not for that record, Specifically "Hail Mary," I don't think I'd have much to say about Pac.

Then again if not for In Utero I don't think I'd still be on Kurt's dick 20 years later. *shrug*

[Severian]

Originally Posted by louder

i have faith in Q-Tip. i know he's usually associated with 90's rap, but he can be a lot more diverse than most people think. let's not forget he produced "That's My Bitch" off Watch the Throne which is far from traditional.

I haven't forgotten and I love Tip. I'm just saying the man was ahead of his time 20 years ago. I am not convinced he has what it takes to contribute to a Kanye solo album. Watch the Throne is badass, loved by all. But Kanye seems to be wisely neglecting to give a shit about who loves his music. WTT was an outlet for a side of Kanye that I'm not sure even exists anymore. An Arena hip hop, heavyweight title fight of an album. Like the end of Rocky 3, when Rocky and Apollo spar, jovially acknowledging that they're happy being even.

"Ding, Ding"

You all know I love Jay to death, but they're no longer even. One might argue that it's time for Apollo to get killed by a Russian so Rocky can avenge him and end the Cold War.

What were we talking about? Or yeah- q-tips.. I hate those plastic ones. It's like, if you're gonna break on impact, why are you even a thing? Am I right?

(I love Q-tip. I'm just feeling cantankerous)

[noisereductions]

 

Das EFX - Dead Serious - 1992 - East West
This album ushered a whole new sound when it dropped. It had that whole EPMD-sound for sure, but the whole "-iggity" thing was just so weird and awesome at the time. Plus, the rapid fire lyrics were full of various pop-culture pieces. Very unique and interesting. It definitely holds up today as well. The classics "Mic Checka" and "They Want EFX" are well... classics. But there's a lot of cool deeper cuts like the crazy epic beat on "If Only" or "Klap Ya Handz," which was the track that got them signed and would later be referenced on Tribe's own "Clap Your Hands." It's also interesting how they tried to balance pop and an underground aesthetic. In the same song that "shit" is edited out, the word "fuck" appears twice. It's almost charming in a baffling way. Similarly, even when the beats tried to stay rugged and they were rapping about hanging out in sewers, they also recorded a song about shitting your pants... which is just bizarre. But again unique.

[noisereductions]

sev did you watch that part of YT vid I linked??

[Severian]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

sev did you watch that part of YT vid I linked??

Whoops, yes I did... missed your post completely at first, but yes- "Thank You"? Yeah.
And I get where you're coming from. It's a great song, and Tip's still relevant.

But my concerns are still valid. As good as Q-tip may be, does his style compliment Ye's so well that he should be overseeing a significant portion of one of the most high-stakes follow ups of one of the most unblemished discogs in hip hop? I just don't know.

Thankfully he's a control freak, and he'll be editing and auditing the fuck out of anyone who gets production credit on his records.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

the Makaveli album took me some years to really "get." I don't think I really appreciated it until like 2008. On the flip, I loved All Eyez On Me right away. And I'd still consider Me Against The World my favorite 2Pac album.

Digable Planets were great. I'll get there for sure.

For now, it's a pretty un-scientific method of why I'm writing about each album. Basically, whatever CD's I happen to find get added to a pile. Then I try to listen to each one and write some thoughts on it before filing it away in the collection.

So...

 

DOOM - Unexpected Guests
This collection of (mostly) rarities is really good, unless you're a rabid DOOM fan. If you've followed his career closely than suddenly a glaring flaw comes into light: this could have been so much better. Most of the issues come from being too unfocused a set. While the variety is nice in having collaborations, solo b-sides and tracks that DOOM has produced for others, it seems that Gold Dust tried to cram too much onto one disc which results in a lesser compilation. For instance, considering the vast amount of rarities to choose from, why waste precious minutes on album tracks? Certainly any fan of DOOM already owns Operation: Doomsday, so the inclusion of "?" is baffling. Likewise, seeing "Angels" show up here is strange as well considering it was on 2009's Born Like This, though in fairness this appears to be the earlier mix with less drums that originally surfaced several years earlier. There's also the off-putting inclusion of partial songs. Scienz Of Life's collaboration "Yikes!" doesn't even feature Scienz Of Life on this one, instead just fading in and out of DOOM's verse giving it a mixtape feel that it doesn't need. So while there's no bad songs to be found here - which makes it a successful compilation - it also could have been the first of several amazing compilations had more thought been put into it.

 

Jay-Z - S. Carter: The Remix
So this is a weird one - an official release that nobody seems to know about because it was bundled with sneakers rather than sold in stores. So consider it a promo for both Hov's brand of kicks and The Black Album. What's surprising is that there's at least a real effort to make this feel like a solid album rather than a throwaway mixtape. Recorded during the fad of constant Black Album remixes, this seems to be the only collection of actual Jay-Z approved ones. Just Blaze shows up a lot here, and all of his remixes are good though hardly necessary. His take on "December 4th" is a really great somber affair, but it also takes away the feeling of celebration from the original for instance. Similarly his take on "99 Problems" sounds a lot like the original but employing Rick Ruben's sampling work from three decades earlier. It's an interesting, but feels more like a demo than a reimagining. Madlib shows up to remix "Threat," with a pretty unthreatening beat that unfortunately only lasts for a verse or so being ending abruptly. There's a couple of nice collaborations included - Dead Prez for one and a remix of Talib Kweli's "Get By" with Kanye and Mos Def. While none of this is top shelf material, it certainly comes close. And part of the problem may just be the unfortunate urge to compare it to The Black Album proper. In truth this is surprisingly solid even if not amazing. And it's definitely an interesting and overlooked sidenote to compelling era of Jay's work.

I motherfuckin' gotta get that S. Carter joint. Holy fuck. I actually seem to recall hearing something about it, but I can't be sure... I know I didn't buy those sneakers, so if I ever did know about it, I guess I considered it out of reach.

But something about that cover is really familiar.
I'm hoping I didn't skip this thing over at a used CD store at some point. That would really grind my balls.
Where did you squire this gem?

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by Severian

I really love through and through is The Don Killuminati. Hurt M-Badd's beats were so much more fitting for Pac's style than those handled by Dre.

Honestly I think it's the only 2pac album that feels like the work of a genius. If not for that record, Specifically "Hail Mary," I don't think I'd have much to say about Pac.

Then again if not for In Utero I don't think I'd still be on Kurt's dick 20 years later. *shrug*

7 Day Theory is indeed Pac's masterpiece, it is one of the most original, brilliant, and thought provoking rap records, indeed musical records of any genre, period. That encapsulated everything that was perfection within Pac's styles. It was gangsta yet it was overtly political. It was intelligent yet it was totally crudely street. It was feminist yet it was misogynistic. It was honest but it was also veiled. And the beats and music were totally innovative for rap music. It was almost like a fucking gangsta rap art-rock record yo..

You would also like All Eyez On Me if you like this..

Originally Posted by noisereductions

Pac was really into poetry. As such, he does a lot of cool stuff w/ Onomatopoeia, slant rhymes, enjambment... it's just a lot of it is lost on most people because they're paying more attention to the lyrics.

"Picture perfect, I paint a perfect picture" <--- he loved cramming in a bunch of the same consonant in a single line like that. Y'know?

or what about

"Don't trust my lady, cause she's a product of this poison
I'm hearin noises, think she fuckin all my boys, can't take no more
I'm fallin to the floor; beggin for the Lord to let me in
to Heaven's door -- shed so many tears"

^all in rapid delivery.

Exactly!! Pac's style of rhyming is totally underrated in its originality and complexity. He didn't freestyle well but he could construct crazy rhyme patterns and again, used his cadence and delivery to make it work in the right timing. We just won't see that again, a rapper who so thoroughly challenges the conventions of rap music while not being in the least pretentious about it.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Propz to The Game for his lines on this track..

http://grantland.com/hollywood-prosp...michael-brown/

The Game has about 6 or 7 really really conscious and political tracks which on their own put him in the top-10 of rap.. Indeed, if the dude could have ALL his raps like those tracks he could be in the top-5.. To be sure, Jesus Piece was a total fucking let down because I thought it was going to be a gangsta but conscious record like 7 Day Theory or Lets Get Free by Dead Prez BUT instead it was more like Kanye's Yeezus, an empty and dull record about debauchery..

[noisereductions]

Originally Posted by Severian

I motherfuckin' gotta get that S. Carter joint. Holy fuck. I actually seem to recall hearing something about it, but I can't be sure... I know I didn't buy those sneakers, so if I ever did know about it, I guess I considered it out of reach.

But something about that cover is really familiar.
I'm hoping I didn't skip this thing over at a used CD store at some point. That would really grind my balls.
Where did you squire this gem?

I actually feel terrible at this post. There's a flea market that me and my wife hit once a year. It's a paint to get to, it costs money to get in, and it's an all day affair. I found the Jay-Z boot for $5. And they had a half dozen copies. I thought about buying them all to flip but figured nobody would want em for prices worth flipping. Wish I grabbed you one. Next time I'm there, I'll make it a point... but it will probably be next year. :\

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Not only am I bumping archaic rap music on campus, I am the only one dressing even remotely gangster.. I was walking around realizing, "Wait, I look pretty fucking gangster today compared to all these other people."

Then when I got home from class and pulled up at my bredren's house for a post-work/school beer session, when I walked in the door his first comment was, "Who is this ninja in a gangsta a$$ pendleton shirt??"

Hahahaha.. last year some of my students during the first week of the year told me in all sincerity and as a compliment, "Mr.. you dress like a 1990s rapper." !!!!

#priceless

[louder]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

 

Das EFX - Dead Serious - 1992 - East West
This album ushered a whole new sound when it dropped. It had that whole EPMD-sound for sure, but the whole "-iggity" thing was just so weird and awesome at the time. Plus, the rapid fire lyrics were full of various pop-culture pieces. Very unique and interesting. It definitely holds up today as well. The classics "Mic Checka" and "They Want EFX" are well... classics. But there's a lot of cool deeper cuts like the crazy epic beat on "If Only" or "Klap Ya Handz," which was the track that got them signed and would later be referenced on Tribe's own "Clap Your Hands." It's also interesting how they tried to balance pop and an underground aesthetic. In the same song that "shit" is edited out, the word "fuck" appears twice. It's almost charming in a baffling way. Similarly, even when the beats tried to stay rugged and they were rapping about hanging out in sewers, they also recorded a song about shitting your pants... which is just bizarre. But again unique.

this cover looks so fucking great. makes me wanna hear the album.

[noisereductions]

Surprised you havent heard it louder.

[noisereductions]

 

Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back - 1988 - Def Jam
Just a year after their debut album Public Enemy return with what is an undoubted classic. Questlove from The Roots has often cited It Takes A Nation as the defining record that led to him taking music seriously as a career. And it's understandable why. This album certainly sounds like the time it was released, but the power is not diminished in the slightest. Produced by Chuck D and Hank Shocklee before they grew into the full on Bomb Squad, the tracks are full of that urgent and layered sound of sirens and shrieks. It's a dense, wonderful mess that also makes the more restrained tracks ("Show 'Em Whatcha Got," "Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos" ) stand out even more. It Takes A Nation spawned several of PE's biggest hits including "Bring The Noise" but this is a masterpiece that deserves to be played in full to hear all the various twists and turns that it takes including what is probably my personal favorite PE track of all time "She Watch Channel Zero?!" that features a jaw-droppingly amazing Slayer sample.

[noisereductions]

 

The Roots - Do You Want More?!!!??! - 1994 - DGC
The second Roots album scored them their first hit with "Proceed." I suppose not a hit in the grand scheme, but it at least put them on the hip hop map. This, their major label debut certainly felt more produced than their actual debut, but it still retained a very live feel to it. You can definitely close your eyes and picture them playing on a street corner or in a small club. In fact "Essayhuman?!!!??!" - their soundcheck song at the time - was even recorded live for this record (as it was earlier on Organix). What's great about this record is just how jazz it all was. From the chilled to frantic tempos of "Mellow My Man" to the scatting in "Datskat" to the drums-vs.-voice in "? Vs. Rahzel" to the Steely Dan-nod bassline in "Swept Away" to the goddamn bagpipes in the title track, this is an album built on jamming, improvisation and the absolute thrill of exploring what your instruments can really do. Even Black Thought's vocals (and to a somewhat lesser extent Malik's... and to a much greater extent Rahzel's) are more concerned with sound than context on much of the material. And then you hit the final two tracks: an insane (freestyle?) cypher over intense vocal-only backing track followed closely by a slow-burner spoken word piece by Ursula Rucker. It's a crazy melting pot of sounds that embrace hip hop and jazz totally 50/50 in a way that is impressive - even if not perfect (I mean "Lazy Afternoon" only has one verse repeated multiple times) in such a commendable way that it should serve as the blueprint for all live hip hop bands, which we seriously need more of.

[noisereductions]

(where my doods at???)

[Severian]

I haven't listened to PE in years. Goddamn Flava Flav for having a Vh1 show. I mean, he was part of the hip-hop genre's closest thing to hardcore punk. I can't imagine Chuck D would approve.

But back when I did bump PE regularly, It Takes a Nation... was always my favorite record. Superior to Fear of a Black Planet, though few would agree, it's the sound of hip hop shedding all novelty and getting real.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

 

Where is my ninja the Instigator at I KNOW he is bout it bout it for this one yo