[foreverasskiss]

yeah, The Blowout Comb is great. up there with any Wu or Wu solo album and Nas/Biggie. it paints a picture of New York in the early to mid 90's like Taxi Driver or Death Wish does for the mid to early 70s New York, or Sonic Youth for the 80s. all three versions of NY have been kinda obsessions with me since i was a teen.

of course i wasn't there but it has a vibe.

[noisereductions]

I think the most fascinating thing is that they WEREN"T from Brooklyn. That's insane to me. They relocated there AFTER the first album and just soaked up the sounds and just like really wore that shit on their sleeves. I mean, how do a bunch of dudes from elsewhere sound so fucking Brooklyn? It's amazing. But I'd put that shit up there w/ Blackmoon's Enta Da Stage, etc.

[foreverasskiss]

HA. so they just lived in Brooklyn at the time but were from Philly. if you know what i mean.

killer eargasm stuff.

[noisereductions]

 

2Pac - Tupac Resurrection - 2003 - Amaru
The soundtrack to the officially sanctioned 2Pac documentary does a rather good job of compiling both album tracks, rarities and unreleased material to serve as a nice survey of 2Pac's many facets. The glaring omissions are understandable. None of Pac's Death Row era work appears here. Instead we get a sampling from his first three studio albums, his work with Thug Life, and a smattering of rarities and outtakes. Eminem is brought in to produce and remix some outtakes - and mostly these are successes. The track "Runnin' (Dying To Live)" is actually a remixed version of the heavily bootlegged "Stop The Gunfight," and it feels fully formed here. What's especially nice is that no major singles are featured. Nope, this isn't a greatest hits by any means. Instead any album cuts are deeper, with the possible exceptions of "Holler If Ya Hear Me" and "Bury Me A G," both of which were minor hits. Even better is the focus on pre-fame Pac. The aforementioned "Runnin'" is the infamous Biggie duet, but we're also treated to "Panther Power," one of Pac's earliest recorded tracks that has been bootlegged heavily, along with "Same Song," his debut with Digital Underground that is a solid classic. What makes this album great is the reminder of just how varied Pac's work was and within such a short period of time. From his early political work that was obviously insprired by the likes of Public Enemy, through his time spent working with Digital Underground, through his rise to fame, work with Thug Life and eventual incarceration, this album basically serves as a primer to anyone who was only exposed to Pac upon his signing with Death Row. And though there's certainly a worry that hiring Eminem to work on this album would somehow make those tracks feel out of place, Em does a surprisingly good job of being respectful with the source material. Certainly "Runnin'" sounds fair better than the original "Stop The Gun Fight" track for instance. The inclusion of a 50 Cent duet was perhaps a bad call, but thankfully it was relegated to the closing track. All in all, this remains one of the more successful 2Pac albums to materialize since his death.

[foreverasskiss]

Originally Posted by Severian

But something about his delivery, his style, whatever cancer of the ear nose and throat he has that make voice sound like an ultra-serious Quasimoto doppelgänger, who rhymes with the frustrated impotence of a child slinging insults in a fight that he is very publicly losing... Something about the whole goddamn package (not to mention those stupid cheekbones of his when he's looking all GQ when he's posing w/ Dre & J. Lovine for a Beats ad) just makes me feel like I've just puked in my mouth.

couldn't have said it better. he's def a cultural low point along with NU rap Metal late 90's shit, but then again i was worshipping Pavement and SST, post punk and the like and not really liking the Brain Wilson ness of some bands of the time.

there's evidence of his influence here and there now. particularly in Odd Future and the nu wave like, but it doesn't translate well now. not that it matters. but WOW.......the Yeah Yeah Yeah's guitarist and the whole post revival probably had more of an influence on modern hip hop than that guy, if only on a producers standpoint. not saying i like the Yeah Yeah Yeah's, and he(Em) will be remembered( i hope in a bad way)....

but Em should be left behind just like those white trash jerry springer shows my mom use to watch. uggg!!!

[noisereductions]

^yeah I remember reading that OF dudes consider MMLP their defining record. Makes you feel old no?

[foreverasskiss]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

Makes you feel old no?

no. not really noiseredux. i consider 2011 to be the big change and final escape from the 90's. so age 41 is when i'll really feel it, but im already like "you damn kids, i was wearing that before you". HA!!

besides, Neil Hagerty said the 90's weren't really a decade that mattered. just something before the 2000's and after the 80's. a decade of too much nostagic i guess.

[noisereductions]

 

Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - 2010 - Roc-A-Fella
I've often compared Dark Twisted Fantasy to Nine Inch Nails' The Downward Spiral. I mean, nobody dies at the end. But it feels like an album-length examination of a soul descending into madness. This is the voice of somebody so unhappy - nay, disgusted with their self, but repurposed as a work of art. And if that title sounds cinematic, it should. Kanye recruited an insanely talented and expensive cast to make this album a reality. While it's rational to view 808's And Heartbreak as a grieving album, this record feels far more cathartic. There's heaps of debauchery and guilt that get piled on to the point where lines are blurred and it becomes a chicken and egg scenario. Key line: "the plan was to drink until the pain's over/but what's worse? The pain or the hangover?" At times the album may feel decadent, but it seems more a study of loathing. All of the fame and hype here is embarrassing or a letdown. The flashing lights are a burden. Indeed the glass is half-full everywhere on this album. Kanye lets the death of his own childhood hero - Michael Jackson weigh heavily. He's upset about airplane seating. About drinking. About drugs. About women. Take "Runaway," a sprawling opus to his inability to have a functional relationship with a woman. Or the major hit, "Power," which is basically a self-deprication when Kanye spits the line "no one man should have all this power." This is one of those albums that's it's possible to talk about for hours. You can talk about the production - and producers involved. You can talk about the myriad guests - fucking Chris Rock doing a long outro about being a cuckold. Or how about the insane samples? I mean who the fuck licenses an Aphex Twin sample... from Drukqs? The point is that this album is a sprawling mess of a masterpiece. One that I really could talk about for hours, but instead would insist you listen to.

[noisereductions]

Funny, im about yr age and going thru a big 90s thing now. Watching 90210, loving how girls dressed in Mallrats and Scream, etc.

[foreverasskiss]

^^ON YR MBDTF review.


the part where he says "she claiming i bruised her oesophagus" amuses my girlfriend everytime along with ASAP Rocky's "fucking problem" being an epiphany to her while driving down a dirt road.

auto tune solo aside. i don't think it's kanyes best. it's grand, awesome and PROG....YES!!!!

Chris Rock shines on my fave song on the record besides "Hell of a Life". "Blame Game(my fave)"? Yes!!!! love it.

"suck my balls throu my draws" Yeezus is better.

[noisereductions]

Yeezus IS better. But I've been writing these reviews putting myself in the context it was released. So Yeezus didn't exist yet.

[foreverasskiss]

^^oh


i will say that "All of the Lights" is the best R@B/ hip hop song of the decade. that fucking beat slides along like no other. and Rihanna? DAMN!!!

and that song wit Kudi guitar(Kanyes best rappin). yeah, it classic

[foreverasskiss]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

Funny, im about yr age and going thru a big 90s thing now. Watching 90210, loving how girls dressed in Mallrats and Scream, etc.

tight stonewashed jeans? yes, but without the skinny butts.

i still obessively watch Charmed when it's on TNT, if it makes you feel any better. or any old WB shows for that matter.

[louder]

just realized i like Old much more than XXX.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Dont ever post about icp again and the real value in tupac resurrection is the film itself, which is one of the most brilliant biographies ever filmed because its an autobiography and they let pac speak entirely for himself

[noisereductions]

Originally Posted by louder

just realized i like Old much more than XXX.

I def prefer XXX.

[noisereductions]

Originally Posted by SuchFriendsAreDangerous

Dont ever post about icp again

lulz. Sorry brah. Gotta make it through this CD collection...

and the real value in tupac resurrection is the film itself, which is one of the most brilliant biographies ever filmed because its an autobiography and they let pac speak entirely for himself

The film is great of course. But I was just commenting on the album as an album. Which I feel is very successful as an album.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

lulz. Sorry brah. Gotta make it through this CD collection...



The film is great of course. But I was just commenting on the album as an album. Which I feel is very successful as an album.

It is, though I usually don't remember just how much so... "Runnin' (Dying to Live)" may actually be my favorite Pac song, despite previous statements that "Hail Mary" held that honor.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by Severian

It is, though I usually don't remember just how much so... "Runnin' (Dying to Live)" may actually be my favorite Pac song, despite previous statements that "Hail Mary" held that honor.

Tupac Resurrections is one of the most underrated, undervalued, and under-appreciated Tupac releases EVER..

I think its because simply put, it doesn't fit into peoples' quaint narratives about Tupac. Some people want him to exclusively be all "thug" and "gangsta" and can't embrace the intellectual, spiritual, and creative side of Tupac. Others actually want to avoid the gangsta side and want to kind of ignore Tupac's more troubled past, and Resurrections doesn't sugar coat the fact that gets lost even among Tupac fans, that he wasn't a studio gangster, indeed, he actually joined the Piru M.O.B. Bloods and was out on the blocks gang-banging working towards becoming a shot caller. In fact, its probably why he was killed.

This film should be watched in tandem with Tupac Thug Angel for a full picture of just who the fuck Tupac was.. "just another wild ass n.i.g.g.a."

[Severian]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

I def prefer XXX.

I like Motherfuckin' Hot Soup, probably best of all. Unless Black & Brown counts as a Danny album.

Either way, Danny is hot shit.

I just picked up RUSTIE'S "Green Language." It's some rave-tastic, pacifier sucking, candy flippin', blissed out, blow the roof off kinda shit, but it's not just for dance music fans. RUSTIE did some production for Old, Danny drops some rhymes on on Green Language.

Did I say all of this already? Kinda feel like I did. Meh, oh well.