[Severian]

Hey, has anyone else looked into this HS87 dude?

 

This is a great album. Just noticed it a few weeks ago. Hit boy and More guest.

[louder]

you guys haven't heard that Rich Gang tape yet, huh? easily my #1 project of the year so far. Young Thug is my fav rapper in the game right now.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by louder

you guys haven't heard that Rich Gang tape yet, huh? easily my #1 project of the year so far. Young Thug is my fav rapper in the game right now.

On the contrary, my good louder. I downloaded the mix tape as soon as I had the the opportunity. It's.. very good. Like, yeah- undeniably good. They carry the hefty weight of this really fuckin' long mixtape with ease. However, like it as I may it's far from my favorite tape/alb. of the year.

I actually really like Thug's tape with Gucci Mane from earlier in the year. Maybe as much as I like this one. And it has nothin' on the trio of Underachievers joints, or IntoXXXicated, or Pinata, Animal Serum (Prince Po & OH NO), fuckin' Dark Comedy, etc.

It's entertaining as hell, but it's a very traditional YMCM joint. But fuck yeah, it's definitely a heavy-hitter. "Flava" has some seriously high brow flows in it, which is good because it boasts an equal amount of really, REALLY low-brow shit. Haha.

...

So, fear not. You talk somepin' up, and you can rest assured I'll be checking it out.

Speaking of which, what do you think of all the albums I've rec'd this year???

[Severian]

Oh, and fuckin' Dream.Zone.Achieve... and Honest... Soul Tape 3...

It's way harder to keep track of this year's good hip-hop than it was last year. There are fewer major releases of repute (no Yeezy, Jay, Drake, GFK, A$AP releases sharing the spotlight). Instead, this year's major releases have been relatively forgettable. Even the good ones, like Blacc Hollywood & Honest... but the lower profile shit has been consistently off the hook.

I mean- shit. OHNO has two dope releases this year. Guilty Simpson & Small Professor, SmokeDZA, Open Mike... and this We The Plug joint (my introduction to HS87), KIT, etc. all just killin' it.

[louder]

that mixtape is just a teaser for the album that will come out next month man, but seriously, it's already my fav project of the year.

with that said, i haven't been that fond of '14 releases so far. i really like Honest too, but Future could still do better in my opinion. he was trying to appeal to a wider audience and it hurt his creativity (yes i sorta think of Honest as a "sellout" album ).

Days Before Rodeo by Travis Scott is pretty damn good too. and i still appreciate Pinata, just never really have the urge to listen to it anymore. i feel like good rapping over nice beats isn't enough anymore, you gotta be creative, take some risks and step out of your comfort zone to make a really great rap album.

i'll check out some of the stuff you've mentioned that i haven't heard yet.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by louder

that mixtape is just a teaser for the album that will come out next month man, but seriously, it's already my fav project of the year.

with that said, i haven't been that fond of '14 releases so far. i really like Honest too, but Future could still do better in my opinion. he was trying to appeal to a wider audience and it hurt his creativity (yes i sorta think of Honest as a "sellout" album ).

Days Before Rodeo by Travis Scott is pretty damn good too. and i still appreciate Pinata, just never really have the urge to listen to it anymore. i feel like good rapping over nice beats isn't enough anymore, you gotta be creative, take some risks and step out of your comfort zone to make a really great rap album.

i'll check out some of the stuff you've mentioned that i haven't heard yet.

Travi$ Scott's one that I keep forgetting. Damn good.

I'm always talking about Piñata (or at least mentioning it in my list updates) but I rarely get the urge to listen to it anymore either.

For me the obvious heavyweight champ of the year so far is Cellar Door. If you add Blessings From the Grey and Conversations W/ a Butterfly into the mix, it's really one hell of a project. Underachievers blew the roof off with Cellar Door alone, but for anyone who thinks that album is a bit too "samey" (fast flows throughout, not a great deal of variation in dynamics) the solo mixtapes are a MUST. They give the project an extra dimension or two, and cover more sonic ground. I'm not sure why they didn't just lump it all together into a longer LP, or maybe a double. But I hope they reissue Cellar Door with a second disc containing the solo EP's before the year is over.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by louder

that mixtape is just a teaser for the album that will come out next month man, but seriously, it's already my fav project of the year.

with that said, i haven't been that fond of '14 releases so far. i really like Honest too, but Future could still do better in my opinion. he was trying to appeal to a wider audience and it hurt his creativity (yes i sorta think of Honest as a "sellout" album ).

Days Before Rodeo by Travis Scott is pretty damn good too. and i still appreciate Pinata, just never really have the urge to listen to it anymore. i feel like good rapping over nice beats isn't enough anymore, you gotta be creative, take some risks and step out of your comfort zone to make a really great rap album.

i'll check out some of the stuff you've mentioned that i haven't heard yet.

You should really like We the Plug. It has the same kind of feel as the albums you have been digging lately. And that cover art is just awesome. No idea why, but it really appeals to me.

[louder]

just listened to the Ca$h Out album today and it's immediately one of my favs this year. the whole album is just club bangers but the production by 808 Mafia, DJ Spinz, Dun Deal, Metro Boomin, etc makes it awesome.

[noisereductions]

I like the Nehruiviandoom album.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

I like the Nehruiviandoom album.

Yeah, I suppose it's not bad compared to the mixtape (which just plain pissed me off). I still think Bishop has a fairly weak flow, and that he really needs to grow the fuck up a bit before I'll be able to take him seriously.

[noisereductions]

there was a mixtape?

I actually like Nehru's flow a lot. Very cool and clumsy in a good way. I don't really like the ladies jam track. But the rest is good.

BTW, heard the Flylo x Kendrick track and it's dope. The video is mad emo and I like it.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

there was a mixtape?

I actually like Nehru's flow a lot. Very cool and clumsy in a good way. I don't really like the ladies jam track. But the rest is good.

BTW, heard the Flylo x Kendrick track and it's dope. The video is mad emo and I like it.

I picked up my non-promo, bought and paid for, official copy of You're Dead! the other day, and it's definitely one of the year's best. I mentioned in another thread that having an album like this drop only a couple weeks after SYRO makes for quite a one-two punch. So far it's looking as though most of my top picks of the year are largely instrumental albums (SYRO, You're Dead!, Black Light Spiral, MyLittleGhost, Bécs, Reachy Prints, AURORA etc) which is unprecedented.

I agree that Kendrick's performance is absolutely electric, and one of the high points of You're Dead! I wonder how critics will respond to new releases by Kendrick and Kanye dropping in the same year. I hope Ye doesn't end up losing his edge. It's possible that Kendrick will outsell and out-hype him, but thankfully Kendrick doesn't have the musical chops that Kanye does.

I say "thankfully" not because I'm anti-Kendrick, but because when Kanye's involved, everything else is the enemy.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

there was a mixtape?

I actually like Nehru's flow a lot. Very cool and clumsy in a good way. I don't really like the ladies jam track. But the rest is good.

BTW, heard the Flylo x Kendrick track and it's dope. The video is mad emo and I like it.

Yeah, there was a Nehru mixtape earlier this year with Doom production. A preview of NehruvianDOOM. I bitched about it, and Nehru's constant "I'm only 16 but I already have [insert proof of cred here]" lyrical approach. He sounded like shit, frankly.

I want Doom to team up with FlyLo for an LP. Clearly, that's Doom's next logical step after Madvillainy and JJ DOOM.

"FlyingDOOM" ... Maybe "Flyvillain" fucked if I know.

Been listening to lotsa DOOMSTARKS lately.

[noisereductions]

Lotsa doomstarks? Not many tracks tho.

Flylo x doom would make sense. Agreed.

[SpaceCadetHayden]

My opinions:
yes to Young Thug and the Rich Gang mixtape
thoughts on FKA Twigs? I say good

[Severian]

Originally Posted by SpaceCadetHayden

My opinions:
yes to Young Thug and the Rich Gang mixtape
thoughts on FKA Twigs? I say good

I forgot about FKA Twigs. Damn. Yeah, def. One of the year's highlights. But I'm not sure I like it as much as I initially thought I did. I'm going to have to spin it more.

I buy way too much music.

[noisereductions]

I couldn't get into that FKA Twigs. Thought I would.

Sev, get Spotify. Shit changed my life. I hear everything I want for $8/mo and then just buy the CD's I feel like I need to own.

[louder]

Originally Posted by SpaceCadetHayden

My opinions:
yes to Young Thug and the Rich Gang mixtape
thoughts on FKA Twigs? I say good

love her

[Severian]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

I couldn't get into that FKA Twigs. Thought I would.

Sev, get Spotify. Shit changed my life. I hear everything I want for $8/mo and then just buy the CD's I feel like I need to own.

I've been a Spotify subscriber since it first became a thing. Lol.

Yeah, I use the premium service to keep track of my favorite music of the year. I have a playlist specifically for it. I also have this massive fucking playlist of all the songs I hear that I think will be contenders for the end of the year.
It's mighty long.

I'm extremely thankful for it because, as I've mentioned in my harshly undervalued "Albums 2014 Forgot OR The Most Underrated Albums of the Year" thread, I buy SOOO much music that keeping physical track of a year's most promising work is pretty impossible. And list-making doesn't exactly give me all the information I need (i.e. visual stimuli like album art, etc.) to remember why a 5-star album was a 5-star album.

Spotify is almost better than itunes for this kind of thing. I suppose iTunes allows me to organize and view music by year and rating, but Spotify allows me to view everything at once, or 2014's best albums. For the latter, I usually just pick a really good single song from the album for the playlist to represent the album itself.

It's really funny you should mention Spotify, because I've encouraged my friends and family to invest in it for years.
I have friends whose bands are on it and none of them are satisfied with the paylay ratio, OR the supposed promotional benefits of being on the service. So you'd think I'd have qualms, but not really... there's no better or faster way to find out whether or not an album that you've never heard of is worth buying.

[Severian]

I actually use my Spotify account more at the record store than I do anywhere else. I peruse new releases and used bins (which, in many cases, actually contain more current/new artists than older ones) and when I run into something that looks appealing-- either because of the cover art, the label, the producer, the guest appearances or whatever-- all I have to do is pull out my iPhone and more often than not the entire discography of the artist in question is at my fingertips.

However, I get pissed a lot at the interface because there are so many missing pieces, especially for international artists or more "obscure" ones. I find that often recent releases are simply not there.

For example: Purling Hiss? They don't have jack shit after 2011. Yet the band just came out with the best album of their career, Weirdon.

Anyway, back in 2011 I was absolutely determined to invest a paycheck... just one paycheck... at the time, maybe $1500... into Spotify. I just had a feeling about it. But the girlfriend didn't approve, so it didn't happen. But .... well, let's not talk about what-if's. Hah.