[louder]

Originally Posted by Severian

Just telling you that, yes, I like him, but I haven't heard a lot. Damn, bitch you moody.

Thanks for the link!

sorry. it's all good.

i'd say that Return of 4Eva is his most definitive project.

[louder]

NEW: Rick Ross "The Devil Is a Lie" featuring Jay-Z.

https://soundcloud.com/rickyrozaymmg...ay-z-the-devil

WOO! i'm feelin' it.

[louder]

Denzel Curry is gonna drop a new EP soon. he said that Nostalgic 64 was alright but the next one is going to be crazy. can't wait.

[louder]

by the way, i still listen to Trap Lord all the time.

such a dope and unique album. i used to think that Ferg sucks after his verse on Ghetto Symphony, he surprised the hell outta me.

[noisereductions]

Originally Posted by louder

by the way, i still listen to Trap Lord all the time.

such a dope and unique album. i used to think that Ferg sucks after his verse on Ghetto Symphony, he surprised the hell outta me.

I never heard the album. I didn't like "Shabba."

[louder]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

I never heard the album. I didn't like "Shabba."

Shabba doesn't really capture Ferg's weirdness.

the album is very diverse and has everything for everybody, so you should still give it a listen.

at least check out "Hood Pope", "Fergivicious" and "Cocaine Castle".

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by louder

by the way, i still listen to Trap Lord all the time.

such a dope and unique album. i used to think that Ferg sucks after his verse on Ghetto Symphony, he surprised the hell outta me.

I was just bumping this earlier this week all the more remembering why I don't bump this dude frequently. Its not the worst rap, its just got too much of what I don't like going on all the time. Same thing with Kendrick, its not necessarily bad (though the obvious biting of Talib Kweli's style/delivery gets old fast) on its own, its just at the same time not really that great. I think MC TREE is the best soul-trap, he sincerely gets it. Its not about necessarily being gangsta, just street and hustlin.. Ferg be trying to come across as "hard" and in the post-1990s rap world its sort of like trying to be a Karl Malone tough-guy in the 2010s NBA. Dudes will just look at you do your tough guy shit and swish all kinds of shots running in circles around you. 1990s tough guy rap was cool for its time, but it was part of a certain era were authentic low-lives happened to get big-time rap contracts and air-play, by the 2000s these folks seemed a bit out of place or touch, and a more "artistic" side of hip-hop returned to the mainstream. Its probably a direct result of the soul/conscious rap era from 1998-2004 when rappers like Outkast, Common, Black Star, The Fugees,Tribe Called Quest, Dilated Peoples, even a mellower version of DJ Quik were putting out records that were NOT about being tough guys. This shift towards conscious and soul rap I think has permeated all elements of the post-2004 era..

[louder]

you gotta admit that Chance the Rapper shits on MC Tree though.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by louder

you gotta admit that Chance the Rapper shits on MC Tree though.

hardly! Chance is cool, but MC Tree comes across as a more authentic "MC" than Chance, his is a bit too much "art rap" so it borders more on the Janelle Monae style of hip-hop, whereas MC Tree is totally, utterly, almost throw-back version of hip-hop. MC Tree reminds me totally of what would happened if the best of the 1980s rappers combined with the best of the 1990s rappers to form some kind of super-rap hybrid! Chance is cool, but MC Tree kills it in every way.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by SuchFriendsAreDangerous

hardly! Chance is cool, but MC Tree comes across as a more authentic "MC" than Chance, his is a bit too much "art rap" so it borders more on the Janelle Monae style of hip-hop, whereas MC Tree is totally, utterly, almost throw-back version of hip-hop. MC Tree reminds me totally of what would happened if the best of the 1980s rappers combined with the best of the 1990s rappers to form some kind of super-rap hybrid! Chance is cool, but MC Tree kills it in every way.

I am totally with SuchFriends on this one. I think Chance is probably (definitely) the popular choice, but Tree made a better record this year. Acid Rap is great, but sounds so familiar. Tribe beats, graduation-era Ye sensibility, and an unapologetically "backpacker" approach, almost like Lootpack on ecstasy.

That's all fine and good, but we've already see this show. Many times. I think Tree challenges listeners in a major way. Not only is his voice almost intolerable at first, but with time you realize that he's remarkably versatile as a performer, with a range that spans from soul I street.

To me, Tree is almost like a Marvin Gaye figure. Socially conscious and "above" the darkness and violence of hood life, but definitely someone who has experienced the urban ghetto lifestyle. Chance sounds almost like a well-to- do hipster who can't speak to that particular experience. And unfortunately, this makes him sound oddly detached from his own genre. Almost disingenuous and unrealistic.

"What's better than trippin is bein in love"

Really, Chance? That's great that you've lived the kind of 20 year lifetime that would bring you to that concision, but you are talking shit. 90% of your fan base probably wishes they knew what the fuck you meant by that. I'm talking about high school kids who are entrenched in violence and drug culture; girls whose closest experience to "love" has been hesitantly consensual sex with older boys who terrify them into saying "yes;" and teenage street hustlers who sell drugs because its the only way they can bring money home to their families.

I'm officially in tirade mode now, I guess. I just think Chance is a shining example of what people can do when they have support and opportunity. Tree (MC TREE?) seems like a more realistic take on the "smart/bright/special" hoodlum, rising above the negativity in his surroundings, but still representing the demographic that he's speaking to.

Now, unfortunately, Neither artist had the best mixtape of the year. Nope. That went to Doley Bernays, who I don't think anyone else has commented on yet. Now that kid has seen shit. His tape will make you cry, even while making your chest vibrate with heady beats and stellar production. His stories sound painful real in a way that neither Tree's purposeful grit, nor Chance's prep-school sheen can match. Just in Case is a fucking street record, and it goes hard as hell.

I'm still working on my best of my best of the year lists. I hope it's not 2014 by the time I get them posted.

[louder]

Lord Infamous just passed away, damn. RIP.

[louder]

where are you guys? why is this thread dead?

---

i don't really have the time to write lengthy posts yet.

however here's my fav rap songs of the year list:

A$AP Ferg - Work (Remix)
A$AP Nast - Trillmatic
A$AP Rocky - 1 Train
Big K.R.I.T. - R.E.M.
Chance the Rapper - Lost
Danny Brown - 25 Bucks
Drake - Furthest Thing
Earl Sweatshirt - Sunday
Future - Karate Chop (Remix)
Kanye West - Blood on the Leaves
Lil Wayne - You Song
Pusha T - King Push
Schoolboy Q - Man of the Year
The Underachievers - Revelations

[Severian]

I just realized what a kickass album SelfMade 3 is. Damn it. Just when I thought I had my list sorted out.

Louder- we're doing songs too?? Aw fuck man, you're killing me! (Though I'm kinda loving it)

[noisereductions]

working on my top 10 of the year

soon

[noisereductions]

am I the only one still waiting for Mike G to prove he's OF's hidden weapon?

[louder]

i've been on an early-mid 00's kick lately.

The Blueprint, Late Registration and Be have been on heavy rotation. such a beautiful era for hip-hop.

[noisereductions]

I like listening to The Blueprint and Stillmatic back-to-back.

[Severian]

Re: Trap Lord

This is the most overhyped hip hop album of the year (oh wait- MMLP2... never mind.. but still...) and I have to admit that I have never listened to it from start to finish. I can only handle the album in thirds. It's just far too full of the kind of machismo and one-dimensional lyrics that went out with the 90's.

Also- I fucking love A$AP Rocky, but I am not prepared for A$AP Mob to start flooding the market with solo releases. In order for me to be even open to the idea, they'd have to start working on their stage names.
Calling everyone "A$AP ----" is going to get real heavy handed real fast.

A$AP Rocky has an undeniably iconic quality to it, and brings to mind speed, money, boxing, all of which "work" within the conceptual hip hop zeitgeist (never mind its taunting similarity to Aesop Rock). "Ferg" and "Nast," however, sound super fucking stupid. They need to take a lesson from hip hop's reigning and longest living "mob," and unite under a symbol or logo, rather than a shared signifying prefix that will get old long before every member pops out a studio album of his own.

I guess I just think Rocky's albums are so incredibly good that flooding the market with A$AP's may ultimately make it hard to identify Rocky as the "leader." I mean, shit... hip hop is fickle, and I'd hate to see A$AP Balls (er whatever) outsell our boy and make our attention deficient brethren forget all about his skinny ass.

In short- Get your own moniker! Hip Hop, even in a collective, is not a communist endeavor! Why am I so worked up about this!??! I don't know!!!

[Severian]

Originally Posted by louder

i've been on an early-mid 00's kick lately.

The Blueprint, Late Registration and Be have been on heavy rotation. such a beautiful era for hip-hop.

I've been listening to Late Registration and Graduation, along with Jay-Z's American Gangster and Blueprint 3 lately.

Also I've been making more of an effort to appreciate Vol.3 - Life and Times of S. Carter. As big of a Jay-Z fan as I am, I've only ever really *loved* Reasonable Doubt, Vol.2, Black Album, Blueprint, and American Gangster Blueprint 3.

That leaves several albums that require more of my attention.

I'm never going to love Gift and the Curse though. Goddamn, man. That's his worst album. Kingdom Come and Magna Carta (hell, even Unplugged) shit all over it.

[noisereductions]

A$AP Mob's album is gonna kill it this year.

Rocky says he never heard of Aesop Rock.

Eh, using the same names thing is no different than The Ramones.

BTW, I really like MMLP2 now. And Drake's album.