yeah the gulf between the excitement AROUND the music and excitement IN the music feels like Jay Electronica all over again tbh
― sockness, just sockness (Mr. Stevenson #2), Wednesday, 7 December 2011 18:46 (twelve years ago) link
i think krs-one performed at a ron paul rally in mpls recently, or was supposed to unless he flaked out or something
― upper mississippi 2: still shakin, Wednesday, 7 December 2011 18:47 (twelve years ago) link
haha krs, THAT's who i should've thought of
― sockness, just sockness (Mr. Stevenson #2), Wednesday, 7 December 2011 18:51 (twelve years ago) link
― sockness, just sockness (Mr. Stevenson #2), Wednesday, December 7, 2011 12:46 PM (29 minutes ago) Bookmark Permalink
jay electronica had like 2 tracks that had everyone proclaiming him the next coming of nas. i don't think its really comparable
i definitely prefer schoolboy q from that crew, but Kendrick's record engages w/ a lot more of the modern sound of hip-hop. I agree that people looking for a ~deep rapper~ have put way more on him than is fair, but he does a really good job imo of stitching together Lupe-ish ambition with a Drake-esque atmosphere and then being very good at rapping. I recognize the two of these things sound like something bad but ... i like it a lot more than Drake or Lupe, at any rate.
― joey joe joe junior shabadoo, Wednesday, 7 December 2011 19:20 (twelve years ago) link
the jay electronica comparison had nothing to do w/ the quantity of music they've released. it's immaterial.
― sockness, just sockness (Mr. Stevenson #2), Wednesday, 7 December 2011 19:27 (twelve years ago) link
it's definitely like, berkley hippie socially conscious lil b thing but... coherent and pretty well thought out
i think the production is great too, pretty inventive stuff that's definitely in the 'kush & orange juice'/40 shabib universe but not as soundscapey as a lot of that stuff
― v-shasty, Wednesday, 7 December 2011 19:28 (twelve years ago) link
i think people pushed a lot more of that 'the savior of conscious rap' thing on jay electronica than they do kendrick lamar -- i think lamar is still sorta seen as like a non-gangster weed rapper who actually has something to say. idk, it feels different to me.
― v-shasty, Wednesday, 7 December 2011 19:30 (twelve years ago) link
yeah i'm probably combining the breathless praise and the imagery of the "HiiiPoWeR" video into an idea of him that is not entirely accurate or faithful to his reputation
― sockness, just sockness (Mr. Stevenson #2), Wednesday, 7 December 2011 19:36 (twelve years ago) link
that song really gave me k'naan-level do not want vibes, though
― sockness, just sockness (Mr. Stevenson #2), Wednesday, 7 December 2011 19:37 (twelve years ago) link
thats relly not what his album is about, and i think the number of songs jay electronica has released is entirely material! it was hype over nothing, whereas there is, in fact, a long & interesting record that kendrick dropped that people are largely responding to, and its a lot more diverse than you'd get from just looking at a couple seconds of the hiii power video
― joey joe joe junior shabadoo, Wednesday, 7 December 2011 19:40 (twelve years ago) link
yeah, it's definitely not... k'naan
― v-shasty, Wednesday, 7 December 2011 19:41 (twelve years ago) link
i don't think kendrick is going to be doing a song about world peace with will.i.am and shakira for the world cup
― v-shasty, Wednesday, 7 December 2011 19:42 (twelve years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhLLtek4aEQ
― joey joe joe junior shabadoo, Wednesday, 7 December 2011 19:42 (twelve years ago) link
ive listened to this one a lot
i mean his twerpy voice is very k'naan
― sockness, just sockness (Mr. Stevenson #2), Wednesday, 7 December 2011 19:43 (twelve years ago) link
the one w/ GLC on the album is dope
― v-shasty, Wednesday, 7 December 2011 19:43 (twelve years ago) link
its just an interlude-ish joint btw i wasnt trying to append this to the discussion with al
― joey joe joe junior shabadoo, Wednesday, 7 December 2011 19:43 (twelve years ago) link
his voice sounds nothing like kanaans, jesus, not even close`
― joey joe joe junior shabadoo, Wednesday, 7 December 2011 19:45 (twelve years ago) link
i still think wiz khalifa and wale have very similar voices too ::shrugs::
― sockness, just sockness (Mr. Stevenson #2), Wednesday, 7 December 2011 19:47 (twelve years ago) link
i just feel like you're compartmentalizing rappers into such distinct categories that you can't even begin to comprehend someone hearing a very elemental sonic similarity based on something more external and superficial -- it's like "no no they have NOTHING in common, this guy wears doo rags and this guy wears kufis!!!!"
― sockness, just sockness (Mr. Stevenson #2), Wednesday, 7 December 2011 19:49 (twelve years ago) link
lol, i feel like this cricles back to the basis of the 'regional thug' argument
― v-shasty, Wednesday, 7 December 2011 19:50 (twelve years ago) link
haha uh oh
― sockness, just sockness (Mr. Stevenson #2), Wednesday, 7 December 2011 19:51 (twelve years ago) link
the thing i like about kendrick lamar is that he raps better than all those new rappers with a bit of internet hype.
― sisilafami, Wednesday, 7 December 2011 20:00 (twelve years ago) link
as simple as that
― sisilafami, Wednesday, 7 December 2011 20:01 (twelve years ago) link
that is also true
― v-shasty, Wednesday, 7 December 2011 20:02 (twelve years ago) link
and then he can make a good song, he has some really dope production, blogs seems to like him but he's not soft...
― sisilafami, Wednesday, 7 December 2011 20:02 (twelve years ago) link
yeah i mean he's got better bars than a$ap rocky no doubt
― sockness, just sockness (Mr. Stevenson #2), Wednesday, 7 December 2011 20:05 (twelve years ago) link
yeah as a technical rapper kendrick is obv preferable to any of the other dudes mentioned in this convo, & i did like a few of the songs on that album but most of them seemed like kind of a mess to me, i really don't get the pac comparisons some ppl (and lamar himself) were pushing, even aside from the laughable implication in terms of quality wrt that comparison i don't feel like he's a very inviting or likeable persona, he's kind of blank actaully
― k3vin k., Wednesday, 7 December 2011 21:38 (twelve years ago) link
― sockness, just sockness (Mr. Stevenson #2), Wednesday, 7 December 2011 19:49 (1 hour ago) Permalink
thanks for ascribing superficial stupidity to me but now, just, like, on any level they don't have similar voices; neither do Wale and Wiz. the comparisons both seem bizarre to me.
Kendrick has a much less corny flow and vocal tone, he has more control, his voice doesn't dip up in frequency like ka'naan's does. it's nowhere near as corny. i mean, they might have voices at roughly the same frequency but that's true of tons of other rappers as well.
― joey joe joe junior shabadoo, Wednesday, 7 December 2011 21:38 (twelve years ago) link
i mean, lamar just sounds cooler and less earnestly eager-to-please than kanaan, and i mean that in the sense of his vocals, never mind his lyrics. Lyrically, Kendrick is also a lot more oblique & less on-the-nose obvious about what his 'point' is, it's a lot more about conveying a feeling than trying to hammer home a message
― joey joe joe junior shabadoo, Wednesday, 7 December 2011 21:41 (twelve years ago) link
dying @ lil b being a conscious rapperor whatever btw, boots riley weeps
― k3vin k., Wednesday, 7 December 2011 21:41 (twelve years ago) link
honestly, I wouldn't carry this argument on if I didn't think that Al would probably like the album a bit more than he realizes based off of the tracks he's sampled -- I can see why he would have that kind of snap judgement, but the record is really diverse & interesting & he's definitely a talented performer, with a lot more depth stylistically than the other artists mentioned here
― joey joe joe junior shabadoo, Wednesday, 7 December 2011 21:46 (twelve years ago) link
yeah kendrick actually makes an effort to flip new styles in his actual rapping as opposed to his clothes or his twitter brand
― gucc_ebooks (tpp), Wednesday, 7 December 2011 22:00 (twelve years ago) link
the adhd video is really really cool too
― gucc_ebooks (tpp), Wednesday, 7 December 2011 22:02 (twelve years ago) link
that said he should probably check 'setbacks' first
― joey joe joe junior shabadoo, Wednesday, 7 December 2011 22:02 (twelve years ago) link
Here's The Wire's rap list from the year end thread
Chris Brown featuring Lil Wayne & Busta Rhymes Look At Me Now (Jive) Danny Brown XXX (Fools Gold) Jay-Z & Kanye West Niggas In Paris (Def Jam) Kendrick Lamar Section 80 (TDE) Lil B Bitch Mob: Respect Da Bitch Vol 1 (No label) Meek Mill House Party (Maybach Music Group) Mr Muthafuckin’ Exquire Huzzah (YouTube clip) Tyler, The Creator Yonkers (OFWGKTA/XL) Don Trip & Starlito Step Brothers (No label) Waka Flocka Flame Duflocka Rant (No label)
― Number None, Wednesday, 7 December 2011 22:22 (twelve years ago) link
haha i find it hard to believe ppl are actually repping for 'respect da bitch'. do i need to listen to it again?
'house party' is fucking amazing
who is writing the wire's hip-hop column now? still noz?
― gucc_ebooks (tpp), Wednesday, 7 December 2011 22:25 (twelve years ago) link
yeah, didn't know he was a fan of "Niggas in Paris" tho
― Number None, Wednesday, 7 December 2011 22:26 (twelve years ago) link
― joey joe joe junior shabadoo, Wednesday, December 7, 2011 4:38 PM (48 minutes ago) Bookmark Permalink
― joey joe joe junior shabadoo, Wednesday, December 7, 2011 4:41 PM (45 minutes ago) Bookmark Permalink
90% of what you just said has nothing to do w/ vocal timbre, i'm not 'ascribing stupidity' to you if you want to keep changing the subject and ignoring what i'm actually saying
― sockness, just sockness (Mr. Stevenson #2), Wednesday, 7 December 2011 22:28 (twelve years ago) link
even i'm a fan of "niggas in paris" even though kanye needs to be REMOVED from it badly
― degas-dirty monet (lex pretend), Wednesday, 7 December 2011 22:30 (twelve years ago) link
http://www.highsnobiety.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/kanye-west-entourage-fashion-week-paris.jpg
never forget goin gorillas
― sockness, just sockness (Mr. Stevenson #2), Wednesday, 7 December 2011 22:31 (twelve years ago) link
hey smartass how is accusing me of differentiating rappers based on headgear not accusing me of superficial stupidity?
and yes i specifically addressed vocal tone in what i just said, about how they use their voices?
― joey joe joe junior shabadoo, Wednesday, 7 December 2011 22:45 (twelve years ago) link
(youtube clip)
― good webinar (ha ha I'm having a fantasy), Wednesday, 7 December 2011 22:46 (twelve years ago) link
like, what post of mine is this even referring to? 'such distinct categories'??
― joey joe joe junior shabadoo, Wednesday, 7 December 2011 22:47 (twelve years ago) link
before it was "distortions," now it's "accusations," you're really just incapable of shooting the shit about music without sounding like a politician on the defensive dude
― Mr. Stevenson #2, Wednesday, 7 December 2011 22:47 (twelve years ago) link
if you stop trying to argue with strawmen it would be a lot easier to not be defensive about it
― joey joe joe junior shabadoo, Wednesday, 7 December 2011 22:48 (twelve years ago) link
it was a humorous exaggeration, not an actual serious allegation that you judge rappers by their mystical hats as you do with jazz musicians
― Mr. Stevenson #2, Wednesday, 7 December 2011 22:48 (twelve years ago) link
you're exaggerating a position i dont even hold
― joey joe joe junior shabadoo, Wednesday, 7 December 2011 22:50 (twelve years ago) link
anyway all i meant by the k'naan thing was that kendrick lamar seems like the kind of rapper i might enjoy if his voice had the slightest bit of gravitas, i'm sorry if that's just a bizarre thing to say but i'm just giving a first impression and not digging my heels in or anything
― Mr. Stevenson #2, Wednesday, 7 December 2011 22:51 (twelve years ago) link
thats fine, i don't even love the kendrick record like that, it just seemed like an overly harsh judgement considering
― joey joe joe junior shabadoo, Wednesday, 7 December 2011 22:52 (twelve years ago) link