tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24634552645293997692024-03-08T14:51:21.023-08:00On Hip HopYour home for hip hop criticismGlenn Thropehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17632172014228097557noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2463455264529399769.post-47694127385233361532016-06-29T20:10:00.000-07:002016-06-29T20:11:23.546-07:00Nobody Speak - DJ Shadow ft. Run the Jewels<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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"Nobody Speak", the recent <a href="https://soundcloud.com/massappealrecs/dj-shadow-nobody-speak-feat-run-the-jewels" target="_blank">single</a> from DJ Shadow featuring Run the Jewels, is the perfect pairing of producer and MCs. As DJ Shadow <a href="https://soundcloud.com/massappealrecs/dj-shadow-nobody-speak-feat-run-the-jewels" target="_blank">said</a> himself, "Occasionally, I make a beat that demands a specific vocal treatment and attitude. In the case of 'Nobody Speak,' I wasn't going to settle for anyone other than Run The Jewels; in my mind, it was them or no one."</div>
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DJ Shadow's beat manages to be hard and a bit silly at the same time. The brass and saxophone heighten the mood while also bordering on cartoonishness. The descending guitar and bass lines also add to the tension, and the synthesizer interlude after the second verse is completely bonkers and delightful.</div>
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And then there's Run the Jewels. Their characteristically over-the-type rhymes and ridiculous boasts are the perfect complement to DJ Shadow's bombastic beat. Killer Mike's first verse is particularly vicious, and hilarious:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
I am crack<br />
I ain't lying; kick a lion in his crack<br />
I'm the shit, I will fall off in your crib, take a shit<br />
Pinch your momma on the booty, kick your dog, fuck your bitch<br />
Fat boy dressed up like he's Santa and took pictures with your kids</blockquote>
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The word play at the beginning is ingenious, but the hypotheticals that follow are completely off the hook. Take a crap at your house? Take Santa pictures with your kids? Kick your dog, for heaven's sake? The swagger is so ridiculous and creative that it is actually quite endearing - a curious paradox that Run the Jewels frequently achieves.</div>
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RTJ have been making this type of in your face, take no prisoners music since 2013, serving as a mainline injection of adrenaline-fueled badassery into the heart of hip hop. And judging by their <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbuqo6NfVB8" target="_blank">fantastic performance</a> of "Nobody Speak" on Fallon earlier this month, they're showing no signs of slowing down.</div>
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Glenn Thropehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17632172014228097557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2463455264529399769.post-2435721460470946562016-06-27T18:46:00.000-07:002016-06-27T18:46:00.552-07:00Lupe Fiasco's "Kick, Push"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hip hop does boisterous, bombastic, and braggadocious extremely well. What is also does well, though with much less recognition, is reminiscence. Nowhere do we do we hear this more beautifully than on Lupe Fiasco's "Kick, Push", off his classic freshman album, <i>Food & Liquor</i>.<br />
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First, the beat. The longing, melancholic horns crescendo to an extended chord. The mysterious guitar and strings are lush, deepening the mood. The drums are simple, without ostentations.<br />
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And then there's Lupe. Rather than celebrating his status as a rapidly rising rapper, he focuses on the opposite - his experiences growing up as a misfit. The simple chorus of the song - "kick, push, kick, push, coast" - emphasizes Lupe's outsider status; he literally sings about getting away from others. Lupe vividly comes back to this theme throughout the song:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Branded, since the first kickflip he landed<br />Labeled a misfit, a bandit<br />Ka-kunk ka-kunk ka-kunk, his neighbors couldn't stand it<br />So he was banished to the park<br />Started in the morning, wouldn't stop 'til after dark<br />Yeah, when they said "It's getting late in here<br />So I'm sorry young man, there's no skatin' here"</blockquote>
Branded, banished, misfit, bandit - this is how Lupe truly sees himself, and this sincerity shines throughout "Kick, Push" as well as the rest of <i>Food & Liquor</i>. This feeling of being an outsider, and his honesty about it, is a big part of what made Lupe such a tantalizing rapper early in his career. In some ways, perhaps Lupe's self-perception explains the wandering, at times tumultuous arc of his career. After <i>Food & Liquor</i>, Lupe was undoubtedly a star. But when you think of yourself as a loner, that can be a hard thing to accept.</div>
Glenn Thropehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17632172014228097557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2463455264529399769.post-73003608011270390612016-06-26T19:55:00.001-07:002016-06-26T19:57:06.728-07:00FX's Atlanta - Trailer Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I'm not sure what it is about this trailer for FX's upcoming series, Atlanta, but I can't stop watching it. Maybe it's the entrancing jerkiness of the protagonists movements, apparently reverse footage of the three of them walking... backwards. Maybe it's the incredibly funky beat (courtesy of Tame Impala's 2015 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjWs-lVa8Oc" target="_blank">banger</a> <i>New Person, Same Old Mistakes</i>). Maybe it's the way to letters ATLANTA seem to melt onto the screen at the end of the clip. Maybe it's the graffiti riddled, wide open city streets our heroes find themselves in, and the inevitable questions all of this inspires: What is happening here? Where are these guys going? Why are they going in a different direction from everyone else? Whatever the answers, I can't wait to find out.</div>
Glenn Thropehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17632172014228097557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2463455264529399769.post-74617313152358392032016-05-31T17:20:00.001-07:002016-05-31T17:20:07.254-07:00Kanye West's "Celebration"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iF1MiNtAWE" target="_blank">Celebration</a> from Late Registration represents Kanye West at his absolute best.<br />
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The beat opens with squeaky synthesizers over a sturdy drum beat. Soon, a luscious string section comes in, followed by a boisterous low synth. When Kanye comes in with the brilliantly simple chorus, his voice is sheer joy: "Yea, you know what this is... It's a celebration bitches!"<br />
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As the song proceeds, Kanye introduces a sped-up background chorus as well as a trombone countermelody, and continues to take advantage of the beautiful string section at his disposal. He sings, he raps, he whoops, he laughs - all of it with a sense of wonder, excitement, and effervescence. At one point he hypothetically tells his future child about the origins of his conception - it's pretty messed up, to be honest - but does it a flippancy and casualness that are utterly disarming.<br />
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Celebration represents Kanye at a more innocent moment in his career. Before fame, before family, before everything that now falls into the meta-being that is "Kanye", there were songs like this - living, breathing embodiments of Kanye's joy in making music.</div>
Glenn Thropehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17632172014228097557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2463455264529399769.post-53307454710540014922016-03-21T17:56:00.002-07:002016-03-21T17:56:50.306-07:00What is an album?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
What is an album?<br />
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It used to be something you bought in a store as an encoded plastic disc. Then it became a sequence of 1s and 0s you downloaded to your local hard drive. Now, it is increasingly something you stream from the cloud. And with the latest evolution, the very idea of an album as a finished, permanent collection of songs is being undermined before our eyes.<br />
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Since the release of Kanye West's "The Life of Pablo" on February 14th on the music streaming service Tidal, Kanye has reportedly updated the album <a href="http://pitchfork.com/news/64176-kanye-west-updates-the-life-of-pablo-sia-and-vic-mensa-back-on-wolves-frank-ocean-gets-own-track/" target="_blank">multiple times</a>. There was no way for listeners to know that this had happened, other than to discover the changes organically, and earlier versions of the album are no longer available. There is no indication of when the modifications will stop, if ever; in theory the album could keep changing forever, one song after another, until the latest product bares no resemblance to the original one. One continuously evolving entity. If it's the journey that matters and not the destination, Kanye has invited his audience to continuously observe his journey, with no promise of a destination.<br />
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What could a truly "evergreen" album look like? Or a book, or a painting? It could start as sketches, outlines, basic beats, and then over time take on more structure and polish. It could switch directions suddenly, losing huge pieces and gaining new ones overnight. It could disappear completely. It could be different to every person who listened to it. As Kanye <a href="https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/709872072604913664" target="_blank">tweeted</a>, it could be a "living breathing changing creative expression."</div>
Glenn Thropehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17632172014228097557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2463455264529399769.post-45770823972227322542016-01-10T17:05:00.001-08:002016-01-10T17:05:56.464-08:00Kanye - Real Friends<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Absolutely divine moment when the beat drops in Kanye's new single Real Friends. The contrast between the ghostly keyboard and the hard hitting drums... a much needed reminder of what makes Kanye Kanye.<br />
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<a href="https://soundcloud.com/kanyewest/real-friends-no-more-parties-in-la-snipped">https://soundcloud.com/kanyewest/real-friends-no-more-parties-in-la-snipped</a></div>
Glenn Thropehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17632172014228097557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2463455264529399769.post-61464143188862365282016-01-02T18:02:00.000-08:002016-01-10T17:03:18.150-08:00Drake Rapping to... Clipse?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A fantastic Drake nugget I found in an <a href="http://www.missinfo.tv/index.php/history-of-lil-wayne-pusha-t-beef/">ancient article</a> on the "beef" between Clipse and Lil Wayne:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">
Drake also revealed that Pharrell and the Startrak movement inspired him to get into music. He even went so far as to pay $200 on eBay for a plastic microphone that was allegedly signed by Pusha T of Startrak’s rap group Clipse. He used the plastic microphone to act out imaginary red carpet interviews and perform Clipse songs in his room.</blockquote>
The article is a great read in its entirety, but this anecdote about a young Drake ad libbing Clipse songs is particularly delicious. Drake and Pusha T often stand at opposite ends of the hip hop spectrum today - Pusha T with his hard-nosed street raps, and Drake with his introspective melodies. And yet despite these stylist differences, here we see another delightful example of game recognizing game.</div>
Glenn Thropehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17632172014228097557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2463455264529399769.post-81264612811876230462015-12-27T18:19:00.001-08:002015-12-27T18:19:20.456-08:00Pusha T on Unpredictable Lyrics<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Interesting RapGenius <a href="http://genius.com/8363313" target="_blank">annotation</a> from Pusha T himself on his fantastic new song, <i>Crutches, Crosses, Caskets</i>:</div>
<blockquote>
[Puff] told me that if he could see where my next line was going then that’s the wrong line. </blockquote>
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I can remember being in the car listening to Big verses and asking “What in the world makes Big think he can rap about a shootout, the love of his daughter, balling at All-Star in six bars?" </blockquote>
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How do you transition that? </blockquote>
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Puff telling me he doesn’t want to see where I’m going in a verse is the best explanation I got to answer questions pertaining to my favorite artist.</blockquote>
Is unpredictability truly the secret to great lyricism? Certainly it's one aspect of it, but can it be overdone, coming at the cost of coherence and narrative?</div>
Glenn Thropehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17632172014228097557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2463455264529399769.post-55926602558913212952015-12-20T18:16:00.002-08:002015-12-20T18:16:52.400-08:00Track Review: Pusha-T, Got Em Covered<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Consider the many layers to the beat in Pusha-T’s new track, <i>Got Em Covered</i>:<br />
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Pulsating bass, providing reverb throughout the entire song</li>
<li>Hypnotic, drug-addled strumming of the guitar </li>
<li>Hollowed-out drumming, funny and demented at the same time</li>
<li>Clanking tam-tams, not entirely in rhythm and lending the song a chaotic feel</li>
<li>Sparse snare drum, striking a single hit only every few measures</li>
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The depth of this production should be no surprise, given that Timbaland is the man behind the controls. But even for him, the beat of <i>Got Em Covered</i> is so textured, so hypnotic, and so unusual that it stands out on Pusha-T’s latest project. While very reminiscent of the Neptune’s production on the Clipse’s <i>Lord Willin’</i> and <i>Hell Hath No Fury</i>, <i>Got Em Covered</i> is also infused with Timbaland’s trademark obsession with unusual, almost bodily sounds. And for that, it is definitely worth a listen.</div>
Glenn Thropehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17632172014228097557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2463455264529399769.post-22974202951773644932015-10-25T11:42:00.004-07:002015-10-25T11:42:55.800-07:00Track Review: Like Me, Joey Bada$$<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Joey Bada$$'s "Like Me" is notable more for what it doesn't do than what it does. The beat is utterly understated, with The Roots complementing a J Dilla instrumental that is subtle, wistful, and completely relaxed. The soft horns, the strumming guitar, and especially the sparse keyboard line only add to the mellowness. Joey raps right in the pocket, never raising the tone of his voice above a gentle pitter patter. BJ the Chicago Kid croons casually in the background, adding atmosphere without subtracting cohesiveness.<br />
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Towards the end of Like Me, the beat modulates to a more up tempo, intense cadence. The song concludes open-endedly, the guitar line moving back and forth between two chords, seemingly posing an open question. In the end, Like Me is the rare hip hop track that successfully establishes a laid back vibe without sacrificing precision or musicality. And for this, the track is one of the most delightful and surprising tracks of the year so far.</div>
Glenn Thropehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17632172014228097557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2463455264529399769.post-58369273061028009122015-01-27T19:18:00.004-08:002015-01-27T19:18:58.807-08:00The good, the bad, the beautiful<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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There are few things better than discovering a song you’ve never heard before, yet feeling like you’ve known the song for decades. You simply forgot how much you loved it.</div>
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I recently had this experience when I listened to Consequence’s “The Good, The Bad, The Ugly,” produced by and featuring none other than Kanye West.</div>
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First and foremost, THE BEAT. This is classic Kanye in every sense of the word. The song opens with an introduction to the underlying sample, and soon accelerates towards the actual beat.</div>
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One of Kanye’s greatest characteristics is his ability to <a href="http://onhiphop.blogspot.com/2008/11/kanye-producer.html" target="_blank">create completely new sounds</a> without abandoning the vibe of his underlying samples. This song is a premiere example of just that. Listen to the way the sample is used first as a triplet hemiola against the drums, and then the syncopation of the second half of the repeating vocal pattern. The strings are also classic Kanye, reminiscent of so many heaters off Late Registration.</div>
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With a beat like this, Consequence and Kanye don’t have to do much. Consequence does a pretty good Talib Kweli impersonation. Kanye says a bunch of Kanye things.</div>
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But that beat man… DAMN. This is the epitome of the <a href="http://genius.com/715194" target="_blank">soul sound</a>, and everything that Kanye used to propel himself to the top of the music world. In short, this song shows one of the greatest producers ever at the peak of his powers. Revel in the good, the bad, and the otherworldly.</div>
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Glenn Thropehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17632172014228097557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2463455264529399769.post-61548983398086336052014-03-16T10:08:00.003-07:002014-03-16T14:30:18.479-07:00Allow me to introduce myself; favorite album openings<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My five favorite hip hop album openings:<br />
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1. <b>Snoop Dogg, Doggystyle</b> - Snoop chatting with Warren G over the smooth grooves of Curtis Mayfield. In a bathtub. It doesn't get any better than this.<br />
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2. <b>Nas, Illmatic</b> - Hennessy, subway noise, and hand guns - this track sets the tone for the entire album. And it does so over one of the best and most underrated beats on the LP, thick with heavy bass and driving percussion.<br />
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3. <b>Drake, Take Care</b> - One of the most brilliantly orchestrated album opening of all-time. A simple and daring declaration of what Take Care will musically be about. The piano starts with a simple riff, followed by the gentle tapping of a muted drum. By the time vocal part enters, we're in heaven.<br />
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4. <b>Eminem, The Slim Shady LP</b> - "Don't do drugs." Enough said.<br />
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5. <b>Common, Be</b> - An album opening that I personally go back and forth on... but the innovative approach here is undeniable. This opening lays out the formula that others (see Drake, Take Care) would perfect. The record starts with a single base line, completely exposed, and gradually builds towards a somewhat regrettable string part. But still, the courage and simplicity of Kanye's production, combined with Common's terrific flow, makes for one of the most distinctive intros ever.<br />
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<i>Honorable mentions:</i><br />
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50 Cent, Get Rich or Die Tryin<br />
Jay-Z, Kingdom Come<br />
Clipse, Hell Hath No Fury<br />
Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy<br />
Wu Tang Clan, Enter the Wu Tang (36 Chambers)</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2463455264529399769.post-3097841971046871632014-03-15T10:53:00.000-07:002014-03-16T10:22:28.270-07:00Hot in Herre... FOREVER?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Latino Mix 105.7, a radio station in San Francisco, has been <a href="http://gawker.com/a-california-radio-station-has-been-playing-nelly-for-1-1544497911">looping</a> Nelly's Hot in Herre for 19 hours straight and counting. I've been listening to the station <a href="http://latinomixsf.univision.com/">online</a> for the last hour and I can verify this report. The song plays, and with literally no break at all starts again from the beginning. Nary an interruption, save for the occasional commercial in Spanish.<br /><br />I cannot express to you how amazing this is. But let us try and count the ways:<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Hot in Herre is awesome. Nelly at the peak of his "powers." One of the greatest choruses of all time. And a beat that just puts a smile on your face. I literally haven't stopped smiling since I put this station on.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>A subtle way in which Pharrell continues owning the pop culture moment. Pharrell helped write the song, and also produced it as one half of the Neptunes.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>"I think my butt getting big!"</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Hot in Herre came out in 2002. It's 12 years old. And yet it's still more fun than *anything* being played on the radio today. Seriously, name a song that came out in the past decade that's more fun than Hot in Herre. Call Me Maybe? Single Ladies? Blurred Lines? Please.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Nelly is actually really great on this song. His rhythmic integrity is impeccable. Right with the beat, every time.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>"I am getting so hot, I'm wanna take my clothes off." A sentence no human being has ever said in real life ever. And who is the woman who says this on the song? Did she get paid? Is she seeing royalties from this whole episode?</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Oh wait, an English commercial just came on. All the other ones were in Spanish. WHAT DOES IT MEAN?</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Is it possible environmentalists have commandeered the station, with this being their way of drawing attention to global warming?</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_in_Herre">wikipedia article</a> on Hot in Herre has already been updated: "At 3 PM on March 14, 2014, Latin Mix 105.7 in San Francisco began playing this on loop for eternity." Let us hope they're right!</li>
</ul>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2463455264529399769.post-77398770958328673612012-12-30T18:10:00.000-08:002012-12-30T18:10:12.193-08:00Ab Soul's Control System<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The all around winner of hip hop in 2012 was Kendrick Lamar,
and with good reason. His debut major label album, <i>good kid, m.A.A.d. City</i>, is a triumph of lyrical virtuosity,
impeccable production, and vivid storytelling. But another album from the past
year, largely overshadowed by <i>good kid</i>,
is also deserving of recognition: <i>Control System, </i>by<i> </i>Lamar's fellow label-mate, Ab-Soul.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i>Control System</i> is
a weird album. It includes one track named after a region in the brain (“Pineal
Gland”), another named after a piece of legislation (“Sopa”), and another
describing a symptom of Ab-Soul’s rare skin disease, Stevens Johnson Syndrome
(“Black Lip Bastard”). And yet, from this weirdness emerges a unique and thoughtful perspective on ideas treated far more conventionally by
mainstream rap.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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On "Pineal Gland," for example, Ab-Soul deconstructs his
drug-induced high in an almost scientific manner: “We in a space where matter
don’t matter / just spirit molecules and geometric patterns.” He also describes his former
poverty: “I was po’ like Edgar Allen.” This is not the type of allusion often found in mainstream rap. On “Track Two,” Soul describes himself
first as an “abstract asshole,” only to then rap: “Just imagine if Einstein got
high and sipped juice / Broke rules, got pussy, beat up rookies on Pro Tools /
You probably call his ass Soul Brother #2.” The lyrics of <i>Control System</i> always make for interesting, unexpected listening.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Beneath this eccentricity sits a layer of grief, specifically for the loss of Alori Joh, who committed suicide earlier in 2012. Joh’s
vocals appear several times on the album, including on “Empathy.” The album’s
catchiest track, "Empathy" explores a melancholy, on-again-off-again
relationship with presumably Joh: “I guess things ain’t going as well as you
expected / but baby don’t stress it / I hope you learned a lesson.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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And then, on “The Book of Soul,” Ab-Soul is
heart-wrenchingly candid:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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But I'm such a nice guy, why Lord?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Why Lori? Why'd you have to take
her from me?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
Guess you needed your angel face
for all of heaven to see<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
Your picture still on my mirror and
it's so scary<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
I swear I still ain't looked at
your obituary<o:p></o:p></div>
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So now I'm so doped up I think I'm
flying<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
I hope the spliff will never finish<o:p></o:p></div>
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I guess the Mayans wasn't lying<o:p></o:p></div>
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2012 my world ended<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
You used to say that I could see
the future<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
You was wrong, cuz you was in it<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Honest, mournful, a little quirky – this is what <i>Control System</i> is all about.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That’s not to say that the album is a complete downer. It’s also full of
certified bangers, including “Track Two,” “Bohemian Grove,” “Mixed Emotions,”
and “Lust Demons.” The rich production, provided largely by the Digi-Phonics, helps make the album a cover-to-cover listen, though it does require a few plays to get
oriented. Dense, introspective, and mournful, yet also virtuosic, mesmerizing,
and unexpected – <i>Control System</i> most
certainly represents a high point in hip hop for 2012.<o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment--></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2463455264529399769.post-21844888781368423662012-01-16T20:30:00.000-08:002012-01-16T21:19:06.343-08:00Album Review: Common's The Dreamer / The Believer<div>Hip hop music is inherently collaborative. The producer lays the song's foundation by creating the beat, and the MC dances on top of that foundation as he raps. Sometimes a good producer, or a good rapper, is enough to make a hit song. But to take the music to the next level – to create timeless, classic hip hop – producer and MC must operate as true collaborators, each complementing and challenging the other. As T.I. <a href="http://www.xxlmag.com/news/2011/12/t-i-gets-in-studio-with-dr-dre-trying-to-create-chemistry/">recently said</a> of the slow process of building rapport with Dr. Dre: "Of course we can get together, he got hot beats and I got dope rhymes, so we can always get together and make music… But for people to feel what we're sayin' and for it to sound like a party comin' through your speakers, you gonna have to create some chemistry. So that's what we spent more time doing than anything else, developing that chemistry."</div><div><br /></div><div>"The Dreamer / The Dreamer" represents a true example of a producer and MC – in this case, No I.D. and Common – operating as creative collaborators, not simply business partners. Two savvy veterans of the music industry and longtime collaborators, No I.D. and Common have put together an album that is both grand in its ambition and intimate in its listening experience. The beats have layers and layers of nuanced, thoughtful sonic levels, and the rhymes subtly explore those beats' rhythmic nooks and crannies.</div><div><br /></div><div>Nowhere is this more apparent than on "Blue Sky," which opens with a long, anticipatory crescendo. Common enters with energy and precision. <i>Stay Melo like Lala… Ladies go Gaga.</i> The second verse provides a whirlwind tour of Common's ascension from aspiring MC to hip hop mainstay, above average actor, and the president's buddy. The bridge section is where the song truly becomes special. The chorus is followed by a big, bombastic drum fill, and the track takes a turn for the dramatic, the dramatic, and the epic. Common returns with a passion, rapping with a subtly distorted voice: <i>Close my eyes, see things in front of me / I'm gone now – imagine what I'm gonna be.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>Before returning to the hook one final time, the song introduces a completely new vocal melody – a late outburst of creativity that recurs throughout the album, most notably on "Celebrate." <i>Out of the beautiful things that life could give me, crazy that I'm the one.</i> Despite its initial optimism, the song has transformed into a stormy, intense, and fervent experience. The sky may be blue, but it is also stormy, and Common and No I.D. explore this turbulence to extraordinary effect.</div><div><br /></div><div>"Blue Sky" transitions seamlessly – as do nearly all of the songs on "The Dreamer / The Believer" – into "Sweet," Common's so-called diss track apparently directed at singer-rapper Drake. The confrontational aspects of Sweet are fascinating for numerous reasons – a "conscious" rapper picking a fight with a man who mostly just sings about his feelings, Common turning the word "sweet" into an insult, every word Common uttered <a href="http://www.xxlmag.com/news/2011/12/common-admits-his-sweet-track-might-be-directed-at-drake/">here</a> – but the song is even more interesting on a musical level. Just like "Blue Sky," the song opens with a long, drawn out crescendo, building anticipation for when the beat finally drops. And when it does, it is something to behold. No I.D. has put together an aggressive, even threatening beat by sampling a woman singing "you look so sweet." The drums pop like a fire cracker. On top of all this, Common actually sounds menacing: <i>Come around my crib – you know where I'm from.</i> And later, defiantly concluding the song: <i>It's over for you – it's over.</i> His voice is sharp and his cadence precise, intense, and relentless.</div><div><br /></div><div>"Sweet" transitions into "Gold," and suddenly we have ascended from the blue sky into the heavens. The beat features a melody on guitar, complemented by soaring glissandos on the piano and delicate offbeats on the wood block. No I.D. is a master of knowing exactly when to drop the percussive background from his songs, and he does so perfectly here, both during the song's first chorus and especially during its conclusion. Common is so rhythmically and sonically in tune with the beat that he almost fades into the background – another instrument in a warm, angelic beat.</div><div><br /></div><div>On "Raw (How You Like It)," Common returns to hip hop's roots, using the medium as a platform for telling long-form stories rich in detail and wordplay. Vividly retelling the tale of a night on the town, gone slightly wrong: <i>She ordered Bacardi, getting twisted in the limelight / Seen that ass 'cause I got hindsight</i>. And the memorable climax, in which Common responds to a drunkard's unwelcome advances: <i>"You Hollywood" – nah, [baby] I'm Chicago / So I cracked his head with a motherfuckin' bottle</i>. The beat manages to take two of the most overused sounds in hip hop – the police siren and the blow horn – and use them in an interesting and fresh way. At the end of the song, No I.D. again cuts out the percussion at exactly the right time, revealing the beat's kinetic baseline and soaring vocals.</div><div><br /></div><div>What Common and No I.D. have done with "The Dreamer / The Believer" is far more than create a consistently entertaining, frequently great album. They have created a rich sonic landscape, with treasures buried throughout its intricate layers of beats and rhymes. The album certainly misses the mark on a handful of tracks, particularly "The Believer," in which John Legend is intolerable and Common is consistently behind the beat. Despite these minor blemishes, however, the album stands as a monumental testimony to all that is possible when producer and MC work together as true partners. This is refined, elegant hip hop, the type of music that is only possible when two longtime collaborators step into the studio one more time.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2463455264529399769.post-3192603384952368692011-08-27T19:24:00.000-07:002011-08-27T19:53:50.260-07:00Jay-Z and Kanye West's "Watch the Throne"<div>The most impressive aspect of "Watch the Throne," the collaborative album by Jay-Z and Kanye West, is that the project actually happened. When was the last time two of the biggest stars in pop culture shared the mic, not to mention album sales, media attention, and ticket revenue from their upcoming tour? It’s the equivalent of Ke$ha and Katy Perry doing a joint album, or John Mayer and Adam Levine. What seems unfathomable for those artists, Ye and Jay made a reality.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>And for that fact alone, the two men deserve tremendous credit. They’ve managed to nurture their longstanding artistic partnership – Kanye has been making beats for Jay-Z for over a decade – despite Kanye’s incredible ascent from ghost producer to full-fledged superstar. Furthermore, Jay-Z and Kanye’s collaboration has helped promote a spirit of teamwork across the entire rap industry.<sup>1</sup></div><div>
<br /></div><div>And yet "Watch the Throne" itself is a disappointment, particularly for Kanye. We’ve come to expect more from him. Each of his previous albums, with the possible exception of "Graduation," felt like something we’d never heard before. Each expanded the scope of what hip hop could be. Wait, you can make a number one hit from a Daft Punk sample? Or a Ray Charles impersonation? You can make a hip hop album using nothing but autotune? And you can make the album of the year by probing the depths of the id and featuring Bon Iver?</div><div>
<br /></div><div>In contrast to all this, "Watch the Throne" feels like the recycling of old ideas. "Murder to Excellence" is a poor man’s (and woefully out of tune<sup>2</sup>) "Power". "Lift Off" is a homeless man’s "All of the Lights." "Made in America" is an imitation of "Forever Young." "Otis" feels like it came straight off "The College Dropout." It feels like we’ve heard this album before.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>This isn’t to say that the album isn’t listenable. To the contrary, it’s solid, easy, and largely enjoyable, with both rappers in good form lyrically. "Gotta Have It" in particular features memorable banter between Kanye and Jay-Z, and the beat by The Neptunes is an all-timer. And yet, "Watch the Throne" doesn’t challenge us the way we’ve come to expect from a Kanye West album. Call it murder by excellence.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>
<br /></div><div>-----</div><div>
<br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">1. For evidence of this, look no further than Game’s "R.E.D. album," released this past Tuesday. The album manages to feature Southern giants (Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy, Big Boi), </span>West Coasters (Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, E40), the newcomers (Drake, Tyler the Creator, Wale), and Nelly Furtado.</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">
<br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><div><span class="Apple-style-span">2. Listen closely to the guitar at the beginning of the song, before the drums enter.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">
<br /></span></div></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2463455264529399769.post-90401763163030140782011-01-19T01:07:00.000-08:002011-01-19T10:02:54.861-08:00Album Review: Clipse's Hell Hath No Fury<p class="MsoNormal">The production on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Hell Hath No Fury</i>, the second album from Virginia-based rap duo Clipse, is sparing. Each song features one or two instruments along with a drum machine, and the same sounds are often sustained across multiple beats. The tracks are almost inaccessible, like an abstract painting with a few streaks of pigment arranged on an open canvas. Each has its own texture, its own feeling, and its own color.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Given that the album was produced entirely by the Neptunes – whose third album with the group N.E.R.D. was called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Seeing Sounds</i> – this should come as no surprise. The Neptunes often drift in directions that bare no relation to the rest rest of the music industry, and they seem especially uninhibited when working with Clipse. (Pharrell himself seems to acknowledge as much <a href="http://adventoutpost.com/2010/05/pharrell-interview-w-mixtape-daily/">here</a>.) In this case, the Neptunes have drifted in a minimalist direction, and their work here serves as a welcomed contrast to much of the over-produced music dominating radio waves today.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The beats on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Hell Hath No Fury</i> leave no place for an MC to hide, and the Clipse are up to the challenge. Younger brother Pusha T brings tremendous intensity to the microphone without ever losing control of his cadence. Older brother Malice, who on this album outshines his counterpart, is an ingenious wordsmith, an acerbic comedian, and a vivid storyteller. Both rap in perfect rhythm with the underlying beats, and neither tries to do too much. The hooks are all simple. The Clipse breathe space into their rhymes, allowing the texture of the Neptunes’s tracks to shine through. There is a true synergy between producer and rapper.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Here’s a track by track rundown of this remarkable album.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">We Got it for Cheap.</i> Along with album’s other bookend, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Nightmares</i>, this is the most accessible track on the album. The beat is simple – a bongo drum, a synthesized keyboard and, after the first few bars, a snare hit on beats two and four. That’s it – and yet the beat still manages to feel extremely rich. Malice’s verse, the second on the song, is one of the best on the album. He comes in with tremendous energy – “The wall’s removed and now I see; my leg was pulled, the joke’s on me” – and rides that energy throughout the rest of the song. Malice’s declaration, “Seems to me reparations are overdue,” fits in beautifully with the rhythm of the underlying percussion. Three minutes and forty seconds into the album, we’re off to an incredible start.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Momma I’m So Sorry</i>. The dominant theme of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Hell Hath No Fury</i> – and, arguably, the dominant theme in all of hip hop – is drug dealing. In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Momma I’m So Sorry</i>, however, the Clipse focus on the moral and psychological toll exacted by such activities, and even attempt to repent. Pusha T begins the last verse with a prayer: “Sorry heavenly father, once again I hate to bother.” The chorus proclaims, “Momma I’m so sorry, my only accomplice [is] my conscience.” All of this happens on top of a sorry-sounding accordion sample, like some kind of maudlin travelling carnival. Again, producer and MC both complement each other exquisitely.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Mr. Me Too</i>. The number three song on an album is frequently its biggest hit, like the number three hitter in a baseball lineup. The Clipse seem to thumb their nose at this convention, instead serving up <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Mr. Me Too</i>, one of the strangest tracks on the album. The beat features a hypnotized sounding synthesizer and stoned-out vocal sample. It grinds to a halt ever few bars for a perfectly square drum fill. Pharrell adds a dazed verse. The whole song has the feel of a vaguely disturbing dream.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Wamp Wamp (What It Do)</i>. The tension runs high throughout <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Wamp Wamp</i>, thanks in large part to a vintage Neptunes percussive arrangement. The sounds of the kettle drums ricochet from one ear to another. (It takes a good pair of headphones to fully appreciate this song.) Slim Thug is fantastic on the chorus, providing a hard edge on top of a soaring synthesized melody.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Ride Around Shining</i>. The production on this song comes as close as any to complete stasis. The snare drum hits squarely on beats one, two, and the upbeat of three, and nothing else, before a fill in beat four. A single piano chord extends, disturbingly, for bars at a time. The Clipse’s lyrics on the drug game seem detached from reality, especially when the drums drop out around the 2:30 mark.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Dirty Money.</i> This is probably the closest <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Hell Hath No Fury</i> comes to a dance song – which is to say, not particularly close. And that’s just fine. On <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Dirty Money</i>, an electric guitar plays a simple riff, and a standard drumbeat comes down hard on beats three and four every few measures. Malice discusses the high flying life of a rapper, both glorifying it and drawing attention to its superficiality. Speaking to a hypothetical groupie, he finds a clever way of indirectly extoling himself: “You done got you a rapper, I see your vision – and one of the best too, that’s ambition.” At the same time, Pusha suggests that something is important is lacking here: “You can tell me ’bout your day, I pretend I’ll listen; and you ain’t gotta love me, just be convincing.”<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Hello New World</i>. This is both the hardest song on the album and also a heartfelt tribute to one of the most dominant paradigms in rap: the hustler. The synthesizer surges like swells travelling through the ocean. Malice’s verse, the second, touches on a familiar theme in rap – self-promotion – but manages, remarkably, to do so at the expense of no one. “We can all shine, I want your wrist lit like mine / Neck and ears, I want it lit like mine / Foreign cars, stick shift, 6 gears like mine.” As in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Dirty Money</i>, Malice has found an indirect and creative way to extol himself. Pusha T extends this ingenious tactic through the track’s final verse, and an interlude from a local rapper from Virginia provides an interesting overtone of revolution.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Keys Open Doors</i>. To borrow Pusha T’s first lyric in this song, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Keys Open Doors</i> “make[s] your skin crawl.” The Neptunes employ a ghostly choral sample that recollects some kind of haunted church. Appropriately, the Clipse’s lyrics employ religious imagery. First, there’s Pusha T: “Open the Frigidaire, 25 to life [worth of drugs] in here / So much white you might think the Holy Christ is near.” Then, there’s Malice: “Get it cross state with the grace of Maria.” The chorus, a simple repetition of the phrase “keys open doors,” was catchy enough to catch Jay-Z’s attention, who borrowed it for the first verse of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Thank You</i> on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">The Blueprint 3</i>.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Ain’t Cha</i>. Probably the catchiest song of the album (it was, after all, featured on the soundtrack of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Step Up</i> movie), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Ain’t Cha</i> still does not sacrifice any of the musical integrity found on the rest of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Hell Hath No Fury</i>. The beat features a solid drum pattern along with two chime hits per measure. Somehow, the beat feels neither happy nor sad but simply present, much like N.E.R.D.’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Spaz</i> from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Seeing Sounds</i>. Malice’s verse, the song’s third, makes repeated use of child-related imagery in a way that is both ingenious and hilarious. He is probably the only MC to have ever rapped about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Blue’s Clues </i>and Frere Jacque – let alone in the same verse. His final lyric – “If it seems the walls are closing in it’s only ’cause they are” – is said with a crescendo that fits in perfectly with the beat, thereby completing one of the finest verses on the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Hell Hath No Fury</i>.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Trill</i>. Probably the most bizarre song on the album. The beat is vibrating with sound, like a swarm of insects.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Chinese New Year</i>. A chilling retelling of a stick-up episode. Malice, the gunman, reassures the listener – and victim – with an icy coldness in the second verse: “Cooperate – escaping [is] useless / Trust me, I'm your friend, I will talk you through this.” Pharrell’s chorus – “Brrraaattt - brrraaattt, brrraaattt - brrraaattt, brrraaattt - brrraaattt, ka-ka-kat-kat” – gets the point across. Interestingly, the drum pattern recycles some of the rhythms the Neptunes used in N.E.R.D.’s hit <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Lapdance</i>.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Nightmares</i>. The beat is blissfully laid-back, and after Pharrell’s dreamy verse we are led to believe that the album is ebbing to its conclusion. Then Pusha T drops his finest, most intense verse of the album. In a few sentences, he describes the glories of success – “Everybody know me, it’s like I’m a movie star” – along with the paranoia such success can induce – “Still I creep low, thinking n****s trying to harm me / Hoping my karma ain’t coming back here to haunt me.” Perhaps a microcosm of the entire album, Pusha takes us from one feeling to another, each with its own texture and color, and somehow manages to unite those feelings into a unified – and masterful – whole.<o:p></o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2463455264529399769.post-89996350179082754242011-01-15T14:36:00.000-08:002011-01-19T01:13:05.705-08:00Album Review: Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy<p class="MsoNormal">Let's get this out of the way: <i>My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy</i> is not perfect. <i>Devil in a New Dress</i> is boring. <i>Runaway</i> goes on for way to long. The drums at the end of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Hell of a Life</i> are a little bit behind. The cellist and the pianist in the interlude for <i>All of the Lights</i> aren't in sync with each other. Spend enough time and you can extend this list of defects as long as you'd like.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">That being said, perfection is not a reasonable criterion for an album – or for any human endeavor. The album is, without question, a work of genius. The production is impeccable, with beats that are rich, creative, and full of painstaking detail. The lyrics are witty, thoughtful, and tragic – sometimes all at the same time. The album features two of the greatest guest verses ever (Nicki Minaj on <i>Monster</i>, Pusha T on <i>So Appalled</i>), the finest lyrical performance of Kanye's career (<i>Gorgeous</i>), and the best song of 2010 (<i>Power</i>). The range on the album is astonishing, from the triumph of <i>All of the Lights</i> to the mournfulness of <i>So Appalled</i>, the dignity of <i>Gorgeous</i> to grotesqueness of <i>Monster</i>, and the sorrow of <i>Blame Game</i> to the dementedness of <i>Hell of a Life</i>. At the same time, each track feels logically connected to the next one, and the entire album forms a unified, cohesive whole.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Here’s a track by track breakdown.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i>Dark Fantasy</i>. The album opens in stunning fashion. Nicki Minaj welcomes the listener into Kanye’s twisted world by paraphrasing, of all things, a poem written by Roald Dahl (see <a href="http://www.kanyetothe.com/forum/index.php?topic=24858.0">http://www.kanyetothe.com/forum/index.php?topic=24858.0</a>). The rest of the song alternates between a slick, hard-nosed beat and an a cappella vocal melody. Somehow it all works, and Kanye’s lyrics are sharp and on time.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i>Gorgeous</i>. The finest lyrical performance of Kanye’s career. He muses on the nature of hip hop, the exploitation of women within the fashion industry, and fish sticks. His cadence is virtually flawless. “This week has been a bad massage. I need a happy ending – and a new beginning.” Kid Cudi is excellent on the chorus.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i>Power</i>. This song, the natural descendent of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Stronger</i>, is just badass. A powerful vocal sample (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-dtwySzcQc">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-dtwySzcQc</a>) is repeated throughout the song, but the underlying chords change at the 2:50 mark, giving the beat new depth and dimension. West’s lyrics are uniquely his own, especially at the song’s opening. “Screams from the haters, got a nice ring to it – I guess every superhero need his theme music.”<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i>All of the Lights</i>. The production of this song is almost symphonic. French horns open the song gloriously, and continue throughout the entire track. Rihanna’s hook soars above the heavy percussion, which admittedly is a bit over the top. Neither Kid Cudi nor Elton John adds much, and Fergie’s verse is just terrible. Kanye’s verses are memorable, however, and the tremendous ambition of this track is at least partially realized.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i>Monster</i>. Everyone is down on Jay-Z for his verse on this song, and I don’t quite see why. Drug dealing and self-promotion, delivered with an interesting, reliable cadence – that’s a standard Jay-Z verse. At the same time, everyone is high on Nicki Minaj’s verse, and deservedly so. She <i>kills</i> it. By the time she unleashes the British accent and asks, “So let me get this straight, wait, I’m the rookie?” it’s all over. This is and will always be the song of her career.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i>So Appalled</i>. Not to be outdone by Nicki Minaj, however, is the most underrated MC in the game: Pusha T. His verse on <i>So Appalled</i> is an instant classic. The rhymes are beautifully constructed, and the rhythm of their delivery is flawlessly precise. His defiant tone meshes perfectly with the cold, soulless beat. One of the most underrated songs on the album.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i>Devil in a New Dress</i>. This one is a bit of a head scratcher. It’s the only song on the album not produced by Kanye, which needlessly precludes him from having both produced and rapped on every song in the album. The beat is fine, but it lacks the same energy as the rest of the album. Rick Ross’s verse is not particularly memorable.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i>Runaway</i>. Also a bit of a curiosity. Kanye has a habit of picking the weakest songs on his albums as his singles. On Graduation, it was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Can’t Tell Me Nothing</i>, allegedly because 50 Cent told him to. On this album, it’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Runaway</i>, which is a decent enough song, and certainly very Kanye, but far beneath the best of this album. Kanye gets far too carried away at the end, reverting to his tendency from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">808s and Heartbreak</i> to extend songs for two or three minutes longer than apporopriate. This track, along with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Devil</i>, represents the only rough patch on the album.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Hell of a Life</i>. This song is demented, perverted, and just kind of fucked up. It’s also one of the best songs on the album. The baseline, seething with reverb, meshes perfectly with the unhinged nature of Kanye’s flow. The lyrics emanate from a primitive region within the depths of Kanye’s brain. Quite simply, no one else in the industry is making music like this.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Blame Game</i>. A truly beautiful melody, sang with grace by John Legend. The beat is simple and elegant. The song gets a little weird when Kanye starts distorting his voice, and the Chris Rock bit gets stale after the first few listens. Nevertheless, this is a wonderful song, and a perfectly anticlimactic follow up to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Hell of a Life</i>.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Lost in the World.</i> Kanye’s sole verse in this song – “You’re my devil you’re my angel, you’re my heaven you’re my hell” – is powerful. The use of vocals throughout the song is reminiscent of the album’s other bookend, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Dark Fantasy</i>, though the harmonies around the 2:20 mark take this song to another level altogether. The momentum carries over into the album's final track, <i>Who Will Survive in America</i>, which features an intense vocal sample – similar to that of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Power</i> – beneath a passionate monologue by Gil Scott-Heron. An incredible end to an incredible album.<o:p></o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2463455264529399769.post-14002009964217612552009-01-07T16:58:00.000-08:002009-01-07T21:08:14.735-08:00The Black and White of Hip Hop Criticism<span style="font-style: italic;">If you are good at concealing laughter and contempt, you should ask a white person about “Real Hip Hop.” They will quickly tell you about how they don’t listen to “Commercial Hip Hop” (aka music that black people actually enjoy), and that they much prefer “Classic Hip Hop.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">“I don’t listen to that commercial stuff. I’m more into the Real Hip Hop, you know? <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">KRS</span> One, Del <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Tha</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Funkee</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Homosapien</span>, De La Soul, Wu Tang, you know, The Old School.”</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Calling this style of music ‘old school’ is considered an especially apt name since the majority of people who listen to it did so while attending old schools such as Dartmouth, Bard, and Williams College.</span><br /><blockquote></blockquote><blockquote> -- A <a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/11/18/116-black-music-that-black-people-dont-listen-to-anymore/">post</a> on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">StuffWhitePeopleLike</span>.com</blockquote><br />Is OnHipHop that guy?<br /><br />We are white. We grew up in a wealthy suburb. We went to an Ivy League school. We love hip hop, and write about it using words like “ambivalence” and “anachronistic.”<br /><br />And yet, we don't think we're “that guy.” We don’t listen to early hip hop to pretend like it gives us some modicum of “street cred.” We don’t spontaneously recite <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Tupac</span> lyrics and pretend to be from “the hood.” We simply listen to whatever hip hop we want to listen to because we like the way it makes us feel.<br /><br />That being said, this passage from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">StuffWhitePeopleLike</span> points out an important truth. Hip hop is, with several notable exceptions, created by black musicians, many of whom grew up with little material wealth. At the same time, hip hop is consumed in large part by white kids from middle- and upper-class suburbs.<br /><br />As such, does <span style="font-style: italic;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">OnHipHop</span></span> erroneously – and arrogantly – presume that we can intelligently comment on hip hop? And, for that matter, might the same be said of high-brow publications like the <span style="font-style: italic;">New York Times</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Slate</span>, which regularly print reviews of hip hop albums next to columns on the New York Phil? (Last week, the <span style="font-style: italic;">Times</span>’s Jon <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Caramanica</span> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/30/arts/music/30wayn.html">classified Lil’ Wayne</a> as an <span>“</span>abstract expressionist.<span>”</span> In Lil’ Wayne’s often boastful songs, this is definitely not one of the phrases he uses to describe himself.)<br /><br />The answer to this question may very well be yes. There is much about Lil’ Wayne’s upbringing that <span style="font-style: italic;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">OnHipHop</span></span> does not pretend to understand. He was <a href="http://www.blender.com/BestRockStarAliveLilWayne/articles/14757.aspx">carrying a gun</a> to school by the time he was a teenager and <a href="http://www.blender.com/BestRockStarAliveLilWayne/articles/14757.aspx">fathered a child</a> by the time he was 14. Without fully understanding the experiences that shaped the man, how can we fully understand Lil’ Wayne’s artistic output?<br /><br />But by the same logic, how can scholars presume to understand the music of Beethoven, who was completely deaf for much of his life and may have also <a href="http://www.gazette.uottawa.ca/article_e_1529.html">suffered from bipolar disorder</a>. How can critics analyze the paintings of Vincent van <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Gogh</span>, who was driven so far into madness that he attempted to cut his ear off? How can we pretend to comprehend these artists’ works, when these works were byproducts of lives so different from our own?<br /><br />Ultimately, critics cannot satisfactorily answer this question. They must simply do their best to understand and empathize with the artist, and try to set their own biases aside.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2463455264529399769.post-88020157573029061932008-12-21T22:31:00.000-08:002009-01-07T17:23:14.782-08:00Why the Christmas Presents Aren't RappedHip hop, it is often said, has sold out. It used to be about creativity, self-expression, and big parties. Now it’s about celebrity, self-promotion, and big business. Hip hop may have entered the mainstream, but at the cost of selling its soul.<br /><br />But if this were really the case, why isn’t there more Christmas-themed hip hop?<br /><br />It’s no secret that Christmas music tends to be extremely lucrative. A feeling of Christmasy excitement dominates the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, and people are willing to pay for the appropriate soundtrack. Given this demand, artists gladly provide the supply. In virtually every genre of music, dozens and dozens of artists release Christmas-themed albums every year. Heck, Elvis Presley put out a new <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_Duets">Christmas album</a> this year, and he’s been dead since 1977.<br /><br />Hip hop stands as a glaring exception. There have been a handful of Christmas-themed rap albums over the years – most notably Run DMC’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Christmas in Hollis</span> – but none have stood the test of time. No Christmas hip hop songs have become ingrained in popular culture the way that “Let it Snow,” “Jingle Bell Rock,” and “White Christmas” have. While Christmas music dominates the airwaves of rock-n-roll, jazz, and classical radio stations throughout the holiday season, on hip hop stations you would hardly know it’s December.<br /><br />If hip hop were really all about money, how can this be the case?<br /><br />For one, there is a fundamental musical disconnect between Christmas music and hip hop. Christmas music tends to feature soaring melodies, major chords, and soothing resolutions. Hip hop is more about jagged samples, repetitive drum patterns, and verbal syncopation. Where Christmas music is smooth, hip hop is raw.<br /><br />There is also a basic incompatibility of subject matter. Christmas music frequently concerns subjects that are happy, jolly, carefree. Hip hop tends to carry much more baggage. The rapper grapples with his past. He may rejoice in his present, but usually by contrasting that present with his difficult past. Even happy rap is bittersweet. As Jay-Z so memorably rapped on <span style="font-style: italic;">Reasonable Doubt</span>, “On the rise to the top, many drop. Don't forget / In order to survive, gotta learn to live with regrets.”<br /><br />In the end, hip hop is an art form that, for better or worse, does not easily lend itself to Christmasization. This may be cause for some disappointment. In the bigger picture, however, this reality should comfort all fans of hip hop. Hip hop may have evolved into something very different from what it once was. Yet it retains certain qualities that can be altered, but not abandoned. Hip hop, in short, is still hip hop.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2463455264529399769.post-8168150280302684132008-12-14T17:54:00.000-08:002008-12-14T22:40:53.191-08:00The RecessionHip hop music has only two essential ingredients: a beat and a voice. These ingredients are extremely inexpensive. A beat can come from a turntable, a trashcan, a beatboxer, or any other available source of rhythm. And a voice can come from anyone. No purchase necessary, no batteries required.<br /><br />It is no coincidence that good hip hop can be produced at so little cost. In the urban areas where hip hop first developed, there was no money for violin lessons, guitar strings, or sheet music. The residents of these neighborhoods, driven by the quintessentially human desire for self-expression, developed hip hop as an inexpensive way to meet this need.<br /><br />But hip hop wasn’t merely a compromise. No one thought of hip hop as a sorry substitute for more desirable but prohibitively expensive forms of culture. To the contrary, hip hop had certain qualities that few other art forms could match. The minimal costs of producing hip hop meant that anybody could participate. The best rapper won the mic, simple as that – meritocracy at its purest. Plus, hip hop was portable. You could create hip hop music anywhere – in the park, the gymnasium, even the school yard. In short, unfortunate financial circumstances did not impose limitations on hip hop so much as contribute to its greatest assets.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">- - -<br /></div><br />In the opening song of his latest album, aptly titled “The Recession”, Young Jeezy raps, “It's a recession. Everybody's broke.” Though Jeezy certainly exaggerates here, who can blame him? It’s become impossible to pick up a newspaper, turn on a television, or surf the Internet without being bombarded by more terrible news about the economy. Another 100,000 people out of work; another corporate behemoth brought to its knees; another $100 billion government bailout.<br /><br />So yes, Jeezy, it is a recession. The next several years look increasingly grim, and there’s probably not much anyone can do about it at this point. This is, without a doubt, cause for despair.<br /><br />OnHipHop does not mean to minimize the negative effects of this country’s economic struggles. Nor do we mean to suggest that widespread anxiety over the economy is unjustified. We merely point out that some of this country’s greatest cultural treasures were born during difficult economic times. Furthermore, these treasures were born not just despite the depressed economy, but at least in part because of it. Just consider hip hop.<br /><br />Perhaps this is cause for reexamining cultural responses to prior recessions. Or perhaps this is simply cause for some consolation in the face of today's recession. To quote Young Jeezy’s lyric in its entirety: “It's a recession. Everybody's broke. So I just came back – to give everybody hope.”Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2463455264529399769.post-42908214330435789942008-12-07T19:27:00.000-08:002008-12-07T22:19:01.310-08:00The Hip Hop DilemmaAnyone who knows anything about hip hop – or, for that matter, knows nothing about hip hop – knows that the most controversial aspect of the genre is its language. The ‘f’-word, the ‘b’-word, the ‘n’-word, the ‘s’-word – hip hop lyrics contain a veritable alphabet of vulgarity. And rappers often use this language to describe situations that glorify misogyny, drug dealing, homophobia, or all of the above.<br /><br />When confronted with this criticism, a rapper will frequently brandish the “product of my environment”-defense. Because the rapper grew up in an environment pervaded by crass language and morally questionable situations, the logic goes, the rapper is merely recounting his own experiences. Furthermore, by drawing attention to these types of realities, the rapper is actually doing us all a public service.<br /><br />But let’s wait just a minute before thanking these rappers for their courageous exposés. All human beings are, to some extent, products of their environments. But when a person acquires the ability to influence a large number of people, that person also becomes a <span style="font-style: italic;">shaper</span> of his environment. And, like it or not, with that new role comes a new set of ethical responsibilities. Chief among these is the obligation to set a positive example for others. Charles Barkley was wrong – when someone acquires power and influence, he most certainly is a role model. The critical question is what kind of role model that person will be.<br /><br />With a handful of notable exceptions – Common, Lupe Fiasco and, to some extent, Kanye West come to mind – rappers have largely been the wrong kinds of role models. And that is a shame. Hip hop needs to look itself in the mirror and realize that it possesses an incredible power to improve the world. And, as a good first step, rappers need to stop swearing.<br /><br />Unfortunately, this is not a remote possibility. For whatever reason, foul-mouthed hip hop is commercially successful. (Though, it should be noted, crude language is empirically not a requirement for producing a lucrative record.) Only a widespread boycott could force hip hop artists to tone down their lyrics, and that seems about as likely as the chances of seeing Dr. Dre’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Detox</span> album anytime in the next three years.<br /><br />All of which leaves OnHipHop in a delicate situation. <span style="font-style: italic;">We</span> understand the moral imperatives involved here, so maybe <span style="font-style: italic;">we</span> should boycott indecent hip hop. And yet, this is not the path we will take. The truth is that hip hop music brings us so much joy that we refuse to divorce ourselves from all but the most upright MCs. So we will favor our own happiness over what is probably the ethical thing to do. We will choose mirth over morality.<br /><br />Maybe that makes us immoral, and especially so because we are aware of the right thing to do. Or maybe we’re innocent, given the disparity between the tremendous pleasure that hip hop brings us and the relatively small impact our boycott would have. OnHipHop has no answers here. Such is the dilemma of the principled man who can’t stop bumping 50 Cent.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2463455264529399769.post-56272872296936558612008-11-27T14:53:00.000-08:002008-11-27T15:00:40.172-08:00A Shout Out to the First AmendmentThe relationship between hip hop and the U.S. government has been, to put it lightly, a rocky one. Innumerable songs have attempted to undermine the authority of law enforcement officials and, by extension, the U.S. government. Songs like NWA’s “Fuck the Police” and Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power” do so explicitly. So too – albeit less directly – do the countless songs that glorify drug dealing, violence, or simply a general disregard for the law.<br /><br />And yet, there is one government institution to which hip hop is profoundly indebted: the First Amendment. Without the First Amendment, hip hop would not have developed into the dynamic, enjoyable, and yes, sometimes inflammatory art form that it is today.<br /><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.</span><br /></blockquote>Without the First Amendment, would we have ever heard <span style="font-style: italic;">Illmatic</span>, with Nas’s doleful odes to growing up in the projects of Queens? Would we have ever heard <span style="font-style: italic;">The Chronic</span>, with Dr. Dre’s sometimes intoxicating, sometimes shocking accounts of life in South Central L.A.? Would we have ever heard <span style="font-style: italic;">Reasonable Doubt</span>, with Jay-Z’s entrancing tales of hustling in the underworld of Brooklyn? Would we have ever heard a word from Eminem? Tupac? Notorious B.I.G.? Or would all these MCs have been censored, or simply never have tried rapping in the first place?<br /><br />Hip hop artists are not entirely unjustified in their general disdain for the U.S. government’s authority. Government neglect contributed to the poverty and squalor of the inner cities where hip hop first developed. And yet, when it comes to the First Amendment, hip hop should be profoundly grateful. So on this day, Thanksgiving, OnHipHop would like to express its gratitude towards the U.S. government – and those who fight on its behalf – for the freedoms it seeks to uphold, especially those outlined in the First Amendment.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2463455264529399769.post-8113801391538868452008-11-23T16:21:00.000-08:002008-11-23T20:29:24.580-08:00Kanye the ProducerKanye West is many things. Rapper, diva, designer. Icon, author, activist. Award show crasher, paparazzi thrasher, George Bush basher. But, above all, Kanye West is a producer. Through his dynamic and innovative beats, Kanye has shown again and again that hip hop is always capable of evolving in new directions. So, in honor of tomorrow’s release of his latest album, <span style="font-style: italic;">808s and Heartbreak</span>, this post will examine this <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irb335ThCdo">video clip</a> of Kanye making a beat in his studio.<br /><br />Kanye begins making the beat by playing the song from which he will ultimately pull samples. But, as this video makes abundantly clear, Kanye doesn’t just listen. He sings along. He dances. He enjoys the song on its own terms, not simply as vessel for the sample he is looking for.<br /><br />In this case, the song is Shirley Murdock’s “Go On Without You.” Murdock is a real crooner – she sings her heart out right from the beginning and never tones it down. Though certainly a remarkable feat of endurance, Murdock’s song does not scream out to be sampled by a famous hip hop producer. It is slow, sad, and written in a 6:8 time signature, rather than hip hop’s essentially universal 4:4.<br /><br />Nevertheless, Kanye senses something about “Go On Without You.” Murdock has great lyrical moments in the song, Kanye feels, and it’s his job to pull those moments together into a brand new beat. Indeed, one of Kanye’s unique contributions to hip hop has been his uncanny ability to incorporate the human voice into the fabric of his songs (see: Heart of the City, Stronger, and basically every song on <span style="font-style: italic;">Late Registration</span>).<br /><br />Kanye slices Murdock’s song into many little pieces. (Interestingly, at the 0:50 mark, Kanye notes that he deliberately uses equipment that makes this slicing process more efficient). Though we only catch a brief glimpse of it, Kanye begins experimenting with various ways of piecing together his samples. At the 1:04 mark, Kanye struggles to match a metronome to the tempo of Murdock’s original song, and we can start to see how difficult, time-consuming, and frustrating hip hop production can be. There is serious music being made here, and that requires serious work. Thankfully, Kanye assures us at 1:30 that he’ll come through: “No matter how much work, no matter ... how many hit records … this motha’ fucka’s from the Chi, [and] we gonna figure something out.”<br /><br />Then, at 2:13 we suddenly hear the product of Kanye’s efforts. From Murdock’s sad, doleful ballade, Kanye has created an upbeat, eminently danceable party song. The emotional devastation of Murdock’s vocals has been rechanneled into a soulful, suave sexiness. The beat is absolutely seductive. As Kanye dances along to his new creation – and, perhaps, you do, too – it’s easy to forget that all Kanye did was chop up a song from the 80s and give it a drum beat. The final product feels like so much more – and that, in a sense, is the magic of hip hop production.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2463455264529399769.post-63510313815678073412008-11-09T12:48:00.000-08:002008-12-15T19:39:56.798-08:00The T-Painization of Hip HopThese days, it is impossible to listen to a hip hop radio station for more than five minutes without hearing a half-human, half-computerized voice singing a melody. The voice often has an eerie quality. Transitions between different pitches are synthetically precise, as if one piano key were lifted and another one instantly pressed. Gone are the typical imperfections of the human voice; instead, the voice has a metallic, mathematical quality.<br /><br />T-Pain is commonly credited – or discredited – with starting this trend, and his megahits “Bartender” and “Buy You a Drank” feature this technique front and center. A handful of artists – Lil Wayne, Akon, and increasingly Kanye West – make their livings with synthesized voices, and virtually every notable MC has at least experimented with the technique. Even <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4er1_zdHmP0">Jay-Z tried it</a>. Indeed, the current period of hip hop might best be described as the T-Painization of rap.<br /><br />Why is this happening? Perhaps the better question is, Why didn’t this happen sooner? Technological innovation has always influenced hip hop. When, in the 1970s, DJs discovered that the turntable could be used not only to replay music but also to create new sounds, the art of scratching forever became part of the hip hop sound. With the increasing prevalence of microchips in the late 80s and 90s, devices such as the SP-1200 and MPC 2000 pushed the art of record sampling front and center in the hip hop world.<br /><br />Unlike classical music, which sometimes seems to take pride in the anachronistic nature of its instruments, hip hop has always embraced modern technology. The ability to synthesize the human voice has existed for many years. It was only a matter of time before someone in hip hop gave it a shot.<br /><br />Is T-Painization good for hip hop? The answer here is a bit more nuanced. One of hip hop’s greatest assets is that anyone can make a great hip hop record – or at least try to. You don’t need an orchestra. You don’t need a hunk of stone and a chisel. You don’t need a canvas and paint. All you need is a beat – from a beat-boxer, a trashcan, a turntable, or an MPC 2000 – and a voice. It is truly the art of the common man.<br /><br />Synthesizing voices further enhances this vision because it gives the common man another tool. Having a good voice is no longer a prerequisite to incorporating melody your song. Just do the best you can, and then fix everything up on your computer.<br /><br />But at the same time, T-Painization threatens to weaken a quintessential element of hip hop. When the MC speaks directly to the listener, emotional nuances and imperfections come across unfiltered. The listener comes to feel – not without reason – that he genuinely knows the MC. And this rawness, this unadulterated connection between rapper and audience is part of what makes hip hop so intimate and special.<br /><br />T-Painization threatens to alter this dynamic. The synthesized voice puts an artificial barrier between the MC and the listener. It is as if a face-to-face meeting has been replaced with a phone call. Certainly, if used in moderation, the synthesized voice could be a welcome addition to the hip hop repertoire. But if used too pervasively – as seems increasingly likely – T-Painization threatens to weaken the sacred bond between the MC and his audience.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0