The Curtis v Graduation sales battle (kicking off tomorrow) has had the most - the only? - major hype of any hip-hop releases this year. They're out tomorrow and I look forward to hopefully seeing Curtis flop, so much so that I'm gonna forego my usual Long John Silver approach to acquiring music and pick up a copy of Graduation tomorrow.
The Kanye album's great. He's technically a better rapper (& probably producer) than he was on the 1st 2 instalments in this trilogy, but I miss the soul loops which are less prominent here & also I think he's gotten to be enough of a big deal that he's lost some of his everyman appeal. I'm sure he'll stay a loveable asshole, but beyond this 50 rivalry I can't see him ever taking on the mantle of underdog he wore so well on the Dropout again.
Sonically, I can't fault the album at all. He's been brave enough to expand his sound. I think inspired by Timbo's electro-renaissance last year, the sound here is more 80s synths than 70s strings, typified by the single Stronger. DJ Toomp makes a massive contribution to the album, producing singles Can't Tell Me Nothing & The Good Life & the last track Big Brother, which 'Ye accurately describes as "stadium status". T.I. really should've got duke to help out with his last record. Toomp's Southern sound adds to the electronic vibe & after Kanye helped usher in the resurgence of the soul sound, the beats here are likely to play a part defining what rap sounds like over the next few years.
You can tell listening to the verses here that dude's rewritten his rhymes over & over to get them perfect and by today's standards, there's a very impressive ratio of quotable rhymes. There's a few clangers (e.g. Flashing Lights' hate paparazzi more than Nazis & can't roam without Caesar lines), but he's got to be 1 of the most improved rappers over the last few years. The only major stumbling blocks are that Li'l Wayne gets the album's only feature rap verse on Barry Bonds...& it's kinda wack & that Kanye sings through Drunk & Hot Girls. It's forgivable when he's serenading his Moms on Hey Mama, but not for 3 whole verses & a hook. To be fair though, the track does kinda capture the drunk, tryna-pick-up-chicks-at-2am ambience quite well.
'Ye makes theme songs for people, & quite trim at only 13 tracks, I must say this album's a great collection of them. I remember him sayig this would be his Blueprint &, regardless of whether or not 50 outsells him, I feel he has now got to that 2001-Hov level of importance to hip-hop. Hope he enjoys being on top & that he's prepared for the inevitable backlash.
Enough about Skywalker, how does the big homie rate? I didn't want to like Curtis & after the 1st listen thought it was utter bilge. However, after a few more listens I must admit it's not that bad...just not that great either. Posterboy gangsta rappers who don't evolve don't stay relevant for long (see all the rappers Fif's spent his career dissing for falling off) and after this the title of his next album (Before I Self Destruct) takes on greater significance.
If I could listen to this objectively (i.e. if I hadn't listened to 2 solo albums, 2 group albums, a buncha mixtapes & loads of features over the last 5 years) I'd like it more, but the oversaturation had me hoping he'd either "switch the style up" or stick to Formula 50, but bigger & better. He does neither, there are good songs, but nothing mindblowing & quite a bit of filler. Even the standout tracks (I Get Money for 1) lack freshness. He's not trying as hard as he did on his 1st record and the beats and hooks aren't as impressive as on The Massacre.
That being said, though, I enjoy about half of the album. Fire is a cheesy poppy guilty pleasure for me with that hot Pussycat Doll on the hook, Hands Up High is the uptempo outro, featuring a surprisingly good Tony Yayo hook, All Of Me sounds like Hustler's Ambition (a personal favourite) with Mary J Blige doing her thing/going nuts on the chorus & the street tracks are mostly predictable, but still well-executed.
Some hit and (mostly) miss r'n' b features from the likes of Timberlake, Akon and Thicke and a lack of ideas mean the album's good enough, but not what it could have/should have been. The album's title suggested a more introspective approach and on tracks like Hate It Or Love It, Many Men and God Gave Me Style, that's something Fif' has done well in the past. Instead it's the usual generic mix of fucking, killing and dancing, but without the the superior production values G-Unit used to have as their ace in the hole. Looks like son's reached his highwater mark, peaked and is about to fall off in a major way if he doesn't rethink his approach to making records.
Ultimately, the big winner will no doubt be Universal Records, who'll rake in muchos denari from both albums when cheapskates like me go out and pay for the record for once.
The Kanye album's great. He's technically a better rapper (& probably producer) than he was on the 1st 2 instalments in this trilogy, but I miss the soul loops which are less prominent here & also I think he's gotten to be enough of a big deal that he's lost some of his everyman appeal. I'm sure he'll stay a loveable asshole, but beyond this 50 rivalry I can't see him ever taking on the mantle of underdog he wore so well on the Dropout again.
Sonically, I can't fault the album at all. He's been brave enough to expand his sound. I think inspired by Timbo's electro-renaissance last year, the sound here is more 80s synths than 70s strings, typified by the single Stronger. DJ Toomp makes a massive contribution to the album, producing singles Can't Tell Me Nothing & The Good Life & the last track Big Brother, which 'Ye accurately describes as "stadium status". T.I. really should've got duke to help out with his last record. Toomp's Southern sound adds to the electronic vibe & after Kanye helped usher in the resurgence of the soul sound, the beats here are likely to play a part defining what rap sounds like over the next few years.
You can tell listening to the verses here that dude's rewritten his rhymes over & over to get them perfect and by today's standards, there's a very impressive ratio of quotable rhymes. There's a few clangers (e.g. Flashing Lights' hate paparazzi more than Nazis & can't roam without Caesar lines), but he's got to be 1 of the most improved rappers over the last few years. The only major stumbling blocks are that Li'l Wayne gets the album's only feature rap verse on Barry Bonds...& it's kinda wack & that Kanye sings through Drunk & Hot Girls. It's forgivable when he's serenading his Moms on Hey Mama, but not for 3 whole verses & a hook. To be fair though, the track does kinda capture the drunk, tryna-pick-up-chicks-at-2am ambience quite well.
'Ye makes theme songs for people, & quite trim at only 13 tracks, I must say this album's a great collection of them. I remember him sayig this would be his Blueprint &, regardless of whether or not 50 outsells him, I feel he has now got to that 2001-Hov level of importance to hip-hop. Hope he enjoys being on top & that he's prepared for the inevitable backlash.
Enough about Skywalker, how does the big homie rate? I didn't want to like Curtis & after the 1st listen thought it was utter bilge. However, after a few more listens I must admit it's not that bad...just not that great either. Posterboy gangsta rappers who don't evolve don't stay relevant for long (see all the rappers Fif's spent his career dissing for falling off) and after this the title of his next album (Before I Self Destruct) takes on greater significance.
If I could listen to this objectively (i.e. if I hadn't listened to 2 solo albums, 2 group albums, a buncha mixtapes & loads of features over the last 5 years) I'd like it more, but the oversaturation had me hoping he'd either "switch the style up" or stick to Formula 50, but bigger & better. He does neither, there are good songs, but nothing mindblowing & quite a bit of filler. Even the standout tracks (I Get Money for 1) lack freshness. He's not trying as hard as he did on his 1st record and the beats and hooks aren't as impressive as on The Massacre.
That being said, though, I enjoy about half of the album. Fire is a cheesy poppy guilty pleasure for me with that hot Pussycat Doll on the hook, Hands Up High is the uptempo outro, featuring a surprisingly good Tony Yayo hook, All Of Me sounds like Hustler's Ambition (a personal favourite) with Mary J Blige doing her thing/going nuts on the chorus & the street tracks are mostly predictable, but still well-executed.
Some hit and (mostly) miss r'n' b features from the likes of Timberlake, Akon and Thicke and a lack of ideas mean the album's good enough, but not what it could have/should have been. The album's title suggested a more introspective approach and on tracks like Hate It Or Love It, Many Men and God Gave Me Style, that's something Fif' has done well in the past. Instead it's the usual generic mix of fucking, killing and dancing, but without the the superior production values G-Unit used to have as their ace in the hole. Looks like son's reached his highwater mark, peaked and is about to fall off in a major way if he doesn't rethink his approach to making records.
Ultimately, the big winner will no doubt be Universal Records, who'll rake in muchos denari from both albums when cheapskates like me go out and pay for the record for once.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment