Nov 4, 2015

"Hated Yeezus".... no he didn't. He didn't review it for a long stretch of time after it released actually.

And his opinion on GKMC is also significantly worse than mainstream opinion. His opinion of Kendrick overall is pretty contrarian.

I think over the past 4 years, I've said some of the most heinous things to @WPG and not once has he put me on ignore. You're just a child who isn't emotionally able to handle criticism

 

Nov 4, 2015

Why are you defending Wpg lol

He's more than capable to handle perry without u bruh

 

Nov 4, 2015

kanye west is a much better writer and rapper than you have given him credit for, though the critical narrative around the last half of his career is murkier on that than you seem to think.

i do not think All Eyez on Me is pac's worst album.

people are more split on big's albums than you let on. it's probably 65/35 in Ready To Die's favor, but there's a strong argument to be made for each. also, me picking one out of two widely-celebrated masterpieces from one of the most acclaimed rappers ever hardly casts me as a contrarian.

i'd say future's status as one of the best rappers out is pretty much a point of consensus this year. you might be the one lagging behind.

gibbs has put out some of the most lauded mixtapes in gangsta rap for the last half-decade. everyone who's covered or listened to him since his interscope deal dissolved holds him in similar esteem to me. meanwhile, you're out here talking about saigon as an all-time great.

i've never once tailored my beliefs to conform to or deviate from larger trends. i was on here talking about tpab as a disappointment before the first review was even published. keep reaching.

 

Nov 4, 2015

@WPG future just a lazy pun. i guess ultimately its inescapable. an artist is talented, earns their critical kudos, but then it takes on an extraterrestrial quality, critically speaking. i think thats half my prejudice against thugger, comparing his work to like... bob marley. i get hyperbole, but can't an artist be great without conflation

 

Nov 4, 2015

I can easily see why people will dislike this album but I love it to death. Whether you like it or not, its probably going to go down as a classic. I appreciate that we have a very popular artist like Kendrick willing to experiment and try new things. There's barely any other albums that can compete with it this year (only one I can think of that comes close is Sufjan Stevens' Carrie & Lowell).

 

Nov 4, 2015

well in this particular case it's a combination of a couple of factors.

first, the quick turnaround time--remember, kendrick's album had that goofy release gimmick, so critics literally had ~72 hours to write.

second, it's an album that incorporates a lot of disparate musical and political influences, many of which were unfamiliar to the (let's be honest) less-than-well-versed masses who churn out reviews for dj booth and illroots and whomever. kendrick was praised as an innovator for doing lots of s--- the roots did on Phrenology.

third, there's the inertia of popular artists that these big outlets succumb to, conscious or otherwise. let's be honest, that chance the rapper album from this year is not good. but was pitchfork going to mortgage their relationship with him, especially two weeks before he headlined their festival? will the fader ever criticize drake if they want him on the cover again? etc

fourth, and this is to some degree an expansion of the last point: the politics. people of all races who share progressive ideals were excited that kendrick had done something so defiant with his second album. and it was very admirable. but there was also a bit of hesitance to criticize that album, for fear of being on the wrong side of history.

 

Nov 4, 2015

Too bad we don't have a way to measure 'enjoyablity' and if we did I don't think everyone's meter would read the same

 

Nov 4, 2015

At the end of the day it depends on taste and who you are as a person, but when people label TPAB 'boring' is beyond me.

If anything after GKMC and what came after it people hyped his next record to the point where you had a certain idea what it would be, and when it didn't turn out that way it comes off as 'boring' because of your own hype. I haven't listened to it in full for a while, but it certainly is one of the best albums of 2015.

 

Nov 4, 2015

Good article. I feel like everyone but Kendrick stans knew this. Solid effort but the album just isn't very enjoyable to listen to. Hopefully he gets back into his lane on his next project.