Mar 17, 2015

Album is above and beyond expectation anyone who doesn't lik must not like jazz funk (you can see the instrumental influence from pac and 3stacks) regardless of the instrumental which are f---ing perfect lyrically this is a masterpiece. Kendrick is the best story teller rapper of all time if not top 3. The dude can just paint a picasso after picasso and story after story. All hail king kendrick

 

Mar 17, 2015

i'd love to know how this album is trite. i don't hear anything close to this in the current landscape of music.

 

Mar 17, 2015

It's not everyone else, that's very glib. Don't flick my real criticisms away as if I'm being the one being contrary. You're right, it's not the new thing some people are claiming. When I first heard it, it sounded like Common to me, and I'm with you on Roots/Andre3k. But you are so emphatic about popular rap (kanye is GREAT, kendrick and eminem are AWFUL) it's really confounding. It's like you get outraged other people, casual rap fans, dare to form their own opinions (or challenge your thinking with any substance). Deep down, you're an elitist.

 

Mar 17, 2015

I think what's going on is this album is making a lot of people question themselves and the vocal minority were not ready for it. This album is like a college course; it wouldnt surprise me that the people saying "this s--- is garbage Kenny fell off" prolly also fell asleep in most of their classes.

 

Mar 17, 2015

i'm not, though--kendrick is a great rapper. gkmc is a classic. section 80 is very good. this record isn't.

don't know about the kanye thing. for his recent rollout, i think all day is phenomenal, fourfiveseconds is horrendous, and only one is somewhere in between.

people on rb/sl are the only ones having serious critical discussions about eminem in 2015.

it's funny that you think i'm the one who's "outraged"--look at the vitriol being hurled at me in this thread because i disagree with the site's consensus.

i'm not ever offended at "casual" fans having opinions. you're mischaracterizing my arguments. i'm just going to call people out if their opinions are uninformed, something you are more than eager to do in arenas other than music. thinking this record is in any way new or confounding is just, simply, incorrect--it's not "elitist" to point that out.

as for elitism, dart adams is an elitist. i'm not. for one, the music i champion/criticize isn't consistent with any sort of elitism.

you're concerned with how rap music fits into the broader social/cultural landscape. that's fine. i sometimes am, too. but on its own merits, to p---- a butterfly is a s-----y, middling rap record.

i know very few people in real life who like it. that doesn't mean i or they are right because of that, but for me it's been twitter/here that is losing its mind, while the people with whom i've had conversations about the record are lukewarm or emphatically negative.

also, no self-respecting critic would be reviewing an 80-minute record the day after it leaks. show me these positive reviews so i can laugh at them.

this is my biggest problem with the reaction to this (and a handful of other recent records). just because something's ostensibly "deep" or complicated doesn't make it a) so or b) better.

 

Mar 17, 2015

 

Mar 17, 2015

This is such tripe. You pretty clearly telegraphed your hatred for Kendrick since he started getting mainstream recognition. Post GKMC, you continually bashed Kendrick as an artist. Even when GKMC was being compared to Yeezus back on SL you continually took the opposing view. I mean, it was so abundantly clear you were gonna dislike this record (or at least be more critical) simply because of the standing Kendrick has in hiphop. You can't stand the fact that mainstream opinion holds Kendrick above your favorite rappers like Kanye, so you just bash whatever he puts out.

 

Mar 17, 2015

Yeah anyone saying Kendrick did something like Yeezus is wrong. D'Angelo been doing this for years



I see TPAB is more of an ode to black sound over the years.

 

Mar 17, 2015

@WPG What is phenomenal about All Day? Good song but I don't see it as phenomenal at all. The live version had way better energy & thats why its now the official music video.

 

Mar 17, 2015

I wish TPAB had as much substance as All Day!!

 

Mar 17, 2015

Dude just said TPAB is s-----y. To not like it, that's cool, but to say it's s-----y that's ridiculous.

 

Mar 17, 2015

kendrick has been a huge star in rap since the weeks before section 80 came out, honestly. i love that record and good kid maad city. if you really think my opinion of him shifted concurrently with his national profile, that's very much wrong.

post-GKMC i called it the third-best album of the decade.

what? what are you talking about? i love that a dense, ambitious, creative rapper is one of the biggest stars in rap. it's exciting to me and i don't know why you feel differently.

okay, well, first of all, i don't bash everything he puts out--even for this record, i wrote very positively about the blacker the berry, despite feeling iffy about its politics.

you want me to be unquestioning and say "10/10! 10/10!!!" every time he farts out a track.

 

Mar 17, 2015

this album is ostensibly about capital-I important things, sure, and that's commendable, but i maintain that all day is both a better song and has more interesting politics.

 

Mar 17, 2015

No doubt. This album seems to have the same mentality to it as Voodoo

 

Mar 17, 2015

You should stop defending yourself with your previous praise to GKMC. If you don't like TPAB, you don't like it.

 

Mar 17, 2015

Shopping for the winter in May? Having allstate just in case you meet Kanye? 20 grand for Yeezy's on ebay?



Cmon man its braggadocio not politics.

 

Mar 17, 2015

@WPG I understand you not liking the album, but your reasons for not liking it are s---. This album has elements of nas, 3 stacks, Lauren Hill, Badu, ect. but it certainly isn't a flawed rehash of them. Its more of a modern take. f--- the message, just sound-wise this album is incredible and if you don't objectively think that is true then you clearly don't have an ear for music. Which is fine, there are other hobbies to be interested in. But what makes this album so huge is the time plus the artist that put it out. This isn't some niche artist that is out of the limelight reflecting his thoughts. This is arguably (along with Drake and Kanye West) the biggest hip hop artist in the world as well as artist in general, coming off of one of the most heralded albums in this past decade. And he pulls a FULL 180 and just s----s on everyone's expectations by truly, truly delivering a powerful message for music's sake that goes entirely against the grain of what people wanted from him. If you don't understand that then this thread isn't for you.

 

Mar 17, 2015

that's incredibly narrow minded of you

http://www.passionweiss.com/2015/03/10/kanye-west-all-day-grime-allan-kingdom/