Jan 18, 2016 https://pelicanflyblog.wordpress.co...t-2-no-more-parties-in-l-a-ft-kendrick-lamar/ The Road to SWISH (pt. 2): “No More Parties in L.A. (ft. Kendrick Lamar)” Posted onJust now by narsh94 If the premier of this track proved anything, it’s that Kanye & Kim are as painfully normal as any other couple. From miscommunication to retroactive a----covering when your spouse flies to Italy so he can “feel like Pablo” while makin’ shoes, these two (kind of) have the same problems as the rest of us, I guess. “No More Parties in L.A.” should be better than it is, but that really isn’t a slight on how good it is or the purpose that it serves. Kanye x Kendrick x Madlib. That should have people Big Quint-ing for the entirety of the record, besides themselves trying to process the supposed musical excellence they’ve been presented with. Instead, we get a largely forgettable verse from the self-proclaimed King and an extended exercise in stiff-arming the doubters from the self-proclaimed God. What helps the latter edge the former, at least on this track, is that Kanye, as an MC, is still more engaging than the next rapper (even if that next rapper happens to be Kendrick Lamar). It’s hard to place Kendrick’s verse. I had trouble making out if it was current Kendrick doing a failed impression of his former self, or Kendrick from 2012/2013 (when this song was said to have been conceived) simply delivering a subpar verse. Either way, he’s too wordy without enough charisma, too on the nose without enough self-awareness, and too showy without enough to show. “She said, “K Lamar you kind of too dumb to be a poet,”” he manages to reveal at one point, but none of it feels genuine. How very ironic, considering the track’s premise. In contrast, Kanye’s verse is riddled with endearing moments of his unique flavor of honesty tinged with humor: Every agent I know, know I hate agents. The “38 year-old 8 year-old” has his daughter in pink fur, “dressin’ like Cam,” but still can’t seem to find peace of mind for more than a fleeting a moment (like a flight to Italy, for example). This track opens up with an intro produced by Kanye himself, showing us that he’s at least in the right state of mind as far as soundscapes are considered. Reworking the same sample that found its way onto Cruel Summer’s “New God Flow,” Madlib takes over before long, and carries a funk-driven groove for the rest of the track’s run-time. This beat was in the works as early as six years ago, during the MBDTF sessions, but Kanye’s very present verse and Madlib’s natural gift at creating timeless records, help the joint from sounding too dusty. As with “Real Friends,” “No More Parties in L.A.” raises more questions than it answers. If his “writers block” has just ended, then what state of mind could Kanye have been in during the actual SWISH sessions? What content do we have to look forward to? Yeezus stemmed from frustration and bravado. MBDTF and 808s… alike from thinly veiled insecurity. The College Dropout and Late Registration came out of perseverance. So…is SWISH about to be Graduation pt. 2? There’s a whole generation of fans out there that wouldn’t be mad at that in the slightest, but there’s also a different generation of fans accustomed to Kanye continuously pushing the genre forward, not regressing into himself. So what’s it gonna be? Find out next time on “The Road to SWISH…” happy MLK day. -Narsimha Chintaluri (@Narshh) not sure if im allowed to mention kanyesxn for this so ill just mention @SIMHAsxn
Jan 18, 2016 d--- right. I love graduation. Great write up. Skimmed through and will read the entire thing later when I have time
Jan 18, 2016 thanks man. and yeah, for how many people consider graduation his weakest effort, ive realized theres a whole generation of fans out there who consider it their favorite
Jan 18, 2016 Read through it, agreed with every word of it. To me, SWISH is like "Late Registration Pt. 2", the return of the organic sound to the hip-hop airwaves.
Jan 18, 2016 Completely agree with this article even tho I'm not a Kanye fan It's just beyond my comprehension, why is Kendrick delivering a subpar verse here and rapping like a God in a f---ing Jay Rock remix?
Jan 18, 2016 Fun fact: If you're on Genius annotating lyrics, don't do Kendrick's; the fans there will obliterate you with their superior annotations. Do it only if you feel confident you're on the same brainwave as Kendrick.
Jan 18, 2016 but your a logic fan? im not even making fun of you, but im wondering how such a feat can be achieved?
Jan 18, 2016 Graduation is the Kanye album I always end up going back to. As much as I love MBDTF, I still end up listening to graduation more.
Jan 18, 2016 It just suddenly stopped for me Logic is not a bad artist, but everything about his current music feels bland and repetitive He's not even a really good rapper anymore, specially compared to what he was doing in the YS tapes t-ts is one of the most forgettable albums of 2015
