I don't have an answer to that second question but Pusha is also on 4 of the Good Friday songs plus was part of the Good Music BET Cypher (whereas Malice was not). Maybe Pusha is doing a solo deal with Good?
I can't help but think of 50; both he and Kanye seem to not be able to deal with the fact that all the money, fame and trim in the world just won't fill whatever void they feel in their souls.
Clearly, they are coming to terms in different ways.
I'm not seeing this. What specifics inspire the comparison here?
Nothing more than arm-chair pop culture psychology.
They both seem to be unable to connect with people and come across in interviews, etc. as loners and lonely and like they are trying to prove soemthing. They surround themselves with a lot of material shit to such a degree that it's to create a wall - it doesn't come across to me as some happy-go-lucky I'm rich!! spending.
They are not the only two rappers to have lost their mothers, but I would say both cases were unique and public and that neither has moved past the deaths. Who can they connect with on their losses?
Hardly comparable on paper, but both had physical/medical episodes that made a large impact on their careers.
They are huge game-changing rap stars that people seem to either love or hate - not just as artists but as personas - and I feel like they are working a lot of their shit out in public...like I said with very different results.
I am sure all of these things apply to others, but this is not scientific.
DocMcCoy"Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,913 Posts
batmon said:
600,000 first week = MILESTONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Those are fucking good first-week numbers whichever way you slice 'em. Who's done better than that in the last year or so? Apart from Eminem, I'm at a loss to think of anyone within the realm of hip-hop who's really got it like that in sales terms right now.
Initial impressions; this is the first Kanye album I haven't needed time to warm to since College Dropout, and it's miles better than the last two. I've listened to 808s and Heartbreak about three times. I genuinely couldn't get through it a fourth time, although I might go back to it now on the basis that he probably couldn't have made this without having made that first. Graduation grew on me, but to nothing like the same extent as Late Registration did. Right this minute I think this is probably better than Late Registration, which for me would make it his best album. Musically, it lacks some of the warmth that Jon Brion's contributions brought to that album, but Mike Dean's more sympathetic grasp of what works within the realm of hip-hop right now seems to strike the right balance between more formal musicality and the unashamedly artificial plasticky sonics that are a hallmark of modern pop and, by extension, hip-hop and r&b. All Of The Lights and Lost In The World are two of the most thrilling things I've heard all year.
I think Kanye will always divide people. I've ridden hard for him in the past, and have always been more of a fan than a hater but, although he drives me fucking nuts sometimes, when he pulls one out of the bag like this, I find it hard to stay mad at him. I still can't figure out whether he's genuinely displaying Sunset Boulevard levels of delusional egomania, or whether he's taking everyone for a ride and just playing the role of the delusional egomaniac rapper/pop star on some David Bowie inhabiting a character/performance art shit. This album is right out there in a way very few rap records are these days, or indeed have been for quite some time.
Doc: Thanks for that. It was a really thoughtful and well-reasoned take on the album. I agree with you had to say about what Brion brought to "Late Registration" and to me, MBDTF extends on some of those ideas but, in my opinion, overly indulge them. But I agree about the ambition within the album to carve this space both within and between the current conventions in pop music aesthetics.
To that extent, I find it more rewarding to listen to Kanye overshoot than for Will.I.Am to be laser-precise with his tracks (all of which are "effective" for what they aspire to but feel cynically calculated).
Someone should make an edit where they chop all the songs down to under 4 minutes. I think I'm not the only one who doesn't have the patience for 8+ minutes of noodling.
Sorry if someone already said that. Like Kanye's songs, this thread is too damn long.
you're not respecting the 'plex 'phors and next level science of "Unemployment line, credit card declined/
Did I not mention I was about to lose my mind?"
Just be glad her cameo was brief. Imagine if Ye had invited her to drop 16 on "Monster". Yikes.
surprised faux is so into this. i enjoy lots of different parts of it, its obviously an ambitious/important/interesting record. i just dont think its very listeneable. ive heard it twice through, cant imagine wanting to hear it more. maybe individual tracks (esp 'monster' -- best kanye beat in ages) but for the most part its one of those Important Classic Records That Everyone Should Hear that you end up treating more like a lawrence of arabia dvd than a cd u play all the time
i dunno. im also just not that engaged by Kanye The Celebrity. Which is apparently a driving forced behind the appeal of this record?
I thought the best review of this was Nitsuh Abebe's for New York Magazine & recommend everyone read it
as far as Syl Johnson, that whole controversy could have been averted if hed included a caveat about how he was talking about syl being an also-ran in terms of commercial success, never really igniting the kind of auteur narrative that artists like al green had. hes kind of vague, possibly in order to be provocative.
incidentally, anyone who dismisses the entirety of pitchfork w/ a broad brush like that is being a dork. there are writers whose shit i feel & writers i dont like much but anyone treating that place like a singular entity writing opinions from on high doesnt get the site at all. its a bunch of writers with diverse opinions who get considerable freedom to write how they want about the artists they cover. douglas wolk is not nitsuh abebe is not tim finney is not mark richardson is not tom ewing. i dont get why ppl treat that site like it doesnt have bylines but its stupid
I don't have an answer to that second question but Pusha is also on 4 of the Good Friday songs plus was part of the Good Music BET Cypher (whereas Malice was not). Maybe Pusha is doing a solo deal with Good?
Comments
I imagine that song sounds MONSTER when played loud. Like "B.O.B." loud (another "Stankonia" nod!)
supposedly kanye is exec producing the album.
Nothing more than arm-chair pop culture psychology.
They both seem to be unable to connect with people and come across in interviews, etc. as loners and lonely and like they are trying to prove soemthing. They surround themselves with a lot of material shit to such a degree that it's to create a wall - it doesn't come across to me as some happy-go-lucky I'm rich!! spending.
They are not the only two rappers to have lost their mothers, but I would say both cases were unique and public and that neither has moved past the deaths. Who can they connect with on their losses?
Hardly comparable on paper, but both had physical/medical episodes that made a large impact on their careers.
They are huge game-changing rap stars that people seem to either love or hate - not just as artists but as personas - and I feel like they are working a lot of their shit out in public...like I said with very different results.
I am sure all of these things apply to others, but this is not scientific.
Those are fucking good first-week numbers whichever way you slice 'em. Who's done better than that in the last year or so? Apart from Eminem, I'm at a loss to think of anyone within the realm of hip-hop who's really got it like that in sales terms right now.
Initial impressions; this is the first Kanye album I haven't needed time to warm to since College Dropout, and it's miles better than the last two. I've listened to 808s and Heartbreak about three times. I genuinely couldn't get through it a fourth time, although I might go back to it now on the basis that he probably couldn't have made this without having made that first. Graduation grew on me, but to nothing like the same extent as Late Registration did. Right this minute I think this is probably better than Late Registration, which for me would make it his best album. Musically, it lacks some of the warmth that Jon Brion's contributions brought to that album, but Mike Dean's more sympathetic grasp of what works within the realm of hip-hop right now seems to strike the right balance between more formal musicality and the unashamedly artificial plasticky sonics that are a hallmark of modern pop and, by extension, hip-hop and r&b. All Of The Lights and Lost In The World are two of the most thrilling things I've heard all year.
I think Kanye will always divide people. I've ridden hard for him in the past, and have always been more of a fan than a hater but, although he drives me fucking nuts sometimes, when he pulls one out of the bag like this, I find it hard to stay mad at him. I still can't figure out whether he's genuinely displaying Sunset Boulevard levels of delusional egomania, or whether he's taking everyone for a ride and just playing the role of the delusional egomaniac rapper/pop star on some David Bowie inhabiting a character/performance art shit. This album is right out there in a way very few rap records are these days, or indeed have been for quite some time.
1. 2:46
3. 3:20
5. 2:40
7. 4:15
8. 2:49
9. 5:45
10. 4:02
Also, I liked the chorus melody to Hell of a life better when beevis and butthead would hum it.
It's all there, you just need to listen.
To that extent, I find it more rewarding to listen to Kanye overshoot than for Will.I.Am to be laser-precise with his tracks (all of which are "effective" for what they aspire to but feel cynically calculated).
Stop playing. This is a contender for the BEST line on the record.
Somehow, I suspected you'd say this.
Sorry but I think I reached my limit on clever fellatio lines around the time Cam and Wayne cut "Touch It Or Not."
I wouldn't have nominated either of those lines as the worst on the album, regardless.
Sorry if someone already said that. Like Kanye's songs, this thread is too damn long.
That Obama's nation garbage
Looooooooooove!
Whatever Fergie says
you're not respecting the 'plex 'phors and next level science of "Unemployment line, credit card declined/
Did I not mention I was about to lose my mind?"
Just be glad her cameo was brief. Imagine if Ye had invited her to drop 16 on "Monster". Yikes.
She clearly failed to grasp the album's conceptual arc there.
i dunno. im also just not that engaged by Kanye The Celebrity. Which is apparently a driving forced behind the appeal of this record?
I thought the best review of this was Nitsuh Abebe's for New York Magazine & recommend everyone read it
as far as Syl Johnson, that whole controversy could have been averted if hed included a caveat about how he was talking about syl being an also-ran in terms of commercial success, never really igniting the kind of auteur narrative that artists like al green had. hes kind of vague, possibly in order to be provocative.
Out context spoken word sample gets slammed cause Kanye's collaborators are Caucasoid?
Ok.
''And I hope I never go solo!''
i gotta say pusha has disapointed me solo so far
That can't be serious.