Angel Haze

i'm saaaaaaatan
and imma take your ass to church now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hKP5ljDar8

this girl is the most exciting young rapper around right now. her new mixtape reservation (out next tues) has been blowing.my.mind this week - both for the tracks where she goes hard, like above, but also for the softer stuff: "gypsy letters" is perfect bittersweet summer-crush reminiscence, "smiles n hearts" is emotionally fucking draining ~srs thoughts~. some of you may remember that i was super high on her stuff last year, and she's seriously stepped her game up in terms of tightening her songwriting, hooks and flow. (reservation is her first mixtape of all original beats, i think.)

those other tracks aren't online yet but this cosmic love jam from last year's altered ego mixtape is still one of the best things i've ever heard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEObhpJ18oo

[and because labels suck but are unavoidable to an extent: native american heritage, queer, childhood cult survivor.]

In addition to the glorious Fall For Your Type (Remix), you should listen to 'Things Money Can Buy', her take on Drake's 'Dreams Money Can Buy' because she's somehow able to take Drake-penned numbers and while keeping much of their meter and rhythm turns them into contemplative philosophical based love and/or inspirational jamz:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOfaTK8Sln4

Must hear this new mixtape.

Her Yonkers is also pretty intense and maybe more disturbed than Tyler's:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DezcgCwwRnc

Her first two mixtapes, Altered Ego and No Greater Love got "best of" compiled into one called KING and it's harder to track down the earlier versions, but Altered Ego especially has some necessary jamz that don't appear elsewhere.

Her Voice EP came out earlier this year, and despite the name was really a mixtape.

Oddly, Reservation is being called a mixtape, but is all original beats and getting put out on vinyl so it's really more of a debut LP.

couple more tracks from reservation are out there -

werkin' girls http://soundcloud.com/pinboardblog/angel-haze-werkin-girls
hot like fire (yes, as in the aaliyah song) http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/hot-like-fire-by-angel-haze-free-mp3-20120713

i think the thing that i was trying to get at in my review was that her confessional-cathartic stuff has the potential to resonate HARD with what could be a very, very loyal fanbase

this story from last year is good on her background - http://www.thefader.com/2011/05/24/feature-angel-haze-has-got-talent-and-a-whole-lot-of-issues/

I didn't really enjoy the Voice EP as much as I liked Altered Ego, but the tracks posted here from the new one sound great. I think she's super talented and hope this gets some shine.

Her old spoken word poetry from her YouTube channel is great, also.

i think this is the Azealia Banks i actually like

I don't really get the comparison.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWdlJlek0cI

Yeah, I don't really get the Banks/Haze comparison besides the fact that they're queer female rappers.

Azealia's always been more hipster-dance adjacent and spits rapid fire syllable-play over 90s house etc. Her flow is more important than its content for enjoyment of her music, imo. (Although the content is fun too, although more party + sex raps)

Angel, even though she's capable of going hard, raps overtop more boom bap stuff and more 'traditional' hip hop beats, and (often but not always) her lyrics *are* clearly not just meticulously 'composed' but also intended to be listened to as self-expression.

what cult did she survive?

In the fader piece I linked

alex, i think you compared quite well: haze feels more real

RT @NativeRaeen: Listen to Angel Haze's RESERVATION in its entirety NOW. CLICK THE LINK. http://bit.ly/MznLoE

^^do it

haha spin STILL auto-redirects me away from every page i try to visit

okay "New York" is fucking fantastic

Love that it opens with a music box playing 'Over the Rainbow'. How Haze is that. So many feelings. lol.

approve of this aaliyah sample

Yeah. The Aaliyah sample is great.

Two tracks in and it already feels more cohesive than the previous mixtapes. There's real effort to present Angel in all her facets but less... ramshackle?

Wicked Moon is great, despite it kind of being horrorcore + dubstep + one verse of quasi-toasting + the return of Nicole Wray.

the second verse of "new york" is so amazing

i am - zero past a hundred
spittin like a dragon that went missing from a dungeon
y'all a bunch of n*ggas gettin trippy offa nothing
tie a rope a round your neck and lemme kick you off a bungee
i'm SAAATAN, and imma take your ass to church now
running my fields and you n*ggas on your first down
i love it when these bitches know i'm better than em
cuz i don't hear not a word nor a letter from em

i'm a fire in the midst of the forest round bitches
and i rap elliptical orbits round bitches
anaconda, i sit with an open mouth bitches
and you bitches are lyrically like some fuckin down's syndrome
no offence, no shade and all
but y'all bitches on knees like babies crawl
you can catch me out in covert, chilling like a stoop kid
yeah hate, don't talk bitch, do it

Wicked Moon is great, despiteBECAUSE it kind of being horrorcore + dubstep + one verse of quasi-toasting + the return of Nicole Wray.

corrected!

ha I read that description and was "oh is that the fucking fantastic song I'm listening to right now?" and... it was!

Yeah. Fair enough. I think I meant that the description does not sound appetizing and then it is. Mostly the horrorcore + dubstep parts sound iffy when described but it's so damn good.

Also can we talk about how the beat for ‘New York’ sounds like a sample from that Gil Scott-Heron record mixed with the handclap jump-rope ‘No Music’ break in the middle of Lil Mama’s ‘Lipstick’ and the trunk-rattlin’ thump from Grindin’?

my reference point was the Diwali riddim with the synths stripped out, basically Lumidee on steroids

Oh shit. You're right. My bad.

I want to play "Jungle Fever" on endless loop

did she dropped a video with rick ross last year or am i mistaking her for someone else ?

that was Reema Major

oh yeah.

next question : how is this an ep ?

The same way Dawn Richard's 'Armor On' is.

I want to play "Jungle Fever" on endless loop

― PITILESS LIVE SHOW (DJP), Monday, July 16, 2012 10:18 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm

have to admit the opening of Sufferings First made me think I was on spotify and one of their shitty guitar-strumming ads had started

New york, hot like fire, werkin girls & realest are the songs i like. The rest is pretty meh imo.

Also can we talk about how the beat for ‘New York’ sounds like a sample from that Gil Scott-Heron record mixed with the handclap jump-rope ‘No Music’ break in the middle of Lil Mama’s ‘Lipstick’ and the trunk-rattlin’ thump from Grindin’?

― twinkin' and drinkin' and ready to fly (Alex in Montreal), Monday, July 16, 2012 9:58 AM Bookmark

It is a sample from the GSH record

Jungle Fever 9Remix) the first trk I'm feeling so far.

And 'Castle On A Cloud' as well.

"castle on a cloud" is intense

to download:

http://www.djbooth.net/index/albums/review/angel-haze-reservation/

WOW at "Werkin' Girls".

like a cheetah in a jungle but i'm muthafuckin faster
like a pre-teen boy in a church with a pastor

i be on that other shit, got that from my other bitch
she come from an island or a desert or some TUNDRA SHIT

Tundra shit is great yeah

Best thing I've heard in a while I'm thinking. Real "R.P.M." vibes.

I think I only like a few tracks from this. Too much DEEP THOUGHTS Angel Haze, which I've never had much use for.

otm

DEEP THOUGHTS angel haze is what makes her special though imo - my favourite trax are also the bangers but without the DEEP THOUGHTS trax she's just another fast-tongued swag rapper with an ear for a simile.

Yeah I agree with that - or, well, I haven't really thought about like the status of Angel Haze as a rapper, but certainly on this the tunes like "Gypsy Letters" and "Castle on a Cloud" really set off my actual favourites like "Workin' Girls" and "New York".

I'm having a very Lex phase at the moment - playing this and Melanie Fiona a lot.

"at the moment"

I'm rather behind but really looking forward to this, Altered Ego was great.

Yeah, but the DEEP THOUGHTS tracks completely bore the fuck out of me. She doesn't at all succeed in making me give a fuck about her deep thoughts.

If Fall for Your Type and Things Money Can Buy didn't give you feelings I don't know that any of the DEEP THOUGHTS Haze on Reservation will change your mind.

lex, there's now a one month period before you're allowed to complain about people not paying enough attention to angel haze

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16883-reservation-ep/

If Fall for Your Type and Things Money Can Buy didn't give you feelings I don't know that any of the DEEP THOUGHTS Haze on Reservation will change your mind.

― twinkin' and drinkin' and ready to fly (Alex in Montreal), Monday, July 23, 2012 3:20 PM Bookmark

ftr, they did not

WOW at "Werkin' Girls".

― Tim F, Thursday, July 19, 2012 5:46 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this song is awesome. this tape is pretty hit or miss to me, was surprised to see jordan gave it an 8 on pfork

this is why caring about pfork scores is a lose lose, though; i want to see rap not suffer from deflation, but when that's corrected, it makes it look like this album is as good as flockaveli. lose-lose

It is as good as flockaveli (which I also love)

Really excellent write-up jordan

Also b/c it's jordan it's not really a "pfork score" is it (as with a select few other writers on that site)

It's maybe a bit unbalanced (possibly too much emo, especially towards the end) but I really like 'Wicked Moon', 'New York', 'Werkin' Girls', 'Gypsy Letters' and the second half of 'Jungle Fever'. Not sure she really varies her flow as much as she could on the slower tracks and some of them feel kinda rote.

Really surprised that I actually like 'Wicked Moon' given that there are a load of signifiers in there that I usually can't stand but they're actually arranged in a way that feels atmospheric rather than just schlocky, and both Angel and Nicole sound great on it.

someone please tell me what song the melody at the end of 'jungle fever' is quoting/biting please?

It is as good as flockaveli (which I also love)

― lex pretend, Thursday, July 26, 2012 4:10 PM (17 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

get outta here

for once do you want to defend your position rather than acting like other people are talking like the earth is flat?

yeah i don't agree w/ that and i'm not necessarily sure that it's a position that requires a defense

they're very different works that aren't directly comparable but they're as "accomplished" as each other and they'll probably both end up in my top 10 of the year

wait are you talking about the new flocka album?

...no?

i forgot that existed (and therefore to listen to it more than once) amidst all of my computer woes

oh

i'm confused by "they'll probably both end up in my top 10 of the year" then

as in, flockaveli did (i think?) and reservation probably will

ok i gotta listen to this then. i checker her out before but it sounded like atomsphere idk

atmosphere over drake beats

Also, y'know, the two reviews are by different writers with different opinions and not working to some empirical scale.

the two writers are both posting in this thread! i was about to go into more detail but it prob violates something in my freelance contract so w/e its not important

It probably wouldn't be so much of an issue if people didn't habitually assume that pitchfork was in fact a single mind carefully calibrating each of its numerical scores.

Great write up Jordan! Makes me appreciate this release a bit more. Certainly New York and Werkin Girls are awesome.

"It is as good as flockaveli"

lulz

someone please tell me what song the melody at the end of 'jungle fever' is quoting/biting please?

nobody? it's killing me.

this is why caring about pfork scores is a lose lose, though; i want to see rap not suffer from deflation, but when that's corrected, it makes it look like this album is as good as flockaveli. lose-lose

― google deeznuts (D-40), Donnerstag, 26. Juli 2012 15:38 (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

flockaveli is like a 9 tho

You do realise you guys are coming across like those insufferable dicks who read a Rolling Stone review of, I dunno, The-Dream and go "this means you think it's as good as Dark Side Of The Moon oh the outrage!"

^^^^

current rap criticism is largely THE WORST for assuming the existence of an objective and rigorously policed set of assumptions that determine whether an artist is any good

eg "lol @ your opinion, but we don't need to justify or explain ours because EVERYONE KNOWS IT TO BE SO"

You do realise you guys are coming across like those insufferable dicks who read a Rolling Stone review of, I dunno, The-Dream and go "this means you think it's as good as Dark Side Of The Moon oh the outrage!"

― Matt DC, Friday, July 27, 2012 10:44 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

you really think that's the case when the two authors of both reviews are actually here, posting

current rap criticism is largely THE WORST for assuming the existence of an objective and rigorously policed set of assumptions that determine whether an artist is any good

― lex pretend, Friday, July 27, 2012 10:46 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

current lex criticism is largely THE WORST for using the exact same 'u must be a rockist' argument always. i don't think anyone here is in favor of strict rigorous assumptions of artists' value.

at least i used an argument at all?

someone please tell me what song the melody at the end of 'jungle fever' is quoting/biting please?

nobody? it's killing me.

― 40oz of tears (Jordan), Friday, July 27, 2012 8:24 AM Bookmark

the Stevie Wonder song of the same title

oh wait, nm

All im gonna say about angel haze v flockaveli is that at least waka never made me listen to a Kool AD verse

oh duh, of course that's it, thx rev

"eg "lol @ your opinion, but we don't need to justify or explain ours because EVERYONE KNOWS IT TO BE SO"

― lex pretend"

well what you want me to say when you're comparing an half good mixtape from a promising rapper with a genre defining classic rap album dropped on a major label ?

lol @ the idea that the major label bit matters

ideally what i'd want you to say is WHY the mixtape is only "half good" rather than "genre defining classic" and WHY flockaveli is vice versa but i'm not hoping for that

Why should i explain things everyone knows ? I believe you're aware that a big part of today's rap music is based on the lex luger sound (and that flockavelli has some of the best representative songs of that sound).

& Why should i explain things already said before in this topic ? i think people here already explained what are the flaws of this mixtape (bad execution with deep songs & some bad productions)

i look at this way: flockaveli was waka cashing in all of his potential, reservation is not that 'moment' for angel haze. her flockaveli is in the distance.

is 'flockaveli' really the standard by which all other new rap albums are judged?

no, deej just brought it up because they got the same scores on pitchfork

as i said at that point flockaveli and reservation are so different that direct comparisons are kind of pointless, so my argument isn't so much about pitting them against each other as against the primacy of "objective" metrics among rap listeners (over eg personal response), which sisilafami again exemplified there ("influence", "execution" et al). when i say that the two are on a par, it's pretty simple - these are two of the rap albums i've jammed most and return to again and again of their respective years.

i agree w/j0rdan about flockaveli representing an artist at his peak though, and it's certainly more "important", but "important" isn't the only metric to judge music by.

...but we're talking about numerical scores bro

obsessing over numerical scores is even worse?

the primacy of "objective" metrics among rap listeners (over eg personal response), which sisilafami again exemplified there ("influence", "execution" et al). when i say that the two are on a par, it's pretty simple - these are two of the rap albums i've jammed most and return to again and again of their respective years.

then instead of pointing out things explained before, i simply should've said that i find flockavelli much much better, that i'll listen to it 10 years from now and that i don't know if i will do the same with the AH mixtape in a few months.

i have a personal bias in favor of nonchalant rappers v. superhypertechnical wizards

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01l7n8b

Angel Haze Interview(40.00)
The brilliant Angel Haze is in the studio with MistaJam! She tells us about loving Paul Epworth, Rudimental and Harry Styles!

Rudimental!

actual amazing video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y2UV5t_v9I

could do without them giving up and going into the studio at the end though lol

Rudimental!

― REV LION (The Reverend), Thursday, 2 August 2012 19:02 (52 minutes ago) Bookmark

see yeah i forgot about the booster mentality round here that would blank out everything lol about that post to focus on the one feebly spinnable thing

u guys are super weird

i really wouldnt have expected mistajam to pick up on her but it does make sense actually

the uk is pretty much d-40's nightmare zone

xp Epworth is kind of harmless I guess, hating on him is like bitching about Coldplay at this point. dunno who the other guy is.

A member of One Direction. Specifically one of the inbred toothy ones and not the hot one.

Played her first headline show in NYC, which streamed live and is archived.

She killed it, more or less. Way more stage presence than I anticipated - her youtubes were always captivating but in a bedroom art sort of way. She owns the stage, though. More convinced now than ever that this is her moment.

http://new.livestream.com/sobs/angelhaze

also, solid interview - http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/2012/08/angel_haze_interview.php

apparently she was studying neuroscience before taking a break to throw her hat in the ring musically.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szj7efHG-00

amazing video

so annoyed i missed her london show due to being at the tory conference >:(

She's playing Koko on Saturday.

aaaaaghhhh another clash of course

*attempts to rearrange entire life*

(how was the gig on mon?)

So pleased that this is a single. One of my absolute favourite tracks of 2012.

I adore her.

Also amazing

http://www.complex.com/music/2012/10/video-angel-haze-replies-to-youtube-comments-about-her-music

hahaha amazing

<3 <3 <3

http://soundcloud.com/angelhazeym/angel-haze-cleaning-out-my/s-AJcso

couldn't listen more than once. pretty much leaves you reeling

I had the same reaction. There's a kind of resolution at the end but up till that point…

this is harrowing and amazing

it is odd to hear the "Cleaning Out My Closet" beat and to be impressed by the narrative being told over it, though

man this is fucked up, and so fucking brave

Oh man

new mixtape drops in 20 hours

http://www.livemixtapes.com/mixtapes/19362/angel-haze-classick.html

finally up on this. v. impressed.

her Roman's Revenge is really good.

it seems that many rap nerds have not picked up on this

mixtape

http://www.livemixtapes.com/download/19362/angel-haze-classick.html

Yeah. That's a great tape.

I've played "Werkin' Girls" 18 times in 10 minutes.

Haha yeah I think I did the same thing when i first heard it.

Angel Haze hearts Jake Bugg.

http://itraeens.tumblr.com/post/37043108713/lightning-bolt-jake-bugg-everyone-i-see-just

i saw an interview where she said she really loves train and jason mraz and justin nozuka, wasn't sure if she was kidding

She's probably not kidding.

She's really not kidding. She likes Coldplay, John Mayer and Train and doesn't own any hip hop.

I love that she only heard her first Biggie song this year

Hey I like Jake Bugg!

I like that Jake Bugg song too but I've been too scared to admit it on ILX. Angel Haze has given me courage.

i'm conducting an experiment to see how long i can go without actually hearing jake bugg

His band is tight! /rockist

Seriously though

angel haze reminds me of when all rapping sounded awesome

Beefing with Azealia Banks on Twitter right now. This is good:

Young Gypsy ‏@AngelHaze

Begging me to come hang out with you and your fat friends? You still wear rocawear. U are null and Tf void, RATpunzel. @AZEALIABANKS

YUNG RAPUNXEL ‏@AZEALIABANKS

Angel Haze has a crush on me. Thats it. Case Closed.

Young Gypsy ‏@AngelHaze

Wait, I started my album a week ago and you’re still sleeping on studio floors @AZEALIABANKS. Case closed. You’re done. We don’t want u

Young Gypsy ‏@AngelHaze

And you don’t want this fade off twitter. So knock it offfffff. Before you get shanked through your iridescent bubble jacket. @AZEALIABANKS

the best AZB can do is "that playground-level "you fancy me!!!"? lol

Young Gypsy ‏@AngelHaze
First off, we all know nobody wants that sewage sweat pussy of yours. @AZEALIABANKS. Second off weren’t you the same bitch in my texts

Young Gypsy ‏@AngelHaze
Begging me to come hang out with you and your fat friends? You still wear rocawear. U are null and Tf void, RATpunzel. @AZEALIABANKS

Young Gypsy ‏@AngelHaze
You don’t want this fucking work. Bitch get those fuck ass paraplegic dicks out your twat and step the fuck on. @AZEALIABANKS

Young Gypsy ‏@AngelHaze
Your chemo ass bangs. Bitch, stop.

Young Gypsy ‏@AngelHaze
And you don’t want this fade off twitter. So knock it offfffff. Before you get shanked through your iridescent bubble jacket. @AZEALIABANKS

"we all know nobody wants that sewage sweat pussy of yours" <---- this is my favorite person of 2013 so far

she needs to string those together over a beat

#SEWAGEPUNK

I'm a ruin you cunt

This is green envy.

Haze has deleted her tweets but I love this pay-off:

Young Gypsy ‏@AngelHaze

Ill send it to you. RT @AZEALIABANKS if you have a screenshot of angel haze's "threat" send to missbanks4e✧✧✧@gm✧✧✧.c✧✧ #YOUGOINGTOJAILNOW !

she hasn't deleted it (i assume it's the bubble jacket one that AZB is being all "i'll tell on you!" about)

Young Gypsy ‏@AngelHaze
You don’t want this fucking work. Bitch get those fuck ass paraplegic dicks out your twat and step the fuck on.

Now she's just quoting the new Shannell mixtape

threatening to send her to jail?? #whatpartofthegameisthat

Why the hell is this even happening?

Ladies, you can't fight in here. This is the hip hop room.

Why the hell is this even happening?

azealia said people not from new york shouldn't try to claim it

Well, that was a dumb thing to say, but somebody overreacted.

Was AB wrong in her statement though? Either way, this is like 3rd grader fight at recess level beef. Haze looks terrible in this, and I like her.

Haze looks terrible in this, and I like her.

^ this

damn, Cousin Slappy banging the gavel

Lamest feud since the great Miguel/Lloyd haircut beef of 2010

Though the feud did serve the purpose of underscoring why I don't care for the music of either rapper, so I guess that's helpful

I don't bang...I slap.

I guess twitter beef with Azaelia Banks is some kind of rite of passage these days.

AH: "Charcoal skinned bitch"....okay, we are done here. AH is suspended indefinitely. Call her parents.

OH FUCK

https://soundcloud.com/angelhazeym/on-the-edge-angel-haze

this has to have been planned right

@AngelHaze: @AzealiaBanks what 20 minutes in the studio gets u. https://soundcloud.com/angelhazeym/on-the-edge-angel-haze … … Anyway back to working on my debut album. ttyl

apparently not. brutal.

I took my display name down due to the charcoal skin crack but that track made me put it back up

ftr

Young Gypsy ‏@AngelHaze
I'm sorry for the skin tone tweet, though. I don't have any personal disdain towards dark skinned people. Seriously.

Young Gypsy ‏@AngelHaze
I apologized for a general tweet that was perceived as racist or as though I felt it was okay to perpetuate self hate. Chill. @JAILXBAIT

Young Gypsy ‏@AngelHaze
You want promo, for yet another weak and very monotone song...there you go. RT @AZEALIABANKS @AngelHaze make sure you listen to "BBD"

Young Gypsy ‏@AngelHaze
@AzealiaBanks here's what 20 minutes in the studio gets you. https://soundcloud.com/angelhazeym/on-the-edge-angel-haze … Anyway back to working on my debut album. ttyl *kisses*

Young Gypsy ‏@AngelHaze
Lol. Any response that is not in the form of a song is null and void.

Young Gypsy ‏@AngelHaze
20 minutes. It took me nothing but a hairflip…a real one.

damn she is ice cold

bitch i'm from the 313
with a fucking meat cleaver, like who want beef?

This sucks.

Dan have you heard Reservation yet?

I have; I thought it was about 40% "this is decent" and 60% "HOLY FUCK"

wait i thought lex was supposed to disapprove of this kind of stuff

uh waht

no fucking idea what you thought or why you thought it

stupid hoe

i'm pretty sick of the narrative that sets EVERY WOMAN IN HIP-HOP against each other

― tinie tempurah (lex pretend), Sunday, January 22, 2012 12:37 PM (11 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

whatevs, man, peace god

...

BORED, you can claim whatever zing you want off this, hurry along and start stockpiling my tweets for the next time i say something that doesn't exactly match up to something i said a year ago. BORED

anyway this diss track is obv a tossed-off 20 mins thing and yet it is better than azealia banks' own new proper track

when will AZB make a second decent song though?

the better question is "when will she make her first"

i've come to accept "liquroice" as a minor classic

putting your text conversation with someone on your track art is mad corny and super unethical. fuck an angel haze. banks is way better anyways

It's ok, people. We're allowed to like them both.

i mean, really. chill.

oh i'm not hating on AZB, but she obviously lost this round and all her post-212 material is…substandard, though i accept she may be saving the good stuff up for the album, so jury's still out.

angel haze is proven incredible and has been for over a year.

i'm just saying fuck her for doing that in specific, not in general

BORED, you can claim whatever zing you want off this, hurry along and start stockpiling my tweets for the next time i say something that doesn't exactly match up to something i said a year ago. BORED

― lex pretend, Thursday, January 3, 2013 4:50 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it's cool we get bored of your opinions, too

ftr I am totally hating on AZB and will continue to for as long as ppl keep mentioning her around me

beefin with azealia banks is a good look imo

anyone know how/why this even started

Banks' 2012 output > Haze's, although I don't think she put out a song as good as "Werkin' Girls"

I still need to hear this dis track tho, but I won't be able to for a few hours.

would pay Dan money to pick a fight with Angel Haze.

what was banks' 2012 output? "1991", "van vogue" and that mess of a fantasea mixtape?

I like both the 1991 EP and Fantasea, which I don't hear what's messy about.

my main gripe with banks is that she hasn't really settled on a "sound" and i don't get the sense that she's experimenting as much as she just doesn't have a good grasp on what she wants her music to be. she can still make good tracks regardless but over the course of a full length it feels a bit amateur to me.

I played Reservation three times on New Year's Day morning.

they both rap a lil try-hard for me i prefer some insouciance

i mess with 'werkin girls' tho

I mean it's got filler like any tape but I think she recorded the sweetest, sexiest love (and sex) songs of the year after Miguel

i'm not completely sold on either of them beyond a track or two each but the fact that not a single azb song has stuck in over a year now makes her a pretty ideal target.

xp Are you thinking of "Gypsy Letters"? Love that so much.

yes!

but she has so many twitter followers! xxp

"gypsy letters" is so gorgeous

though haze's "fall for your type" from the year before really does set a high bar for her love songs

my main gripe with banks is that she hasn't really settled on a "sound" and i don't get the sense that she's experimenting as much as she just doesn't have a good grasp on what she wants her music to be. she can still make good tracks regardless but over the course of a full length it feels a bit amateur to me.

― J0rdan S., Thursday, January 3, 2013 2:08 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

She seems to have stuck pretty consistently with the whole neo-hip-house thing.

I always forget that I like "1991".

It sounds great in jackin sets.

i think "1991" was the last song i put on my EOY trax list, it's decent

what most disappointed me about banks last year was how rarely she seemed to match the beats she choose, her vox fell flat so much of the time

and that's true of her new one too

One thing I'll say frustrates me about her is, "212" aside, she seems better at coming up with memorable pieces of songs than memorable songs. Like I'll constantly get bits of her tracks stuck in my head, but have no idea which song they're from.

totes

even "212" is basically three or four cobbled bits.

that's sort of why fantasea sounded good to be but also why it made me doubt that she has a solid proper LP in her right now

wrote about this at length on tumblr, but basically, azealia is great when she is great but has poor quality control.

and yeah, angel's colorist bullshit was out of line, but i'm actually impressed with how quickly she apologized, even in the context of a beef? it's rare that quasi-famous folks recognize when they've crossed a line and accept responsibility immediately instead of after doubling down and getting gross for a while.

and yeah, love reservation, tho love the best AZ tracks more than all but Werkin' Girls, Hot Like Fire, Gypsy Letters and New York. But still...1991 and Esta Noche aside, Banks is... inconsistent at best.

really all this beef did was remind me that even though i actually love 5 or 6 azealia songs, i am so ~tired~ of her simultaneously getting to be a big gay icon among (in my experience) mostly gay men, esp. white gay men who are really into trying on and playing with the language and culture of the ballroom/vogue scene while also (them and her) being constantly and intensely transphobic and occasionally homophobic.

like. Angel was over the line. But Azealia trying to knock down another queer woman by saying she has an adam's apple and that she needed to "fix your tuck" because "your dick is showing" or whatever? awful awful awful on so many levels.

she peppered a couple of Fantasea tracks with similar ridiculousness & I think she called Jim Jones a faggot during their twitter beef?

all the ab tracks ppl hold up as highs (post 212) have been really forgettable to me

^^ yep. But I can't say she's disappointed me because as much as I loved "212" she already sounded like a one-hit wonder.

like. i dunno. neither of them came out of those particular statements looking great (although, angel's other insults were pretty amusing), but one of them recognized that she said something fucked up and apologized for it, and the other has and continues to insult people by implying that they're trans, while making music heavily indebted to trans folk.

i know it has nothing to do with the quality of the music (and that this is actually about azealia) but it's so tacky.

and way grosser than text message convo cover art, no matter how unethical it is.

anyway, back to listening to reservation.

I feel like with Haze it's more like I really like a few of her songs a lot and the rest just bores me.

xps, yeah both of them have said some total bullshit today and neither of them have come out of this looking good, but big ups to Haze at least for copping to it and apologizing for the dumb shit she said.

yeah that is v shitty good posts alex

haha oops https://twitter.com/AZEALIABANKS/status/286971736405204993

lol

They're chucking metadata at each other now. I'm out!

wow....not at all surprised though.

lol! That was kinda awesome.

damn, mcafee'd

haha oops https://twitter.com/AZEALIABANKS/status/286971736405204993

― hemioblock (The Reverend), Thursday, January 3, 2013 5:18 PM (16 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

whatd it say?

that the track she said she recorded in 20 minutes was actually recorded in 2012

does angel's response that the track was produced then but not the vocals make sense?

or is that nonsense?

this is getting stupid

its like ilx beef

[hemiola joke]

unless she recorded it directly over the beat in the same file, but that's generally not how recording works xxxp

what's beef? beef is when you talk about hemiola and chief keef

too many syllables, you're rapping like angel haze

you make her sound like talib kweli

don't insult volcanic lahar's rapping skills

you make her sound like talib kweli

― hemioblock (The Reverend), Friday, January 4, 2013 12:02 AM (20 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Bingo. She is the female kweli, more or less.

...

i know, redundant huh

i thought his homegirl greezy had that spot on lock

yeah Grae is unquestionably the female Kweli (although she is fun on twitter)

so is Kwe!

so why did this whole thing start today

because AB thinks she has to defeat every other female rapper mini-boss before she can face Bower Minaj for supremacy

er Bowser shit

AB said some shit about people not originally from NY claiming New York, AH took it as a sneak diss

that dis track is great. seems too timely to have been recorded much earlier? i don't pay any attention to banks. does she do dis tracks etc. or just twitter beef?

AB specializes at making great instrumentals slightly worse

cool beef between two really important artists

cool post from really important ilxor

dag

i always think this is a pornstar

angel haze or j0rdan sargent?

Whomever has more beef.

lol @ koopa minaj

Someone mentioned AH sounds like an angry Childish Gambino on her diss track. The second-hand embarrassment for this chick is beyond palpable rn.

and way grosser than text message convo cover art, no matter how unethical it is.

things like that text message have usually been inbounds in rap beefs imo

reminds me of that Company Flow "Linda Tripp" song where they recorded the Anticon guy on the phone

also -- lol @ koopa minaj

http://soundcloud.com/azealia-banks/no-problems-prod-by

checkmate, imo

wish I could download and check the metadata

how is yet another track that's better without her on top of it "checkmate"?

the beat is from 2011. Very suspicious

I declare this a victory for ... Rap Music

I'm giving round 1 to Haze.

Both lose imo.

"Seriously, if you were not born and raised in NY.... DON'T CLAIM NY. YOU ARE NOT A NEW YORKER"

i think AB lost it right there

"where is THE NEW YORKER HOTEL. where are the headquarters of THE NEW YORKER MAGAZINE? oh that's right, the TWO ONE TWO"

i might have made that one up

"Seriously, if you do not make your living slinging crack rocks and shooting people in the face… DON'T CLAIM THE DRUG TRADE. YOU ARE NOT A REAL GANGSTA."

Rappers claiming things - where will it end?

wait you guys are really offended by azealia's original claim? what's objectionable about it?

that new york is a city of immigrants? of people who moved there?

Yeah, every place has a right to a "locals only" attitude, even (and especially) NYC.

xp Well for one thing it misses the point of the track. Haze has been open about coming from Michigan and writing it when she'd only just moved to New York so it's knowingly outrageous - you arrive somewhere and you have so much self-belief that you feel like you own it. She's not trying to trick anybody.

its concern with policing boundaries?

xposts

i believe that's what anti-immigrant rhetoric worldwide stems from, yes

xp exactly

exactly to DL re: the track's chutzpah

i mean c'mon that is some backwards type of attidude

like, it's specifically designed to rile born'n'raised new yorkers and AZB fell for it

TUDE

haha yeah

i think seeing that as "anti-immigrant" is reading a bit too much into it

I'm probably a little more meek than Angel Haze, but I wouldn't move to someplace and act like I own the shit, and I especially wouldn't start a beef with someone who's been there her whole life and has a certain amount of pride about that fact.

i mean that is new york's one and only sure-fire guarantee to everyone, that if you live there and you have affection for it, you are a new yorker, no questions asked

and the fact that azealia appears not to know that kind of makes me question her new york credentials, tbh!

xp I don't judge MCs according to what I'd do in their situation.

i think seeing that as "anti-immigrant" is reading a bit too much into it

this was re: any type of "locals only" or "locals first" attitude, in any form. i mean it really really is, i think that attitude is poisonous

NYC welcomes all, but there's definitely a certain amount of pride among people who were born there. I don't begrudge them that.

i was under the impression that people born and raised in new york were forcefully territorial about the idea of "being a new yorker"

http://www.dvdactive.com/images/reviews/screenshot/2008/7/gony1.jpg

finally, someone to rep for the 212

If I'd been born in Bed-Stuy and was constantly bombarded by hipster douchebags who just moved in from Oklahoma acting like they know what's what, I'd get a little protective of my identity and of those like me.

#GONY

http://www.weird-strange-facts.com/images/250px-Statue_of_Liberty_7.jpg

Give me your tired, your poor/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free/Seriously if you were not born and raised in NY/DON'T CLAIM NY YOU ARE NOT A NEW YORKER

I get the impression that ppl are territorial about being from specific boroughs but not "New York" as a gestalt entity

I have no idea if that impression makes any sense, btw

it's cool when people in new york are not from new york because then they are not huge downers about what the city is like

NO ONE gets territorial about manhattan - in my experience? it's the overdog! and then here's this whole song named after it, 212, i mean you need a landline for that, and newer landlines don't even get 212 numbers anymore do they?

AB is really not a very good lyricist.

truth about manhattan tho. anyone who could have possibly gotten territorial about it was priced out decades ago. BK otoh.

yeah brooklyn is really a cheap place to live fer shur

please state your borough-specific squabbles in the form of a beef tweets.

http://soundcloud.com/angelhazeym/shut-the-fuck-up-angel-haze

wait, let me seriously backpedal here. Harlem is in manhattan, and people rep harlem of course. Can't think of anyone really doing the same for e.g. washington heights or inwood, but in principle there's no reason they couldn't. it's a really interesting immigrant mix in those parts though, so "born and raised" doesn't necessarily fly.

Man, 24 hours ago I really liked Angel Haze. Now, notsomuch.

hoo boy

can't really accuse her of beating around the bush, huh

can't really accuse of her ignoring bush, eh

i think in most professions and even genres of music being a native new yorker is not that big a deal (like, nobody really gives a fuck where all the "Brooklyn" indie rock bands are originally from). but it's totally different with rappers, there's all the "birthplace of hip hop" stuff and a history of guys accusing each other of being from upstate/Jersey/etc. it's like that in EVERY major city, if two rappers are beefing one will accuse the other from being from the burbs or of not spending any time in the neighborhood they claim.

"if i'm feeling froggy / i jump 'em like they geronimo." "got that fire flow / my tonsils prolly fuckin crispy."

but there was no beef before that post? isn't that what sparked it off?

Best I could tell, AZB was just making a tweet about real vs. fake NYers. Angel Haze, chronic narcissist, assumes it was about her and comes back with some really awful things and two dud tracks. No beef before yesterday afaik.

why is it that when male MCs go after each other and release dis tracks, they are evaluated on the strength of their attacks, but when female MCs go after each other and release dis tracks, it's a disappointing shame?

or "dumb"

"chronic narcissist" ?????

tbf, I'm not a big proponent of male mc dis tracks either.

i think a lot of the weariness here is that pretty much any female rapper with any kind of national buzz in the last couple years has beefed with at least one or two others (or several, in AB's case)

brainfart...i meant to say "classic narcissist".

well it is true that AB is the female 50 Cent

both these chicks need editors

are there disses on this diss track?

dan otm repeatedly

Young Gypsy ‏@AngelHaze

Lol, so fraudulent. You know what happened between us months ago and if you want to pretend its all just twitter beef, fine.

They both need to squash this though before it becomes all anyone wants to ask them about.

gonna refer to online arguing as "bitter tweef" from now on

yeah, all the important topics usually discussed in their interviews will be lost (xp)

biter tweef

what happened months ago apparently involves a table at the spotted pig, so awesome.

xp The experiences AH talked about in Cleaning Out My Closet are kind of important imo

yeah the spotted pig ref cracked me up

if that "fake new yorkers" tweet was some kind of general diktat instead of aimed at AH it's even worse!

i have never been to the spotted pig but my wife went once. she actually sat right next to jay-z and started talking to him without knowing who he was! if somebody had filmed it and if, er, youtube had existed then she'd have been a viral sensation

bitter queef

there it is

We were dancing around it for an hour.

eww, that's what i stepped in?

Dancing around the spotted pig like heathens.

Le1f ☥ Verified ‏@LE1FNY
lemme just say if any of you faggot rappers come for me like girls come for azealia, there will be no diss tracks, just knuckles n shit

New York girl, ooh, ooh, ooh

Runnin' pretty, New York City girl
Twenty-five, thirty-five
Hello, baby, New York City girl

You grew up ridin' the subways, running with people
Up in Harlem, down on Broadway
You're no tramp, but you're no lady, talkin' that street talk
You're the heart and soul of New York City

And love, love is just a passing word
It's the thought that you had in a taxi cab that got left on the curb
When he dropped you off at East 83rd

Oh, oh, oh [Oh, oh, oh]
You're a native New Yorker
You should know the score by now [You should know by now]
You're a native New Yorker

New York girl, ooh, ooh, ooh

Music plays, everyone's dancin' closer and closer
Makin' friends and findin' lovers
There you are lost in the shadows, searchin' for someone [Searchin' for
Someone]
To set you free from New York City

And, whoa, where did all those yesterdays go
When you still believed love could really be like a Broadway show
You are the star, win the applause

Oh, oh, oh [Oh, oh, oh]
You're a native New Yorker
No one opens the door
For a native New Yorker

[Runnin' pretty, New York City girl]
Ooh... ooh... ooh...
Native, native, native New Yorker

Where did all those yesterdays go
When you still believed love could really be like a Broadway show
You are the star

You're a native New Yorker
You should know the score by now
You're a native New Yorker

You should know the score, you should know the score by now
You're a native New Yorker, oh, oh, oh
[Native, native, native new Yorker]
You're a native New Yorker

Whoa, oh, ho, ho, you're a native New Yorker
You should know the score
[Native, native, native new Yorker]
You're a native New Yorker

What you waitin' for, no one opens the door
[You're a native New Yorker]
For a native, for a native New Yorker

ilxors getting upset abt general regional pride in rap beef b/c its anti-immigrant is the funniest critique of a rapper since whoever that blogger was that said dipset anthem is 'fascist'

lol word

who got upset about that?

well, Tracer did kind of

the only person who mentioned immigrants directly was me, in response to something johnny said, not azealia

this is the exact thing deej complains about people doing to him every day

before this new angel diss track i had definite suspicions about it being a PR stunt but now i'm like "okaaaayyyyy it's really personal *backs away slowly*"

who says it can't be both!

rap is all about merging the personal with the public(ity stunt)

Yeah that's like Beef 101. Interest generated is proportional to how real it seems.

Le1f ☥ Verified ‏@LE1FNY
lemme just say if any of you faggot rappers come for me like girls come for azealia, there will be no diss tracks, just knuckles n shit

into fisting i guess

xp Well for one thing it misses the point of the track. Haze has been open about coming from Michigan and writing it when she'd only just moved to New York so it's knowingly outrageous - you arrive somewhere and you have so much self-belief that you feel like you own it. She's not trying to trick anybody.

― Deafening silence (DL), Friday, January 4, 2013 12:55 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

its concern with policing boundaries?

xposts

― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Friday, January 4, 2013 12:55 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i believe that's what anti-immigrant rhetoric worldwide stems from, yes

xp exactly

― lex pretend, Friday, January 4, 2013 12:55 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

putting it on the spectrum of anti-immigrant rhetoric is LOL thats all

people in america generally only care where you were born, not ancestry. if the latter mattered angel haze could pull rank as a native american!

DEFEND 212

would buy that shirt. alternately "keep central park east weird".

has no one here ever claimed their city or commented on fakers claiming their city?

personally i liked:
i mean c'mon that is some backwards type of attidude

in hip-hop, really?

has no one here ever claimed their city or commented on fakers claiming their city?

you mean like when dudes from Houston claim NYC?

http://media.soundonsound.com/sos/jul07/images/DJPremier1_l.jpg

jesus this whole thing is now making me want to delete my month-old Twitter account

maybe I should just stop following Rich FourFour

kick in the door, waivin' the @richjuz

"but perez hilton IS a messy faggot"

-- everyone

YUNG RAPUNXEL ‏@AZEALIABANKS
A faggot is not a homosexual male. A faggot is any male who acts like a female. There's a BIG difference.

oh jesus fucking christ

thanks, eminem

fourfrogbs

honestly I'm much less offended by her original statement than her clarification

yeah why some people were so eager to give her the benefit of the doubt i'm not sure.

alex in montreal otm on twitter

smh these two clowns

oh azealia :////////

putting it on the spectrum of anti-immigrant rhetoric is LOL thats all

i was obviously putting johnny's comment on that spectrum, not azealia's

Rich's reactions the most surprising.

wtf did azealia actually say that

i was obviously putting johnny's comment on that spectrum, not azealia's

Not that either comment was anti-immigrant, but how did mine come across that way when her's did not?

not surprised by his reaction, actually.

kdhjoedhewf

This backfired on both of them. Terrible stuff.

love the judgments from on high about this episode, when did male rappers beefing ever get the "tut-tut, terrible stuff" line

in a month's time no one will remember

Male rappers rarely look good beefing either - unless they can tie it into some sort of big mythology about themselves that they can build on. That certainly didn't happen here.

yeah i mean the Cassidy/Meek Mill thing is stupid as fuck too, it's pretty rare that beef isn't especially these days

i just remembered the common/drake beef over serena williams

i take my post back

though really how can anything actually "backfire" on an artist these days, that's evidence right there - everything carried on as normal for both despite their silliness, as it will here

yeah people will pretend every beef has Ja Rule levels of potential career ruination and it's just delusional, the stakes are never that high.

my fav were the rumors floating around this weekend that interscope had dropped azeala for calling perez a faggot. those labels and their strict morals!

and things move too fast. something else will happen this week. pretty sure angel at least has significantly raised her profile.

pretty sure angel at least has significantly raised her profile.

― lex pretend, Monday, January 7, 2013 9:09 AM (47 seconds ago) Bookmark

lol exactly

Beef really hasn't been the same since 50 Cent failed to take out Rick Ross. That was the Titanic of Rap Beefs.

well... the thing w/ that one is that people at the time saw 50 as being greater than ross even from an objective career perspective but he was really just on his execrable slide down a creative and moral bottomless pit, whereas ross' career was still on the upswing. granted that beef sort of amplified those trends but it was also 50 fucking with someone people cared more about even if a lot of others didn't realize it at the time. could say the same thing in less dramatic terms about his "beef" with kanye, too.

was 50 vs kanye the point where people started automatically thinking "publicity stunt" about beef? like, that was so contrived

tho yknow cf http://favstar.fm/users/roxanne_shante/status/156178152270475264

Of course. But the remarkable thing about the beef with Ross was that it was all about authenticity and myth/persona. 50 tore down Ross' narrative about himself and it still didn't help.

all of 50's beefs circa The Massacre 2 years earlier were widely dismissed as publicity stunts

I mean, 50 Cent actually suffered from his misguided crusades.

nah 50's downfall was proof that people care more about hits than drama, he stopped having hits even when he kept bringing the drama

word

Rap beef is essentially a race to the bottom. You sling as much shit as you can and hope your opponent runs out of ammo/dignity before you do. Either way you generally come out of it covered in shit. Without an album to offset the attention all these petty spats could really come back to haunt Banks.

xpost. True. But 50 Cent had built big parts of his persona around the idea of him being the guy who destroyed other people's careers. When he failed so miserably with Ross and his album underperformed, he found himself with no leg to stand on.

that's a pretty rosy reading of 50's career at that point, longneck

things just ain't the same for gangstas

they wear a lotta spandex

xpost.
Ha, the 2007 album had some minor joints at least. And it did go platinum in the end, right? His era was definitely coming to an end at that point, but the double flop (beef + album) of 09 still felt brutal. At that point there was no coming back.

Before I Self Destruct and Deeper Than Rap sold almost the exact same amount, j0rdan's right that it was more about perception and their trajectories at that time

anyway it's hilarious that major media outlets are reporting on these 2 barely famous chicks as if it were a beef between artists as big as 50 cent and rick ross

What careers did 50 destroy?!

If AZB is harmed at all it'll be because she KEEPS ON beefing with amyone and everyone, not this specific spat (though using "faggot" when your fanbase is so heavily gay is uhhhh extra dumb). But it'll be forgotten in a month as all these things are

lex have you heard of this person ja rule

anyway it's hilarious that major media outlets are reporting on these 2 barely famous chicks as if it were a beef between artists as big as 50 cent and rick ross

Which is exactly how they both benefit from it! It's reported as if it's a Big Deal. Helps that it all happened in the dead 1st week of Jan

it is hilarious that this article exists: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_feuds_of_50_Cent

Ja Rule. Young Buck. Plus he had a hand in breaking up Dipset by beefing with Cam while becoming friendly with Jim Jones in public. He did also manage to make life difficult for The Game, even though Game kinda beat the odds on that one.

Ja Rule's demise was more down to the fact that he allowed the accusations of "softness" to get to him an alienated his fanbase by releasing Blood In My Eye.

He did more damage with that than 50 could ever have dreamed of.

you realize the lead single of Blood In My was a 50 diss right

Well that's how Ross "won" - he didn't allow himself to be substantially influenced by the competing narratives about who (or what) he was. He did toughen up a bit, developing his signature grunt in a more aggressive direction, but in the end he only benefited from it.

That isn't the point. There were no club/radio friendly hits on the album, which is what had been his bread and butter. I think pretty much every song on the album was a diss and frankly nobody wants to hear that shit.

well i think in the end the funniest thing about the ross/50 beef is that it really freed ross of his existential shackles re having been a cop, thus allowing him to embrace the even more absurd persona that has fueled his renaissance.

there wasn't much room left for ja artistically anyway but maybe he should've gone all in with a best of both worlds album w/ ashanti or something

Yes and yes!

have you ever seen them both in the same room? think about it

where's the nabisco post where he declared Ja Rule to be his nemesis

are you saying nabisco's beef destroyed ja?

50 pretty much just kicked Ja on the way down

i think that's kind of an overstatement. Ja had two back-to-back #1 singles like 6 months before "Wanksta" hit.

It wasn't just Ja who sort of went nowhere very rapidly in that time period. Ashanti, etc. too. He was just especially high profile. That whole sound just sort of fell apart.

Already by The Last Tempation in 2002, Ja Rule wasn't producing the same sort of hits he had with Pain is Love.

Also remember Murder Inc. fell apart, came under federal investigation, got dropped from Def Jam, etc. Around that time 7 Aurelius, who produced some of the highest profile singles had a big feud with Irv Gotti too, claimed that Gotti had taken credit for lots of his tracks (probably true), and soforth.

chink santana is the unsung murda inc hero tho

fucking hell she was electrifying @ the scala tonight. so much stage presence and aggression. entire room completely silent and holding their breath when she did "cleaning out my closet". she's the most important young rapper in the game bar none right now

i stack their bodies on top of each other like i'm hitler

what's going on with her album? is it coming out this year?

yeah that's the plan, she's still writing (and apparently every time she comes to london she makes time to go into the studio with UK producers). no confirmed date at all but more likely in the autumn

"cleaning out my closet" last night

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1vqjjlLIw4

she's the most important young rapper in the game bar none right now

― flamenco drop (lex pretend), Tuesday, May 7, 2013 7:07 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

u_U

well that was predictable

as was the lack of justification

http://www.theonion.com/articles/there-are-people-in-world-who-are-concerned-about,32162/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J43YArHDUbI

it's sort of like all her favourite tics and lines wrapped up in a crossover package right? it's ok, she does a nice line in triumphalism which helps

http://www.spin.com/articles/angel-haze-a-tribe-called-red-unfinished-song-sparse/

Tribe Called Red are fucking awesome

what? What? WHAT YES.

A Tribe Called Red are amazing amazing wonderful perfect and the fact that they are working with Angel is the best unexpected thing ever.

https://soundcloud.com/yxxngclan/echelon

better link: https://soundcloud.com/angelhazeym/echelon-its-my-way/s-1h9Jk

amazing song

yeah, it really jams

I was hoping "Echelon" was going to have something to do with the NSA.

These bitches is awful, and me I spit that gospel
That... LYRICAL, BIBLICAL, HOLY GHOST, PENTECOSTAL

^^ Favourite bit. First heard it on 1Xtra, it's on the A list. Pleasantly surprised that she has become so well known in the UK

I love it.

I read that the album is coming out in January now.

not terribly into this song. production is great but lyrically i know she can just do so much more.

these 30gold freestyles are amazing

https://soundcloud.com/angelhazeym

angel might have just done the impossible and salvaged 'same love' for me?

https://soundcloud.com/angelhazeym/same-love-angel-haze

haven't heard these yet but fav so far is prob her "backseat freestyle"

*this

i mean. it's contemplative spoken word angel, not battle rap angel, but still

I love everything she says and does.

Ala$ka Yxxng ‏@AngelHaze 3m

And if I am, what does it matter? RT @JimDeuce: I'm convinced @AngelHaze is a lesbian.

according to angel's twitter half of that last verse is an andrea gibson poem - http://genderqueer.tumblr.com/post/22343870122/andrew-by-andrea-gibson

ok yeah whoa at her "same love". i love how so many of her remixes are...corrections to the original (see also her "bitch bad")

good article here: i agree, she's the most important rapper of 2013

http://flavorwire.com/421558/angel-hazes-30-gold-freestyles-prove-shes-the-most-important-rapper-of-2013

(i wasn't aware of her take on miley cyrus, even more amazing)

have these yet been compiled?

they're on her soundcloud, i doubt they'll be compiled beyond that

nice wrecking ball cover https://soundcloud.com/angelhazeym/wrecking-ball-angel-haze

http://thehairpin.com/2013/11/your-favorite-rapper-probably-sucks-interview-with-angel-haze

so much truth spoken

completely in awe of this kid tbh

just release the greatest album of all time already

http://cdn2.pitchfork.com/news/53348/200dfa16.png

"Echelon" (It's My Way) is almost my favourite song this year. One or two songs will finish ahead of it.

in my top ten

great song, sure to be a great album, terrible album cover there

Not that keen on "A Tribe Called Red." :(

afraid of the song called "Angel + Airwaves"

Yeah, I can't say "A Tribe Called Red" does much for me.

Boom:
https://soundcloud.com/angelhazeym/sets/angel-haze-dirty-gold/

"Ala$ka Yxxng @AngelHaze

Since they don't want to put it out this year, I will. Here's the album. HERE IS DIRTY GOLD. I hope you all enjoy it."
https://twitter.com/AngelHaze/status/413334246015913984

Yay!

"April's Fool" is great.

omg

not another sudden release to fuck up my eoy list

some weirdness in there - "April's Fool" seems to appear twice and the running order doesn't match up w/ the one released last week.

damn, she death gripped it

Ala$ka Yxxng ‏@AngelHaze 2m
All 12 songs are up now. But the soundcloud big has misnamed them. Haha. Enjoy listening to the wrong songs as well as the album lol.

i wonder what went down behind the scenes? release date was announced last week and it wasn't any later than had been planned?

i note she hasn't made them downloadable, lol

this still seems to be the same 5 tracks for me.

Aw, man, Soundcloud's latest set of upgrades mean that anyone linking to a soundcloud going "here's my new album" is basically, for me, linking to an empty page.

Oh wait, the tweet itself will let me play snippets...

news article from 9 days ago: http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-juice/5819978/angel-haze-inside-the-making-of-her-debut-album-dirty-gold

With a release date for "Dirty Gold" still being finalized (Republic is eyeing late February/early March for a simultaneous launch in the United States and the United Kingdom), Carson keeps checking Haze's SoundCloud page every morning. "If I didn't have Angel on lockdown, she'd just put [the album] up there," Carson says with a laugh. "She wants people to hear it now. She's so caught up in the moment and the creative space. She doesn't get caught up in the politics."

Yeah it seems to be only five tracks or so.

it appears to be zero now

(i saw a playlist of all 12, some misnamed, refreshed, all gone)

Aw it seems like it's already gone.

yeah, somebody came and rapped her knuckles i gotta think

I'm kind of glad, b/c I probably wouldn't have got round to listening to it enough for my year-end ballot and wouldn't have wanted it to be a low-scoring appearer and thus ineligible for next year. Though I'm annoyed I didn't get to hear *any* of it.

Heard one song before the stream cut out, and it just whet my appetite TBH. But I'm glad not to have to shuffle my already "OMG, so much I haven't heard yet!" EOY list.

twitter stream that led to this not so good; i'm worried this might be unreconcilable.

Ala$ka Yxxng ‏@AngelHaze 1h
Idc what happens after this. They will get the music they were promised. And you guys JUST MAY LEARN TO KEEP YOUR FUCKING WORD.

Ala$ka Yxxng ‏@AngelHaze 1h
So sorry to Island/Republic Records, but fuck you. I got here doing this for my fans and if you guys don't feel the same, it won't stop me.

Ala$ka Yxxng ‏@AngelHaze 1h
Dreams. The only thing I have in my life. Imagine having the only reason you're alive being the very thing straining your existence. Ughhhh

Ala$ka Yxxng ‏@AngelHaze 1h
Than anything you are or will ever be and sitting the fuck down and complying to get shit done. I'm sorry if I seem angry. But these are my
Expand Reply Retweet Favorite More
Ala$ka Yxxng ‏@AngelHaze 1h
Taking shit on the chin does not mean sitting back and letting the world beat and suck you fucking dry. It's knowing something is bigger

Ala$ka Yxxng ‏@AngelHaze 1h
I did not promise an album and not deliver, unlike every fucking one else. I sat my ass down and came up with this music WHEN I HAD NOTHING.

Ala$ka Yxxng ‏@AngelHaze 1h
I turned my fucking cheek because MUSIC IS ALL I FUCKING HAVE...and I know that's the same for some of you. I did everything I could for you

Ala$ka Yxxng ‏@AngelHaze 1h
Sure that it's attainable. I stopped arguing my point. Stopped giving a fuck about everything. Let these other ditsy bitches disrespect me

Ala$ka Yxxng ‏@AngelHaze 1h
I turned down so much shit to be sure that I could finish this album because actually wanting something to me means doing all you can to be

Ala$ka Yxxng ‏@AngelHaze 1h
I have gone to bat for this music. I have gone to bat for myself. I have literally sat fucking sleepless and starved crying over this shit.

Ala$ka Yxxng ‏@AngelHaze 1h
It's so annoying that my label could tell me that if I fucking finished my album before the summer it would be out this year.

I wonder if anyone managed to get rips of the whole thing?

or like why did she do soundcloud c'mon girl put it on mediafire or something

I've heard rumours this was actually pretty ropey, or to paraphrase properly, "total shit" :/

all the talk about mraz and john mayer etc in that billboard article lex quoted has me wondering when that influence is finally going to creep into her music

https://twitter.com/angelhaze/status/413475186596659200

I don't understand what the rush is here, but hey, I'm not complaining

this sort of thing seems to be a trend - i think in the coming year you're going to see a lot of people self-releasing or at least angling to have shit in fans' hands sooner than later

I hope she's happy with the amount of press she's gotten to date, and no more, because releasing an album three months before the label wants to release it means no long lead print pieces, means lots of other potential opportunities (TV bookings) that are normally set up as part of a prolonged and carefully planned rollout strategy all become impossible. She's basically just reduced her potential audience to her Twitter followers and the few bloggers interested in throwing her into the content mill for 24 hours. So yeah, great, your fans get your album in 2013 (barely); but you've traded away a substantial portion of your ability to reach new people.

Quite funny that a musician even has the means to impulsively leak their whole album these days, quite a modern problem

didn't M.I.A.'s last album get its release date directly after she threatened to leak it? pretty wild if artists are using this as a way to force the labels' hand and actually getting their way.

And didn't Earl Sweatshirt do the same thing, or was it someone else?

Danny Brown did

https://twitter.com/angelhaze/status/413475186596659200

I don't understand what the rush is here, but hey, I'm not complaining

― mums go off when i enter the building (monotony), Thursday, December 19, 2013 1:13 AM (7 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

me neither, especially as an "early 2014" release date has been pencilled in for some time, as far as i know

Seems stupid as hell - and terrible timing too. I certainly don't have the time to sit down and listen to her album just a few days before Christmas.

Didn't she get a massive advance as part of this all anyway? Suggests that the record company aren't particularly happy (rightly or wrongly) with the album that she's recorded, either because it's uncommercial or just not very good. Or it suggests that it's both of these things and they actually want to promote it properly at a time of year when debut artists are traditionally at their most visible. Either way, just before Christmas is a stupid time to put anything out at last minute, unless you're like Beyonce.

http://pitchfork.com/news/53401-angel-hazes-dirty-gold-release-date-moved-to-december-30-following-her-leak/

That A Tribe Called Red song is giving me a headache.

i think it's fantastic. good to have an antidote to soporific submarine beats/stoned autotune rapping/lethargic tempos. confrontational and abrasive blood and guts and fire in her belly, yes please

Danny Brown did

ah thx.

I don't get why it has to be out this year? What's the rush?

No. Do not put it out 30th December. That is a stupid move. I won't even get to listen to it until next year, so why stick it right in the most awkward week ever?

Vicki Leekx came out December 31 and I think I was one of like 6 people that listened to it.

was just talking about this with an industry type who suggested maybe she has a contractual obligation of x albums and/or y years and she wants to get rolling with this? dunno if that's worth taking with a grain of salt.
but yeah, from a press and label relationship perspective jamming this out into the world is a bad idea

angel haze signing with a major label was probably a bad idea in the first place

i am inclined to agree with that

i'm surprised to find she has 150k twitter followers. i was expecting 5 digits

angels fans are not numerous but they're vociferous

this is what i've BEEN saying. from the start there were all the makings of a devoted cult audience

deej are you saying she's more popular than you thought she was? idk, i don't think twitter followers are a litmus test of much

this is going to go well

Too cynical to suggest this was all a publicity ploy of the cheapest kind? Her official press is now bragging that she "leaked" her album. But hosting a protected stream that nobody was able to rip for a nano-second isn't really a leak. She clearly had the access to ACTUALLY leak the album if she wanted to.

From the crap her publicist sent me:

Yesterday Angel Haze self-leaked her debut album ‘Dirty Gold’, this comes just days after news that ‘Dirty Gold’ won’t be available until March 2014. Expressing frustration and upset about not being able to get her album out to fans in 2013 as previously promised, Angel Haze took matters into her own hands leaking the record via Twitter. Haze’s actions have forced her labels hand who’ve since announced they will make the digital version of ‘Dirty Gold’ available 30th December 2013.

Yeah, this has the odor of a stunt.

nah, i'm sure the label would still like to do the physical release along with the digital at the very least.

xp

i dunno; a label faced with this would ask pr to make straw into gold
so either planned as a stunt or as a tantrum, the result would likely be the same

very suspect that NOBODY got it tho

I think the span of time between her tweet and it being yanked was all of ten minutes.

yeah, but TEH INTERNET. certainly somebody should have gotten it and it should be everywhere now.

2013: for the first time, the internet falters

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e10pzjb4ZnU

The way things are now with rappers, the first official album almost feels more like the end of their career than the beginning

sad truth bomb

Pretty much otm

In that case, I hope Azealia hurries up with her album ASAP.

Do you really think she would have had the type of promotional schedule that would have included TV appearances and shit? Like yeah 3 months of build up is better but how much build up are they gonna do for Angel Haze?

I could see her getting on some of the lower-tier shows: Conan, Kimmel, Arsenio, maybe Fallon, maybe some of the daytime talk shows.

she'd be in pretty much every monthly music magazine left

prob still will be but the lede will be "why did she force the album to be released now"

a major could def get her on fallon or conan

Not hearing a lot here that I love. Needlessly self-important, and these beats don't go anywhere or do anything. But "White Lilles/ White Lies" is excellent

Polica has been on Fallon & Kimmel and they aren't even on a major

So, this album.

Lol. Anyway, I'm finding this a bit difficult to process, it's not as...hard as I had hoped?

i like "deep sea diver" a ton, but that chorus loop probably does go on a bit too long.

Someone just posted a photo of some majestic trees on Facebook, with a one-word note: "Birches." Had to fight the temptation to comment "These birches is awful" because a) it's not someone I'm ever in contact with otherwise, and b) would have been very confusing.

just cracking it now; been too wrapped up in end of year stuff.

I listened to the first four or five tracks this morning and it sounded pretty banging, I'm vaguely hoping this record unites her more in-your-face battle rap persona with her more soul-searching side.

i'm not sure what i think about it, there's some strong stuff on here but...i'm just not sure what i think about the blustery choruses. even if some of them are good, idk if they're what i wanted from her, and they kind of bury her good ideas a bit. first half is pretty strong though, and "white lilies/white lies" is one of those songs that NO other rapper out there could pull off.

the spoken intros are a bit heavy-handed. show don't tell!

sia has secretly become as much of a hack as ryan tedder hasn't she. all those clichéd "inspirational" choruses that are all identical.

basically i'm not sure i wanted her battle rap side and soul-searching side to be united because it means we get neither...

Ugh this basically goes to shit after Black Synagogue. I agree on the choruses, just so ponderous and nondescript. The spoken word intros are part of the same phenomenon really, underestimating the audience.

This really feels like her answer to Yelawolf's Radioactive, a hedge-betting crossover grab that stops an artist's buzz cold

word so true

sort of no surprise that both emerged more fully-formed on their mixtapes than most. like, trunk muzik and reservation were essentially amazing and striking debut albums in all but name

This really feels like her answer to Yelawolf's Radioactive, a hedge-betting crossover grab that stops an artist's buzz cold

― Evan R, Friday, January 3, 2014 8:27 PM

Ouch.

and instead of having the opportunity to take that further both kinda had to redo their debut album statement for major labels and sort of consciously move away from what made them brilliant in the first place

i mean, i would be hesitant before writing this off completely though

radioactive wasn't actually as bad as people like to make out it was

i mean, not great, but i'd take it over several other albums that get handwaved through without half the criticism

it has its fair share of good tracks but pretty regrettable from a conceptual standpoint

with angel haze i think the conceptual aspect of the album is less disappointing/surprising because she never really made it a secret that she was gonna try and pull off some corny shit ("i most want to collaborate with jason mraz" etc)

yeah i think everyone had trepidation over that stuff - which was there from the start - and actually we might have got off lightly (ie, no actual collaboration with jason mraz)

i think with both, i can imagine major labels thinking these artists can ~transcend the rap fanbase (not that that's where they had the biggest support in the first place, i guess) but getting the ways in which that could happen a bit confused - like, thinking you have to be corny/on-trend to appeal to pop fans rather than just carrying on with what actually made them special

and in both cases their lyricism hasn't so much gone away as just been...buried a bit

What kind of audience did the label expect her to have? Serious question. That this (so far) sounds undercooked is a testament to a label's willingness to dilute an artist's personality for the sake of non-existent mainstream attention even in 2014.

This is a dumb point but her name elicits blank stares whenever I mention her to young rap fans, so this project seems doubly depressing.

did the hip-hop community ever really support her though?

yeah i have no idea what her fanbase is

ILM and forty other critics, I'd imagine.

the one time i've seen her live it seemed like a really mixed fanbase, though a really enthusiastic one. lots of lesbians but really not a homogenous group at all. assorted waifs and strays with troubled backgrounds who would have had livejournals ten years ago, maybe.

xp nahhhh look at her twitter followers etc, she does have a proper fanbase, and it's a cultish and devoted one. but it's not one that really screams commercial smashes

That this (so far) sounds undercooked is a testament to a label's willingness to dilute an artist's personality for the sake of non-existent mainstream attention even in 2014.

do you mean the label has diluted her sound? bc i don't know about that, angel's insistence to put the album out in 2013 seems more like this is the kind of music she really wanted to make but her label were more hesitant

like lex i don't want to abandon her just yet because i thought reservation was really, really special but yeah initially i'm disappointed by this, particularly the languid second half

angel has a legit nyc fanbase but it's not trad hiphop fans afaik

not - predominantly - trad hiphop fans i mean

angel haze and yelawolf also share an overemphasis on technical frippery at the behest of musicality

behest totally the wrong word there. what is the word i'm thinking of? I think just "expense."

sorry havent gotten much sleep

Ugh, "Angels and Airwaves" stuck in my head all day. This is one of those albums where the more a song sticks in your head the shittier that song is

On the first song, I thought to myself "who told her 'sad Nicki Minaj' would be the way to go here?"

On the second song, I thought to myself "actually 'sad Nicki Minaj' is working pretty well, I shouldn't prejudge"

Then she started doing a spoken word about how she doesn't connect to things tied to her ethnicity and that people shouldn't expect it to be in her music over tribal chanting and I thought "okay, I'm gonna be late for my dinner reservation if I keep listening to this bullshit" then I died of irony over the word "reservation"

I always thought Nicki Minaj had a terrible sense of humor, but now I understand that any sense of humor is better than no sense of humor

It's funny (ironic) when all the things that people are coming out with to comedy dis a record with are exactly the things that make me think "I should check this out, this is probably a pretty powerful record."

angel haze and yelawolf also share an overemphasis on technical frippery at the behest of musicality

Got a feeling this is basically meaningless even without the word 'behest'.

you would be wrong

angel haze and yelawolf are too concerned w technical pyrotechnics to pay attention to the ways in which that overemphasis on technique obscures interesting musical ideas

You are essentially saying "their musicianship obscures their musicianship" as far as I can tell, which is not particularly edifying

i don't mind that you feel that way deej but the way you phrase it as a gospel truth rather than opinion is a little exhausting and definitively inaccurate.

it's just a sentence, calm down

i'm so calm

i would like more use of the word frippery on ilx tho

i don't mind that you feel that way deej but the way you phrase it as a gospel truth rather than opinion is a little exhausting and definitively inaccurate.

― this harmless group of nerds and the women that love them (forksclovetofu), Monday, 6 January 2014 18:09 (14 minutes ago) Permalink

Does everyone have to add an unnecessary "IMO" or "I think that..." to every post?

You are essentially saying "their musicianship obscures their musicianship" as far as I can tell, which is not particularly edifying

― SHAUN (DJP), Monday, January 6, 2014 11:57 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is not what i am saying. musicality =/= musicianship

when studying jazz, a lot of novice horn players will attempt to fill bars with lots of notes, running through technically complex patterns. They tend not to incorporate ideas like: space. Or concern themselves much with phrasing—why bother with variety when you can impress through speed? etc.

Fair point. (truth be told, I was trolling for a more fleshed-out response)

Does anyone else have an overwhelming urge to sing "YOU SPIN ME RIGHT ROUND, BABY/RIGHT ROUND/WHEN YOU GO DOWN/WHEN YOU GO DOWN, DOWN" over the beginning of "A Tribe Called Red"?

I don't think I'm in a frame of mind to give this a fair listen.

Deej's point makes perfect sense, except that I would say what I loved about each artist's big pre-signing mixtape was the effortless sounding combination of musicality with technical proficiency.

Sometimes the deflating thing about this kind of artist is the gradual realisation that what you thought was absolute mastery was at least in part just really good, fleeting luck.

Azealia Banks burned out as ignominiously too 'cept she didn't make a long statement as beautiful as Reservation.

lol come on now, Azealia Banks was never on Angel Haze's level of substance/talent

"212" was good enough that I couldn't wait for the album

Azealia occasionally offers glimmers of hope - her glastonbury performance last year was pretty terrific, for instance. But 212 was nearly 2.5 years ago, and that + all the vile beefs means most people are now not interested.

when studying jazz, a lot of novice horn players will attempt to fill bars with lots of notes, running through technically complex patterns. They tend not to incorporate ideas like: space. Or concern themselves much with phrasing—why bother with variety when you can impress through speed? etc

All this is just the usual virtuosity/feeling false dichotomy though, a lot of great musicians in eg classical music will have both. Both Angel Haze and Yelawolf clearly understand phrasing, they know how to slow down, the problem with both is that the songwriting went off a cliff between the mixtape and the debut.

technical proficiency is not what makes either album disappointing, indeed it's what partially redeems them

i mean, deej made the same accusation about angel haze and yelawolf BEFORE their albums, ie about their great material, so...i'm disregarding it

the problem with both is that the songwriting went off a cliff between the mixtape and the debut

yeah

Lol at deem edifying us with a jazz 101 lecture

surprised everyone resisted a hemiola zing

"Slowly, we perceive that our task is to learn the proper way of freeing ourselves, to develop technique.... Technique was then, as today, the key to creative freedom"

- Ralph Ellison, Living With Music

the problem with both is that the songwriting went off a cliff between the mixtape and the debut

yeah

― Tim F, Tuesday, January 7, 2014 7:54 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

right. so far with this album its not that any artistic direction sort of choice she made is something that in theory shouldn't work, or would in theory make me enjoy the album less. its just that she made these various choices about artistic direction and also it so happens that the album isn't very exciting.

Lol at deem edifying us with a jazz 101 lecture

― ilx snitch (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, January 7, 2014 7:56 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I studied jazz for eight years. LOL!!

"Slowly, we perceive that our task is to learn the proper way of freeing ourselves, to develop technique.... Technique was then, as today, the key to creative freedom"

- Ralph Ellison, Living With Music

― ilx snitch (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, January 7, 2014 8:02 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I like plenty of highly technical rappers ... way to completely misinterpret me though

All this is just the usual virtuosity/feeling false dichotomy though, a lot of great musicians in eg classical music will have both. Both Angel Haze and Yelawolf clearly understand phrasing, they know how to slow down, the problem with both is that the songwriting went off a cliff between the mixtape and the debut.

― Matt DC, Tuesday, January 7, 2014 2:49 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

see what I said to the other M@tt ... there are plenty of artists who are masters of technique but don't sacrifice clarity and purpose

i wasn't saying you don't know anything about jazz i'm saying you were talking some really cliched basic shit that's been said like 8 zillion times on ILM (ie jazz 101) and acted like you were educating us

in the case of Yelawolf i think he had great phrasing as Matt DC said

deej you were saying this about angel haze before this album came out, so it's obvious you just don't/can't hear what makes her great in the first place

Yes, deej's criticism is fair enough (though I disagree) but it's not relevant to the drop-off from Reservation to this album.

the one "artistic" choice i think maybe she flopped on is trying too hard to be a capital p poet?

also running all her songs through the Skylar Grey machine

i think we can actually just go ahead and call it the sia machine now

the other thing with this album is that it sounds like it was designed for a live band, even when it's not being played by one. it's loud and in-yr-face and i'm not sure that's the best look over the course of an album for her - so many of her best moments previously have been v much brooding/introverted in terms of delivery

xp the markus dravs machine more like

is this likely to make any dent in the charts at all? feel like she's only going to move kreayshawn-style numbers, but idk

the release last week was only digital (with a CD release to follow in the UK soon and later in the US) -- obviously most of her sales were gonna be digital anyway but that certainly lowers the bar even further

i wasn't saying you don't know anything about jazz i'm saying you were talking some really cliched basic shit that's been said like 8 zillion times on ILM (ie jazz 101) and acted like you were educating us

in the case of Yelawolf i think he had great phrasing as Matt DC said

― ilx snitch (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, January 7, 2014 9:34 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

well it was a one-sentence post without references to jazz but people asked for clarification so i gave it

the word now is that Angel Haze's album will debut at #196 on the Billboard 200 with 857 copies sold. so about a quarter of Kreayshawn's numbers.

welp

haha

damn that's dreadful

"technical frippery" is a maybe too-easy shot to take at a technically skilled rapper u don't like and i understand everyones exasperation there probably are more fruitful ways to talk abt why this sucks, but i don't think matt dc is making a different point or using a less false binary, seems like just swapping the word "musicality" for "songwriting"

Well I think the point is that these things aren't fixed properties, and technical frippery and musicality aren't playing a zero sum game where one always comes at the expense of the other (deej wasn't actually saying that, but it's worth teasing out anyway).

I would recast Deej's point to say that when the strength of material is there it's easy to then be wowed by the technical prowess and take everything else for granted a bit, but when the rest ebbs away it becomes readily apparent that technique alone isn't enough and may not even be the dominant quality that made the artist's prior work so special.

But the above is less about Yelawolf and Angel Haze in and of themselves and more about how we talk about artists like these.

i don't really see that it's all that relevant a point here seeing as no one brought up technical frippery as a criticism except deej, who hasn't provided any examples and who was making the same argument about angel haze when reservation came out

I think the comparison with Yelawolf is relevant and useful, even if I disagree with deej's take on both artists.

yes, but for different reasons than "technical frippery" - more to do with personae that don't fit into the (increasingly narrowing) parameters of rap fandom, but make even less sense when recast as commercially viable major label prospects

xp fine, if you're only interested in criticisms by people who liked reservation

i pretty much am tbh

or at least if you're using the same criticism about new angel haze that you were about old angel haze it doesn't exactly scream insight because this entire discussion is about why the new stuff is worse than the old stuff

ya i get that

i just happen to agree with deej in not liking a lot of the early stuff, too

yes, but for different reasons than "technical frippery" - more to do with personae that don't fit into the (increasingly narrowing) parameters of rap fandom, but make even less sense when recast as commercially viable major label prospects

― lex pretend, Tuesday, January 7, 2014 9:56 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I think this is definitely a big part of it as well, but I would be reluctant to reduce their appeal/distinctiveness to "personae" when for me a lot of it comes down to how their personae and their rapping styles inform and reinforce one another.

the word now is that Angel Haze's album will debut at #196 on the Billboard 200 with 857 copies sold. so about a quarter of Kreayshawn's numbers

Whoever could have foreseen that forcing the release on December 30th might backfire?

Also wow, REALLY no one buys albums any more if that number gets you even in the top 200.

https://twitter.com/factmag/status/420690125861834752

I didn't know Angel Haze had so many UK fans!

Pretty sure they've been promoting her more heavily here than in the US, she's been at loads of festivals, on the Rudimental album etc.

i mean i'm not really into this album but :(

"battle cry" is getting radio 1 play i guess?

ahh yeah i wondered if there was some misinformation in there. still...we should know in a couple days what her US number is. people will be amazed and impressed now if she does 5k.

perhaps this is destined for the 'heatseekers' album chart in the us