his "plight of a woman" songs are really the worst, although the one on this isn't as bad as "no makeup" or "keisha's song" were on section.80.
wait, do others here think "keisha's song" sucks? i'm so-so on the hook, but like the verses a lot.
― alpine static, Monday, 22 October 2012 04:30 (eleven years ago) link
nah i think that's just contrarianism on my part
― no love spud webb (fadanuf4erybody), Monday, 22 October 2012 04:58 (eleven years ago) link
sorry but if you ask me this is a really shallow kind of "everything is fodder for my unique brand of stand up comedy" crit. not saying dude is the most nuanced spokesperson of all time but he's not drake either, he's not glib or patronising and to an extent these songs are undercut with a degree of selfawareness of the compromises of his narratorial perspective. (his prostitute rages back at him for getting involved and misrepresenting, even explicitly throws 'brenda's got a baby' at him if we wanna play that game)
'bitch don't kill my vibe' is dull out of context sure but on this album establishes the mindset the subsequent tracks grow out of - it's not useless wallowing in the same way i dead ocean & solange et al for
it is shallow crit, i've only listened twice! what i specifically found skeevy about the plight-of-a-woman songs is how kendrick goes out of his way to titillate, to sexualise them at the same time as using them as a moral example. he doesn't succeed in humanising sherane, it's like he's fetishising her situation. which is the exact opposite of what pac did on "brenda's got a baby" obv.
"bitch don't kill my vibe" has a nice dreamy beat (not the best on the album though), i was just saying that kendrick's hook is pretty much unlistenable
― lex pretend, Monday, 22 October 2012 12:10 (eleven years ago) link
the MJB track is terrible, yes
agree that "compton" works in this context, not that i thought it was especially awful anyway
― lex pretend, Monday, 22 October 2012 12:11 (eleven years ago) link
― lex pretend, Monday, October 22, 2012 7:10 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
this does not accurately describe how sherane exists on this record
― fanute da croupier (D-40), Monday, 22 October 2012 15:38 (eleven years ago) link
yes it does
― lex pretend, Monday, 22 October 2012 15:51 (eleven years ago) link
i was going to type something else but if you're not going to go beyond "no it doesn't"/"yes it does" i can't be bothered either
I was going to type "no it doesn't" too but then I repented. So please do type it out.
― O-Jah Da Lionmane (longneck), Monday, 22 October 2012 16:11 (eleven years ago) link
obviously everyone said this already, but this is great.
― twinkin' and drinkin' and ready to fly (Alex in Montreal), Monday, 22 October 2012 16:17 (eleven years ago) link
so i'll just say - LOOK! new song - http://soundcloud.com/topdawgent/kendrick-lamar-the-heart-pt-3
Can we change the title of this thread, y, because it is horrible
― let's have sex and then throw pottery (forksclovetofu), Monday, 22 October 2012 16:33 (eleven years ago) link
predictably, so far I've loved every song on here except for the one with Drake on it
― The Owls of Ja Rule (DJP), Monday, 22 October 2012 16:33 (eleven years ago) link
hilariously awful thread title stays forever imo
― my mansplain songz (some dude), Monday, 22 October 2012 16:37 (eleven years ago) link
starting the campaign now for next goon thread to be titled "rolling killing your favorite rapper for money 2013 thread"
― my mansplain songz (some dude), Monday, 22 October 2012 16:39 (eleven years ago) link
still a little disappointed there's no BJ the Chicago Kid hook on this album, I like their collaborations so much. Did his (BJ's) album get discussed anywhere on ILX? I didn't see it on the R&B thread.
― boxall, Monday, 22 October 2012 16:42 (eleven years ago) link
it's kinda weird/cool to me to see so many ppl repping for stuff that's so backpackerish, but i wish i liked kendrick more, or was more enthusiastic about him
― terrell sug (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 22 October 2012 16:49 (eleven years ago) link
the part of this new "the heart" song...the part where he lets his voice get all emo...his flow is SUPER brother ali on that part, total trademark ali flow
― terrell sug (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 22 October 2012 16:51 (eleven years ago) link
Was thinking the SAME thing.
― Spottie_Ottie_Dope, Monday, 22 October 2012 16:56 (eleven years ago) link
― boxall, Monday, October 22, 2012 9:42 AM (14 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Was gonna bring it up on the r&b thread. I really like the BJ album and think it warrants some discussion.
― Spottie_Ottie_Dope, Monday, 22 October 2012 16:58 (eleven years ago) link
uh ok for a start sherane isnt even part of the "plight of a woman" business, she's a narrative device to get into the gang plot? even in that depiction the titillation is self-aware and foreshadowing "seventeen, with nothing but pussy stuck on my mental my motive was rather sinful", "my tactics of being thirsty probably could hurt me but fuck it i got some heart"
keisha's sister of plight fame is voiced in first person and is self-glorified is as part of her defensive hollow bravado. perhaps a little clumsy if you're being very harsh but it's in no way badminded, ambitious, and imo is enough to illustrate an difficult situation. i will agree however that "my titties bounce on the cadence of his tingling keys" is probably the one line on the entire record that deserves the accusation of prurience
going all in on one line, when it's mitigated by the whole rest of the record, (and when you yourself say it's from only a couple of listens) smacks pretty obviously of finding any excuse to grind a cartoon axe and is not a particularly good look considering the weight of the accusation being thrown
― r|t|c, Monday, 22 October 2012 17:17 (eleven years ago) link
― terrell sug (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, October 22, 2012 11:49 AM (31 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
??? its not really that backpackerish imo
― fanute da croupier (D-40), Monday, 22 October 2012 17:28 (eleven years ago) link
the heart song i was talking about it crazy backpacker! plus i think black hippy is backpackerish in general! one of them is named "Ab-Soul" that name screams "guest verse of a Blackalicious song"
― terrell sug (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 22 October 2012 17:31 (eleven years ago) link
Ab-Soul and Jay Rock's names have always amused me because years ago i knew a backpacker cat named Ab Rock
― my mansplain songz (some dude), Monday, 22 October 2012 17:40 (eleven years ago) link
http://soundcloud.com/jay-soul
― lil dirk (J0rdan S.), Monday, 22 October 2012 17:43 (eleven years ago) link
oh shit i forgot about this, it's even more confusing than i thought: http://media.photobucket.com/image/recent/jsoul99/JROCK_Cover.jpg
― my mansplain songz (some dude), Monday, 22 October 2012 17:45 (eleven years ago) link
― terrell sug (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, October 22, 2012 12:31 PM (15 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― my mansplain songz (some dude), Monday, October 22, 2012 12:40 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
and the songs where kendrick describes watching a dude's brains get blown out, or coming up in compton, or breaking & entering?
it's way more nuanced than a simple backpacker v street rap thing
― fanute da croupier (D-40), Monday, 22 October 2012 17:47 (eleven years ago) link
i think your "don't use the b word" stance is more absolutist than m@tt's "there are backpacker elemtns here" stance
― my mansplain songz (some dude), Monday, 22 October 2012 17:51 (eleven years ago) link
isn't "backpacker" defined by a strict anti-mainstream stance? which is nowhere on this, i mean dr. fucking dre and lady gaga are on it...
― heiswagger (rennavate), Monday, 22 October 2012 17:56 (eleven years ago) link
that's not the sole defitnion or even the primary definition, no
― my mansplain songz (some dude), Monday, 22 October 2012 17:58 (eleven years ago) link
http://www.rap-up.com/2012/10/22/new-music-kendrick-lamar-swimming-pools-black-hippy-remix/
― Number None, Monday, 22 October 2012 18:00 (eleven years ago) link
i love the chicago kid album
― let's have sex and then throw pottery (forksclovetofu), Monday, 22 October 2012 18:01 (eleven years ago) link
yeah of course that's not the sole definition, but it's why it's used as a derogatory term, no?
― heiswagger (rennavate), Monday, 22 October 2012 18:15 (eleven years ago) link
m@tt wasn't using it in a derogatory way though
― my mansplain songz (some dude), Monday, 22 October 2012 18:15 (eleven years ago) link
Just catching up with this thread now; wanted to finish my review first. Agree that the album is really great, but I don't buy into the instant classic hype. I question its replay value (I'm already a little burned out on it), and also the skits and interludes are really heavy handed. He doesn't trust the listener to follow his narrative w/o explicitly spelling it out, so as good/great as the individual songs are, those long chunks of spoken dialogue really make some of the album a chore to get through
― Evan R, Monday, 22 October 2012 18:22 (eleven years ago) link
in general the value of skits erodes over time but i think they're really immersive in this case
― lil dirk (J0rdan S.), Monday, 22 October 2012 18:26 (eleven years ago) link
I don't mind a skit here or there for effect or color, but when the skits hold your hand and guide you through almost every song on an album, it gets really tiresome
― Evan R, Monday, 22 October 2012 18:29 (eleven years ago) link
that is exactly what De La Soul Is Dead does and that's one of the greatest albums ever
― The Owls of Ja Rule (DJP), Monday, 22 October 2012 18:30 (eleven years ago) link
sorta with m@tt on this, and i really liked section 80?
― all mods con (k3vin k.), Monday, 22 October 2012 18:31 (eleven years ago) link
listen more
― lil dirk (J0rdan S.), Monday, 22 October 2012 18:31 (eleven years ago) link
― Evan R, Monday, October 22, 2012 2:29 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark
i guess i sort of like that kind of ephemera that is weaved into the fabric of an album... most rap skits aren't treated that way
― lil dirk (J0rdan S.), Monday, 22 October 2012 18:32 (eleven years ago) link
comparing any contemporary rap album skits to De La Is Dead is unfair. if they get in the way and don't have as much replay value as the songs College Dropout is probably more germane to bring up.
― my mansplain songz (some dude), Monday, 22 October 2012 18:35 (eleven years ago) link
― my mansplain songz (some dude), Monday, October 22, 2012 12:58 PM (37 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
yeah but what possible definition is useful in describing this album?
― fanute da croupier (D-40), Monday, 22 October 2012 18:36 (eleven years ago) link
i will agree however that "my titties bounce on the cadence of his tingling keys" is probably the one line on the entire record that deserves the accusation of prurience
lol it really isn't this time though, i like kendrick and i like this album, but a couple of tracks just felt genuinely skeevy to me. "fuck, suck and swallow in the parking lot" too - the language in keisha's sister's verse is so pornified that it just doesn't convince as her voice, there's too much getting off on it.
otherwise i'm with evan completely, and definitely on the over-long and heavy-handed skits. there's some amazing stuff here - "backstreet freestyle", the "good kid" thru "swimming pools" section (the latter sounds even better in this context) and i really love the corny redemptive "real"/"compton" closers, plus obv "the recipe" is amazing and "black boy fly" is secretly one of the most resonant tracks here despite being "just" a bonus track. i feel it's too uneven to be called A Classic, esp given that no one has spent a decent amount of time with it yet, but otoh its high points do a really great job of further carving out who kendrick is.
― lex pretend, Monday, 22 October 2012 18:38 (eleven years ago) link
i don't think of backpacker as a derogatory thing, i like backpacker rap...i'm talking about backpacker in terms of how he rhymes, general vibe, music, etc
also i don't think that being backpacker excludes having street rap or crime elements...like i consider bootcamp click to be backpackers essentially, and DITC as a whole is backpackerish (i'm using maybe an older definition of backpacker which now i guess it basically means lame shit w.feelings -- though kendrick has a lot of feelings too)
― terrell sug (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 22 October 2012 18:38 (eleven years ago) link
(i think my actual favourite track is "m.a.a.d city" - the switch-up midway through is amazing
― lex pretend, Monday, 22 October 2012 18:39 (eleven years ago) link
but i'm kind of amazed that people don't think that this is at least somewhat of a modern reapproachment of backpacker stuff....black hippy as a crew kinda feels like heiro or dudes like saafir etc
― terrell sug (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 22 October 2012 18:41 (eleven years ago) link
i got what you were saying
― all mods con (k3vin k.), Monday, 22 October 2012 18:41 (eleven years ago) link
it feels closer to 'aquemini' than that stuff tho although very obv kendrick came out of the west coast backpacker vibe, i mean that's more or less what black hippy is although 2 of those dudes were pretty much gangsters
― fanute da croupier (D-40), Monday, 22 October 2012 18:43 (eleven years ago) link
idk i think it sort of confounds these categorizations
― fanute da croupier (D-40), Monday, 22 October 2012 18:44 (eleven years ago) link
― lil dirk (J0rdan S.), Monday, October 22, 2012 7:31 PM (11 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Haha, yes. And listen better.
Also, I'm getting more of an ATLiens vibe than an Aquemini vibe?
― O-Jah Da Lionmane (longneck), Monday, 22 October 2012 18:45 (eleven years ago) link