Hip Hop Discussion/Album Review Thread.

[Simon]

Love that podcast, I mainly listen to the comedy guests though - need to give the Premo one a listen for sure. The newest one with Patrice Evra is good too.

[son_of_foley]

What sort of 90s shit did you like which artists?

Some possible shouts for you

Freddie gibbs and madlib - piñata
Czarface and doom - Czarface meets metal face
Sour soul by ghost face and badbadnotgood
Vince staples - fm
Lil b - Black Ken (massive 90s vibe in it)
Run the jewels by run the jewels
Jid - dicaprio2
Ybn cordae - the lost boy
Saba - care for me


That should cover a lot of different vibes and styles but shout on thoughts



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1alXHOMDBN4
Not sure if you got near any of the recommendations but here's some freddie gibbs on youtube. This will give you a taste like. His other stuff is a bit 'harder' but the fucking madlib sound is insane when it's on. Jesus christ

Chris did you refind your love of Hip Hop? Thinking you're probably amongst the biggest demographic on these forums which is people who don't like much current hip hop so tempted to do a thread of posting my faves to introduce them to people on the fringe

[Simon]

Would definitely be interested in that.

[Fro]

I’m not listening to the currently airing livestream of the long awaited Jay Electronica album but I’m very excited to listen at some point this weekend. It’s really happening. And I’m seeing positive responses so far.

[Fro]

https://youtu.be/_Gplpq10AEc

[Fro]

I really like the Jay Elec album. Making it a full collaboration album with Jay-Z was unexpected and delightful.

The new Jadakiss album is also very good.

[Fro]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIZfnjDnyn4

[RuneEdge]

https://donaldgloverpresents.com/

Donald Glover just dropped an album out of nowhere.

[Fro]

https://donaldgloverpresents.com/

Donald Glover just dropped an album out of nowhere.

I know this was taken down already and I don't have a ripped version but I did casually listen on the website when it was up. and I liked the overly aggressive Camp-era Bino better than this new smooth singing version.

[son_of_foley]

Jay electronica album is big

[Fro]

Jay electronica album is big

I can’t believe he actually put it out after 10 years since he signed with the roc lol

[Fro]

Now that I've given this Childish Gambino album a proper listen, it's quite good.

The new Weeknd album is next up in the queue

[son_of_foley]

Bino album is even better I can sit and cruise it when I want. What a fucking progression he's shown. This is Kuai mixed with Awaken mixed with a bit of Camp. Love it

[Ringo]

Weeknd's new one is great. Easily his most interesting release since House of Balloons (and I've actually enjoyed a lot of his stuff since).

[Fro]

I'm not sure if you guys are up on the Instagram producer battles going on since quarantine but they just announced RZA vs DJ Premier on saturday night. I'm game for that. Basically they just do a shared IG Live and go back and forth playing their best beats/tracks. I caught some of the Scott Storch vs Mannie Fresh one and it was kinda cool. What makes it fun is reading the fan's reactions, whether in the IG comments or on a message board like KTT2. Storch cooked him btw.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EVH0t8yWsAAR9Kh?format=jpg&name=small

[Psycho666Soldier]

I'm not sure if you guys are up on the Instagram producer battles going on since quarantine but they just announced RZA vs DJ Premier on saturday night. I'm game for that. Basically they just do a shared IG Live and go back and forth playing their best beats/tracks. I caught some of the Scott Storch vs Mannie Fresh one and it was kinda cool. What makes it fun is reading the fan's reactions, whether in the IG comments or on a message board like KTT2. Storch cooked him btw.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EVH0t8yWsAAR9Kh?format=jpg&name=small

Yooo, that sounds fucking dope. I'm gonna have to try and peep that.

[Fro]

Yooo, that sounds fucking dope. I'm gonna have to try and peep that.

and so as a leadup to saturday night's IG battle, let me pose the question to you guys: who is the greater producer, RZA or DJ Premier?

[Psycho666Soldier]

Shit, that's rough. I mean, I think both have done a lot to transform how hip-hop production sounds and is approached. I want to say RZA had more going for him in the early days, but I think as the days went by, he kind of went the Kanye route of letting creativity override his sense for what just makes a good beat. His Bobby Digital series is a very mixed bag of "I fucking love this shit" to "Ehhhhh." That said, I feel like Premier was the first to really start playing around with how a sample can be transformed. One of my favorite examples:

Gang Starr's "Above the Clouds":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ucvta7xDo_4

and the sample:

https://youtu.be/o3diaLANTOQ?t=6

Unfortunately can't post two videos anymore, but this should be linked to the exact spot where the sample from(about 6 seconds in). I feel like it's flipped so much, and while RZA started dabbling in this kind of sample flipping during the mid to late 90s, I feel like Premier did it better and longer.

Ultimately, RZA's strength is being able to mix both sampled work with synthesized music, and I think if you took RZA's best example of that vs. Premier's best beat, RZA would technically win. But while Premier may have stopped pushing the bar as much in later years, his output remains consistently good, whereas RZA has fallen off in my opinion.

I think I'd just barely give it to Premier, but I'm also biased and have always been a big fan of his production style and Gang Starr as a whole.

[Fro]

I go RZA but that's just personal preference. Premo's production is tighter and more polished. If you just play the instrumentals I can't really make an argument against Premo having the higher highs. RZA has the stronger and more diverse catalog/resume overall though, in my opinion, and that's due in large part to the group of rappers he miraculously brought together in a fashion never again matched in hip hop history. So you look at those 8 or 9 projects that RZA produced the majority of, and compare that to Gang Starr/PRhyme's discography, and RZA's are easily the superior and more memorable projects. Now of course Premo has better guest production spots on guys like Jay-Z, Nas, The Lox etc. That's where he will do well in this battle.

[Psycho666Soldier]

To be honest, I've probably clocked more hours on Wu-Tang content than I have Gang Starr and Preemo, even though I'd probably consider them my favorite hip-hop act. But yeah, I think the variety of voices and album outputs helps RZA's style pop a bit more. You can see how he molds well with different MCs while remaining characteristically RZA, whereas Preemo has a distinct style that people have to mold around.

But I feel like you could probably ask me this question in a month and my answer would be different.

[Fro]

https://instagram.com/djpremier?igshid=l60j4rqigq8f

I’m not sure if you can watch it on anything but the Instagram app on mobile

[Fro]

RZA's setup and connection is all fucked up which is kinda ruining it

195k watching on IG live right now tho, whew

[Psycho666Soldier]

I wasn't able to watch this live unfortunately.

I found a video of it on Youtube. Was it worth watching?

[Ringo]

RZA's sound was shite but it was still enjoyable to watch. So many great tunes. Premo is such a lovely chap. I just had it on in the background. It was fun to hear the banter between the two and see their respective reactions to different tracks.

Also Cudi released a new song which has a bit of an old school Cudi vibe.

[son_of_foley]

Big fan of it. Cudi seems in a great place atrm

[Fro]

I'm 3 episodes into the Lil Dicky comedy series Dave. I like it. I'm sure his neurotic awkwardness will be too over the top for some people but it's what you'd expect if you've heard his songs. The deformed dick stuff is pretty extra but I think they made it work well in the 3rd episode.

I really like the supporting cast of characters.

[Chris Scott]

So obviously a lot of time last 3 weeks or so, so lot of hip hop. The stuff you guys recommended was really good. Nice one.

Also I still am a huge Canibus fan, yes I know his music did go a bit weird in the end but DAM that first album of his was a classic. Still got the original CD.

[G-Fresh]

Canibus will always be super cool to me. I've seen him perform live and kicked it with him multiple times. Him, Killah Priest, and M-Eighty are 3 of the most laid back rappers I've got to hang out with.

[Fro]

This is from a few months ago but I searched the thread and didn’t see anything about Denzel Curry. You guys up on him? I’m not but this is dope and I’m gonna have to go through his discography.


https://youtu.be/oyIrhGleD9M

[G-Fresh]

Denzel Curry is the shit. He is featured on some pretty dope songs with the $uicideboy$ and City Morgue.

[son_of_foley]

He's ridiculously good. He was doing a battle rap tour there and is pretty into wrestling too.

Very good dude. Ta13oo is great

Kenny Beats Youtube Series the cave is also definitely worth a watch. Some great guests like Vince Staples

[son_of_foley]

New Isaiah Rashad is amazing

- - - Updated - - -

Only a song sorry not an album. The world will end if he releases same year as Jay Electronica haha

[Fro]

Dave. What a fuckin season. Feels like lil dickys whole career was leading to this (he always wanted to be a comedian and rapping was just a route to get there) and he delivered majorly.

[son_of_foley]

RTJ4 dropping next month.

Got the pre-order in for a nice t shirt with the CD. Download will be free as per usual

[Fro]

What are the best hip hop television performances of all time? Kinda just asking this question as an excuse to post this one which seems timely


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQZc8SH6EFk

[Morrison]

https://youtu.be/QeFwtA3p4Mw

[Morrison]

https://youtu.be/8EqDPBGv12M

[Morrison]

also kanye's performances of 'power' and 'runaway' on snl were amazing, too, but for some reason dont seem to be available on youtube in any kind of good quality. he was on absolute fire in 2010.

[Fro]

also kanye's performances of 'power' and 'runaway' on snl were amazing, too, but for some reason dont seem to be available on youtube in any kind of good quality. he was on absolute fire in 2010.

Good shout, and yea I was about to say.... His performance of Runaway on SNL was even better than the VMAs performance. The VMAs one came first but that SNL one.. sheesh. So incredible. And you're right it's not readily available online which is frustrating. It should have 100 million views on youtube. Reddit has it here. (https://www.reddit.com/r/Kanye/comments/a8qx8i/kanye_west_runaway_snl_performance/) If Wikipedia is to be believed, it was the first time SNL ever let an artist do a completely white background like that instead of the normal stage look. (The Power performance is also great but Runaway is the one I'll never forget). I know SNL has done more visual art performance type stuff like that since then, but I remember how different it looked at the time. And that's why I love Kanye. His performances on SNL or his recent live tours, he truly makes them into performance art. He is one of the great live hip hop performers of all time which people don't give him enough credit for. In a genre that traditionally doesn't have the best live experience, he puts on insane performances.

The Kendrick one you posted is good but far from iconic to me personally. Kendrick tries. The set production there is very elaborate and cool. While I adore his albums, based on my one experience seeing him live at the Damn Tour and his television performances, I think his stage presence is one of his weakest traits.

My other personal favorite is Eminem at the VMAs doing Real Slim Shady and The Way I Am. This was so iconic to me, being of the right age for the TRL era and being a huge Em fan. He had just reached the pinnacle of music popularity at this time. This was a crowning performance IMO. I don't care if the Shady clones thing looks corny now, this was IT. At least for my teenage ass. Put that white tank top in damn the rock n roll HOF.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR8JDg2uw9I

[Fro]

Speaking of that era and that same album, Em had another very iconic performance. This one, I'll be honest, it doesn't stick in my mind the way the above video does. I'm not sure if I was even watching this one live, but the Elton cameo was certainly a huge story given the controversy around Marshall.

February 21, 2001. GLAAD leads a coalition to protest Eminem's homophobic lyrics at "The Rally Against Hate" outside The Grammy Awards at The Staples Center in Los Angeles. Later that night, Eminem performs "Stan" with Elton John and shocks the world.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOAiwE48g10&feature=emb_title

Coincidentally, the 20th year anniversary of MMLP just passed earlier this week. A monumental album, and these two performances I just posted only helped solidify it as an undeniable part of American music culture/history.

[Simon]

I know this doesn't count as it's not a TV appearance, it's just a recording off someone's phone, but FUCK it is such an exhilarating video to watch, even with the terrible audio quality and unsteady camera. The crowd reaction when he comes out and the way they follow the verse is something else.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOdGI7BMVsI

[son_of_foley]

New RTJ fucking goes.

Liking the Freddie Gibbs and Alchemist too

[Fro]

RTJ4 is great

[Fro]

https://youtu.be/s1-D8UOq7iA

dope

[Fro]

I like the Juice WRLD album. that style of hip hop is not usually my thing but he is a pretty damn good singer/songwriter

[Pablo Diablo]

Was

[Fro]

really like this new J. Cole song. also the new Blu and Exile album is pretty damn good.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVaBgcJwkI4

[Psycho666Soldier]

So Joe Budden is apparently an odd bird

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EhbBNKyUwAEWLZ7?format=jpg&name=small

[Fro]

What am I looking at here?

[Fro]

But yea that is disturbing

[Nash Diesel]

That shit is too weird and detailed for it not to be true. Who the fuck names their kid LEXINGTON!?!?!!?!

[Psycho666Soldier]

What am I looking at here?

He's currently being litigated for claims of violent abuse from what I think is his most recent relationship, which is fucked up on its own. But these are just more details that the plaintiff shared in the midst of it all.

[Psycho666Soldier]

There's also a video of him on some kind of podcast/interview deal where he's playing with one of the people's dogs and he "jokes" about playing with your dog's junk to keep them happy. I could see how it would come off as just a gross joke in the moment, but it doesn't come off great with this new perspective.

[Bert]

Wow, I didn't even know he split with Cyn Santana.

He's always been a weird dude but that's some extra shit, jesus.

He should have stuck to rapping and not trying to be a personality.

I'm still mad I'll never get that Slaughterhouse album. :grumpy:

[Fro]

Wow, I didn't even know he split with Cyn Santana.

He's always been a weird dude but that's some extra shit, jesus.

He should have stuck to rapping and not trying to be a personality.

I'm still mad I'll never get that Slaughterhouse album. :grumpy:

What’s the best slaughterhouse song? Move on remix? I would go with that or House Rules Intro or The Other Side

[Bert]

What’s the best slaughterhouse song? Move on remix? I would go with that or House Rules Intro or The Other Side
For me it's definitely:

https://youtu.be/_HP7RLfKyWY

Move On is really good too though.

[Bert]

These days I find my new music/artist through Spotify usually.

Mind Right is a great playlist for me because not every song is fucking autotune garbage. Not that I hate every autotune song, it's just so overdone by mumble rappers.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX5hR0J49CmXC?si=MP4i6YMVQEiiQB5LmJaA5A

Kota the friend, Bas, Joey Bada$$ - B.Q.E is my current morning alarm. Until I start to hate the song by association then I'll change it up. :lol:

[G-Fresh]

There's also a video of him on some kind of podcast/interview deal where he's playing with one of the people's dogs and he "jokes" about playing with your dog's junk to keep them happy. I could see how it would come off as just a gross joke in the moment, but it doesn't come off great with this new perspective.

Red rocket.

[Bert]

MOTM 3 - out Friday. I'm ready.

https://i.imgur.com/9qF6CoZ.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/N9ikp74.jpg

[son_of_foley]

It's no surprise but I love it

[Bert]

It's no surprise but I love it

I know it's the current trend but it would be better without so much autotune and mumble rapping. He's just a good singer/rapper in his own right, he doesn't need to rely on that.

I listened to the whole trilogy today and Tequila Shots and Lovin' Me are probably the best songs on the new album to me but the first 2 albums are just way better.

[Fro]

I like the cudi album. I haven’t dug into it enough to have much more thoughts than that, but it’s a good album to vibe to and dive into your depression/anxiety/angst and whatnot. Sad boy album of the year, surpassing the juice wrld album.

Tequila Shots is definitely a good track

[Fro]

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

pretty good track here. I like the new eminem album, though probably not as much as MTBMB part 1 from earlier this year.

[BigAl]

DMX OD’d and suffered a heart attack. Various sources have him either near death or in a vegetative state.

Back in the late 90s/early 2000s when I was in high school I was a big DMX fan. I wore out more than one CD of It’s Dark and Hell is Hot, driving around blasting that at 16 just after I got my license.

[Bert]

DMX OD’d and suffered a heart attack. Various sources have him either near death or in a vegetative state.

Back in the late 90s/early 2000s when I was in high school I was a big DMX fan. I wore out more than one CD of It’s Dark and Hell is Hot, driving around blasting that at 16 just after I got my license.


https://youtu.be/GBDdy4WC9dc
Caito

:(

[Caito]

There will have to be a discussion in BG thread as to wether or not my exit theme should be retired.

[Fro]

Prayers up to DMX. I hope he pulls through. I saw him perform as recently as 2019 and he was great. It would be a tragic loss if he passes. He's a rap legend with a very unique style. There will never be another.

[Fro]

Changing topics, I have been digging into some Freddie Gibbs. He's an artist that mostly passed me by. Alfredo is so, so good. One of the best rap albums in recent years. I also downloaded Pinata and Bandana but I haven't gave them many spins just yet (maybe once through each one). My initial reaction, though, is that Alfredo is my favorite of these 3. Shout out Alchemist.

[Bert]

Changing topics, I have been digging into some Freddie Gibbs. He's an artist that mostly passed me by. Alfredo is so, so good. One of the best rap albums in recent years. I also downloaded Pinata and Bandana but I haven't gave them many spins just yet (maybe once through each one). My initial reaction, though, is that Alfredo is my favorite of these 3. Shout out Alchemist.


https://youtu.be/09pjULtApQs

Love this track.

Benny's The Plugs I Met 2 came out recently and it's really good.

[Ringo]

Changing topics, I have been digging into some Freddie Gibbs. He's an artist that mostly passed me by. Alfredo is so, so good. One of the best rap albums in recent years. I also downloaded Pinata and Bandana but I haven't gave them many spins just yet (maybe once through each one). My initial reaction, though, is that Alfredo is my favorite of these 3. Shout out Alchemist.

He's got a really consistent discography. Piñata is the cream of the crop for me but both Madlib records are stellar. Even his mixtapes are well worth checking out. The only Gibbs release I remember being particularly disappointing was You Only Live 2wice.

[Bert]

I know it's cool these days to hate J Cole but I still like him and his new album drops at midnight.

[Fro]

I know it's cool these days to hate J Cole but I still like him and his new album drops at midnight.

is it good? I haven't heard it yet

idk why it's cool to hate J Cole except for his ugly dreads. he's still dope

[Bert]

It's alright. I'm not a fan of how much modern rappers rely on autotune and I feel like it doesn't really flow like an album should to me. Maybe it will grow on me though. Cudi's album did.

[Morrison]

gift of gab passes on at 50. blackalicious, and really the whole quannam/solesides roster, were and are so underappreciated.

[Fro]

gift of gab passes on at 50. blackalicious, and really the whole quannam/solesides roster, were and are so underappreciated.

RIP. I never was huge into Blackalicious but I definitely appreciated Nia and Blazing Arrow.

[Fro]

In other news, Tyler's new album is, dare I say, an instant classic. And I don't mean in the same way that Igor was really well received with him doing some R&B shit. That album was okay, but Call Me If You Get Lost is a RAP CLASSIC. Which is so rare nowadays. At least that's my take after 1 listen. Tell me if I'm overreacting.

[Psycho666Soldier]

In other news, Tyler's new album is, dare I say, an instant classic. And I don't mean in the same way that Igor was really well received with him doing some R&B shit. That album was okay, but Call Me If You Get Lost is a RAP CLASSIC. Which is so rare nowadays. At least that's my take after 1 listen. Tell me if I'm overreacting.

I get the overreaction, because Tyler was slowly moving further and further from rap, and like...I respect that, but I got into him for the rap. So to hear him come back to it so strong, without abandoning the evolution he's undergone and coming at it more polished than ever...I dunno, I pretty much had the same reaction as you :lol:

I wanna give it another couple listens because I've only heard it once plus Lumberjack a few times, but I came out of the listen buzzing from it more than I have since Wolf.

[Psycho666Soldier]

Also, can we talk about how he's twice now got the best performance out of Wayne since like the early 2000s?

[Bert]

Wow, a Nas album.

[Fro]

Wow, a Nas album.

It's pretty good. Probably a little better than last year's KD1, but neither are on the level of the last great Nas album, Life is Good. The song with Lauryn Hill is a standout for sure.

I also finally listened to the posthumous DMX album and I enjoyed that as well. Lot of features as you'd expect, but they're good features.

[Bert]

I really like the Lauryn Hill song and the one talking about Pac that I forget the name of.

[Fro]

These Donda listening events are something else

[Fro]

The album sounds really good too. Marilyn Manson is vibing hard. I’m ready for kanye to bring some of these new school artists into my dusty ass ears

[Bert]

How have you heard it? Did it leak?

[Fro]

How have you heard it? Did it leak?

Man he just did some crazy cult shit at the chicago bears stadium and set himself on fire and brought out kim in a wedding dress at the end and it was awesome

He’s doing these listening events and they’re streaming live on Apple Music but I watched it on a bootleg twitch stream. It just finished about a half hour ago. I’m not sure if this was the final one and he’ll finally put out the album, or what.

[Fro]

*it was probably a stunt double on fire

** this video pretty well sums it up: https://twitter.com/baron3121/status/1431110508963315712?s=21

[Morrison]

DONDA is OUT.

[Bert]

And Kanye is not happy about it. Apparently Universal blocked "jail 2" from being on the album.

[Morrison]

And Kanye is not happy about it. Apparently Universal blocked "jail 2" from being on the album.

the track is on spotify.

[Fro]

Donda is great. I’ve only listened once so I need to let it sink in more before I try to judge it. But my initial take is: Kanye remains a legend and puts his stamp back on the music industry

[Bert]

Donda is great. I’ve only listened once so I need to let it sink in more before I try to judge it. But my initial take is: Kanye remains a legend and puts his stamp back on the music industry

Thoughts on the new Drake album? I haven't listened to it yet.

I also haven't finished Donda but I can say I loved Hov's verse on Jail. That might partly be because his verse makes it sound more like a conventional rap album compared to the rest of the album that I've heard so far.

[Bert]

Westside Gunn is fucking annoying (fuckin' anoooooying)
Every song sounds the same (sounds the fucking saaameeee)
He's the worst member of griselda (worst member of griiiiseelda)
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM

[Fro]

Thoughts on the new Drake album? I haven't listened to it yet.

I also haven't finished Donda but I can say I loved Hov's verse on Jail. That might partly be because his verse makes it sound more like a conventional rap album compared to the rest of the album that I've heard so far.

The new Drake album is very much another Drake album. I'm still getting a feel for it, but my initial reaction is that it's not going to win over any new Drake fans. It's the same shit. Now I love Drake so I'm sure I'll enjoy lots of listens of that same shit, but unlike someone like Kanye or Kendrick, Drake's albums don't really push new limits of his artistry.

Back to Donda, I'm still loving it, but it's too long. I mean even excluding the "part 2" bonus tracks it's 23 tracks and about 1 hour 27 minutes. I tend to get a little lost in the middle section of it, so I've split it into 2 playlists, basically turned it into a double album. There's a lot of good stuff in there, though, and I'm still spinning it frequently.

Best track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yblfMrUeiP4

[Fro]

Okay not that anyone likely cares but here is my Donda curated album. Shortened, very slightly rearranged (mostly just moved the last track up to the first track) and coming in at 15 tracks / 65 minutes. What's also interesting is Kanye will be selling a $200 gadget called a Stem Player (if it ever reaches market) which let's you isolate specific elements like vocals, bass, samples and drums and then change the levels on them and add your own effects and basically remix the song yourself. Supposedly, it will let you do that with any song you load into it. I doubt I'll buy it, but it makes me feel like Kanye released this long ass album and actually wants fans to create their own version of it. He's leaning into personal customization of music.

Donda Shorter Version:

No Child Left Behind
Jail
God Breathed
Off the Grid
Hurricane
Ok Ok
Believe What I Say
Moon
Heaven and Hell
Keep My Spirit Alive
Jesus Lord
New Again
Lord I Need You
Pure Souls
Come to Life

Top 5 favorite tracks: Come to Life, Jesus Lord, Jail, Off the Grid, Heaven and Hell

My top tier Ye is his first 3 albums plus MBDTF. In the second tier I'll put Donda below The Life of Pablo, maybe just above Yeezus.

[Bert]

I care, Fro.

I'll give your version a listen.

Do you agree Westside Gunn is annoying? I guess not because you left his song on. Gonna have to take some points off for that. I'd rather listen to Jay Elec on Jesus Lord part 2 than hear Westside Gunns annoying ass in my ears.

[Fro]

Jay Elec is on both versions of Jesus Lord, and I like his verse a lot. I like Part 2 of that song which has The Lox added, but given the length of the song already, I decided to exclude them. The shorter version is best IMO, even though I love The Lox and Jadakiss is going through a renaissance of sorts after his showing at the Lox vs Dipset versuz.

I agree Westside Gunn is annoying in the way you describe him (when you mimicked his style). I need to dig into his new album a little more to get a stronger take on him, and also dig into Griselda more in general. He's probably my least favorite member of Griselda though, yea.

[mth]

Lil Nas X is king of my life right now. 'Montero' is a masterpiece. k thx bye

[Psycho666Soldier]

Going to see the 3 Chambers Tour tomorrow. GZA, Ghostface, and Raekwon celebrating the releases of their first solo albums. I'm curious how it goes because as far as I know, there's no Cappa or any other Wu members, and all three of those albums are pretty thick with verses from other members. I expect there has to be at least one or two surprises, but with how rough the relationship is between all the members these days, who knows.

Either way, I'm excited. I expect at least Rae will kill it.

[Nash Diesel]

Going to see the 3 Chambers Tour tomorrow. GZA, Ghostface, and Raekwon celebrating the releases of their first solo albums. I'm curious how it goes because as far as I know, there's no Cappa or any other Wu members, and all three of those albums are pretty thick with verses from other members. I expect there has to be at least one or two surprises, but with how rough the relationship is between all the members these days, who knows.

Either way, I'm excited. I expect at least Rae will kill it.

Makes this old man's heart warm up a little knowing someone who was probably still peeing his pants when their classic records dropped knows the greatness of these legends.

[Psycho666Soldier]

GZA and Deck are my two favorites of the group, so if there was any surprise appearance I'd really want, it would be him, but I'm not holding my breath for anything. I'm still very curious how GZA's gonna handle his set, though, and if he's going to dive into later albums. I'd actually love to hear some shit from Beneath the Surface or a couple tracks from Legend of the Liquid Sword.

[Nash Diesel]

GZA and Deck are my two favorites of the group, so if there was any surprise appearance I'd really want, it would be him, but I'm not holding my breath for anything. I'm still very curious how GZA's gonna handle his set, though, and if he's going to dive into later albums. I'd actually love to hear some shit from Beneath the Surface or a couple tracks from Legend of the Liquid Sword.

I'm sure you'll hear "Breaker Breaker" off Beneath. The upside is these cats didn't have a bunch of mainstream solo hits like if you went to see Jay-Z you know he's only playing the radio hits. So I could definitely see some solid variety. Never seen any of these dudes live so I'm not sure how they go about doing Wu Tang joints together but we'll definitely see those plus special guests for sure. They always have like 20 dudes on stage lol.

[Bert]

Reason dropped a 3 song EP that's pretty good. I feel like a hipster because I was listening to him before he ever got signed to TDE.

https://youtu.be/1akjbEbtrI8

I was excited for the Jay Z/Jadakiss/Conway the machine song but the beat is trash and totally ruins it.

[Bert]

Snoop Dogg says he signed Benny The Butcher.

[Nash Diesel]

Signed him to what? I didn't even know Snoop was in the record label business.

[Bert]

I think he's doing his own sub label under Def Jam like a lot of rappers have done.

[Nash Diesel]

I'm out of the loop completely when it comes to Snoop. Other than the joint he did with Ice Cube, E-40, and Too $hort (MT Westmore) I can't even tell you the last time I paid attention to him in the music world.

[Bert]

I'm out of the loop completely when it comes to Snoop. Other than the joint he did with Ice Cube, E-40, and Too $hort (MT Westmore) I can't even tell you the last time I paid attention to him in the music world.

He played that one and I liked it. I didn't even realize that was a thing. He played this song too.

https://youtu.be/TREkJiW0ASk

[Bert]

https://open.spotify.com/album/46BlnKQOwYucGwNHJmj2g3?si=ClAnoZwITFeq2EK5vx4Z6Q&utm_source=copy-link

The Deluxe is out.
https://open.spotify.com/album/2Wiyo7LzdeBCsVZiRA6vVZ?si=QJ3OGHTGSw-_Z4Ub6xw89Q&utm_source=copy-link


I want the whole album explicit. Fuck.

[Fro]

The deluxe tracklist sequencing is really bad. Seems like it's almost random, lol.

Life of the Party is a good track and yes I'm happy he released the explicit version, although Kanye's new verse isn't as good as the leaked version. Too bad. Still a nice track.

Donda has had a lot of staying power for me and I'm still listening to it. But as I said previously, it's so bloated that I only mainly listen to my condensed 65 minute playlist with several songs cut out. And that's fine. Given that he basically just randomized the play order for the deluxe version and has so many "part 2" versions mixed in, it only makes more sense that you can make your own version. A lot of people on KTT2 seem to be doing the same thing.

If I'm a critic, it's hard to rate the album as released, but as a fan, I will say that my version of Donda is probably my AOTY. It's great.

Fantano's summary here... I agree with his take:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csyMj9jHKs4

[Bert]

Jon Connor released a new mixtape.

I hate most of the beats but I guess they're all from top hip hop songs so lol I guess they must be better with some rube mumble rapping with autotune.

I do like this one.


https://youtu.be/HbUPxUIe27o

It's a shame he had to sign with Dre and then be shelved for like 3 years or whatever it was.

[Nash Diesel]

It happens quite a bit in the music industry. Artists/bands get signed and then have to wait their turn. The Game, same shit happened that's why they put him with G-Unit to get the ball rolling after sitting around for a minute.

[Bert]

It happens a lot with Dre and with Eminem.

Kendrick is one of the lucky ones.

[Nash Diesel]

I mean look at Dre....He's been in the same almost 40 years and only 2 "solo" albums to show for it.

Kendrick....Shit look at the gap between his records. He's been in the mainstream for like 10 years, he has 4 albums. He's Nas. It's been 4 years since his last album. Nobody is safe in the Aftermath world.

[Bert]

RIP Slaughterhouse. I'm still sad we never got Glass House.

I guess Joe Budden is doing okay with his podcast and pretending to be bisexual or whatever. Joell Ortiz just released a new album but he was always the odd man out to me and I haven't listened to it yet. Haven't looked into Royce or Crooked for a bit to see what they're up to.

[Nash Diesel]

I was never really a fan. The only two that I liked were Royce and Crooked. I've never been a fan of Joe Budden, Ortiz was alright but not really my thing.

I'd rather see Royce and King Crooked do a collab album.

[Psycho666Soldier]

I was a fan of PRhyme

[Bert]

https://youtu.be/58g_dyMTQHQ

Loving hearing more Jadakiss lately.

[Bert]

I was a fan of PRhyme

PRhyme 3 is in the works.

[Bert]

https://youtu.be/SSK1dhGiUog

BARS.

[Fro]

The new Nas/Hit Boy album “Magic” is really good. I think I like it more than either KD1 or KD2.

[Bert]

https://youtu.be/kvNgwgyidpY

Album out Friday. I doubt I like it as much as The Lost Boy but he has another track with Freddie Gibbs, Nas, and also Stevie Wonder on the track list so I'm still excited for it.

[Bert]

Albums out and there's no Nas feature for some reason. New Kota The Friend album is also out, Lyrics To Go Vol 3.

[Fro]

https://youtu.be/HFrwm6oRYJg

Love this

[Fro]

Kanye out here doing things only he can do, once again

[Bert]

If only that was a good thing.

Show sounds like it was more of a dumpster fire than the first one.

Hope the albums good at least. I still want an explicit version of donda 1.

[Fro]

There were pretty bad audio technical issues in the second half. Basically he did his live album release like he’s been doing (no actual live vocals, just a live music video production while they play the new album, but he doesn’t rap) but then they were going to live perform some of the hits from Donda 1 and that’s when Ye’s mic stopped working so he basically abandoned performing. Yea it got rough there. But I still think no one else does this sort of thing. Other artists do full video albums but none that I’m aware of do them live and put the show out online for free live as it happens. I think it’s very cool what he does despite the bad audio glitches tonight.

Kanye makes performance art like no one else I’m aware of since maybe Michael Jackson.

[Bert]

https://youtu.be/BzkOB7pJkEY

[Bert]

https://youtu.be/T82A_ZdIrds

GIVE ME GLASS HOUSE.

[Bert]

https://i.imgur.com/LbOWspf.jpeg

If it's the same thing that's on Spotify it's just instrumentals under the song titles. :lol:

Found the real thing though ripped from steam player. PM if you want it.

I wish he would wait for it to be finished before releasing it.

[Fro]

I haven't listened to it yet, except for watching the Miami live show. But yea I hear it's not so great as currently released. I'll probably just wait longer and see if he puts out something more finished. Hopefully he'll post it to streaming services eventually, even though I can respect the way he's releasing this on his stem player website only.

[Bert]

It's very weird because I guess he's uploading new versions so this mega folder has like 3 different versions of Pablo.

City of God sounds like a top 40 song.

[Bert]

Crooked and Joell Ortiz put out an album together, Rise and Fall of Slaughterhouse.

It sucks Joe Budden's ego ruined the group.

[Fro]

Jeez, I feel like it's been 5 years and those guys are still talking about Slaughterhouse, and naming their album after it?

My view on them is that while sure it would be nice if they put out a second studio album, it was never a ride or die group - it was always a "super group" of guys who came up in hip hop on their own and then formed an alliance. Therefore them breaking up isn't something to keep discussing for years and years. Even if they were the Hot Boys who came up on 1 label and got established as a collective, this would be overkill. Wayne made a dope song about it (I Miss my Dawgs) but it's not the breakup of the decade. Eminem made a dope song about the breakup of D12 (Stepping Stone). So fine, address it, but naming this their album in the year of our lord 2022 seems like... wtf are you doing.

Move On. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XOrYTltuaU)

[Bert]

Jeez, I feel like it's been 5 years and those guys are still talking about Slaughterhouse, and naming their album after it?

My view on them is that while sure it would be nice if they put out a second studio album, it was never a ride or die group - it was always a "super group" of guys who came up in hip hop on their own and then formed an alliance. Therefore them breaking up isn't something to keep discussing for years and years. Even if they were the Hot Boys who came up on 1 label and got established as a collective, this would be overkill. Wayne made a dope song about it (I Miss my Dawgs) but it's not the breakup of the decade. Eminem made a dope song about the breakup of D12 (Stepping Stone). So fine, address it, but naming this their album in the year of our lord 2022 seems like... wtf are you doing.

Move On. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XOrYTltuaU)


https://youtu.be/RE7kTuu7k_c

[Fro]

New Denzel Curry album "Melt My Eyez See Your Future"

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/cf/Denzel_Curry_-_Melt_My_Eyez_See_Your_Future.png/220px-Denzel_Curry_-_Melt_My_Eyez_See_Your_Future.png

I'm still midway through my first listen, but it's pretty great. I put him in the category with Griselda an Freddie Gibbs in terms of modern guys holding down classic hip hop. Not sure who else is in that category and doing it so well.

[Bert]

Walkin' is my fucking jam.

[Bert]

Rip DJ Kay Slay

New Kendrick album May 13th

[Fro]

Can't wait. I was just listening to Damn again this past weekend, and it's so good. Part of me obviously wishes Kendrick was more prolific and didn't wait 5 years for a new album in his age 30 to age 34 years of life. But he has cultivated such an immaculate discography, and his albums are so well crafted and conceptual, that I get it. I love that Jay-Z put out an album every summer for 10 years straight, but Kendrick comes at it differently and will leave us with one hell of a catalog. Plus, in his defense, he put out a lot of good mixtapes in his run up to Section.80 (C4, Overly Dedicated, EP, etc).

[BigAl]

Pumped for new Kendrick and new Action Bronson coming out on 4/29.

[Fro]

Pusha T album dropping Friday. Should be good. I think the rumor is it’s half kanye and half Pharrell production

[Bert]

https://i.imgur.com/C0gouJ4.jpeg

I'm excited for this one. I wonder if Cudi and Ye know they're on the same song.

[Bert]

https://i.imgur.com/6yeQ6uu.jpeg

Welp. I hope this doesn't lead to the song not coming out or something.

[Fro]

yea I love kanye but he can clearly be a toxic person, and I presume cudi is in the right by cutting ties with him and speaking out against him (i.e. kanye probably treated him like a dick). but I wouldn't worry about the song being cut from the album, I mean cudi says he cleared it and the album drops in 3 days. cudi just wanted to make it clear he's still done with kanye and this isn't a reunion of their friendship since people were like "oh it's great to see kanye and cudi back together"

[Bert]

Well rip to Kids See Ghosts

https://youtu.be/hQC8COGQ4BM

[Fro]

The pusha T album is so good


https://youtu.be/WMFm99d6t9M?list=RDWMFm99d6t9M

[Bert]

https://youtu.be/G8rdT-KPPX8

That Akon line. :lol:

[Fro]

I like that song, especially the second verse. The video, eh, not very good IMO.

[Fro]

https://youtu.be/uAPUkgeiFVY

[Fro]

I listened to Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. I think it's a great album, I mean what the fuck else would you expect from Kendrick? No skips found. Favorite tracks so far are United in Grief, N95, Mother I Sober and Mirror. These are likely to change, but I really liked how the album started and ended.

This album will undoubtedly be on heavy repeat. So much to dive into. Very dense content as usual for Kendrick. Really good production.

[Psycho666Soldier]

Yeah, it's fantastic. DAMN. was lacking something for me after To Pimp a Butterfly was so ambitious, and I think this captured that magic again. Great stuff.

[Fro]

The new Logic album Vinyl Days is very good

[Fro]

this has been a tremendous year for hip hop IMO. I'll post some of my rankings and favorites at some point to wrap up the year like I used to do every year, even if we only have 3 or 4 rap fans on here anymore.

new Nas & Hit-Boy album out now.

[Psycho666Soldier]

this has been a tremendous year for hip hop IMO. I'll post some of my rankings and favorites at some point to wrap up the year like I used to do every year, even if we only have 3 or 4 rap fans on here anymore.

new Nas & Hit-Boy album out now.

I'd definitely be down to have a look. I feel like I haven't really kept up with new music in general as much as I used to, so I might not be able to have a very big Top list, but I might weigh in with something

[Psycho666Soldier]

Trugoy the Dove, AKA Plug Two, of De La Soil has passed :(

[Donald]

Not too familiar with De La Soul, but I read he rapped the second rap on Feel Good Inc, which is what I'd know him from.

RIP :(

[Donald]

give me some suggestions for new music... obviously got common and kweli, but any hidden gems?! in the mood for getting some new stuff this weekend...

where do you all 'get' your music from online? all these links in here are spent... :-(

apart from killah priest :yes: just downloading, wickedness.

stuff i need to check out:

Camp Lo - Black Hollywood
Oh No - Dr. No's Oxperiment
Madlib - Beat Konducta In India (Vol. 3-4)
Devin The Dude - Waitin' To Inhale
Panacea - The Scenic Route
Yesterday's New Quintet - Yesterday's Universe

Kanye and Ty $ just released new music.

[Psycho666Soldier]

Kinda sad we don't have any activity here anymore. Feels like 10 years ago this thread would have been blowing up over the Kendrick/Drake stuff

[Morrison]

I've definitely fallen into the trap of getting older and ending up just listening to all the shit i already love as far as music goes. i'll still find new acts that i end up loving, but it's usually just discovering an older artist that i never sought out or heard of. my level of awareness through basic cultural osmosis is also slowing down pretty hard, too, haha.

with that said, this drake/kendrick beef landed on my radar and caught my attention after 'meet the grahams' dropped. that and 'not like us' was a pretty wild one-two punch, and drake's response in 'the heart, part 6' is so highly dependent on this whole false flag-esque angle that it could either end up devastating for either dude, depending on how it shakes out. either way, it has been pretty entertaining.

in this house we stand with kendrick, if it needs to be said.