Hip Hop Discussion/Album Review Thread.

[Nash Diesel]

I agree, the amount of mainstream hip hop that interests me now is far far lower than the amount I used to listen to. I don't love where the genre has gone as a whole. There are still good artists at the top - I personally think Drake puts out consistently very good music in his own unique style. Kendrick is a young legend. J Cole is very solid. Kanye, whenever he drops stuff, is still killing it. But these positive examples don't change what I said before... there used to be a plethora of great artists in mainstream hip hop, now there are only a few. I used to get excited by, say, 15 to 20 albums a year and now it's more like 5.

I think the Cardi B album is pretty good though.

See, what trips me out is that I don't even consider 90% of the shit they call "rap" actual rap music. I listen to Drake, Kanye, Lil' Wayne, and I just can't get into it.

What's funny is the minimal stuff I've heard of J. Cole I was actually very impressed but he's still not someone I'm going out of my way to listen to because it's just not my thing. Again, that could just be old age creeping up but I still bump new shit it's just not what is plastered all over magazines and t.v. and Twitter.

I bet though 20 years ago there was a dude just like me going "Fuck man this Master P bullshit is not Rakim fuck this" But I'm not even going that deep with it I just don't see the effort. At least for every Master P record you had like 30 other acts killing it. Now it's like shit, if you're not some shit that could tour with Justin Bieber, you're not going even a factor.

You have these fucks like Takashi 69, Lil Xan Boy-who by the way is performing (yeah I was shocked that any of these lil bitches perform) here in Des Moines this summer and I'm willing to catch an assbeating by security to fuck this kid up. Not for 2pac, just for the simple fact that I fucking hate the direction people like that have taken a genre I love. They're made it so dumbed down that literally all you need is 100,000 youtube plays of some simple ass shit repeating over and over and you're getting mad fans and money.

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The cash me ouside girl gets a bit of credit from me because she helped me find out about Roy Purdy.

The only credit she gets from me is that when she's 18 I'll buy her porn.

[Fro]

J.Cole new album is nice
New Doom one is pretty excellent too

I like the new Cole album a lot.

So kanye announced his own album, the kayne/cudi album, the pusha T and now a new Nas album. all in a one month span from may-june. consider me excited.

[son_of_foley]

I will consider travelling stateside if there's a cudi/kanye tour

[G-Fresh]

I bet though 20 years ago there was a dude just like me going "Fuck man this Master P bullshit is not Rakim fuck this" But I'm not even going that deep with it I just don't see the effort. At least for every Master P record you had like 30 other acts killing it. Now it's like shit, if you're not some shit that could tour with Justin Bieber, you're not going even a factor.

I'll take Master P over any mainstream trash out right now.

[Nash Diesel]

I would too haha

[Nash Diesel]

I miss the albums of No Limit

[Percussion]

Kendrick knew what he was doing here. The girl should of had a light bulb going off as the word was coming up.



The whole thing is funnier than it is important imo, so it's whatever, but I just don't know that there's simply one finger to point.

[Fro]

this new Pusha T album DAYTONA is quite good

[Fro]

after 2 listens

if you know you know 9/10
the games we play 8.5/10
hard piano 7.5/10
come back baby 9/10
santeria 8.5/10
what would meek do 8/10
infrared 9/10

favorite track obviously a toss up between the 3 I have at 9's but I'm gonna say my fave so far is If You Know You Know. it's a short album more like an EP clocking in at 22 minutes- seems to be what Kanye is going for since his album is also supposed to be 7 tracks. but that's fine with me, although I'd like a little more length this is no filler at all which is refreshing when compared to an 80 minute hip hop album that drags.

yeezy season is here

[mrluck_07]

I miss the albums of No Limit

Ghetto D?
Street Life?

[Nash Diesel]

Ghetto D?
Street Life?

Never got too much into Fiend and the only Master P album I ever had was Da Last Don which I thought was kinda whack but the album cover was super fresh.

[mrluck_07]

Never got too much into Fiend and the only Master P album I ever had was Da Last Don which I thought was kinda whack but the album cover was super fresh.

Yeah, it did have a cold cover. Only song from Da Last Don I still listen to even semi-regularly is "Thinkin' Bout U".

[Nash Diesel]

[Fro]

drake vs pusha T we are blessed and also how can anyone not respect drake at this point

[G-Fresh]

Never got too much into Fiend and the only Master P album I ever had was Da Last Don which I thought was kinda whack but the album cover was super fresh.

Dude that shit Fiend did with Three 6 Mafia is off the chain. I still jam this on the regular.

[Nash Diesel]

drake vs pusha T we are blessed and also how can anyone not respect drake at this point

I respect anyone who can hustle. Do I respect his skill level? No more than I would respect people like Justin Bieber's guitar skills I guess.

I was reading a shit ton of comments and people were like "Drake sold millions more than Pusha T obviously he's better" That's a tough pill for me to swallow because when you say someone is BETTER that's about skill and anyone who listens to Drake and thinks he's a better rapper than Pusha T is just in a different lane than I am musically.

[Fro]

First impression: I think Drake's diss was a better song but this is dope too and definitely hits on a more personal level talking about Drake's kid and shit.

either way I just love a good rap beef between 2 good popular MCs

[son_of_foley]

YE is out and it's pretty good. Not one for the ages or anything but pretty nice

[Nash Diesel]

His wife said he shot the album cover on his iPhone on the way to the listening party. Just scribbled some shit with his finger and boom, that's the cover. I used to think it was lazy seeing an album cover with just someone standing in a white room with their name in the font they use, thinking damn that's lazy.

[mrluck_07]

His wife said he shot the album cover on his iPhone on the way to the listening party. Just scribbled some shit with his finger and boom, that's the cover. I used to think it was lazy seeing an album cover with just someone standing in a white room with their name in the font they use, thinking damn that's lazy.

Guess he said "Lemme get it out the way now".

[son_of_foley]

better than the picture of the surgeon who killed his mum though right?

[Nash Diesel]

Growing up and to this day, album covers meant a lot to me. When I started doing music, early on a guy told me that the album cover would be one of the top 3 ingredients to selling my shit and probably the most important since it's the first thing people see. You could have a dog shit sounding album and nobody knows who you are, but if you're album cover looks sweet, they might just grab it.

That's how a buddy of mine found out about a lot of underground shit like Esham for example. Here was a rapper with this Satanic imagery on his album cover. This was probably 1993, nobody in our area had a clue who this kid was but his album cover stood out like a sore thumb among the likes of Naughty by Nature and the like where it was usually just dudes in black leather standing in the streets. Esham had some crazy ass album covers.

I just can't imagine someone not on Kanye's level dropping some cover like that....but then again, I'm 36.....I was able to experience the joy of album artwork unlike many younger than me who could not give a fuck less as long as it downloaded to their Apple device.

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better than the picture of the surgeon who killed his mum though right?

Idk, was that an album cover he had?

[Fro]

What's wrong with the album cover? He recorded the album in the Wyoming mountains or whatever, it's a nice picture of that, the place where this all happened. As for the "I hate being bi-polar it's awesome" wording, I've heard it's pretty well in line with the content of the album although I haven't listened yet. Heard some people saying that should have been the title of the album instead of ye.

The picture of the surgeon would have made sense if he stuck with the "Love Everyone" album title/theme

The Daytona album cover is another odd choice but I think it works strangely well.

Daytona is a perfect 22 minutes of music.

[son_of_foley]

Growing up and to this day, album covers meant a lot to me. When I started doing music, early on a guy told me that the album cover would be one of the top 3 ingredients to selling my shit and probably the most important since it's the first thing people see. You could have a dog shit sounding album and nobody knows who you are, but if you're album cover looks sweet, they might just grab it.

That's how a buddy of mine found out about a lot of underground shit like Esham for example. Here was a rapper with this Satanic imagery on his album cover. This was probably 1993, nobody in our area had a clue who this kid was but his album cover stood out like a sore thumb among the likes of Naughty by Nature and the like where it was usually just dudes in black leather standing in the streets. Esham had some crazy ass album covers.

I just can't imagine someone not on Kanye's level dropping some cover like that....but then again, I'm 36.....I was able to experience the joy of album artwork unlike many younger than me who could not give a fuck less as long as it downloaded to their Apple device.

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Idk, was that an album cover he had?

He said that's what it was going to be at 1 stage

[Nash Diesel]

What's wrong with the album cover? He recorded the album in the Wyoming mountains or whatever, it's a nice picture of that, the place where this all happened. As for the "I hate being bi-polar it's awesome" wording, I've heard it's pretty well in line with the content of the album although I haven't listened yet. Heard some people saying that should have been the title of the album instead of ye.

The picture of the surgeon would have made sense if he stuck with the "Love Everyone" album title/theme

The Daytona album cover is another odd choice but I think it works strangely well.

Daytona is a perfect 22 minutes of music.

It's not the worst album cover by any means but it still looks like shit. Looks like he just screen shotted a pic from someone's Instagram. He's had some pretty sweet covers in the past, even ones that are pretty basic like College Dropout that were still pretty fresh.

He said that's what it was going to be at 1 stage

Hmm. Honestly, like Fro said, if it was part of the theme that would have worked out perfectly. Did he KILL his mom or did she die during some plastic surgery due to complications? I remember the story vaguely.

[son_of_foley]

Yeah it was during the surgery. He blames him for the death it was a quick description of the situation

[Fro]

I am a few listens into Ye and it's good but not amazing as you said sof. Yikes is probably my favorite. He is stronger as a producer than a song writer right now and given how good the production on Daytona is, I cannot friggin wait for the Nas album. The Ye and Cudi should be cool but I prefer Cudi in small doses.

[mrluck_07]

Growing up and to this day, album covers meant a lot to me. When I started doing music, early on a guy told me that the album cover would be one of the top 3 ingredients to selling my shit and probably the most important since it's the first thing people see. You could have a dog shit sounding album and nobody knows who you are, but if you're album cover looks sweet, they might just grab it.

That's how a buddy of mine found out about a lot of underground shit like Esham for example. Here was a rapper with this Satanic imagery on his album cover. This was probably 1993, nobody in our area had a clue who this kid was but his album cover stood out like a sore thumb among the likes of Naughty by Nature and the like where it was usually just dudes in black leather standing in the streets. Esham had some crazy ass album covers.

I just can't imagine someone not on Kanye's level dropping some cover like that....but then again, I'm 36.....I was able to experience the joy of album artwork unlike many younger than me who could not give a fuck less as long as it downloaded to their Apple device.

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Idk, was that an album cover he had?

What genre of music do you make?

[G-Fresh]

He's in a German Oi band.

[Percussion]

Yeah it was during the surgery. He blames him for the death it was a quick description of the situation

She died the day after surgery, at her home.

[Fro]

this is a great season for (mainstream) hip hop

Ye
Pusha
ASAP (solid album as usual)
Nas
Drake
Ye/Cudi
Gambino (soon?)
Black Thought - Stream of Thought Vol 1 (check this if you haven't yet)
J. Cole & Cardi B albums came out not that long ago

I'm eatin like I haven't in a while

[Simmo Fortyone]

Have just given Ye the one listen so far, but I really like it. First impression has it above his last couple, but will give it 2 or 3 more spins before I settle on it.

[Fro]

Have just given Ye the one listen so far, but I really like it. First impression has it above his last couple, but will give it 2 or 3 more spins before I settle on it.

I like it although I think it's my least favorite Kanye album. It's got some good stuff but for a 24 minute album it just doesn't pack enough punch, unlike the Pusha album which is flawless so I don't mind the length. Violent Crimes is my favorite at the moment, I think it's a pretty great father to daughter track with Kanye being at his most real on this album. No Mistakes and Yikes are my other favorites. I Thought About Killing You is interesting, once the beat kicks in and he starts rapping it's a pretty fire intro, but the beginning part goes on a little long. Ghost Town was my least favorite at first but it's grown on me. Cudi sounds pretty bad on it but the ending part by 070 Shake (nothing hurts anymore, I feel kinda freeeeee) is satisfying even though it sounds like some teenage pop shit.

[son_of_foley]

Ghost town is the standout track you maniac

[Fro]

Ghost town is the standout track you maniac

cudi sounds constipated on it.

[son_of_foley]

You are formally banned from listening to kids see ghosts.

Banned.

[Fro]

You are formally banned from listening to kids see ghosts.

Banned.

he pretty much always sounds constipated. I have long been intrigued by the appeal of Kid Cudi. I mean I'm not a hater, I enjoy his contributions to Kanye stuff and Day and Night was a jam, but does he even have a good voice? I can't tell. It sounds like monotone moaning most of the time but there's something about it that's soothing. He has good melody. idk he is an enigma. I will report back when Kids See Ghosts drops on whether I can tolerate him in larger doses.

I like ghost town though, it's grown on me as I said and I find myself listening to it frequently. the end part gives me the feels but then again so does a lot of pop music. seems like a fairly divisive song, some people say it's the best and some say it's the worst.

[son_of_foley]

You won't report back because you are banned. I've contacted the authorities

[G-Fresh]

Immortal Technique is performing at the GotJ this year.

[Fro]

I saw Eminem at Boston Calling and he was great. There were only a couple songs on the set list that shouldn't have been on there (Cinderalla Man, Nowhere Fast) but other than that it was a great set. He was on his game. There's something so satisfying about seeing a guy like him with a huge catalog that you know pretty much all the words to and singing along with the live performance. I probably marked out the most for Kill You.

If you can see him at any of his upcoming stops (he's doing a couple more in the US before heading to Europe), I recommend it.

[Nash Diesel]

Immortal Technique is performing at the GotJ this year.

So far I've heard:

Esham
GWAR
RA the Rugged Man w/ A.F.R.O.
Yelawolf
CKY
Attila
Killjoy Club (ICP and 3 6 Maia supergroup for those that don't know)

Other than CKY and Attila this is starting to look pretty sweet. The 1 thing that pisses me off is that Gathering they had where the dumb ass fans (not all) were douchebags toward the likes of Method Man, Redman, a few others. It was that same one where someone threw a shit/pissed filled watermelon at Tia Tequila (which was still fucking disturbing). I think that soured a lot of legit artists coming to future Gatherings.

I also hope that they put Cage on the main stage this year and not that bitch ass early afternoon side stage slot he got last year. Honestly, I was thinking Cage's next record, the Sam Hill one, should be a Psychopathic release.

And I know it's not going to happen but I would love to see some MNE flavor. Twiztid, ROC, G-Mo, Lex the Hexmaster, but it's probably not going to happen. Just judging by certain posts on social media it does seem like some of the bullshit is finally dying down. ICP posted a pic of The ROC a week or 2 ago, I think for his birthday or some shit Idk.

[Nash Diesel]

I saw Eminem at Boston Calling and he was great. There were only a couple songs on the set list that shouldn't have been on there (Cinderalla Man, Nowhere Fast) but other than that it was a great set. He was on his game. There's something so satisfying about seeing a guy like him with a huge catalog that you know pretty much all the words to and singing along with the live performance. I probably marked out the most for Kill You.

If you can see him at any of his upcoming stops (he's doing a couple more in the US before heading to Europe), I recommend it.

I wonder why he stopped touring. I mean not completely but it seems like he hasn't gone on a real tour in over 10 years. My ex-wife got to see him on the Anger Management tour (I think that's what it was called). That's the Eminem I wish I could have seen live.

[G-Fresh]

So far I've heard:

Esham
GWAR
RA the Rugged Man w/ A.F.R.O.
Yelawolf
CKY
Attila
Killjoy Club (ICP and 3 6 Maia supergroup for those that don't know)

Other than CKY and Attila this is starting to look pretty sweet. The 1 thing that pisses me off is that Gathering they had where the dumb ass fans (not all) were douchebags toward the likes of Method Man, Redman, a few others. It was that same one where someone threw a shit/pissed filled watermelon at Tia Tequila (which was still fucking disturbing). I think that soured a lot of legit artists coming to future Gatherings.

I also hope that they put Cage on the main stage this year and not that bitch ass early afternoon side stage slot he got last year. Honestly, I was thinking Cage's next record, the Sam Hill one, should be a Psychopathic release.

And I know it's not going to happen but I would love to see some MNE flavor. Twiztid, ROC, G-Mo, Lex the Hexmaster, but it's probably not going to happen. Just judging by certain posts on social media it does seem like some of the bullshit is finally dying down. ICP posted a pic of The ROC a week or 2 ago, I think for his birthday or some shit Idk.

People are trying to make peace, but a couple people (Monoxide and G-Mo) don't know when to shut up. I wouldn't be surprised if Monoxide is murdered within the next few years because of his mouth. I think I'm going this year. I can't survive camping for 4-5 days, so we're getting a hotel room to crash and keep all of our stuff.

[Nash Diesel]

People are trying to make peace, but a couple people (Monoxide and G-Mo) don't know when to shut up. I wouldn't be surprised if Monoxide is murdered within the next few years because of his mouth. I think I'm going this year. I can't survive camping for 4-5 days, so we're getting a hotel room to crash and keep all of our stuff.

What's funny is Monoxide will be the first one to be all "I'm not this and that" and try to show love to "juggalos" or whoever. He will call out some of these geeks online like Child's Play Ninja but they have people like him on their end who actually work for them like that big idiot who tags along with Madrox everyone, Big Vin or whoever the fuck that juggalo nerd is.

GMO I don't think has really said much has he? He did the Violent J diss track which is funny as hell but didn't really do anything because the gap between Violent J's popularity and legend status and G-Mo is like Mars to Earth so it kinda fell on deaf ears.

It did feel like half of Year of the Sword were weird disses on ICP and their crew but oh well, everyone knows MNE is dope but will never be on that same level which is probably why they have such a hard time accepting reality.

[Fro]

kids see ghosts is very good

[son_of_foley]

kids see ghosts is very good

it sure is. Cudi fam for life. I know the homie Ringo is loving it. I havent spoken to him like but it's the bond us Cudi fans have

[Hero!]

ASAP Rocky and Tyler the creator dropping some shit. Potato salad here is fuckin dope. Just smooooth

[Simon]

The beat on this is fucking filth.

[Ringo]

it sure is. Cudi fam for life. I know the homie Ringo is loving it. I havent spoken to him like but it's the bond us Cudi fans have

[son_of_foley]

ASAP Rocky and Tyler the creator dropping some shit. Potato salad here is fuckin dope. Just smooooth

I like it but find it funny Asap rocky taking aim at mumble rap and new rappers. I like him as well

[RuneEdge]

WTF
Eminem just dropped a new album. BRB

[son_of_foley]

Been listening to the Michael Aristotle Collection a lot recently.
Great album

[Simon]

WTF
Eminem just dropped a new album. BRB

Can't wait to listen to this, seems like it's getting rave reviews. If it stoked a fire in him that led to a fantastic album then I'm fully behind him, but the target of his anger seems to be the negative reviews of his last album...but it was bollocks, he must be aware of this? I mean more or less every song had the same structure with a pop hook.

EDIT: Having said that, I went back over Revival recently and found myself really enjoying Arose. Even when he's scraping the barrel there's always *something* good there. And even though Em is now at a Simpsons level of "fuck me he's been shit longer than he was ever good", he still throws out the odd sign that he's still got genius in him - Bad Guy off...the album before Revival, I forget the name...is an astonishing song, up there with anything he's ever made IMO.

[RuneEdge]

Like you said, he always shows signs that he's still got it. You could probably put together one solid LP top to bottom from the last three albums if you picked out the best tracks. I want to believe its pressure from the record label that leads to the inclusion of those tracks with the pop hooks.
And yeah, this new one seems like his reaction to our reaction of his last album.

[Simon]

Arose
Bad Guy
Rap God
Love Game
Seduction
Headlights
Talkin' To Myself
No Love
Cinderella Man
Almost Famous

That's as much good as I can get out of his last three albums. Only Bad Guy and maybe Rap God would get on either of his first two proper albums IMO.

[RuneEdge]

On second thoughts looking through the track listings again, there really isn't much to choose from (I'd throw Space Bound in there along with what you listed). I think I must've confused his tracks with his guest features. He's had the odd one with Yelawolf, Slaughterhouse, etc that were decent.

[Simon]

Yeah he seems to raise his game for his guest appearances, particularly with people he respects. I sort of feel like he is almost two separate people artistically, the pop star and the hardcore rapper. Clearly there is pressure on him to keep his albums a certain way to maximise money - big, rock-style drums, pop melodies, guest hooks and simple flows...whereas his guest appearances are more like 'real' (ie. old) Eminem, with more freedom to just do what he wants to do. He's always upped his games for rappers he respects - general consensus is that his first verse on Renegade off the Jay-Z album is the best he's ever done for example - but it stands out even more nowadays when his own stuff is so watered down. That recent verse on Caterpillar was great, and personally I think his verse on Forever is probably the best he's sounded at any point since MMLP.

[Fro]

Like you said, he always shows signs that he's still got it. You could probably put together one solid LP top to bottom from the last three albums if you picked out the best tracks. I want to believe its pressure from the record label that leads to the inclusion of those tracks with the pop hooks.
And yeah, this new one seems like his reaction to our reaction of his last album.

Arose
Bad Guy
Rap God
Love Game
Seduction
Headlights
Talkin' To Myself
No Love
Cinderella Man
Almost Famous

That's as much good as I can get out of his last three albums. Only Bad Guy and maybe Rap God would get on either of his first two proper albums IMO.

I think you could take MMLP2 (a blistering 106 minutes with the bonus tracks included) and easily cut it down to a great 45 minute album. Some tracks you excluded from it which I feel are good songs:

Legacy
Evil Twin
Don't Front
Wicked Ways
Groundhog Day
Beautiful Pain

I am also a big fan of:

Cold Wind Blows
Going Through Changes
25 to Life
So Bad
Framed
Castle
Believe

And then there's the tracks have pop hooks but are actually really enjoyable:

Love the Way You Lie (can we all admit this is a classic song? no? fine, your loss)
The Monster (ditto for this one)

The below I wouldn't put in the same class as the above 2, but are still very good:

Walk on Water (yep this is a good track despite the choppy flow)
River (if you don't like the Ed Sheeran hook on this you might not have a soul)
Like Home

Then you've got the Shady XV and Bad Meets Evil albums which have gems like:

Psychopath Killer
Vegas
Welcome 2 Hell
The Reunion
Take From Me
Echo

[Nash Diesel]

I remember when he said "when the fire dies and expires at 30" He was grossly mistaken.

I hate the radio friendly tracks he does and to be honest I haven't bought a record of his since the MMLP damn near 16 years ago? That doesn't mean I don't think he's dope, he is, easily a top 5 for me.

[RuneEdge]

That "Not Alike" beat got me like

[Simon]

First listen through...not good. Em's beat choices are just so bad. The only one that gets me going is Lucky You, and even that is just a slightly inferior rip-off of an earlier Joyner track, I Don't Die...



Hopefully this will grow on me with further listens, I haven't got into it lyrically at all yet. But those beats man, Christ they're so fucking...dull. Not terrible, they don't try anything interesting enough to fail in any notable way. Every track just sounds like the filler from a better album, the sort of thing that gets thrown on towards the end of the album as a cool-off before the final bangers.

Joyner is a fucking boss though - I actually didn't realise how big he already was (thought the Not Racist thing was his breakout moment and it wasn't long ago) so it's not the game-changer I thought it was, but it's good to see him getting some shine off of Em, he could be a monster in the future.

[RuneEdge]

The Ringer, Lucky You, and Not Alike are the only ones I really enjoyed. The rest were OK, I guess.

[Fro]

yea pretty blah on first listen. Some good verses and moments mixed in with a lot of bad beats and hooks. it's so dense with lyrics that none of his lyrics really stand out anymore.

Stepping Stones is one of my favorites. I think his main problem is he has absolutely nothing to rap about anymore so even though this breakdown of how D12 disbanded is completely unnecessary it's still nice for him to direct his lyricism toward something of substance.

the Paul Skit is great

[Chris Scott]

MGK diss, yeah pretty good. Eminem’s responce should be worth the wait.

[Nash Diesel]

MGK's diss was terrible. Was it even a diss? He spent more time praising Eminem than really doing anything of worth on the mic. Em literally made 10-15 dudes relevant, I don't even know when the last time I heard a peep out of MGK. Then again I don't seek out cats like him so maybe he's been doing some great shit the last 10 years, last thing I saw of this kid was him trying to play guitar, maybe last year or some shit it was terrible.

I told someone, Eminem is the Ric Flair of rap. He has made more talent relevant and more popular than they were before he spoke on them than any other rapper in the history of the game. That's why soooo many people early on were trying to get him to bite, they'd make entire albums dissing him and he would be like naw I'm just going to diss Mariah Carey and the next thing you know people give a fuck about Mariah Carey again lol. It's like that with this album, you hear how pissed Joe Budden was about his name getting shit on? That dude has never had a good song, never had a good album, lyrical but boring as fuck, and I bet you 20 people went out and listened to his shit after the fact.

[Simon]

Pump It Up was a banger. Pray For Me and Making A Murderer are great too.

[Fro]

Mac Miller dead at 26. Damn, RIP.

[Chris Scott]

MGK's diss was terrible. Was it even a diss? He spent more time praising Eminem than really doing anything of worth on the mic. Em literally made 10-15 dudes relevant, I don't even know when the last time I heard a peep out of MGK. Then again I don't seek out cats like him so maybe he's been doing some great shit the last 10 years, last thing I saw of this kid was him trying to play guitar, maybe last year or some shit it was terrible.

I told someone, Eminem is the Ric Flair of rap. He has made more talent relevant and more popular than they were before he spoke on them than any other rapper in the history of the game. That's why soooo many people early on were trying to get him to bite, they'd make entire albums dissing him and he would be like naw I'm just going to diss Mariah Carey and the next thing you know people give a fuck about Mariah Carey again lol. It's like that with this album, you hear how pissed Joe Budden was about his name getting shit on? That dude has never had a good song, never had a good album, lyrical but boring as fuck, and I bet you 20 people went out and listened to his shit after the fact.

Come on wasn’t terrible, basically got his point across about there dispute. MGK always liked him, his stuff is good in my opinion, but hopefully Eminem doesn’t kill his career now.

[RuneEdge]

MGK's track was a decent diss but an average song. Lyrically it was shit. His point would've sounded the same if he had just wrote it in a love letter or something. He's basically Stan.

[Simon]

This assumption that MGK is gonna get murdered...when was the last time Eminem released a good diss? TBH I can't remember him dissing anyone properly in a long time, but off the top of my head I can't think of anything more recent than The Sauce?

[Chris Scott]

Canibus is still the man for a diss song.

- - - Updated - - -

Although Eminem ended his career.

[RuneEdge]

This assumption that MGK is gonna get murdered...when was the last time Eminem released a good diss? TBH I can't remember him dissing anyone properly in a long time, but off the top of my head I can't think of anything more recent than The Sauce?

Well there was "The Warning" but that was a while ago too. The thing is, he hasn't really had the need to release diss tracks in recent years, so that wouldn't be a valid reason to write him off.

[G-Fresh]

Eminem ain't ended any musicians career.

[Simon]

Well there was "The Warning" but that was a while ago too. The thing is, he hasn't really had the need to release diss tracks in recent years, so that wouldn't be a valid reason to write him off.

Oh yeah I'm not saying he wouldn't be able to kill anyone any more, I'm just thinking that if he hasn't released a diss track since his overall music went to shit, maybe he's lost that art too. The assumption that he'll come back and murder MGK might be wide of the mark. Hope not though, his diss tracks have often been among his best stuff - it's a shame that I Remember was wasted on a no-mark like Everlast, because that is as complete a destruction of someone's character as you could ever hope to see. Literally did Everlast's own genre better than him.

[RuneEdge]

Oh yeah I'm not saying he wouldn't be able to kill anyone any more, I'm just thinking that if he hasn't released a diss track since his overall music went to shit, maybe he's lost that art too. The assumption that he'll come back and murder MGK might be wide of the mark. Hope not though, his diss tracks have often been among his best stuff - it's a shame that I Remember was wasted on a no-mark like Everlast, because that is as complete a destruction of someone's character as you could ever hope to see. Literally did Everlast's own genre better than him.

I don't think Eminem has lost the art. IMO it comes down to whether or not he actually has any meaningful points to make in this beef. Because Em's ability to express his points shouldn't be questioned. Having said that, I agree that I don't see Em "destroying" MGK because I don't know what he has on him that he can bring up in a diss track. I guess we just wait and see.

[Nash Diesel]

Oh yeah I'm not saying he wouldn't be able to kill anyone any more, I'm just thinking that if he hasn't released a diss track since his overall music went to shit, maybe he's lost that art too. The assumption that he'll come back and murder MGK might be wide of the mark. Hope not though, his diss tracks have often been among his best stuff - it's a shame that I Remember was wasted on a no-mark like Everlast, because that is as complete a destruction of someone's character as you could ever hope to see. Literally did Everlast's own genre better than him.

Let me ask you an honest question...Did you listen to this new release? If you don't think Eminem doesn't still "got it" then you are completely out of touch.

The fact is this...MGK didn't even really diss Eminem. And what Em said about the kid made MGK's response even less because Em bodybagged him with a couple bars. The only people who hear MGK's "diss" and think it was good are ignorant-and that's not even a knock as most fans I see praising MGK are hot bitches so I'm not expecting Madi and Emma to know how corny that diss truly was.

Eminem has reached such a high level that he's basically bulletproof. When you realistically look at the people he slammed on this record, who is even remotely close to this status? Who did he diss that could stand side by side with the tenure, the respect, the actual skill. Nobody. I have never in my life purchased an Eminem record, I've never bought his merch, but I'll be damned if even some young Lil Xan idiot and the people who are into that bullshit pretend like Eminem doesn't have it.

[Simon]

No mate I didn't listen to it, I just threw out a load of opinions based on what I thought it might be like.

Eminem has essentially been terrible for years. Lyrically repetitive and dull, flow went over a cliff as he moved towards that stop-start staccato style, and his beat selection is awful. The fact that he occasionally shows he's still capable of genius only makes the whole thing more annoying. I know you're constantly desperate to place yourself as the outsider telling the sheep how it really is, but the idea that Eminem is still anything like the force he once was is just idiotic. And I'm one of the biggest Eminem fans going, he's probably the main reason I got into hip-hop in the first place.

Speaking of beat selection, I've been listening to a lot of Jay-Z recently and fuck his beat selection has to be the best of all time. Always manages to stay current while remaining true to 'real' hiphop, he aligns himself with a wide array of all the best producers without ever losing his own style or feeling like his albums lack cohesion, his more commercial stuff is always poppy without being annoying, and he hardly ever seems like he has filler. The Black Album in particular is crazy good for beats.

[RuneEdge]

If you can't agree on how good Eminem was on some of these new tracks (especially "The Ringer"), then I have to question how much you actually comprehended his point or appreciated how he delivered it.

[Nash Diesel]

No mate I didn't listen to it, I just threw out a load of opinions based on what I thought it might be like.

Eminem has essentially been terrible for years. Lyrically repetitive and dull, flow went over a cliff as he moved towards that stop-start staccato style, and his beat selection is awful. The fact that he occasionally shows he's still capable of genius only makes the whole thing more annoying. I know you're constantly desperate to place yourself as the outsider telling the sheep how it really is, but the idea that Eminem is still anything like the force he once was is just idiotic. And I'm one of the biggest Eminem fans going, he's probably the main reason I got into hip-hop in the first place.

Speaking of beat selection, I've been listening to a lot of Jay-Z recently and fuck his beat selection has to be the best of all time. Always manages to stay current while remaining true to 'real' hiphop, he aligns himself with a wide array of all the best producers without ever losing his own style or feeling like his albums lack cohesion, his more commercial stuff is always poppy without being annoying, and he hardly ever seems like he has filler. The Black Album in particular is crazy good for beats.

Obviously he is the force he "once was" because his album went #1 and massive amounts of people are talking about him.

"Constantly desperate to place yourself as an outsider telling the sheep how it really is" There's nothing desperate about pointing out the reality. The reality that here you are doing your best to pretend you're "one of the biggest Eminem fans going" yet trying to water down his contributions that are still massive to this day. Remember the last time he was on BET? Nobody talked about shit that happened on that awards show, nobody even remembers who won a damn thing, but everyone remembers Em's Trump bashing, right? And it was met with a lot of praise as Em using his privelege to spread a message to not just "WHITE AMERICAAAAA" but America in general. Jay-Z goes on Anderson Cooper or whatever, nobody cares. Eminem drops a Eminem-esque freestyle on Trump and we're still talking about it almost a year later.

So again, downplay his relevency all you want but as "one of the biggest Eminem fans going" you sure as fuck don't sound like a fan.

And yeah, if you're bumping that Lil Xan, that 69, you are a fucking clown and should never touch beats again. You'd be the same dude bumping Puff Daddy back in the late 90's going "Oh man this dude is so hot". You're a trendy ass rap fan, just listen to your beats. You just go with whatever is popular and by the time anyone hears it, they're on to the next. That's not saying you don't have good beats but you would struggle if someone asked you to make something original and not whatever is trendy in American hip hop.

[RuneEdge]

Speaking of beat selection, I've been listening to a lot of Jay-Z recently and fuck his beat selection has to be the best of all time. Always manages to stay current while remaining true to 'real' hiphop, he aligns himself with a wide array of all the best producers without ever losing his own style or feeling like his albums lack cohesion, his more commercial stuff is always poppy without being annoying, and he hardly ever seems like he has filler. The Black Album in particular is crazy good for beats.

It's not that Jay-Z had good selection, it's that Jay-Z just has that ability to make almost any kind of beat work. His selection isn’t exactly great, and Eminem's isn't that bad. You clearly just have a preference for the more old school style, which is shown in the beats you make yourself.
If you call yourself a fan and don't like Eminem today, then you are exactly who he's talking to on this new album.

[Simon]

Nash if your view of still being at his best means still selling albums then we are on different wavelengths.

I dont think that's fair at all RuneEdge, I'd say most of the beats on his albums are standalone great before he even gets on them. Will provide examples later

[RuneEdge]

I don’t think the beats are bad. I just don’t think they’re like in a league above everybody else or something.
And to me it seems that Eminem’s beats just aren’t your preference. His are a totally different style to the classic Jay-Z/Kanye beats, which seem more like your thing.

[Nash Diesel]

Nash if your view of still being at his best means still selling albums then we are on different wavelengths.

I dont think that's fair at all RuneEdge, I'd say most of the beats on his albums are standalone great before he even gets on them. Will provide examples later

That's just one of the views I have as to why he's still at his best. My first question I asked you was if you even listed to his new album because I have no idea how you can listen to that killer record and question if he still has it or not. Claiming to be some huge Eminem fan while slighting his skill level because....well I honestly don't know why you would question his ability.

So yeah, the fact his album went straight to #1 means a lot for someone at this stage of their career. That's fucking impressive. Not to mention, it's extremely well-received by so many different groups of fans whether they're trendy commercial fans or hip hop heads.

#1 record? Check
Best album he's done in 10 years? Check

The guy is Jordan on the court with dudes half his age and he's smoking them all. And he didn't even have to promote his shit he just dropped it out of the fucking sky.

And you're fucking crack rock high if you hear Eminem beats and think they're whack. Especially this album. I have a feeling this argument is going to be you digging and reaching for anything to make Eminem seem "less than". Which is why geeks like MGK had such ill disses like clowning Em's beard and how much money he makes and how influential he is to all these bleach blonde white boys who think because they cross their arms and curl their lip like Elvis we're supposed to be impressed. MGK thinks because he took a powerbomb off the stage and wears red skinny jeans he's about that life. lol.

[Fro]

eminem released his response track. it's okay. not as good as I hoped.

[Simon]

Yeah it's ok. Starts off a bit dull but gets better as it goes, all the stuff about MGK wanting to be him is fire, and the line about having to give him a career in order to destroy it was great too. The Diddy line would have been a killer if he didn't draw back from it at the end.

Oh and the beat is boring as fuck too, but that's no surprise. Partly because it's Em, partly because diss tracks invariably seem to have zero effort put into the production. Apart from Pusha, the Adidon beat is awesome.

[Fro]

Yeah it's ok. Starts off a bit dull but gets better as it goes, all the stuff about MGK wanting to be him is fire, and the line about having to give him a career in order to destroy it was great too. The Diddy line would have been a killer if he didn't draw back from it at the end.

Oh and the beat is boring as fuck too, but that's no surprise. Partly because it's Em, partly because diss tracks invariably seem to have zero effort put into the production. Apart from Pusha, the Adidon beat is awesome.

you know the adidon beat is Jay-Z's The Story of OJ right

[RuneEdge]

And here we go.


EDIT
or what Fro said.

Its decent. I think I might prefer MGK's track even though Em made the better diss.

[Hero!]

I like it. Em tries to brush the whole thing off by acting like MGK ain’t shut, but it’s obvious that Kelly’s diss bother the fuck outta Em.

[Fro]

how you gonna name yourself after a damn gun and have a man bun

[Hero!]

Best part was all the Stan stuff. “Here’s an autograph for your daughter, I wrote it on the starter cap” was great.

[Simon]

you know the adidon beat is Jay-Z's The Story of OJ right

Fuck me that completely passed me by. Will need to go relisten to the original now. At least I can say I'm consistent in saying Jay-Z beats are always good.

[RuneEdge]

I like it. Em tries to brush the whole thing off by acting like MGK ain’t shut, but it’s obvious that Kelly’s diss bother the fuck outta Em.

He's not hiding that he's bothered. He explains why he's so mad in his interview with Sway.

And also this line from the new track:
"This idiot's boss pops pills and tells him the he got skills/ But Kells, the day you put out a hit, is the day Diddy admits he put the hit out that got 'Pac killed."

[Fro]

this is off topic but I never commented on the Teyana Taylor album KTSE and let me just say, it is really good. still in rotation for me.



after letting them settle, I would rank the Wyoming projects:

1. Daytona
2. KSG
3. KTSE
4. Ye
5. Nasir

tough for me to put Ye below KTSE but I really think KTSE is sexy as fuck. and Ye killed it with the beats on all these albums. and Nasir is still good despite being at the bottom.

[G-Fresh]

I have no idea who them bitches are.

[RuneEdge]

[Caveman89]

this is off topic but I never commented on the Teyana Taylor album KTSE and let me just say, it is really good. still in rotation for me.



after letting them settle, I would rank the Wyoming projects:

1. Daytona
2. KSG
3. KTSE
4. Ye
5. Nasir

tough for me to put Ye below KTSE but I really think KTSE is sexy as fuck. and Ye killed it with the beats on all these albums. and Nasir is still good despite being at the bottom.

Teyana oversings a bit too much for me, but otherwise a pretty dope album.

My Project Wyoming rankings:

1. Daytona
2. KTSE
3. Nasir
4. Ye
5. KSG

-Not much to say about Daytona that hasn't been said already. In Pusha's words, "if you know, you know."
-I didn't expect to rank Teyana this high, but when I thought about it, there were no skippable tracks for me, which I can't say about the bottom three.
-Nasir was just okay, but a just okay Nas is still better than a lot of people.
-Ye and KSG were just okay for me as well, a bit overhyped IMO...

[Caveman89]

-I should've knew Royce would bring out the cape, I love Royce but damn dude, let Em fight his own battles.
-I know Joyner's already got 10 200-syllables-a-minute diss songs ready just in case his name even slightly comes up.
-I see Jay Electronica crawled out of his hole to say something, Im sure this will lead to another 2-minute song and him disappearing for another two years lol...

[Caveman89]

Oh, and the Em diss... it was good. That is all.

[Fro]

Not sure if it was mentioned already but the Eminem interview with Sway is really good. He's very well spoken and candid about Kamikaze and all the stuff that led to it and just generally talking about where he's at with music. Part 1 below but there's 4 parts.

[Simon]

Who the fuck is Jay Electronica. I mean I've heard of the name but I don't think I could name a single song of his or any impact he has had on music. Em should just release Killshot again, all the lyrics unchanged but with a spoken acapella bit at the end where he says "I also have similar feelings about Jay Electronica".