Damn.
I guess all good things must come to an end.
"The Cosby Show" and "A Different World" back-to-back on Thursday nights...
The days when hardcore rappers didn't water their music down with R&B to sell records to the bytches...
Living carefree, wearing your play clothes all day, and not even having the mental capability to even fathom the thought of paying a damn bill.
Don't you miss those days? Yeah...*eyes watering up*...me too. But as I said, *sniffle*...all good things must come to an end and such is the case with Mr. Kanye West's stellar onslaught of bangin' ass albums.
Since 2004's "College Dropout", I was an instant fan of Kanye's. From the beats that transcended being mere "beats" and more like intricate masterpieces of composition, to his content and subject matter that spoke to my personal experience more than other shyt out there, to his lyrical passion. It was a far cry from him being a lyrical genius, but certain lines displayed a potential that could only grow. Not to mention the videos that accompanied the disc. "Through The Wire",
">"It All Falls Down" (with the lovely Stacey Dash), the three "Jesus Walks" joints, "Workout Plan", and the rare "Two Words" - all of which were dope in their own right.
***SideNote: Please click those links to re-experience the dopeness of those videos. EndSideNote***
"Late Registration" picked up right where "Dropout" left off at and "Graduation" completed the trilogy.
But now in the year of 0 to 8, Kanye releases "808 And Heartbreaks". This album has to be the most asstastic shyt I have heard since there was a white group calling themselves the Young Black Teenagers. Honestly, some of Kanye's songs of the past have been a bad song "for Kanye" being that his music is dope 93.5% of the time. But not this collection of uninspiring, lackluster, just plain BORING play of songs.
The voicecoder or autotune shyt needs to be laid to rest if your name isn't T-Pain. Not saying I condone his usage, but that's HIM. I accept that and he manages to make it work no matter how much we may front. Sure he stole it from the Teddy Riley's, Roger Troutman's, Cameo's, etc., but they stole it from Stevie Wonder (who is arguably the greatest artist of all-time). Being that Stevie KNOWS his voice isn't the GREATEST (c'mon now...he's a musical genius...he knows what his voice sounds like) he's opted to use that shyt too. Don't front.
But, what I'm asking is this. Did Kanye just decide to make an R&B/Alternative album and attempt to sing in the process? Like fa' real?? Is this the SAME dude that was LIVID a few years ago because folks didn't recognize him as an emcee/lyricist??
Maybe I'm wrong for being a Kanye fan and actually appreciating his flow. This singing shyt is WACK!!
Now...
I don't mean to get too personal, but being that music has been my mother, father, brother, sister, wife, girlfriend, booty call, bestfriend, associate, and even the nigga on the block I just see occassionally...I like to think that I know when it's being good or bad to me. I also know that history says that great artists make some of their greatest music when life's trials and tribulations are weighing heavy on their souls. We've seen it too many times for me to give examples.
In the past year, Mr. West has definitely gone through more than his fair share of life's unfortunate dealings. And although I hear the pain in his music, I'm sorry, it just doesn't make for great (or even good) songs for him.
Really, I think I saw all of this falling into play but purposely ignored it last year. When I first heard "Stronger", I immediately skipped past that joint within the first 20 seconds. And THEN, he released it as a single and it garnered rave reviews from his international audience. The video (although directed by Hype) was wack to me. *thinking to self, DAMN, I hope Common's not going down that same road after "BE"with his new joint*
Although I haven't heard for myself, the word is out that Common's new joint is pretty wacktacular itself. Again, I haven't heard so I can't speak for myself...but I'm just sayin'...
Maybe I'm just trippin' on my man Kanye.
But. What do y'all think????
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7 comments:
I got a bootleg version of the cd and hated almost all of it. Then I got the real version and hated 1/2 of it. I don't know. Word is now that Kanye wants to ditch music and start a high end fashion line. I don't know where his mind is.
Oh and I've heard some of Common's cd. Its not Be. I know artist want to try something different and new, but sometimes, I wish people would stick to what they are good at ...
Ya know I have never liked a Kanye song from word one. I have had to warm up to them and then they stay on my play list forever... I am actually kind of feeling his new songs (the ones i have heard) so maybe it will be backwards this time and I will finally decide they ain't ish... who knows.
I am with you on the post. I just can't get down with that wacktacular "musical angst posturing bullshat", I realize people go through pain and express it through their music, but if it sucks it still sucks, whether it came from pain or from exceeding joy. And with as much of an asshat Kanye is, he need come correct, because I could write him off and feel no remorse about it, dead mama, estranged fiance or not... shit everybody go through pain, I bet I go through some stress and go to work and bullshit for a year they are going to fire my ass, why any different for Yeezy's ass..... I'm done, I guess I got to feeling some kinda way. lol...
Okay I'm going to ignore that triflin' "water it down for the bitches" comment and play nice today.
Anyways besides that I completely agree!!! I've always LOVED Kanye as a producer and I guess you can say appreciated his average lyrical ability. He has what I call Detroit-Chicago pimp speak when it comes to the one-liners which can be pretty entertaining if you're not used to hearing someone talk that way so I get his lyrical appeal. My favorite is "Oh my God is that a black card, I turned around and replied why yes but I prefer the term African-American Express"...LOL!!
Now I'm all for creativity but this new shit=TERRIBLE...didn't even want the shit for free hopefully he'll get some therapy and be back on point for the next album, I honestly think all of the things that are going on in his life are a result of his ungrateful behavior, as my mama says, "God don't love ugly" but that's another topic for another day
i still haven't listened to the album but i've heard it's a big swing from the typical kanye album. I think my favorite is college registration.
dan,
Graduation Stoles
This post made me chuckle, especially the T-Pain comparison. Tha's my boi! And Kanye ripped off the style.
Heh-heh, he's all about the money and marketing.
The one song I really like on his new album is Amazing.
wacktacular! LOL
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