I'm not going to ramble at all tonight. Just post videos to some awesome New York anthems.
Hiphop before it relied too much on electronic beats, autotune and cheesey choruses...
Gang Starr: Full Clip
Nas: Halftime
Marley Marl: NY, NY
Rakim: It's Been a Long Time
Real Hiphop.
Let's have a Toast to the Douchebags...
Kanye's latest album has been my 'walk to work' anthem, which probably explains why I've blogged about him twice this week. I'm not a fanatic, I promise!
If you didn't read my last Post then, nevermind, you really didn't miss much. I'll summarise so you get the gist:
- I rate his music highly.
- I don't give a f**k that he took the Mic from Taylor Swift. There are much worse things happening in the world!
- I LOVE when he told Bush that he 'doesn't care about black people' (Truth hurts eh Dubya?)
- Kanye is a walking contradiction - rapping one moment about the economical strife that black communities face and the next it's his love for luxury brands 'Lanvin, Hermes, Maybach...'
- In turn, WE are also walking contradictions.
- Kanye has always been egotisical (and I don't care!)
Now, I really want you to bear with me on this one. I know that Kanye is not one of the most celebrated celebrities on the planet, you probably can't stomach the guy, but please think twice before you react too strongly. Leave your opinions aside. Watch his videos and listen to the music! Everything about this album is sick: beats, orchestras, lyrics, flow, guest appearances...
His promotion of 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy' was lavish and over the top; check out the extended promotional video, 'Runaway', on his website. It was hyped out to the max, his star power ensuring that it was a big deal.
Kanye is definitely trying to be artsy and metaphorical; it's up to you to decide whether it's genuine or contrived. I like it, the cinematography is striking and the music is great (I'll get to that soon, I promise!)
Gorgeous
In Gorgeous, and many other tracks on the album, Kanye re-visits the themes from his freshman album reminding us that, although he has earned money, power and fame, his roots are still firm (in a twisted contradiction of course!) He plays with the idea of a black man's search for the material not only to show off, but also to 'fit-in' in a white mans world.
It's cool that he got Raekwon in on the act too. In fact there are some excellent guest appearances on the album, with Kanye's super producer status ensuring that they have space to shine.
All of the Lights
This song is definitely going to be one of the biggest commercial successes on the album; it sounds like a hit. Rihanna's verse is carrying it onto many radio playlists with Fergie and Kid Cudi also making appearances.
Monster
Rick Ross. Kanye West. Jay Z. Nicki Minaj. Bon Iver.
Some of the biggest rappers in the game, make this a great record. I have to admit that while I usually think she is over-rated, Nicki Minaj totally kills this song. Her ability to rap 'in role' and her penchant for the weird and wacky mean that she's the shining star here. Minaj is at her best when she's rapping with the big boys, she seems to step up to and walk over the line that they draw for her. Her flow, delivery and lyrics are original and exciting on this track.
Pull up in the monster
Automobile gangster
With a bad b-tch that came from Sri Lanka
Yeah I’m in that Tonka, colour of Willy Wonka
You could be the King but watch the Queen conquer
Ok first things first I’ll eat your brains
Then I’mma start rocking gold teeth and fangs
Casue that’s what a muthaf-cking monster do
Hairdresser from milan, thats what monster do
Blame Game
Kanye alludes to the correlation between the beautiful and the despicable in many nooks and crannies all over the album. It is deinitely seen in the chorus of 'Blame Game'; John Legend's sweet, soulful voice announcing 'You call me Motherf**ker for long'!
Runaway
In this track, Kanye shows us that he's just as able to criticise himself as he is to self-praise. It is arguable about whether this is 100% genuine, but I believe him when he warns us to 'Runaway' from his 'jerk-off' self. His internal angst in the lyric provides a sharp contrast to the relatively smooth and simple music and the ballet troupe for the video, whose moves really impressed me.
I'm not posting links to the songs - you are all grown up enough to find them for yourselves.
'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy' is a brilliant album that exceeds almost every other mainstream hiphop album of 2010; most definitely the releases that I'm familiar with anyway. It is such a breath of fresh air to me, Kanye West's return reveals that hiphop isn't dead - it's alive and kicking, we just have to have an understand evolution.
In My Head...
I'm not going to ramble today. I have a few unfinished posts that are driving me nuts. I'm trying to satisfy my need to psychoanalyse the artists a little too much methinks...
So today, it's all about the music. I'll post the videos/songs and write a haiku to explain the significance to me (I had to ham it up a little!). There's a range of music here; a mixture of what I like right now as well as classics from my vault.
Jungle Brothers - Jungle Brother (from Raw Deluxe)
Subtone, Cheltenham,
'98 with my mate, Kate.
Bombing the dancefloor!
True Tiger feat. P Money - Slang Like This
This one's a banger
Representing British slang
You get me Bredrin?
Fun Lovin' Criminals - Up on The Hill (from 100% Columbian)
Jazzy, Hip-hop Rock.
One for the end of the night,
Sublime, chilled-out bliss
Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Under The Bridge (from Blood Sugar Sex Magic)
Singing in the car,
Mississippi with my cuz',
The top of our lungs!
Jah Cure - Longing For
Soundtrack to my love;
While away in the forest
It kept me with him
Public Enemy - Bring The Noise (from It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back)
Of all the places,
Rock City in Nottingham
Is where I saw them...
Notorious B.I.G. - Ready To Die (from Ready To Die)
Fits of Hysterics
At the 'F**k Me' interlude.
Mad Atlanta trip...
My memories are embedded in music. Music is embedded in my memories.
Happy Friday!
So today, it's all about the music. I'll post the videos/songs and write a haiku to explain the significance to me (I had to ham it up a little!). There's a range of music here; a mixture of what I like right now as well as classics from my vault.
Jungle Brothers - Jungle Brother (from Raw Deluxe)
Subtone, Cheltenham,
'98 with my mate, Kate.
Bombing the dancefloor!
True Tiger feat. P Money - Slang Like This
This one's a banger
Representing British slang
You get me Bredrin?
Fun Lovin' Criminals - Up on The Hill (from 100% Columbian)
Jazzy, Hip-hop Rock.
One for the end of the night,
Sublime, chilled-out bliss
Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Under The Bridge (from Blood Sugar Sex Magic)
Singing in the car,
Mississippi with my cuz',
The top of our lungs!
Jah Cure - Longing For
Soundtrack to my love;
While away in the forest
It kept me with him
Public Enemy - Bring The Noise (from It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back)
Of all the places,
Rock City in Nottingham
Is where I saw them...
Notorious B.I.G. - Ready To Die (from Ready To Die)
Fits of Hysterics
At the 'F**k Me' interlude.
Mad Atlanta trip...
My memories are embedded in music. Music is embedded in my memories.
Happy Friday!
All Falls Down
It's a Kanye West day today.
I like Kanye, why lie! Yes, I know that he had the nerve to stand up in front of America's Sweetheart (?) Taylor Swift and steal her glory. There was also that time when he proclaimed that 'Bush doesn't Care about Black People' on national T.V.. And the problem with this was? Did you SEE New Orleans? He's also egotistical, material and pompous. Hmmm. Again, this does not put me off, he makes good music.
I chose Kanye because I've had this line in my head all day: 'They made us hate ourselves and love their wealth'. It's from 'All Falls Down', a single from his Freshman album, 'College Dropout'. I love this song, it takes me back to 2004, my second year at Uni where my hiphop fanaticism was cultivating. Syleena Johnson gives an impressive vocal on the official single, but you really should check out the remix using a Lauryn Hill sample (which West was not permitted to use for the album).
'All Falls Down' can be viewed as parody or autobiography depending on your angle. Kanye criticises how rap artists behave when they make money. You've all heard it all before - buying the diamond encrusted necklace, but not a house; having rims on your car, but no food in the fridge; gold teeth, but no money for a chapstick (OK, I made that last one up). Kanye raises his thoughts on rappers spending money frivolously and not investing in properties, business or other sustainable means to give back to their communities:
I say fuck the police, thats how I treat em
We buy our way out of jail, but we can't buy freedom
We'll buy a lot of clothes when we don't really need em
Things we buy to cover up what's inside
Cause they make us hate ourself and love they wealth
That's why shortys hollering "where the ballas' at?"
Drug dealer buy Jordans, crackhead buy crack
And a white man get paid off of all of that
He speaks up for his hatred of the bling culture and how it distracts black communities from building and growing economically. This seems ridiculous now, we know him as lavish, flambouyant and dare I say, Diva-like? He hardly promotes Ujima with his references to luxury brands/cars/liquor. But you have to remember that this is Kanye West v1.0, the 2004 edition; he was reasonably low-key, having produced at Rocafella for some years without the limelight.
The video was pretty cool
Looking back from a 2011 (!) perspective, his last 8 bars were a sign of what 2004 Kanye West was to become:
But I ain't even gon act holier than thou
Cause fuck it, I went to Jacob with 25 thou
Before I had a house and I'd do it again
Cause I wanna be on 106 and Park pushing a Benz
I wanna act ballerific like it's all terrific
I got a couple past due bills, I won't get specific
I got a problem with spending before I get it
We all self conscious I'm just the first to admit it
Kanye warned that, despite his protestations about leading a material life, he'd contradict himself and join the bandwagon. He knows right from wrong, but doesn't preach about it in a 'Holier than thou' way. We all have an element of contradiction in our lives. We often deviate from what is 'right' in favour of what is easier or better for us. I contradict myself all the time and you do to - so don't knock Kanye for it...
OK, you can if you want - but I won't - I rate him for his honesty. This is the same honesty that saw him shunned by society (media!) for his comments over Bush and Taylor Swift. Everyone, including Kanye West, over-reacted about it, George Bush even called it (when West called him a racist) "the worst moment" of his presidency!
This has changed Kanye West and his new album, 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy', is very different. He seems to lament on events in his life in a very introspective way with a blend of arrogance and (faux?) humility that we saw in 2004. But let me tell you, if he was 'self-conscious' then, he's full on self-obsessed now!
I'll leave that write up for a separate post but here's a great single from the album:
Runaway
I like Kanye, why lie! Yes, I know that he had the nerve to stand up in front of America's Sweetheart (?) Taylor Swift and steal her glory. There was also that time when he proclaimed that 'Bush doesn't Care about Black People' on national T.V.. And the problem with this was? Did you SEE New Orleans? He's also egotistical, material and pompous. Hmmm. Again, this does not put me off, he makes good music.
I chose Kanye because I've had this line in my head all day: 'They made us hate ourselves and love their wealth'. It's from 'All Falls Down', a single from his Freshman album, 'College Dropout'. I love this song, it takes me back to 2004, my second year at Uni where my hiphop fanaticism was cultivating. Syleena Johnson gives an impressive vocal on the official single, but you really should check out the remix using a Lauryn Hill sample (which West was not permitted to use for the album).
'All Falls Down' can be viewed as parody or autobiography depending on your angle. Kanye criticises how rap artists behave when they make money. You've all heard it all before - buying the diamond encrusted necklace, but not a house; having rims on your car, but no food in the fridge; gold teeth, but no money for a chapstick (OK, I made that last one up). Kanye raises his thoughts on rappers spending money frivolously and not investing in properties, business or other sustainable means to give back to their communities:
I say fuck the police, thats how I treat em
We buy our way out of jail, but we can't buy freedom
We'll buy a lot of clothes when we don't really need em
Things we buy to cover up what's inside
Cause they make us hate ourself and love they wealth
That's why shortys hollering "where the ballas' at?"
Drug dealer buy Jordans, crackhead buy crack
And a white man get paid off of all of that
He speaks up for his hatred of the bling culture and how it distracts black communities from building and growing economically. This seems ridiculous now, we know him as lavish, flambouyant and dare I say, Diva-like? He hardly promotes Ujima with his references to luxury brands/cars/liquor. But you have to remember that this is Kanye West v1.0, the 2004 edition; he was reasonably low-key, having produced at Rocafella for some years without the limelight.
The video was pretty cool
Looking back from a 2011 (!) perspective, his last 8 bars were a sign of what 2004 Kanye West was to become:
But I ain't even gon act holier than thou
Cause fuck it, I went to Jacob with 25 thou
Before I had a house and I'd do it again
Cause I wanna be on 106 and Park pushing a Benz
I wanna act ballerific like it's all terrific
I got a couple past due bills, I won't get specific
I got a problem with spending before I get it
We all self conscious I'm just the first to admit it
Kanye warned that, despite his protestations about leading a material life, he'd contradict himself and join the bandwagon. He knows right from wrong, but doesn't preach about it in a 'Holier than thou' way. We all have an element of contradiction in our lives. We often deviate from what is 'right' in favour of what is easier or better for us. I contradict myself all the time and you do to - so don't knock Kanye for it...
OK, you can if you want - but I won't - I rate him for his honesty. This is the same honesty that saw him shunned by society (media!) for his comments over Bush and Taylor Swift. Everyone, including Kanye West, over-reacted about it, George Bush even called it (when West called him a racist) "the worst moment" of his presidency!
This has changed Kanye West and his new album, 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy', is very different. He seems to lament on events in his life in a very introspective way with a blend of arrogance and (faux?) humility that we saw in 2004. But let me tell you, if he was 'self-conscious' then, he's full on self-obsessed now!
I'll leave that write up for a separate post but here's a great single from the album:
Runaway
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