It’s been about two weeks since the release of Kendrick Lamar’s third studio album, To Pimp a Butterfly. Since then, the album has received universal critical acclaim, averaging a 96 out of 100 on Metacritic. That surpasses Stankonia as the highest-rated hip-hop album on the site.
The first time I heard TPAB, I knew that it was going to be a bit divisive for Kendrick’s fans; simply put, it’s a lot more musically adventurous than anything he’s released before. From the conscious lyrics, to the jazz/soul/funk-inspired instrumentation, to the ongoing narrative (“I remember you was conflicted…”), it’s anything but an easy listen.
On the other hand, Good Kid, M.a.a.D City, his previous album that threw him into stardom, was a lot more accessible. Now, don’t get me wrong – GKMC is an incredible album. Sonically, though, it caters to popular sounds. It’s okay that it does that, because it does it so well, but, instrumentally, it’s not quite as complex as TPAB.
Before I even made an opinion on my enjoyment of the album, there was one thing that I knew immediately: Kendrick deserves the utmost respect for putting out a record like this.
Kendrick could have played it safe and made GKMC 2, make millions, and call it a day.
He didn’t, though.
He made the album he wanted to make, not the one we wanted. This is artistry in the finest, most true sense.
On top of it’s artistic significance, the album is a masterpiece. I’m not going to write a full review of it, because I wouldn’t be able to do it justice. There are a ton of other great reviews out there that are worth your time. Lemme suggest one for you:
I think that, at the end of the day, whether you enjoy this record or not, you have to respect the art behind it. It isn’t everyone’s cup of tea – I get that – but I don’t see enjoyment and respect as needing to be synonymous with one another. Part of being a music listener is being able to discern when an artist has created something meaningful and worthy of praise, regardless of whether or not your musical preferences fall in line with the creation.
Fingers crossed that everyone who has written off TPAB will come to realize this.
First, hi! It’s been a while. I’m happy to be back. I’m not returning in as dramatic of a fashion as I left – but that’s okay, I think. Sometimes subtlety is key.
Second, a very special shoutout to Kendrick for his masterful To Pimp a Butterfly. If you haven’t listened to it yet, you’re doing yourself a disservice. I’ll write up a more comprehensive post in the near future with my thoughts, but just know that this is an album that demands your attention.
I hope you’re having a beautiful day. Let’s get back to the music.
A few months ago, I sat here and began my journey into the blog-o-sphere. I didn’t really know what I was doing, but I gave it a shot.
I still don’t really know what I’m doing.
I guess, in the simplest explanation, I’ve been putting my thoughts into public space. I’ve been letting you, the reader, know what I think. Even if I’m not specifically telling you what I’m thinking, you can get a good feel for how I think just based on what I’ve posted. It’s interesting.
I’m just sittin’ here.
But, as I’ve been sitting here doing these things, time has been ticking. School has been good to me – and with another year in the books, hopefully summer is, too.
I can’t help but be a little disheartened by how quickly this year has gone by. I’m going to be a senior in college come Fall. I don’t really know what to do with myself. I’m getting to the point in time where I can’t just waste all my days sitting outside listening to hip-hop (I wish I could). The real world is knocking, and my priorities with it; Life has dealt me a new hand, and I’m going in.
Sorry to get all metaphorical and mysterious on you.
I’m just sittin’ here.
This doesn’t mean I’m giving up on hip-hop. I’m taking my love of rap with me to the grave. It’s just that, as a soon-to-be graduate of college, the prospect of “being an adult” is kind of frightening, and I don’t know if I can give this blog the proper maintenance.
I have an internship for the summer with an NBC-owned news station. It’s full time, and it’s in a city about 45 minutes from where I live. It’s going to be a big time commitment.
I’m just sittin’ here.
With that in mind, it’s with a heavy heart that I have to cut you guys loose. It’s been a great ride. This blog has, in a sense, been a form of self-experimentation. I’ve learned a lot.
Who knows – maybe next week, I’ll realize I’ve made a horrible mistake, and come flying back to you like a boomerang. Or maybe I’ll try, but I’ll get stuck in a tree or something. Or maybe I’m just a regular stick.
I’m not sure what that’s supposed to mean.
I’m just sittin’ here.
With that, I’ll leave you the same way I came. Sitting here, trying to figure out what I’m going to say to you. In my absence, I trust you to continue to learn of and love new music. RateYourMusic is a great source. For those of you who don’t know of it, consider it my gift to you. For those of you who already know about it, here’s an I.O.U.
Thank you for reading. Thank you for letting me into your lives. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Important news for the hip-hop world – Badbadnotgood will be releasing their debut album next week. Get excited.
Over the past couple of years, the instrumental jazz/hip hop trio from Toronto, Canada has released a couple free mixtapes that have been very well-received by critics and fans alike. III, the title for their debut, has recently been announced as dropping to the masses on May 6th, 2014.
To specify, that’s next Tuesday. Don’t forget.
With the announcement of their album’s release date, BBNG also released a new single, titled Can’t Leave the Night. Listen to it below. I think it’s great. You should, too.
Jazz is integral to hip-hop’s history – however, it seems that it’s influence is less evident in the genre today. BBNG does well to remind us how well these two genres come together. Although these guys are young (their ages range from 19 to 21), their musical ability extends beyond their years.
Do a quick google search of these guys to pick up some more of their material. You have no excuse not to. It’s free, and it’s great. It doesn’t get much better than that.
I saw this picture a while back, but it just popped into my head, so I’d like to address it.
Questlove and Talib Kweli, since you two are in the photo, I’m going to call you guys out. Since we’re talking music here, Chris Rock gets a pass. But hey, Chris, if you want to listen too, please gather ’round.
You guys see that dude behind you?
Yes, that guy. The one photobombing you three.
That’s YC the Cynic. You guys have another picture with him where he isn’t photobombing, so I know that you’re at least aware of his existence.
In any case, listen to what I have to say. You two (again, sorry Chris) are some of the most well-respected names in hip-hop. YC the Cynic is an up and coming MC that deserves your attention.
I have complete faith that YC is going to break out at some point in the future. He’s putting out great music, and slowly, but surely, he’s gaining some momentum. His 2013 release GNK was my favorite album of last year (and it took me by complete surprise, as I had only heard of the guy about 2 weeks before it came out), and other artists are starting to catch on to his work. Artists like Kanye West, who needs no introduction.
Kanye West’s manager told me he bought “GNK” on bandcamp. I’m not kidding. wow. #SXSW
So, a word to the wise here: Take this guy under your wing. Help him get his name out there. YC the Cynic has a lot of talent, and in my opinion, his fan base is way too small to reflect it.
Oh, shoutout to GNK’s producer Frank Drake as well. GNK wouldn’t be the album it is without its beats.
Hi guys. Sorry for the lack of posts over the past week – I had my car broken into a few days ago and had a lot of things stolen, including my laptop. It’s tough to stay current when you don’t have the means to do so.
My troubles aside, today I’d like to write a little about socially conscious hip-hop. I’m sure you know a thing or two about it. If not, well, for one, you’re in the right place. Take a seat.
The world got it’s first taste of the conscious in the early days of hip-hop with artists like Slick Rick and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. As a prime example, let’s look to Slick Rick’s track Hey Young World.
Love means happiness, that once was strong,
but due to society, even that’s turned wrong.
Times have changed, and it’s cool to look funny,
and be a dumb dummy and disrespect your mummy.
While plenty of artists with some conscious roots existed alongside Rick, the 90s proved to be socially-aware primetime. Common, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, KRS-One, and a slew of other revered MC’s stepped into the limelight and began to flex their vocals. During this period, each of the above artists released material that has since come to be held as staples of conscious hip-hop, and in some cases, classics within hip-hop as a whole. Take Common’s album Ressurection, or Mos Def’s Black onBoth Sides as examples. The artists themselves have also come to be widely respected for their ability. (Check numbers 7, 22, 23, and 28.)
One thing to note about socially conscious rap is that it’s never had too much of a place in the mainstream. Sure, artists with some conscious songs have broken out with their music (Macklemore and Same Love, for example), however, those that tend to focus primarily on societal issues haven’t had as much luck.
It’s almost fitting, really; It’d be easy to see how major label association and excessive radio play could potentially skewer and corrupt the messages that these artists are trying to convey. That being said, there has been some notable artists who have found mainstream success while also creating potent, empowering music. Lupe Fiasco, for example, was a shining candidate of this idea for the beginning portion of his career.
(You can make the argument that he’s still a shining example of this mainstream/conscious crossover, but personally, I feel that he’s fallen off since his album The Cool.)
With the dawn of the 2000s, conscious rap fell out of favor with a lot of listeners. However, Lupe Fiasco’s 2006 debut album Food and Liquor (one of my personal favorites) made it viable again. Hits like Kick, Push appealed to the masses, while The Instrumental talked about our society’s addiction to television. His next album, The Cool was more of the same. It was a sweet symphony of accessibility and introspection.
Unfortunately, part of the difficulty in being a successful conscious artist lies in avoiding coming off as too “preachy” to listeners. This is the complaint a lot of hip hop fans have with artists who take this path (some of you have been rolling your eyes this entire post, I’m sure), and unfortunately, Lupe has struggled in recent years to go back to the charm of his earlier material.
(In his defense, part of what has contributed to his artistic decline is the label-influenced production he’s had done on his projects – not his lyricism. This is an entirely different topic for another time, though.)
Lupe aside, conscious rap has made somewhat of a resurgence. Kendrick Lamar and his debut album Section.80, for example, isn’t afraid to mix a good deal of awareness into his work. This article from the New York Times says it well (written at the end of ’11):
Last summer, he released “Section.80” (Top Dawg), a startlingly beautiful album that recalls the early- to mid-’90s semiactivist jazz-influenced hip-hop of Digable Planets and, crucially, the Los Angeles underground heroes Freestyle Fellowship, who took their social concerns and created new ways of rapping to reflect them.
Kendrick is just one example of an artist that has masterfully woven a link between the socially aware subgenre and the rest of hip-hop. There are other artists out there, but I’m leaving it to you guys to look.
Yeah, you have homework. Sorry.
Anyway, that’s a brief overview (or history, really) of socially conscious hip-hop. Maybe you’re interested and you’re going to listen to Ressurection right now. Maybe you disliked it before, and I just made you dislike it even more. Whatever the case may be, thanks for reading. ‘Till next time.
Andre 3000 and Big Boi, better known as Outkast, reunited this past Friday, April 12, at the Coachella music festival. It was the first time they’ve performed live together in a decade.
Needless to say, it was a pretty big deal. There was a lot of hype riding into this performance.
Outkast’s full set.
In my eyes, their show was everything an Outkast/hip-hop head could have wanted. They played a great mix of tracks – from their opener B.O.B., to Rosa Parks, to some solo material like Big Boi’s Shutterbugg. They made sure to pay proper homage to their entire catalog of material rather than relying solely on their big singles. At this point, I’ve watched the entire set, and personally, I really enjoyed it and I think they did a great job.
The crowd, on the other hand…
I couldn’t help but be disappointed in their lack of energy.
The people in the crowd of 70,000+ were, essentially, witnessing hip-hop history. Outkast is arguably one of the greatest duos the genre has seen. Sure, the show had some issues (Sound problems, a really odd guest in the form of Future, their setlist being cut a little short), but there was no reason to not give Andre and Big Boi their due respect.
I’m hoping that this first show was just a fluke, crowd-wise. Outkast is set to perform at a slew of other festivals throughout the summer (including one or two I may be attending), so here’s to hoping their tour hits their stride and the rest of their shows can go off with a bang.
If you’re going to be seeing them at any point this summer, do me a favor: get familar with their catalog. Learn Outkast, live Outkast, love Outkast. Then, when you see them, make sure you go absolutely nuts. Tell everyone around you to do the same, too. These guys deserve it.
Welcome back, Outkast. You were missed – even if the crowd at Coachella didn’t make it seem like you were.
I have a tough time pulling the trigger when it comes to certain things.
No, not an actual gun.
I’m talking about when it comes to ideas, commitments, purchases, so on and so forth. I can be pretty indecisive. Unfortunately, this issue has kept me from pursuing something that I’ve wanted to learn about for some time now – and as you may or may not have been able to guess based on the title of this post, that certain something is learning to produce beats and instrumentals.
Learning to produce is somewhat of a risk for me – and anyone, really – because of the cost. I have a tough time justifying buying everyday items like clothes (I’ve been wearing the same socks for the past 3 weeks), so how can I possibly manage spending a huge chunk of money on something I’ve never even done?
Now, just to clarify: when I say produce, I don’t mean GarageBand-ing it up with my laptop’s keyboard (no disrespect to GarageBand). I mean using an actual keyboard. And actual programs. And all the other equipment that comes with it.
Even if I did get my hands on all of those things, there would still be a ton for me to learn. It’s intimidating diving headfirst into something new.
In an ideal world, I would have a teacher to show me the ropes when it comes to producing; I sometimes have difficulty starting things without any personal guidance, and this is a prime example of one of those times. I’m not very trustworthy. I can’t even trust myself to buy new socks. How can I possibly trust myself to learn how to produce on my own?
But, you know, life’s really too short to not try something you’re interested in. Writing this post has helped to remind me of that.
Even though Pharoahe Monch’s newest LP PSTD is due out in less than a week, we’ve been treated to a new track that has leaked in advance of the April 15th release date.
“Rapid Eye Movement” features Black Thought, the MC and frontman (Alongside ?uestlove) of The Roots.
It’s a great song, and it has definitely got me excited for PTSD. Listen below.
Half-Day Hip-Hop 