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GAF-Hop |OTX| Long Live the Watcher

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RTJ would have been better with less or no El-p rap. I don't dislike his rapping (overall) but it didn't fit the more aggressive beats on the album. Whereas C4C sounds more downtempo and brooding, production wise.

El-P sounds great on shit like Sea Legs and similar downtempo tracks (the C4C equivalent of that beat is probably $4 Vic). And he sounds good on some bombastic records, but overall the bombastic/high energy stuff isn't his strong suit. RTJ is an album that smacks you in the face, or at least does at its effective points. But El-P kind of kills the momentum of the slap when he starts rapping on some tracks. Not saying it's a "bad" album, I enjoyed it. But it just didn't impact me like R.A.P. Music despite having similarly great production.

I'm excited that Zach Del La Rocha is on some tracks this time, I feel like he'll fit perfectly.

(also I'm stunned that rappers didn't flock to El-P after R.A.P. Music/C4C/RTJ. Imagine Jay over an El-P beat for instance: sonically I can just hear a 99 Problems type track between them. Too bad Cube fell off, this production is basically a modern Bomb Squad)
 

Esch

Banned
(also I'm stunned that rappers didn't flock to El-P after R.A.P. Music/C4C/RTJ. Imagine Jay over an El-P beat for instance: sonically I can just hear a 99 Problems type track between them. Too bad Cube fell off, this production is basically a modern Bomb Squad)

Yep. Actually el-p is a big Hova stan so he'd probably cook up something right for him. It's an absolute failure on Danny Browns part not to lock down an El beat. Honestly I can see Kanye, Busta Rhymes and Eminem running that shit also.
 

Courage

Member
RTJ2 snippet

Looks like they're going for aggressiveness again. Still hot.

628x471.jpg
 
Yep. Actually el-p is a big Hova stan so he'd probably cook up something right for him. It's an absolute failure on Danny Browns part not to lock down an El beat. Honestly I can see Kanye, Busta Rhymes and Eminem running that shit also.

I really think we're in somewhat of a renaissance era of modern rap, in terms of the quality releases over the last few years and the rebirth of various sub genres. That being said, I think in a decade we'll look back at this time and mark it as a great travesty that Alchemist and El-P didn't really work much (or at all) with the greatest rappers of this era. Similar to how we might look back at the mid 90s and wring our hands about G Rap not working with Premo in his prime, or Jay not working with Pete Rock in his prime, or Biggie not working with Pete either (unless you count Juicy, which Diddy jacked from him).

El-P would work perfect with Jay because his beats aren't very airy; there's not a lot of room to airily swag rap. El-P often gives producers a sonic treadmill and says "keep up." In short Jay would have to be Jay, he wouldn't be able to just come up with random slow lines like he does over Timbo and Kanye beats. Same with Eminem: I don't see how he could get away with his new bullshit flow over FUNKY production, which is what El-P provides. Like, cosmic funk

And Alchemist...I pray that Nas' involvement with Mass Appeal leads him back to Alc. Both of Nas' artists (Boldy James and Fashawn) have relationships with Alc, sooner or later Nas and Alc will be in the same studio. Whether they do a track together is the question. But it's not just Nas. I want to hear a full Mr. Xquire album with Alc, or a grimy Danny Brown track, or Jay Rock, or a Freddie Gibbs album, etc.
 

Courage

Member
I'm digging Lese Majesty. Never listened to Black Up, and a lot of y'all had it in your top 10s for the decade so far, so I must be slacking.
 
Black Up was one of those records that slapped me in the face when I really started discovering new music. I was not ready for it and I love it for that.
 

Esch

Banned
I'm digging Lese Majesty. Never listened to Black Up, and a lot of y'all had it in your top 10s for the decade so far, so I must be slacking.

It's pretty good. Shabazz are very smart producers. They're one of the few rap artists that can develop something internally within the song properly with transitions and all that. Start at one place, end at another.
 
Lese Majesty is amazing but atm Black Up is still the superior record. But like, there's a fuck ton of time for Lese to outgrow it. I've only gone through it three times so far.

Definitely give Black Up a run through.

It's pretty good. Shabazz are very smart producers. They're one of the few rap artists that can develop something internally within the song properly with transitions and all that. Start at one place, end at another.

It's the complete opposite of Kanye West and they achieve everything he's been trying to do for...five, six years now? Lese Majesty took it to another level and is completely seamless. Complete, coherent, vision from front to back bound together.
 
It's pretty good. Shabazz are very smart producers. They're one of the few rap artists that can develop something internally within the song properly with transitions and all that. Start at one place, end at another.
I remember a lot of songs on Black Up turning into something completely different by the end of the track. Much more natural than say an abrupt Kanye transition for example.
 

overcast

Member
So, the schedule for Outside Lands panned out perfectly. No reason to leave the stage Kanye will be at. RTJ will fill the hip-hop need, then Holy Ghost/Chromeo/Disclosure back to back to back will get everyone dancing, then Ye. Shit is gonna be great.
 

Esch

Banned
It's the complete opposite of Kanye West and they achieve everything he's been trying to do for...five, six years now? Lese Majesty took it to another level and is completely seamless. Complete, coherent, vision from front to back bound together.

I remember a lot of songs on Black Up turning into something completely different by the end of the track. Much more natural than say an abrupt Kanye transition for example.

Yup, it makes me wonder if any of their crew have a background in romantic or ambient music or something. They're genuinely the most exciting and progressive thing in rap music today, makes death grips and ye look like hacks.
 

deli2000

Member
Yup, it makes me wonder if any of their crew have a background in romantic or ambient music or something. They're genuinely the most exciting and progressive thing in rap music today, makes death grips and ye look like hacks.

I always listen to productions and can pick out certain techniques people use, even FlyLo and DG. But some of stuff on Lese Majesty I can't even get my head around, it's mind melting.
 

Esch

Banned
Esch pissing on DG, one of my favorite groups, and praising another of my favorite groups in the same sentence is emotional abuse.
It's the perfect dichotomy; the difference between those who throw things together from different sources willy nilly because they want to be progressive and those who thoughtfully incorporate ideas of musical construction from another source into rap to create something genuinely new and groundbreaking.

troll.png

It's how you know he loves you. He gives you a little sugar with the "medicine."

#thedualities

You know me too well.
 

Cheddahz

Banned
Since I liked the new Shabazz Palaces album, I'm going to re-listen to Black Up (since I didn't like it whenever I listened to it before)
 

Esch

Banned
Since I liked the new Shabazz Palaces album, I'm going to re-listen to Black Up (since I didn't like it whenever I listened to it before)

actually i didnt dig on it until about a year ago (or maybe 2012) because the flow/delivery/lyrics is
jdAQvyN94j156.png
but they're musically interesting enough to get 10/10s at the end of the day.
 

Courage

Member
Speaking of excellent production and shitty lyrics/delivery, I also listened to the clppng record yesterday and thought it was mediocre. It had some good production, but my god why does the vocalist have to be so fucking annoying. It's a combined effort by the vocalist's grating voice when he sings those overbearing hooks and the actual lyrical content. It's like a weird ass EDM album sung by bizarro Andre 3000 with elements of rap I guess? It's just a clusterfuck of an album with no sense of coherency.
 

overcast

Member
actually i didnt dig on it until about a year ago (or maybe 2012) because the flow/delivery/lyrics is
jdAQvyN94j156.png
but they're musically interesting enough to get 10/10s at the end of the day.
The needle drop gave new Shabazz a 5/10. Thus undoing the natural cycle of hipster hop.
 
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