Alright, you guys. I'm gonna give this a listen. This better not be some kind of prank.
Imma let you finish, but "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" is in my top ten albums of all time. OF ALL TIME.
But seriously, this is at least as good as Paul's Boutique and Deltron 3030, and maybe better than the latter. I didn't think a hip-hop album could do that these days.
I don't think it's that great. The beats are fantastic, of course, but lyrically I've still heard so much better. To talk some shit, Eyedea (were he still alive :<) could flow technical circles around every one of Kanye's crew, MF Doom could pack all the meaning in one of Kanye's verses into two bars, and had Brother Ali told the story in All of the Lights it probably would've made me cry. It's really solid all the way through, and thanks to that I can't really knock it, but it doesn't have the passion or raw technical prowess that my favorite rappers possess.
Good god, though, those beats are some seriously hot shit. :P
On the "Top ten albums of all time": I definitely said that just to make the (old) meme work. It does make my top ten albums of the year, though.
On the lyricism vs. production: It's all about production. Obviously I prefer MF Doom, Mac Lethal, Common Market, Dead Prez, Eyedea, and a host of others to the rappers on Kanye's album. But for mainstream hip-hop, beats are probably 60-70% of the package. The thing that makes Kanye's album so good is that he proves that this isn't necessarily a bad thing, and he leads by example with some of the maddest lines around.
On Das Racist: They're pretty great. Pitchfork likes them, and I can see why (though I care very little for what Pitchfork says quite frequently).
I like Das Racist when they're either being serious or really silly, but when their lyrics breach into irony, I find it incredibly agitating. See: "Rainbow in the Dark".
I have no clue where Aesop Rock falls, but I looked him up recently and he's pretty damn awesome.
I probably mentioned this in this thread already, but I love Aesop Rock. He's one of the guys that inspired me to start rapping. I've been listening to Labor Days a lot recently, and it's really grown on me. Word on the street Aes' twitter is that he's got another solo album coming out pretty soon. Hopefully that isn't another Deltron situation.
Joan of Arc had a dildo named “Jesusâ€Â, made of wood from the cross of it’s namesake and her orgasms were all omens when she came it would fill her with right!
and when the light had finally left her she lay ruined across her sheets her mouth unhinged, her shape like a victim murdered, in a sleep without dreams
Joan of Arc was a warrior poet. and she baptized the world in flame. and she never stopped to wonder, for even a moment why “Jesus†never came.
Comments
"I'm an asshole."
But seriously, this is at least as good as Paul's Boutique and Deltron 3030, and maybe better than the latter. I didn't think a hip-hop album could do that these days.
Good god, though, those beats are some seriously hot shit. :P
Before this I knew Das Racist for that funny song about Pizza Hut and Taco bell. Dudes can rap.
On the lyricism vs. production: It's all about production. Obviously I prefer MF Doom, Mac Lethal, Common Market, Dead Prez, Eyedea, and a host of others to the rappers on Kanye's album. But for mainstream hip-hop, beats are probably 60-70% of the package. The thing that makes Kanye's album so good is that he proves that this isn't necessarily a bad thing, and he leads by example with some of the maddest lines around.
On Das Racist: They're pretty great. Pitchfork likes them, and I can see why (though I care very little for what Pitchfork says quite frequently).
Word on the street Aes' twitter is that he's got another solo album coming out pretty soon. Hopefully that isn't another Deltron situation.
You'll thank me someday. Maybe not now. But someday.
Also, this is pretty fucking funny, as well as being pretty awesome.
Joan of Arc had a dildo named “Jesusâ€Â,
made of wood from the cross of it’s namesake
and her orgasms were all omens
when she came it would fill her with right!
and when the light had finally left her
she lay ruined across her sheets
her mouth unhinged,
her shape like a victim
murdered, in a sleep without dreams
Joan of Arc was a warrior poet.
and she baptized the world in flame.
and she never stopped to wonder, for even a moment
why “Jesusâ€Â
never came.