Thursday, March 24, 2016
The Life of Pablo
He pushes the limits not because he's the greatest but because he's the most confident and arrogant. He has talent, for sure-- but he overshoots it, and incidentally winds up creating some semi-quality stuff that we are all thankful to have mostly for its uniqueness. He pushes boundaries with his experimental work and I appreciate him for that but it's not any phenomenal talent that allows him that freedom; rather it's a phenomenal ego, and so this stuff is valuable mostly for its uniqueness.
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
The Life of Pablo
genres
bad rapper
Drake
club/pop
I'm glad, but...
Kendrick
What gives him the right?
smirk/unrecognizable
The Life of Pablo shifts between a number of genres, all of which are played out in true form but only in short cuts -- indeed, the tracks cut between short snippets in a style that seems to be up-and-coming and not favorable in my view.
The genres include primarily: gospel, techno, trap, club pop.....
Kanye West is not a very good rapper in my opinion. I can say this from day one... his rhymes were cheap, flow not creative, he was prone to cheap rhythmic cliches... And even more so nowadays, it has gotten worse: he mostly speaks in a series of slapstick aphorisms, he gets hung up on his own cleverness, he never weaves a tale or paints an abstract picture or does anything but say some occasionally catchy things. This is all with respect to his vocal rapping.
On the other hand, Kanye West crafts some marvelous tracks, and he always has. The instruments are terrific, and they are set to some awesome beats. I have always commended him as a producer and songwriter. It's not always there, but he definitely has some talent.
I saw a handful of what I saw as Drake mimickings on this album. It was quite shocking. Why would Kanye West ever imitate (consciously or unconsciously) another rapper? Is he not the best? More to come.....
He indulges in a lot of pop-fantasy chords, as he has in the past (did this first show up in "Runaway"?). It's not good, I'll say. Has his musical sophistication declined over the years? Remember the simple but real chord progressions of some of his early-mid work?
I'm glad that this album exists, and I think it's a good thing for the music world. I won't call it a great album - at least not yet, though I don't expect to - but I may like it, and I think it's something valuable.
If it wasn't impossible for me not to make comparisons to Kendrick's music mid-way through the album... then came Kendrick on "No More Parties in LA". The comparison is devastating. When someone like Kanye lowers my standards for rap back down again my mind is absolutely stunned by the furious talent of Kendrick Lamar. Kanye will want to get as far away from this man as possible, so that the comparison cannot be made at all. It would be in his best interest.
What gives Kanye West the right to do whatever he wants musically? When was he ever named the greatest? Is it that people liked "Gold Digger", and he sold a lot of records, and then his personality did the rest? Who noticed after College Dropout, and why? He's got value, no doubt-- but all these albums later, he puts out a lot of trash in the name of this supposed greatness......
Nowadays all I can do is give this new Kanye a smirk - "alright, Kanye..." - which hides an inner pain. I can't make sense of the man-- he is fully unrecognizable, I cannot reconcile him with his old self. The music, the tweets, the Kim Kardashian--- the music, the harsh vocal tone, the new-age beats, the Hollywood lyrical content, the crappy punchlines, the meaningless work that he puts out just because he can. He spoke "wake up Mr. West" once on this album and I had a moment. The reconciliation tried to happen but was immediately reversed. The new stuff is fun, and it deserves the little smirk--- but the smirk is necessarily a cover also, and the sorrow is always there.
3/5
bad rapper
Drake
club/pop
I'm glad, but...
Kendrick
What gives him the right?
smirk/unrecognizable
The Life of Pablo shifts between a number of genres, all of which are played out in true form but only in short cuts -- indeed, the tracks cut between short snippets in a style that seems to be up-and-coming and not favorable in my view.
The genres include primarily: gospel, techno, trap, club pop.....
Kanye West is not a very good rapper in my opinion. I can say this from day one... his rhymes were cheap, flow not creative, he was prone to cheap rhythmic cliches... And even more so nowadays, it has gotten worse: he mostly speaks in a series of slapstick aphorisms, he gets hung up on his own cleverness, he never weaves a tale or paints an abstract picture or does anything but say some occasionally catchy things. This is all with respect to his vocal rapping.
On the other hand, Kanye West crafts some marvelous tracks, and he always has. The instruments are terrific, and they are set to some awesome beats. I have always commended him as a producer and songwriter. It's not always there, but he definitely has some talent.
I saw a handful of what I saw as Drake mimickings on this album. It was quite shocking. Why would Kanye West ever imitate (consciously or unconsciously) another rapper? Is he not the best? More to come.....
He indulges in a lot of pop-fantasy chords, as he has in the past (did this first show up in "Runaway"?). It's not good, I'll say. Has his musical sophistication declined over the years? Remember the simple but real chord progressions of some of his early-mid work?
I'm glad that this album exists, and I think it's a good thing for the music world. I won't call it a great album - at least not yet, though I don't expect to - but I may like it, and I think it's something valuable.
If it wasn't impossible for me not to make comparisons to Kendrick's music mid-way through the album... then came Kendrick on "No More Parties in LA". The comparison is devastating. When someone like Kanye lowers my standards for rap back down again my mind is absolutely stunned by the furious talent of Kendrick Lamar. Kanye will want to get as far away from this man as possible, so that the comparison cannot be made at all. It would be in his best interest.
What gives Kanye West the right to do whatever he wants musically? When was he ever named the greatest? Is it that people liked "Gold Digger", and he sold a lot of records, and then his personality did the rest? Who noticed after College Dropout, and why? He's got value, no doubt-- but all these albums later, he puts out a lot of trash in the name of this supposed greatness......
Nowadays all I can do is give this new Kanye a smirk - "alright, Kanye..." - which hides an inner pain. I can't make sense of the man-- he is fully unrecognizable, I cannot reconcile him with his old self. The music, the tweets, the Kim Kardashian--- the music, the harsh vocal tone, the new-age beats, the Hollywood lyrical content, the crappy punchlines, the meaningless work that he puts out just because he can. He spoke "wake up Mr. West" once on this album and I had a moment. The reconciliation tried to happen but was immediately reversed. The new stuff is fun, and it deserves the little smirk--- but the smirk is necessarily a cover also, and the sorrow is always there.
3/5
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)