djchameleon

I left out Yeezus because I figured he might've listened to it already with it being so popular. Most definitely forgot Big K.R.I.T.'s even though I did hear it and love it.

I haven't heard Sadistik - Flowers For My Father though, I will have to get fix that situation today.

I enjoyed Born Sinner but I know the reception towards it is very mixed. So that's why I didn't mention it.

I'm a Pusha T fanboy so I'm pretty sure it's good. I haven't listened to it myself. I downloaded it a long time ago but completely forgot about it until I was looking through my collection to give that list of albums that he should listen to. It's technically a mixtape though.

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Fame, fortune, power, titties. People say these are the most crucial things in life, but you can have a pocket full o' gold and it doesn't mean sh*t if you don't have someone to share that gold with. Seems simple. Yet it's an important lesson to learn. Even lone wolves run in packs sometimes.

Cuthbert

Cheers, will check these. Heard Ghostface's and didn't like it though.

Heard them both. FFMF was alright I guess. You already know my opinion on Yeezus.

Soulflower

I enjoyed the album but I agree with this too. Money Trees is my favorite on the album

SGR

Pusha T IS supposed to be coming out with a new album soon though.

djchameleon

Did you hear Wrath of Caine though?

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Fame, fortune, power, titties. People say these are the most crucial things in life, but you can have a pocket full o' gold and it doesn't mean sh*t if you don't have someone to share that gold with. Seems simple. Yet it's an important lesson to learn. Even lone wolves run in packs sometimes.

SGR

^Nah I haven't. I'm not a big Pusha T fan though. The only album he's been involved in that I really liked was 'Lord Willin'.

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You didn't like Hell Hath No Fury?

Surell

Maybe Ice Cube wasn't telling it from an entirely honest background - which i guess would be involved with gang activity even though he's from South Central - but i wouldn't say he was as deceptive or whack as Rick Ross because his lyrics still had real value. Ross is all bragadaccio and nothing else. Cube told real stories about situations people might actually find themselves in, as opposed to boasting about how drug selling put him in a nice car. While there may not have been as much "self effacing" - even though the whole first track indulges in how much he wants some hood rat, and "Poetic Justice" is him whining to that girl again and being heartbroke and ****, and "Backseat Freestyle"? Not self effacing? and also the whole story is about things that he's doing.

It has highlights - "Art of Peer Pressure" is actually pretty minimal and has a nice sound - but the main reason this thing is hailed is because it sounds crisp, which is nice, but it doesn't try anything new, it's mostly either trap or g funk, and neither are done at their best. The only two that really transcend this trend are "Art of Peer Pressure" or "Money Trees." I just don't see how this gets such praise on production when (oh yeah i'm going there again) someone like Tyler makes a really distinct sound, or at least tries something that hasn't seen much light, and everyone forgets about it.

Well, the production is a lot more interesting, it's just as crisp, a lot more varied, and oftentimes more experimental, especially as far as R&B is concerned. It jumps across time periods and genres, and does it seamlessly. "SRK" is definitely more engaging since he's not tossing off corny Halle Berry references or "ya bish," as well as the same god damned "rags to riches" hopes that I've heard since the fucking 80s. "SRK" tries a new perspective, and its humorous. Seriously, "Money Trees" is so old and played out in its narrative that it might as well be in black and white, it's completely devoid of color. How exactly is that engaging?

Also, if you want to talk about "self effacing," "Sweet Life" is nothing but observations of another person's life. It's interesting to hear how someone else lives, instead of hearing something that's turned from archetype to cliche. "Swimming Pools" is a really played out song, even if it's about the dangers of liquor and alcoholism and the party life and all that good stuff, but the hooks is so corny and the production so wishy washy that i just can't get down to it. "Sweet Life," on the other hand, has such a loose, jazzy vibe that I don't have to relate to it in my own life - Frank creates such an evocative atmosphere that i feel like I'm dropping in on that world and he's guiding me.

It is an extremely popular genre, but I don't think it's gained a real critical grounding, nor do I see a lot of people in this community (MB as a whole) getting down to it. Maybe I spoke a little rashly, but I mean in a universal sense, Channel Orange didn't get nearly the attention of most rock records or even Hip Hop records. He did play at the grammies, though, so i guess that counts for something (even though he had to share that pleasure with Fun. gross).

Hey hey whoa whoa whoa. Ok. I thought it was really interesting, I guess it's got pretention in the way that Prog does, but I thought it had a really interesting mystique as well as an enticing narrative, plus it sounded great, but that's just me.

Harvest, really? Gross dude, go listen to Zuma or On the Beach or Freedom for godssakes. Also, his new one, Psychedelic Pill is good, if you can get past the twenty five minute intro song.

Animal Collective, you're probably not too keen on them either, just a guess, if you are cool though.

On the bolded, I think you meant you, so I'll answer it thusly. I think you may be right there to an extent, it doesn't really enthrall me like I would say Channel Orange did, because a lot of the songs on that album really get me. But I actually do find it boring, because in my hip hop i like a lyricist that can really turn a phrase, is evocative, or can tell a really enticing story, either for how unique it is as a story or in its telling, and I seriously feel like Kendrick does none of this - the best thing he has is his versatility with the flow of his rap, i.e. delivery, pace, rhyme schemes, and so on. People think I'm crazy for this too, but that's the exact same way I feel about Eminem, with the exception of a couple songs. Just show me your favorite verse from him, and I'll seriously take it into consideration, but so far he seems fairly unoriginal and pretty bland to me.

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Sherane's a recurring theme in the story which is Good Kid Mad City, she is referenced throughout and plays her part in Kendrick's tale. The track serves to introduce you to her and as a time frame in which K.Dot's looking back on how the two met, how they grew to like one another and his apprehension's going forward with her. It's not like he's just singing about some hoe on his d*ck.
You've recognized it yourself that Poetic Justice is a continuation in his theme, I find it hard to believe you'd use the term 'whining' when describing it though especially when your argument of a better album presents the following:

As for backseat freestyle it's the radio song from the album, but its inclusion is explained by way of the simple sentence of K.Dot's buddy telling him he has a beat and blank CD, so he is to prepare his freestyle whilst the ride in the car to the next chapter of the story.


It may not be ground breaking production, but you can't knock it technically, it's not as if the beats randomly skip about or the levels are distorted. Everything is masterfully done. It may be basic in places but you can't argue that the basics are perfected. Also the production style compliments the story and theme of the album. I don't think it can be faulted for not particularly being overbearing when that is not the goal of the record. It's a story rather than an exhibition in production.


Super Rich Kids was one of the songs that brought the album down in my opinion. It's basically just "I'm rich, this is my life" but Frank not coming out and using first person in it. It could be about his own experiences it may be about someone else, either way it just basically says 'this is what rich people do'
It was just a filler track. He then inserts some lines about love to keep the theme of 'love' constant, because that's what most of the album's about right, Frank Ocean: unlucky in love.
I can't see how this track is engaging, I know your guy Earl drops a verse but again, it's not really necessary.

As for Money Trees and how the rest of the tracks could be interpreted, here's what this guy wrote

My Interpretation of Good Kid, M.A.A.D City Story « Kanye West Forum

If that's the case, aren't Super Rich Kids and Sweet Life in effect the same song? They seem to do the exact same thing of talking from the perspective of a well off person as they talk about their nice things. If we're talking about played out, we've got two tracks on the one album that tell the same story, I challenge you to find another song which manages to articulately channel the concept of the dangers of peer pressure as Swimming Pools all the time being able to present itself as the antithesis of what it actually represents. How many pool parties blared this song whilst ignorantly it spoke of the ills of what they were doing. It takes a clever song to have that level of crossover appeal. I can't think of another that manages to pull it off.

It seems to me this is getting less of a discussion about GKMC, and more of a comparison between it and Channel ORANGE. Although I'm surprised you find Channel ORANGE more engaging, it was the nature of the earlier tracks that began to sour the album somewhat for me. On first listen I thought it was excellent, repeated listens of primarily Super Rich Kids and Sweet Life made the album as a whole drop in my estimation, which is a shame when you combine it with the genius of everything Pyramids up.


I wouldn't use Music Banter as a gauge for how music is received. Most members here are either idiots, too pretentious to listen to a mainstream album or spend all their time talking about ridiculous crap in the lounge rather than contributing to music discussion. I like this forum and community, but I wouldn't say this is the make or break place for whether an album's been well received or not.

I think when Frank truly breaks away from Odd Future and becomes his own man, without others riding his coat tails and bringing him down, he could potentially become the next Usher or MJ. His appearance on the Grammies as well as the extended radio play of Thinkin About You especially indicates it's only a matter of time until he blows up even further than he already has.


I'll look into some of them, never being a massive folk guy. But I'll give some a shot.


You guessed correctly, nothing against them. But another band that just isn't 100% my cup of tea, Strawberry Jam's pretty cool and I've been meaning to listen to Merriweather Pavillion or whatever you call it.


His story may not be unique, but that's why I think so many people can relate to it. If he did a Deltron 3030 and spoke of outlandish characters in a far off galaxy, he wouldn't be able to utilize his honesty and his self effacing nature. He plays to his strengths. Every artist should. I'm not an Eminem fan at all, but that's a different kettle of fish.

As for a lyrical content and story telling, here's one of my favourite K.Dot verses, from Hol' Up off of Section 8.0

SGR

Nope, not really. It was a 3/5 to me. One of the most overrated albums in the last decade imo.

Lord Willin' did everything better.