Confession I always only liked the idea of the song.
Like it was cool but in my book it's not a PE banger. But it was lifted to that status because of the things surrounding it. It was made anthemic and with a lot of real emotion behind it. Makes it impossible to deny its place.
But compare that with "By The Time I Get To Arizona" and it pales so much.
And the difference between them is that in Fight the Power there's still a little bit of that have funness to it. It's danceable. You think of that Flavor Flav 'move' from the video. It puts a smile on your face While Arizona and a grip of other PE joints put the mean scowl on your face from the place of feeling the tension. The only tension release in Fight the Power is screaming out the chorus. And yeah I know the lyrics is full of it but it's still this up beat almost pop-y (I mean as pop-y as a PE song can get) song.
High Society Member since Oct 13th 2003 7375 posts
Mon Aug-18-14 01:17 AM
1. "I would say Run the Jewels." In response to Reply # 0
Was talking to some people on twitter recently and told them I thought Run the Jewels was the closest thing to capturing the feeling of a new PE.
Talib and Mos aren't doing it today. 15 years ago, maybe. But would it have been the same aggressive loud power type of anthem?
Or would've it been a more somber take?
Kanye has the ABILITY to make that type of song especially after songs like Power and some of the stuff on YEEZUS. But would he dedicate an entire song to the situation? Come out publicly and say HEY THIS IS ABOUT MICHAEL BROWN and the fucked up shit going on in FERGUSON.
I don't know.
Maybe he just mentions it in passing in a song, gives it 2 - 4 bars, half a verse. Maybe a hook talking about it but flips the verses to talk about some other shit and just keeps it moving.
5. "I'd like to think maybe..." In response to Reply # 2
but (kill me if you must) his shit isn't raw and anthemic like that. It'd be stepping out of his lane. I know he can get amped but like that... not so sure. Love to be surprised.
32. "I think that is more because of the production..." In response to Reply # 5
...he has been rocking over. As a lyricist and MC he has shown he can pour emotion into a track (as every other gemini mc has) and give a power packed flow to match it. Kendrick over El-P production maybe would do it.
--- If you release what is within u, what u release will save you. If you do not release what is within u, what u do not release will destroy u.
33. "No one currently out there comes close to Chuck's voice" In response to Reply # 27
...but I don't think it's required. Kendrick has a good "young man's voice" More importantly, he knows how to use his voice and he knows how to write hooks; plus he's in the primary position in terms of respected rap artists.
He'd definitely have to go outside his camp to get the right production for an anthem protest song though; that's the only thing I see that would stop him from making the song that this moment needs.
--- If you release what is within u, what u release will save you. If you do not release what is within u, what u do not release will destroy u.
3. "I don't doubt that they CAN do PE type material" In response to Reply # 0
but it was so strange (and very disappointing) to me that Killer Mike and El-P got together and made an album of almost nothing but bragging. Let's be honest, RtJ was waaaaayy more shallow lyrically than WtT.
12. "it was literally and album of them just bragging" In response to Reply # 3 Mon Aug-18-14 11:58 AM by Kosa12
and I loved it, my favorite album from last year, but based on their past material its pretty obvious that they are capable of making a "deeper" album, will that be RTJ2?...I don't know....and tbh I would probably love it either way, the entire vibe they have in their recordings together is just so in your face and kick ass I would probably dig a bragging album all over again lol. It might have been lyrically shallower than RTJ but the rapping/beats was so much more impressive so...whatever
I definitely think they could do a "fight the power" type anthem though
4. "it's funny cuz i just watched the black steel" In response to Reply # 0
and can't truss it videos like two days earlier
i was in the company of a 25 year old who was blown away by the videos
said something to the effect of "this couldn't/wouldnt even be made today"
i dont think this generation has the same connection to the movement...chuck and that early generation (lumumba etc) were born of the panthers and stokely.
who has this generation been touched by like that? the closest is al (shamefully) or obama (maybe more so)
so when run the jewels comes up... its yeah cuz those guys were "there" for that i.e. touched by those PE, x-clan, BDP you must learn tutorials
7. "FTP is PE at their best." In response to Reply # 0
Revolutionary music that's catchy and accessible. They never did it better than that one. They have songs with deeper lyrics and those songs aren't as catchy and awesome as FTP. That joint has ppl dancing and pumping fists in support of revolution - that's great. Awesome record.
Could some act make a record like that today? I dunno but we have FTP already so I don't mind if no one makes one like it again.
15. "it's interesting because there's so many dark/hard beats out now..." In response to Reply # 0 Mon Aug-18-14 12:52 PM by febreeze
the whole drill music scene.
if somebody applied an anti-police/anti-government "cornered, fighting for my life" message to those backdrops rather than rapping about thots and ferragamo belts, you'd have something way harder than PE ever was.
Joe Corn Mo Member since Aug 29th 2010 15139 posts
Mon Aug-18-14 11:52 PM
16. "the new jacks can't make a beat that hard until the find some snares. " In response to Reply # 15 Mon Aug-18-14 11:54 PM by Joe Corn Mo
>if somebody applied an anti-police/anti-government "cornered, >fighting for my life" message to those backdrops rather than >rapping about thots and ferragamo belts, you'd have something >way harder than PE ever was.
remember when rap songs used to have hard snare drums in them? was that my imagination, or did snares that cracked in rap songs used to be a thing?
chuck d (or someone like him) on a track like new religion or in the paint would be pretty interesting. but PE were never just about being hard/dark, they werent into that kind of nihilistic sound. yeezus has a certain funk and energy about it, as well as a noisier abrasive layer, which is what the bomb squad were about.
17. "paint me insane, but Death Grips could've nailed it." In response to Reply # 0
*had they not broken up* DG had the most heaviest beats/bass I've heard since early '90s P.E. material. Yeah, El-P has hard-hitting production, but most of it sounds too "nerdy"/ computer game-ish. If that makes any sense. Killer Mike's voice can pull it off, tho. Its very Ice Cube (circa 1990).
Btw, you know what P.E. cuts always made me go ape-shit? War at 33 1/3. Move. Who Stole The Soul. How to Kill a Radio Consultant. (The breakdown part in "By the time I Get to Arizona")
18. "theyre too noisy/rocky/punky" In response to Reply # 17 Tue Aug-19-14 06:51 AM by GumDrops
i love death grips but yeah, theyre not funky enough. too fucking distorted. like PEx10. PE were coming out of the mid 80s where there was more scope for rocky elements in rap. these days, yeah, theres a lot of crossover stuff happening, but in the middle-of-centre rap, theres not much space for a noisy, rockier sound to exist. its why you have guys like lil jon and waka doing songs with dance music producers, cos thats allowed more in electronic music.
funny actually, how only ten years ago, lil jon was making hard/noisier rap that was popular.
i know everyone thinks run the jewels is like a modern PE but el-p did it better (beats wise at least) back on fantastic damage. these days hes playing it kinda safe in comparison.
25. "don't you feel that El-P's beats have digressed since FanDam?" In response to Reply # 18
Everybody who likes him seems to praise Cancer 4 Cure to death (as well as Run The Jewels). Imo, his production sounds weaker compared to Fantastic Damage. ISWYD had a couple of tracks that went hard. The first half of the album was solid. Then, he got all "emo" on us. Corny even. . Lol @ "it aint funky enough". Why did I think about the D.O.C.? But yeah..... I'm still waiting to see if we will get a 21st century Bomb Squad.
31. "El-Ps beats hit harder now" In response to Reply # 25
in terms of mix and sound. that doesn't necessarily mean they are better. he did move away from some of the clutter and abstraction that was found in FanDam and Cold Vein, but it's been a better fit for what he's doing now with Killer Mike
El's lyrical content has become more introspective and less aggro on his recent solo work, which doesn't make him as sardonically funny or interesting, but overall it's still dope.
I'm a huge El-P fan, but FanDam has always been at the bottom of his discog for me and it's a damn good album. Yet when folks claim it hits hard I wonder if they're talking about content or sound, 'cause even El has spoken about how it's hard fro him to listen to those records and know what he knows now in terms of the mix/engineering.
Funcrusher Cold Vein R.A.P. Music RTJ ISWYD C4C FanDam
34. "I'm no engineer, but FanDam is more interesting than C4C & RTJ" In response to Reply # 31
Funcrusher is better than FanDam. I'll give you that much. As far as sound mixing goes,.... dude, I don't get that technical. I just know that his production used to be more experimental, which made for a more nuanced listening experience. His lyrical content seems too straight-forward today, as well.
which isn't to say i'm not a fan, but his shit is way too clean these days. and by clean i just don't mean well separated mixes (though that plays into it) but it's also so stuck in a clear grid. there' little off swing which for me is what gave his shit that touch that made it work. shit's hard still but it's not grimey. i've accepted it and don't expect him to go back but it needs to be said.
written after listening to that new rtj fools is slobbering over.
36. "i agree with both of you" In response to Reply # 35
its not just that the new beats are clean though, its that the beats sound too slick. hes taken away a lot of/all of the interesting little weird touches he would do and replaced it with much more conventional sounding programming. no coincidence that hes gotten some of the best reviews of his career since....
19. "fight the power is kinda seen as corny these days i think" In response to Reply # 0 Tue Aug-19-14 06:46 AM by GumDrops
its like PE's pop hit, their signature song, like mind playing tricks for geto boys. or SOC for NWA (or maybe fuck the police). i think thats why black steel or arizona gets the more serious hip hop vote in comparison, cos those songs arent danceable or energetic. theyre more conservatively hip hop (slower tempos, less cluttered arrangements). terrordome is just as good i think, but the lyrics are denser and the structure is less typical.
but FTP is still powerful lyrically and when you see rosie perez dancing to it youre reminded how hard it was back when it came out. time has just inevitably diminished its revolutionary-ness. so its natural that rap fans/PE fans might not want to back it so much anymore. anything funky/upbeat doesnt really get the 'serious' nod of approval in the post-illmatic canon (never mind in the current climate of ross/wayne/yeezy etc).
26. "non-American rappers " In response to Reply # 0
this makes me think about something ive always thought
the whole idea that, "the streets" arent dictated to, is bullshit
they are just as dictated to as everyone else
_______________________________________ When discourse of Blackness is not connected to efforts to promote collective black self determinism it becomes simply another recourse appropriated by the colonizer
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