I've listened to the Kendrick album close to 10 times, both in ear with lyrics and in the background while working and will continue to listen

I've listened to the new Lupe countless times in both regards.


It took 5 listens for Tetsuo & Youth for me to think... stunning album. Took about 10 for me to become addicted to it.

Not feeling the same way regarding Kendrick. It's a lovely album for sure, but I'm not feeling like I did when first hearing Tetsuo.

Poll result (75 votes) LUPE (21 votes) Vote KENDRICK (54 votes) Vote

When I first heard Lupe's album I was floored by the goodness of it, and the delivery was dope enough to generally set well with me to enjoy the album on its own on first listen. On subsequent listens and deciphering the cryptic lyrics and references it has emerged as Lupe's masterpiece and best collection of songs to date.

When I first heard Kendrick's album (on the way home yesterday) the first experience was very odd and abrasive. A LOT was going on and genres and lyrics and inflections were flying at me to where I enjoyed some of the sonic stuff I was hearing but there wasn't anything clear to contextualize the content I was hearing so that I could reference where the "mark" was so that I could gauge whether I felt this had "missed it" or not. After subsequent listens and deciphering the cryptic lyrics and references it has emerged as Kendrick's masterpiece and best collection of songs to date.

So here's the divide, because Lupe I feel made HIS masterpiece, where Kendrick made a standalone masterpiece. Lupe's album feels like a collection of really good songs, arranged into seasons. Kendrick however created an AL-BUM. This thing is like a novel. Comparatively it makes Lupe's album seem disjointed because Kendrick's album runs along one centralized theme throughout.

I don't want to anoint either of these albums with ">" because it is greedy to even have both right now to listen to. They are both stellar achievements and to reward one would be to mar the other, and they are completely different.

IMHO, for example, Lupe's "Madonna" is so great of a song given where our social climate is right now: this painting of Black murdered boys to Jesus Christ. The closest Kendrick comes to this on his album would probably be "How Much A Dollar Cost". BOTH great songs, but what Lupe achieved lyrically and sonically and metaphorically trumps what Kendrick did on that comparison. However, what Kendrick did in terms of the arrangement and sequencing of this album, it really plays as one continuous theme, where if I wanted to hear "How Much A Dollar Cost" I would have to start at least at "Alright" and transition my way up. "For Sale?" on first listen was very dope and interesting on first listen, but now with the context that song (and how it is set up by the preceding action) is SOOO creepy and scary....Lupe doesn't have this on his album because the singular theme wasn't really reinforced beyond this being him unleashed from his contractual woes. Kendrick seems to have adopted that mentality as well and they both made albums that were artistically true to them and released on a major labels....we all won.

It's kinda apples to oranges in my estimation. Lupe painted a collection of works. Kendrick wrote a novel. How do you compare chapters to brush strokes? I just like being in a room where I can read the book and have the paintings on the wall.

________________________________________________
R.I.P. Soulgyal <3
SUPA NERD LLC.
Knowledge Meets Nature
Musica Negra
#13irteen

> Lupe painted a
>collection of works. Kendrick wrote a novel. How do you
>compare chapters to brush strokes? I just like being in a room
>where I can read the book and have the paintings on the wall.

It's amazing how these joints are both in the same genre of music, so different from one another, but also so different from about 95% of the genre as a whole. All while both are using different creative styles to manifest themselves.

Lupe joint is VERY much a painting, while being probably the best-written album i've heard in any genre in a loong time. Kendrick does more with music, mood and feel, while lupe does most of his evocation with words.

Shit's really really amazing to see what hiphop can be when people think of it as art and not product.

I haven't yet really got into the Lupe, but I like what you're saying about the artistry and diversity of the 2 albums..

It's a win win for hip hop lyricism and intelligence.

>So here's the divide, because Lupe I feel made HIS
>masterpiece, where Kendrick made a standalone masterpiece.
>Lupe's album feels like a collection of really good songs,
>arranged into seasons. Kendrick however created an AL-BUM.
>This thing is like a novel. Comparatively it makes Lupe's
>album seem disjointed because Kendrick's album runs along one
>centralized theme throughout.


Lamar makes concept albums. And concept albums run along one centralized theme. Granted it was a better realized concept than GKMC (minus the skits which wove it together) the concept was pretty thin.
Lupe connects the songs very well with this release.

happiness is a mediocre standard for a middle class existence - S. Williams

I don't not like you because you have dumb ideas about the world, I don't like you because you have other people's dumb ideas about the world. - Rjcc

Tetsuo was a lyrical clinic. Front to back. Better conceptually too.

TPAB has better beats, and Kendrick is definitely dope in terms of raps and flow, but ye gods the funny voices shit holds it back every time I listen.

-----------------

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

https://www.mixcloud.com/returntozero/

and vice versa

n/m

----------------------------



O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"




"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..."

(C)Keith Murray, "

Let me guess....Lamar is the white hipster's wet dream while Lupe is dying for his art, right?

Let's slow down with this weird crusade, homie.

I'm just happy that we got TWO albums in the same month that basically showed hip-hop just how brave and powerful it could be in 2015....

How great is that?

GOAT of his era......long live Prince.....God is alive....

tetsuo & youth sucks. i can't think of a single moment of my life where i could bring myself to listen to it again.

.

...I'm from the era when A.I. was the answer, now they think ai is the answer - Marlon Craft

.

and I still stand by what I said

-------------------
I wanna go to where the martyrs went
the brown figures on the walls of my apart-a-ment...

I was more obsessed with Lamar's the past two days than I ever was with Lupe's, but Lupe's had songs I was totally obsessed with; "Mural" and "Dots + Lines" in particularly.


These two albums are easily the best hip-hop album of the year competition since Talib vs. Common in 2000. There's just not a clear cut winner between these two right now and you wouldn't be wrong for choosing either one.


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

Agreed that Mural is awesome. Lupe has an awesome way with words.

5 listens ain't enough. especially for these two dense-ass albums.

Happy 50th D’Angelo: https://chrisp.bandcamp.com/track/d-50

Lupe's album is a near masterpiece

I think both of those songs hold T&Y back some.

--

"You can't beat white people. You can only knock them out."

after Mural, my mind was kinda blown. Then the music came in for Blur My Hands and it hit me in my sweet spot. I listened to it again after it went off...twice. My mind hadn't really comprehended yet how insane Mural was. I remembered thinking...Damn!! He rapped his ass off on that first joint...WTF!! Blur My Hands remains one of my favorites, though.

...I'm from the era when A.I. was the answer, now they think ai is the answer - Marlon Craft

-----------------

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

https://www.mixcloud.com/returntozero/

I love the hell out of that song. The beat, the chorus, the verses, it's like Drake at his peak levels of catchy. Everything about that song is a hook for me, it's a six-minute hook that I never want to end.

I get other songs on that album are far more 'important', but it's easily my favorite track.

~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

.

...I'm from the era when A.I. was the answer, now they think ai is the answer - Marlon Craft

cmon bruh.

<--- Big Baller World Order

voice.


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

>they serve their respective purposes.

_____________
if racism is a cancer, black thought is the answer.

Rjcc is code for "bitch-ass troll"

DROkayplayer™

...the first time I heard it my son was trying to put me on. I was kinda through with Lupe after Lasers and haven't really checked for him since. So we're driving home, and I'm teasing my son about how Murals was wack (which it isn't) and then Blur My Hands comes on. I immediately went cold, then Dots and Lines came on and I was done.

I popped it in about two weeks later and Blur My Hands came on and I didn't bat an eye. Dots and Lines, I skip it. The production is just way too cheesy, couple that with the hook and I'm done.

--------------------

blah blah blah

So we're driving home, and I'm teasing
>my son about how Murals was wack (which it isn't)



----------------------------



O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"




"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..."

(C)Keith Murray, "

i relate to him more than kendrick, plus he's the better
lyricist. btw, wtf is that cry/mental breakdown/rap thing
that kendrick has been doing lately?


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
instagram:
http://instagram.com/0kayndc

"There is much temptation to use what has worked before,
even when it may exceed its effective scope."

"Roll me further bitch"

Breakdown, screaming.

________________________________________________
R.I.P. Soulgyal <3
SUPA NERD LLC.
Knowledge Meets Nature
Musica Negra
#13irteen

I'm offering hugs, tho

You already admitted to not liking this record

I guess it needed a few more gang references




----------------------------



O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"




"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..."

(C)Keith Murray, "

Sounds like a great weekend.

Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahaha


----------------------------



O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"




"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..."

(C)Keith Murray, "

>


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
instagram:
http://instagram.com/0kayndc

"There is much temptation to use what has worked before,
even when it may exceed its effective scope."

"Roll me further bitch"

That Eminem influence coming through

******************************************
Falcons, Braves, Bulldogs and Hawks

Geto Boys, Poison Clan, UGK, Eightball & MJG, OutKast, Goodie Mob

I was listening to "u" on the way home, and I was like, "Dude, stop fucking shrieking at me." I had to change it to some reggae to get my chill vibe back.

-----------------

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

https://www.mixcloud.com/returntozero/

A song about that level of depression and suicide should make you uncomfortable. It aint gonna sound like "Happy" lol. Maybe its cause I've been there mentally before and its accurate. That shit is perfect for what he is writing about.

Not even just that but also the balance between "u" and "i":

"U" is this dark screamy suicidal abrasive record. "I" is a poppy upbeat redemption song about regaining that confidence in yourself. "Loving you is complicated" to "I love myself", told in the transition from the music and lyrical inflections add to the message he's tryna get across.

________________________________________________
R.I.P. Soulgyal <3
SUPA NERD LLC.
Knowledge Meets Nature
Musica Negra
#13irteen

>A song about that level of depression and suicide should make
>you uncomfortable. It aint gonna sound like "Happy" lol. Maybe
>its cause I've been there mentally before and its accurate.
>That shit is perfect for what he is writing about.
>
>Not even just that but also the balance between "u" and "i":
>
>"U" is this dark screamy suicidal abrasive record. "I" is a
>poppy upbeat redemption song about regaining that confidence
>in yourself. "Loving you is complicated" to "I love myself",
>told in the transition from the music and lyrical inflections
>add to the message he's tryna get across.

See, all this shit doesn't matter.

He's screaming and it sounds dumb on 'u'.

And 'i' is just an awful trainwreck of a pop song.

All this shit about how they fit doesn't matter.

The songs are bad.

U on your hit-dog flex hard, huh? lol

Like, I knew u had a hard-on for dude going back to you claiming that Lamar's Good Kid commercial success was being fueled by white hipsters and that was no different than the rise of 50 Cent (another faux, misleading statement considering his initial come-up was strictly mixtape street based before The Massacre turned him into a mascot for the pandering set....)

But damn, homie....U pressing the button on this one....All because you have it twisted that Lupe and Lamar cannot exist in the same room and create two important statements....

My dude....Not everything has to be a mad-making exercise, homie....lol

GOAT of his era......long live Prince.....God is alive....

It's a bad song. Period.

We don't need to discuss anything else.



----------------------------



O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"




"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..."

(C)Keith Murray, "

>
>It's a bad song. Period.


Dog...chill with the strawman stuff. Me and U know what's up....I am not debating whether "U" is a good/bad song or not. U can think that that joint is worst song ever recorded because that's on some different strokes shit, right?

My issue is u, Brother O_E, using Lupe as a proxy to get off your long dismissive view of Lamar...

U can't dissect the music on its own merits. So u hide behind a really dope album made by a REALLY gifted artist (Lupe) to shit on another vastly talented artist (Lamar) because he doesn't fit into your personal all or nothing mindset....

I'm calling bullshit, my dude....If u dislike the Butterfly album just offer up some real, sobering, non-agenda fueled criticism. I know some folks who can't ride with To Pimp A Butterfly. And that's OK. Doesn't make them any less smarter or cooler. It's only music....

Just saying, homie....



>
>
>
>----------------------------
>
>
>
>O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"
>
>
>
>
>"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..."
>
>(C)Keith Murray, "

GOAT of his era......long live Prince.....God is alive....

>See, all this shit doesn't matter.
>
>He's screaming and it sounds dumb on 'u'.
>
>And 'i' is just an awful trainwreck of a pop song.
>
>All this shit about how they fit doesn't matter.
>
>The songs are bad.

*Let's step back a bit and examine your estimation of "good" vs "bad" and see if we can hone in on who is REALLY being a hipster in the estimation of Black Music.

Now you and I have all but agreed on Tetsuo and Youth and the achievement is was for Lupe Fiasco. We differ on Kendrick but that's whatever. To each their own.

But I see both of these efforts as "good" where you see Lupe's as "good" and Kendrick's as "bad". Fair enough, to each their own.

To the consensus population that looks at Lupe's 'Lasers' and says that album is "bad" (including Lupe himself, especially given his situation with his label) you would jump in a cape and be like "NAH, LUPE'S BEEN 'good' THIS WHOLE TIME".

And to the consensus population that looks at Kendrick from 'OD' to 'GKMC' you would grab the pitchfok and basically say that Kendrick is "bad"....don't like his voice, unfocus direction on projects, whatever....to each his own.

So now we have O_E, sitting here listening to Tetsuo and Youth, an auditory triumph where Lupe was able to say fuck the label and expectations, I'm going to make an album for my 16 friends to weigh "yay" or "nay" on, and we got his best project to date. He is out of his pain and feels liberated because his next will be his best.

And then to follow up, we have Kendrick, who's ascension is basically everything I hoped for Lupe since I bought Food and Liquor, and was PISSED he didn't win Rap Album of the Year that year (truly was Ludacris). And he followed up that Grammy snub with "The Cool", which was a step up from F&L and probably stands as his second best work aside from T&Y.

Back to Kendrick, his "sophomore" release, follow up to his critically acclaimed freshman Grammy snubbed masterpiece "GKMC"....how will he respond. Let me school you on why this album is "good".

Seeing that I feel of all his albums "GKMC" was his most compromised album, I wanted to see what this album would sound like. Kendrick is an artist I felt never had to sign with a major. His whole movement was built on the internet. When he signed to a major, I was afraid, cause the open and honest artist I felt was going to (for lack of a better reference) get "Lupe'd": they were going to try to shove him into a box and make him poppy and compromise the artist who is bigger than this marketing you have designed for them.

GKMC was dope, and I dig it, but I dig "Section 80" more. So much of GKMC feels forced, but he is a talented enough artist to pull it off and make it bang. But I was looking forward to this album. TPAB shows that the artist is still there, and very much alive. Alive and fighting for his life. Music IS his sanity and that is getting compromised by the powers that be. And that he is dealing with that exact thing that was the breaking point for Lupe. Is he going to go poppy, going to save the culture, or try to do both at the same time? Lupe is able to walk that line. But Kendrick crossed the line. He went to save himself.

TPAB is thoroughly thought out and crafted, everything is intentional. The "screaming"? It offends you? Poor you. Sorry you were able to do the butterfly to his pain homie. But he's having a conversation, with himself, and is letting you listen in, because maybe you've had this same conversation too.

Maybe you can't relate to his "real" shit. But on "u" the guilt he walks around with for being famous and not being able to be available for fam and friends and events that will haunt him forever - the drunken downtempo conversation with himself? Maybe you've never been there. Maybe you can't relate. Sorry it didn't make you dance, or it's not a song you can play in the summer in the whip. This album aint for that.

Kendrick said something really important to me in his interview on Hot 97 about this album, especially in regards to "i". He said he wanted to use the Isley Brothers sample to remind people that Black music is popular music. We have always run shit. He doesn't need to run to EDM to crossover or trap to be trill. And on this album you get Jazz, Funk, Soul - multiple genres of Black music that has always been excellent, but is only "diminished" because essentially White people aren't buying it - therefore it's not commercially viable. Wasn't Jazz just listed as the least listened to genre? Poor yall. Black music is alive and well.

He also said he made that song for 1. folx who are locked up without hope and 2. people who are daily living with thoughts of suicide. Sorry you can't Macarena to it doggie but to THAT mission, this album is perfect, because Kendrick IS that artist, and he IS currently locked up. This album is more of a prison break than a Now 41 supplier. This album isn't Drake attempting 21 radio hits on one album. It's not an assortment of bangers. It's an actual album that has a theme, and it carries it out. Kendrick plays the part of many narratives and elements and collages those masterfully with the assistance of additional voices.

So he made a challenging album that is more challenging that T&Y, and yet has more focus and direction that T&Y. You don't like it though because his pain didn't make you dance, or nod your head. It's not for you then, fair enough. To each his own. But you kinda sound like the "hipster" now. Only wanna be down when it's "convenient". Get to say "I've been on Lupe before you thought he was cool" and "I dunno, Kendrick sounds really political on this album and that's not really my bag." Exactly what I would expect an outsider to say when looking in on us, with hip hop respectability politics ("why he sound so angry and violent?") Maybe because he's speaking about anger and violence.

I will FOREVER be jealous of Ghostface for being able to emote in songs the way he does. It's funny how Rae and Ghost are a supreme duo, where one is live and emotional and the other laid back and monotone. But both can exist. In my world, they can. In your world they can't.....to each their own. But maybe you're just being a hip-ster-crit.

Just saying.

*to be read in the voice of Louis Farrakhan.

________________________________________________
R.I.P. Soulgyal <3
SUPA NERD LLC.
Knowledge Meets Nature
Musica Negra
#13irteen

That says all that needs to be said.

The song is bad. Even Kendrick fans admit that.

I will say this. I've always been one of the folks that "understood" where u were coming from. U r the dude that holds up that mirror and forces people to see the bullshit. When u were calling out PF for their white-on-safari shit they were pushing with Cheif Keef that shit was epic. U call it like u see it whether it's sports, music, politics, ect....Hell, even when u r being brazenly absurd the shit is usually entertaining on some THIS NIGGA ON ONE....

But it's posts like the "nerd" clapback that proves to be disappointing....Dude was just trying to build with u on some oldschool Lesson shit; just exchanging ideas. Being respectful and all that....

And the best u could come up with is a "Supernerd" retort....?

Come one homie....U better than that, dog....

GOAT of his era......long live Prince.....God is alive....

I side with him on A LOT of topics, including his sports agendas. I don't know why Kendrick makes him so mad. I'll be a nerd tho. All day nigga (c).

________________________________________________
R.I.P. Soulgyal <3
SUPA NERD LLC.
Knowledge Meets Nature
Musica Negra
#13irteen

>I side with him on A LOT of topics, including his sports
>agendas. I don't know why Kendrick makes him so mad. I'll be a
>nerd tho. All day nigga (c).


U have to understand....Once O_E hops on an agenda he rides it and rides it even more when the wheels fall off....

That's what makes his posts MUST READ shit...The funny thing is dude keeps going back to that "other people think it's a bad song!!!!" stuff. When that's not even the issue at hand....lol

U gotta keep up with O_E. Dude has a PHD in mad-making. But at times he shoots at the wrong target....

GOAT of his era......long live Prince.....God is alive....

provides a great perspective on things. I aint even mad at him. If he thinks the song is bad, and I'm a nerd, then from where he's sitting, I'm sure that's how he sees things. But his front porch isn't as big as the world.

"I know what I know, and I know it well,
Not to ever forget, until I realized I didn’t know shit"

#nerd

________________________________________________
R.I.P. Soulgyal <3
SUPA NERD LLC.
Knowledge Meets Nature
Musica Negra
#13irteen

I am offended by white fans talking
About his "gang affiliations"
And all of that. But I like HIM tons.

As to this discussion: those two songs are
Bad. They just are. That's all im saying.

I hope at the very least you subtract them from your playlist and listen to the rest of the album, tho "Momma" and "For Sale?" and "The Mortal Man" won't have the same sweet without those bitters, IMHO

put to each his own 8)

________________________________________________
R.I.P. Soulgyal <3
SUPA NERD LLC.
Knowledge Meets Nature
Musica Negra
#13irteen

I fux wit ur demeanor, pause

I'm gonna grab a shirt too
----------------------------



O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"




"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..."

(C)Keith Murray, "

Dude, these two albums + the turmoil I've been balancing the past 3 years I would say. These are me "nigga we made it!" anthems.

Shit, I'm about to call my landlord in like 10 mins to tell him how I aint paying rent and he can kiss my ass or take that shit to trial.

These albums have made me smarter, keener, and more confident cause at the end of the day sometimes you gotta be your own cheerleader to exercise your demons.

Self Of Steam On FLEEK!

________________________________________________
R.I.P. Soulgyal <3
SUPA NERD LLC.
Knowledge Meets Nature
Musica Negra
#13irteen

Science and the Ethereal in consonance, not dissonance.

SUPA = "S"pirituality, "U"rbanization, "P"an-African-Americanism, and "A"cademia.

My avy is our flagship shirt, the "Open Season" shirt, about the death of Black men in our streets, neighborhoods, and our herding into prisons. But I'm sure you skimmed all that context, and are ready to say "nerd" isn't "good", but you are right: Supa Nerd does tell you everything you need to know.

PS: I am actually sending an Open Season shirt to Lupe via his camps request. OMG, HE'S A #supanerd too!

________________________________________________
R.I.P. Soulgyal <3
SUPA NERD LLC.
Knowledge Meets Nature
Musica Negra
#13irteen

I dig what you're saying and will
Look at your projects

I was flippant because I was finishing
My yogurt, tryna get some work in before
Heading to the airport
----------------------------



O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"




"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..."

(C)Keith Murray, "

________________________________________________
R.I.P. Soulgyal <3
SUPA NERD LLC.
Knowledge Meets Nature
Musica Negra
#13irteen

Great post.

Well thought out, well written.

Giving the benefit of the doubt that people have different taste.

Shows Lupe love.

Attempts intellectual conversation. Puts it in context.

And OE literally has nothing to say but call you a nerd, plug his ears, close his eyes, and say "its a bad song!"

His Kendrick hate is weird. Really weird. He's more threatened by him than Lupe himself, for some reason.

Which is why I have enough self esteem to
Admit when a song of his is bad.
----------------------------



O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"




"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..."

(C)Keith Murray, "

...it makes me annoyed. Because it makes it a bad song.

There are plenty of songs about depression and suicide that are well done and that I like. There are plenty of tracks where the MC yells that are well done and that I like. There are plenty of abrasive songs that are well done and I like. Understanding the "why" of it doesn't make it a good song, the execution does. And "u" is a bad song.

It's not what you do but how you do it.

-----------------

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

https://www.mixcloud.com/returntozero/

>...it makes me annoyed. Because it makes it a bad song.
>
>There are plenty of songs about depression and suicide that
>are well done and that I like. There are plenty of tracks
>where the MC yells that are well done and that I like. There
>are plenty of abrasive songs that are well done and I like.
>Understanding the "why" of it doesn't make it a good song, the
>execution does. And "u" is a bad song.
>
>It's not what you do but how you do it.


----------------------------



O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"




"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..."

(C)Keith Murray, "

>...it makes me annoyed. Because it makes it a bad song.
>
>There are plenty of songs about depression and suicide that
>are well done and that I like. There are plenty of tracks
>where the MC yells that are well done and that I like. There
>are plenty of abrasive songs that are well done and I like.
>Understanding the "why" of it doesn't make it a good song, the
>execution does. And "u" is a bad song.
>
>It's not what you do but how you do it.

So again, semantics, his pain makes you annoyed, not uncomfortable. To each his own. But you being annoyed does not make the song bad. It means you can't relate, and that is fair enough. Some folks found Dame "abrasive" last week on his boss rant, but what he said got diluted by HOW he said it. Some people are mesmerized by HOW artist say things, even though they aint saying shit. And they can have that space too.

But Kendrick is investing in what he says AND how he says it. It's bad to you, but it's good to me. I've been there so I'm not annoyed by that being the vehicle of his expression, because honestly, that's what that kinda insanity sounds like. But you are annoyed, and couldn't snap your fingers to it, so I get it. It's not for you.

________________________________________________
R.I.P. Soulgyal <3
SUPA NERD LLC.
Knowledge Meets Nature
Musica Negra
#13irteen

>So again, semantics, his pain makes you annoyed, not
>uncomfortable. To each his own.

It's not "his pain" that's making the song annoying, it's his voice. Everyone from Prince to Scarface to Gravediggaz to The Rolling Stones have made songs about depression and suicidal thoughts, and there are lots of them that are good. "u" is bad. And just because you understand where he's coming from doesn't make the song good.

You also shouldn't make the assumption that I can't relate just because I don't like "u." And you also should assume that just because I can't "snap my fingers to it" is why I don't like it. His voice and delivery are annoying and they derail what could have been a good song about pain and suicidal thoughts. It's that simple.

-----------------

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

https://www.mixcloud.com/returntozero/

I shouldn't be like you can't relate to the subject simply because you don't like this singular interpretation in song form.

My apologies for that.

________________________________________________
R.I.P. Soulgyal <3
SUPA NERD LLC.
Knowledge Meets Nature
Musica Negra
#13irteen

I'm cool just being happy that we can be passionate about the music even while having differing opinions on it.

-----------------

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

https://www.mixcloud.com/returntozero/

u is really uncomfortable to listen to. I liked it a lot the first few times I heard it, but I have to turn it off now just because it reminds me of my depression so much. I love the range between i and u, shows how talented he really is

----

https://weketchum.contently.com/

Hell....even IN context, but to me makes the album more open and honest. Get chills listening to that one



>I was listening to "u" on the way home, and I was like,
>"Dude, stop fucking shrieking at me." I had to change it to
>some reggae to get my chill vibe back.

It takes all kinds to make up a world, son. -My pops

I just live for the comments -Da wiz

...though it doesn't necessarily take anything away from the album for me.

but that second half of "u" is overwrought, literally maudlin. it's theatrical. and the theatrical nature of it--even when accounting for poetic license--feels counterproductive to the earnestness of what Kendrick is trying to express in the song. he didn't need to do all that for him to convey authentically and make us as listeners feel it.

____________________________________________________________
http://proc.bandcamp.com
http://twitter.com/grandproc

and in music you have dissonance, dynamics, and tempo.

He used all those as devices for the music, and the feeling he created is actually remarkable. It's becoming one of my favorite songs/transitions.

________________________________________________
R.I.P. Soulgyal <3
SUPA NERD LLC.
Knowledge Meets Nature
Musica Negra
#13irteen

>but that second half of "u" is overwrought, literally maudlin.
> it's theatrical.


If you heard a situation like that playing out, it would drain you emotionally... maybe even
stress you out a bit. It's that, set to music... that's what makes it kinda brilliant.

~
~
~
~
~
Days like this I miss Sha Mecca

TPAB is Kendrick all in his feelings as he navigates wildly disparate social strata. in that sense, I think the most apt comparison is graduation-to-mbdtf kanye. in a way, Kendrick is doing a Drake kind of thing, but what he cares about covers so much more than what drake cares about. but TPAB still looks very much inward.

Lupe is commenting as an observer. it's more social commentary than autobiography.

this isn't really to dismiss TPAB. I prefer listening to it. but as an idea, I think what Lupe did was more ambitious, and he pulled it off.

the fact that both albums listen as they do is pretty depressing. they both offer takes on the world young people--particularly black young people--come into.

____________________________________________________________
http://proc.bandcamp.com
http://twitter.com/grandproc

This is a BIIIIIIiiiittttttttt of a stretch as a comparison, because it isn't totally 1 to 1, but look at like Blueprint Vs Stillmatic.

So of course, there is no real "beef" between Kendrick and Lupe to draw this comparison, but check where Nas and Jay were respectfully in their careers at the time.

If you compare on THAT level, Kendrick definitely had the "can't miss" momentum with him since "Overly Dedicated" where Lupe had been written off by many people, almost like where Nas was before Stillmatic.

So when "Ether" and 'Stillmatic' dropped for Nas, most of what made it great was that people had no expectations for the album AND he delivered (no pun intended). Lupe, similarly had the lowered expectations because folks had written him off, yet he DELIVERED.

Kendrick, meanwhile, has been just slowly becoming more and more acceptable, except on this project he went left while the expectation was waiting in right. It would be like if Jay-Z had come out with fucking 'The Cold Vein' instead of 'Blueprint'. The expectation wasn't arriving at the same target for where the artist would have been headed.

Ionno, just a thought, but I feel like that is partly the biggest backlash to this Kendrick "momentum". And it really started with "i". But he's been saying this whole time this album was gonna be a celebration of Black popular music (jazz, funk, soul, etc), Black people, and those folx who are locked up or depressed/suicidal. To that prompt, he wrote and performed a masterpiece.

________________________________________________
R.I.P. Soulgyal <3
SUPA NERD LLC.
Knowledge Meets Nature
Musica Negra
#13irteen

when it dropped. No one expected, after Vol 1, 2, 3 & The Dynasty that Jay would, sonically, take that route. In that sense you could draw comparison to 'To Pimp a Butterfly', even though The Blueprint is musically way less adventurous in its throwback vibe.

Stillmatic was championed because of a lyrically reinvigorated Nas, not because of its production.

I get your comparison of Tetsuo & Youth vs To Pimp a Butterfly / Stillmatic vs The Blueprint...but Tetsuo & Youth & To Pimp a Butterfly are at its core very similar whereas Stillmatic & The Blueprint, I feel are very different.

http://islasoul.bandcamp.com

what Blueprint did was exceed expectations. Like the soul sampling was different than the Rockwilder/Trackmasters/Neptunes type vibe. BUT it exceeded expectations within the same quadrant of expectation, whereas had he released 'The Cold Vein' it woulda been WAAAAYYYY left for him, despite being a great, groundbreaking album. Kendrick essentially had 'Blueprint' and then released 'The Cold Vein' right after that, comparatively. And Lupe reached his 'Stillmatic' resurgence after folks wrote him off.

________________________________________________
R.I.P. Soulgyal <3
SUPA NERD LLC.
Knowledge Meets Nature
Musica Negra
#13irteen

resurgence as The Blueprint did with soul samples post-2001. The Blueprint was, in that time period, one of the most left-field moves, sonically, any major label Hiphop artist could make. Jay's performance, arguably, wasn't always up to par with the production so in that sense also expectations weren't met (after Jay's performance on vol.3 it was even sort of a letdown).

Now that I think of it, The Blueprint is probably the only time where Jay didn't follow/use what was hot and did his own thing.

If anything, yes, To Pimp A Butterfly would be Kendrick's "Blueprint" and I'd say GKMC was his vol.2/3

http://islasoul.bandcamp.com

>resurgence as The Blueprint did with soul samples post-2001.
>The Blueprint was, in that time period, one of the most
>left-field moves, sonically, any major label Hiphop artist
>could make. Jay's performance, arguably, wasn't always up to
>par with the production so in that sense also expectations
>weren't met (after Jay's performance on vol.3 it was even sort
>of a letdown).
>
>Now that I think of it, The Blueprint is probably the only
>time where Jay didn't follow/use what was hot and did his own
>thing.
>
>If anything, yes, To Pimp A Butterfly would be Kendrick's
>"Blueprint" and I'd say GKMC was his vol.2/3

Haha dope, you're right. As I was reading I came to that same conclusion. Which is so wild, cause TPAB WOULD be like Kendrick's Blueprint, except the reaction to this left move is like "wtf?".

But I think that though they are similar in that respect, Kendrick certainly is more daring than his contemporaries, and DEFINITELY more daring than Jay Z has ever been (except for when he bungied in the "Hawaiian Sophie" vid, that was bold AND daring) so I think the abrasiveness of what he is trying to do is catching people SO offguard. But what he did......man.

I was 90% confident that Kendrick couldn't top Lupe's T&Y.......and he did......decisively.

....I'm about to vote blue, tho colors aint a thing (c) Rapsody

________________________________________________
R.I.P. Soulgyal <3
SUPA NERD LLC.
Knowledge Meets Nature
Musica Negra
#13irteen

>
>Haha dope, you're right. As I was reading I came to that same
>conclusion. Which is so wild, cause TPAB WOULD be like
>Kendrick's Blueprint, except the reaction to this left move is
>like "wtf?".


>But I think that though they are similar in that respect,
>Kendrick certainly is more daring than his contemporaries, and
>DEFINITELY more daring than Jay Z has ever been (except for
>when he bungied in the "Hawaiian Sophie" vid, that was bold
>AND daring) so I think the abrasiveness of what he is trying
>to do is catching people SO offguard. But what he
>did......man.

To Pimp a Butterfly is daring because Kendrick had Outkast & The Roots (and Kanye) before him...he could build on what they did...they also laid the groundwork for TPAB (and everyone who worked on it).
Jay probably drew from an era he had fond memories of...Jay's era of influences didn't have an Outkast (they were his contemporaries)...
Jay took, in a way, what The Native Tongues / Pete Rock / ... had done with sampling and reinterpreted it in similar ways as
Kendrick has done now with his album.


>I was 90% confident that Kendrick couldn't top Lupe's
>T&Y.......and he did......decisively.

I like both equally, can't choose...love them both for being unapologetically true to themselves (and their art)

>....I'm about to vote blue, tho colors aint a thing (c)
>Rapsody

I'm enjoying this discussion by the way.

http://islasoul.bandcamp.com

I am seeing. People are like this has been done before, sonically, and whatnot. Which is true. But the daringness of this is for him to take this direction when most were looking for another way. It's the whole more than the parts. I agree with you fully tho.

________________________________________________
R.I.P. Soulgyal <3
SUPA NERD LLC.
Knowledge Meets Nature
Musica Negra
#13irteen

I think the right comparison is Reasonable Doubt / Illmatic

especially with the observer - Nas vs in feelings intospective - Jay.

-----
Cameo
Soundshape Records