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Lemon
Already liked this one. It's not amazing
or anything, but I fux widit.
Deep Down Body Thirst
I like this one. Fun little song and
sounds like the usual NERD sound that
you expect from their better projects
at this point.
Voila
I like this song, but it would be much
better w/o Pharrel's old-school rapping part.
Like why would that even be left in there? lol
The beat change at the end for Wale's part was
nice too.
1000
Begins sounding like one of the better songs
Santigold would make for a solo project.
Then the beat switches for Future's part,
and I'm not too fond of the musical switch-up
as it sounds like a beat for Gwen Stefani or
some other white chick looking for an "urban"
sound circa 2004... then Future rapping over
it just sounds all kinds of wrong to me.
Don't Do It, Don't Do It!
Comes on sounding like the kind of classic NERD
slow song that inspired the likes of Tyler The
Creator. I was definitely expecting some yelling
on the chorus and unconventional music choices
(one of the reasons I love them). Music speeds up
and it doesn't ruin the song. The only part I
don't really like is the "they.are.gon.na.do.it.anyway"
chant that sounds like a halloween song. The Kendrick
part is brief but dope. I have to love how Pharrell
finds entertaining ways to talk about serious topics.
ESP
This really, really reminds me of a Boney M song.
I like this little ditty. Nothing really special
about it, just quirky NERD with Pharrell chanting/
rapping. Again, gotta love how Pharrell uses
entertaining pop sounds to address thoughtful
topics.
Lightning Fire Magic Prayer
Dope from the first note. Laid back, mid-tempo
jam. There's an instrumental switch in the middle
with a very 80s synth that's even doper than the
first half.
Rollinem 7's
1:20 into this song, I was just confused at the
repetitiveness of it. What I thought would be a
4-bar intro was still going. Mid-way thru the song,
the beat switches into something that sounds like it
came directly from Felix Da Housecat's outtakes.
That part is better than the first beat.
I made it to the end where 3000 raps over the repetive
beat from the beginning (which actually made the beat
sound a lil better... like something ODB would rap
over in the latter parts of Return To The 36 Chambers).
Dre's verse is cool, but I don't see myself listening
to this song again on purpose.
Kites
Starts off sounding ok. The beat switch a 3rd of the
way thru is meh. The drums change for a very welcome
Kendrick verse. Drums change back while he's still
there, and somehow his presence makes it palatable.
MIA shows up for a verse now that Kendrick has made
the song worth listening to. I end up not hating it.
Secret Life of Tigers
Pharrell's words in the beginning of this are hilarious
to me (bite yo neck off, bitch). This song is one of
those quirky NERD songs that I just have to love.
I can't help wondering if this was written by Kenna or
at least inspired by him (the way Pharrell chants on
this is very reminiscent of the way Kenna does on "Relations")
Lifting You
Very clear reggae feel with this one. Cool lil laid-back
song.
Overall, they just sound like veterans of being
abnormal on this album. They don't sound bored
with what they're doing, and they still go for
some ambitious, borderline head-scratching stuff
like they always have... but they still sound like
they're having alotta fun. This isn't their worst
album, but it isn't their best either. Everything
they do doesn't work for me (I can't say that about
any of their albums actually), but I enjoyed the album
quite a bit, simply b/c I enjoy their silly yet
thoughtful approach to creating music (that I *can* say
about all of their albums). The thoughtfulness of
many of these lyrics/topics on this record is something
that's missing in alotta mainstream Black music...
especially these days. I think this is by design, but
that's another story.
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Days like this I miss Sha Mecca
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