but if they were a head of their time then, is it realy a good idea to fall back to present time now?

i feel what you are saying tho, and im not saying they are revolutionizing anything, but i do feel that artistically, game theory is waht hip hop should be sounding like now, because if the majority of albums that dropped last week came out 5 years ago, you wouldnt be able to really see the progression at all. I think in many respects i could be overanalizing what it is you are asking for, but to me, game theory was the first time where hip hop suprised me. yeah the past 10 years have had an amazing ammount of incredible records, but it has really become predictable. you feel me? up until this point in hip hop, people were evolving the techniques of how a beat was made or how a lyric was contructed, and we sorta reached the top of the technology, so no one has anything new to offer. That why im so passionate about this record, because musically, the roots came in on some totally different shit. i have NEVER heard anything like it. ever.

I do agree tho on your complaints about riq. but my thing was that it seemed like it fit with what they were going for so i didnt knock em for it. it blends in with the music instead of commanding you to listen to him like alot of his older songs were like. I do feel you tho, I just think it worked well. I also listen to more than the lyrics and delivery, for me this album was much more musically driven, which is probebly why this post started in the first place, cause we all have are favorite aspects. I mean i love lyrics and all a that, but I am a musician, and a producer so after i get through the lyrics im usually paying closer attention to that instead of just thought.