https://www.npr.org/2018/03/08/591203534/first-listen-prhyme-prhyme-2

august greene
meshell
and this.. damn

They are cool so far (just a few songs in) but they don't sound like premier.

than the adrian younge joints on the 1st one.

The lyrics are there. But man are some of those beats awful. Bout 5 of them had me reeled in. The rest were meh to totally butt. Shoulda stuck with Adrian Young.

Skits were pointless and cringeworthy. Hooks were *awful*. And where the hell are the drums ?!

I'm sad.

I just think Adrian Young's work was better to mine than Antman's, for Preem's purposes. They had a more gutter feel to them which fit Royce's tone and flow better.

These beats sound almost too ... bouncy ? Soft maybe. I dunno. I gotta listen again but I found myself trying to force myself to enjoy a lot of these beats, and trying to force my head to bounce haha. Royce didn't sound nearly as at home on these as he did on the first one.

.

*shrug*

I mean is it just the concept of the group to have a single sample source, to be like a 3rd member, or is it because of sample issues?

I thought I remembered hearing that they worked with Adrian Young because he has a sound like vintage source material, but can be sampled without any legal issues.

I'd much prefer hearing Premo beats made from any sample that's dope, than be restricted to one source. I'm just not feeling these beats so far.

>I mean is it just the concept of the group to have a single
>sample source, to be like a 3rd member, or is it because of
>sample issues?

... was unnecessary upon first hearing it but apparently it is necessary. Haha.

But yea my understanding is that it was a concept Preem came up with and Royce liked the idea and decided to join in, which led to the first album. Was sort of a pet project maybe or just a challenge which ultimately got rave reviews and inquiries about a 2nd album so they decided to go it again.

Why they chose to go with another producer was probably just an attempt to raise the bar on the challenge of the concept a little bit. And yea the results are nowhere near as good this time around.


>I thought I remembered hearing that they worked with Adrian
>Young because he has a sound like vintage source material, but
>can be sampled without any legal issues.

Now that you mention it I kinda recall this as well. Maybe the same story applies to Antman Wonder.


>I'd much prefer hearing Premo beats made from any sample
>that's dope, than be restricted to one source. I'm just not
>feeling these beats so far.

Nah I'm cool with the concept. It's a fresh idea. Just think the results were great with AY, not great at all with AW.

I had to listen in a group and people were talking over Premo's intro. I didn't realize he explained it there lol.

It's a cool concept I guess. I'd still prefer opening up the sample sources to whatever is dope, but I shouldn't blame the idea for lackluster beats.

Hopefully it grows on me.

Only song I STILL don't like is FLIRT -

The rest was a solid outting. Smooth beats (sure, not your typical scratch every hook premo beat). Royce is just shining all over the place. It's a nice change of pace from the phonte, skyzoo, elzhi marathon I have been on.



werd.

straight butter.


werd.

It's not like Primo hasn't done melodic production before. All of it sounds like updated MoT/Ownerz steez.

Only thing I'm not feeling is the Yela Wolf verse.

It's not even that it's "bad" per se. It's fine. There's some stuff to like here. It just pales in comparison to the first one. And that may be an understatement. It's just so disappointing, such a letdown, in the shadow of how great the first one was.


>It's not like Primo hasn't done melodic production before.
>All of it sounds like updated MoT/Ownerz steez.
>
>Only thing I'm not feeling is the Yela Wolf verse.

impression...underwhelmed to say the least

but this album is dope as hell. The fact that they're not super choppy-sounding isn't a bad thing. Royce's verses are even more personal this go-round and Primo's use of chords in the place of dissonance fits it well.

Y'all didn't mind melodic, cinematic Primo beats when he did it for Reasonable Doubt. Am I saying these beats are as good as those? No.

>but this album is dope as hell. The fact that they're not
>super choppy-sounding isn't a bad thing. Royce's verses are
>even more personal this go-round and Primo's use of chords in
>the place of dissonance fits it well.
>
>Y'all didn't mind melodic, cinematic Primo beats when he did
>it for Reasonable Doubt. Am I saying these beats are as good
>as those? No.

Plus Royce sounds more at home on choppy Preem production.

it's always funny to me how people will diss some things right off the bat, but give the strangest things the 'okay I gave it another chance and it grew on me' treatment. Not talking about you in that instance, but I just find it a bit odd-and interesting-that people give some things a chance and not others, based on expectation.

>it's always funny to me how people will diss some things
>right off the bat, but give the strangest things the 'okay I
>gave it another chance and it grew on me' treatment. Not
>talking about you in that instance, but I just find it a bit
>odd-and interesting-that people give some things a chance and
>not others, based on expectation.

I think I said it in here already but just in case - this is definitely a case of my expectations being SKY high because the first album blew me away immediately. So going into this album I had unfair expectations for sure. Almost unreachable.

So I'm hoping in a couple weeks when I inevitably go back and listen expecting to dislike it, that I'm pleasantly surprised. It's happened before a million times.

But yea I get what you're saying. In my defense (I know you weren't speaking about me specifically) I almost always give albums multiple chances before I completely dismiss them, especially when it comes to artists like Royce and Preem who are both in my top 5s of their respective crafts.

What an amazing song... whole thing is dope to me

Royce's "Trust the Shooter" mixtape. Sad !

you generally have a pretty optimistic opinion on these boards. Still struggling on how you could be this sad over the album. Guessing the expectations weren't met. For me, it reminds me of wanting more from the last De La album .. for it to sound like stakes is high or something close, and it wasn't at all what I expected it to be.... it was kinda of all over the place.... but I ended up appreciating and loving every moment of it.





werd.

>you generally have a pretty optimistic opinion on these
>boards. Still struggling on how you could be this sad over
>the album. Guessing the expectations weren't met. For me, it
>reminds me of wanting more from the last De La album .. for it
>to sound like stakes is high or something close, and it wasn't
>at all what I expected it to be.... it was kinda of all over
>the place.... but I ended up appreciating and loving every
>moment of it.

I appreciate the sentiment man.

Anyway - you're right, my disappointment is definitely due to expectations not having been met. And that stems largely from my inability to separate the two projects. The first PRyhme album blew me away so completely, so immediately, that it'd be near impossible to match it. So it's probably unfair for me to expect that standard again, but that's the nature of the beast I guess. Kinda like Nas w/Illmatic or Snoop w/Doggystyle. The first one is likely my favorite hip-hop project of the last 5 or 6 years.

I want to see more people's thoughts on the album (expecting an influx after the full release Friday) before I give a complete review here. But I've now given it 4 full spins through and still can't get into just about any of the beats. But as I said, hopefully with time I'll be able to separate the two albums, and do away with my expectations and give it a more objective listen and appreciate it like you did with Anonymous Nobody.

I marathoned ( and still do on occasion) the first album. I still love it. Though, I didn't have as much luck getting my friends into it. Royce can be a hard sell. For me it was hearing those primo scratches and jabs on the first one that hooked me in.

but this feels like a different experience all together....

Meanwhile we got roc sounding the same on every album, and he is one cat I would LOVE to hear change it up a bit, both cadence and beats. to each his own.


werd.

>I marathoned ( and still do on occasion) the first album. I
>still love it. Though, I didn't have as much luck getting my
>friends into it. Royce can be a hard sell. For me it was
>hearing those primo scratches and jabs on the first one that
>hooked me in.

That's what hooked me in, too. Royce's rhymes take multiple listens to really pick up on all the nuances, so on first listen it was the vintage-yet-fresh Preemo production, and Royce's flow. Plus all the dope guest spots. Repeated listens were rewarded because Royce had peppered his rhymes with complexity and double/triple entendres. Plus the brevity made it an easy front to back listen; I could pretty much crush the entire thing every time I went to and from work.


>but this feels like a different experience all together....

It does - exactly. In some ways I probably subconsciously wanted another straight-forward boom bap offering, but ..


>Meanwhile we got roc sounding the same on every album, and he
>is one cat I would LOVE to hear change it up a bit, both
>cadence and beats. to each his own.

... that's the interesting part. I typically prefer artists to take risks and switch up the formula from album to album. I guess with PRhyme it was just nice to hear SOMEONE keeping it simple, keeping it gutter, keeping it 90s (while still sounding fresh and not dated) like PRhyme did the first time around. And doing it really, really well. Because make no mistake, there is plenty of great hip-hop coming out recently. What with Evidence, and Phonte, and Jericho Jackson, and a few others ... I have plenty to listen to. But PRhyme had that dose of 90s nostalgia I don't get from many hip-hop artists these last few years. And when I didn't get that again I was pissed/sad. Haha.

I really liked the first PRhryme, but for whatever reason I don't hold it in the same super high regard I think a lot of other posters here did so I came into this second one with "normal" expectations. Royce going off over Premo beats mined from Antman Wonder compositions.

I'm a fan of all 3 and this second one really works for me. Like others have said it's smoother and more cinematic then traditional Premo chop-sample beats. The drums are not standard Premo kit. But I'm feeling all these strings, horns, and flutes haha.

__
I don't like the beat anymore because its just a loop. ALC didn't FLIP IT ENOUGH!

Flip it enough? Flip these. Flip off. Go flip some f*cking burgers.(c)Kno

Allied State of the National Electric Beat Treaty Organization (NEBTO)

I thought it was okay but outside of a couple tracks didn't really like the beats.

But I really like the production of PHryme 2 and admire how Primo changed his style but still made quality music.

Royce turned in another project with a seemingly infinite variety of flows.

I don't listen to a lot of Royce's work but I liked how he managed to drop some personal sentiments on Black America. Some of the other content was a bit too street for my gentle ears but for the most part the lyrics are on point.

I'd give it 4.25 / 5. An album that will get some spin for at least the next month or so.

He often reminds me of Em with the name drops
and occasional attempts at shock value raps.

To be fair, I probably wouldn’t make that connection
if it was t for their history. But I can’t help it.

Dude is dope of course, and he is spitting on here

I don’t feel him as much as others either.

Dope album though.

I wanted more of Prhyme 1. This isn't that.

Not saying it's bad, but I'm not really fucking with it like the first one which is one of my favorite albums. Need more listens to make my mind up.

If I listened to peoples initial reactions I wouldnt have got this album. I think some people are so closed minded where if an album or song doesn't fit into the narrow definition of what sound a producer should have, then they automatically dismiss it as trash.

That being said I went into this album with no expectations. I never listened to the first Prhyme so had no comparisons except for the rest of Primos production. I think its a dope album.

Made Man too

Wish the album ended with Do Ya Thang

Yes...Era is weak...yes...Flirt is not good...and damn that Cee-Lo hook sucks ass and ends the album off terrible.

But the rest of this is dope as hell to me.

I re-read this post and 95% are feeling it. Brew also mentioned above that it was more of -- didn't meet expectations compared to prhyme1 -- and gave a thoughtful response.

personally - i got this shit on repeat. I also think sunflower seeds is my favorite outright track of 2018

werd.

i can see if you were expecting the same sound as the first album that you might be let down. after one listen i prefer this album to the first one.

could maybe lose a couple of tracks but this albums is dope. some great songs in here.

Put Meshell on instead.

The beats song weird man. Weird hooks too. I watched a video they got out and I could barely hear Royce over the damn track. I don't know what happened here but I'm good.

I actually put this one expecting mediocrity.

You all have AWFUL taste.

This is a smart, thoughtful, melodic, fun record.

one (1) person who didn't like the album

and several others on the "don't know why ppl are shitting on this/not sure what you guys are listening to/the lesson sux" tip.

lolz.

>one (1) person who didn't like the album
>
>and several others on the "don't know why ppl are shitting on
>this/not sure what you guys are listening to/the lesson sux"
>tip.
>
>lolz.

I'd describe a couple people as "less than totally enamored" by the album, but I am definitely the only full on detractor thus far. So it looks like I represent the entire site now, which is unexpected.

This is a really professional, artful, courageous,
excellent record.

The response has been underwhelming.

I put it on and was legitimately shocked by how
excellent it was.

yes a whole additional Royce Da 5'9 album

dude is on an amazing run right now, including his last 2 proper albums (Success is Certain, Layers)

>yes a whole additional Royce Da 5'9 album

Layers was the best of 2016 imo, but i still wont hear 10 better rap albums this year

also...the "Everyday Struggle" beat...damn. the double time jazzy dnb segments are the biggest tease in the world and i find myself constantly looking forward to the next time it comes in

loving this beat

werd.

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/prhyme-prhyme-2/


werd.

I don't even like the album and think this bullshit is over the top. Guess it's to be expected coming from these pretentious fucks.

I like that this doesn’t sound like typical premo.

Still digesting, but it’s definitely a stronger
album than the first.

Yelawolf is ass though. I’ll never understand how
dudes like that get on.

Delete that track and a couple others, and the
album is basically perfect.