https://genius.com/albums/Black-thought/Streams-of-thought-vol-3-cain-and-abel

1 I'm Not Crazy (First Contact)
2 State Prisoner
3 Good Morning (Ft. Killer Mike, Pusha T & Swizz Beatz)
4 Magnificent
5 Experience (Interlude)
6 Quiet Trip (Ft. The Last Artful, Dodgr & Portugal. The Man)
7 Nature of the Beast (Ft. The Last Artful, Dodgr & Portugal. The Man)
8 We Should Be Good (Ft. C.S. Armstrong)
9 Steak Um (Ft. ScHoolboy Q)
10 Thought vs. Everybody
11 Ghetto Boyz & Girls (Ft. C.S. Armstrong)
12 Fuel (Ft. The Last Artful, Dodgr & Portugal. The Man)
13 I'm Not Crazy (Outro)

>1 I'm Not Crazy (First Contact)
>2 State Prisoner
>3 Good Morning (Ft. Killer Mike, Pusha T & Swizz Beatz)
>4 Magnificent
>5 Experience (Interlude)
>6 Quiet Trip (Ft. The Last Artful, Dodgr & Portugal. The Man)
>7 Nature of the Beast (Ft. The Last Artful, Dodgr & Portugal.
>The Man)
>8 We Should Be Good (Ft. C.S. Armstrong)
>9 Steak Um (Ft. ScHoolboy Q)
>10 Thought vs. Everybody
>11 Ghetto Boyz & Girls (Ft. C.S. Armstrong)
>12 Fuel (Ft. The Last Artful, Dodgr & Portugal. The Man)
>13 I'm Not Crazy (Outro)

That's a strange list of features (imo).

I should probably(?0 be more excited about "Good Morning" but I'm not.

And Sean C producing the whole thing? Am I missing something?

I don't know... I was liking the tighter focus of the last two volumes with few features letting Thought 100% shine. Overanalyzing a tracklist is easy to do but this one isn't jumping out at me.

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

They’re more like lyrical exercises, sometimes in the form of a song and sometimes just a long verse. Over production that we really haven’t heard him over. So as long as this features Thought rapping his ass off and beats that don’t immediately register as “the Roots,” fine by me

> So as long as this
>features Thought rapping his ass off and beats that don’t
>immediately register as “the Roots,” fine by me

I'm mostly here too -- I just want vol 3 to be as tight as the first two.

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

We’ll see.

>
>>1 I'm Not Crazy (First Contact)
>>2 State Prisoner
>>3 Good Morning (Ft. Killer Mike, Pusha T & Swizz Beatz)
>>4 Magnificent
>>5 Experience (Interlude)
>>6 Quiet Trip (Ft. The Last Artful, Dodgr & Portugal. The
>Man)
>>7 Nature of the Beast (Ft. The Last Artful, Dodgr &
>Portugal.
>>The Man)
>>8 We Should Be Good (Ft. C.S. Armstrong)
>>9 Steak Um (Ft. ScHoolboy Q)
>>10 Thought vs. Everybody
>>11 Ghetto Boyz & Girls (Ft. C.S. Armstrong)
>>12 Fuel (Ft. The Last Artful, Dodgr & Portugal. The Man)
>>13 I'm Not Crazy (Outro)
>
>That's a strange list of features (imo).

C.S. Armstrong is a musician. And Portugal, The Man is a psych rock band (The Lastful Artful, Dodgr is a rapper affiliated with them).

So I'd guess that Good Morning and Steak 'Um are the only tracks that feature guest verses.

>And Sean C producing the whole thing? Am I missing something?

Dude is dope producer. Him and LV produced a lot of dope shit for Def Jam during the late '00s and early '10s. And he did Joell Ortiz's "Put Some Money On It" is one of my favorite tracks of the last 10 years.

And, you know, it's Black Thought. I'm figuring that it's going to be dope until proven otherwise.

>
>C.S. Armstrong is a musician. And Portugal, The Man is a psych
>rock band (The Lastful Artful, Dodgr is a rapper affiliated
>with them).

Fair -- I didn't know CS Armstrong at all. I'm familiar with Portugal... (but not overly so), and have seen the name Last Artful... but don't think I've checked her out yet. I guess it all just seemed like an odd assortment.

>Dude is dope producer. Him and LV produced a lot of dope shit
>for Def Jam during the late '00s and early '10s. And he did
>Joell Ortiz's "Put Some Money On It" is one of my favorite
>tracks of the last 10 years.

Fair again - just if I were drafting a list of producers I'd want to do a whole project with Thought, I honestly don't think I'd have come up with him at all. (But as said elsewhere, maybe that's the point.)

But it's Black Thought so there's little doubt it will come off right at this point.

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

>Fair again - just if I were drafting a list of producers I'd
>want to do a whole project with Thought, I honestly don't
>think I'd have come up with him at all. (But as said
>elsewhere, maybe that's the point.)

The way I figure it, I wouldn't thought (pun intended) I wanted a Black Thought/Salaam Remi project. But I loved the results. And in this case, Sean C has produced something for The Roots before (The Stomp off of undun)

>But it's Black Thought so there's little doubt it will come
>off right at this point.

I'm right here too.

>>C.S. Armstrong is a musician.
>
>Fair -- I didn't know CS Armstrong at all.

C.S. Armstrong is a singer. Damn good one too.

https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/8500473/cs-armstrong-truth-be-told-album-premiere

https://open.spotify.com/artist/6MxR3Hjf2uTSew9wmKbOwO?si=PiyHihy0TvGINJ0heIHTWw

just more people playing music for him to rap to, id assume

As long as you know that the project is the project and once it's out you have to take it on its own merits - not what you think it should or shouldn't be - speculating on a project's potential *before* it's out is perfectly legit.

Besides, this is okp -- groundless speculation is practically mandatory, lol.

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

cant wait. really need some new Thought!


The Last Artful, dodgr is really dope btw. she got a style all her own

Better safe than Social
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uAxNXs9RRc

Sangria (with Choosey & Exile)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aU30UhNg-Bk

Oofda
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8q01VZA6m4

HOT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udTU083tv3Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u12r_JI8mGM

Thought Vs. Everybody and Nature of the Beast.

Thought Vs. Everybody in particular is FIRE.

Hyped for this, appreciate the info...

....unless it's one of the 10 or so MCs alive that can hang with him

If he’s gonna have features, I wanna see him barring up with people who can give him a run for his money like G Rap, Kxng Crooked, Casual etc. Not the same guests everyone else gets

even if this one isnt as good as the previous two i am excited to hear it. pretty sure i will be looking forward to vol 4 too. from what i understand these are meant to be in the moment type of projects. i expect different vibes and unexpected collaborations. some might not match my ideal black thought tracks but if its what hes feeling then im listening.

only concern i have is that quest was hyping this up when vol 2 dropped and a lot of time has passed. i dont know how similar this vol 3 is to what quest was expecting back then.

i would bet on black thought having some great surprises for us over disappointments.

i think when 2 came out he mentioned this one. Cant wait.

Personally I've kind of fell out of love with The Roots for a while now and Blackthought hasn't excited me in a while, his flow has become regular fanfare to me, I expect him to spit but his topics and punchlines & etc. are so mediocre to what I be wanting but that's just me.

I thought the first two projects were decent but neither of them had mea wanting to go back to them after the first initial listen, not sure what he needs to do to bring life back into his flows & rhymes but hopefully this will be the one since Mr. 15 had rumored to have said this was the best one, but is that really saying much since I didn't care for the last few Roots albums either?

>and Blackthought hasn't excited me in a while, his
>flow has become regular fanfare to me, I expect him to spit
>but his topics and punchlines & etc. are so mediocre to what I
>be wanting but that's just me.
>
>I thought the first two projects were decent but neither of
>them had mea wanting to go back to them after the first
>initial listen,

Whatever folks think about the last few Roots projects, it seems indisputable to me that Thought has *brought it* on these EPs. I mean, each to his own but some of these tracks count among his absolute best to me. I can listen to either of the first two tracks (Twofifteen, 9th vs Thought) from volume 1 on repeat all day and the whole of volume 2 is just great with several lyrical standouts. Was disappointed in the mix and some production on volume 1 but that is legit my only complaint.

If he keeps up that streak, I'm totally good.


-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

just dropped on YT

https://youtu.be/IQmJCim_PTY

But on my phone, it sounds kind of basic and very monotonous. Thought sounds dope lyrically tho....

https://youtu.be/Pv0jU0ccUGQ

....they found a clever way to make a vid for a song with no chorus IMO. Looking forward to the project.

I don't do EPs

Dope beats.
Dope rhymes.
One of the best to EVER do it?
Sign me up.

And I LOOOOVE EP's.
You're gonna give me a complete 18-24 minutes of heat?
Yes! I don't got time for average songs just to make a full LP.
I got shit to do.

Trim the fat. Don’t give me redundant songs. Don’t follow the something for everybody formula. Just give us that focused heat!

An artist can just not do that, as countless other artists before have done.

It came more out of physical limitations (and expectations) than anything else. Calling something an EP now basically just means it's on the shorter side but I've seen folks calling everything from 3 songs/8 minutes to 8 to 10 songs/30+ minutes an "ep" -- the range is pretty wide.

Which, by consequence, doesn't say anything about how developed/cohesive the material is. Thought's second volume was 9 tracks, 23 minutes -- a single producer with a very cohesive sound on both the production and the lyrical end. It felt like an album regardless of its length. Kota's Lyrics to Go was similar to me, although in some ways that felt more like a fully-developed mixtape (due to the short track lengths)... but again, the distinction becomes semantics at a certain point.

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

I love it too --- it might be one of my favorite things about music right now.

Which is actually surprising because for a long time I really loved long, immersive albums and sort of held them on a pedestal.

I still do to a degree. But there's also something about a really focused shorter project that can be just as impressive. Some of my favorite recent albums fall more in the "ep" category but they feel like fully-developed albums.


-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

asinine is another
esp since the tracklist is literally in the OP

Dude is willing to deny theyself good music because of
the institution of the EP


I mean, good god


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



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




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

(C)Keith Murray, "

If you stream music and depend on playlists and shuffles,
then you're probably dependent on quantity. You want more new music.

If you listen to albums from top to bottom and look at an LP as a single piece of work,
then it's about the quality of the project as a whole.

i usually saw EPs as being a promo piece for an upcoming album. so it might have a couple songs that were going to end up on the full album, maybe some remixes or loosies. in that case yeah, i would rather wait for the full album.

most EPs now are stand-alone projects that just have shorter run times though. based on the track list i would guess this will be a full length album by any standard.

so yeah, im confused on the stance as well.

..I kind of get it ..if you can make an EP, just add 2 more songs, an intro and a skit or 2 and make it an LP

..The way you feel about EP's is kind of how i feel about any kind of skit these days ..complete waste aside from maybe Prince Paul whos the master of that shit.

this ISN'T EVEN AN EP lolol
we can all see the tracklist in the OP right??

...he wouldn't have known the difference.

...i'm not saying this one is an EP

I’m mostly off skits too, but there are exceptions. All of those ones served a purpose to the album and had me cracking up.

it helps that their skits have been such a big part of their story, though. i agree that the vast majority for other artists could be dropped and most albums would be the better for it.

(edit: LB's skits are actually engaging/funny/thoughtful, too -- i still listen to most of them and laugh; that's outside the norm for sure)

i'm also pretty tired of spoken bits from interviews/field recordings/movie snippets -- they can be really effective when used well but most of the time they have limited replay value, especially when their being used to make a larger cultural/political statement. skyzoo's retropolitan had only 1 flaw and that was putting two of those things IN A ROW, AS THE OPENING OF THE WHOLE ALBUM. totally unnecessary, minimal contribution to the record as a whole.



-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

Couldn’t agree more. I was just listening to Glorious the other day and thought the same thing. It would be better if they made it a separate track, if they really want to include it.

A new Roots album? Just thinking out loud.


https://www.instagram.com/p/CDSEeNFFcQg/?igshid=unmn6ykcx2jx

Just hoping that has something to do with it.

Love them as a duo.

I'm going home to MO next week and it would have been cool to focus solely on the album while traveling.

But it'll get here soon enough.

So I understand the delay...

Would be crazy if they drop The Roots album now...

They have been sitting on it for a while I would guess...

Also hoping maybe it's delayed to add an old, previously unreleased track WITH Malik ? Maybe ? Hopefully ?!?! PLEASE ??

to pay respects.

I actually really think that could be the top reason why he decided to push it back, obv I'm not him, but that's something I would do.

*edit*

Because I'm sure there were lots of editorials/interviews sitting and waiting to be published for Vol. 3 that had to have been made before his passing. What would it look like if all that were released and BT's responses never mentioned Malik B.? I'm wondering if that's apart of it too. Adding to or redoing (idk how likely that is, prolly NOT) interviews or any kind of press, just so Tariq can give his brother Malik his respects each time.

Again, speculators gone speculate.
---

https://twitter.com/MeeshUniVerSoul


"She was on that tip about stoppin' the violence
About my people she was teachin' me..."

I was surprised I had not heard of a delay. Checked for the album last night and didn't find it. Then I saw the announcement.

I'll be waiting for it just as eager whenever it drops.

per this interview:

"Produced by Sean C (of the producer duo Sean C and LV), the bold, bright “Streams of Thought Vol. 3” album will be slotted for release in the coming months, preceded by the single “Good Morning,” featuring Killer Mike, Pusha T and Swizz Beatz, on August 28."

thought explains the track is featuring swizz but is produced by sean c.

he also mentions that end game is still coming and again hypes it up.

https://variety.com/2020/music/news/black-thought-rapper-interview-roots-tarik-trotter-1234743092/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8UGarVsZsE
https://open.spotify.com/track/7evTceKtCaBbxoLIqICIVh?si=O4oj_kDJRRGtpoqiGpwkFw

https://level.medium.com/black-thought-is-loved-and-feared-by-your-favorite-rapper-89e179cf3b3f

----
Talk about Streams of Thought, Vol. 4, which is already complete. Who’s the sole producer?

14KT, a producer from Detroit who now resides outside of L.A. There are so many classics on Vol. 4., just because of the mindset I went into recording the Streams of Thought series. I’m so far ahead of my time that I will never not have a couple finished albums in the clip ready to be put out. Streams of Thought, Vol. 4 probably has the most features I’ve ever done on any project. I have features with the usual suspects like Pharoahe Monch and Yasiin Bey — I even have Redman and Fabulous on there for the East Coast sensibilities — but then I have Tobe Nwigwe, Big KRIT, Currensy, Rick Ross, and J.I.D. Everyone ain’t gonna get an opportunity to jump on a joint with me. You have to be able to hold your own, and it has to feel seamless. That’s what Streams of Thought, Vol. 4 is. I listened to it this morning. It’s only 30 minutes, but it’s crazy.

----

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

He's gonna get so much attention for that project whenever it drops.

Also new Mos Def verses are hard to come by these days....wanna hear that the most.

Then how about we get an official solo LP instead of these 30 min joints?

I’m cool with these but damn, can I get an actual album.

It’s like the one notch on his belt he’s missing and he seemingly just refuses to lock in.

Just like that Nas/Preemo albums...Nas/AZ album. There’s certain shit, I guess as an ignorant fan, just doesn’t make sense as to why it hasn’t happened.

Within a 2 year span...he released 2 EPs with another on the way...and all three of them had more Black Thought verses than the last Roots album.

Legit...best MC to live...don’t need these other cats on tracks with him.

Roots albums should reserve guests for other great MCs at this point.

Not Dice, Truck, Porn and the others.

And nothing against them dudes...I like them.

But there’s levels to this shit

>Legit...best MC to live...don’t need these other cats on
>tracks with him.
>
>Roots albums should reserve guests for other great MCs at this
>point.
>
>Not Dice, Truck, Porn and the others.
>
>And nothing against them dudes...I like them.
>
>But there’s levels to this shit

I remember Truck getting mad AF when I said that here....

The Roots albums since TFA have been kept to 13 or less tracks. Maybe Rising Down had 14.

And that’s cool because I don’t love long albums.

However, if you’re going to make that decisions then you can’t fill the album with multiple guest spots from Truck, Porn, and Dice. It just becomes a mix tape at that point.

I’ve also heard on here that Roots albums have always had a lot of guests, which I don’t believe to be true but even if it was, the percentage of time they took up was just less due to the albums being longer.

Illadelph has;
6 - Dice
7 - Bahamadia
11 - Mars & Dice
12 - Common
17 - Q-Tip

That’s 6 MCs on 5 songs out of a total of 20 tracks. Obviously I’m not counting singers because that doesn’t take away verses from Thought which is what this is about.

With that said, we also have not only verses but also hooks being taken away from Thought decreasing his time even more.

TFA has;
6 - ELO
8 - Dice
9 - Mos
10 - Common
13 - Beans & Dice

Which is exactly the same 6 guests over 5 songs.

And again, nothing against Truck or Porn...the latter has had some dope ass verses which I would definitely keep 1 guest spot per album for him, but we have come to expect guests on Roots albums to be more along the lines of Double Trouble and Love Of My Life which are potentially the best back-to-back songs on any of their albums. All time classic shit right there.

This doesn’t mean I want the same guests but damn, just be more selective and keep Thought the focus. Perhaps they just want to give the others some shine but I’m assuming they could do that by working on their albums and not turning The Roots albums into a block party.

I remember as soon as I opened The Firm album in 97 and looked through the booklet...prior to hearing the album, I told my boy... “I don’t know about this one man” because I saw the line up. Nature and Dre. Foxy solo. Pretty Boy and Foxy. Wizard. Nature solo. Canibus and Nore feature (which were dope). AZ and Half-A-Mil track. The reason we fucking copped the album was to hear Nas and AZ on the same tracks. That’s it. And that didn’t happen and the result were terrible. I’ll take Foxy and Nature on every song with them...but you AT LEAST need to have those two together on the majority of tracks.

Maybe it’s me being picky but I really think after Game Theory, they really didn’t capitalize on what was potentially their most interesting work.

You reference non-Roots emcees' guest spots, but fail to mention that Malib B is on the majority of songs on Illadelph and TFA. So post-TFA Root albums may have more guests, but not necessarily less Thought (per song)

But to me, BT and Malik *are* The Roots.

These other dudes ain’t on that level

*eyeroll*

:(

Might be for the best, there's a lot of stuff dropping today

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

yeah i saw yesterday that it was listed as 10/2 in this article/interview

https://consequenceofsound.net/2020/09/this-must-be-the-gig-the-roots-black-thought/

Very different than the previous two.

Imma leave it at that.

Different as in...more eclectic?

But, yes, the beats are more eclectic, especially beat-wise. Sonically, they're very different from Vol. 1 and Vol. 2.

Is a sick producer. He has a live set he did in LA a few months ago that has monsters in it. Definitely a go to producer for me.

Jaded Incorporated
saw them perform it live too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODGDin0jncc

still one of my favorite jawns!!!

I know Black's on a label now.....it that what is holding things up?

Not sure - with the two of three interviews hes done, I would have assumed it was lined up and ready to go. Maybe some last minute clearance issues or something? Just checked his Twitter and nothing.

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

10/3/20

Not seeing anything out there yet...

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

only thing i saw was "JOY" was coming 10/03. no idea what that meant and havent seen anything.

.

I understand the first delay, but there's been at least 2-3 since then, and it's getting to the point where no one is going to care about this anymore.

>I understand the first delay, but there's been at least 2-3
>since then, and it's getting to the point where no one is
>going to care about this anymore.

I don't think there's any huge loss here in terms of fans or anything. At most it's a bit aggravating. It will come when it comes.



-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

teetering on unacceptable in 2020. This is the kind of shit that used to fly in the 2000s, but in 2020 rappers are announcing release dates, dropping a single and dropping the full project in a 10 day span.

This is a Kanye rollout without all the noise that comes with it.

Though given the current climate, I don’t really care. So much music I can easily access.....my day is never really ruined if something like this happens.

At least there’s a Thought verse on that new WestSide Gunn. Maybe he didn’t want to drop the same day as that? Let that feature cook for a week or two and then drop?

As fans, we need to pump the breaks on thinking we are entitled to art from artists on our timeline, etc.

I'm sure there are reasons- maybe tweaks, maybe samples, maybe Malik B related, etc.

After all the joy BT has given us, we can't forgive a few delays?

Jay Elect just dropped an 8-13 year delayed album, and people care. A lot.


Should he have just dropped it when its done? Probably. But, obviously, the delays- whatever they may- were not predictable.

Whether its label drama or simply BT getting steady from Malik B, the extra time is meant to make sure the album (and BT) is as dope as possible.

In the end, we won't remember if the album was a few weeks late, just that it was flames or not.

https://open.spotify.com/album/4j4HCie37pZHJ0YtqKSHti?si=QYubNqOtQi-dOaPoSRW0tQ

FLAMES! The urgency and intensity of the beat is really well-done. The beatswitch midway is a nice touch and I think the production style of that bridge matched up well with Pusha's sound off of his Kanye album.

Thought was amazing as usual. Wouldn't have expected anything less. I liked Pusha's verse. It would rank third, but all three of these verses were top notch.

And of course Killa Mike brought it.

Can't wait for the album.

Thanks.

https://twitter.com/blackthought/status/1314360412972953605

...This and Busta Rhymes at the end of the month is pretty damn awesome.

the other dates had been more speculation than actual announcement. would had been nice if his team had deaded the rumors on the other dates but oh well.

This seems more firm. Looking forward to it!

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

...and I'm only on Magnificent...

BTdaGOAT.

What's the credit for the cover art?

I’m having a hard time thinking of a more...comes to a screeching halt...moment on an album
F’d up part...after reading some of the earlier replies... I was actually expecting it at the intro of the watch me double time rappin’ a$$ song
Which isn’t a bad song per se...but then it happens...BTdaGOAT does that Sesame Street signing a$$ song
Followed by a cringy relationship song
Whoever made the decision to keep those 3 songs should be FIYAH’D!!!
Cut those and it’s the perfect 3rd volume...I’m f’n baffled
Did they push the release...for that?
Jawn’s fire otherwise...but seriously...WTF

Really disappointed with no Malik B tribute
When they pushed after he passed it gave me the impression that was the reason
Yeah, really f’n weird roll out and result

Kinda sours it.

>Followed by a cringy relationship song

Definitely my favorite out of the 3 volumes so far....and thats on first listen

exceeded expectations. might end up my AOTY. definitely feels like a full album.

Today is a good day.

This is the first of the 3 Streams of Thought projects that feels like a cohesive project made with intention. Not that the others were bad, they just felt like little side projects or teasers before the real album.

This is the real album. I almost wish it didn't have the Streams of Thought title and he just called it Cane and Abel, but seriously that's such a meaningless critique and that being the only negative thought I have after two full listens says everything.

Really good stuff. Gonna get a lot of spins this weekend.

As dope as this project is, I don't know if this project not having some sort of tribute or any mention of the passing of malik b is telling or not.

Just a thought.

Not the Malik B passing...

He addresses it in the first question asked

https://youtu.be/u8FyzdN-Czo

The O.G. version of "Magnificent" was slightly different than what came out. Originally all the uses of "The magnificent" was the same sample that Special Ed used for "I'm the Magnificent." I like the first version just a little better, but it's still one of the best songs on the album.

i did find myself skipping every song except Good Morning, which I didn't do for the first two volumes, but I still have to listen to this with headphones on.

I'm in this camp. Maybe it will grow on repeated listens

You clearly see why he’s on another level that only some are on.

I don’t get the complaints of anything on here.

Shot flows from top to bottom and ISN’T one dimensional which has always been Thoughts’ downfall.

Not saying he does speak on various topics but even when he did it always came off as that same vibe.

This album has more dynamics and actually reminds me of Game Theory to a degree in that it isn’t just one zone.

I question myself at times, and I know I am not crazy. This album gave me hope in knowing I am not alone or crazy.

LMFAAAAAOOOOO


but because of that, i only listened once. Waiting to see if I'll be getting a refund and/or the download of the explicit version.

Side note, ever since BT's Tiny Desk earlier this year, I def hated the song "Nature of the Beast". Literally after the first 5 seconds lol. I thought, why not try to listen to it in the context of the album (my first listen-through) and I just couldn't do it. Couldn't get past 30 seconds.

What do you all think of the song?


Other than that, from memory... "Steak Um" might be my 1st favorite from my first listen.
---

https://twitter.com/MeeshUniVerSoul


welp

Where do you purchase music? It getting pretty hard to find a place that sells digital music.

https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/streams-of-thought-vol-3-cane-able-black-thought/qtgloydlib0ic
---

https://twitter.com/MeeshUniVerSoul


welp

I deleted it...I deleted those 3 songs...

My EP goes from The Magnificent to Steak Um

...I left The Experience interlude in...so it goes...you gotta go through it to get to it...to...don't forget who I am...

= Illmatic the EP.

They're not bad songs per se...but that's not what I need from BT

I can go to Washed Out for some autotuned sesame street sing songy electronica...

I'm here for the barz.

i havent really listened to the songs individually since i heard the album. i just know i loved the whole thing.

im watched the lyric video they just released for nature of the beast and i dig it but i get why its cringe for others.

i think it probably will be a song i end up ranking lower but i definitely like it more than when i first heard it on tiny desk.

The first time through, the only songs that really stood out were the singles, Good Morning and Thought vs. Everybody.

After about 4 or 5 listens, Magnificent has grown on me and also Steak Um. I'm sure with more listens other tracks will click with me.

As Anonymous said, there's a diversity of production styles and lyrical styles to hold attention throughout all 13 tracks. If there was a complaint about the first two, the sameness of the beats stood out. That isn't the case here.

This is my second favorite out of the three. One being my favorite.

Its excellent, I just find Vol 2 to be damn close to perfect. More cohesive, consistent, etc.


This is really good...but I could do with less Portugal The Man. What am I missing here? I don't get it.

Its cliche but I assume Thought has D's number. Or Paaks. Etc.

Portugal the Man...on...three fucking songs??

I'm sorry but Nature of the Beast sounds like some Disney shit to me.

And I know I am in the extreme minority, but I would be perfectly fine if I never hear Pusha T again. Dude is not interesting without Malice and Pharrel.

And now that I know Killer Mike is just a character dude plays its hard to take him seriously at all.


That said, it does reward repeated listens and I am nitpicking.

he said

I only do features to keep hittin' my mark
And show you motherfuckers you ain't good as you Thought

Now I know I'm old skool...but we would have considered that shots fiya'd

You feature a dude on your track...and that's one of his opening barz

Shots FIYA'D.

Before we ever sold cocaine we civilized Spain (c) is my bar of the year

I can't decide who had the hottest verse on that track

With you completely on 'those 3 songs'

Should been left on the editing floor

I'm pretending they don't exist and deleted them.

saying other people are not as good as you, thought. if you want to read into it.

how is it a diss to thought if he is saying people are not as good as thought?

definitely different than when big daddy kane said "on tracks with jurassic i be the t-rex" on that j5 track.

...so he can hit marks...like an assassin...I'm featured on your favorite rapper's track...watch me rap lines around him

next line...BT, you not as good as you thought

Hit different for me...after listen 4080...shrug

Called "Dangerous Thoughts"

This gonna be an album or another in the "Streams of Thought" series.

Danger Mouse produced the Michael Kiwanuka albums

days. Or at least around then.

We got Act 2 so why not. Anything is possible.

But I wonder if this is the release of the project they worked on together near the turn of the century.

for either vol 1 or 2 (that I know of) -- I'm guessing that at some point these will be pressed as a set, maybe that's part of his new deal with Republic? But that is just speculation.

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

but honestly I'm mainly here for just 2, 4, and 10. Good Morning is ok but underwhelming, 7 and 8 can absolutely be left behind, and the rest is good but not great. Again, these are relatively early impressions but on the whole it's not anywhere close to vol. 2.


>1 I'm Not Crazy (First Contact)
>2 State Prisoner
>3 Good Morning (Ft. Killer Mike, Pusha T & Swizz Beatz)
>4 Magnificent
>5 Experience (Interlude)
>6 Quiet Trip (Ft. The Last Artful, Dodgr & Portugal. The Man)
>7 Nature of the Beast (Ft. The Last Artful, Dodgr & Portugal.
>The Man)
>8 We Should Be Good (Ft. C.S. Armstrong)
>9 Steak Um (Ft. ScHoolboy Q)
>10 Thought vs. Everybody
>11 Ghetto Boyz & Girls (Ft. C.S. Armstrong)
>12 Fuel (Ft. The Last Artful, Dodgr & Portugal. The Man)
>13 I'm Not Crazy (Outro)


-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

That is definitely the best so far. Amazing piece of work.

This is good too, but man some of these tracks are rough.

Ditch Nature of the Beast, have good Morning cut off after Thought's verse, and nab someone like Bilal for Fuel and/or Quiet Trip and I'm good.


Whats the deal with Portgual the Man? I don't get it. At all. Birthday Girl vibes.

As you were.

there's a few decent tracks, but not one song will make my BT mixtapes.

It's tough to compare against the first one because the first had 5 tracks, and I can def make a 5 track EP out of this that I like better overall. Seemed like the first 2 projects it was mostly Thought spitting and flexing his technical rap skills while here there are more songs with wider range of themes.

Can understand why the PTM tracks flopped around here, but I dug em for the most part.

>It's tough to compare against the first one because the first
>had 5 tracks, and I can def make a 5 track EP out of this that
>I like better overall. Seemed like the first 2 projects it was
>mostly Thought spitting and flexing his technical rap skills
>while here there are more songs with wider range of themes.

I feel the same re: vol 1 -- that almost felt like more of a teaser/experiment than anything and although it has two tracks that would easily make my own "best of BT" playlist (Twofifteen, 9th vs Thought), as a whole it doesn't have the finish of the other two. (And I still think the actual mixing/mastering of the album is weird.)

Which is to say that it makes it really hard to compare to the others.

All of that in mind, I can easily play vol 1 and vol 2 start to finish and not be bored, not feel the urge to skip, and definitely no "what was he thinking." I've warmed up a bit more to volume 3 but my basic review still stands.

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

I really liked the first one. But the second volume was a big let down. I like Salaam and I like BT obviously, but all of the production sounded the same. Like the same kits and sounds.

This one has a diversity of sounds and influences which stood out to me. It doesn't have the peaks of Twofifteen and Doystevsky from Vol. 1, but Good Morning and Thought vs Everybody really work for me.

but i'm not sure I love them like previous joints.

The first two were really contained and had a similar sound. On this one there was a variety of sounds and flows. One on hand that appealed to more people probably. But this album didn't have the moments of glory of Thought blackin' out on tracks like he did on the previous two.

Do you think the features took away from your enjoyment of the album? Is that why you didn't care for the first one as much as you did the second?

Vol 1 = 8.5/10
vol 2 = 9/10
vol 3 = 7.5/10


i thought vol 1 was very good. liked or loved every song, but for me, vol 2 just stepped up in every way. if i was picking the five best songs from these three projects, all would come from vol 2. vol 3.....there isn't anything I really don't like, but there also isn't anything i absolutely love (although good mourning comes close). i don't think artful dodgr or any guest besides Killer Mike really grabbed my attention. for me, this is kinda like Common's new album but with better rhymes.