thing i'm confused about is the old reign (although they LOATHED us for our standing with Em and my okayposts and blogs---we always maintained our @@@@ status.)
so the "new reign" comes in. the return "of the old flavor" so to speak (which is weird because every last member of the reggie c dennis era source has emailed me and personally told me this was some classic shit)----
but wow.
i mean i know no one "cares" cares--but i just KNEW we'd get our second @@@@1/2
wow.
this is hillllllarious.
NO! LIST Tom Petty M J Zeppelin Springsteen Neil Young Eagles Ray Charles Madonna Chuck Berry South Park TV Songs Justin Timberlake "Food Glorious Food" "Twilight Zone" theme "A Boy Named Sue" "Night Moves" "The Situation" "Superbowl Shuffle"
16. "no not all okayplayers are backing the roots up" In response to Reply # 1
I mean, look at the current numbers.
"There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again."
40. "RS gave it 3 1/2 (without saying a single thing bad about it)" In response to Reply # 5
& then the next issue that came out, they had it in the "Buy These Now" section that usually only goes to the typical shit that they love that gets 4 or 4 1/2 stars.....
8. "they just don't get it" In response to Reply # 0
most of the critics feed more to a vicious cycle. one mag says something is good and the people read it, they follow so other mag jump on the train and run wit it, so more people read the same review from diff magazines, and feel its a mojority vote on whats good in music.
The Roots come along hit us with Real and Honest art. but its not good enought cuz its not what the masses are told to like. but that one person.
thats gets ate me i love the whole roots collection, i know i'm bias but the reviews that are done here on the site to me seem to give honest unbias opinion on a record.
this is my take on it but as for the reviews they don;t mean nothin when you got the backing of loyal fans ( who do buy two albums to pass on to others)
¿If a fat guy falls in the woods and there is no one around to see it, do the trees laugh?
10. "i'll laugh along with ya man..." In response to Reply # 0
when it rains it pours i guess...
if it means anything coming from just a fan, i think GT is among your best work ever. AND i actually know this from buying the album. I mean you'd think they'd bump it up another '@' just cause it was a free listen. dang. people can't even appreciate free anymore.
this is some certified bullshit, man. i honestly thought that this so-called ''new regime'' was gonna right the wrongs of the past, but on some real talk, that rating is just as bad as anything that ray and dave EVER did. ''game theory'' is arguably the best hip-hop album of the year so far. stick a dick in ya ear and fuck what you heard !!! all i know is that when grammy time rolls around, the roots WILL win the award for best hip-hop album. you heard it here first, people.
melodikangel Member since Aug 20th 2003 15788 posts
Tue Sep-19-06 01:16 AM
23. "but forreal. did ya'll make somebody mad or something?......" In response to Reply # 0
.....cause if you really appreciate music as an artform, hey even if you just like the occasional hot song, you should be able to recognize the validity of this album. 3 and a half is some bull.
and what are the qualifications to be a music critic anyway? are any of these cats musicians or at least bootleg musicologists? i mean, why do their opinions carry so much weight?
It appeals to the old school audience, it appeals to the commercial likers, it appeals to people who know music, it appeals to people who don't, it has new guests, Black Thought rhymes better than he ever has (and that's saying a lot)... um.. what do they want?
29. "RE: Um... baffling?" In response to Reply # 28
>What is not to like about Game Theory? > >It appeals to the old school audience, it appeals to the >commercial likers, it appeals to people who know music, it >appeals to people who don't, it has new guests, Black Thought >rhymes better than he ever has (and that's saying a lot)... >um.. what do they want? >
31. "well without getting into it all on the snitch tip" In response to Reply # 0
i spoke to the music editor who told me he was outvoted.
the writer and music editor both love the shit outta this record. the HNICs (the new editor i guess?) were the indifferent parties.
i was all types of thrown off because the first half of the revue was damn near up there in terms of glowing (i was told this writers first draft damn near said this is hip hop album of the year)
the new editors were the ones who added the last paragraph on the piece much to the ire of the music editor and the writer.
that shit is really fucked up. some classic "black police showing out for the white cop" shit that xxl, vibe and most publications always do:
middle class mofos treating my product like its season 4 of the cosby show ("that aint real black life!!!!" type shit) and leaving me to slaughter on the alter to the publishing gods.
no disrespect to the music editor or the writer.
much disrespect to the editor and chief.
they get my support no more.
check the resume
organix-93 (from the ground up)-94 do you want more?!!???!-95 illadelph halflife-96 things fall apart-99 (the legendary)-99 the roots come alive-99 phrenology-2002 the tipping point-2004 (the roots present...) 2004 homegrown: the beginne
33. "wooow (c) mos. if anyone ever did that shit to me, i'd quit. of course," In response to Reply # 31
i only freelance. i get my bread, cheese and tomato sauce from IT. writing is just sprinkles an shit.
as a writer, though, that's seven kinds of fucked up. how they gonna flip and cold add a whole paragraph to some shit i wrote??? dayum, i'd be pissed if i was that dude.
(worst that ever happened to me is one editor deleted some curse words and subbed in some shit like 'darnit'. had a ninja soundin like andy griffith an shit. and the absolute worst was when i had my first feature, in YSB, and the fucking COPY editor decides at the last minute that the piece would be better with my last paragraph as my first one. i was so pissed. biggest shine i'd had to that point and i ain't even want to show nobody, or use that shit in tear sheets).
the source just = shady editorial practices. it's institutional.
This is exactly why I'm having second thoughts about getting into music journalism. You can write your heart out, put your true feelings on paper, and some ignorant ass editor can come in and change up your shit.
Fuck that.
Didn't the same thing happen with Little Brother's 'Minstrel Show' album?
"I have the scars to prove the clock strikes with her hands." — Saul Williams
"I don't see why people are so scared of music, it ain't gonna bite you." — bnicedh
Althought I don't know if I've read a Source review of an album in a long ass time (acutally, I remember reading the one for Fishscale), but I don't even remember the last time I gave a fuck about what they had to say.
Game Theory deserved AT LEAST a 4.5 just on the strength of artistic brilliance.
zino had to be "strongarmed convinced" that this album was dope (think he gave in so us net cats would dig him)
the funny thing about this review was the number of times i heard an editor in chief be caught in the middle because he feared some sort of backlash if we got a higher rating than outkast or dmx (i "think" kast and dmx got a @@@1/2 and @@@ respectively)---at least 3 magazines were caught in the middle. as to tie the two or let the other get a higher rating. im all types of shocked that XXL stuck to they guns. but they all about shock. but dont think they were thinking about giving us an L just to keep the peace.
believe me, the album is the last thing to get a rating. its your positioning.
check the resume
organix-93 (from the ground up)-94 do you want more?!!???!-95 illadelph halflife-96 things fall apart-99 (the legendary)-99 the roots come alive-99 phrenology-2002 the tipping point-2004 (the roots present...) 2004 homegrown: the beginne
43. "i was talking about LB getting @@@@1/2" In response to Reply # 42
.
NO! LIST Tom Petty M J Zeppelin Springsteen Neil Young Eagles Ray Charles Madonna Chuck Berry South Park TV Songs Justin Timberlake "Food Glorious Food" "Twilight Zone" theme "A Boy Named Sue" "Night Moves" "The Situation" "Superbowl Shuffle"
36. "the truth of the matter is..." In response to Reply # 0
that not everyone has great taste in music. we live in a society that eats up bullshit because they don't care to see the real state of their community, country, world... etc. on the real YOU and the guys are GREAT artist quest and honestly i wouldn't worry or trip to much about these fool opinion. i think anyone here (or whoever has any taste) would co-sign they're there to write for the Ritalin.
45. "RE: Then explain why TTP and Phren get good reviews" In response to Reply # 44
Damn, ya'll really care what The Source thinks??? They lost their creditiability a WHILE ago. Shit, XXL--who is supposed to be the answer to The Source's problem--can't even get it right most of the time. I guess if you are in The Industry, that kind of shit matters. But as a fan, the internet is a wonderful thing--and best believe I still buy albums. The 2 most hyped/debated CDs on the internet to come out this year were Food & Liquor and Game Theory. And, they both deliver the goods. The internet is about the best feedback you can have, you are getting it str8 from your fans, once you weed out the blindly obeying Stans, haters and DL'ers.
47. ""It Takez Tyme Ta Grow On Ya" Type Albumz Never Get Great Ratingz" In response to Reply # 0
I'm sorry but I styll feel dat da new Roots album doezn't grab ya attention, it'z lyke a step up frum a borin' album in a good way.
Everythang iz nice (da beatz, da production, da lyrikz, etc) but nothin' not even one track on da album makez me want to put it on repeat; every otha album they have done had at leazt 3 ta 4 "yeah I gotta hear dat song & play it loud" if I'm gonna lizten to it but not wit thiz one.
I thynk dat'z how many felt when reviewin' thiz album, it'z not one of thoze dat'z gonna jump at cha ryght a way, it'z gonna get cha in da groove when ya at leazt expect it to on ya 3rd or 7th lizten; hip-hop haz become a big fazt food machine & nobody wantz to fyne dine anymore.
48. "RE: "It Takez Tyme Ta Grow On Ya" Type Albumz Never Get Great Ratingz" In response to Reply # 47
>I'm sorry but I styll feel dat da new Roots album doezn't >grab ya attention, it'z lyke a step up frum a borin' album in >a good way. > >Everythang iz nice (da beatz, da production, da lyrikz, etc) >but nothin' not even one track on da album makez me want to >put it on repeat; every otha album they have done had at leazt >3 ta 4 "yeah I gotta hear dat song & play it loud" if I'm >gonna lizten to it but not wit thiz one. > >I thynk dat'z how many felt when reviewin' thiz album, it'z >not one of thoze dat'z gonna jump at cha ryght a way, it'z >gonna get cha in da groove when ya at leazt expect it to on ya >3rd or 7th lizten; hip-hop haz become a big fazt food machine >& nobody wantz to fyne dine anymore.
I gots to disagree with you. This IS a standout album. Shit, as soon as I heard Long Time, I knew it was going down. Matter of fact, I listened to Long Time like 4 times in a row. And, with every few listens I find a new favorite song (Game Theory is my fav right now). I know where you was going with this post, but I don't think it applies to Game Theory.
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