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

www.twitter.com/seandammit

> 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.

“So back we go to these questions — friendship, character… ethics.”

>
>>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.

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

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

https://www.mixcloud.com/returntozero/

>
>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.

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

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

https://www.mixcloud.com/returntozero/

>>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

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

**********
I should put that in a song

@nategoodness
www.nategoodness.com

The avatar is old. And, no, that hat was not a groovy style back then, either.

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 ~

_____________
if racism is a cancer, black thought is the answer.

Rjcc is code for "bitch-ass troll"

DROkayplayer™

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

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://vintagesoulmusic.tumblr.com
http://vintagehiphopmusic.tumblr.com
http://onetwann.tumblr.com

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...

Integrity is the Cornerstone of Artistry...

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

< Live Mixshow - Thurs 11PM/EST >
https://twitch.tv/djchiefone

----Mixtape Archives-----
https://soundcloud.com/djchiefone

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?

https://tinyurl.com/y4ba6hog

---------
"We in here talking about later career Prince records
& your fool ass is cruising around in a time machine
trying to collect props for a couple of sociopathic degenerates" - s.blak

>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.

phemom's the name, all-star writer/
searching 4 journalistic fame, mindframe igniter....www.twitter.com/hayabusaage

~
~
~
~
~
Days like this I miss Sha Mecca

I don't do EPs

www.anwarmorse.com
https://www.instagram.com/thereal_anwarmorse99/

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.

https://digife.com

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.

www.anwarmorse.com
https://www.instagram.com/thereal_anwarmorse99/

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.

https://digife.com

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.

< Live Mixshow - Thurs 11PM/EST >
https://twitch.tv/djchiefone

----Mixtape Archives-----
https://soundcloud.com/djchiefone

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

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

https://digife.com

...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

“So back we go to these questions — friendship, character… ethics.”

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.

<--- Me when my head hits the pillow

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 ??

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

"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

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

----
I check for: Serengeti, Zeroh, Open Mike Eagle, Jeremiah Jae, Moka Only.

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.

phemom's the name, all-star writer/
searching 4 journalistic fame, mindframe igniter....www.twitter.com/hayabusaage

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.

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

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

https://www.mixcloud.com/returntozero/

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.

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

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

https://www.mixcloud.com/returntozero/

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.

<----

Soundcloud.com/aquil84

(HIP HOP)
http://aquil.bandcamp.com

Jaded Incorporated
saw them perform it live too

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

still one of my favorite jawns!!!

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

If you can't understand it without an explanation

you can't understand it with an explanation

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

phemom's the name, all-star writer/
searching 4 journalistic fame, mindframe igniter....www.twitter.com/hayabusaage

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.