808s & Heartbreak

[quincyg]

lil wayne looks faded in that video. I don't think kanye is in the same realm as lil wayne in terms of being a performer. Kayne is great at producing really pop/commercial material. I don't think he is actually an mc, but rather a producer who tries to rap a little. ultimately he sounds pretty weak though. Goes to show you that it does take some talent to actually make the auto tune thing sound good.

Lil wayne...his album sounds great to me, and he's super open with his verses. Kinda free form like Andre 3000, but without any real deep content. for some mindless, off the wall shit, he's killing it. doing his verses with the vocoder/tune is an original take on a played out effect.

[fijaicairo]

I love most of 808s.
Kanye may not have a great vocal technique or the best lyrics but then music has never been about just that. It's a classic case of the sum being way bigger than the parts. (mediocre arrangement + ok lyrics) * X factor = great music sometimes.
I'd go as far as saying any random throwaway R & B act that has been on the radio in last decade can out sing John, Paul, George and Ringo yet the Beatles will outlast them all.

Despite his very obvious handicaps, Kanye manages to connect on an emotional level. I reckon what grabs people is the seeming "honesty" in his music.
If you are judging him from the perspective of a musician/lyricist, you'd probably be utterly disappointed but he sure sounds amazing to an accountant or a dentist.
Contrary to what a lot of people are saying on here, it is obvious that the guy is aware of his shortcomings as a singer. He has acknowledged so verbally in interviews and even said he kept his lyrics simple because he didn't think he could manage to sing any complex melodies.

I may be stretching this a bit but i see parallels between Kanye & Obama. Must be something in the Chicago water . Both guys want to do it NOW!!!. Why should Kanye wait till he has the vocal prowess of a Marvin Gaye and why should Barack wait till he has 20 years in the senate? This is what they have to offer now and they have the audacity to go for it. I think it may irk a few musicians who have been waiting to be virtuosos before they are confident enough to release any of their material to see an artist like Kanye who is confident enough to grow in the public eye with warts, auto-tune, heartbreak and all.
It's a lot like Chris Rock's bit about Janet Jackson, Jermaine Dupree & $4 Bentleys.

I guess he also has a valid point with his art argument if you juxtapose his work to that of say Pablo Picasso. My point being that my 4 year old daughter can give Pablo a run for his money if you hand her some brushes and paint.

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[The Dutch Master]

Originally Posted by Ken Lewis

I think ya'll are mistaking Rap not moving units like it used to, with the fact that the entire industry is not moving units anywhere near like it used to. Typically speaking, the average #20 on the Top 200 charts is pushing about 25,000 units a week, which is an incredibly scary low sales figure.

Whatever you feel about their lyrical prowess or rap-tastic-ness, hip hop artists are still very much moving units. And as with anything else, the true lyricists are still doing fine.... The Game, Jay Z, Kanye, Soldier Boy, Shop Boys........ just seeing if your paying attention

Did you just write true lyricists? I can see Jigga in the bunch.....but dude, come on. Soldier Boy???? That's not hip-hop, imo...that's rap/pop.
Put those guys next to Xzibit, Main Flow, Wordsworth, Talib, R.A., Ghostface, MOOD or Boot Camp Clik etc etc etc (did I mention Pharaohe Monch??) and I think your definition of a true lyricist will be slightly adjusted.



As far as these rappers using autotune. Whatever floats your boat....thank goodness we live in a free world where there are such things as an on/off button on my tv/radio.

[Jeezo]

Originally Posted by Synthy08

my brother feels the same way you do. but i think its because yall are such hip hop heads......but if you listen to more genres I think you would have more of an appreciation. Like the new Kaiser Chiefs album and Lykke Li albums are a good start IMO.

Man i do listen to alot anotha kind of music from Laura pausini to Elvis !!! i mean it's all about music !!! and hip hop is a part of it , and more than ever , hip hop is everywhere !!!

I was refering to my type of rapper because of the topic , i'm not gonna tell you what i listen from A to Z

The best thing for our gearslutz is that with hiphop all the mixing and recording techniques are developping themselves , i mean ingenneer are trying everything with the freedom givin by the hip hop ....

So we have the chance to be creative in every level of the production (from beat making to mastering)

That being said, of course i'm not talking about the artistik choice of kayne that i respect , but when there's is a crazy buzz on some bullshit because of names and damn good marketing , i'm not in the croud .....

When Jayz was on top , i used to never like him but i had a lot of repect for him cause i know what's a great rapper is and so really i'm not a hater, i just know the rap game and i know a lot of big heads, and i know when peolpe are fake , when people have an reputation bigger than themselves and i know when i hear new things , creative stuff....and fake stuffs! !!

I defintly think that we can compare the rap game industry to walls street it's gonna crashe , self regulation , i don't think so!

To be sure that you got me, i have nothing with the fact of makin money with it, but men please !! when you hear "" we the best, i have money , big cars you have nothin...."" i mean there's someting wrong .....what happen from "Fight the power" to this piece of sh....so i don't give a f....who it is and how many units it sells , music is pesronnal, and music is a part of us , so i listen to what you do (i you really do it) and i know who you are, if not , i know how you are not!

So back to the topic , with all the respect due to Kayne , i really don't like this album, and its production in Lil wayne album was way better!

Sorry for the long post

[E-Irizarry]

Are y`all serious? Afrikaanye "Pompous" West??? This 'piece of work' is a wannabe psychedelic pseudo John Lennon meets Stock, Waterman and Aiken on downers or some shit.

I cannot believe y'all are co-signing/biggin' it up!!

He became the blatant posterchild for Antares now with all that AT usage!!! For ****s' sake! Let T-Pain stick to it. Even Lil' Wayne is starting to annoy me with it.

[Ken Lewis]

Originally Posted by The Dutch Master

Did you just write true lyricists? I can see Jigga in the bunch.....but dude, come on. Soldier Boy???? That's not hip-hop, imo...that's rap/pop.
Put those guys next to Xzibit, Main Flow, Wordsworth, Talib, R.A., Ghostface, MOOD or Boot Camp Clik etc etc etc (did I mention Pharaohe Monch??) and I think your definition of a true lyricist will be slightly adjusted.



As far as these rappers using autotune. Whatever floats your boat....thank goodness we live in a free world where there are such things as an on/off button on my tv/radio.

wow, i put Soldier Boy and Shop Boys next 2 each other in a post and you couldnt detect that at sarcasm. I think its you who needs the lesson in hip hop lyricists my friend. I even ended my post with "just seeing if your paying attention" which clearly you are not.

[Ken Lewis]

Originally Posted by The Dutch Master

Did you just write true lyricists? I can see Jigga in the bunch.....but dude, come on. Soldier Boy???? That's not hip-hop, imo...that's rap/pop.
Put those guys next to Xzibit, Main Flow, Wordsworth, Talib, R.A., Ghostface, MOOD or Boot Camp Clik etc etc etc (did I mention Pharaohe Monch??) and I think your definition of a true lyricist will be slightly adjusted.



As far as these rappers using autotune. Whatever floats your boat....thank goodness we live in a free world where there are such things as an on/off button on my tv/radio.

not the least of which would be to mention that i have worked with Talib, Ghostface, Xzibit, Jigga, Kanye, and probably 20 other notable lyricists. Get yourself off the pipe my friend.

[The Dutch Master]

Originally Posted by Ken Lewis

wow, i put Soldier Boy and Shop Boys next 2 each other in a post and you couldnt detect that at sarcasm. I think its you who needs the lesson in hip hop lyricists my friend. I even ended my post with "just seeing if your paying attention" which clearly you are not.

I guess that's another way of putting it. I thought you were being ironic at first, but I know you as a more serious poster, and your statement before the list of names threw me off a bit. Sorry anyway, wasn't trying to attack, just clearing something up...no need to get defensive.

Originally Posted by Ken Lewis

not the least of which would be to mention that i have worked with Talib, Ghostface, Xzibit, Jigga, Kanye, and probably 20 other notable lyricists. Get yourself off the pipe my friend.

Respect for that, I would love to work with Ghostface one day.
Once again, sorry...no need to get defensive. I don't see how my post could be considered "on the pipe"...ok, maybe I have a problem with Soldier Boy being called a "true lyricist" and the irony of it kinda escaped me there. Bummer.....my friend.

[messiahwannabe]

i just want to weigh in here - i love this album!

i don't love it BECAUSE it's "different" but i love it's differentness, if that makes any sense? i love the vibe of it, i love that it's blatantly a heart-on-his-sleeve breakup album, i love the fusion of r&b and, like autechre or nin or whoever it is he's channeling here... i admit not all the lyrics are as good as some of the stuff on, say, college dropout, but i dig the honesty and emotion of it anyway...

i knew the moment i heard it that there were gonna be some VERY mixed reactions to it tho. it's obviously not gonna please everybody, some people are gonna hate it, some people are gonna like it less than his previous work (and tbh i like several of his albums better, but then he's set a very high bar for himself hasn't he?) but still i think it's an excellent album. also i notice it's charting pretty high, which obviously isn't the best/only measure of goodness, but i thinks it speaks well for something as edgy and weird as this album if it still manages to have a broad appeal like that.

finally, i'll just add that i haven't broken up with anyone in a while, but if i'd just just got dumped by my girl back in high school or something, i'd probably be bumpin this like, 24/7 lol

[messiahwannabe]

Originally Posted by messiahwannabe

i just want to weigh in here - i love this album!

i don't love it BECAUSE it's "different" but i love it's differentness, if that makes any sense? i love the vibe of it, i love that it's blatantly a heart-on-his-sleeve breakup album, i love the fusion of r&b and, like autechre or nin or whoever it is he's channeling here... blah blah blahl

god i sound like a stan! i'm not really. but i still say it's a great album. how's it holding up for you guys, does it still sound good (or shitty or whatever you though the first time you heard it) a month or 2 later?