The first 10 tracks act as a great prologue to the list, touching on a number of its major themes:
The list starts with steam punk rnb. Rube Goldberg Machine music. It is, along with the next few tracks, a playful stepping stone onto one of Third’s major music preoccupations; hyper-atomization. Sonic division of labour. Dem 2’s ‘Da Keep’ is the apex of this.
Tracks 5 & 6 introduce another major infatuation of his; 303 bass lines. ‘Sit on the Face’ sees Robock begin to rear his head. Lyrics portraying the sexual domination of the audience. The fecal connotations of the flatulent bass line. A hint at the kind of physical and psychological self-immolation we bear witness to later on in the list.
Ice T’s ‘Ya Don’t Quit’ is the first of the many rap-as-heavy metal tracks on the list. A very different notion of rap than the one he would have grown up with (assuming he’s in his mid-20’s).
The title ‘Mohameds Mind’ encapsulates two major themes of the list; Islam and mental health. The first, but certainly not the last, portrayal of phrenia on the list.
Track 10 of several attempts on the list to shift our collective focus away from the Anglo-Jamaican-American musical triumvirate. A surprisingly sunny innocence portrayed here, given Third’s temperament.
The next 10 adds a couple of extra territories the list repeatedly delves into:
Track 16 kicks off the gay diva salvation strand of the thread.
It’s followed by a number of crunchy tracks. People missing distorted guitars after the death of rock and attainting them through other, more techno-oriented means. Full Robocock.
As far as my personal opinion goes:
Track 42 really reminds me of in the back of a humid cab driving along the Mediterranean at night and it feeling all magical and romanticized. So, maybe rather annoyingly for Third, it evokes in me fond memories of my middle-class summer holidays.
44’s very nice.
The time signature on 45 of course appeals to my rhythm nerdery. But even beyond that it really has a sixties triumphant optimism to it, like ‘California Dreaming’, ‘If You’re Going To San Francisco’, etc.
That Horsepower Production one is a strange one. I could be detached and point to all sorts of things I think are naff about it and all sorts of cultural connotations that I disapprove of, but I have to admit I do find it gorgeous. I think it’s that Basic Chanel Jetstream rippling thing in the background.
Elephant Man’s ‘Shizzle My Nizzle’ doesn’t have your normal dancehall drums, but rather has the same snare pattern as the majority of jungle tracks. Very much speaking to the unified field theory of tresillo.
The Keef one’s interesting. We’ve inadvertently established a Migos vs Keef axis on the forum and to me this is a great example of why I situate myself firmly in the former’s camp. The instrumental’s great, it has so much potential, but Keef’s rhythmic conservatism here completely suffocates it. It tethers it to earth. Like a teacher making sure all the rambunctious kids don’t get too out of control. Imagine if you have 2017-era Migos on top of that beat, it would have been one of the great statements of the 2010’s.
A lot of it is very much behind the time barrier for me; the 303’s, the golden age rap, to a lesser extent the dancehall. So that’s compelling given how close me and third are in age.
Anyway third, it’s a really great list. I really enjoyed it. A whole other world and worldview to mull over and explore.
Mashallah