Hip-Hop 2012

[e/y]

it has a wider spectrum of moods than i expected, and as a debut, i wish more major label debuts could be as cohesive as this.

Yeah, I think this is pretty spot on. Oddly, I've seen some people claim that all the tracks sound more or less the same - something that maybe was applicable to the mixtapes (which I really liked), but definitely not this.

I've probably listened to it more or less all the way through at least 20 times by now. In contrast, I generally ignore the 2nd half of the Kendrick Lamar album.

And I actually think there are a lot of great lines (even "Cooler than a cooler"...which at first sounds kind of shit, but I like now).

Kobe is my favourite track atm.

 

[mistersloane]

The beats are ridiculous on Keef's thing. I prefer Reese tho.

Bass, know what you mean about absence of personality, it's the same with the road rap kids. You on Facebook m8?

 

[bassbeyondreason]

http://www.facebook.com/#!/mark.noisebear

Posting publicly cause anyone interesting is free to add me.

 

[bassbeyondreason]

That "lack of personality" thing also serve as my main objecting to people bringing up the old "glamourising violence" trope when it comes to Keef. I mean, they MIGHT have had a point back in the NWA days, but Keef REALLY doesn't sound like he's having a good time.

 

[trilliam]

finally rich effectively killed keefs hype IMO

14 tracks all the same cadence all the best tunes have the exact same hook not enuff GBE. hallelujah is the only song i rele play stil

for greater glory tapes were much better, wud rather hear some new shit from durk or reese

 

[rubberdingyrapids]

it was going to be really hard to keep the hype going though wasnt it? all those mixtapes, all that buzz - i dont like hit about 6 months ago... thats hard to sustain in this era. taken on its own, its a good album for keef. kay kay and no tomorrow are my favourites, esp for the beats.

That "lack of personality" thing also serve as my main objecting to people bringing up the old "glamourising violence" trope when it comes to Keef. I mean, they MIGHT have had a point back in the NWA days, but Keef REALLY doesn't sound like he's having a good time.

mobb deep never sounded like they were having a good time either... if you look at all the arguments about keef, they seem to be coming mainly from people inside hip hop. everyone else, hipsters, rock critics, they dont seem to care that much. thats quite diff from back in the nwa days when politicians and dozens others were all outraged. so maybe the problem is that keef isnt scary ENOUGH.

also i just dont buy the defence that 'they sound miserable' - cos its just not true. its still exuberant. keef still has tons of energy. its not like the radiohead of rap. i dont feel depressed listening to keef. its bleak, nihilist, tough, numb and so on, which makes it depressing to think about but miserable to actually listen to? nah.

 

[bassbeyondreason]

Well, I don't think any music attracts that kind of attention from politicans etc. anymore (since maybe So Solid in the UK and Marilyn Manson in the US?). And a lot of the criticism of Keef seems to be coming from this old guard of (mainly black) rap critics, although they tend to be focusing on the "cultural tourism" of his white (hipster/rock crit, funnily enough) audience (e.g. the B.Dot VS Jordan Sargeant thing). I'm pretty sure that went on with NWA too, with it being used as a weapon in the East VS West arguments, whereas now it's being used in the "lyricism VS whatever Gucci/Waka/Keef represents" thing.
Should point out, I wasn't trying to use the "miserable" thing (which wasn't exactly what I meant) as a "defense", I don't think Keef needs defending. Yeah it's thrilling, but I can't see it being something anyone would feel like "imitating". Mobb Deep sounded like Hollywood-style cold-hearted assassins, Keef just sounds lost.

 

[CrowleyHead]

Which is funny, considering how indebted to 'swag' rap from Atlanta Keef is. There's a large part of "Finally Rich" that is celebratory in comparison to the mixtape material, both in the beat selection and in the presentation of Keef. It's still incredibly nihilistic, but more in a giddy sort of 'partying, partying, YEAH!' mood. Though the fact that Keef's parties often involve his friends who are possibly murderers always gives it a more sinister undertone.

Just to illustrate a comparison, since I know that this part of rap isn't so often discussed on Dissensus:

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ufUMtPuvDvg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZxXAeEA2nXY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

There's obvious sonic differences, both in Keef's vocal tone (his approach is a lot more 'throaty' than the nasal hooks of Roscoe Dash/Rich Kidz/Travis Porter etc.), the much darker approaches of Young Chop, and the greater fondness of mentioning threats against foes in his work. But he's so dependent on this poppier strain of southern rap that never got into critical favor, that I'm amazed that people still think he's just Flocka with less socially redeeming factors. It's not so much a matter of lyrical content, but his whole songwriting approach is MILES from Flocka (early Gucci is actually a much more fitting point of reference. "Kobe" is SUCH a Chicken Talk song.)

 

[bassbeyondreason]

When I first heard Keef, my immediate thought was of Yung Joc - It's Going Down (which I absolutely LOVED, btw). Gucci/Waka is what he's getting lumped in with by Nas-fan critics, not what I'd neccessarily claim as his lineage.

 

[CrowleyHead]

Well no, I'd say Gucci is a definitive influence on how hook-driven and structural he is... After watching Gucci fanatics like Yayo and David Drake dissect Gucci's elements, I can totally see how Keef has drawn a lot of influence from him, and other rappers (Soulja Boy, Lil' B, Roscoe Dash, Waka, Jeezy, Future). He's brilliant in that because he doesn't TRULY sound like any of these people in a substantial degree, there's a great amount of synergy. Kind of how Young Chop's also borrowed so much from not only Lex Luger, but Zaytoven and Drumma Boy in order to come up with this really perfect sound.

 

[e/y]

But he's so dependent on this poppier strain of southern rap that never got into critical favor, that I'm amazed that people still think he's just Flocka with less socially redeeming factors. It's not so much a matter of lyrical content, but his whole songwriting approach is MILES from Flocka (early Gucci is actually a much more fitting point of reference. "Kobe" is SUCH a Chicken Talk song.)

Crowley OTM

 

[jimitheexploder]

This beat is fuck'd


Those snares >>>>>>

 

[mistersloane]

This beat is fuck'd


Those snares >>>>>>

nice. Snares are from the Audio Two "Top Billin" I think

 

[CrowleyHead]

Last year's song, new video. I forgot Juelz was at least serviceable on this, though nowhere near his past glory.

More people need to appreciate Future as a rapper than as a 'pop vocalist'. "CARLTON" is easily the greatest adlib of 2012 after the psychotic Elvis Impersonator voice Keef did on "Dat Loud"

 

[luka]

gunplay

 

[luka]

big charisma deficit dont notice the other people on this

 

[Corpsey]

ASAP Ferg being on a track with Gunplay is a travesty, close to blasphemy in fact.

The big posse cut on that album of all the hawt new rappers is so dull it's actually quite amusing as long as you don't sit through it all.

I was listening to Vado's tape today (quite good, a bit boring after a while) and also Young Scooter (definitely one for Gucci fans).

 

[luka]

"Got a bitch on every blade, triickin' like a champ/
She lick it like a stamp, eat it like a rack of lamb/
Then bring that stack back to daddy while I whip a yam"

no one writes like gunplay

 

[luka]

have you ever met a menace/low income housing tenant/my pen made me some pennies/but im still facing a sentence

 

[luka]

that whole verse actaully
colombian cocaine gallardos and gold chains hogging up the lane smoke foggin up my frames