What Are You Listening To? (warning: Nsfw Language)

That's a Hell-uva breakdown HJ

But for those that are more visually inclined, let me piggyback your post with this pretty decent Youtube timeline explanation.

 

Wow, so apparently “Adidon” is the name of Drake’s upcoming line with Adidas. Now they gotta change the name cause it’s always gonna be associated with this track. Googling it’s gonna result in pictures of Drake in blackface.

Like the more I think of it, Push really destroyed Drake here. There’s speculation that “Adidon” is supposed to tie in with “Adonis”, the rumored name of his son. And that maybe Drake was going to reveal his son as part of the rollout to his line and new album. But if he does it now it’ll just come across as reactionary. If he doesn’t do it, he’s a deadbeat.

I agree that Drake needs to stand down here. Push is trying to bait him into a game that Drake’s not qualified to play. If anything, Drake should double down back into his own lane. Don’t try to be hard and fight Push. Like if it didnt come across as reacting to Push, I’d actually be interested in hearing an introspective Drake project where he emotionally addressed the points in Push’s diss.

I wanna hear more about how his parent issues and biracial identity affected him growing up. It would be cool to hear a track where Drake announced his kid, pours his heart out and shows he really loves his son and wanted some privacy for him. Maybe talk about the conflicts of wanting to be a dad against the pressures of being the biggest pop icon in music.

 

^^^True! Push is built for this...Aubrey better leave it alone.

Still, its dope that a real beef is poppin off...been a goddamn minute!

 

Last week Pusha and ASAP Rocky dropped. Apparently tomorrow night should be Kanye and Black Thought.

I feel like there’s been a long drought in hip hop the past year or so, but this summer is shaping up to be pretty crazy.

 

Always great to hear some competitive wordplay. Thank you Hip Hop.

I always thought other genres should have beef songs. I think it would work with Rock and Country.

 

First reactions on Ye;

First of all, I wish there was more. Production was beautiful and it really did feel like a mix of a lot of his old stuff. And so with that, this is the most he’s sounded like old Ye in a while. Like if oldheads are hating on this, they’re just hating. Pieces of these tracks would be standouts on his older albums. Overall, I liked his rapping here and as a body of work it seemed pretty cohesive.

The thing is that this album is going to go through a lot of scrutiny in the immediate future. There was a lot of controversy in the build up, and Kanye didn’t quite address it. Seemingly intentionally. He didn’t have to come out with a project of bangers, or an in depth political manifesto. Instead he just gave himself, and I think that works. But I’m a Ye stan. I’m sure there are gonna be a lot of people dismissing this either because “Kanye’s still a racist Trump supporter” or “I want turn up music”.

But I really do think there are things here that’s going to resonate with people for a long time. Overall, once Kanye announced the roll out, I was never gonna judge things just off the solo Ye project. This was dope in its own way, so was Daytona, and now I’m really looking forward to Kids See Ghosts.

 

Production is dope and he's never dropped the ball in that regard, but still not feeling the album as a whole. I liked the latter part of the intro joint and the next couple tracks, but Wouldn't Leave made me leave...literally. I checked out after that joint came on. Too soulful of an album for me (although some of my fav Ye is of the soulful variety), but if he's embracing being bipolar, then he needs to juxtapose that soul with something more harder. I don't want to hear you spit about KimK and how she supports you....f*** that noise especially when you're only giving us 7 tracks.

Daytona is still that fire and I'm looking forward to GOOD music still with Nas and the Kudi collab. But this stand alone Ye is underwhelming imho and although Kanye lost me once he linked up with the Kardashians, I still loved his music. This album tho...ain't got that sauce.

 

I mean I like it as a piece of artistic expression for where Kanye’s at in his career. It’s interesting to hear him tackle his mental health and family life. Its so short, as a Kanye fan I’ll probably come back to it periodically to listen to it in its entirety.

But I can’t disagree with “underwhelming”. Musically there are only a few tracks that might crack my regular rotation. I think the 7 tracks worked against Ye. A few more tracks to add some variety, maybe something that was a little more aggressive/grandiose, would’ve really tied things together.

Black Thought’s EP was dope. Definitely need to listen to it multiple more times to digest what he’s saying, but his flows are great as always. Liked these tracks more than anything off the last Roots album to be honest.

 

Haven't heard Thought's record yet... I'll definitely check it out. Totally agree with you on the Roots latest effort.

At this point in his career, I just want dope Ye production for true lyricists. The last lyrical Ye record that was flames was Dark Fantasy imho. I liked a few tracks off Yeezus and Pablo too. But Dark Fantasy was his most recent complete record....it was brilliant!

 

Ye really grew on me since it released. Initially didn’t like tracks like Ghost Town and Violent Crimes cause the poppy hooks weren’t what I was expecting, but after a while those parts are still stuck in my head and I think they’re beautifully arranged. The album has an unpolished feel to it, but I think that’s part of its aesthetic. He made the album from scratch in like the past month. It’s an interesting snapshot of where he’s at in this point in his life.

Kids See Ghosts by Cudi and Kanye may be even better. I’ve always been a huge fan of Cudi but not sure how you all feel about him. He’s never been the most technically proficient rapper or singer, but he really was one of the first hip hop artists to bring emotional/mental introspection to the mainstream. I just loved the overall feel of this project and Kanye may have dropped his best bars in years. I really can’t remember the last time he flowed like that. Dope album art too.



And now Nas produced by Ye next week.

 

That Nas joint is out...you think the OG shot Zo a few subs with Kuz's regards?



This album is tough! It closes strong with the last 2 tracks and that outro hook!

Nasir has replay value cause the flows are sick over such dope production.

I'm going to oochie wally wally, oochie bang bang this joint all weekend.

 

Jay Rock “Redemption”. All of the beats are tight. Raps are very solid. “King’s Dead” is just a tight song and the video too.

 

Was waiting to listen to Nasir all week. Thankfully had Jay Rock’s Redemption and the Kawhi news to hold me over considering how late this album finally dropped on streaming services.

Jay Rock was cool. I’m a huge TDE fan and while Redemption didn’t blow me away, every track is enjoyable and will make some of my playlists.

But Nasir is fire. And as great as Nas is...
Kanye is the star on this album with that impeccable production.

 

Agree. Feeling "The Bloodiest" all day today tho.

 

I’m tempted to say he needs to change up his flow, but it would be sacrilegious. I remember Jay-Z saying that about him in a diss track way back.