I was disappointed the first time I heard Fishscale. But the second time, I found plenty to love, and by the third time I couldn't get the songs that I didn't like the first time around out of my head. Now I pretty much think it's the shit.

Yeah, I'll never understand that. Why would Ghostface, a high profile rapper with access to the best producers in the industry, recycle beats on an album that was something of a "comeback" record? Whatever though.. It's still just an amazing album.

But so is 12 Reasons, and I don't know about y'all, but I felt like Ghostface was in too creative form when the first one came out.

Judging by the lack of conversation about part II, maybe the sequel isn't getting quite as much love from long term fans. But 12 Reasons got a lot of new folks into Ghostface. Kids who didn't necessarily even like Wu-Tang were lining up to buy it and the brown tape at indie record stores. It turned a lot of heads.

Ok, brother- my mistake.

It was 2013 after all. We were a pretty excitable bunch that year, if you'll recall. Seemed like there was a new "OMG" album or mixtape out every week that we all got stumbling drunk on.

honestly, Ghost has given us TOO MUCH good music at once. Like, hard to digest it all. Haha.

Twelve Reasons was amazing. That album to me is top tier Ghost (Ironman, Pretty Tony level).

36 Seasons was dope. That's like the 2nd tier.

Sour Soul is prob 2nd tier too. (Question I've been meaning to ask, did anybody take the cover art as a reference to Live Love/Long Live?)

Twelve 2 is great tho. It's as good and maybe better than 1. BUT I think I preferred the beats on 1... I prefer all the guests on 2. (speaking of, I love that Ghost is getting on tracks w/ people like Danny Brown, Vince Staples, etc these days).

But yeah need more time. I mean think, he's dropped 3 solid albums in less than 12 months. He's going MF DOOM circa early 00's grind now.

Having said all that, these 4 albums that I'm talking about are all great. Great great. 4/5 or 5/5 star albums. BUT... I would not mind hearing a new Ghost album that had producers and samples instead of live bands. I'm kind of surprised I"m saying that since he sounds so natural on these, and I love live bands in hip hop. But, a change would be refreshing too.

tl;dr - I love what Ghostface is doing and I'd love if he did something else.

On the Sonic Youth messageboard?

Neg repped.

;)

New PE track https://youtu.be/_ynXfdwsXMU
Man Plans, God Laughs

Louder, I'm finally getting around to hearing that new Meek Mill. I agree that it's pretty damned solid. One track in particular stood out the first time through, but I forget the name.

I need to listen a bit more but I really like what I've heard.

oh shit guys.. GHOSTDINI snaps on Action Bronson, calls him a "fat fuck", talks about him having no classics, threatens him, etc: https://youtube.com/watch?v=z93IaKPY_Wc

wow this was epic.

actually made me wanna reconsider listening to his last few albums that i've missed.

and it's still on, Ghost DOESN'T accept Bronson's apology: http://www.complex.com/music/2015/07...onsons-apology

diss track coming soon i guess?

For copyright reasons Ghostface's rant is unavailable to watch in my country

use this: https://www.proxfree.com/youtube-proxy.php

Thanks

new Future is so good, not better than Honest but different and more reminiscent of his new mixtape trilogy.

on a side note i revisited If You're Reading This today and it's still one of the best rap albums/tapes (however you wanna tag it) of the year.

glad that you liked it!

yeah Meek really stepped it up for this one, not an album of the year contender or anything but definitely a solid album.

I don't actually think Ghostface's extreme response is justified. I mean, I didn't actually hear what Bronson said, so maybe the inflection made all the difference, but I read the offending comment, and I've gotta say, this is kind of pathetic.

It's like responding to an ant bite with a nuclear assault.

Also, I hate to say it, but Ghostface *might* weigh 20lbs less than Bronson. It's not 1993 anymore, and he's developed some epic pudge over the years.

Y'all know I love Ghost, and that my loyalty to him and his wu-brethren is only topped by my loyalty to Mr. West. But seriously, this kind of crap is a serious problem with hip-hop. Bronson's a good rapper, and (as GFK himself said previously) he didn't choose his voice. It's his voice! And it's just tacky not to accept an apology.

new YG track

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/...ist-my-fingaz/

real talk:

When Good Kid came out, I didn't know what to make of it. I liked "Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe" and "Poetic Justice," but was baffled by a lot of it. Kept listening. And by year's end, it was my fav album of the year.

When TPAB came out, I didn't know what to make of it. I liked the concept, the breadth, the instrumentals, but was baffled by a lot of it. It's led me to Kamasi Washington, Thundercat and Robert Glasper, and has kept me curiously coming back to it reluctantly since release. I still don't know if I love it, but I can't shake this feeling that it's a really important record to me this year.

If You're Reading This is up for the Polaris prize, isn't it?

It's an album. It's not hosted, or sponsored by a ton of backdoor distribution companies. It's got a physical release, which topped the Billboard album charts. It will probably be up for a Grammy. And it's really really fucking good and consistent, while most mixtapes have more of a "grabbag" feel to them.

But yeah, I agree it's one of the year's best. I think you're right that it's the original scrapped version of Views From The 6. I mean that explains a lot. I'll bet we'd have a final VFT6 album by now if the "mixtape" hadn't been so successful.

Hey, how do you guys feel about BLU?

I was hesitant about him for a long fucking time, especially with all the weird stylistic changes that marked his early career. But lately I've been listening to his recent albums (2011-2013/4) and finding a lot of interesting shit, especially on NoYork!

I think I'm gonna dive into his whole discography. I don't expect it all to be as experimental and challenging as NoYork!, but I have high hopes. His work with Exile reminds me of Black Milk, who I kinda see as the Kanye of underground rap. So that's a good sign.

I'm playing DS2 a lot, and a few of the tracks are really growing on me, but the rest of it still feels like a giant creative step backward from Honest.

Louder: I asked for your top five Future tracks in some other thread, because I didn't want to be a hater and DS2 was feeling pretty mediocre to me.

I'm still interested in hearing your choices, because I really want to like him more than i presently do :)

I heard this. I like it.

Is he planning on dropping another album this year?

Oh hey, anyone heard KOOL KEITH's new album Time? Astonishing! produced by L'Orange?

Feel free to reply to any/all of these random thoughts I've been tossing out lately.

It's GREAT. Am I the only one apart from Severian who's heard it?

YG has a new album dropping this year, yeah

Yeah its pretty different from my krazy life and even shit on blame it on the streets. Straight party music.

Hahaha

New Kool Keith too? Im with that

This might be the best Keith project in 2 decades. Seriously.

I haven't been so thoroughly entranced by a Keith album since the over-referenced Dr. Octagonecologyst.

You guys gotta hear this. Shit is solid!

Dont need to tell me twice im a head yo

I will give it a listen.

Btw first come first served is better than octo.

First Come First Served is a horror rap masterpiece.. and those beats??

Yeah that album is straight amazing. "You're fans are mad/your performance was garbage bag"

I also love Thee Undertakerz.

I've never even thought of this before. I think hip-hop actually has a pretty positive effect on my mood and behavior, compared to other genres. When I was younger, and I made the jump from punk to independent '90s college rock, I used to listen to songs that made me sad and heartsick, and I'd kinda thrive on that. Oh, how I relate to the world weary loneliness of Perfect From Now On!! *I'm* special in ways *my* mother appreciates! Yo La Tengo, Pavement and Sebadoh + Thinking about relationships and getting sad and nostalgic = loving music truly and deeply!

You know... That kind of self indulgent bullshit. I killed a bunch of relationships when I was getting my cues from Bob Pollard and Jeff Tweedy. I still love Yo La Tengo and Wilco and so on, but I think indie rock drove me crazy... Hip-hop, unsentimental experimental music, noise and techno/electronic shit just blisses me out. Rap is a complete joy for me to listen to. No baggage. (Ok, I have a little emotional baggage with some Kanye material, and sometimes "Runaway" or "Bound 2" can make me feel like a 16 year old moping over a ruined love affair with The Cure playing in the background) But for the most part, rap and hip hop are fun as hell, and take me out of my head.

As for what makes me tick... I was once on my way to being a cognitive neuroscientist. Made some bad decisions, left my graduate studies. Psychology is my main interest, and I hope to return to academia. I'm also a former musician, and yes I played a lot of math rock.

And yeah, I guess I'm a hip-hop nerd. But I don't ONLY listen to hip hop. It's just that there's a thread devoted to the genre here, so I always have a reason to mention what I'm listening to by way of new hip-hop music. But I promise, I go through books as fast as I go through rap albums, and I go through punk tinged rock, techno and countless other genres at the same insane pace. So I guess I'm a literature nerd. And a punk/hardcore/no-wave/noise nerd. And I've become quite an electronic music nerd. Oh, and I'm pretty into graphic novels, technology, science news and sports as well. So... pretty much just a huge nerd.

I don't commit real crimes, and I gave up on illicit substances long ago, but I sometimes go over the speed limit and I admit that I do on occasion enjoy the feeling I get from Rx medications I take for chronic pain and insomnia. Also I can talk about myself for a reeeeeally long time without interruption.

But why the hell am I the "critic" in this group you've envisioned. That's not even an actual role! What bands do you know that have a rapper, a beat-maker and .... a guy who writes down overlong observations about Taxi Driver?

Also, Gentile Deth would not be in our group.

Musically, sev... you and i would be great drinking friends haha.

I love ...First Served, and Black Elvis and Dooom 2 and plenty of other Keith gems, but Dr. Oc has a special place in my heart like 36 Chambers and Ready to Die and Midnight Marauders and all the other hip hop that got me through the mid '90s. It will always be one of my favorite records ever made, but that's just me and I've got nothing but respect for your different and equally valid opinion.

But seriously this new album is very very good. I didn't think I was going to be surprised. I thought it would be good enough, but probably not great. But listen, I do this thing where whenever I put an album on for the first time, I rate the tracks that stand out immediately, giving them between 3-5 stars (I'm usually listening on one of my iPod Classics, which makes this easy). Anyway, I usually only rate one or two songs with a 5 on my first listen, but I have more than half the tracks on Time? Astonishing! 5 stars the first time they spun.

That's a long nerdy way of saying I liked it a lot, and it so surpassed my expectations that, statistically, it's edging out my favorite records of the year!!

That doesn't mean shit of course, and things change. But right now, this album is blowing me away.

so um, Cube says Dre is dropping a new album... this week.

I will post a picture of me wearing a gold spandex suit whilst sporting a boner if he releases the album.