Gambino's album hasn't blown me away so far either.

don't know man. that ME and Yr Mom track is blazing! is the whole album like that? it's pure P-Funk rip but so what. it kinda borders on parody.

Honestly, I haven't been in the mood for music in the last few days so I'm not really in the right place where I can judge a new album with a clear mind.

My girlfriend had a psychotic episode in front of my own eyes, and I found out she's been struggling with mental illness for years, I ultimately decided to break up with her although she's a sweetheart because it's too much for me to deal with and now I'm really sad and hurting.

^^ hate to say it but you might've done the right thing by letting her go. it sounds selfish but, like I told Sev, dealing with anyone with mental illness is a drag unless you got the resources to help them.

Yeah.. you know, I deal with depression and anxiety myself, but it's not nearly half as bad as the shit she's got.

see, you got yr own problems too. chances are she's probably not so much of an angel to care for and might have gottin her own self in the situation she's in herself . just sayin. there's a reason you sacked her cause you seem reasonable.

I know about guilt. I use to suffer from anxiety and depression myself. I know what a horrid empty pit-in-yr stomach doom feeling that can be. I still do but I cut all the negative shit out my life real quick. im' guessing you did the best you could to help too. guilt can be one big contradicting feeling. I know.

I use to like Chance. I've heard all those mixtapes but, he's a sellout. thanks for giving in to the either of ok millennial bullshit.

I'm really sorry to hear that, my friend.

I don't want to wax psychoanalytical on you (I would have been an awful psychologist if I'd finished grad school, even a non-clinical one, because I'm positively loaded up with issues of my own... just fucking TONS of them), but in a situation like that, especially when you're younger, it really is best to form boundaries because you would have been in no place to care for someone suffering from an episodic psychosis. No offense.

If you'd been dating for years and built a real life together, I would advise against breaking it off hastily, but it doesn't sound like that was the case, so you shouldn't beat yourself up or feel bad about ending things. I hope and trust that you did it in a gentle and compassionate way, and did your best to make sure she u deratood that you cared (even if she wasn't able to really hear or believe that at the time).

I had a girlfriend when I was in grad school with a severe case of body dismorphia. She was an objectively "stacked" girl. Trim and athletic with (pardon me) bangin' tots and a lovely bum. But she would stand naked in front of the mirror and tell me to "admit" that she was gaining weight, already fat, "disgusting," etc. She once said she just wanted to be "tits, ribs and a pelvic bone" (no joke) and it was sad as hell because she had a very good heart and was loyal and sweet and understanding of my own issues.

Of course I thought, "hey, I can help her, I'm gonna be a doctor some day! This is my wheelhouse!" ... I even spent a semester focusing on DSM disorders and treatments specifically, when my actual program was in cognitive neuropsych. But ultimately, I did more harm than good by trying to intervene. When I finally got the guts to end it I was already emotionally cheating on her with someone else, and the whole thing was selfish as hell.

My point is, I guess, that unless you're really committed to someone in a way that I was not capable of being when I was 25, it's better not to pretend that you're ready to take responsibility for someone's well-being. You did the right and sane thing, even if it doesn't feel like it now.

Still, I'm sorry and I wish the best for you and your friend.

Thanks for the support and wise words guys.

Y'all are right, I'm sure I'll be better off in the long run.

The Gambino album is starting to grow on me!

Is anyone out in SYG land ready for year-end lists yet?

I voted in Pitchfork's inansely stupid readers poll (questions included: "phone for the plug or phone for the load?" cuz Kevin Gates, and "Thom Yorke's ponytail vs. Thom Yorke's dancing?" Ugh.) and I threw a top ten together on the spot without much thought. Not sure about my "official" one yet. I get past Pablo, SIRENS and 99.9% and then I'm like... who cares?

One thing I've noticed is that Coloring Book doesn't flow as beautifully as I originally thought. I find myself skipping tracks. Some of them are serious bummers, full of nostalgia and feelings. I find myself liking "Angels" and "No Problem" the most, cuz they're fun and bangin', not uncomfortably sentimental.

I still really like it of course, but I'm not sure it's gonna land high on my album list because I like single tracks more than the whole experience. Also, "All We Got" is great, but it's mixed really strangely. When it gets loud the treble and is piercing, high end brittle.

Man I'm bored.

After a few listens, that Gambino album is fucking ridiculous! Better than 24K Magic and Starboy, and on par with blackSUMMERS'night and Malibu/Yes Lawd as my fav R&B album of the year.

Pitchfork's top 20 rap albums of the year:

http://pitchfork.com/features/lists-...lbums-of-2016/

Pretty much covers it, except I'd replace Darkest By Dawn (not a 2016 release) by Black America Again and also throw in Everybody Looking.

Thom Yorke has a ponytail?

Thom Yorke ain't never run from nothing but the Rogaine....

^ LOL. If he spent less time caring about his image and more about the music, Radiohead and his solo works would be a lot less boring!!

I really liked Tomorrow's Modern Boxes and the Eraser. I think A Moon Shaped Pool is overrated and slow and only half good at best, but I'm not about to call Radiohead "boring."

Also, his image? Really? Have you seen the "Daydreaming" or "Numbers" videos? He looks like shit. Like a younger version of my dad after a night of hard drinking. He's wearing scraps, and looks as if he hasn't seen a mirror in years. I do think Thom Yorke is too worried about his "image."

Yeah, Black America Again totally deserves to be on there, far more than that 21 Savage/Metro Boomin mixtape. And Darkest Before Dawn was absolutely a 2015 release. I hate that shit. Just like Black Messiah was 2014. Hell, by the time 2916 began, Pusha's album (though great) was already off Billboard chart!

Albums are from the year they're from. Period.

I almost thought they weren't going to includ Pablo on there.

Well, he definitely did something to get his hair back though, and I think that looking sickly is a part of his image, but I won't judge.

Ab-Soul album cover

Hmm lol.

Hah. 50 Cent. Remember how important 50 Cent felt for a while? Man, it must be really hard to be a rapper. How many have maintained relevance after 10 years? Not many, relative to how many up-and-comers have up-and-come-and-gone over the years.

I think it's starting to become clear which of the artists of the last few years are already on the wane. Sadly, I feel as though A$AP Rocky might be in for a bit of a "fade away." First two projects seemed to rule the world, third was a bit mixed, and that A$AP Mob album just dropped 5 weeks ago and I haven't heard anyone, her or IRL, mention it since about 2 days after it came out.

Chance has yet to really his his stride. He's got mass appeal and people love him, but he better not wait another 3 years before his next tape. Kendrick is already a force of nature, but it's hard to imagine him really becoming an all-out superstar. And if he drops a bad album, he'll be in trouble. I've read reviews of untitled unmastered. on iTunes and it seems there are as many people who are sick of the Jazz thing as there are people who praise him.

I still dig the shit out of at least 2 50 Cent tracks ("The Invitation," "Death to my Eemies"), but the rest of it is like... what's the point.

Sooooo Grammy nominations are out. The "big" categories are... really disappointing. Check this ridiculous nonsense out (though as always, the Grammys are full of ridiculous nonsense and it's really no surprise)

Album of the Year
Adele - 25
Justin Bieber - Purpose
Drake - Views
Beyoncé- Lemonade
Sturgill Simpson - A Sailor's Guide to Earth

...
WHERE THE FUCK IS BLACKSTAR?!
Where the fuck is You Want it Darker?

Of course I'm irked that TLOP and A Seat at the Table aren't there as well, but I also kind of understand. Neither album was populace-leaning, both artists are honored in other categories, they filled their "urban" quota by obsurdly nominating the most half-baked Drake album ever and Lemonade...
But Bowie? Really? No Fucking BOWIE?!
Same with Cohen. Both albums are the exact kind of late career showstoppers from established but criminally underappreciated (by The Establishment anyway) music legends. Grammys LOVE that shit like Oscar loved Holocaust movies.

Not to mention both men died after releasing their best work in ages.
I was sure that Blackstar would get a nomination as soon as I first heard it. I even thought it would win! It's like... Heath Ledger winning the Oscar. It just needed to happen, not only because Blackstar (like Heath's Joker) absolutely defined this year, but also because they're NEVER going to get another chance! Ditto for ...Darker, but while Cohen was really a sub-pop creature until the very end, Bowie scored a #1 album (his first!) and Bowie's never won the award despite many years when he damn well should have (Starion to Station and Low would both have won AOTY in a perfect world.)

How many times do Adele and Beyoncé need to be nominated? It's really not about artistry at this point. Kanye was right, though for the wrong reasons. If it was about great music that was also culturally relevant, Beyoncé would still be nominated, but the rest of those fucker wouldn't. Rather it would be something like:

Lemonade
Blackstar
The Life of Pablo
Coloring Book
You Want it Darker
A Seat at the Table

So, fuck that noise man.

You Want It Darker missed the deadline, but they straight disrespected Bowie. Disgusting.

Purpose is pretty mediocre and Views is subpar. I haven't heard 25 and that Simpson fella album though.

On the upside, Kanye's all over the Rap awards. He's going up against himself in two categories, and is at least featured on a track when he isn't nominated. Chance got a ton of love as well, as did ScHoolboy Q. Drake got way too much love for the worst album he's ever made.

Funnily, the "Best Rap Performance" version of "Pop Style" is the fucking one with the Kanye and Jay appearances! You know, the features Drake removed from the album version of the tracks after the world unanimously declared that Ye made Drake his bitch on his own track!!

Anyway... lookie:


I do this every ear. Bitch about Grammys. Whatever. Not important.

"Mediocre" and "subpar" are very kind ways of putting it.

how in the FUCK did the 67 year old grammy voters hear about Broccoli enough to nominate it?

Kanye's fucking waste of air on "That Part" makes me want to keep him locked away 5150 style till he is tired of rapping.

Ugh. What a waste of a thought.

What makes you think they're all 67? Anyway, the Grammy voters don't just vote on whatever. They vote on submissions made by "members" who can theoretically be any adult from any market or demographic. No doubt there are a lot of A&R and promoter types who become members (there's directions on how to join somewhere on their website).

Members make submission, and the voters cast votes on the albums and songs submitted. They're given a certain number of votes that differs by category I think. Some of them are probably sticklers for more traditional shit, while others are probably interested in helping get people's names out there. Stands to reason it would break down like any other population or group in terms of preference and taste.

Also, dude it's 2016. Pitchfork gave DRAM a lot of praise, and it's the most widely read music site in the country and is owned by Ckndé Nast. If you have an internet connection, you can hear whatever's out there. It's not like DRAM and Lil Yachty are "underground" or elusive. Internet, bro. Internet.

Also "Broccoli" was a top 10 single on the Billboard hot 100.

the average age for Recording Academy members is 60-70 years old. This is actually a bit younger than the average age of Film Academy voters (Oscars)

what has NOT been a top ten single on billboard? All it takes is sales of around 8,000 units and you get in. it means nothing compared to decades ago when it took hundred thousands in sales to get a top ten

how many 67 year olds do you know browse the net for new tunes?

The don't have to. They browse submission piles and vote on submissions.

What's your point anyway? That old people don't have opinions about music when their job is to have opinions about music because they're old? What are you mad about? That the song's nominated when it "shouldn't" be? Or that old people do stuff?

You sir are cranky as fuck about things that don't matter or make sense.
Like an old person.

Freakin' weirdo

i was not angry, just commenting on YOUR statement about the lousy Grammy nods. you brought the shit up sir....

it is all a joke anyway, the industry patting itself on the back and shit.

I know, it's ridicu-stupid. But it's fodder for music chat. I really can't believe they dissed Bowie like that. Very cold. Very stupid. You'd think 67 year-olds would be more likely to vote for Blackstar than whatever the hell that abysmal Justin Bieber album was called.

It makes me think of the '98 Granmys when they have AOTY to Dylan because it seemed like he was maybe on his last legs. Or the time they have best director to Scorcese (finally) for Departed because ... seemed a bit like it might be the last chance.

Not even nominated Bowie seems to violate a rule these people have about honoring icons in their twilight year comeback phases. And Blackstar was a hell of an album too, so it's just really fucked up.

Bowie never kissed their ass.

No, but in the '80s he went through a hell of shameles pop icon phase. Actually that whole blonde Elvis era during the Reagan era (Let's Dance) was pretty ass-kissy, and that album was nominated for AOTY. But the music was good.

Anyway, like you said it really doesn't matter. Frank Ocean took Blonde out of consideration for the Grammys because he thinks it's an antiquated system (or because he was scared of not getting a ton of noms again). I prefer critic polls like Pazz & Jop — now boringly re-christened The Village Voice Music Critics Poll. I think the Oscars are still somewhat relevant, but jury-based awards like Sundance and Cannes and Toronto Film all seem to be having more and more influence as the years go by.

Still... every story I've read about the noms has brought up Bowie. I've only read two, but that's still something. :D