I see what you mean about Kodak (and the new wave of rappers in general), "Lockjaw" already proved that he would shine over better and more varied production. But I still really enjoy Lil Big Pac for what it is. The beats, which weren't very good, actually gave the tape a throwback feel, reminiscent of the Hot Boys.

I also hate how a lot of those new rappers are so zombie-like. Kodak's delivery is more traditional as he doesn't rely on autotune so heavily, and actually knows how to ride a beat.. songs like "Too Many Years" are more on the introspective and emotional side of hip hop. With a bit of maturing he might turn into something really special. But will it happen? I don't know, dude is facing some serious rape charges nowadays.

Ha, told ya.

This is definitely his weakest album to date. He was making baby steps and progressing a bit with each album. This one is regressive. "Immortal" and "Neighbors" are the only songs that stood out, but they weren't anything special either.

I thought Cole might've earned the honor to make a collaborative album with Kendrick after FHD, but still had mixed feelings about it. After this album, all I can say is that I hope Kendrick will be the one who pulls the strings, because..

The only person I can see doing a collab album with Kendrick is Chance. They're both a massive step above their respective peers in terms of quality and originality and everything. I actually think they could do something important together. Much as I like other guys like Danny and ScHoolboy, I don't think either is up to the task of doing a WTT-type thing with Kendrick. Chance... maybe.

Everything else feels like a potential Collegrove instead of a potential WTT if you know what I mean. (Collegrove being a pretty pathetic and instantly forgettable specimen, in my book).

In my opinion, Anderson .Paak or Isaiah would make a good combo with Kendrick too. Or maybe D'Angelo, y'know, on some "Best of Both Worlds" shit. All those people, including Chance, are soulful, creative and infinitely more talented and interesting than Cole.

if you were my neighbor I would have killed you by now or had it in my mind that yr an idiot. who listens to that garbage?

oh Rob, you do.

dude but, Kanye is the most important musician of the 21st century.

Rob, Kanye is the most important musician of the 21st century. what do you think?

who are you

hey, fun is fun! I am far more entertained by the acts I listed than any of the supposedly "good" ones like J Cole, Chance, Common, Kanye, or whoever else white folks think is a safe listen. ;)

we here at the Sonic Youth forum come from a wide range of subgenres musically, but all were attracted to sonic youth. I was a dinosaur, Butthole surfers, melvins, janes addiction, big black (deraanged loud guitar) kind of guy. there are people here who loved stuff like jesus & mary chain, or the pixies (melodic college rock) and that brought them to SY. Others liked very experimental music and that brought them to sonic youth.

My point being that one likes what one likes, and only rarely is an act all-encompassing enough to pull in such a disparate group of people.

I find great enjoyment in the stuff I like, I find it thrilling and loud and deranged enough and drugged up (very important) and fucking FUN. I do not have fun when I listen to stuff like Schoolboy Q or Kanye or Common, or J Cole. Just how it is. some people can enjoy Rapeman and Big Black, and some cannot. don't mean nothin at all.

Greezy, you fickle fucker. You're so full of shit. You talk about how awesome Yeezus and Dark Twisted are, then you talk shit about "Runaway" ... called "30 Hours" a Drake ripoff (haaaaa) then said it was the best song on the album. Love Kanye, then talk shit. At least Rob is consistent. You're just saying whatever you think will get you attention you saucy motherfucker. Boo!

I think the 21st century is barely 15 years old and it is way too early to crown a 20th century holdover as the most important. especially one with asshole bleach on his hair....

every once in a while you make a really well thought out post that expresses a really interesting thought about music without taking a dump on what someone else likes or insults the physical appearance or mental capacity of a celebrity. This is one of those posts, and I totally agree and appreciate the perspective.

Well, absolutely. I totally agree... though comparing Kanye to J Cole is pretty off base... yeah, Cole ripped him off for a while, but they're two totally different kinds of artists... and Ye hasn't been comparable to Common for ages... which reinforces my belief that you're missing something fundamental about why people like Kanye. He's anything but "safe." He takes chances, moreso than a vast majority of artists.

Anyway, I'm totally a noise and post-punk kid too. Always have been. Still have it in me. Thought Forms and Jim O'Rourke are among my favorite releases of the year right next to the Kanye and Solange. But I'm not devoted to any one genre. If music makes me happy or interests me, that's what matters.

My girlfriend has finally fully embraced Kanye after seeing him live. She loves noise pop, Sonic Youth, blah blah, and now she's a Kanye nut. She plays his songs on shuffle though ... from a playlist of EVERYTHING from Dropout to Pablo, with all the singles and features in between, so I'm hearing Kanye from a fresh perspective, and he is so freaking eclectic it's ridiculous. To hear Jesus Walks followed by All Day followed by FourFiveSeconds followed by FML.. you can't compare him to plain old rappers who rap in rap songs over and over again. He's on some totally different shit.

I don't care if you don't like him. I would just rather you make that decision based on what his music sounds like rather than the color of his hair or the size of his teeth.

And this is one of the other kinds of post you make. The ones that are kind of embarrassing to read after I've said I respect you.

Rob should enjoy Yeezus. Loud, noisy, drugged up, FUN..

Plus it kinda wrote the book on Travi$ Scott, who Rob seems to love.

But yeah, it is fun, isn't it? More fun than we thought at first. I mean, yeah, it's full of sonic panic, anxiety and claustrophobia, but it's a lot more joyous than it sounded when it came out. Put on "On Sight" on some high quality speakers and turn it up... that shit just forces you to move your ass. "Hold my Liquor" and "Blood on the Leaves" are sad as hell, but "Send it up," "Bound 2" etc. are just a blast.

Honestly if it wasn't for "I'm in it" I'd say it's pretty much perfect. I could do without that one. Love it from a production standpoint. Love the weird dark dancehall vibe. But I hate the narrative... just a crude song about fucking.

Rest of the album more than makes up for it though. And these songs change and morph over time anyway.. I hated "FACTS" for months, now I crave it. Maybe I'll do a 180 on "I'm in it" at some point. I disliked most of Late Registration at first too. Now there's not a single song (not even skits) that I'd skip through.

Oh man, "I'm in It" is one of my favorite songs on the album.. yeah it's repulsive, but still soo good. Honestly love Kanye's rapping performance on it.

By the way, Kanye doesn't even try to be a "good" rapper (in the traditional sense) on Yeezus and TLOP..

Well, his rapping has never been traditional. You don't have to tell me that. It's one of the reasons why I actually think he IS a good rapper. He sounds different. Very unlik the boring technical wiz sound of folks like Eminem. His inflection makes his delivery work, and that inflection is always just loaded with personality and charisma.

That said, he raps the hell out of "No More Parties in LA" and "On Sight" and "New Slaves" ... but the best moments on his last two albums are when he either gives a laid back conversational delivery ("Bound 2," "Guilt Trip," "Real Friends") or when he's just doing something else entirely ("Waves," "FML").

It's missing the point to try to compare him to other rappers, or to evaluate his music based on rap terminology. Rapping is not the main event of Kanye's music, even when he absolutely slays. The main event is the confluence of sounds and moods and tones, and how they hit their emotional mark. I was listening to "FourFiveSeconds" the other day... no rapping, not even any autotune singing... but it's a GREAT song, because the pieces (which seem disparate and awkward at first: Kanye singing what amounts to a country song with Rihanna over Paul's traditional strumming and gospel organ notes? With NO BEAT?) all fit together perfectly in their imperfection.

Someone played that at work on Tuesday actually. Everyone was humming along. Everyone knew it, from the interns to the older vets. We rarely agree on music in the office, but that's a tremendous pop song in every sense of the word.

rippin on his hair and teeth is just absurdity and trying to find humor in a seemingly humorless person (Kanye). has nothing to do with why I do not enjoy his music!

I laughed when I wrote it. all that matters. no big whup. I am complicated like all of us. still funny that Kanye gets "hospitalized" and comes out with new hair just like Britney when she was "hospitalized' and came out with new hair, and just like every other single overused and stretched thin superstar that the conglomerates strain to breaking point to make money off their asses.

My favorite on Yeezus is still "Bound 2." "Hold my Liquor" and "Guilt Trip" are after that. Then probably "Blood on the Leaves." But "Bound 2" is perfect. Perfect mix of "classic Kanye" with the shit he was doing at the time. I was appalled when I first hear that chorus ... thought it was ridiculous! So emotive and melodramatic. But after a few listens it was makin me tear up. Then it just clicked right in to the emotional experience of the album, and now I put that song on whenever I'm feeling groggy or bummed out and it wakes me right up. Can't imagine music without that song. I can't imagine music without Kanye period. Oddly the only other artist that I've been so consistently impressed by, whose music has been such a consistently euphoric and cathartic thing for me in my life are Sonic Youth and the Beatles.

Humorless? Oh come on. Admit it, you've never even listened. Can't have listened, not closely anyway, if you think he's "humorless."

It makes sense that Kanye and Kim K are together though, both seem to be humorless people with fragile, if extremely intense, ego structures. I used to think Kim was so gorgeous (I have deep love for dusky brunettes) and then my wife started watching keeping up with kardashians and I found out Kim K is the single dullest, least fun, least FUNNY, most self-obsessed person in her entire crazy family! It really knocked her down a peg or five in my estimation. Lack of a sense of humor, especially when it is onesself that is concerned, is way off-putting.

I said "seems to be."

New MADVILLAIN song:

http://pitchfork.com/news/70440-madl...figure-listen/

Apparently the song leaked in 2012 and they're now selling it for $85.
DOOM killed it though. Great song.

See this is where we're different. I have never watched that show and never would. We don't have tv. We only watch shows that we both get something out of (my "wifey" and I), and spend zero time on trash.

I have only seen a couple Kanye interviews, only a couple videos. My exposur to him is almost 100% through music. Seeing him live was the closest I've ever come to placing value on the non-musical elements of what he is. Like I said, I was a punk kid, and I still embrace music with the aesthetic I learned from Fugazi when I was a teeniebopper. Music is music, nothing else about it matters.

So... maybe if I wasted my time on trash tv that epitomizes the worst elements of our culture I'd feel the way you do. But I would never do that. Thank god. If the music is good, that's all there is. I don't care what his teeth or hair look like.

^co-sign.

i never watch it either. My wife loves it.

I will say, Waves is a boring ass song.

It's pretty redundant for a Kanye song I'll give you that. But I love it, even with Chris Brown's nasty ass all over it. The intro is positively heavenly, as is the production, and I love Kanye's verse chunks.

Live, it's like an out body experience. He does "I Love Kanye" all low key and a cappella, and then "I love you like Kanye loves Kanye" bursts into "TURN IT UP!" and "Waves" blasts off. Drove the crowd absolutely batshit.

New Cudi album is out and it's actually really good. Definitely his best since Man on the Moon II.

My only complaint is that it's so long.. could've cut off like 5 songs, just not sure which yet.

New Gucci is good as well. Even though it's essentially another Everybody Looking.

I've played a couple songs off the ne Cudi and I'm super happy to see that the grunge shit is over. That's all I can contribute at this point. Need to listen to more before trying to form an honest opinion.

so many things discussed recently: new Cudi, new Cole, new Gucci, etc... so many new albums I can't seem to even remotely make myself be interested in. Maybe it's oversaturation of new releases this year. Maybe I'm just bored. Or maybe I've just settled into a little niche where I'm content w/ what my ears already have. Don't know.

Same here, at least as far as hip-hop is concerned. We had Kane, Kendrick, Chance, Frank Ocean and fucking ATCQ all in one year, not to mention strong albums by Common, Danny Brown, ScHoolboy Q and Isaiah Rashad.

I'm still sorting through some of the electronic and noisey shit I missed due to listening to almost nothing but TLOP all year, but as far as hip-hop is concerned, there is zero chance that any of these new albums are going to have any kind of impact. Not that I don't enjoy a little Cudi and a little Gucci from time to time, but fuck man... none of it is even slightly interesting enough to get me truly excited.

Starting to think Kanye might've been influenced by Kraftwerk on MBDTF (and perhaps other albums too).. "Hell of a Life", as well as his red and black outfits during that era..

Y'all said 808s reminds you of Joy Division. Ian Curtis was a huge fan of Kraftwerk and cited them as an influence.

I think you're 100% right. I think the Kraftwerk influence started around '07, when he was famously embracing synths and electronic sounds for the first time. I think it continued in earnest through Yeezus at least.

You don't even need to make the connection to post punk or synth pop (via 808's) to see the Kraftwerk influence. Kanye sampled Can, who were in many ways peers of Kraftwerk even though they had entirely different approaches. He also sampled Daft Punk, of course, and Daft Punk has sucked from the Computer Love teat more than just about anyone. There's also the Aphex Twin connection.

But seriously, you're right. Anyone who's familiar with Kraftwerk and Kanye should be able to see an influence there. "Hell of a Life" is a good example, but also "Paranoid," "Guilt Trip," "On Sight," lots of WTT stuff... it all contains shades of Kraftwerk's twisted digital arpeggios and alien vocals.

Maybe more New Order than Joy Division, honestly. But yeah, I feel you.

Yep!! It all starts from Graduation. Besides the songs we already mentioned, I'd name "RoboCop" and "Flashing Lights" too.

And you're right, Kanye most definitely studied New Order and sees them as an inspiration. It doesn't surprise me that the Say You Will remake which he put on his SoundCloud account last year had a cover that looked like a "Power, Corruption & Lies" tribute.