oh yeah good review cw
― Spottie, Wednesday, 19 April 2017 16:54 (seven years ago) link
tfw when called a beta
http://t12.deviantart.net/71napWuGKHnkxHhvt-I3bte3yhk=/fit-in/150x150/filters:no_upscale():origin()/pre01/88ab/th/pre/f/2015/099/8/7/kendrick_pepe_by_h8nter-d8p29e7.jpg
― SSN Lucci (Whiney G. Weingarten), Wednesday, 19 April 2017 17:04 (seven years ago) link
refreshing after reading some negative responses to the album (don't know why, it's a good one obv.) respect to TSJ but i roll my eyes at their resident kendrick hater.
― nomar, Wednesday, 19 April 2017 17:08 (seven years ago) link
kinda dig the lo-fi moments on this album, they feel very very intentional and inform the songs' respective meaning imo
― Bobson Dugnutt (ulysses), Wednesday, 19 April 2017 17:27 (seven years ago) link
Yes grebt review, whiney. I like that you plucked out that bit on Lust where he gets mad about the election and then gets distracted by his daily life -- one of the most honest things I've heard anyone say about life under Trump.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 19 April 2017 17:35 (seven years ago) link
Beta male:2010s::f*g:1990s. Shorthand homophobic cipher for a male who doesn't live up to code, right? FFS.
utterly no. beta male = not your typical alpha male pop star. not always bragging. not constantly telling me how great your life is. not needing to be dominant at every turn. coming off like a real, vulnerable person. I think this is the reason I respond to Kendrick Lamar, so if you're trying to pin "homophobia" on me, FFS indeed, it's clear you have no idea where I'm coming from.
― Dominique, Wednesday, 19 April 2017 17:46 (seven years ago) link
that reading elides the common uses of "beta male" on the internet
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 19 April 2017 17:48 (seven years ago) link
ie as a pejorative w homophobic overtones
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 19 April 2017 17:49 (seven years ago) link
kendrick is the omega
― a landlocked exclave (mh 😏), Wednesday, 19 April 2017 17:49 (seven years ago) link
admittedly, I am not up to speed on many common uses of terms on the internet
― Dominique, Wednesday, 19 April 2017 17:51 (seven years ago) link
While I really love DNA, I can't get over how poorly the beat is mixed. The distortion on the beat, especially the 2nd part, really takes away some of the fire of the track for me. This is the only track on the album that does this to such a degree. Was it mixed on a pair of Beats or something? Wish I could get a hold of the stems and fix it argh
same reason I always skip "Fly Shit Only" on Future's EVOL. Kendrick's performance more than redeems "DNA" but nothing on "Fly Shit Only" makes up for the fact that it sounds like pure butt.
― evol j, Wednesday, 19 April 2017 17:57 (seven years ago) link
whiney, your review is excellent. i was curious about this line in the first paragraph, though:
His last album, To Pimp a Butterfly, will likely go down as the defining reflection of the America that spawned #BlackLivesMatter, in the same way Pablo Picasso's Guernica stands as the defining reflection of the Spanish Civil War.
are you just trying to set a tone and get a super epic lead-in (nothing wrong with that), or do you actually believe this? (nothing wrong with that, either)
― budo jeru, Wednesday, 19 April 2017 17:58 (seven years ago) link
I don't think there is another album/movie/TV show/play/book that addresses these concerns with that level of artistry and popularity. Like maybe the only competition is Lemonade, and a lot of that was subtext and readings as opposed to the more explicit politics of TPAB
― SSN Lucci (Whiney G. Weingarten), Wednesday, 19 April 2017 18:05 (seven years ago) link
Same with Get Out, really
agree with that ^^
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 19 April 2017 18:09 (seven years ago) link
who uses alpha/beta to talk about humans in a way that isn't incoherent red pill types raging about their insecurity? even in studying animals there isn't one archetype for alpha behaviour
― ogmor, Wednesday, 19 April 2017 18:11 (seven years ago) link
I totally lose track of the metre during the closing sections of DNA - just after Kendrick switches to triplet flow and there's a big clash with the vocal sample. I have enough faith to suspect this is deliberate but it throws me off every time.
― Matt DC, Wednesday, 19 April 2017 18:21 (seven years ago) link
have we determined if kendrick is a cuck tho
― SSN Lucci (Whiney G. Weingarten), Wednesday, 19 April 2017 18:21 (seven years ago) link
bitch don't email my wife
omega has actual anthropological meaning and I retract my previous comment
but yeah, at its core it's a metaphorical mapping of the studies of primate ethology to humans and isn't really relevant to humans -- the whole "alpha" thing has its connotations and people later attempted to pull "beta" in, but those doing it did so as a contrast to the "alpha" moniker. if you see "alpha male" as an unqualified good or desired state then "beta" is undesirable, and vice versa
― a landlocked exclave (mh 😏), Wednesday, 19 April 2017 18:23 (seven years ago) link
― Matt DC, Wednesday, April 19, 2017 1:21 PM (two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
I was kind of appreciating this on a long drive home last night. People will complain about him cramming his words in or it being messy, but it's more of an interplay with the beat - drifting on and off or seeming like it's slightly out of sync only to lock back in is purposeful and the vocal sample clash ramps it up
― a landlocked exclave (mh 😏), Wednesday, 19 April 2017 18:26 (seven years ago) link
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/97/ff/9d/97ff9d8b10b96bf4c8d7cd6217ad9c2d.jpg
used to shop here as a kid
― (•̪●) (carne asada), Wednesday, 19 April 2017 18:27 (seven years ago) link
When I was a kid, I read an article in BMX Plus or something in which the author described riding his bike through the Alpha Beta doors. Until just a couple years ago, I didn't know that Alpha Beta was a supermarket chain. I had been running around calling all automatic doors "alpha beta doors".
― how's life, Wednesday, 19 April 2017 18:33 (seven years ago) link
xxxxpost
i wouldn't have minded so much a comparison to, say, "a change is gonna come"
but i feel like having kendrick lamar and pablo picasso in the same sentence sort of smacks of that peculiar need critics or intellectuals sometimes have to contextualize/legitimize hip hop. but always sort of doing the opposite and reaffirming the institutions / critical discourses that grant legitimacy, rather than highlighting asymmetrical configurations through which new music is distributed, consumed, evaluated.
you are clearly not suggesting that kendrick lamar needs to be compared to picasso in order to be considered seriously as an artist. but i do feel like there is a kind of weird undertone of "this record belongs in a museum" to that sentence. part of me thinks it's a very minor thing, but on the other hand i feel compelled to bring it up because i'm just really fucking tired of heavy-handed, euro-centric attempts to explain why hip hop is "important." (i'm not your review, to be clear.)
anyway, super stoked on "humble" -- my fav track so far, and the video is insane. i especially like the part where he's in the back of his car spreading grey poupon onto a slice of untoasted white bread
which led me to this: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/rappers-grey-poupon-hip-hop-lyrics_us_5800f933e4b0162c043b8009
― budo jeru, Wednesday, 19 April 2017 18:51 (seven years ago) link
*not talking about your review
xpost to mh, i always thought the most immediate connotation of "omega" is theological. when i read your original post i assumed you were assigning kl messianic status
― budo jeru, Wednesday, 19 April 2017 18:55 (seven years ago) link
if humble is the rappity rap bona fide track and DNA is the banger, Loyalty feels like the massive summer hit. has some of the same appeal and pace of bitch don't kill my vibe imo.
― Bobson Dugnutt (ulysses), Wednesday, 19 April 2017 19:02 (seven years ago) link
I feel like ELEMENT. is getting enough love. Easily my favorite hook on the album.
― Rachel Luther Queen (DJP), Wednesday, 19 April 2017 19:04 (seven years ago) link
xxp that was my joke, yeah
― a landlocked exclave (mh 😏), Wednesday, 19 April 2017 19:06 (seven years ago) link
"loyalty" is the most i've enjoyed rihanna in years
― marcos, Wednesday, 19 April 2017 19:06 (seven years ago) link
grr *isn't getting enough love.
― Rachel Luther Queen (DJP), Wednesday, 19 April 2017 19:07 (seven years ago) link
I have only listened to this twice, but was getting nice summer vibes from Pride earlier. Sick album.
― calzino, Wednesday, 19 April 2017 19:08 (seven years ago) link
i feel compelled to bring it up because i'm just really fucking tired of heavy-handed, euro-centric attempts to explain why hip hop is "important." (i'm not your review, to be clear.)― budo jeru, Wednesday, April 19, 2017 2:51 PM (twenty-six minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― budo jeru, Wednesday, April 19, 2017 2:51 PM (twenty-six minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
i understand this thinking, but on the other hand LOTS of people still need it spelled out for them. And, in my defense, will be the first to admit Rolling Stone readers aren't necessarily the ones needing to see what I think Kendrick's album means in a world listening to a XXXTencion Soundcloud stream on cellphone speakers.
― SSN Lucci (Whiney G. Weingarten), Wednesday, 19 April 2017 19:25 (seven years ago) link
yeah, fair enough
― budo jeru, Wednesday, 19 April 2017 19:34 (seven years ago) link
Kendrick's not a "beta" as much as he's an introvert dominating an extrovert's game, much like early Nas.
― duped and used by my worst Miss U (President Keyes), Wednesday, 19 April 2017 21:36 (seven years ago) link
maybe let's not keep using idiot poison-words in an unrelated thread, just sayin
― Brexterminate all the brutes (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 19 April 2017 21:42 (seven years ago) link
ot motherfucking m
― a landlocked exclave (mh 😏), Wednesday, 19 April 2017 21:44 (seven years ago) link
who uses alpha/beta to talk about humans in a way that isn't incoherent red pill types raging about their insecurity?
literally no-one. the second anybody opts into that vocabulary is the second you can write off 100% of their opinions
― People like Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr, and (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Wednesday, 19 April 2017 22:32 (seven years ago) link
Ditto pejorative use of SJW.
― rb (soda), Wednesday, 19 April 2017 22:35 (seven years ago) link
http://i.makeagif.com/media/2-26-2014/4daPsl.gif
― SSN Lucci (Whiney G. Weingarten), Wednesday, 19 April 2017 22:35 (seven years ago) link
fwiw there's a few songs on this album that won't budge from my head (ELEMENT, PRIDE, DUCKWORTH) but the one I really can't shake is LUST, which is already a track of the year contender maybe
― imago, Wednesday, 19 April 2017 22:49 (seven years ago) link
tbf I think this is a bit of harsh judgment on Dominique, who is def not an incoherent red pill type raging about his masculinity (also he is hottt iirc)
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 19 April 2017 22:53 (seven years ago) link
Total babe yeah
― (•̪●) (carne asada), Thursday, 20 April 2017 00:15 (seven years ago) link
but i feel like having kendrick lamar and pablo picasso in the same sentence sort of smacks of that peculiar need critics or intellectuals sometimes have to contextualize/legitimize hip hop. but always sort of doing the opposite and reaffirming the institutions / critical discourses that grant legitimacy, rather than highlighting asymmetrical configurations through which new music is distributed, consumed, evaluated.you are clearly not suggesting that kendrick lamar needs to be compared to picasso in order to be considered seriously as an artist. but i do feel like there is a kind of weird undertone of "this record belongs in a museum" to that sentence. part of me thinks it's a very minor thing, but on the other hand i feel compelled to bring it up because i'm just really fucking tired of heavy-handed, euro-centric attempts to explain why hip hop is "important." (i'm not your review, to be clear.)
― piramjida, Thursday, 20 April 2017 00:37 (seven years ago) link
Don Cheadle time
http://pitchfork.com/news/73004-don-cheadle-talks-kendrick-lamars-dna-video-being-the-original-kung-fu-kenny/
― Crazy Eddie & Jesus the Kid (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, 20 April 2017 01:05 (seven years ago) link
I completely see what you mean and I argued this point many times, though TPAB is kind of already archived at Harvard and the man himself is being compared to Gandhi. The problem I have is I feel like Lamar's greatness and virtuosity got shoved down everybody's throat to the point that sometimes it's hard to enjoy as a piece of music. Even very positive opinions somehow feel like this kind of huge relief that it didn't turn out to be a huge letdown and track with U2 didn't turn out to be complete piece of shit. Honestly, it's hard to be surprised about all those dumbass theories with second album, people simply needed more than music to satisfy their expectations, kind of same thing happened to Life of Pablo or Blonde― piramjida, Wednesday, April 19, 2017 7:37 PM (twenty-eight minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
This
― Crazy Eddie & Jesus the Kid (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, 20 April 2017 01:06 (seven years ago) link
After three listens, I'm starting to think this won't match the impossibly high standard that GKMC and TPAB set for me. It's a slight dip from perfect to very good. I get a different song stuck in my head every day - today is "Fear", which is such a perfect pairing of beat and lyrics
― Vinnie, Thursday, 20 April 2017 01:29 (seven years ago) link
i didn't know about the harvard thing, it's kind of interesting:
http://hiphoparchive.org/blog/3513-harvard-recognizes-hiphop-classics
― budo jeru, Thursday, 20 April 2017 01:43 (seven years ago) link
NB: Life of Pablo and Blonde are not good albums tho
― Bobson Dugnutt (ulysses), Thursday, 20 April 2017 02:59 (seven years ago) link
Made at best above average artists too
― albvivertine, Thursday, 20 April 2017 03:05 (seven years ago) link
― SSN Lucci (Whiney G. Weingarten), 19. april 2017 20:05 (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
I think perhaps Ta-nehisi Coates' Between the World and Me will be a contender. No, not as many has read that as has heard King Kunta, but Guernica wasn't the smash hit poster of 37 either.
― Frederik B, Thursday, 20 April 2017 07:54 (seven years ago) link