love that dilla/sa-ra drunken 8th note thing
― Jordan, Thursday, 13 November 2008 16:56 (fifteen years ago) link
Every time this thread gets bumped, I start humming "The Healer". Sometimes I follow that with "The Cell", but I always default to "The Healer".
― Black Seinfeld (HI DERE), Thursday, 13 November 2008 17:17 (fifteen years ago) link
i think i voted for 'the cell' or 'soldier' here but it's one of those rare albums which makes such sense in its totality that picking individual peaks feels sort of wrong...what blows my mind is how stellar its components are, but the whole is somehow even more than just the sum of them.
― lex pretend, Thursday, 13 November 2008 17:30 (fifteen years ago) link
I had a bit of a slow uptake, too, but at this point I can't identify an album released this decade that means as much to me. I just posted this in the other thread last night.
yall have no idea how much this record speaks to me... I might even say it feels like its ABOUT me
― mr. mayan end times guy (The Reverend), Thursday, November 13, 2008 2:53 AM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
I feel like, amazing new developments aside, this record perfectly encaptures how it feels to be black in america in 2008
― mr. mayan end times guy (The Reverend), Thursday, November 13, 2008 2:55 AM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
The album it reminds me most of is Curtis. While the makers of both records are quick to detail our social ills, neither sounds, for even a second, like they don't believe we can overcome them.
― mr. mayan end times guy (The Reverend), Thursday, November 13, 2008 3:35 AM Bookmark
Another thing is, despite all the social commentary, it's never didactic (not that there's anything wrong with that, I mean Public Enemy were didactic), the whole thing feels so personal at every level.
― mr. mayan end times guy (The Reverend), Thursday, 13 November 2008 22:58 (fifteen years ago) link
And there are so many easter eggs, lyrically and sonically! I always discover something new when I listen to it. It's a complex motherfucking work. Just about a week ago, I first noticed that "My People" ends with the words "Good morning. Did you have a Dream?" And I capitilize Dream intentionally, because whether she was referring to the American (Amerykahn?) Dream or, I think more likely, MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech, she intends to load the word with more meaning than its M-W definition would indicate.
― mr. mayan end times guy (The Reverend), Thursday, 13 November 2008 23:07 (fifteen years ago) link
yeah absolutely - i get annoyed when people overuse adjectives like "meaningful" but it absolutely applies to new amerykah in the sense that every word, note, inflection, every last detail in the arrangement is there for a reason, and even the most minute element of it can spark off these chains of thought just like yours
― lex pretend, Thursday, 13 November 2008 23:12 (fifteen years ago) link
Yeah, even things in the sequencing. It's no accident that "Me" is followed by "My People". She's already claimed her people as her in the former song. "I salute you [insert your name here] because you are me". It's also no mistake that she goes from grown folks acting all niggerish and not taking responsibility for their kids in "The Cell" to lamenting how those same kids "don't know their language...don't know their god" in "Twinkle" to the epiphany of "wait....what if there were no niggers, only master teachers?"
― mr. mayan end times guy (The Reverend), Thursday, 13 November 2008 23:23 (fifteen years ago) link
there's some amazingly subtle towards Dilla on the album, too, like how 'My People' is based on the Eddie Kendricks track 'People Hold On' that Dilla sampled on Donuts. There's snippets of Badu singing on Madlib's new Beat Konduktah tape too, which is a Dilla tribute.
― slap bass: the ungentle art (stevie), Thursday, 13 November 2008 23:28 (fifteen years ago) link
subtle nods towards
The sirens at the beginning of "Telephone" cribbed straight from Donuts!
― mr. mayan end times guy (The Reverend), Thursday, 13 November 2008 23:30 (fifteen years ago) link
egggggsactly! god, i love this album. i highly reccommend the dil cosby suite album too; its really strangely moving.
― slap bass: the ungentle art (stevie), Thursday, 13 November 2008 23:31 (fifteen years ago) link
dil cosby suite album?
― mr. mayan end times guy (The Reverend), Thursday, 13 November 2008 23:32 (fifteen years ago) link
sure. but so what? the main difference between the two, for me, being that SotT has at least ten GRATE songs on it; whereas, New Amerykah... has what esactly??? i mean, i keep waiting for the damn songs to sink in, but it just ain't happening. yet.Suggest Ban Permalink― Ioannis, Thursday, November 13, 2008 5:47 AM Bookmark
Suggest Ban Permalink― Ioannis, Thursday, November 13, 2008 5:47 AM Bookmark
I'm getting at this above, but a marked difference between Sign O the Times and New Amerykah is that the songs on SOtT are very discrete, whereas the songs on NA heavily rely upon each other for contextual clues and inferences, building upon each others' ideas. So, while both albums are very rich experiences, they operate in different ways.
― mr. mayan end times guy (The Reverend), Thursday, 13 November 2008 23:37 (fifteen years ago) link
Onomatopoeia of the police's shotguns: "BANG BANG" ["The Cell"]Onomatopoeia of Erykah's shotguns: "BLLLLACK" ["Soldier"]
Little touches like ^^^ make this album.
― mr. mayan end times guy (The Reverend), Thursday, 13 November 2008 23:41 (fifteen years ago) link
dil cosby suite is the new madlib beat konduktah album, on stones throw...
― slap bass: the ungentle art (stevie), Thursday, 13 November 2008 23:42 (fifteen years ago) link
I'll have to check that out, even though I'm not generally a huge fan of Madlib's solo work.
― mr. mayan end times guy (The Reverend), Thursday, 13 November 2008 23:43 (fifteen years ago) link
there's not a lot of erykah on there, just little glimpses and slivers, but she's there. makes sense, what with them working together, and both being friends of dilla's.
― slap bass: the ungentle art (stevie), Thursday, 13 November 2008 23:47 (fifteen years ago) link
aaaarrrggg! see, this is exactly why i feel like i'm somehow being left out by not "getting" the damn thing; you all make it sound like it's the best album to come along since There's a Riot Going On (or Maxinequay maybe). still, truth be told, i'd much rather read what Rev has to say about New Amerykah than actually listen to it. (ok, preferably, i'd like to do both simultaneously...but whatever.)
― Ioannis, Thursday, 13 November 2008 23:48 (fifteen years ago) link
Can I mention how much I love ?uestlove's drumming on "Telephone"? Between that and "75 Bars" and "Lay It Down", dude has done all my favorite drumming this year.
― mr. mayan end times guy (The Reverend), Friday, 14 November 2008 00:00 (fifteen years ago) link
"I got love for my folks/ Baptized when the levy broke"
― mr. mayan end times guy (The Reverend), Friday, 14 November 2008 00:38 (fifteen years ago) link
"MORE ACTION. MORE EXCITEMENT. MORE EVERYTHING."
^^^otm
― mr. mayan end times guy (The Reverend), Friday, 14 November 2008 00:43 (fifteen years ago) link
and THEN the spooky backing vox come in
the sudden burst of emotion on "to my boys in iraqi fields/this ain't no time to kill", too
― lex pretend, Friday, 14 November 2008 00:44 (fifteen years ago) link
also the incredible amounts of righteousness and compassion in equal measure - "to my girls on prescription pills", you wait for the advice but it's just that tender "i know how you feel", but ultimately she's still got the shotgun on everyone's back
― lex pretend, Friday, 14 November 2008 00:50 (fifteen years ago) link
That whole bridge is incredible. It just keeps going and building higher through several points when it might end. Even though she repeats the mantra of "Get your money, dollar bill y'all", she warns to stay vigilant even once you've attained that Amerykan Promise, because this is Amerykah and it could all come crashing down at any moment, expecially with a little bit of help. And that shotgun on your back: not a threat; a promise. Btw, Erykah is quite good at the use of spooky background vox.
― mr. mayan end times guy (The Reverend), Friday, 14 November 2008 01:19 (fifteen years ago) link
I'd never thought I might describe drum programming this way, but the unadorned, static beat somehow seems kind of......stoic.
― mr. mayan end times guy (The Reverend), Friday, 14 November 2008 01:21 (fifteen years ago) link
here's a taste of "Real Thang" for all y'all Amerykahns:
― Ioannis, Friday, 14 November 2008 12:36 (fifteen years ago) link
i uploaded it upthread! http://www.sendspace.com/file/d94lbq
― lex pretend, Friday, 14 November 2008 12:37 (fifteen years ago) link
naughty
― Thematically it's like a queer-Pipecock (blueski), Friday, 14 November 2008 12:42 (fifteen years ago) link
hmm, that's odd, Rev says he still hasn't heard it.
xp
― Ioannis, Friday, 14 November 2008 12:43 (fifteen years ago) link
yahhh, I think I just forgot to check it out earlier... this is alright I guess, seems kinda repetitive
― launch me into spaaaaaaaaaaace (The Reverend), Friday, 14 November 2008 20:33 (fifteen years ago) link
Yeah, if this had been on the album, it would've been my last-placer. But it's still pretty good.
― Eric H., Friday, 14 November 2008 20:54 (fifteen years ago) link
honey underrated
― sofa king (deej), Friday, 14 November 2008 21:09 (fifteen years ago) link
yeah, it's a total jam... ends the album on a real keepin' it positive note
― and somewhat dude (The Reverend), Friday, 14 November 2008 21:11 (fifteen years ago) link
No votes for honey???
― ilxor, Thursday, 25 December 2008 17:31 (fifteen years ago) link
This album is so fucking great, btw.
I adore Honey, but I think that for whatever reason it feels like a separate entity from the album as a whole. It really is a bonus track, in the truest sense of the word. So when I'm picking a favourite track, or thinking about New AmErykah at all, Honey just doesn't figure in.
― the other Alex in MTL, in fact (Alex in Montreal), Thursday, 25 December 2008 18:10 (fifteen years ago) link
re-poll. how did the first track not get a vote?
― "made smashable" (k3vin k.), Thursday, 25 December 2008 19:00 (fifteen years ago) link
Alternate versions of "Master Teacher"
http://www.soulbounce.com/soul/2008/11/sara_bilal_georgia_anne_muldrow_breathe_new_life_into_badus_master_teacher.php
― The Reverend, Thursday, 25 December 2008 19:04 (fifteen years ago) link
'cause it's such a beatjack i'm guessing
― Tracy Michael Jordan Catalano (Jordan), Thursday, 25 December 2008 19:10 (fifteen years ago) link
who cares if it's a beatjack? the reason it didn't get any votes is because it fundementally functions as an intro
― The Reverend, Thursday, 25 December 2008 19:13 (fifteen years ago) link
the part i love about that song the most is the dude in the background. makes me smile every time. the little girl at the end, too
― "made smashable" (k3vin k.), Thursday, 25 December 2008 19:13 (fifteen years ago) link
I'm pretty sure that all those voices are Erykah's sped up or slowed down.
― The Reverend, Thursday, 25 December 2008 19:16 (fifteen years ago) link
I wonder about that myself; I haven't heard the original Ayers track and had kind of assumed some of the voices had come from it, but maybe not.
― Matos W.K., Thursday, 25 December 2008 19:48 (fifteen years ago) link
Part 2 is apparently due Feb. 17--day before my birthday! 8-D
― Matos W.K., Thursday, 25 December 2008 19:49 (fifteen years ago) link
The backup voices ("Promise promise"..."Give you my eyes", etc) are on the original track, the rest is Badu being "THE MAN" and "THE LITTLE GIRL".
― Dimension 5ive, Thursday, 25 December 2008 19:51 (fifteen years ago) link
Matos:
― The Reverend, Thursday, 25 December 2008 19:55 (fifteen years ago) link
Yeah, I figured I'd like Erykah's version better, and I do. Thanks, Rev!
― Matos W.K., Thursday, 25 December 2008 20:10 (fifteen years ago) link
thx for the info
― "made smashable" (k3vin k.), Thursday, 25 December 2008 20:20 (fifteen years ago) link
Part 2 is apparently due Feb. 17
This news just made my Christmas complete.
― Eric H., Thursday, 25 December 2008 20:39 (fifteen years ago) link
I wouldn't hold my breath for that Feb 17th release, but here's hoping.... You can listen to her performing a snippet of the (reported) single "Jump in the Air... Stay There" here:
― descendent of warlocks (The Brainwasher), Thursday, 25 December 2008 20:41 (fifteen years ago) link