6/7/2011, imma drop that body work / fuck my brains out double single (TERIUS NASH aka THE-DREAM, LOVE IV: anticipation and adoration)

the problem, though, is that i don't think dream finds anything absurd about filming your girlfriend crying with mascara running down her face as she gets on her knees and pleads with you for one last fuck. it's totally straight faced.

xpost

let's not go crazy, there's clearly a ton of very direct Prince influence in his whole catalog, even if it doesn't need to be a critical reference point as often as it is

well whether he realizes the absurdity or not, he's the kind of guy who bothers to follow a sex jam with "take a shower/take a shower/meet me in half an hour" so god bless him

xpost some dude, I wouldn't be referencing Ready For The World and '80s Ray Parker Jr. if I didn't think Prince was a valid critical reference point. I just think it's further removed than a simple "he's like Prince"

As dirty as Prince is, he's not the sleazo that RP Jr is – in the best sense.

my "let's not go crazy" was directed at Alfred's "the Prince thing doesn't make sense" craziness

I overstated it. Like croup, I hear more RFTW and second-tier eighties R&B (we haven't even mentioned Maze + Beverly) than Prince, in part because Nash recycles his own audio/aural tricks.

um hey i don't suppose anyone remembers that video that went round for a bit a couple of years ago, it was like some random guy coming on 80s public access tv doing this totally straight heartfelt prince tribute act and he was all dressed up? the song turned out to be pretty rad and i think the chorus was like "her name is [silly complicated name like letishikitarita]"

sorry but i've been trying to find it for like 20 minutes

let's not go crazy, there's clearly a ton of very direct Prince influence in his whole catalog, even if it doesn't need to be a critical reference point as often as it is

― Letters From Iwhiney Gima (some dude), Wednesday, June 8, 2011 2:04 PM (25 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

actually, LET'S GO CRAZY

(like the prince song)

("lets go crazy")

i remember it illuminated a lot for me about Ne-Yo when he picked a block of videos on BET and most of the Prince/MJ was Diamonds & Pearls/Dangerous era -- i think The-Dream's reference points are definitely more first generation Minneapolis sound by comparison but there's definitely some of that late '80s stuff in the mix too

He's totally a sleaze, but both of these get full support. Now why didn't Love King ever come out on vinyl?

And continuing the Dream vs. Prince things, yeah Dream is an asshole, totally misogynistic, aggressive whereas Prince just loved the sex. Even his early 90's more aggressive stuff seemed to basically just worship the ass. My wife pointed this out to me once.

what's gross about FMBO is how after a highly public break up he's written a song about how no matter how much of a jerk is, his ex-girlfriend is in thrall to his awesome magical penis. i mean, it's a good song, but it's still all sorts of gross

― Alex in Montreal

alex has recanted, but i'm still slightly bothered (though, as i said way upthread, i got over my initial squeamishness pretty quickly). given the dreamer's insistence on his own controversial "honesty" and the crassly public nature of contemporary celebrity, i think it's disingenuous to treat this as though it's completely unrelated the events of the artist's recent life. of course the song isn't necessarily autobiographical, but he's pushing buttons nonetheless.

it would be nice if when terius was listening to prince ... he took notes on how to be a freak without being a pig

― max

max and matt2's points about prince's sexual excesses OTM. prince's lyrics may be a bit grotesque ("masturbating with a magazine"), but they're generally focused on his desire and her allure. terry's only using her desperate, panting desire to paint a picture of his own complete sexual dominance. it's not like this kind of boastful excess is unique in dude's career, quite the opposite, but sometimes things work for you, sometimes they don't. i mean, shit, i dig "panties to the side"...

oh noes, no strings sex! odious! reprehensible! literally have no idea what u prudes are moaning about

in particular the notion that this song makes him come off poorer "as a human being" than the trite plodding idiocy of 'make up bag' or god idk a hundred other little things over the years is just laughable

― r|t|c, Wednesday, June 8, 2011 12:45 PM (3 hours ago)

thank you

i've never been too offended by the pig-talk cos none of it seemed even a little bit real to me. i'm sure he gets laid plenty but idk, the guy's kind of unattractive.

oh wtg goole, now you made dream feel bad

've never been too offended by the pig-talk cos none of it seemed even a little bit real to me. i'm sure he gets laid plenty but idk, the guy's kind of unattractive.

OTM. So is Ne-Yo.

what do you mean "real"? the talk is the same regardless of his PUA stats, right? do you mean that it's in character, an artistic device that says nothing about terry's actual feelings & attitudes? maybe so, but it can still be unpleasant.

or hilarious, or sexy, or w/e.

His swinishness grates when music and arrangements fail him and he looks like another wobbly-voiced asshole. I prefer the swinishness when it's encased in ballad form, cuz he tends to self-absorption (i.e. what she is doing to him) instead of lashing out.

there's sweet exceptions ("February Love").

i mean with a lot of other singers who say this kind of shit it either seems like a crazy story they are getting into, or it has some basis in life. with T i just get the feeling that he's basically lying to me. i'm like, fuck out of here man that didn't happen. i don't know why, just, all the women he sings about feel a bit 'canadian girlfriend' to me.

all the women he sings about feel a bit 'canadian girlfriend' to me.

lol

the funniest/grossest/least believable aspect of FMBO is when she "turns around and gets on her knees"

lol goole, and okay, that's OTM and actually helps

the chorus to fmbo kind of sounds like a fast car retread

i feel like new the-dream after a few years of listening to him all starts to sound like a retread of the best songs on the first record

deej otm

I'm not sure if I just have Dream fatigue or if he has actually fell off but this "body work/fuck my brains out" song is v. dull

thirded

body work was pretty dull, at this point in my life I just can't accept another the-dream falsetto

I used to think Ne-Yo was muy sexy until I saw him without a hat. :/

the phrasing of the lyrics on fmbo totally reminds me of prince, the way he pauses between each line, the downward lilt, etc.

feel like I don't need to have a strong opinion on the-dream anymore tho

the chorus to fmbo kind of sounds like a fast car retread

totally but it's super-enjoyable nonetheless

I used to think Ne-Yo was muy sexy until I saw him without a hat. :/

hahahahaha

def. hoping for something *fresh* from him on love iv

fuck it i would still w with an album of retreads tho

the thing is i really don't mind it when terius doesn't bother with ~songcraft~, concentrating on ridic goonish punchlines and sweetspot production satusfies me immensely cuz they're kind of terius stripped to his essence. like one of my fav the-dream songs will always be "hit it on the road" which encapsulates a ton of what i love about him

re: his lying, i dont think gravitas has ever been one of his strongpoints - his weakness as a singer/someone who can convey believable emotion is kind of both his achilles heel (yo dream! stick to producing etc) and what makes ppl seem to love him so much.

smh @ u dudes saying his career has peaked before the new bieber album has even dropped

lol uhhh wait, you lads are coming out with this blasé uninspired retread stuff only now after love king?? these two songs are so much more switched-on than that stuff i can't even

even on the level of preaching to the converted (which i don't necessarily dispute) theyre infinitely more satisfying

I said the same thing about some songs on love king it's just something that gets worse w time and continued repititions of the formula. Really surprised you think these are some big step above love king, feels like same old same old to me

Like I was willing to write my dampening enthusiasm off to my own fatigue circa love king, at this pt it just feels unavoidable

yeah idk, like i say i'm still coming to this from within the morbid terius bubble - i'm not nearly as invested as i was with the lvm material - but the general point is that this has got me back in the bubble to begin with

do think it's a bit sloppy to say "with time and continued repetitions" though, it's obviously the quality of the repetition we're disagreeing over rather than just some sort of automatic ennui kicking in

k3v and finney been quiet, what r u guys saying

i have no idea wtf he is talking about on twitter 98% of the time.

smh @ u dudes saying his career has peaked before the new bieber album has even dropped

― the-dream's car of the summer (tpp), Thursday, June 9, 2011 4:48 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark

fwiw i was referring purely to his career as a solo performer -- dream and tricky aren't producing smashes as often as they used to but i don't doubt they could turn out rihanna or beyonce or usher's next #1

lol uhhh wait, you lads are coming out with this blasé uninspired retread stuff only now after love king?? these two songs are so much more switched-on than that stuff i can't even

no. i came in very late, circa LK, and loved nearly everything on that record. went back and listened to the early stuff and found it all a bit samey when taken at once, but at least of equal quality. like both of these new tracks now that i've spent some time with them, but there's a noticable drop in immediate, jaw-on-the-floor quality. something's off...