official liveblog rap album review thread

"Precious" ft. Ryan Leslie

I've been repping for this song on here for months perhaps and I really think it's a great song. it sounds out of place here though, right after "Frenemies" is such a stupid place for this song. I guess Ryan Leslie produced it, he cooked something really dope for this, the verses are sticky and dark and head-bobbing and, like, rap music for rap fans, and then the hook comes in and everything changes to this lilting grand piano swoon and romantic vibe. I think Ryan Leslie might be the first person to ever really figure out how to make a great Jim Jones song, literally giving him his verses and takin the chorus for himself and turning both into two different sonic landscapes. Ryan gets a little mini verse that takes the static-y synths out of the verse part but leaves the fantastic guitar muted electric guitar and shakers that have been there al along but you never noticed, and he just totally evaporates this track in a few seconds. This guy is a talented motherfucker I will listen to more of him. Jim actually has a pretty engaging thing going on for this song, flow is better than usual, adlibs are A+, cute little anecdotes about chicks texting and he says "smh lol with a smiley face" which makes the whole album worth it. he does say "every Obama needs a Michelle" though. this is just two dudes talkin about broads, i'm in.

"Blow The Bank" ft. Oshy and Starr

"Talkin about that Splash Life" is the thematic tone here. Here's Oshy! Yayyyyy who the fuck are you welcome to the album dude. This song has that Miami sound that Jimmy kind of thrives in (see "Summer With Miami" which remains his greatest contribution to recorded music). It's basically about spending money on women, a big topic for '09. The drums are weirdly pounding which kinda doesn't mesh well with the summery synths and major chords and splashy singing that's going on by two people named Oshy and Starr one is female and one is male and I don't now which is which.

"This is For My Bitches" ft. Oshy

I guess Oshy is the dude in which case I should make an editorial note that in my "Intro" post I wrongly identified Starr as the dude that Jimmy was conversing with when in fact she is the chick singing in the background. Whatever who gives a shit. This song is literally the same exact thing as "Blow The Bank" and could there ever be a more hilarious "song for the ladies" track title. More synths but this time they're kinda vamping and Oshy is crooning all over the place about how sexy women are those sexy things and then calls them bitches and tells them to put their hands up high. Jimmy lives quite a life like Las vegas and cars and certain designer stores he could buy you some shit from them if you hop in his car, I imagine, I'm not really even listening to what he's saying right now.

"Girlfriend" ft. Juelz Santana and Oshy

Whoa, first thing I think of here is old Dipset sound with these sinister strings-preset synth stabs. Jimmy sees thick girls in the room that he's in and then another Jimmy responds to that with "Ray Charles can see that" and this is before the song even starts. Literally we got multiple Jimmys talking to each other and ordering models from a waitress. Ok beat starts and the Dipset vibe is out with a stuttering sparse percussive production with just a hint of a synth accent during the verses. This is a club track apparently, couldn't really tell until Jimmy's first verse is over and Oshy (what's up dude!) comes in with some yodelling (not kidding) and Jimmy has a little shake yer booty hook. Man Juelz sounds like he took 3 xanax bars on every verse he's dropped since "Nothin On Me". QUite literally a forgettable verse from my boy here, I have nothing to say about it. This song is not going to be getting your local discotheque into a frenzy any time soon.

"This is the Life" ft. Starr

Most people dream of it, this is what we lvie for, they want to take it from us, etc etc. Rick Ross called and said you kinda suck at this and also it's almost Lights Out time. Starr is so useless she sounds those female voices that don't usually get credited with a feature but obviously Jimmy has big plans for this one or something. Steel drum-ish synth notes in a kinda dreamy gentle pattern and boring strings behind them. this song is fuckin wack.

"My My My" ft. Rowanna

What. The. Fuck. Didn't I just listen to this. Who the fuck is Rowanna. This beat is making my head hurt and Jimmy has literally said the same exact thing for a while now and is this a joke this girl sounds exactly like the last one. "I hope there's a Harlem in heaven." <-------- this song in a nutshell. Crying, you smell me?

"Pop Off" ft. NOE and Mel Matrix

Ok glad we're done with that little excursion into romance (four songs) and remorse (two songs) cuz this what we come to Jim Jones albums for, fuckin rap about killing people and robbing people and shit like that. The beat is unremarkable but this is kind of good because believe it or not some people like myself wanna hear what Mel Matrix can do (Byrdgang). This is the type of track that makes you realize what Stack Bundles meant to Jimmy and his plan for Byrdgang cuz dude would have bodied this and it would be fun (if you've never heard Stack Bundles go dl a mixtape he was a good rapper). Anyway, Mel Matrix is competent in a NYC gun talk context, good addition here and his chorus is sufficiently violent and angry and he def. killed this track. This is goon music in the original Byrdgang sense not in your stupid Plies-ironic way. Byrdgang doesn't really come off like a rap force to reckoned with from this track though. They aren't. Jim Jones is better at talking shit than rapping which is a fact that was made famously and unquestionable tryue for all ages in Cam'ron's classic "Hate Me Now" Nas diss track and he talks some shit here too.

"Pop Champagne" ft. Ron Browz and Juelz Santana

What is there to say about this that hasn't been said. A masterpiece of minimal autotune club music that was pilfered by Jim Jones in a most blatant way. I still can't believe that people let this go down but alas "Pop Champagne" will go down in the history books as a Jim Jones song. If he hadn't jacked it we wouldn't have been blessed with the bizarelly laconic yet engaging and weirdly awesome Juelz mini-verse. The whole club knows those first few words of his verse and when the beat drops out then comes back in with him shit gets picked up another level every time. Juelz definitely found his flow for this one and even though he says absolutely nothing (it actually sounds like it was produced by a Juelz machine with the "Club Song" switch turned on") he just sounds so right on this. It's mostly his voice but I think he's one of those rappers who, even though he's never had a huge hit or even a crossover, is sort of club signifier. Like when people hear Juelz voice on a good club song they dig it. I can't explain it, there are other rappers like this but I think it might stem from "Run It," anyway he sounds totally in the pocket on this song. If you don't love this song you probably play World of Warcraft.

"Rain" ft. Rell, NOE and Starr

Ugh we're back to this remorseful gangsterizing. I guess there's some genuine emotional stuff in this song but really, who gives a shit. We get it. That's jsut me, I don't know, if you need your spiritual moments provided by Byrdgang you are totally failing. Rell has been on every fucking Jim Jones and post-DI 2 Dipset release and no one knows who the fuck he is. Ron Browz is a GREAT producer, this track is gorgeous, huge and full and almost Tricky Stewart style snaps and "eyys" and really tasteful synths that sound like they might actually be from a synthesizer and not from a Casio in someone's bedroom. Unfortunately it's like totally shitted all over by Jimmy's molasses-thick melodrama. It's worth hearing fro Ron Browz' production, though.

"Na Na NaNa Na Na" ft. Bree-Beauty

LOL. this whole thing is just so hilarious. First of all, the hook is an un-ironic schoolyard taunt thing about haters and money and whatever. Second, Bree-Beauty. hahahhhh. wtf is up with this guy Jim Jones and his ridiculous stable of talent. Also she was paid and received credit for singing the words, "Na nana na na lookin at my ass wish you had a camera." Wow. Third, it's produced by and entity known as "ILLFONICS." I remember when I first heard this song I was in a cab and me two other kids we're really wasted and it was probably 11 pm and we had made the driver put on Hot 97 a few mins before that and the dj (Mr. C?? idk) was like NEW JIM JONES and we just fucking lost it. First, the song bumps pretty hard and is kinda dope in that perfect on the way to the club way, not for the stupid hook but just cuz it's big and pumped up and booming. So one of us reached over and turned dude's radio all the way up and this was before the hook even happened. then we heard the hook and it got really silly in that cab. This song is the ostensible follow-up to "Ballin" except it does not do what it is intended to, mostly ecause of the totally misguided hail mary of a hook. It should be a very big lightning rod for Jim Jones hate, rightfully so.

"Swagga From Us" ft. NOE, Twista and Lil Wayne

old blog leftovers, bonus track. i honestly don't understand anything about this song. It's a diss to Jay-Z but Lil Wayne is on both songs? Twista is a good rapper and he's on it so that's a plus. And we learn that Chink Santana can actually make a pretty good beat.

not as good as Hustler's POME, doesn't really show that much growth as an artist although there are some good choices on it, really boring in the middle but redeemable for

"Precious"
"How To Be A Boss"
"Let It Out"
"Pulling Me Back"
"Pop Off"

and borderline:
"Blow The Bank"
"Girlfriend"
"Frenemies"

oh and definitely not fulfilling Dame Dash's dreams

oh and add "Intro" to the xpost because that's BY FAR the best song on this album, forgot about that.

and subtract "pulling me back" i seem to have completely contradicted myself there. lol

dope dude

im gonna read this l8r

"Echo" seems to be blowing up here and I fuck with it. Shit is a jam.

wait really?

Yeah, seems as tho it isn't one of the actual singles tho?

i lol'd heartily at that liveblog, good shit

i would like to put together a documentary about a bunch of people's reactions the first time they heard "na na nanana na". mine was at my house with my roommate and we both just became paralyzed as if the 30 second itunes sample was actually a virus that turned your computer into medusa

dont like jim jones at all but the r les track was alright, and yeah the intro was kind of cool

can't decide what my favorite couplet on "Man I" is

We can make a porno
When we all done we can play a game of uno

or

Back in the day I used to wanna fuck Jada
2008 I still wanna fuck Jada

this album is good but I might delete four r five of the tracks because they are unlistenable. like "Echo"

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― preview& potmXII& chinchillas& surfboar (surfboard dudes get wiped out, totally), Monday, March 16, 2009 3:45 PM Bookmark

now ready to say "Echo" is like top 5 jams this year. surfboard dudes get wiped out, 51

went to sleep in michigan and woke up in miami
south beach sleepin with a bitch in my pajamies

no idea what 51 refers to but "Echo" sucks so fuckng hard. It's kind of an embarrasment no matter how many ptwittytv tweets remind me of it's existance. I guess GZ is past embarrasment at this point cuz this shit is like somethng timbaland would put at the end of his album ft. some random no ones ever heard of but then again that shit works who knows could be the next one republic good look for a dude who used to be in Boyz n Da Hood and made "Bite Down" and "Hood Nigga."

N
A
G
L

do u zoe listen to diddy etc

haha "Echo" does sound like some Shock Value Timbaland bullshit. 51 me, whatever.

It sounds more like an Akon ballad imo. A really good one.

I could give one less of a fuck if it or anything else isn't "real rap". It works for what it is. It's well-written, well-produced, and Zoe sounds like a badass on it. I don't see what's embarrassing about it at all.

I mean, does the criticism run any deeper than "rappers be singin'"?

i just thought it was kinda weak sauce even as an R&B song or whatever you wanna judge it by.

Fair enough

it would sound much better if it were an Akon song actually. I just think GZ's growly ass voice is better for "Lost" style dark shit, he's not really a guy I need to hear singing about a jilted lover. It has nothing to do with rappers be singing really cuz he pretty much proved that he can do it real well on "Lost"

or as a jilted lover, rather.

I think NOE is actually kind of a good rapper but no one will ever know because he sounds exactly like Jay-Z did I mention that.

― preview& potmXII& chinchillas& surfboar (surfboard dudes get wiped out, totally), Saturday, March 21, 2009 4:59 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

haha i've written a couple things about NOE because he's from Baltimore and yeah, that's kinda what I always come back to. him appearing on the "swagga from us" song was really the epic fail underlining his whole situation, i think.

al i nver bought a nas cd after fuckin.... whatever the 2cd is called

echo is ridiculous. it'd sound good with taylord swift on it.

haa

echo is awful

yall are on some other shit

hahaha omg sry rev but echo is sooo bad. feeling most of the first ten songs or so tho

"lol i have an idea, lets tack a nickelback homage on the end of our rap record!"

"i'm dumb" is a jaaaaam

at least saying it sounded like timbaland made any sense at all

ha, the way it's autotuned reminded me of that godawful "photograph". i'd go back to listen again to make sure, but nah ;)

"echo" is pretty good— i think it's hilarious that's it at the end of the record, like he has this album that's peppered w/ autotune sellout jams and at the end he finally goes in all the way

btw why was diddy tweeting about being on the song, is it a single version or something? diddy would be pretty awesome on this potentially

no he just hyped it like "go get Don' Feed The ANimals in stores now!!! ft 'Echo!!!'", suggesting that there will soon be a big push for it to be a hit (i dont think anyone here really needs me to do more of an accurate diddy tweeting impression than that)

Loso's Way tonight? <3 <3 <3

and now for our feature presentation

1. The Way (Intro)
Fabo walks onto the red carpet angry, "I woulda been your friend until the end, bitch." Synth brass is arresting for the first 30 seconds but then it starts to feel like a boring loop. Song doesn't really go anywhere interesting, Fabo's rhymes don't really build or anything, he's just consistently decent from 0:00 to 4:10. We learn that he's into Rosetta Stone, but he doesn't like swag. He claims he's going to start a new trend. I can't wait to find out what that is...

2. My Time (w/ Jeremih)
Oooh, we found the new trend: an autotune chorus. This is a big beat and a dope hook, actually very anthemic, i bet it's jammed in locker rooms all over the country. It shoulda been Jeremih's second single. I mean, 30 seconds later, I don't actually remember Mr. Loso appearing in the song? I think he had a verse near the beginning.