pitchfork is dumb (#34985859340293849494 in a series.)

and thanks, jon

I love that ilx is a safe space for idiosyncratic takes, a place for true iconoclasts. However, Alfred is wrong; the songwriting is Great

You know what’s good though? Linkin Park’s Hybrid Theory

it's practically hidden in the review that it's a reissue. i was so confused.

not trying to nitpick you, alfred. not your fault at all, really.

It didn't help that the label was coy about the title because it's...26 years since My Life.

Annoying that people interpret anything less than an unqualified rave as a personal attack.

A couple people called me a cracker.

i'm also a cracker. self-proclaimed.

hive culture sucks

This is depressing to see happen more frequently. Was there a big stan backlash against those middling BTS reviews?

isn't that funny how this works?

"you hate the same things that i hate, so you're cool."

"you don't blindly love the same things that i do, so you're terrible."

katherine's Kylie review caused some awfulness too, this performative standom is the worst

What’s the album already

Ah ok, yeah I like MJB, that’s a good album.

Rating inflation is a blight so props to Alfred and katherine for helping curb its spread.

Yeah, that's what I meant about the increased frequency of this shit. Between rabid personal attacks against critics who give anything less than a perfect score and this whole idea where you can't be a "real fan" until you buy 12 copies of the new album to "help your faves", modern pop fandom is seems even more toxic and dangerous.

but pom, you're not understanding: ALFRED IS A *CRACKER* for not blindly handing out elevens.

Right, of course, why didn't I think of that? This just goes to show how illegitimate my own discursive position is.

Reminder that the reviewers don't choose the ratings (unless Alfred somehow did in this case).

Well, no, but it is still these individual reviewers that have to bear the brunt of these stan swarms, which makes it even worse imho!

Not to "blame the victim" - or more precisely, the victims' publisher - but maybe Pitchfork could help curb this ugly trend by doing away with the ratings altogether. Force ppl to actually read & engage with the review.

(Though I guess Metacritic assigns fake numerical ratings when they compile reviews anyway.)

Reminder that the reviewers don't choose the ratings

it remains more complicated than this

i don't think it's very difficult to understand why a lot of ppl would be mad at pitchfork for giving an album that has been considered a pillar of R&B for decades a 7.0.... read the last 20 years of the room

my life is at least an 8 and is mjb's best record imo, "rating inflation is a blight" may be true to you but pfork giving a mary j. blige record a 7 isn't a fight against rating inflation, that's the status quo

This is why the numbers game is ridiculous anyway, like a lesser score by 1.0 on a 10.0 scale isn't some incredible trashing or whatever. The reaction has been like a 5 star record suddenly getting a 2 star review for the reissue which this... isn't.

hey guys, i have a new subscription service i'm offering: i will pretend to be you on twitter and take all the abuse.

rates vary, depending on how concentrated the death threats are.

i deleted a disclaimer at the end of my posts where i said all ratings are bullshit anyway and the undue focus on them is a net negative for criticism and discourse and has been for one billion years but i figured it was too obvious

Yeah, I would prefer to get rid of them altogether too but I can't see Pitchfork, especially, ever doing that considering that's such a built in part of their reputation now.

Has any person congratulating Alfred for standing up to “MJB Hive” actually even listened to that album before lmfao

Yes, I like it a lot! More than Alfred does even, but I still thought his review was thoughtful and I don't think he deserves to get abuse for it.

tbh the headline pullquote ("occasionally tedious...") stirred the Twitter beehive as much as the rating.

to answer d-40's q: yes, it's far and away my favorite mjb album.

while i definitely disagree that it's "tedious", my posts above about being a jerk to alfred because of the review were in jest.

i mean, no offense alf, but you're a cracker so i wouldn't expect you to understand that kind of music anyway.

(am i doing this right?)

{please understand that i am making fun of everything and everyone here, myself included. you're a fine creator of insightful paragraphs about music, alfred. and i know that's the truth because even the stuff you say that i disagree with i still enjoy reading.}

it remains more complicated than this

Sorry, guess my memory was hazy - I looked back at the discussion a few years ago ITT (which was kicked off when a reviewer who got trashed for a Janelle Monae piece tweeted that there's no writer input into ratings), and I see that you & J0rdan did offer a more nuanced explanation of how it works (though it still didn't sound like the writer actually gets to dictate the final score).

(of course, if Alfred is comfortable with the rating, this avenue of discussion is moot anyway)

The range this time: 6.5 to 8.0.

{please understand that i am making fun of everything and everyone here, myself included. you're a fine creator of insightful paragraphs about music, alfred. and i know that's the truth because even the stuff you say that i disagree with i still enjoy reading.}

― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin)

I knew y'all were taking the piss. No offense made, none taken.

(of course, if Alfred is comfortable with the rating, this avenue of discussion is moot anyway)

― yes m!ch!gan - the feeling's forever (morrisp)

I am. I think the score reflects the judgments. I hope I expressed my affection for much of her music and the arc of a career that's still impressive.

Has any person congratulating Alfred for standing up to “MJB Hive” actually even listened to that album before lmfao

― ILX’s bad boy (D-40), Tuesday, November 24, 2020 3:07 PM (sixteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

yes and i won't insult you by suggesting that you're missing the point, rather intentionally ignoring it

i'll twitter fight anybody for you man.👍

sorry, xpost to alfred

Lmfao what is the point?? You guys think this is about a Mary stan army when it’s a critique of like, a foundational pillar of contemporary r&b.

Of course I am not pro “abuse” of Alfred. But acting like people who are like, bugging out about a 7.0 for this project are the ones being crazy must have forgotten how poorly so many early ilx album threads have aged

It's not about anyone "bugging out" -- they shouldn't be sending nastygrams to Alfred (or any reviewer). Who cares what they write on some messageboard, or even as replies to the Pitchfork tweet.

But acting like people who are like, bugging out about a 7.0 for this project are the ones being crazy must have forgotten how poorly so many early ilx album threads have aged

Those people have read those early ILX album threads?

Before you register for a Twitter account you have to read the thread "WOT'S the deal with Status Quo: Top rockers or pure twaddle??" in its entirety

Again, I love that ilx is a space for these kind of idiosyncratic takes. But Illmatic was good

illmatic was perfect

who said it wasn't good?

It was a big debate on the original ilx thread ! M@tt you’ve been here a long time too

yeah the top of any thread that's like 15 yrs old is usually cringey

sorry i was arguing about nas on another thread today and got them mixed up