official liveblog rap album review thread

i live w/ my parents, sorry

here i go again

4 Feel Like I'm Back
Oh, look, the synth horns are back, but this time they're a lot fuller and the drums are exciting! Fabo once again asserts his newfound confidence (thanks man!). Not a very exciting hook, but good news: Fabo's verses are finally starting to improve, "I ain't losing step/i ain't missed a beat/thugs have emotions/we miss the streets"

5 Everything, Everyday, Everywhere (feat. Keri Hilson)
Nice! A fresh Leslie beat, not to mention a woman on the hook! Sadly, said hook isn't all that, it's nice but small, there's a lot of unrealized potential in the 'every every every' chant at the end. Unfortunately, I feel like the beat has way more character than Loso's verses? I think i'm going to start scoring, 7/10?

6 Throw It In The Bag (feat. The-Dream)
This one bounces like "Shawty Is Da Shit," i wouldn't be surprised if the hook was a l/h leftover, but i'm not going to complain about a leftover from the best album of 2008. Fabolous and -dream sound fresh here, not exactly next-level, but this is pretty awesome, thanks terius. 8/10

7 Money Goes, Honey Stay (When the Money Goes) (feat. Jay-Z)
This is some James Bond shit here, you know the tone: James finds hot girl on the beach and then they make love but you know there's a dangerous dwarf hiding in the closet? danger on the seemingly perfect island. This is very nicely done but there better be danger on the next track...

8 Salute [feat. Lil Wayne]
OH FUCK YES! This is even more James Bond, but james bond as he kills all the bad guys with his dope gadgets. "Shoot the motherfucker down!" A fierce marching band beat, totally banging--the first time the synth brass totally works. And both Fabolous and Lil Wayne are on fire, best track on the album so far!

9. There He Go [feat. Paul Cain, Red Cafe & Freck Billionaire]
Damnnnnn, I think this is actually my new favorite. I've listened to it three times in a row now. This beat is next-level, it really...flies? I mean, during the chorus it just very smoothly, seemlessly becomes HUGE. This girl plays a huge role in that, but the beat is just so big that it's not like "omg funky guitar/whirring synths coming in," instead those huge elements just feel natural and right. I want to blare this out of a car tonight

10. Fabolous Life [feat. Ryan Leslie]
I mean, this is pleasant, but tbh, I'd rather watch Leslie playing around in the studio during the making-of? This is a problem I have w/ a lot of Leslie stuff

11. Makin' Love [feat. Ne-Yo]
Everything about this is v alive, especially the beat. refreshing, but the hook isn't mindblowing or anything, just competent. subject matter, hmm...as usual, my homo friend ne-yo shows a fine understanding of 'love,' fabo not so much, even admitting at the end, "love, what the fuck is that?!" Isn't there a gay rapper out there?

12. Last Time [feat. Trey Songz]
Ohhh, so this is one of those pointless rap songz Sargent was always bitching about. i, um, agree :( Hate the way Trey sayz "baby," otherwise this is just nice and...there?

13. Pachanga
Oh wow, the James Bond vibe is back. This is smoooooooth, with rich ooohs and confident drums and verses, very good. I think we're reaching near the end, starting to feel tired, time for a...

14. Lullaby
A messy beat that works? La la la laaaaaaa, la la laaaaaa. Nice scratches, but Fabo is starting to bore me now, even though he's probably about as solid as he's been the rest of the album? This should be a 13 track album?

15. Stay [feat. Marsha Ambrosius]
This should be one of those 13 tracks. Loso is getting all personal, talking about his dad running way, this is emotional, i'm actually kinda sad now, awww :/ V v good job, Fabo. Nice beat, too, very beautiful. Marsha sings what Fabo is too "man" to actually speak. "Daddy, why did you leave me?" Really feeling this, even if people make fun of it, I like it because it's probably the most genuine track on the album.

16. I Miss My Love
Feels like a closing track, interesting beat that goes nowhere, Fabo talking for too long, unnecessary, not a v good way to end the album

And that's the end.

http://i6.tinypic.com/54ofy8k.jpg
I WANT YOU TO
GO EXTREMELY HARD

intro ft diddy & busta rhymes

a khaled cold open here. "in life there are people that hustle -- in life there are people who grind -- and then there is we the best music, who make history." "i have overcome the evilest hate ever that mankind has ever witnessed." "this album contains my pain, my blessing. the songs on this album is my voice, the drums on this album is my heart." "out here grinding. i go hard. i am the streets. when they say kahled they say warrior." "it's always the people closest to you who dont' want you to grow." is he talking about being legally a midget? is rick ross a hater? i missed where busta rhymes was involved in this intro, prob for the best

oh he just yells "where my niggas is at? where my bitches is at?" for no reason

all i do is win ft t-pain/luda/snoop/ross

yeah this is the worst chorus t-pain has ever written besides that maino song? it sounds like he's saying "and i can never get it up" but i assume he's not. luda flows really well on this song but lyrically he's such a geriatric. he makes reference to the "i'm so hood" rmx. OH HOW I YEARN FOR THE GLORY DAYS. this song actually picks up with ross's verse. big stadium thump drums, ross sounds a bit thin on the track and decidedly unbossy. i predict that snoop dogg's verse will suck major ass. *waits for awful chorus to pass*. yeah snoop's slithery pimp whisper doesn't really work on runners beats does it now?

after two songs, i would say that rick ross has gone the most hard -- i will update

interrupted by a phone call

put your hands up ft jeezy/rick ross/plies (thank god)/schife (who?)

between this chorus and "all i do is win" there is lots of hands being put up for indefinite periods of time. this beat sounds like the runners fell asleep on a keyboard. jeezy on the hook here sounds super constipated and we haven't even hit plies's verse yet. oh well, plies' verse was super disappointing. lots of clenched screaming. ross up now, really the only person who still sounds okay over these crap overheated runners beats. this song is really stagnant and really sucks balls, but i guess schife is coming up at least. oh shcife was the dude on the hook i guess. sounds a lot like jeezy.

rick ross again went the most hard and on that song

fed up ft usher/jeezy/rick ross/drake/wayne

i love the concept of this song -- like khaled just realizing one day how fed up he is. jeezy's opening line on this joint -- "i am absolutely, positively on my grizzy" -- annoys me to no end. usher sounds pretty terrible on this song, his voice is way too thin for runners beats. i already know that usher has the best rap verse on this. haha god damn, some epic fake drake DEEP THOUGHTS on this one -- JUST PLEASE DON'T DIE ON EEMMMM -- yeah good point i guess. "i go hard like a.c. slater" is the worst wayne line ever that isn't about defecation. i'm sure people who dig his three years too late "catalina wine mixer" punchline are digging his a.c. slater refs. this song is garbage but has the best chorus.

usher went the hardest on this song. he might have even have gone in.

victory ft john legend & nas

nas being on every dj khaled album is such a weird phenomenon to me. this is just nas spitting over a stadium piano beat and by default is by far the best joint on here so far. not really paying attention to the lyrics but the couplets are stacking up nicely syllabicly (?) here. i will retain this song for my hard drive actually. nas spits for like two & a half mins straight which is good cuz john legend is an annoying hook presence.

nas went extremely hard & he went in on this song

ball ft jim jones & schife

holy shit this is gonna be three verses of jim jones isn't it??????????? oh my god, his speaking-not-rapping flow is gonna make this song feel like it's 9 mins long. remember when we were arguing over who was better, jim jones or shawty lo? we all lost that argument. this chorus is this guy schife going "ball UH/ball UH/ball UH/ball UH/". whatever. i'm not listening to the rest of this.

no went hard on this song, and no one went in

rockin all my chains on ft birdman/bun b/soulja boy

i have high expectations for this one. totally anticipating this birdman verse. aw man... bun b phoning in a verse for this album is just the epitome of lazy. "i got yams like thanksgiving dinner/trap goin ham like thanksgiving dinner." good heavens. i hope he bought his loved ones nice things with the $20 grand or whatever he got for this feature. oh boy birdman just rhymed chicken/chicken/chicken/kitchen. soulja boy really has the opportunity to redeem this song or take it to depths yet unseen. hahaha wtf this song starts off with soulja singing "la la la" for a few bars. south beach & mouthpiece is probably the best rap on here. "i'm a dog, motherfuck a damn leash." fair enough.

i would have to say that soulja boy went hardest on this song, but he did not go in

killing me ft/ buju banton, busta rhymes & bounty killer

this beat is this percolating keyboard thing that sounds like a clock ticking. buju banton has a verse. it sounds like a buju banton verse idk. this chorus is terrible. busta: "swag undeniabububle/shawty's beauty undescribububle" -- if anyone else listened to this album i would make a poll for "most phoned in verse on dj khaled's 'victory'" because every song brings something lazier than the song before it. bounty killer verse is alright i guess.

bounty killer went hardest on this song, but he did not go in

bringing real rap back ft rum

is this song a fucking joke? who the hell is rum? what kind of name is this? THERE IS ALREADY A GUY NAMED GUNPLAY, GUY. jesus this guy terrible. this is like if a sewer rat could rap. I AM BRINGING MY SKIP BUTTON BACK, RUM.

so i feel like i know what going hard is, but what is the distinction wherein one begins to go in?

bring the money out ft nelly/jeezy/ace hood/boosie

this is a hilarious group. nelly is using a weird cadence here. most uptempo beat here -- triumphant keyboards that would be strings if anyone cared about this album. nice hook from jeezy. boosie totally phoned his verse in here but it's nice to hear his voice & energy here amongst this general world's fair of mediocrity. this beat is pretty nice. second best song on here easily after the nas joint. oooh some nice grocery bag lines from ace hood -- "i'm the shit, period... GOTEX/ fuck a hater in his thoughts... SAFE SEX" & "mr. hood stretch money... BOWFLEX" -- well nice to know that ace hood is making culturally relevant references, here in the year of our lord, 2002.

going in is a feeling -- you just know it when you see it

on that last song, i would say that boosie went the hardest, and he went... halfway in. just the tip of in.

http://pleasedress.me/img/2845.gif

on my way ft kevin cossum/ace hood/gunplay/ball greezy/desloc piccalo/rum/ice berg

this has to be the most incomprehensible posse cut ever to appear on a major label album? btw that list is not one of those test questions like "WHICH OF THESE PEOPLE DOES NOT EXIST" -- i think ace hood & gunplay just rapped? i literally have no idea what any of these guys voices sound like. ball greezy had that really amazing song a few years back, funny to see him show up here. he said his name in his verse here and he can actually flow. i believe that i am listening to desloc piccalo right now? i'm in college, i'm 21, and i'm sitting here on my bed drinking beer in my room alone, listening to desloc piccalo rap, and posting about it on a message board. i'm sorry mom.

ball greezy went the hardest here, but he did not go in

i am drinking dos equis right now & can confirm that i am not the most interesting person in the world tonight

i can't think of a more uninteresting 6 minute song than that one

interrupted by another phone call

MUSTA BEEN A GOOD PHONE CALL

rep my city ft pitbull/jarvis

not only does this album have the most phone in verses and choruses and beats in recent memory, but it also has the most phoned in rapper names. iceberg, rum, jarvis. pitbull is on this song rapping spanish. i won't hate. this beat is alright, some cool drum programming in the context of this album. and you can actually here the bass. i'm not gonna listen to this whole thing though.

this album was garbage, only a few verses went hard and i think only nas truly went in. OH WELL.

haha -- talking about baseball

i am now going to cleanse my spirit by listening to "holla at me"

loooool jordan u killin it

ur goin xtremely hard

that's wot she said

can we just reflect on what a desloc piccolo is

i can't believe we went 7 months w/o a liveblog -- one of my fav goon pastimes

^^^ jordan you are a saint and in the next life you will come back as something awesome like a tiger

:-D

hahahah <3 u boo yoga flame 4 all time

submit that bitch to da capo '10