Finally Rich - Chief Keef

Yikes

"Hip-Hop’s Next Big Thing is On House Arrest at His Grandma’s" reminds me of "God's Gift to Songwriting needs a manager"

(just one example)

I guess sometimes when you refuse to use big words yourself your employers feel like they have to do it for you.

if that was true Interscope would've released the album as Conclusively Affluent

But there are tons & tons of artists who could arguably (i'm not arguing it) fit this description, but this one happened to hit, and while I agree that his symbolic presence is part of the reason that he's resonated, i would virulently disagree that it is The Reason that he in particular is where he is. Basically, I think it's borderline offense for haters OR fans to deny him his humanity & agency in his own success

lol

"I agree that you have a point but I'm going to violently disagree with this thing you didn't actually say and hope it discredits your original point"

what? first off i said virulent, not violent

I don't think anyone believes Keef isn't doing exactly what he wants to do; the argument is about whether it's actually worth listening to.

It's worth listening to.

I don't think anyone believes Keef isn't doing exactly what he wants to do

maybe on ilx

if what i'm saying doesn't discredit your point, then we agree! the virulence is directed at very real criticisms i've read that try to imply that rather than A reason, what he 'represents' is The reason—I wasn't implying i was a priori disagreeing w/ you dan

It's worth listening to.

― dyslectic Christ Brown (longneck), Tuesday, January 8, 2013 2:45 PM (22 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

eh i wouldn't recommend it to everyone & i'm not surprised dan dislikes it. it's 'divisive' for a reason

Well it's worth listening to if you're inclined to enjoy slow, non-empathic goon music. And if you categorically don't then the discussion probably isn't going anywhere interesting.

"slow" as in tempo or "slow" as in stupid

i like a lot of goon music, i personally don't think he's that great at it. i can't be the only person who loved the Future album and doesn't give a shit about the Chief Keef album can i?

nope

crut you liked a keef song when i shared it w/ you last winter.

"slow" as in tempo or "slow" as in stupid

― Solange Knowles is my hero (DJP), Tuesday, January 8, 2013 8:51 PM (56 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol, tempo

And it's perfectly possible to like Future and not Keef - that's the kind of preference that might lead to an interesting discussion

lmao @ crut.xls

yeah i love stuff like waka, gunplay, jeezy, but while i can kinda appreciate that keef nails what he's going for his music does nothing for me

normally I would ridicule the conflation of "song" with "album" but, after trying to get through the Chief Keef album, I completely understand why one would assume that liking one song would automatically lead to liking the whole album

everyone is allowed to like or dislike keef as they wish, what i think jordan & i are bristling at is the implication that there's nothing we could possibly appreciating about his musical approach so it simply MUST be tied to stereotyped views of black people.

IMO Keef is doing the most interesting version fo this type of music right now. I can't think of an artist in this lane that is doing it as well. (And Future, although influential on him, is a completely different kind of artist).

well tbf I am making a distinction between "like" and "give a shit about" - not trying to throw Keef under the bus here, I still like 3Hunna & I Don't Like

xposts

yeah i enjoy "I Don't Like" but i don't really place any more stock in Chief Keef's artistry than Ca$h Out or anyone else with one or two good songs

normally I would ridicule the conflation of "song" with "album" but, after trying to get through the Chief Keef album, I completely understand why one would assume that liking one song would automatically lead to liking the whole album

― Solange Knowles is my hero (DJP), Tuesday, January 8, 2013 2:55 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

see, this kind of dismissal though seems so absurd to me—it's the kind of critique like "he has great beats but cant rap" that crops up EVERY time a rapper comes out in this lane & that suggests to me the person is simply outside the target listenership for that style of music period.

even if you don't like the music most of these songs really don't sound that identical to each other, even less so than Flockaveli

cash out is so much more generic, tho

as rap albums go, Finally Rich is more self-similar than most

i think the aspect of the +ve crit i've read about keef that i take most issue with is the angle that he's doing something innovative or different - really it sounds like slower, less fun waka to me. i mean i fux with "i don't like" but it doesn't work on that level at all, it's just a screwface anthem

one man's consistent/cohesive is another man's monochromatic/repetitive (xp)

oh c'mon deej they sound pretty similar! to the album's benefit i think, it's not an aesthetic that grabs me but it gives the album a coherence and purpose - it succeeds on its terms

i hate bein' sosa, i'll take you to the magic stick

i cant agree. 'ballin' sounds more like a rich kids type track, 'diamonds' has more of a waka sound, 'citgo' is just bleary weirdness, 'love sosa' is in its own world, 'hate being sober' swipes that melody but shifts to an upbeat / major key context, 'no tomorrow' is mike will & has the weird echoing adlib styles ... each song sounds pretty distinct to me

keef does not have even one millionth the pop nous that peak 50 cent did, that comparison is completely ludicrous to me

i think the aspect of the +ve crit i've read about keef that i take most issue with is the angle that he's doing something innovative or different - really it sounds like slower, less fun waka to me. i mean i fux with "i don't like" but it doesn't work on that level at all, it's just a screwface anthem

― lex pretend, Tuesday, January 8, 2013 3:00 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

he doesnt actually sound anything like waka, wayyy too casual / laid back style

xp flockaveli is also more diverse than it initially seems (like "no hands" and "grove st party" don't really fit into the big elephantine lex luger riffs thing) but fundamentally yes the songs do all sound the same, especially in comparison to a lot of major label albums these days which are all over the map

He gets compared to 50 Cent?

idk that's just a completely bizarre perspective to me. the keef album almost feels a bit too piecemeal, i was hoping for something MORE cohesive rather than stuff taken from all over the place

xp yes hence "slower, less fun", but the aggressive chant-along functionality is what's similar

He gets compared to 50 Cent?

― tsrobodo, Tuesday, January 8, 2013 3:05 PM (15 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

50 cent compared him missing the 'hate being sober' shoot to if 50 missed the 'in da club' shoot

deej i hope you realize how much you sound like a Guided By Voices stan painstakingly explaining WHICH track on the new album corresponds to WHICH band from Nuggets

I'd love for Ca$h Out to make an album as good as Finally Rich. Let's hope he does!

And Finally Rich isn't too self-similar soundwise. If I have a problem with anything it's that Keef is a much less... relatable rapper than even most Bricksquadians. I have no idea about who he "really" is - even Juicemane's puppy dog-like enthusiasm is easier to relate to. Which is not to say that he isn't a bigger star than Juicemane or that other people don't feel like they can't relate to him or his blankness or even that his blankness isn't interesting in its own right - just speaking for myself.

lol I'm back reading deej's descriptions of this stuff and going "how on earth can you justify these claims, this guy's shit sounds fucking identical from track to track unless you go waaaaaaay out of your way to pretend it doesn't"

it is borderline hilarious that deej is attempting to tell me, a dude who has spent more than half of his life listening to entire genres of dance music built off of either one drum loop or one specific combination of drum machine and synth that these grossly similar songs are actually vastly different and I'm just missing the nuance

Finally Out of Cash

"way out of my way"?? i feel like people acting like this album all sounds the same have absolutely no context in recent rap which, (hey jordan's review!) except then Al is here agreeing with them, which makes no sense

i don't really get that keef's music is any MORE nihilistic or negative than most street rap, either - i guess the back story plays into this? playing surliness for kicks isn't a new thing. actually keef's persona reminds me of a lot of grime MCs from back in the day

it is borderline hilarious that deej is attempting to tell me, a dude who has spent more than half of his life listening to entire genres of dance music built off of either one drum loop or one specific combination of drum machine and synth that these grossly similar songs are actually vastly different and I'm just missing the nuance

― Solange Knowles is my hero (DJP), Tuesday, January 8, 2013 3:07 PM (26 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

surely within that context it makes MORE sense that I would think these songs sound unique?

i guess you guys thinking 'all these songs sound the same' it makes a lot more sense that you can't divulge any meaning from them.

kaykay is a fukkin autotune rap ballad, sounds exactly the same as 3hunna? or kobe? none of those songs use the same sounds, the same producers, or the same rap styles

IF I CATCH ANOTHER MOTHERFUCKER TALKIN SWEET ABOUT CHIEF KEEF, IM FUCKING BEATING THEY ASS

― rap steve gadd (D-40), Tuesday, January 8, 2013 4:06 PM (55 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

his flow is different on each one. the effects are different. the production tools are different. the subject matter is different