Clipping - Midcity (noise rap)

ha, I think I prefer this one just because there are More Bangers

Daveed Diggs is one of the most talented emcees I've ever encountered

The bangers on this one top the bangers on TEAATB, no doubt about it.

That said I wouldn't mind them mixing up the sonic palette a little more on the next one (though yes I know these came out of the same sessions as TEAATB)

They already released an all-time masterpiece in 2016; I'm pretty content for them to make simply great albums, which they're doing imo

I'm lukewarm on "Say The Name," but the rest of this album has so far been one "holy shit" moment after another for me.

6.0 from the irrelevant Conde Nast webzine!

And as ever, the criticism is "too academic, not gangsta enough". Pitchfork you're a fucking embarrassment

It's 0.3 better than the Menswear retrospective! lol

Though Diggs is an animated performer, he isn’t a strong orator

Though Diggs is an animated performer, he isn’t a strong orator

Though Diggs is an animated performer, he isn’t a strong orator

Though Diggs is an animated performer, he isn’t a strong orator

There is a lot wrong in that review, this line is the most egregious.

well in this album's context "Lend me your ears" would have a literal meaning

by contrast occasional pfork contributor and wonderful songwriter in his own right Fred Thomas unsurprisingly nails their appeal in his AMG review - "the midway point between Wolf Eyes and Three 6 Mafia"

https://www.allmusic.com/album/visions-of-bodies-being-burned-mw0003420014

Hey, 6.0 is the highest they've ever rated a Clipping album!

my references have been more blanck mass/disposable heroes of hiphoprisy/gravediggaz
which is to say i'm liking it a lot

idk, it reminds me of when I dragged my friend to see Hausu at an ATP and he was like "that's not a horror" because it's not scary, but it's one of my favorites because I love the filmmaking and the humor and weirdness. I don't watch horror movies to be scared!

yeah, that makes sense.
am i wrong in thinking the critical issues of "authenticity" that i keep seeing from other reviewers (not gangsta enough, too clear of a flow, too dramatic in presentation, too gonzo) run perilously close to "not black enough"?

no

that is exactly what it is

I think backpack/experimental hip hop is to today's generation of critics what prog-rock was to critics of the past

until clipping goes out on halloween and robs children of their candy bags then punches the sidewalk frankly i'm not convinced

xpost idk about that since guys like Earl Sweatshirt are basically making Madlib albums now.

More along the lines of “these guys are writing song cycles about wizards and flying saucers!”

again, idk, because Rolling Stone just said Kid Cudi made an album better than the Anthology of American Folk Music

The walls between backpack and mainstream cracked a long time ago. El-P was about to play the Coachella mainstage before Covid

I think backpack/experimental hip hop is to today's generation of critics what prog-rock was to critics of the past

they're fine with it as long as there's an autobiographical hook they can grok, eg the anime-themed Open Mike Eagle record they just praised (which tbc is actually quite good)

or to put it another way, I don't think anyone is listening to clipping. principally for the lyrics (which is not to say they're bad), but instead for the sonics, mood and for Diggs' remarkable dexterity, and the 'fork seems uncomfortable with that for...some reason

just gonna mention here that the Homeboy Sandman album is very good

"don't feed the monster" that is

The walls between backpack and mainstream cracked a long time ago. El-P was about to play the Coachella mainstage before Covid

― Whiney G. Weingarten, Monday, October 26, 2020 10:40 AM (fifty minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

el-p getting booked to play coachella isn't exactly the most compelling evidence

call me when El-P is on a BLACKPINK track

I suppose the prog parallel is perhaps less about indie rap and more the critical scoffing at technical rapping. More pitchfork:

It must be mentioned as a baseline: Homeboy Sandman is good at rapping. But it’s the kind of good that treats words as a means to an end; that end being proving he’s good at rapping. It’s an empty loop, exacerbated by the fact that he isn’t rapping about much of anything else in particular

I think backpack/experimental hip hop is to today's generation of critics what prog-rock was to critics of the past

― Muswell Hillbilly Elegy (President Keyes), Monday, 26 October 2020 15:30 (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

You say this like ILM wasn't deeply complicit until relatively recently (Kendrick uniting the two sides probably the turning point)

well there are critics here

I have been finding myself walking around the condo singing "make them / DEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAD" and I think it's making my partner nervous

on reflection I think what might also be happening re: pitchfork is a general disinterest in industrial-influenced stuff, see also their recent pans of HEALTH and Code Orange

call me when El-P is on a BLACKPINK track

Homeboy Sandman is good at rapping. But it’s the kind of good that treats words as a means to an end; that end being proving he’s good at rapping.

"Body for the Pile" and "Looking Like Meat" are my faves of the not-previously-released tracks. relentless!

Polaris winner Backxwash (who's become very tight with Clipping on Twitter, it's heartwarming tbh) has been daring Pitchfork to give her a 3.0, they haven't reviewed

xp didn't read that piece but criticism of that variety often strikes me as less "I don't like technical rapping" and more "why don't you rap about selling drugs, it's better when you rap about selling drugs"
it's like wrestling fans complaining about how hokey sci-fi television scripts are.

I didn't read the piece very deeply but my general takeaway of its vibe was "Diggs spends so much time trying so hard that I can't tell he's a n-----"

call me when El-P is on a BLACKPINK track

i mean... this would not surprise me? Like maybe Run the Jewels on a LOONA album is more likely but narcissism of small differences

um I mean narcissism of small difference is a great rhetorical device to shut down debate, but I really don't think either of these is likely and will personally bet any amount of money that neither of these things will ever happen.

...I wonder how they would feel about Diggs if he was just some guy and not in Hamilton?

I've been wondering how much the Hamilton factor ties into their dismissal too, feel like that has to be a little bit of it.

wasn't trying to shut down an argument, was just suggesting that a run the jewels appearance on a k-pop girl band wouldn't surprise me. a solo el-p appearance might be odd but who knows! maybe open mike eagle on a stray kids track is our future.

...I wonder how they would feel about Diggs if he was just some guy and not in Hamilton?

I don't even think of him this way; I think of him as the guy from blackish. I like his lyrics but not his voice; it's a problem, because the music is often great. If his delivery was more hoarse/horrific/agitated in a New Kingdom/Son of Bazerk/ODB/Gravediggaz sort of way, I'd be much more into this.

i find the monotone, carefully paced delivery very effective

"I wish this Tony-award winning actor was more like ODB" is ... NAGL

I was just riffing on Coachella appearances btw

"I wish this Tony-award winning actor was more like ODB" is ... NAGL

Show your work, numbnuts. If you think ODB wasn't a performance, it's you who's got the problem.

haha, facts

I think of him as the guy from blackish.

Also Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt