To Pimp A Butterfly

[D.o.S.]

http://www.metacritic.com/music/yeezus/kanye-west/critic-reviews


...Fantasy was really good though. I like Kendrick a lot more than most Kanye anyway, so I look forward to getting around to this album.

I think you'll be pleased with it if you liked Fantasy.

Imagine you've got Fantasy but instead of a sexual undercurrent, there's a political one. That's TPAB.

And less Kayne. I'm excited to listen to it, I really am, I'm just bad about keeping up with things as they happen when they're on my periphery.

[Ev_O)))]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?t=107&v=Z-48u_uWMHY[/youtube]


this dropped

fuck this album is growing on me more and more everytime I pay any attention to it.

[DarkAxel]

Can I resurrect this? Because I only just got to listening to this album and I feel like I need to have a convo with someone

the production is at the same time horrible and great. It feels convoluted and overpowering, but then again it's overwhelming in the greatest way possible and I think it's one of the most colourful hip-hop/R'n'B albums I've ever heard without sounding like "hey, I worked with a bunch of producers" type thing. It's insanely tightly put together with great attention to detail and some fantastic sound design. But it lacks the simplicity I really enjoy when it comes to acts like Tribe Called Quest, Wu Tang or even a lot of Action Bronson's body of work (lol pun semi-intended) - mentioning him to show I don't only listen to rap that was popular 20 years ago.
Although it sometimes bothers me, I can definitely appreciate the production as a whole. I mean Thundercat brings some amazing deep bass to the table for example.

My biggest beef is Kendrick himself. I don't like his voice. I don't like his delivery. I didn't really hear him say many lines that would floor me with wit or depth. But I do understand I'm not even American and Americans might have different relationship to it. It just seems incredibly... meh to me.

I do admit my rap of choice would be more oldschool, BUT I don't consider this album to have that modern production I usually didn't appreciate with some more recent acts. There is something more "classic" about it's sound. I probably just lack some sort of charisma in Kendrick or something

I still can't stop listening to it though.

I have no idea what to think of this album

[rustywire]

It's an album I've tried to get into...both actively & passively. It should be right up my alley, tons of folks with overlapping taste keep naming this their RAOTY.
It very much seems to be an album you need to experience as a whole, taking time to reveal itself. EVERY TIME a song came up on shuffle I'd skip it...until having to delete from my phone after a month
Kept it in computer music library but I'm real selective about stuff that gets phone storage.
Guess I'm not a fan of his vocals & rhyme style, either. It doesn't resonate with my ear despite me digging hella bay area steez. But musically the album is sprawling and interesting, more so on the serious themes side than the superficial or upbeat stuff.
I'm just not really a fan of ~80min albums.

Semi-related but off topic:

NSFW: show

But I cant get Earl Sweatshirt & Vince Staples' 2015 albums outta my head
IDLS/IDGO is my RAOTY. It's just the right length yet leaves me wanting more.
It's every bit as tightly crafted as TPAB...yet Earl wrote/made the beats himself...all but 1.
A super personal, dark record with some luster. None of it sounds overproduced...and all of it is interesting imo.
Putting out an album like that at 20 impresses me considerably. I didn't have my act together like that at 20.

[BitchPudding]

Still dig it. I've heard the biggest beef is basically Axel's comments, Kendricks voice kinda wack and the beats aren't simple.

Personally, I'm a huge fan of free jazz and old school hiphop. Something that had seemed to be happening recently is the fusion of both of those worlds at the hands of dudes like Flying Lotus (<3) and Thundercat. Things like Cosmogramma and more recently Your Dead! have given me faith in how well the two worlds work together.

As far as TPAB goes, I really enjoy the complex and free elements of the instrumentals. Like, I dig a dilla style simple beat, but theres something to be said for the way the instrumentals came together on this to make something both structured but fluid. I also actually like Kendricks voice. I know its not for everyone, but I dig the realness behind it. Feels like theres less bullshit and more like hes rapping right from his emotions.

The only complaints I have about the record really is that Kendricks rhymes end up being somewhat obscured by the instrumental for me. The business of the beats both works as a blessing and a curse in this aspect.

And this may be because I was raised as a well off white kid, but I feel like I'm not really the albums target audience and because of that I can't relate to it as well. This leaves me feeling somewhat disconnected from what Kendrick is rapping about. I can appreciate what hes talking about because the message he's spreading is really empowering, but at the same time, I wasn't raised in Compton. I don't know what its like to live in that world. So I can't relate as well as someone who was raised in similar circumstances.

[DarkAxel]

After listening again last night, I can definitely appreciate the instrumental side... it goes beyond hiphop for me. Which is good. It's just that one needs to open his mind a bit when listening to it and not listen to it as a rap album


actually - can I get an instrumental version of the album? thanks

[Inconuucl]

Just listen to cosmmogram and/by flying lotus and the epic by Kamasi Washington and you're basically there.

[DarkAxel]

ok, thanks for the recommendation i should get on this modern hiphop thing more

I just can't stop thinking you know... what if TPAB was a Ghostface album....

instant classic mode

[Dungus]

I don't want to needlessly spam the italics, but TPAB is arguably one of the best hip hop albums of all time. And I also hate Kanye West.

[Dungus]

Also, Thundercat.

[D.o.S.]

I don't think Kendrick has ever made a song as awful as the new Yeezy single though.

[DarkAxel]

Update: didn't like Flying Lotus' You're Dead, but I'm jamming hard to the Kamasi Washington record

like my favourite Miles albums with less psychedelia and more grandeur

[Inconuucl]

Update: didn't like Flying Lotus' You're Dead, but I'm jamming hard to the Kamasi Washington record

like my favourite Miles albums with less psychedelia and more grandeur

Both tpab and the epic are my albums of the year.

[rustywire]

And this may be because I was raised as a well off white kid, but I feel like I'm not really the albums target audience and because of that I can't relate to it as well. This leaves me feeling somewhat disconnected from what Kendrick is rapping about. I can appreciate what hes talking about because the message he's spreading is really empowering, but at the same time, I wasn't raised in Compton. I don't know what its like to live in that world. So I can't relate as well as someone who was raised in similar circumstances.

Hm. I tried to consider this as a possible explanation for my own ambivalence. I've rejected it...deeming it implausible at least in my case.
I grew up in a small, affluent town 10 min outside of Manhattan, where violent crime was a 1 from 1-10. At 12 began thoroughly enjoying the nyc market media...and its offerings of the early 90s west coast gangsta rap and the mid 90s boom-bap *crime rap*.
I didn't relate to any of the stories and narratives but nevertheless the music resonated with my ear and imagination. I was able to see things from the artist's perspective. Plus a lot of them were genuinely fresh, exciting, groovy takes. Same thing with Guns N Roses & Nirvana. Both of those bands came from the other side of the country, and opposite ends of the spectrum yet I enjoyed both their music tremendously.
Skip ahead to 2015 and my fav rap single OTY is Vince Staples' Norf Norf which again, is a whole other world and a lot of stuff I've never done or plan on ever doing. Don't matter.
If I keep cranking it like I wanna...I'm liable to blow every subwoofer I own and send the cones flying through the air.

[D.o.S.]

but seriously can you guys listen to this I need to share my suffering
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJae2OpoHeE[/youtube]