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Anti
I Dream of Drone
Age: 28
Location: Somewhere in Ohio
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- #1
- Posted: 09/24/2014 04:45
- Post subject: Thoughts on new Kendrick Lamar single?
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i is Kendrick Lamar's new single that came out yesterday (Sept 23). What are your thoughts? I have not gotten a change to fully dissect it. I've been busy with a really tough semester schedule. I put it in the background a few times, so I never really gave a hard listen to the lyrics. The beat/music though is... interesting. Can't tell if I like it or not.
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...and for dessert!
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Silver
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- #2
- Posted: 09/24/2014 05:21
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It was fine enough but I'd likely take anything on Section.80 or GKMC over it.
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WindowAbove
Gender: Male
Age: 25
Location: Iowa
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- #3
- Posted: 09/24/2014 11:45
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To be played in school "motivational" videos
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Skinny
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- #4
- Posted: 09/24/2014 11:55
- Post subject:
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Some thoughts I had during a discussion in another thread:
| Skinny wrote: | | It's interesting to a certain extent, but ultimately disappointing, especially in the way he talks in global terms ("the world is a ghetto") and avoids specifics ("everybody looking at you crazy" - who? why?; "I went to war last night" - where? again, why?), when part of the appeal of Kendrick up to this point has been his ability to make the local feel global, through using specific locations and events and references to build a believable - and, most importantly, relatable - story. Here we're treated to a series of lyrical cliches, albeit ones that do feed into the song's message about self-empowerment in the face of adversity. Thankfully, he switches up his flow to keep things interesting, and I'm a sucker for an Isleys sample. I've listened a few times this morning, and I like it, but don't love it. Hope he doesn't fall into the same trap that so many rappers before him have, of feeling they need to dumb down (or, rather, universalise) their message to (supposedly) sate the wider audience they achieved through creating something intensely personal - it happened to Nas and Jay-Z, who went from rapping in specifics to rapping in universal terms, losing part of what made them so special in the process. Time will tell. |
| Skinny wrote: | | I don't want him to continue talking about Compton, and I understand that as a person sees more of the world and wants to speak to more of the world that they have to speak in more universal terms, but you still need to put a personal slant on it, otherwise everything gets lost in translation. This is literally a roll-call of lyrical cliches ("the world is a ghetto"; "one day at a time, the sun gonna shine"; "lift your head up and keep moving", "I wear my heart on my sleeve"; "give my story to the children"), which I just found disappointing from a rapper of Kendrick's ability. The reason a rapper like Andre 3000 could remain so successful (in terms of what he achieved artistically, as opposed to commercially) over a lengthy time period, whilst never really tying himself overtly to a specific place or time (though his heart was obviously always in Atlanta, as I'm sure Kendrick's will remain in Compton), was his lyrical idiosyncrasies, bits and pieces of weirdness or vivid imagery scattered throughout his verses that gave everything a personal slant and allowed him to stay ahead of the curve. I know it's impossibly harsh to ask Kendrick to be Andre 3000 (or even Jay-Z or Nas, who have still achieved far more in their careers - and again, I'm speaking artistically as opposed to commercially - than Kendrick has at this stage), but the lyrics here just simply aren't very good, aside from the odd line (I can't deny that, "lay my body on the street, keep my money in the ceiling, let my mama know I'm free," is extremely heartfelt and powerful). But that's cool, if people relate to it then it's a good thing. Personally I struggle to relate to this because I've heard these exact cliches so many times before that they've ultimately become meaningless to me. It's a bit like somebody seeing I'm down and telling me to "keep (my) chin up" - it means nothing. I don't want him to stay in his comfort zone and continue to rap about life in Compton, especially since he probably spends less time there now than ever before, but if he's going to reach for the stars then he needs to make a better attempt at it than this. |
Since then I think I like it even less. It's just a bit irritating. Too chipper for my liking.
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Skinny
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- #5
- Posted: 09/24/2014 12:59
- Post subject:
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Just read a fantastic article on why this song sucks. I've also posted the transcription below for people too lazy to click a hotlink.
| Quote: | Is this it? This is what we’ve been waiting so feverishly for? Awwww man. I suppose I already tipped my hand on this one but for the slow amongst us I’ll go ahead and spell it all the way out: this ain’t it. In fact, let’s just skip the pleasantries and call a spade a spade: this shit sucks.
Kendrick and Rahki (the producer) and Ali (the unnecessarily popular mixer, but whatever) clearly put a ton of effort and thought into this song but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a boring piece of shit. Kendrick has always been a bit of a self-serious and righteous MC and the fact that this is a stinker isn’t necessarily a surprise, but I was hoping that he’d come with something better, given the scores of examples available to Kendrick and co. vis-à-vis how to navigate your sophomore album. Simply put, everyone knows that if you’re considered an elite level MC, you don’t go full Talib on a single. Especially not a first single. C’mon dawg. WTF? You just woke up on a Tuesday morning and decided that you wanted to dry up every vagina within Soundcloud’s radius? For fuck’s sake!
We should have known that shit was gonna go sideways when we saw the cover art with a pair of gang members pretending to be Gareth Bale or teenage while girls on Facebook (your choice folks – democracy is awesome sometimes). I just knew it was going to be some sanctimonious bullshit. And our nigga didn’t hold back at all. He just piled it on. Corny cliché after corny cliché. It’s almost as if Kendrick decided that not enough people have heard all the KRS-One albums after I Got Next. Well, young Kendrick, there’s a reason why we didn’t listen to that preachy bullshit: it all sucked. Trust me, I’m old enough to know these things.
Let’s go through all the fails in detail, so y’all don’t think I’m just being mean for the sake of riddling or whatever. There’s a fucking monologue from some loud preacheresque dickhead praising Kendrick. That’s always a no-no. The one Nas and DJ Premier collaboration we all kinda ignore, ‘Come Get Me’, had that bullshit in front of it too. If we all pretend that shit doesn’t exist, then what the fuck makes anyone else think they can get away with it? Humble yaself nigga.
Then there’s the super obvious Isley Brothers’ sample. I fucking hate an obvious and barely altered sample. Then again, that shit might be a good thing for all the young muthafuckas that think Kendrick is the best thing since sliced Drake. So maybe I’ll forgive this offense. More Isley Brothers is always a good thing. Oh and if I HAVE to mention which song it is, it’s ‘Who’s th…’ nah, lil nigga, go ask your mother or uncle or some shit. You clearly don’t have a dad if I need to tell you which song that is.
And on to the worst offense of all – which I hinted at a lil’ earlier: this shit is part of what I consider to be the worst sub-genre of rap – positive motivational rap. In other words, Kendrick just made an outtake from Eminem’s last two albums. Honestly, I don’t know who listens to or likes this brand of rap and I don’t want to know these people. If you still buy Eminem albums, you probably didn’t mind when iTunes forced a new U2 album on you. If you still buy Eminem albums, then you’re probably a recovering addict of some sort and there’s nothing wrong with that, but you don’t deserve to listen to rap. Go listen to Taylor Swift and shake off your insecurities, bitch.
As far as Kendrick hooks go, this is actually half decent but I really don’t need to hear any rappers convincing me that they love themselves in the most obvious fashion imaginable. I can masturbate just fine, thanks. Pause. That said, I imagine that all the teens that don’t get to sit at the cool table might hear this shit and get a boost from or something. I also like the drum breakdown/beat ride-out at the end of the song, since that shit kinda renegaded Kendrick on his own shit. Kinda like Drake did on his last album, but let’s not dredge up any old shit.
Speaking of the Beige Gawd, I can totally imagine him sitting in his music/hookah room, listening to this weak shit and laughing his Canadian ass off. But that’s neither here nor there. It’s not as if he did much better with the first single from his sophomore album either. Actually, he did but ‘Headlines’ was trash too – but to his credit, we at least got to joke about him “catching bodies like that” and wearing Nike football gloves in the video while surrounded by a bunch of Canadian darkies. However, what Drake understood was that you’re supposed to go all triumphant heel on the first single from your second album. That’s how rappers keep the buzz going. If you don’t believe me, head to Wikipedia and peep the first singles off your favorite rappers’ sophomore efforts. Kendrick got the triumphant part right via the beat, then fucked it up with his Tony Robbins impression on the bars. Listen lil nigga, only Jeezy gets to motivate us rap listeners and even that nigga hasn’t been able to pull that trick off in a good minute.
And for those of you that think I’m just on some coon shit by reacting negatively to positive rap, you can suck all 7 of my dicks. Fuck you and your corny ass. I hope you find someone kind enough to share their orifices with you someday. How can you hear this shit and be happy, loser? Radio needs this shit? Well, maybe you’re right, but I don’t listen to the radio and I haven’t in 10 years. You know why? Because I’m not a loser. Fuck outta here.
There’s something to be said for putting your best foot forward and we all know that Kendrick is capable of much more than this. So I’m far from worried about the rest of his project. Word is that he has so much to say and share with us and I think that’s great. I just hope he doesn’t forget to entertain us – that’s the most important thing. You can try to pass on all the messages in the world via rap, but no one is trying to hear that shit if it ain’t bangin’. You gotta hide the medicine in some food bruh. Ain’t a thang wrong with a lil’ fun. Then again, Eminem’s continued success suggests that there’s a market for this crap – but he’s a white nigga that built his fan base back when folks still went to stores to buy music, so maybe that’s not the best model to replicate. But given TDE’s seeming infallibility despite their series of stinkers this year (yes, Q and Soul both shit the bed – but the former at least made us dance a little), Kendrick will probably be OK.
Let’s end this glorified rant with a quote from a good friend of mine about loving one’s self: “you know when I love myself? When I’m NOT listening to motivational rap, which is pretty much all the time.” Get it together, Kendrick. Ain’t nobody got time for this shit. |
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2021 in full effect. Come drop me some recs. Y'all know what I like.
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paladisiac
= music
Gender: Male
Location: Denver
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Hayden
Location: CDMX
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- #7
- Posted: 09/24/2014 14:19
- Post subject:
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| Skinny wrote: | Just read a fantastic article on why this song sucks. I've also posted the transcription below for people too lazy to click a hotlink.
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There was a lot of good points in there. Thanks for bringing that up Skinny. Especially the line about no matter how much effort goes into a song it can still end up falling flat.
I feel pretty similar. In a more simplistic music listeners mind (me), I just simply don't enjoy it. I've actually cringed listening to it. We talked about it in a thread yesterday, and my thoughts remain the same today... It's just not very good. Here's what I said:
| Quote: | Who's That Lady is such a risky song to sample, I really don't think it worked with the song.. And it's most of the song to be honest. You can't take a track like that and sample it for the entire song with the intentions of adding anything to it. It just doesn't work. Especially with the fact that Kendrick has some of his weakest verses in his career going over it..
Really shocked. This could be a track by a nobody on an amateur mixtape. |
If the entirety of his next album is this quality, I seriously can't see myself giving it more than a 4/10.. or in other words, albums I try to avoid listening to.
The most redeeming part of the song is the promising intro to be honest. The speech thing with the crowd.
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MrIrrelevant
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- #8
- Posted: 09/24/2014 16:07
- Post subject:
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| Skinny wrote: | Just read a fantastic article on why this song sucks. I've also posted the transcription below for people too lazy to click a hotlink.
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Touche.
Last edited by MrIrrelevant on 09/25/2014 13:16; edited 1 time in total
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AlexZangari
Gender: Male
Age: 30
Location: gone
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- #9
- Posted: 09/24/2014 16:42
- Post subject:
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Did nothing interesting with the sample and the lyrics are nauseatingly cheesy. Heartbreaking, truly.
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Muslim-Bigfoot
Gender: Male
Age: 33
Location: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
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- #10
- Posted: 09/24/2014 17:25
- Post subject:
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I like the song; it's aimed at charts and it will succeed. I can see how people who love Kendrick are not pleased with this because this is not Kendrick; and I'm pretty sure none of the other songs on the album will sound like this. This is like opening to other crowds and I have no problem with that unless this is what the whole album has to offer. Although he certainly didn't have to dumb down everything but he's a clever man and supported by clever people who know that most people who listen to music are not avid music fans who want confrontational stuff or subtlety and particularity in subject matter.
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"I feel like for the last two years there’s been sort of a sonic evolution happening and I’ve been experimenting more and more."
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