Please use the thread to discuss the selections and inform everybody of your voting intentions. A poll will be added at a later date in order to tally votes, once everybody has had the opportunity to listen to all of the selections. If there are specific links to the albums or singles you have nominated (on Youtube, Spotify, etc.) that you would prefer voters to listen to, please post them in this thread. _________________ 2021 in full effect. Come drop me some recs. Y'all know what I like.
Last edited by Skinny on 01/18/2021 15:24; edited 1 time in total
Houston, Texas officially honors Screw every June 27th. Not because it's his birthday or anniversary of death, but because the half-hour freestyle towards the end of this already bomb tape is a document of the Screwed Up Click ascending beyond the realms of men.
There's gangsta rap. And then there's the Memphis scene. And then there's Low Down Da Sinista. Listening to the latter is like playing Mortal Kombat with its gruesome snuff fantasies while the former is just hadoukens and shoryukens. And Low Down is particularly brutal compared to the rest of his horrorcore contemporaries. The lofi bassy beats are there too, mane.
Streams picks are entirely heat. Not necessarily my favorite Screw tape (so many good ones to choose from though, that's not knocking this one) nor does it have my favorite freestyles (those are off of No Drank) but the half an hour freestyle on this is perfect and an important moment in the history of Screw. Plus the 2Pac remixes I think are both better than the original cuts and simply some of the finest chopped and screwed content. Similarly, Low Down Da Sinista's record is simply badass. Oh my god, just lo-fi overwhelming horror movie music intercut with amazing one liners and this apathy throughout that's so gruesome. Great stuff. Little disappointed to see such a stellar UGK record sacrificed only for its singles but I'm guilty of doing similar things here with M.I.A. and Ghetto Smile is so good it makes me want to finally listen to Hemp Museum.
I shamefully went more obvious for my picks as Streams knocked me out of the Best Year Tournament last time and I've been itching for the chance for payback. However, I stand by all of my choices.
Bucky Done Gun by M.I.A. is a killer disjointed single off the pioneering Arular with less of a bass low end as much as it has a low tsunami. And it's certainly the best thing Diplo has ever touched (which, fuck Diplo for selling out MIA to the NYT).
Antidote is pure Memphis weirdo energy paired with the absolutely worst piano sounds out of Chicago and it fucking rocks about as much as it barely exists on the internet. That distorted sidechain compression is delicious.
Beauty and the Beat of course oozes with all these lovely scratches filtered through tape delay as Edan samples some of the best 60's-80's psych. Held up by incredible guest verses and some of the best production outside of Cannibal Ox that the early aughts had to offer. Such a grower and an influential record for me.
Late Registration is Kanye's one true masterpiece (although I'm a Life of Pablo and 808 apologist). The naivety of college dropout refined and the chipmunk soul slowed into this boozy mess that explodes on these flexes such as We Major.
Genuinely excited for this tournament and Coming For Your Soul is one of the most memorable first listens of recent memory. Cheers!
For real tho, using UGK for single purposes only is a dismissable offence. Count yourself lucky. _________________ 2021 in full effect. Come drop me some recs. Y'all know what I like.
Not deep enough to ignore Ridin' Dirty. That whole album meets your aesthetic criteria and not using it is essentially elitist contrarianism on your part, but I'll let it slide because your team is actually dope. _________________ 2021 in full effect. Come drop me some recs. Y'all know what I like.
Thanks - totally different for sure... The Spotify rendition totally didn't breathe like this does like the notoriety of the chopped and screwed style suggests. Although a near two hours is pretty intense when I gots another 30 hours ahead of me. Oh, do we have a deadline?
I've heard of DJ Screw and the slow down style with purple dranks, but have yet to have the pleasure.
Thanks again for the submission to get me to finally listen to it and for the right link.
Also pretty cool it tells you what is sampled as you listen on that link.
I'm digging the style - I feel relaxed and maybe like I'm on codeine listening to it. It's interesting how some music makes you feel high without a drug, and can imagine it being even harder hitting with the drug. I can respect that. Overall I'm not a fan of music that's more an accessory to an activity, than something that seems interesting intrinsically. What I do dig intrinsically is the chill feel. Distantly reminds me of the Mellow Zone or of Luigii's chill electronic music threads of times past. Only thing that I don't dig is when it's slowed down, the pop filter stuff like "t" and "s" sounds are pretty harsh.
For those more familiar with hip-hop, is this cooler when you know the sampled material and how he "screws" with it? I know something like Beatles Love is more exciting to me because I know all the different concurrent samples put together, so it's interesting like that. Maybe same thing here?
Nice flow at 1:04:30ish... I think by Youngsta?
2
Coming For Your Soul hits hard, but the music in the background is a bit odd somehow. I guess that's the appeal too tho. Although that funky bass line near the end is solid (couple tracks at the end). Blah is funny. Not sure if it gave it dynamics or took it down a notch. I guess if you trust the YouTube comments the female vocalist recorded when 14-15 or whatever.
2.5
From the two combined I got what I came here for (so thanks) - learning more about hip-hop than I normally would've. I'm missing something I fell in love/already love though, as solid as they were for different reasons.
One Day - UGK... I dig the subtle tempo change there in the beginning. Soulful vibe sets the scene well for the lyrics.
2.5
Ghetto Smile - B-Legit, Daryl Hall- I've always dug this solo guitar (not the flange) vibe in hip-hop tracks. Was pretty popular in early 2000s.
2
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Late Registration
This is a clear winner for me. It's pop centric - and appeals to old fat white men like myself (comic book guy included). The samples used are really cheating though... cuz I absolutely love those tracks independently of Kanye (Gone/Gold Digger samples especially with Otis and Ray being some of my favorite vocalists). Kanye gets the cake for probs the only skits I like listening to. Obviously where Kanye hits best is his choice of timbre across his samples and beats. It's literal music to my ears. It's a symphony of sounds comparatively speaking. Even if you want to hate Kanye, you just can't. Nearly every track has some kinda magic to it. I'm glad the hour plus albums are fading. It is a tad long, but even deep cuts like Hey Mama or Diamonds From Sierra Leone are pretty alright and give the album dynamics I dig. "Those same wrongs helped me write this song". Even though I just listened to this a couple weeks to months ago, this last listen invited me to bump from a 3.5 to 4.
3
Beauty & The Beat
This started out with a whole new world for me. I really dug it. I will say it got a little long near the end. Something I think a lot of hip-hop albums suffer from. I myself am more a singles fan when it comes to hip-hop albums most times. But yeah, the rapping and music was fantastic.
2.75
Bucky Done Gun - M.I.A. - another easy win for it's pop sensibility. Even M.I.A doesn't even know or care what a Bucky Done Gun is. I learned about a genre I'll never repeat again...
Quote:
Funk carioca (mainly known as Baile Funk outside Brazil) is a Hip Hop-influenced music genre originating from Rio de Janeiro's shanty towns (also known as favelas). Originally rooted in Electro and Miami Bass, funk carioca developed into a distinctive style of its own and has since established itself as one of the most popular music genres among Brazil's lower class youths.
3
Antidote- I wanted this track to be done a minute in... haha. Somehow I just thought this was pretty dumb, even if the flow was tight.
1.5
Overall, the 2005 team wins easy for me, even if the other team had solid merits and the Antidote track was a rough listen, 1996 was missing a key album or two I'd expect and the Vegas I was programmed to want.
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