BYHH GW2: Group C - 1993 vs. 2017

[kokkinos]

Before getting on with the review of Masta Ace Incorporated - SlaughtaHouse I can't help but comment on a connection I noticed with A Tribe Called Quest, namely the line "Low End Theory tape in, bass crazy kickin' and" in Jeep Ass Niguh. If that was intentional, I have no words to describe how brilliant that is. But even if it was random, it was super cool anyway. Now, even though I consider myself a fan of Masta Ace, I 'm afraid the circumstances are gonna force me to slightly underrate this album. Maybe I shouldn't reveal that much, but the truth is I have been massively listening to his 2004 album A Long Hot Summer and contemplating if it fits my team. Not sure if there's actually that much of a difference or it has to do with the fact that I know the latter inside out and can totally immerse myself into its atmosphere (in all likelihood that's the answer), but this felt like one step behind. Still many elements that make him stand out are present here. The overall sound is impossible to dislike if you are even remotely into 90's hip hop. His delivery is much more aggressive in comparison to the calm, almost conversational approach he would follow in the next decade. His trademark storytelling ability doesn't dissapoint ("So I use the back door, cause the front ain't safe Seven different brothers got stuck and I don't wanna be the eighth Don't make no sense Walkin through my own neighborhood I feel tense Don't wanna carry no gun Cause the cops be stoppin us, and pattin us down just for fun So, the only protection I got Is my smitties, but how many kids get shot Fuckin that throw up your hands shit And fight like a man but he don't get to land shit Not one punch, the only hit Was when his head hit the concrete, got knocked clean off his feet Got a lot of blood on they shoes But they got that Rolex, and jumped in the cruise Late model Sedan, either blue or black Was the only description, no plates in the back"). At the same time it's not all about fun, he finds the way to convey some messages and ideas through his stories - I mean, the "concept" of the album is anti-violence/anti-gangsta, so I guess this was to be expected ("As I walk through Brooklyn, Compton or whatever I wonder why black folks don't wanna stick together We talk about justice, and how little we get Yet black men be killin' black men for talkin' shit... ("Here's the one, that one that always talkin' shit...") How the hell we supposed to wage war against the powers that be When we are still our own worst enemy").
To sum it up, I would rank this as almost equal to Midnight Marauders - which of course is no small feat. Both are great albums (ok, Midnight Marauders is greater) I wish I liked more.
Next one is gonna be Open Mike Eagle - Brick Body Kids Still Daydream.

[Repo]

[kokkinos]

When I saw Open Mike Eagle - Brick Body Kids Still Daydream picked for the second round, I was so relieved. 2017 is my team's third round matchup and it's an album I would by no means like to face - not that I expect it to be super popular and dominate my team or something, it's just that I would hate voting againist it. Clocking in at just before the 40 minutes mark, it simply flies by and leaves you thirsty for more. The production may not sound spectacular at first listen , but it's so easy on the ear, always finding the balance between dreamy, carefree, intense and depressive. The lyrics are what makes this album stand out. It tells some realistic and relatable stories - I use the term "relatable" not in the sense that I have any similar experience, but the way he presents it makes the listener empathise with the character. Personal enough to contain the necessary drama/emotional attachment, but at the same time abstract enough to be used as a vehicle to provide some socio-political commentary. The main theme of the album is the so called "housing project" - I guess the album cover kinda betrays it - ("We live in a space that should have never existed We’re used to the taste of a human in space We ruined the room only a few could replace it And Doyle’s is closed I'm avoiding my nose It smells like if you imagined you boiled a rose And the oven is on and the coil’s exposed And we pulling the door Like we did it before And now we’re trying to deal with heat that we shouldn't absorb"), which proves to be an interesting enough concept to carry the whole album. The key is that he doesn't only focus on the stories themselves, but also on the people behind them and how they are affected by the various incidents that take place. You can find many one or two liners that show his mental state ("I ran hard, my footprints covered the coast I be running through walls cause I'm buffer than most", or "My favorite phrase is "so what?" I'm stone-cut, I'm bad to the bone, no need to blow up Calm before the storm or something I ain't cried since '94 or something", or "When the king is a garbage person I might wanna lay down and die Power down all my darkest urges Keep my personal crown up high"). The rapping forms a nice contrast with the lyrics, it feels as if he tries to keep some distance from what he's talking about, he doesn't want to get sentimentally involved, but at some points he ends up losing control and has an emotional outburst (for example there is one in Happy Wasteland Day). The highlight of the album has to be Daydreaming In The Projects ("So don't be mad at me I used to breathe asthmatically No strategy for whenever brain Gets going, counting the stars through the growing pains Shoulder blame Foot the bill, take a sugar pill Over the counter drugs, the ones niggas couldn't feel Like the wooden wheel Ben switched the island with"), I could listen to it on repeat all day long - though I could say the exact same thing for at least 3 more tracks.
To sum it up, this ranks above both 1993 albums.
Last album of the matchup is gonna be lojii & Swarvy - DUE RENT.

[kokkinos]

lojii & Swarvy - DUE RENT is the last album of this matchup. It was an album I hadn't listened to before, so at first I was worried it might be last and least, but that was not the case, it held its own reasonably well. The biggest surprise and the biggest contributing factor to its success was clearly the production, no doubt about it. There is a lot of stuff going on, enough diversity to keep you on your toes and not make you lose your interest , but at the same time it maintains the same mood throughout, lonely but also warm, fresh but also vintage if that makes any sense. The rapping was ok, but it never captured my attention fully, the direction of the album was always dictated by the production. To be honest, I 'm not sure it would make that much of a difference if the tracks were instrumental. Same story with the lyrics, I noticed some cool lines ("The realist villain that you never seen Schemin' like a mason on a mezzanine Out to get the cream Wu-Tang in '93 When I heard my first rap song now look at me", or "Need duckits for real 'till the duffel get filled Whether it's trapped in the rap or G'd a couple of deals So keep it real, too East-Coast for most niggas They just some pay to post niggas Spending money at the club just to post up Shoulda spent it on the dub gettin' dosed up"), but for the most part they were secondary, too. One complaint would be that it didn't fully justify its length, but that's likewise quiestionable. On the one hand, I can easily imagine it improving by being a bit shorter. On the other hand, it's not obvious to me which track I would kick out, all of them had something to offer.
To sum it up, it surpassed my initial expectations, I would rank this at about the same level as the two 1993 albums and behind Open Mike Eagle - Brick Body Kids Still Daydream, meaning that 2017 has the advantage so far.
Next one is gonna be the singles.

[Hayden]

[kokkinos]

My ranking for the singles:
T-1st: The Pharcyde - Passin' Me By
If this were the only song they ever released, it would be enough for their legacy.
T-1st: Danny Brown - Ain't It Funny
Same as above.
3rd: Frank Ocean - Biking (ft. Jay-Z & Tyler, the Creator)
In some other matchup, this would have a strong case for the first spot, but here it's a no-contest.
4th: IAM - Le dernier empereur
Better than expected, but still a distant fourth.
To sum it up, 2017 wins both in terms of albums and in terms of singles. Case closed.

[babyBlueSedan]

It would be really difficult to vote against that 2017 team. "Ain't it Funny" is of course terrific, one of my favorite rap songs. But Broken Body Kids is also incredible, one of the best hip hop albums of the 10's. OME has always been great at mixing humor and melancholy but this is probably his most insightful project, delivered in a careful, thoughtful voice that frequently blends into singing. There's a lot of sadness in the story he tells here but it's mixed with some nostalgia on moments like the chorus of "95 Radios" that helps to balance that and make it beautifully bittersweet.

But I'm voting for the '93 team, because it's even better. Of course there's Midnight Marauders, which is Tribe's best. And there's "Passing Me By," which is an absolute classic. But I also really enjoyed Slaughtahouse. I'm a big fan of A Long Hot Summer, the only other Masta Ace album I've heard, but I was worried at first because the intro is a really heavy handed satire of gangsta rap and I was worried the whole album would be just as obvious. But the rest of the album is more measured and not as overt in the social commentary it's making, and as others have mentioned the horn samples give the production a really great feel. I'm still not a huge fan of this kind of conscious hip hop; someone on RYM called it "conscious gangsta rap" and I think something like Vince Staples's "Norf Norf" does a much better job at silently shining a light on the struggle of Black communities than this does. But it it doesn't get in the way of the album being great.

Thoughts on the rest of the entries:

- The IAM was fine, though I understand no French so it kind of...passed me by. Though I've heard a few French hip hop songs now and I do think the language sounds great when rapped, I just wished I could follow the words.

- I really like the production of DUE RENT but the whole package didn't do it for me. Felt that the rapping got in the way of the production a bit.

- "Biking" is a song I listened to once when it was released and never went back to, like most of those Frank Ocean singles after Blonde. After listening again I think it's a decent song but I'm not surprised it didn't make the album, though that might just be because it doesn't really fit the sound he was going for on Blonde.
_________________
And it's hard to be a human being. And it's harder as anything else.

[Hayden]

[babyBlueSedan]

[RoundTheBend]