Yes we are back
I have pretty much zero interest in superstar rappers anymore - the reason the Jeezy album is my record of the year isn't just because he captured the zeitgeist of the moment (although that helps) but because he did it with an almost-anonymous record. Not that you dont know every second you're listening to it that its a Jeezy LP but that he's not assuming this fact going in - aside from the Billy Paul track its all pseudo-interchangeable A-town trunk-rattlers and Jeezy actually rapping. What saved this record was that its gritty back-to-basics no-bullshit rap music over current but rap-for-rap's sake beats. No pretensions and no blatant crossover moves, pure stripped down recession-era rap music.
There was an interview with NYC-gritty-committee chairman (see Screwball, "Flamboyant" beat) Mike Heron on unkut in 2007 that really highlighted what makes a solid rap record:
Now aside from getting into T.I. on his downward curve the key here is the PEN - lyricism is not and hasnt ever been dead in rap, it's still the lifeblood of it in a lot of ways - the only thing that has ever changed is what folks think quality lyricism is. Rap's been strong but people talking about it tend not to know shit about shit. Meaning - dudes who like to RAP will continue to release great records. Dudes who forget or think it doesnt matter won't be forgotten, but those records should be. Trying matters.
Anyway to get to the point - the NYG'z 'Welcome to G-Dom' is one of the best of the year. These are ugly generic-looking dudes, not pop stars, and also ugly generic rappers, but in the best possible way, especially as Premier farm teams go (Group Home are not as good as you think). For an LP that has been a half-decade in the making (I copped "Giantz Ta This" in like '04 I swear) it knows the advantage of stripped-down gutter raps, the embrace of aesthetic rather than ideology. Plus it does get lyrical, its got some bangers and a non-LP remix with Lady of Rage & Royce that is a must-cop classicist Premo nu-classic.
And lyrically its solid, not many "wtf?" malachi the nutcracker-type lyrics, lots of hard New York no-bullshit raps. The NYG'z are Panchi and Shabeeno, but it really doesnt matter cuz they are anon-NY archetypes. Although it is a Premo record by and large though, the best track is not Preems --
"Bow Down" cross-borough posse cut with Blaq Poet from Screwball and Rave Roulet (this dude is kinda whatever). I mean what else is there to say about a track that starts "When I was in jail I used to pop off, but thats in the past, I mean razors under my tongue and a knife in my ass!!!" I remember sitting back like "damn dude, that's serious - a knife in your butthole???" Rappers storing weapons in body cavities are rappers who will thrive in this kind of environment - who wants to listen to lil wayne drug binge rap when you can hear a dude brag about how his urethra is a holster?? <---note he does not actually do this, at least on this album.
Yes to some degree I feel like I am giving A's for effort rather than following the 'naturally gifted auteur-madmen' but fuck it, when it comes down to it I'd rather be with the people on the ground than eagerly awaiting Jay-Z's next conceptual 'masterpiece.' Isnt that what this era is about right now - uninhibited free markets sent the cream to the top and that worked in the late 90s, but right now its time for a capital-C Change. I'll stick with the common man rapper, his stubborn desire to TRY to rap even in the face of his inferior skills and an increasingly unprofitable market, his faceless grind over kingpins in gas guzzling limos playing guitar and making glow-in-the-dark emo 'raps'. I'm done with these superstar rappers. Jeezy gets it, of the people for the people.
Speaking of Blaq Poet is anyone else way too excited for this shit? Me too:
addendum:::: yes the NYG'z joint actually came out late last year. who cares.
There was an interview with NYC-gritty-committee chairman (see Screwball, "Flamboyant" beat) Mike Heron on unkut in 2007 that really highlighted what makes a solid rap record:
Have been listening to any new hip-hop records that you’ve been liking?
I’ve been like T.I. - T.I. is hot. I think now, in hip-hop - and a lot of people won’t agree with me - you’ve gotta be a fuckin’ MC to win. Niggas with pens are winning. T.I. got a pen.
Now aside from getting into T.I. on his downward curve the key here is the PEN - lyricism is not and hasnt ever been dead in rap, it's still the lifeblood of it in a lot of ways - the only thing that has ever changed is what folks think quality lyricism is. Rap's been strong but people talking about it tend not to know shit about shit. Meaning - dudes who like to RAP will continue to release great records. Dudes who forget or think it doesnt matter won't be forgotten, but those records should be. Trying matters.
Anyway to get to the point - the NYG'z 'Welcome to G-Dom' is one of the best of the year. These are ugly generic-looking dudes, not pop stars, and also ugly generic rappers, but in the best possible way, especially as Premier farm teams go (Group Home are not as good as you think). For an LP that has been a half-decade in the making (I copped "Giantz Ta This" in like '04 I swear) it knows the advantage of stripped-down gutter raps, the embrace of aesthetic rather than ideology. Plus it does get lyrical, its got some bangers and a non-LP remix with Lady of Rage & Royce that is a must-cop classicist Premo nu-classic.
And lyrically its solid, not many "wtf?" malachi the nutcracker-type lyrics, lots of hard New York no-bullshit raps. The NYG'z are Panchi and Shabeeno, but it really doesnt matter cuz they are anon-NY archetypes. Although it is a Premo record by and large though, the best track is not Preems --
"Bow Down" cross-borough posse cut with Blaq Poet from Screwball and Rave Roulet (this dude is kinda whatever). I mean what else is there to say about a track that starts "When I was in jail I used to pop off, but thats in the past, I mean razors under my tongue and a knife in my ass!!!" I remember sitting back like "damn dude, that's serious - a knife in your butthole???" Rappers storing weapons in body cavities are rappers who will thrive in this kind of environment - who wants to listen to lil wayne drug binge rap when you can hear a dude brag about how his urethra is a holster?? <---note he does not actually do this, at least on this album.
Yes to some degree I feel like I am giving A's for effort rather than following the 'naturally gifted auteur-madmen' but fuck it, when it comes down to it I'd rather be with the people on the ground than eagerly awaiting Jay-Z's next conceptual 'masterpiece.' Isnt that what this era is about right now - uninhibited free markets sent the cream to the top and that worked in the late 90s, but right now its time for a capital-C Change. I'll stick with the common man rapper, his stubborn desire to TRY to rap even in the face of his inferior skills and an increasingly unprofitable market, his faceless grind over kingpins in gas guzzling limos playing guitar and making glow-in-the-dark emo 'raps'. I'm done with these superstar rappers. Jeezy gets it, of the people for the people.
Speaking of Blaq Poet is anyone else way too excited for this shit? Me too:
addendum:::: yes the NYG'z joint actually came out late last year. who cares.
Labels: nyc
posted by David at
1:28 PM
1 Comments:
old discussion:
I wonder if you or anyone could elaborate a little on what they liked about The Recession? Because I hated it (even though I loved his first two albums and most of his mixtapes, so I'm not this Jeezy-hater), and not to plug myself, but I explained why here:
http://paytray.blogspot.com/2008...n- reviewed.html
Though I loved 'My President Is Black' (and did a huge post on why but that's enough plugging myself).
Tray | Homepage | 11.23.08 - 1:00 am | #
Gravatar aight i'll bite.
first thing: i hesitate to write about the recession because i feel foolish in not being able to quantify exactly what puts it over the top for me. there's just 'something' about jeezy in my view, and yeah it's the "presence" that everyone's talked about ever since he broke, but it's just... different on the recession. there's a hurt and an insecurity that kinda runs under the album, and this is probably why the kanye collabo works so well but i think it's also what makes the recession better and more evocative than thug motivation-- a fun summer record-- and the inspiration-- an uneven and basically lazy album.
and yeah, as david says in his post, it hit at the right time, but i think the recession is in the spirit of lots of classic southern rap records (tons of ugk comes to mind) where even though you can't relate exactly, just the feeling of the music hits really hard.
Jordan | Homepage | 11.23.08 - 3:53 am | #
Gravatar See, I thought the Inspiration was incredible. I see it as this kind of winter record, which is appropriate given his moniker. The first three songs are this amazing trilogy of shit to play when you're speeding at 2 a.m. on a country road in the dead of winter. The synths on U Know What It Is sound like glimmering snowflakes, if that makes any sense. Then J.E.E.Z.Y. is the hypnotic crazy shit that makes white law students like me want to sell coke. Then I Luv It's like What You Know for the winter. Then Go Getta, take it or leave it, I ultimately take it. 3 A.M., one of Timbo's last great rap tracks. The Realest - eh. A little much. Streets On Lock is great, you've got those howling, whistling, sounds on the hook that sound like ghost sound effects in Halloween costume shops. Bury Me A G's flawed, but it works. Dreamin's amazing, these crazy nauseating synths, Jeezy pouring his heart out, a hook from an R&b chick that actually works - wow. What You Talkin Bout, huge, you listen to that shit when you're walking to work braving 12 degree wind chill. Mr. 17.5 is so great it makes you go, "yes, he's taking rap back to the block! Oh wait - that's kinda where it's been the past million years. Well whatever. Back to the block!" The last song is all this shit that doesn't make logical sense, where's the weatherman at when you need one, blah blah blah, but somehow seems very wise. And the rest is pretty decent. Even Hood Rat's fascinating, listening to this guy pick up shit literally as the song plays from two of his biggest influences. Recession, I'm listening to that and I'm like, your beats went downhill, you're singing these stupid little melodies on every track, your flow's "improved," in other words, you don't boss around tracks anymore and shout your crazy ad-libs, you just rap like everyone else, nothing here's inspiring me to do shit, you've got all kinds of awful filler...
Tray | Homepage | 11.23.08 - 6:06 pm | #
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