It's May 02, 2024, 04:37:52 PM
GRODT was ass. It was ass in 2003. It is ass in 2009. You people continue to belittle yourselves and you musical tastes by acting like that album is classic. If GRODT is a classic, than so are my pubes.
bump for Lyrical G.
Just a few clarificationsI said post 2001 production; Mary J's Family Affair. Xzibit's X. Shit like that. The production in songs like that are identical to the In Da Club production.I never said he had a bad ear. I called him David Foster. Foster has amazing talent and a super great ear. I just don't care for his style.For the record, Dre has never actually sampled anything. From day one he was working with studio musicians that would replay the music and then it would be looped. It is true that some, not much of the better stuff, was original compositions composed by Storch or Elizondo and Dre had the ear to say it sounded good. But everything from G Thang to Xplosive was recreated from old songs and while Dre's version may sound better to you, they sound worse to my ear. Which is where a lot of my resentment towards him comes from.Nelly obviously had monster sales but no he wasn't gangsta rap. He was club rap. Ja Rule had back to back triple platinum albums. Very good for any rap artist. I can't think of too many that have that. Luda did it also, and then followed it up with back to back to back double platinum. As for Cash Money, 400 Degreez went 4 platinum. That's pretty big numbers there. And the point is they were doing it with out corny singles. Who exactly was making money with corny singles other than Em?But let me put this argument to rest once and for all like I did back in 03 when 50 first got huge. I forgot about all the arguments I used to raise that left everyone in my neighborhood (black neighborhood fyi) with out any reasonable comeback. It was a gangster rapper who blew up and was as big as 50. He was pegged as the real deal and sold as such, and he played to the image perfectly. He was selling 4 platinum followed by 3 platinum, followed by 6 platinum and then 3 platinum again. And he did this all during the height of the Eminem era. DMX, which is what 50 was the updated version of. As recently as two years before 50 D was releasing smash club hits and telling dark street tales and was a star, but for some reason by 2003 he was pretty much forgotten by the mainstream media.NWA was first. The gangster rappers sold as real thugs. That was replaced by one of the members Dre, with Snoop in the early 90s. Then the mantle fell to Tupac and the deceased Biggie Smalls, and then DMX, and then 50. Now 50 is done and I'll bet with in the next two years another rapper from the streets will emerge with an updated sound and an image that seems more real to white america and he'll sell the same huge numbers all the previous artists did.Obie was never one of those guys and could never sell himself like 50 could. Royce if given Renegade and signed to Shady may have been a lot biger than any other Shady camp member but again 50 was sold on image as much as on Eminem spotlight. Basically what I mean is if in 2003 50 Cent released the exact same album with Bad Boy records or Ruff Ryders it would have been just another album. Getting all the mainstream promotion as Eminem's new gangster was as much a reason for his success as the image. DMX did it alone and that's why he sold more in the long run. That being said 50 could re-invent himself and sell again but the old 50 is dead.Sadly I'll be 27 this November. I feel like I'm still 19 in many regards, but every birthday of the last few years the idea that I'm closer to 30 than 20 is very depressing. I don't even want to think what 30 will feel like.We'll have to agree to disagree on a lot of things. Much of where our musical roads take us I think has to do with race. You're black, I'm white. When I "outgrew" hip hop it was because I was drawn to all these white artists that covered much of the same ideas the best hip hop did and with such a hard sound, but with much more sophistication and musical talent that it was easy for me to drop rap altogether by my mid 20s. There simply aren't may black "rock" artists. 90% of the socially aware or intelligent black artists have a much softer soul sound and can't give the energy hip hop gives. Jimi Hendrix of course is a huge exception. I'd also greatly recommend Bad Brains to you.The point is we are naturally drawn to what we consider ourselves a part of, and for me at 20 that was being streetwise but it was also seeing it from a white perspective.Eminem couldn't give me this;I had skin like leather and the diamond-hard look of a cobraI was born blue and weathered but I burst just like a supernovaI could walk like Brando right into the sunThen dance just like a CasanovaWith my blackjack and jacket and hair slicked sweetSilver star studs on my duds like a Harley in heatWhen I strut down the street I could hear its heartbeatThe sisters fell back and said "Don't that man look pretty"The cripple on the corner cried out "Nickels for your pity"Them gasoline boys downtown sure talk grittyIt's so hard to be a saint in the cityI was the king of the alley, mama, I could talk some trashI was the prince of the paupers crowned downtown at the beggar's bashI was the pimp's main prophet I kept everything coolJust a backstreet gambler with the luck to loseAnd when the heat came down it was left on the groundThe devil appeared like Jesus through the steam in the streetShowin' me a hand I knew even the cops couldn't beatI felt his hot breath on my neck as I dove into the heatIt's so hard to be a saint when you're just a boy out on the streetAnd the sages of the subway sit just like the living deadAs the tracks clack out the rhythm their eyes fixed straight aheadThey ride the line of balance and hold on by just a threadBut it's too hot in these tunnels you can get hit up by the heatYou get up to get out at your next stop but they push you back down in your seatYour heart starts beatin' faster as you struggle to your feetThen you're outa that hole and back up on the streetAnd them South Side sisters sure look prettyThe cripple on the corner cries out "Nickels for your pity"And them downtown boys sure talk grittyIt's so hard to be a saint in the cityAnd that spoke to me more than any black gangster rapper or Slim Shady ever could. Musically, everything changed for me when I heard that song.I remember that same year being 20 and reading this verse;Eighth Avenue sailors in satin shirts whisper in the airSome storefront incarnation of Maria, she's puttin' on me the stareand Bronx's best apostle stands with his hand on his own hardwareEverything stops, you hear five, quick shots, the cops come up for airAnd now the whiz-bang gang from uptown, they're shootin' up the streetAnd that cat from the Bronx starts lettin' loosebut he gets blown right off his feetAnd some kid comes blastin' round the corner but a cop puts him right awayHe lays on the street holding his leg screaming something in SpanishStill breathing when I walked awayAnd somebody said "Hey man did you see that? His body hit the street with such a beautiful thud"I wonder what the dude was sayin' or was he just lost in the flood?Hey man, did you see that, those poor cats are sure messed upI wonder what they were gettin' into, or were they just lost in the flood?And thinking I could see Nas rapping it word for word and fitting into Illmatic or It Was Written perfectly, and not only was these songs written long before Illmatic, they were written while Nas was still in his mother's womb back in '73.
this is some crazy shit, i mean know 50 is hated & all.but Hip Hop Is Dead over GRODT? Illmatic, It Was Written & Stillmatic (maybe).GRODT is a modern day classic, hate him or love him.the beats were unreal, 50 was actually beast on the songs; hard to knock.
Just to let you know, when you said in da club is generic (which i still disagree with by the way lol) and you say it sounds like family affairs and xzibits 'x'...funny thing is as much as i thought x was a nice opening for xzibit at the time, i actualy thought the sound of that was pretty generic at the time. So basically if we both thought in da club and x sounded similar, we would actually agree on this BUT i dont agree with x sounding like in da club. What they do have in common is the high notes on the piano sort of thing, if u know what i mean BUT x has a very strong westcoast/storch sound imo whereas in da club sound alot more universal and celebration style music, abit more eastcoast and more 'filled'...like you have the claps which were fresh at the time and it sounded 'strong' for a club joint. Like it sounded like a joint on steriods...maybe thats why it sounded so well with 50. While you do not like in da club (right?) and i think its an absolutely bangin club joint, one thing is fair to say that the joint will go down as one of the best modern day club classic whether we both like it or not. Music that alot of people feel or vibe to or can get people up to, you cannot really hate it on it whether we like it or not or whether are music ear listens to things different or not.Family affair by the way when it came out while it was not exactly the freshest sounding joint in terms of 'new' production is was really an ear catcher. Very catchy and sweet vibe joint. I can agree that in da club was possibly in some ways similar to that so no arguements there but again, i dont think it sounds exactly like that!
Another thing about dre and his piano men and so on, they do make music sometimes with dre NOT even being the room, thats how the piano melody for real slim shady was made so they do play a big part in his production team i completely agree BUT they are not the same without dre. Dre gives them there credit for what they do (usually atleast lol) and while they do create music and he will say what sounds good and what does not, he does direct them, tell them the sound he is going for etc, like even humming the music at times or playing it in an amatuer way and then the piano 'proffesionals' will try and get this sound out in a proper way for dre to put it all together. So while we should not forget the impact his team have on his beats, dre is the man who gets it going imo. I dont wanna sound like a dre groupie but he IS one of the best living producers on the planet and is the best within hiphop. When you have detox on the most anticipated list with some other greats fro other genres, you already know u have achieved your status as one of the best to do it imo.
Its dope having a varied music taste, i like alot of shit away from hiphop now, im 24, like you i grew up and while i wouldnt say i 'grew out/older' than hiphop, i would say i just expanded my ear with time and i its interesting you mention soul music, because i like alot of that shit. It just alot of newer hiphop cats do no interest me but i do still give my respect for someone like chamillionaire who dropped ultimate victory. If eminem spitted some of the lyrics he did on that, people would be going wow etc but because its chamillionaire, he hardly gets exposure for it. Dude is very talented and can make hits too...Not saying he is a great or anything, but just saying, that still to this day there are new cats who can make music and lyrics which are great but alot of people miss out on it...because dude is not gonna get an attention of people who would only listen it if dude was white or affiliated to a dre or something or get his props in general. But as much as having a varied ear is dope, you also gotta have an ear to hear dope music imo. Like you mentioned ludacris in another post, dude CAN make spit some great lyrics. You dropped lyrics in your previous post and thats dope but i never drop lyrics like that because as good as lyrics can sound on paper, its gotta sound good when it is said on over whatever instrumental it is getting played over. For example i could drop some lyrics from luda in the year 2007 or 2008 which on paper would sound great! And this when hiphop is dying like rock n roll in general had done already.
See you say u dropped hiphop for more sophisticated and 'talented' white artists but most of these rock artists are just like hiphop cats, only thats there niche whereas hiphop is usually the space for regular black cats apart from a few within both hiphop and rock who actually have immense talent and know what they're doing in there genre of music and go with a direction and class about the music. Even jay-z who im not the biggest fan of is gifted with a pen!
I do agree with you that being black and white, we will possibly at times choose different music to which we identify/connect with more but that does not mean what you're listening is more gifted/sophisticated that what a black cat is listening or wise versa because you will find that there are an amazing amound of producers and artists still black who are immensely talented and possibly more versatile than their white counterparts but thats just opinions.
One thing you did contradict yourself on was you said 50 sold because of eminem which is partly true but more not not true because there were bigger factors which made him sell. You also said the reason obie never sold was because he did not know how to sell himself whereas 50cent did, which is basically a contradiction of saying 50 sold because of eminem.
Obie was pushed harder than 50 at the time he got released or just as much, he had dre beats on his album, he was on shady records and had an eminem lead single but he never sold, he hardly went platinum!
50 went the right way, he went with the dre lead track and it was HUGE! it was not even a gangsta rap song, it was just a celebration joint, just aimed at everyone! Not just hiphop cats, or women or anyone, anyone could have liked that song and alot of random people who did not even like hiphop like that joint which is why 50 sold so much. It was not the eminem factor.
The point u raised about dmx im not really following, people always come and go within music, one minute you're hot the next you aint. DMX was basically turning into an actor and had way too many other incidents on his record at that stage, dude was a known crackhead too lol...people started moving past him and like you say, someone would eventually fill in them shoes even if in his own way. That happened to be 50 i guess if u say, but he would have blown up regardless of dmx being hot or not imo aslong as he still was as successful with his music. But ifs and buts are all hypothetical, fact is in da club WAS huge and grodt IS the biggest debut in a minute atleast i believe.
Just to say by the way, i meant new niggaz could not get released or do big numbers unless they had a corny single (track for the women) at the time until 50 came and gave a new direction for hiphop with new singles. We can argue it all we want but it is true that 50 gave new momentum/fuel to hiphop with his single and suddenly young black artists were like, they we can drop a club track and maybe get a release! I remember alot of people complaining that if your song was not aimed at women, it would not get released. Thats basically was nelly and ja rule were doing and while that shit is not for me, i dont hate them for it because with them doing there thing, it would have opened up doors for people of that type of music and kept poeple like eminem and ludacris hot instead of them having to 'try to hard' because suddenly ja rule and nelly are outta the equation when 50 drops and now eminem/snoop and cats like them suddenly have to branch out, be different lol.
So we disagree but i think we also agree on somethings, just in different ways.This topic may have gone wayyy off topic at times by the way, but im just dropping my thoughts ;-) By the way, i'll be 25 in november, haha, thats half of 50! I wish i was still 18!pz!ps, just remember, i doubt we would have had an eminem, snoop, and alot of hits from general people and great hiphop music if it was not for dre and his influence ;-)pz!
Illmatic of course.It Was Written.StillmaticGod's SonandUntitledGet Rich or Die Tryin' is a dope album but it ain't on the same level with those albums I mentioned. Ok, GRODT might be better than God's Son... but still, Nas has at least 4 albums which are better. This is my opinion. Nas' albums are better lyrically and Illmatic has better production. Does anyone agree?
^ you like the sonics version of louie louie better than the kingsmen
Illmatic of course. - yesIt Was Written. - yesStillmatic - noGod's Son - noandUntitled - no
oh and Toots & The Maytals live version of "Louie Louie" shits on every other one i've heard IMOi don't think i've heard Bowies version before