West Coast Connection Forum
DUBCC - Tha Connection => Outbound Connection => Topic started by: Jaydc on May 27, 2010, 07:06:34 PM
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I was all psyched for the new Eminem album, Recovery, but then I heard that song “Not Afraid,” and now I could give a rat’s ass. I’ll still DL and have a look, when the opportunity presents itself, but I won’t be furiously consulting the Google until it arrives, as if it was pr0n, the way I did the new National album. Which was so worth it, btw.
It’s not that “Not Afraid” is such a bad song. The rappin’ is about as strong as the rappin’ on anything else Eminem has done the past couple of years, which is to say stronger than a motherfucker. The production isn’t memorable in the least bit (I literally can’t recall how exactly it sounds, and I see the TIs had it pulled from this site’s Bangers section), but it’s not highly obnoxious or anything, which is about as much as you can ask from 2K10-era synthesizer-based rap music.
The part that’s really bothersome to me is the chorus. The line, “I’m not afraid to take a stand. Everybody come take my hand,” sounds like some shit Lenny Kravitz would write, if Lenny Kravitz tried to write the chorus to an inspirational rap song. (I don’t want to give Jay-Z any ideas.) Then there’s the fact that Em opted to sing the chorus himself, rather than bringing in Drake, or anyone who’s voice isn’t as white and whiny-sounding as his own.
But you know how Eminem is about doing things himself. Remember all of those shitty beats he made back in the early to mid ’00s? I wonder if that’s because he’s white. I went to high school with a guy - a cracka-ass cracka - whose father was always tinkering with his cars. Then you’d have to go pick him up from off the side of the road somewhere, when they broke down. There must be something about the white man’s psyche that leads you to want to do shit yourself, regardless of whether or not you’re capable.
Pro tip for black dudes who haven’t spent a significant amount of time around white people: If you go over to a white person’s house, and they offer you some meat they shot and killed themselves, tell them you would, but you just ate.
The fact that it’s cornier than a motherfucker hasn’t stopped “Not Afraid” from being remarkably popular. I read somewhere recently that it debuted at the very top of the pop charts, making it one of only a small handful songs to ever do so - and not just some obscure digital chart that that guy Sam Adams could probably buy his way onto. I’m talking the Billboard Hot 100. It took Jay-Z 46 years and more number one albums than the Beatles and Elvis combined to make it to number one, and Eminem did it with a song that’s not even that good.
But you never can tell what the pop charts mean these days. Maybe the fact that Jay-Z finally reached #1 doesn’t mean he finally came up with a song that was worthy enough, it means the charts have gotten that much easier to game. It’s not like Jay-Z hasn’t been making cynical concessions to the marketplace his entire career. For all we know, his cover of “I Know What Boys Like” by the Waitresses could have topped the pop charts, if it had been released in 2K10 rather than when I was in the 10th grade.
Then there’s the fact that people tend to like things with positive, uplifting messages. That’s why they stay showing Shawshank on the Superstation. (They still show Shawshank on the Superstation, right?) Book stores are filled with books about how to stay positive and get your life together. I was in a Barnes and Noble the other day - scanning the sex books, natch - and I saw where Russell Simmons has got a new one out. I don’t even think it was his first one. I hadn’t so much as heard of it, but you’d have to think he’s making a lot of money from it. Otherwise, why would he bother?
I’m sure Eminem understands this, and that’s why he decided to scrap Relapse 2, i.e. another album about the depravity and hence the hilarity of substance abuse, something I could enjoy, in favor of an album full of uplifting songs about joining hands and walking along the path towards clean living. (What part of the game is that?!) The original Relapse, much more along the lines of a classic Eminem album, didn’t sell nearly as well as he thought it would, so now he’s gonna do something way different, plus he’s gonna bring in a gang of producers to make him songs that sound like songs that are currently popular.
I’m not buying for a minute that this is a reflection of a genuine change in his point of view. He probably wasn’t on drugs back when he recorded Relapse. And I wonder how important drugs really were to his late ’90s - early ’00s-era classic material. So, he took a few drugs in his 20s. Who didn’t? It’s not like I copped the Marshall Mathers LP to find out what it’s like to be high. He could have been sober his entire life, for all I care. This is the Rick Ross era. Whether or not his music is an accurate reflection of his experience is beyond the point. I just think songs about getting fucked up and doing crazy shit sound more interesting than songs about not getting fucked up and not doing crazy shit. Call me crazy.
http://www.xxlmag.com/online/?p=80826
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who gives a fuck about this man's opinion?
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Omg I thought this was actually you writing this until I got bored of reading this long-ass story and scrolled to the bottom and saw the XXL link.
I love this song. It is my favorite song from Eminem since I can't remember.. A song off The Eminem show for sure..
It has a different sound, (I applaud the outsourcing of producers for this album), it has stronger subject content, it has positive and uplifting lyrics. It sounds like a brand new Eminem. A conscience Eminem, which only appears once an album and definitely not as the first single. What more could you ask for?
This single epitomes "growth" to the fullest, and I encourage it, because no matter how good some of his past albums were, I don't wanna hear the same thing twice... And frankly, I've grown tired of alot of it.
Welcome to Recovery, Eminem fans. We'll do this together.
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The more I hear not afriad the less I like it.People are praising it because its not the same eminem single that he always drops but that took what 6 tries to do?Thats not something to applaud.The beat is trash,it sounds like some soundclick shit,its seriously one of the worst beats Ive heard all year.Notice how not one person has jumped on the beat to spit on?The chorus is horrendous the only saving grace is the verses.
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Yet id take this everyday over the previous attempts like just loose it and we made you etc. Hopefully we get a proper album this time around instead of that bullshit he been putting out in many years now.
I just skimmed through that bullshit piece...a hardcore fan im guessing? lol but having read the conclusion, he basically saying ''I just think songs about getting fucked up and doing crazy shit sound more interesting than songs about not getting fucked up and not doing crazy shit. Call me crazy''....well go listen to some earlier eminem material if his the only spitter u heard of or keep relapse on grind if u want shitty music about crazy shit. Or go check a bizzare cd.
I'll take a nas cd anyday over a cd just about getting fucked up and doing crazy shit. And there will be stuff for that too within the album, just not the main topic. Id dudes that worried, maybe dude should widen his horizons abit and realise there is more to music than eminem and check some other cats than. Try a luda cd, dudes got game. TI...theres too many.. younger cats who can be taken abit more serious about doing crazy shit than a 36+ year old clean from drugs and tryna raise his daughter and trying to come with a different attempt this time around after the response he has had for encore and relapse.
Who know whats the final product will be like till we hear it, because dude could be about to drop a wack cd but he could be about to drop some a dope cd too. And there will probably always be some crazy weird shit on an eminem album anyway.
Wack piece.
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The more I hear not afriad the less I like it.
And i agree with this too. I havent actually heard it in a while but i remember when i first heard it i was like this is very solid and then i heard it again and i liked it more and was like this is going to be huge. And it is. But then i heard it again a few times and i got bored. Its summer coming up...Rides, parties, bitches, ice cream, thats what it at right now :D
Someone needs to drop a genesis sort of cd lol
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my only beef with "Not Afraid" is the beat, kind of.
but i don't even think about it because like Slaughterhouse, i don't listen to Eminem for production reasons; although productions made Relapse easier to listen to.
he's a lyrical rapper, i don't need a iconic beat to enjoy.
as for this guy who wrote the article, i would assume he isn't a big fan of Eminem; i mean, how can you critique an entire album, call it "an album for suckers" when he's only heard the lead single (which has been his best since "Without Me") & his beef with it was the beef & the singing, which wasn't that bad; i mean, it wasn't good, but it wasn't untolerable.
he also said, "he could of got a guy like Drake to sing the chorus"; right there, he lost my interest in what he was saying.
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I don't like I'm Not Afraid because of it's production and it's over the top hook. It's all kinds of corny. Like other comments have noted I thought it was strong when I first heard it but after a second round it wasn't impressive.
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The more I hear not afriad the less I like it.People are praising it because its not the same eminem single that he always drops but that took what 6 tries to do?Thats not something to applaud.The beat is trash,it sounds like some soundclick shit,its seriously one of the worst beats Ive heard all year.Notice how not one person has jumped on the beat to spit on?The chorus is horrendous the only saving grace is the verses.
You don't like the beat? Or the chorus? Wtf man... Go listen to that shit on headphones and walk in the rain.. You'll see the light!
Corny hook? This is as real as you can get, humble yourselves, shit. This is hope music. The message of this song easily shits on any single that came out since Live Your Life by T.I.
"you aint feel what the pencil scripts, 9 times outta 10 u aint been thru shit" -Joe Budden
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Remember when XXL tried to disrespect Eminem during the Slim Shady LP days, and they claimed he was like a culture stealing Vanilla Ice? This article is almost as stupid as that one was, the only difference is that Eminem's career is no longer as relevant as it used to be, yet the message is the same... blatant racism and bitterness towards a very talented artist.
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The more I hear not afriad the less I like it.People are praising it because its not the same eminem single that he always drops but that took what 6 tries to do?Thats not something to applaud.The beat is trash,it sounds like some soundclick shit,its seriously one of the worst beats Ive heard all year.Notice how not one person has jumped on the beat to spit on?The chorus is horrendous the only saving grace is the verses.
You don't like the beat? Or the chorus? Wtf man... Go listen to that shit on headphones and walk in the rain.. You'll see the light!
Corny hook? This is as real as you can get, humble yourselves, shit. This is hope music. The message of this song easily shits on any single that came out since Live Your Life by T.I.
"you aint feel what the pencil scripts, 9 times outta 10 u aint been thru shit" -Joe Budden
Really? It just couldn't be I thought it was corny and I'm not feeling it? NO! That's too absurd!
In the words of Common,
If I don't like it, I don't like it, that don't mean that I'm hating
I'm glad he released this single instead of We Made You material. This at least might motivate somebody but it doesn't work for me.
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Damn..when he rap about killing people they say "he raps sam shit like before 10 years ago",now when he try somthing new they want him to take back 10 years ago :D :D..fuck you haters,just enyoy in good music. thats it 8) 8)
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who gives a fuck about this man's opinion?
+1
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who gives a fuck about this man's opinion?
and jaydc
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The more I hear not afriad the less I like it.People are praising it because its not the same eminem single that he always drops but that took what 6 tries to do?Thats not something to applaud.The beat is trash,it sounds like some soundclick shit,its seriously one of the worst beats Ive heard all year.Notice how not one person has jumped on the beat to spit on?The chorus is horrendous the only saving grace is the verses.
You don't like the beat? Or the chorus? Wtf man... Go listen to that shit on headphones and walk in the rain.. You'll see the light!
Corny hook? This is as real as you can get, humble yourselves, shit. This is hope music. The message of this song easily shits on any single that came out since Live Your Life by T.I.
"you aint feel what the pencil scripts, 9 times outta 10 u aint been thru shit" -Joe Budden
the chorus is really cheesey.And the beat is flat out terrible.Those snares ruin the beat.It sounds like half a beat,it sounds like the producer found a bassline and then started hitting tin cans every 3 seconds.I cant even listen to the beat I turn the song off in the first tne seconds.
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It's not a good look cosigning byron crawford all the time jaydc. this guy is the flamboyant gay restaurant critic of hip hop.
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It's not a good look cosigning byron crawford all the time jaydc. this guy is the flamboyant gay restaurant critic of hip hop.
lol,you agreed hes one of the best on the inter web so where you do you fit in?no homo?
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The more I hear not afriad the less I like it.People are praising it because its not the same eminem single that he always drops but that took what 6 tries to do?Thats not something to applaud.The beat is trash,it sounds like some soundclick shit,its seriously one of the worst beats Ive heard all year.Notice how not one person has jumped on the beat to spit on?The chorus is horrendous the only saving grace is the verses.
You don't like the beat? Or the chorus? Wtf man... Go listen to that shit on headphones and walk in the rain.. You'll see the light!
Corny hook? This is as real as you can get, humble yourselves, shit. This is hope music. The message of this song easily shits on any single that came out since Live Your Life by T.I.
"you aint feel what the pencil scripts, 9 times outta 10 u aint been thru shit" -Joe Budden
Really? It just couldn't be I thought it was corny and I'm not feeling it? NO! That's too absurd!
In the words of Common,
If I don't like it, I don't like it, that don't mean that I'm hating
I'm glad he released this single instead of We Made You material. This at least might motivate somebody but it doesn't work for me.
YOU LIKED ENCORE... Of course you think grown man music is absurd...
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nice copy and paste thread :D
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nice copy and paste thread :D
Why are you stalking me thread to thread elano
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The more I hear not afriad the less I like it.People are praising it because its not the same eminem single that he always drops but that took what 6 tries to do?Thats not something to applaud.The beat is trash,it sounds like some soundclick shit,its seriously one of the worst beats Ive heard all year.Notice how not one person has jumped on the beat to spit on?The chorus is horrendous the only saving grace is the verses.
actually its pretty much Beautiful part two. Em saw people didn't like his more silly songs this time around so he's trying to do whatever will appeal , ie. serious, inspirational type music. I think the hook is corny as well, but seriously, lol @ the writer thinking adding Drake would make the song better.
I kinda agree with the article, but at the same time the guy comes across as kind of a bitch.
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he actually bashs on drake all the time lol.
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The more I hear not afriad the less I like it.People are praising it because its not the same eminem single that he always drops but that took what 6 tries to do?Thats not something to applaud.The beat is trash,it sounds like some soundclick shit,its seriously one of the worst beats Ive heard all year.Notice how not one person has jumped on the beat to spit on?The chorus is horrendous the only saving grace is the verses.
You don't like the beat? Or the chorus? Wtf man... Go listen to that shit on headphones and walk in the rain.. You'll see the light!
Corny hook? This is as real as you can get, humble yourselves, shit. This is hope music. The message of this song easily shits on any single that came out since Live Your Life by T.I.
"you aint feel what the pencil scripts, 9 times outta 10 u aint been thru shit" -Joe Budden
headphones won't make a difference, the beat stinks regardless.
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For the record I listened to the song in my beats by dre headphones and it only amplfies how bad the beat is.
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I think this could very well be some of the dumbest and most pointless shit I've ever read. I particularly like how he's convinced he has some great understanding of "the white man's psyche" because he listened to Eminem's production skills and had a white friend in high school. It's almost like he's trying to do the Chris Rock thing but nobody's had the heart to tell him he really isn't funny. I'm reading this article and wondering if he's doing a critique of Eminem or auditioning to be a writer for Carlos Menicina. "Hey, you ever notice how white people want to do everything for themselves?". Well, sort of. This is the kind of characteristic most people tend to pick up when they leave that stage of their life called adolesence.
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"when I was
Underground, no one gave a fuck I was white, no labels wanted to sign me, almost gave up" so fuck that white black shit
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For the record I listened to the song in my beats by dre headphones and it only amplfies how bad the beat is.
I kinda feel that Dre or Khalil or someone should've added their drums or just replace the original drums..
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the way I did the new National album. Which was so worth it, btw.
ahahahah the national is like THE canon band for boring white ppl in their late 20s + 30s
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"when I was
Underground, no one gave a fuck I was white, no labels wanted to sign me, almost gave up" so fuck that white black shit
The whole spiel about an industry conspiracy is bullshit, but you'd have to be blind not to see that Em's huge popularity is because of his skin color. I mean the majority of hip hop's fan base is white and they all ride harder for duke than anyone else. Just look at Benzino, what other rapper do you know of who's career and respect was completely destroyed because of a beef? The guy was just an average rapper and now he's known as the worst rapper alive with even less respect than Soulja Boy. And now the same shit is probably going to happen to Jay Electronica, an actually good rapper.
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The whole spiel about an industry conspiracy is bullshit, but you'd have to be blind not to see that Em's huge popularity is because of his skin color. I mean the majority of hip hop's fan base is white and they all ride harder for duke than anyone else. Just look at Benzino, what other rapper do you know of who's career and respect was completely destroyed because of a beef? The guy was just an average rapper and now he's known as the worst rapper alive with even less respect than Soulja Boy. And now the same shit is probably going to happen to Jay Electronica, an actually good rapper.
Being a white MC that is actually credible definitely helped Eminem sell some records but I don't think Benzino's downfall was as much a product of his feud with Em as the decisions he made during that feud. Being outsted from The Source was really what did him in. As a rapper, he never got much coverage outside of his own magazine and even in his hometown of Boston, they never played his or his group's music much on the radio. Most people knew about him because he had clout with the most well-known hip-hop magazine in the country. He'd always get featured in there, there were constant ads, and I believe he was always featured on every one of their compilation projects in some form or another. His feud with Em brought a lot of his dealings to the forefront and people who otherwise didn't know or wouldn't have cared were now in the know. I don't think the damage on his career would have been as bad if his career wasn't so reliant on his connection to The Source. That magazine took a pummeling because they chose to ride with Benzino. This had two very costly results. Not only would Interscope and several of its business partners pull their advertising dollars out but they lost out on getting exclusives with Eminem, 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, and everyone under that umbrella at a time when G-Unit was the hottest thing in music. This allowed XXL to capitalize by constantly snagging them for covers.
I can't quite say it was all the result of him dissing Eminem. It wasn't as though Benzino was a hugely popular rapper before 2003 so it's not like Kanye pulling the mic out of the girl's hand at the VMA's. He actually sold quite well off the strength of the Em feud at first. I think once it died out, people weren't genuinely interested in what he had to say as an MC and pairing that with the fact that he no longer had The Source in his corner, it was all over. I don't think Jay Electronica is in any danger of facing the same fate.
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The whole spiel about an industry conspiracy is bullshit, but you'd have to be blind not to see that Em's huge popularity is because of his skin color. I mean the majority of hip hop's fan base is white and they all ride harder for duke than anyone else. Just look at Benzino, what other rapper do you know of who's career and respect was completely destroyed because of a beef? The guy was just an average rapper and now he's known as the worst rapper alive with even less respect than Soulja Boy. And now the same shit is probably going to happen to Jay Electronica, an actually good rapper.
Being a white MC that is actually credible definitely helped Eminem sell some records but I don't think Benzino's downfall was as much a product of his feud with Em as the decisions he made during that feud. Being outsted from The Source was really what did him in. As a rapper, he never got much coverage outside of his own magazine and even in his hometown of Boston, they never played his or his group's music much on the radio. Most people knew about him because he had clout with the most well-known hip-hop magazine in the country. He'd always get featured in there, there were constant ads, and I believe he was always featured on every one of their compilation projects in some form or another. His feud with Em brought a lot of his dealings to the forefront and people who otherwise didn't know or wouldn't have cared were now in the know. I don't think the damage on his career would have been as bad if his career wasn't so reliant on his connection to The Source. That magazine took a pummeling because they chose to ride with Benzino. This had two very costly results. Not only would Interscope and several of its business partners pull their advertising dollars out but they lost out on getting exclusives with Eminem, 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, and everyone under that umbrella at a time when G-Unit was the hottest thing in music. This allowed XXL to capitalize by constantly snagging them for covers.
I can't quite say it was all the result of him dissing Eminem. It wasn't as though Benzino was a hugely popular rapper before 2003 so it's not like Kanye pulling the mic out of the girl's hand at the VMA's. He actually sold quite well off the strength of the Em feud at first. I think once it died out, people weren't genuinely interested in what he had to say as an MC and pairing that with the fact that he no longer had The Source in his corner, it was all over. I don't think Jay Electronica is in any danger of facing the same fate.
All I know is that once the video with Jay Electronica came out, there were people all over the internet dissing him and saying they'd never listen to his music again. Only time will tell if it prevents him from having a career, but it definitely shows how Eminem seems to have hardcore fanboys like no one else.
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so basically they saying he shouldn't sing his hooks cause he has a white whiny voice? it's always somebody trying to tell a fucc'n legend how to make his music,gtfoh, i ain't a big fan of the song and i hate that damn near every rap song has to have some fucc'n singing on the hook now,but come on em is good chipper jones yell
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so basically they saying he shouldn't sing his hooks cause he has a white whiny voice? it's always somebody trying to tell a fucc'n legend how to make his music,gtfoh, i ain't a big fan of the song and i hate that damn near every rap song has to have some fucc'n singing on the hook now,but come on em is good chipper jones yell
Exactly. Everyone knows better than the guy whose actually doing it.
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For the record I listened to the song in my beats by dre headphones and it only amplfies how bad the beat is.
Goto the Kanye thread and post your opinion, Ill wait.
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For the record I listened to the song in my beats by dre headphones and it only amplfies how bad the beat is.
Goto the Kanye thread and post your opinion, Ill wait.
Which kanye thread?
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For the record I listened to the song in my beats by dre headphones and it only amplfies how bad the beat is.
Goto the Kanye thread and post your opinion, Ill wait.
Which kanye thread?
One with the new single, wanna hear your thoughts.
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For the record I listened to the song in my beats by dre headphones and it only amplfies how bad the beat is.
Goto the Kanye thread and post your opinion, Ill wait.
Which kanye thread?
One with the new single, wanna hear your thoughts.
Link is down. :(
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I'm disappointed in jay electronica for his general belief in the 5 percenter shit & his conspiracy theory bullshit. Not because of his music Luckily not too much has overlapped in between the two.