Return of the Mac didnt impress me after 1st listen

[Efrain]

I really wanted to like this album but it just sucks.  I mean P kept it real on the album but its just not a good album.  And Im shocked that alot of people thought the production was great, it was solid but it could of been wayyy better. 

I respect your opinion if you don’t like it, but I think you need to expand on your reasons a little more... especially since you made this thread. Saying “It just sucks” is pretty lame though, certainly not what I would expect from someone whose musical knowledge and opinions are (apparently) held in such high regard.

The fact you think Camron is the best lyricist alive isn’t exactly helping your case either. Don’t get me wrong I like Camron and dipset but, any rapper who creates pseudo words, uses baby talk and is the most notorious offender of rhyming a word with the same word isn’t, and can never be, the best rapper alive dude.

But anyways, your (misguided) beliefs on what constitutes lyrical greatness aside, I’m willing to hear you out on this Return of the Mac album if you can articulate your position a little better. What were you expecting from the album? What are you judging it against? What things in particular didn’t you like and why?

[WC Iz Active]

I really wanted to like this album but it just sucks.  I mean P kept it real on the album but its just not a good album.  And Im shocked that alot of people thought the production was great, it was solid but it could of been wayyy better. 

I respect your opinion if you don’t like it, but I think you need to expand on your reasons a little more... especially since you made this thread. Saying “It just sucks” is pretty lame though, certainly not what I would expect from someone whose musical knowledge and opinions are (apparently) held in such high regard.

The fact you think Camron is the best lyricist alive isn’t exactly helping your case either. Don’t get me wrong I like Camron and dipset but, any rapper who creates pseudo words, uses baby talk and is the most notorious offender of rhyming a word with the same word isn’t, and can never be, the best rapper alive dude.

But anyways, your (misguided) beliefs on what constitutes lyrical greatness aside, I’m willing to hear you out on this Return of the Mac album if you can articulate your position a little better. What were your expecting from the album? What are you judging it against? What things in particular didn’t you like and why?

First off I never said Cam was the best lyricist but he has dropped 5 solo albums and they were all extremely dope with 3 classics so of course I hold him in high regard.  Now I only listened to "Return of the Mac" once but I will tell you why I didnt like it. The lyrics were plain, lazy, and repetitive Imo.  I also was a disapointed with the production, I expected it to be better all around.  I also didnt think their were any standout tracks at all on this album and the album was very short.  And NO I wasnt listening to this expecting to to be comparable to vintage Mobb Deep, not at all.  I will listen to this again tonight, but after 1 complete spin I wasnt impressed at all due to multiple reasons.

[Efrain]

I really wanted to like this album but it just sucks.  I mean P kept it real on the album but its just not a good album.  And Im shocked that alot of people thought the production was great, it was solid but it could of been wayyy better. 

I respect your opinion if you don’t like it, but I think you need to expand on your reasons a little more... especially since you made this thread. Saying “It just sucks” is pretty lame though, certainly not what I would expect from someone whose musical knowledge and opinions are (apparently) held in such high regard.

The fact you think Camron is the best lyricist alive isn’t exactly helping your case either. Don’t get me wrong I like Camron and dipset but, any rapper who creates pseudo words, uses baby talk and is the most notorious offender of rhyming a word with the same word isn’t, and can never be, the best rapper alive dude.

But anyways, your (misguided) beliefs on what constitutes lyrical greatness aside, I’m willing to hear you out on this Return of the Mac album if you can articulate your position a little better. What were your expecting from the album? What are you judging it against? What things in particular didn’t you like and why?

First off I never said Cam was the best lyricist but he has dropped 5 solo albums and they were all extremely dope with 3 classics so of course I hold him in high regard.  Now I only listened to "Return of the Mac" once but I will tell you why I didnt like it. The lyrics were plain, lazy, and repetitive Imo.  I also was a disapointed with the production, I expected it to be better all around.  I also didnt think their were any standout tracks at all on this album and the album was very short.  And NO I wasnt listening to this expecting to to be comparable to vintage Mobb Deep, not at all.  I will listen to this again tonight, but after 1 complete spin I wasnt impressed at all due to multiple reasons.

I agree with you about the lyrics. I’m in no way saying this album is bursting with [lyrical] creativity or that Prodigy is back or anything along those lines. In fact realistically prodigy’s actual wordplay has probably continued its downward spiral onto this album. Lines like:
“‘They can’t stop me’/Now I’m grown-up, so obviously they ain’t stop me.”
… are stark examples of how prodigy is still in lyrical doldrums and isn’t showing much signs of retuning to where he was earlier in his career. BUT, what Prodigy lacks in actual lyrical creativity and wordplay, he makes up for with subject matter. Dark, violent, often disturbing topics (while nothing new in hip-hop history) are definitely a step in a different direction in the current hip-hop climate. For good or ill, having your first single be a sample heavy, ultra mellow track about how you sit alone in your room high on drugs, staring at candles and creepily clutching automatic weapons is a huge deviation from the a-typical “jump off” radio single about clubs, money and other redundant topics. You have to at least applaud him for taking a different approach.

As far as Alchemist’s production…well, what can I really say. If you don’t like it then you don’t like it. But that is where I wonder about where you’re coming from in terms of expectations. Is it that you dislike Alchemist’s production all together? Or is it specific to this album? Because to me I think you are unquestionably looking at some top notch Alchemist work here. You see him using a real range of straightforward loop samples, to much more advanced sampling techniques which really balances the album out. If every song involved some complex matrix sequencer of multiple samples that’ve been chopped into a million pieces the album would be too jarring, I think there’s a perfect balance there that gives the album a real “album” feel.     
 
I feel the production from Alchemist is definitely the key ingredient in the albums success without a doubt. Beyond just providing the backbone and consistency, Al’s production takes a lot of the focus and pressure off Prodigy to deliver the high caliber lyrics fans still expect. Alchemist’s production on this album is so organic, it really becomes a larger part of the overall song, making it difficult to single out the lyrics and dismiss the record. 

For an “album” that’s being billed as a mixtape styled, warm up for Prodigy’s actual solo I think this is an all around quality piece of work and deserves to be given proper credit. Definitely give it another couple spins, let it grow on you. I think it will.