Quote:
Originally Posted by hulkrogan
I listen to rap quite a bit, although I must admit I find it tough to find the non-mainstream stuff without sifting through a lot of crap, so I don't have the hugest collection of non-commercial rap.
Let's take Gold Digger for example though. Everyone seemed to love that song, and it just put me to sleep. His delivery, the producing, the lyrics... *yawwwnn*
I'll probably get ripped on for this, as they are associated with gangster rap, but three of my favorite producers are Timbaland, Dre, and Scott Storch. I find Timbaland quite diverse and very talented at what he does. Dre revolutionized rap producing in my opinion, although I admit he's stuck with pretty much the same formula ever since. Storch pretty much rides the coat tails of Dre's formula, but he does a damn good job of it and puts out some great beats, regardless if you like the rappers or lyrics that end up on top of them.
For lyrical content and delivery I really like Dert, Talib Kweli, Common, Dead Presidents, Blackalicious, Outkast (Aquemeni and ATliens).
Someone just gave me the new Kanye CD to listen to, so which tracks would you recommend for me to give him another chance?
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First off, I will say that I love Timbo. Wait... allow me to retract that. I
LOVED Timbo. He's come out with some of the dopest over the last 15 years. From Missy's first 2-3 albums, Aaliyah, Ginuwine, Tweet, Bubba SparXXX, Jay-Z, etc. (I could totally go on for days!) He even gave us two of last summer's hottest beats - SexyBack & Promiscuous. His recent activity has skewed my opinion about him and I will say that now he's in the main spotlight, he's just gotten annoying. From beefing with the mentioned, Scott Storch and allowing Justin Timberlake to curse Prince, and the goofy, unecessary shenanigans when appearing on TV, it's time for him to go back to the studio and stay out of the screen.
Now that my Timbaland tirade is done, we'll go back to Kanye...
Oddly enough, Tim actually does some of the drums on Kanye's new album. The big single that is gonna push Kanye at the club and radio (perhaps not so much in Canada) is "Good Life". The song that has some of the baddest keys is "Flashing Lights". "I Wonder" is dope to, however he comes kinda soft on the mic. All summer I've been listening to "Can't Tell Me Nothing". Now, at first listen back in February, I thought to myself how boring the song was, but then I gave it a few listens and realized the beauty in the song - Kanye is basically calling himself out. Describing how he's changed or hasn't changed since the fame and money. You may or may not feel the same way about it, but I also found the song empowering after awhile. It's probably the slow Jeezy sample coupled with the eerie vocal, I'm not sure, but I got hooked. I'd probably say the only throw away is the Mos song. I found it boring and out of place in the tracklisting. Everything else is Kanye doing what he does - he's progressing as a producer, a rapper and most importantly, an entertainer. It's pretty much the album of the year for 2007. ....so far.