Because being good doesn't mean being bigOriginally Posted by John
'Everybody want to talk about who this and who that
Who the realest and who wack, or who white or who black
Critics want to mention that they miss when hip hop was rappin'
Motherfucker, if you did, then Killer Mike'd be platinum'
Meanwhile, I'm back on my Eyedea & Abilities bullshit.
I suppose, to echo what Phonics said, it's very much a "right place, right time" thing with rappers sometimes. People in the Hip-Hop community like to attach a shit load of value to the notion of "real Hip-Hop" and claim that there's very little of it left, whilst simultaneously ignoring, both critically and financially, the shit load of it that there is out there.
It's weird that Run the Jewels is the thing that finally put him over the top though. Not that it isn't great, because they're amazing, it's just that if you'd told me ten years ago a sustained collaboration between El-P and Killer Mike would give the pair of them far more visibility than they've had in their entire careers up to that point I would never have believed you.
The notion of them even working together was quite strange to me when it was first announced until it actually happened, at which point it was like "Mike should only ever rap over El-P beats for the rest of his life". They genuinely seem to be best mates now too, which is nice.
Killer Mike was working with Outkast at the height of their popularity, so his lack of attention can't just be down to not having been in the right rooms with the right people.
I understand that being good doesn't necessarily lead to being popular/successful, that notion isn't unique to rap music, but generally speaking if you're the best there is in your chosen field then you'll rise to the top on a somewhat accelerated schedule. I did some reading and found out that apparently his reluctance to drop the 'Killer' from his name set him back a fair bit, but that can't be the whole deal.
I suppose what I was wondering is if there's some dynamic that is unique to rap music which helps explain how it's taken him so long to break out.
I'd guess it's partly because hip-hop has been shifting away from political lyrics - and lyrics in general, it's more about melody - and fans crave a counter to that in albums from people like RTJ and Kendrick.
http://www.xxlmag.com/news/2017/09/w...-doom-project/
Well, shit. Westside Gunn and DOOM are apparently releasing a project together in the somewhat near future.
Alchemist and Daringer on the beats too? Consider my interest piqued. Although obviously the release date of any proposed DOOM collaborative project has to be taken with a pinch of salt. I'm looking at you, "Swift & Changeable".The project, which seems to be called WESTSIDEDOOM, is apparently produced entirely by Alchemist and Griselda’s in-house producer Daringer (who we named one of rap’s 30 essential producers of 2016), so expect lots of dusty drums and soul loops.
Ten fucking years old!
One of those records that takes me back to exact time of it's release whenever I hear it. Still my personal favourite Kanye album, even though MBDTF is the definitely the better artistic achievement. Graduation just has a lot more sentimental value for me. It's also a classic in it's own right musically, of course.
Jesus. This news has made me feel fucking ancient.
Similar vivid memories for me as it was the summer I left school. Also feeling old
I know, right? I guess I will have been in my second year of university. Maybe it's just rose tinted glasses, but I remember that summer being absolutely beautiful, and it still being really hot when that album dropped in September, and buying it and just immediately knowing that is was a classic the first time I heard it.
Everyday was a barbecue with Champion playing...
Remember it leaking really early for a major release. Think I was spinning some garbage clean rip for like a week.
Remember the big showdown he had with 50 over who was going to sell more records?
50 lost, and I believe still sold about 700k in his first week!
Is there anyone in hip-hop who has successfully evolved as much from album to album as Kanye?
Flashing Lights is my favourite from that album, takes me right back to what I'm depressed to realise is a whole decade ago.
Which album was Gold Digger on? There was a club in Glasgow which tended to play commercial rap for half the night then commercial dance music for the other half - Destiny for the Glasgow lot - and that song immediately evokes the smell of Sambuca for me.
Gold Digger was on Late Registration, the album prior to Graduation. It conjures up similarly hellish nightclub memories for me too John, now you mention it. I'd forgotten just how inescapable that song was the time, it was fucking everywhere.
Late Registration is definitely my favourite Kanye album. I remember checking online every hour for a leak, back when things would leak months in advance.
I lived with someone in halls who thought of himself as a bit of a DnB DJ but he only had like 5 records, one of them a remix of Gold Digger. So when I wasn't getting it in the club, I was getting that.
Shout out for 808s
I hated 808s for years and then went through a bad breakup and drank too much and started enjoying it. I'm not sure 'Yeah it's a good album if you're in severe emotional distress' is a ringing endorsement but that's all I've got.
It's also a lot subtler autotune then 99% of mainstream stuff these days which helps.
I think it hooked me quicker than most of his regular albums, sounded like nothing else at the time too whereas now it sounds like everything. I can only listen to it in winter though for some reason, it's the weirdest Christmas album on my playlist.
Graduation is my favourite Kanye-album, easily. Mostly because I was 15 when it dropped and it was the first one I heard in full.
Champion.
I Wonder.
Flashing Lights.
All about Everything I Am.
I usually dislike Coldplay, but Homecoming is
1. College Dropout
2. MBDTF
3. Graduation
4. Late Registration
5. TLOP
6. WTT
7. 808's
8. Yeezus
That was tough. Yeezus still has a few beauties in it.
1. Graduation
2. MBDTF
3. The College Dropout
4. 808s and Heartbreak
5. Yeezus
6. Late Registration
7. Watch the Throne
8. The Life of Pablo
Very tough. Every single one of those album has, at time or another, been pretty much the only thing I've played for days, or sometimes even weeks, on end. It really is an incredible discography when you sit down and think about it.
MBDTF
College Dropout
808s
Graduation
Yeezus
Late Registration
WTT
Pablo
Wow people really rated MBDTF so highly? I really liked three of the singles but could take or leave the rest.
My opinion is probably void though because a) my favourite Kanye song is Big Brother and b) my favourite album is 808s.
Pablo sucks so bad I wouldn't even rank it at all, and I could only name one or two songs from yeezus off the top of my head.
I'm a twit
Yeezus is genuinely one of the worst albums from a major artist I normally enjoy. And I've listened to Blink 182s recent output.
Same as Wullie but Pablo over WTT. WTT hasn't aged well at all imo, and I wasn't wild about it on release.
I should probably omit Pablo, it's my default last pick because it's the only one I've still not listened to thoroughly.
I thought Pablo has some really excellent stuff on it. It was just all over the place, and the rollout was horrendous.
WTT is his worst one, if we count it.
All of the Lights is still an absolute banger.
I don’t think he’ll ever make a good single again.
I still think people are trolling me when they say they like Fade and (I know it wasn’t a single but) Ultralight Beam. Gospel shite.
I'm a twit
I stopped listening to kanye in full, after graduation.
The best song on there is FML.
Hating on ULB.
It's really quite dull once you get past the gospel stuff.Hating on ULB.
Fantastic tune. I was always a bit surprised it didn't go on to be a huge single, I remember first hearing the album and thinking that it had "number one" written all over it.
Ultralight Beam is ace. Top tier Kanye, in my opinion, and the Chance verse is a legit all-timer for me. I agree that Fade was shit though.
Runaway is probably my no.1 overall.
It probably varies over time, but I'd put I Wonder as my no. 1.
All of the Lights here, I think, closely followed by Flashing Lights and Monster.
Though Cold is high up there with "get pumped" tracks I like listening to during a workout or something like that, along with Da Rockwilder and various French rap tracks.
Fade is fucking awesome and was even better at the Saint Pablo Tour when I went back2back nights in Miami
Thugger is so freaking good.
Garbage.
The only passable thing he's done is that hook on 'Mixtape' outside of that, he's the perfect example of everything that's wrong with modern rap.
Dame is selling his boot collection
http://www.xxlmag.com/lifestyle/2017...ction-on-ebay/
https://amp.solecollector.com/news/2...er-collection/
https://www.ebay.com/usr/shoezeum?_t...559&rmvSB=true
Air force ones are huge on your feet. They are horrible.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph. He is seling plaques too. A Cam plaque. Im done.
damn! I want the Cam plaque then what!
Sidenote: he's selling a pair of Jordan Neymars that I have. Be interested to see what those fetch (though I actually wear mine)
edit: damn me and Dame apparently wear the same size too 10.5, maybe i need to snag a pair.
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