by Sekou | Mar 23, 2022 | Features, Unpopular Opinion
If you follow this website, you know who these two are. Andre 3000 of OutKast is a legend, easily one of the greatest rappers of all time. This is the man who declared at the 1995 Source Awards, where Kast got booed for winning Best New Artist (wrap your head around that one. OutKast got booed for Southernplayalisticadillacmusic! I was shook too!) that “The South got somethin’ to say!” He’s damn right they did, and now, Speakerboxx/The Love Below is the only hip hop album to win the Grammy for AOTY.
Kendrick Lamar is easily the best rapper of the 2010s, and honestly will go down as one of the GOATS. Hell, he already has a great case! He is the voice of a generation, hasn’t dropped a subpar project, let alone a bad one, and To Pimp a Butterfly. Nuff’ said.
Now, Kendrick has said that Tupac was a big influence on him, but I think Andre is as well! Listen to how he raps: playing with the bar line, experimenting with different production, and baring his soul on tracks. Sound familiar? That’s what Andre does as well! And because this is hip hop, I have to ask, who you got? Andre or Kendrick? Let’s discuss
Andre 3000.
What can I say about 3Stacks that hasn’t been said before? The man is not only a musical genius, but a creative one as well. Andre 3000 debuted to us as simply Andre on Southernplayas (not typing that entire name), and he was on some Southern pimp shit. Then, he showed us a completely different person on ATLiens. He started becoming more…conscious! Keep in mind, this was uncommon at this time in the South. People expected 2 Live Krew, but they got the greatest rap duo of all time. They also got one of the greatest verses in hip hop ever made, on the title track of Aquemini. If you haven’t heard it, listen to the whole song, and you’ll know which verse it is.
Versatility.
Andre seemed to enjoy playing with our expectations as well. We all saw him as the weird one, and because of that, we never knew what to expect from him. One day, you could get “Rosa Parks”, the next you could get “B.O.B.”, and then you might get “Hey Ya!” This made him far more versatile, which is never bad within hip hop. Also, can we talk about how he’s the feature GOAT? Because… Jesus Christ! “What A Job”, Int’l Playas Anthem”, “Sixteen”, “Walk It Out (Remix)”, “The Real Her”, and “Psalm 42”. Ok, that last one might not be true, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he outrapped David!
Andre has so many pros, but he has one G L A R I N G con.
Cons.
In A.D. 2022, 16 years after the last OutKast album, Andre 3000 has yet to release a solo album. The closest thing to a solo album we have is The Love Below, which technically is a double album. This definitely does hurt him a little bit. That being said, does that mean he isn’t one of the greatest rappers of all time? Of course not! The very fact that he doesn’t have one and is still in the GOAT conversation tells you how amazing he is. However, one of his pros is also a con…
His Versatility.
Man, I love Andre, but there’s something that people need to know when an artist is versatile… It can be hit or miss. While Andre not having a solo album definitely impacts this, he was also someone who loved challenging the status quo. Sometimes, that leads to a “Hey Ya!” or “Roses”, other times it leads to a purely instrumental track with no rapping for five to ten minutes… yeah… I’m a big fan of the versatility, but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t alienate people at times. With these cons out of the way, let’s discuss the pros of…
Kendrick Lamar.
Picture this: it’s 2012, the rap scene has been plagued with basic party raps and a couple big hits (also MBDTF, one of the greatest albums ever made) for about 10 years. You see this song called, “Swimming Pools (Drank)”. You make a snap judgment based off of that title alone, and then you hear the song. Then, you apologize for the snap judgment and go to download the album and check out some of the other stuff from this guy! That guy’s name? Kendrick Lamar.
Making Albums Great Again.
Kendrick is the rapper who decided to make albums cool again. Mind you, in the 2000s and early 2010s, the airwaves were dominated by singles. Even the biggest names in the early 2010s weren’t exempt! (Drake is basically a hit artist, and J. Cole even fell prey to it on his first album) However, Kendrick showed his prowess on Section. 80 in 2011. He showed that he wanted to make albums, not just hits and filler. He then continued this with good kid, m.a.a.d. city, and decided to shake things up in rap, calling what felt like the whole rap scene out on his verse on “Control”. If you were living under a rock, he basically said,” Look, I love all of you, but I’m the best rapper alive. Prove you’re better than me.” People didn’t prove that because he then released one of the best albums of all time.
To Pimp A MFn Butterfly!!!
To Pimp a Butterfly is a pro in itself. Like, DAMN! (Wrong album). I don’t know what to say that hasn’t been said, or that I haven’t said several times. Kendrick made one of the best albums of all time, discussing Black issues in a Black way. This is a huge pro. See, oftentimes, we have to tone down our Blackness to make the message more palatable. Now at times, it works for a wider (whiter) audience (check out Everybody), but it typically comes with the tradeoff of an album not being as hard hitting or as good. TPAB stayed to its Black roots and won a Grammy for it. This is big, and shows that Blackness always wins! There are several pros for K.Dot, but let’s discuss the cons.
Cons.
Yeah, so there are a couple of cons for Kendrick. One of them is actually in the same realm as Andre’s con, and it is that he only has four albums. In my personal opinion, there are several rappers who have this amount of albums and are still heralded as legends so it isn’t the biggest con to me, but I understand why it is one. The GOATs tend to have a bit more of a catalogue, whether good or bad, and with Kendrick not releasing an album since 2017, it’s understandable why he isn’t in that convo for many people. Another huge con is… well, another on of Andre’s cons!
His Versatility.
When a rapper is super versatile and loves doing things differently, it comes with alienating a portion of your fanbase. While I love all of Kendrick’s albums (… Yes, I am a Stan), I also recognized that there was a difference between To Pimp A Butterfly and DAMN. It can make you nervous, because you’re scared that while “range brothers” is a fun song, you don’t want a whole album of it.
So… Who Wins?
This is a loaded question. Kendrick has the more extensive catalogue (even if it is four albums), but his first album just turned 10 years old and he still could have one album left in the tank. Andre doesn’t have a solo album and only appears on features, but his OutKast catalogue has stood the test of time and his features make hip hop stop. At the same time, Kendrick’s features make hip hop stop too! They’re both extremely versatile, which leads to great music but can lead to hit or miss tracks, and they both are heralded as GOATs. Who wins this? Well, the fans truly do, but at this very moment for this man right here?
Andre 3000 Wins.
Here’s my reasoning: Kendrick is so damn close, and he’s at the point where we can really acknowledge his GOAT status (at least I can), but one thing tipped me over for 3Stacks: “Life of the Party”. Man, when I tell y’all that verse was the best of 2021… And it was indicative of the fact that Andre truly stops the hip hop world after all these years! While Kendrick is getting to that point (“family ties” was probably my favorite moment of 2021), he doesn’t feel as mythical as when Andre shows up. And he shouldn’t! Kendrick is still technically active, and has at least one more album in the tank, while Andre is inactive and just pops up, still stealing every track he gets on. In five years, this could definitely change, but right now, the W goes to Andre 3000.
by Sekou | Nov 26, 2021 | Features, Reviews
You already KNOW what time it is, ya’ll!! The Grammys recently announced all the nominations for the upcoming awards show at the end of January, and… the nominations are pretty solid this year!
Let’s Talk About Last Year…
Last year, you might remember the nomination announcements… I still stand by the fact that the Weeknd and Mac Miller were robbed, but I still watched the Grammys last year. Why? Because the Grammys are the Super Bowl of music, and we love to see people that we admire win something for a talent.
Last year was pretty balanced, as Dua Lipa won for Future Nostalgia, Meghan the Stallion cleaned up like I said she would, and Nas took home his first Grammy. Now, I am hoping that we get the Rap Album of the Year on camera this year, but that’s another story
How We Finna Do This?
If you were around last year, then this one is simple: I go through a couple categories and say what I want, and then I say my actual prediction. Mind you, there are honestly… several categories that I don’t care about. That said, we’re going to go over the big four (Record, Song, Album, Best New Artist), the Best Pop Album, and let’s just go for it and do all the rap categories. Gather round, because this is Musiq Therapy’s 2022 Grammy predictions!
The Big Four
Album of the Year
Note: There are A LOT of these, and I’ll only be saying the name of the artist. You can check for producers, engineers, etc. at the Grammy website
- We Are – Jon Batiste
- Love for Sale – Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga
- Justice (Triple Chucks Deluxe) – Justin Bieber
- Planet Her (Deluxe) – Doja Cat
- Happier Than Ever – Billie Eilish
- Back of My Mind – H.E.R.
- Montero – Lil Nas X
- Sour – Olivia Rodrigo
- Evermore – Taylor Swift
- Donda – Kanye
What I Want: Not going to lie, out of this selection, I feel like Donda is the strongest. Donda had so much good on it and was so varied in its sound that I think it could win! Plus, I’d love to see Ye win the big one, even if he doesn’t need it.
What I Think Will Happen: Olivia Rodrigo was everywhere this year, and while the Grammys don’t care as much about popularity as the Billboard Awards, they are still a giant popularity contest. Because of this fact, it’ll more than likely be Sour taking home the big one.
Record of the Year
- I Still Have Faith In You – ABBA
- Freedom – Jon Batiste
- I Get A Kick Out of You – Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga
- Peaches – Justin Bieber ft. Daniel Caesar and Giveon
- Right on Time – Brandi Carlile
- Kiss Me More – Doja Cat ft. SZA
- Happier Than Ever – Billie Eilish
- Montero (Call Me By Your Name) – Lil Nas X
- drivers license – Olivia Rodrigo
- Leave the Door Open – Silk Sonic
What I Want: Let me start by saying, “Damn!” Grammys really said, “EVERYBODY is in consideration!” But seriously, there are two songs that I want to win. Montero, because it is genuinely amazing and I want to see all the homophobes have an aneurysm at Lil Nas X taking a Grammy home; and Leave the Door Open, because that Silk Sonic album S L A P P E D but it came out too late to be considered for a Grammy. Also, because it is one of the best songs of this year.
What I Think Will Happen: Like I said, Olivia Rodrigo has been everywhere, and Grammys go for popularity. It’ll either be drivers license or Montero, because Lil Nas X has been ubiquitous in 2021.
Song of the Year
- Bad Habits – Ed Sheeran
- A Beautiful Noise – Brandi Carlile & Alicia Keys
- drivers license – Olivia Rodrigo
- Fight For You – H.E.R.
- Happier Than Ever – Billie Eilish
- Kiss Me More – Doja Cat ft. SZA
- Leave the Door Open – Silk Sonic
- Montero (Call Me By Your Name) – Lil Nas X
- Peaches – Justin Bieber ft. Daniel Caesar and Giveon
- Right on Time – Brandi Carlile
What I Want: Truly, I want Leave the Door Open to win if Montero won Record, or vice versa.
What I Think Will Happen: Something is telling me Billie will take it home, because the Grammys love them some Billie Eilish (no shade whatsoever, she is mad talented and creates some BOPs.)
Best New Artist
- Baby Keem
- Jimmie Allen
- Arooj Aftab
- FINNEAS
- Glass Animals
- Japanese Breakfast
- The Kid LAROI
- Arlo Parks
- Olivia Rodrigo
- Saweetie (checks notes… yep, Saweetie)
What I Want: First off, like everyone else, we were all super surprised that Saweetie was on there, because it didn’t make sense! She’s been prominent since like 2019! What in the hell?? Now, who I really want to win is Baby Keem. I’ll let you all know how I felt about The Melodic Blue in my “Top Albums of 2021” near Christmas/New Years, but I think that Keem has a ton of potential and will truly be one to look out for this decade
What I Think Will Happen: The Kid LAROI, because TikTok. Yep, simply put, “Stay” has dominated the charts because of that app.
What About Pop?
For this one, I’m just doing pop album, because that will be the most prominent award that people will notice. (At least for me, I love all music, but y’all know hip-hop is one of my loves) However, I hope Ledisi wins for best traditional pop vocal album, because she is too damn great to be ignored!
Best Pop Vocal Album
- Justice (Triple Chucks Deluxe) – Justin Bieber
- Planet Her (Deluxe) – Doja Cat
- Happier Than Ever – Billie Eilish
- Positions – Ariana Grande
- Sour – Olivia Rodrigo
What I Want: I would say Planet Her? Not going to lie, haven’t interacted with these albums like that so please take my opinion on this one with an even smaller grain of salt than usual.
What I Think Will Happen: Y’all remember Pop Rocks? I remember them being pretty… Sour. (*rim shot*). Yeah, I think Sour is taking this one.
R A P, Let’s Go!
The moment we’ve all been waiting for: the hip-hop category. Because I’m feeling a little thankful for my website and anyone who interacts with it, especially those who do consistently, I’m feeling like doing ALL hip hop categories! Let’s do it!
Best Rap Performance
- Family Ties – Baby Keem ft. Kendrick Lamar
- Up – Cardi B
- M Y . L I F E – J. Cole ft. 21 Savage & Morray
- Way 2 Sexy – Drake ft. Young Thug & Future
- Thot Shit – Meghan Thee Stallion
What I Want: Family Ties. Either that, or My Life, but I don’t think I could quantify my level of excitement when I heard Kendrick say, “Smokin’ on your top five tonight”.
What I Think Will Win: Probably Thot Shit, because TikTok. While I want Family Ties to win, the only song I’d be genuinely pissed off at winning is Way 2 Sexy. That shit is trash.
Best Melodic Rap Performance
- P R I D E . I S . T H E . D E V I L – J. Cole ft. Lil Baby
- Industry Baby – Lil Nas X ft. Jack Harlow
- WUSYANAME – Tyler the Creator ft. NBA Youngboy and Ty Dolla $ign
- Need to Know – Doja Cat
- Hurricane – Kanye ft. The Weeknd and Lil Baby
What I Want: This one is stacked. This is lowkey hard, because I’d be okay with like three or four of them! I’d say… Hurricane. This one was well-balanced, having The Weeknd sing the chorus and bridge, Lil Baby’s autotuned voice giving a melodic flow, and Ye giving a solid verse (other than, “Everybody hurts, but I don’t judge rentals…” Love you, Kanye, but you got some corny lines sometimes).
What I Think Will Happen: Industry Baby, and I’m alright with that! That was one of my favorite songs this year, and Lil Nas X deserves his flowers. Truly, I’m cool with all of these winning, so I’ll just be happy watching this one.
Best Rap Song
- Bath Salts – DMX ft. Jay-Z and Nas
- My Life – J. Cole ft. 21 Savage and Morray
- Jail – Kanye ft. Jay-Z
- Family Ties – Baby Keem ft. Kendrick Lamar
What I Want: Jail holds the Throne returning! That felt like such a big moment. Also, let’s keep in mind that Jay now has the most nominations at the Grammys, with 83 and Ye isn’t far behind with 75, so I feel like they’ll give one to them based off of that.
What I Think Will Happen: Jail. Honestly, because of them having the most nominations. Now, I think Family Ties will win something, and it’ll be this if not Best Rap Performance.
And finally, the big one…
Best Rap Album
- Call Me If You Get Lost – Tyler, the Creator
- Donda – Mr. West
- King’s Disease II – Nas
- Certified Lover Boy – Drake
- The Off-Season – J. Cole
What I Want: Literally all of them except Certified Lover Boy. All these albums (other than CLB) are at least solid, if not great. Now, I don’t think that Donda is necessarily a rap album, as it is more of melodic pop with rapping on it; but it’s the Grammys so I digress. Truly, I think that it’s between King’s Disease II and Call Me if You Get Lost. I gotta give the edge of what I want to CMIYGL, because I am still listening to it several months later.
What I Think Will Happen: I gotta give the edge to King’s Disease II for what I think will happen, because the Grammys has been trying to retroactively give old school rappers their flowers at their ceremony. King’s Disease II is dope as hell and is another album in the new genre of adult contemporary hip-hop, but consider this a retroactive Grammy for It Was Written.
Outro.
Those are the Grammy noms and my predictions! Let me know what you think will happen at the Super Bowl of music awards shows, shop safely tonight, and take care!
MT Out!!!
All info about the Grammys and Grammy nominations can be found at https://www.grammy.com/grammys/news/2022-grammys-complete-winners-nominees-nominations-list
Photo creds: The Grammys
by Sekou | Nov 12, 2021 | Features, Reviews
LET’S GOOOOO!!!!! So, for those who don’t know, one of my favorite artists of all time is Prince. Prince was always different. He would stretch the limits of what could be done in fashion, in the entertainment industry (didn’t change his name for nothin!), and in music. Prince loved being controversial in his music, and truly was one of the first artists to buck censorship and do whatever he wanted. Doing what he wanted had him create Dirty Mind, one of the best albums of 1980.
Dirty Mind.
One of the best albums of 1980, Dirty Mind was Prince at his… horniest. And I mean horniest. Like, my man has a song called, “Sister”, which is about… his sister… You make the conclusions on that one, but let’s talk about how groundbreaking this album is! Seriously, Prince decided to make this almost entirely by himself (two other writing credits on two other songs) in his own home! Mind you, this is not today, this was 41 years ago. 41 years ago, mixing and producing an album at your own crib and still getting label backing just didn’t happen (fact check me if I’m wrong, but I never am). He started to carve out the Minneapolis sound, which is basically Prince, The Time, and several others; and he embraced controversy. Prince was one of the only artists out there talking about sex in such a natural way (other than “Sister”… That song is so uncomfortable) and no one minded! Now, the one knock that Dirty Mind does have is how it was mixed. Mainly due to being produced in a garage, it sounds super quiet on streaming services. This is a problem that a few older albums have, but this is different.
What if an album was made in the studio and mixed a bit better? What if we take the raw, sexual energy of Prince, the rumors about him at the time, and the political landscape, and make an album? What if we had… Controversy?
Musiq.
Ok, what do you think I’m going to say? The music is phenomenal!! I think that a lot of it is very much a time capsule of the 80s. You hear the first note of the title track, and you have a jheri curl. Something I’ve talked about before is Prince’s talent in playing every instrument, and I think that it shines here as well! A lot of these feel like a precursor to what was coming, as more synths are used, but still sounds like a great continuation of Prince’s musical genius. “Do Me, Baby” is an example of this genius, as it is a beautiful love song that mixes the love songs of Prince with the musical precursors of 1999. Another fantastic thing about this album is the musical flexibility.
Controversy is musically flexible. For some songs, you have pop, others R&B, and even rockabilly! This flexibility adds to the controversial flavor of the album. My favorite song, however, is the rock-inspired “Private Joy”. Jesus Christ, this song is perfect. From the poppy start to the song teetering between tasteful and perverted, to the GUITAR SOLO at the very end!! This song is straight up perfect. With that being said, the album has other fantastic songs that ramp up the controversy. “Ronnie, Talk to Russia” is about Ronald Regan and him… talking to Russia, what y’all think? To keep with the political theme, “Annie Christian” is about how the anti-Christ is basically the force behind some of the worst parts of the time (Regan assassination attempt, John Lennon assassination, Atlanta Massacre of Black kids). While we tend to think of Prince’s controversy in the confines of sex, the man is no stranger to political controversy. Because of the musical flexibility and themes, I got to give a 5/5 for the musiq, and 5/5 for the flexibility.
Therapy.
Controversy. That’s the section.
Overa-
Ok fine, I’ll keep going. Controversy aims to be as realistically controversial as possible. It isn’t an album that will have songs about incest, but it is an album that will revel in the truest controversies of the world and of the man himself. The title track asks all the controversial questions that the world had for Prince at the time. “Am I Black? Am I white? Am I straight? Am I gay? Do I believe in God? Or just myself?” This is Prince’s therapy. Talking about his own controversies and his own feelings about the world. “Sexuality” discusses how Prince wants the world to be a much more open place, and it makes perfect sense! He talks about how the world being too ingrained in pocket cameras and people being such squares that they don’t want to have fun. And where are we in 2021, 40 years later? Well, “WAP” caused a whole shitstorm last year because two women were being sexually liberated, and old squares didn’t want to have fun… Damn, not much has changed within 40 years. That’s… depressing
Prince was all about sexual liberation. For example, the rockabilly-inspired “Jack U Off” is about… Doing the macarena in a dance room, what do y’all think this is about?? Prince sings about mutual masturbation, and this is all the theme of the album: controversy and sexual freedom. Prince’s therapy is being free from constraints and to destroy the confines of what censorship said in the early 80s. 5/5 for the Therapy
Problems.
Very few albums are perfect, and even perfect ones have problems. This album has one small, minute issue: the length of two songs. “Controversy” is about 7 and a half minutes, while “Do Me, Baby” is about the same length. Part of me feels like they could benefit from being a tad bit shorter, but honestly? That’s the only “problem”, and it’s not even that big of a deal.
Overall.
This past October, Controversy had its 40th anniversary. This album has been in existence for 40 years, and it seems to always harbor importance. Controversy is about… Controversy, but it is also about the acceptance of controversial themes, and making those themes less controversial. Sexual liberation, political themes, and reveling in your own controversies. These are things that many albums today still strive to do in the present day. As a figure, Prince is beyond important within music, but Controversy might just be the most important album that he has made.
Now, getting rid of that importance, the album is just fantastic! 8 songs, each one that has something controversial about it, with more subtlety and nuance than Dirty Mind, but still enough edge so it isn’t too subtle, all while having musical flexibility? This shit right here is perfect.
Final Rating
15/15
MT Out!!!
by Sekou | Sep 15, 2021 | Features, Reviews
So… Music in 2021, Huh?
This has been… a strange year for music. The year started out slow. Like, REAL slow. So much so, that I started writing a piece about how we’re going to be entering a period where we get into a musical depression. And then, I was proven wrong. Whispers of one of the best artists of all time making a new album were brewing. That man, Mr. Kanye West.
Wake Up, Mr. West!!
Now, if you’re a fan of Ye, then you know not to take his album release dates too seriously… Man will say that this album is coming out in three days and actually mean 300 days. So when I heard about Donda, I was excited but reserved. Good thing I was too, because I heard about Donda back in 2020! That was supposed to come out in like June or July, and N O P E, it is delayed for over a year! So you probably shared the same feeling of apathy I had when Justin LaBoy tweeted about the album dropping. And then… We got it…
We got Donda on the Lord’s Day, Sunday, August 29th, 2021. I was ecstatic! And then I saw how long the album was. Damn near 2 hours! WORD???? Personally, I’m not a huge fan of long albums, but I was happy to hear from Kanye. This was a long preamble for me to say: I wanted to digest this album fully. What did I think? Let’s discuss
Musiq.
Kanye is a damn musical mastermind. Seriously, Kanye is one of the best producers of all time, and he always gives you something different. From the chipmunk-soul of The College Dropout to the industrial sounds of Yeezus, Ye always makes sure he is doing something different. This album is no different, as it has a lot of phrenetic production with some insane lyrics. (We can probably thank Consequence for that). From the guitars in “Jail”, to the drill-inspired “Off the Grid”, to all of the orchestral themes in the album, Kanye shows why he’s not afraid to mess with different sounds. That being said, the album does sometimes have the issue of being a bit too over the place… One second, you’re listening to the Weeknd croon his heart out on “Hurricane”, next thing you start hearing Baby Keem bada the boom on “Praise God”. It’s just a bit of whiplash!
Also, the length of this album is just… Jesus Lord, why is this almost 2 hours??? We’ll discuss this more in Problems, but the length of this project was crazy. Super close, but I gotta give my man Kanye a 3/5 for the musiq.
Features.
This right here… is the best part of the whole album. Kanye’s story arc has seemed to come full circle, as he started by being a producer and he is mainly producing on his 10th album. The features were insane! Lil Baby shows that he’s a feature GOAT once more along with the Weeknd on “Hurricane”, Lil Yachty bodies his feature on “Ok Ok”, Rooga does the exact same, Baby Keem shows out on “Praise God”, and so many more! There are two I want to highlight, though. Fivio Foreign on “Off the Grid”. Jesus Christ!!!! He rode that beat like crazy, had a great rhyme scheme, all while talkin some real ****!!! He has one of the best lines of the album: They say I’m a product of my environment, I tell them, no I’m what God produced. BARSS!!!
And then, there was Jay… Jay Z has always been overrated, in my humble opinion. I just never got the hype surrounding him… until 4:44. That album was so vulnerable, so mature, and the best album of 2017. Thankfully, we got that Jay.
Jay Z talks to Donda and tells her that he’s with her baby boy, he talks about tellin’ Ye to quit all that MAGA shit and come home with him, says that the Throne might just be back in business, and likens him and Mr. West to Moses and Jesus.
There is SO much more that I could talk about. Westside (even though his verse was a bit unfitting) and Conway of Griselda show up on “Keep My Spirit Alive”, Jay Electronica shows up on “Jesus Lord, probably the best song on the album, and so many more. There are some features that leave a bit more to be imagined, but there’s so much good here that this is easily a 5/5.
Therapy.
This… will be long. This entire album is a therapy session. For those that don’t know, Donda is the name of Kanye’s mother. I’ll try to keep this next part short so we can discuss the album, but for context’s sake…
Kanye’s mother passed away in 2007, due to a botched surgery that Kanye himself paid for. He felt that he was responsible for his mother’s death. When people say, “He hasn’t been the same since his mother died”, and look at all his antics, part of me says. “Yeah, that’s true, and he’s been acting out like this for years due to his feelings about his mother’s death”; but the empath in me also says, “Shit, wouldn’t you feel the same way??”
This album is not only Kanye’s discussion of his mother, but of his life. Kanye has been through some H A R D times, but he uses his music as a way to process his pain. Much like gospel music
Gospel.
Kanye takes us on a journey through his trials and tribulations of life. He discusses his divorce with his wife, his struggles with bipolar disorder, and his relationship with his mother. All of this is done through gospel inspired music and rhetoric. Let me stress this: Kanye has some L O W points in his life that he discusses. “Moon” and “Come to Life” discuss his feelings of depression and wanting to have a completely different life, by any means. The angel watching over him throughout the album is his mother, as the angel says things like, “It’s okay not to be okay”, and is looking down proud of who he [Kanye] has become. I think this is a fantastic touch, and it truly feels like the journey of Mr. West has come full circle. 5/5
Problems.
Ok, let me address the elephant in the room, again: this album is 1 hour and 49 minutes long, with the bonus tracks. This is way too long, because albums this long typically have filler. For example, “God Breathed” didn’t need to be that long. It seemed like a buffer track between “Jail” and “Off the Grid”, but it was about 5 and a half minutes long! Also, some of the outros are… Lengthy to say the least. Even in some of the best songs on the album, the outros just take way too long.
This is slight, but as much as I love Griselda, Westside Gunn’s verse… Kinda didn’t fit with the rest of the album. A song about “Keeping the spirit alive”, thanking God for keeping you here, and you talkin’ about some, “Thank God I killed folks!” Bruh, word? Don’t get me wrong, it sounded dope, but it just didn’t fit thematically.
Let’s not forget “Tell the Vision”. Here’s the thing: I’m not against using the verse of a rapper who has passed on. As long as it makes for good music, then that’s fine. The issue with using Pop Smoke is not just the fact that he’s passed on, not just the fact that Faith was an attempt at milking his death, but the fact that Kanye used it for absolutely nothing. All he says is, “We made it”. He’s using Pop Smoke for no other reason than that. It just feels… cheap and incomplete.
Overall and Rating.
It has been one hell of a decade for Mr. West. Getting married, falling out with his big brother, saying that slavery was a choice, having kids, getting divorced, and starting a whole beef with Drake. This man should have “Tumultuous” tattooed on him now. However, he is at peace with all of these things, because he got right with God. Donda tells us a story about Kanye. It tells us the story of a man struggling with his current life, coping with his divorce, and still in sadness over the loss of the woman that gave him life. This album tells that story, but one song puts it in perspective: “Jesus Lord”.
Jesus, Lord.
Kanye asks if we know someone who needs our Father in Heaven, but he’s asking for a friend. He talks about how crazy his life has been, how tumultuous his antics can be, and how he’s surrounded by demons so it’s hard to be an angel. He talks about his losses, and not Ls; I’m talking about how he has lost people, and how much he misses his mom. We get a verse from Jay Electronica, but the tipping point is Larry Hoover, Jr. talking about how much he appreciates Kanye fighting for his father, the creator of the Gangsta Disciples Larry Hoover, Sr. This all connects. Kanye has been on a journey, and he finally seems to reach his final destination: accepting himself as a believer in Christ and helping others by doing good in his community.
Final Rating
12/15
I know this one was long, but… I mean you’ve seen how long the album is!! Also, “Life of the Party” would’ve easily been the best song on here if it was actually on the album. Anytime 3 Stacks shows up, he automatically makes the song a W. 10/10 for glabglogabgalab, tho.
MT Out!!!
by Sekou | Sep 1, 2021 | Features, Reviews
It’s good to be back and KENDRICK HAS SAVED US!!!!!! Yeah… I’m a little happy that we got to hear Kung Fu Kenny again, but let me backtrack a bit.
2021 has been a… rough year for music. Not a lot has been coming out, and what has come out hasn’t really been too memorable. J. Cole and Tyler’s albums feel like they came and went, and most of the bigger artists have been dropping later in the year (what’s good, Ye? Also, hello, Drizzy). It makes for a pretty lackluster year, honestly. However, there is one name that decided to drop at a time when we needed something. That man’s name is Baby Keem, and he dropped his KDot-assisted song, “family ties”. Was it good? Let’s talk about it!
Baby Keem.
For those that don’t know, Baby Keem is one of the newest rappers out. He rose to prominence with “ORANGE SODA” last year, which was… Ok? It wasn’t anything mind-blowing, but the beat was infectious. He also was on the XXL Freshman 2020 list last year, but… His freestyle didn’t impress, and his cypher… didn’t happen. Like, he didn’t do it at all. Side note: Lowkey, one of my pet peeves is when the Freshmen don’t do the cypher. Like, that’s what you’re here for!! Granted, some of them probably shouldn’t have done a cypher (Coi Leray really wanted us to know that her Class got money… She twerked to save herself, that’s how bad the cypher was). But I digress… Around the time of the freestyles, it came out that Baby Keem has a famous cousin! That cousin is one of the best rappers of all time, Kendrick Lamar.
Because of this, I was personally a little underwhelmed. I was hoping that he would be WAY better than what I heard. With that being said, I was still excited to see that he was releasing a new song. Part of me thought that I only had one impression of him and wanted to open my ears. The other part was ready to hear from one of my favorite rappers,, so let’s finally discuss the song.
Verse 1.
We’ll talk about Kendrick in a second, but let’s talk about Baby Keem impressing! Homie A T E this track! Honestly, can’t say I was expecting that. Baby Keem comes in talking about how the choppa is doin’ circles, with some fun ass rhymes. He goes off with some relatively gangsta-adjacent raps, but dammit if he doesn’t make it sound fun. It feels like he changed his voice and flow up after “ORANGE SODA”, at least with this song. He has a line about thanking his cousin for opening doors for him and he goes in on critics who think that his cousin picked up his pen, while he was opening the doors. Something that I don’t believe whatsoever.
Verse 2.
Let’s keep it real, we were all waiting for this. This man ain’t put out a new album in 4 years!! He was mainly silent throughout one of the craziest years in human history! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN??? Well, Kendrick answered all those questions, but he starts by sayin that he’s rolling up our top 5 emcees tonight (weird since he’s in my top 5, but I’ll let it slide). He starts by calling himself the Omega, shouting out pgLang, and telling us to not address him unless it’s with 4 letters (guess what those are?) He talks about what he’s been doing the last year, how he’s been ducking the pandemic, the social gimmicks, and goes off on the overnight activists that were so passionate about causes last year, but said, “Those don’t exist anymore” this year; pretty much telling us that the only reason they cared was because they were in the house for 2 months and wanted to be outside again. Sorry, let’s get back to the review.
He calls himself a legacy, a la Al Green, he goes off talking about how some artists might be falsifying their streams to get platinum, calling those artists, “visitors”, calling himself the vaccine that the game needs to survive (Lowkey… Yea… I mean, Drake and Kanye announced release dates after this, so he’s proving his point), calling himself the rebirth of Elohim, and saying that you need to come through him to talk to Him. He also has a fun line about Kanye changing his life and how he (Kendrick) is an old-school Gemini, and of course, “One daughter, but they all my sons in this bitch”. Congrats to Kendrick and his wife for welcoming a baby girl in the world!
He has a literally prophetic line in the middle of the song: “I’m not a trending topic, I’m a prophet”, and I know that I’m a Stan for Kendrick, but can we all agree about how true this is? I mean, he released To Pimp a Butterfly over 6 years ago, talking about the racism and police brutality that we were experiencing at the time. What has changed? What else could he say? He gave us the book, it’s up to us to read it.
Overall.
This song is hungry. This is what I’ve wanted to hear all year! Let me keep it real: I’m probably getting closer and closer to that age where my musical taste is solidified. Including the people in my age group, I’m not quite “back in my day” just yet, but I’m not quite, “Let’s hop on this new wave of rap” either. Don’t get me wrong, I listen to newer rappers, I love me some trap, drill, and even some “sad rap”, but I know I’m hitting a wall. At least until someone surprises me. It’s safe to say that Baby Keem surprises me a lot. I truly can’t wait to hear his new album. Kendrick did what we knew he was going to do, and I can’t wait for his final TDE project, but Baby Keem showed why his name belongs at the table. I give this track a 4/5. Good to have you guys back, and it’s good to be back.
Photo Creds: TDE
MT Out!!
by Sekou | Aug 27, 2021 | Features
Hello, everyone! It has been a L O N G time… Too long. A lot of stuff has been happening in the world of music for the past couple months, but I’ve been MIA for most of it. Why is that? Well, I was going to write something long and drawn out, but I think that this will be short, and just contain updates.
WHERE WERE YOU?
Well… I was burnt-out! This year held some personal craziness for me. Job bouncing, holding two internships and one part time job at the same time, and looking for a fulltime job after both internships ended. When I wasn’t doing everything, I was happy to do nothing. I’m happy to say that I’ll be writing more regularly again, but…
It’ll Be Different
My new job is as a content writer, and I really enjoy it! That said, I’m writing ALL of the time. So when I’m not writing, I’m enjoying downtime. However, I am still a writer at heart, so a lot of my downtime is thinking about what to write about. I will be writing more regularly, but I will only be posting biweekly. As of now, I’m thinking every Wednesday and Thursday, but that is subject to change. I am so excited to be back! The first thing I’ll be posting about is the Kendrick-assisted Baby Keem track set to release Friday, August 27. Other than this, of course. It’s good to be back
