by Sekou | Jun 24, 2020 | Features, Reviews
I’m pretty sure you have heard about all of the controversy surrounding this song and J. Cole himself. Well, allow me to address that very quickly: You are looking for drama and smoke in the wrong places. With that out of the way, I’m here to review the song that is part of the controversy, “Snow on Tha Bluff”.
I will do my best to stay away from the controversy for the most part. This is not an article discussing the exchanges between Cole and Noname, or the Twitter storm wanting to “cancel” Cole. This is simply a song review, but that controversy will give it some context.
- Cole has been touted as one of the GOATs of this generation, people typically citing his relatability being his greatest attribute. Cole definitely has this attribute down pat. Plenty of Cole’s top songs usually have to do with the relatable stories everyone has gone through in their lives. Breakups, losing virginity, learning to love what you have instead of wishing for something else, Cole’s got stories for days! His relatability also has him discuss his perceived flaws. Enter, “Snow on Tha Bluff”.
The song starts out with him discussing how people think he’s mad intelligent because of his college degree, but it ain’t really like that. He’s got much more learning to do, as he talks about a young lady who is smarter than he is. This young lady is tweeting about how she is pissed off at the white people, lawmakers, and police, but also how she is mad at ignorance from rappers and celebrities; Cole thinks she’s talking about him.
Now, Cole will listen to criticism, but it was something about how she said it that was bothering him. He was saying that she seems like she grew up in a conscious environment and with a very clear perspective of the system. Cole has an issue because he feels that she is coming at him in a condescending way because she is more “woke” than he is. He discusses how it will be difficult to lead when she’s attacking the same people that need the help and education. Cole is saying, “Instead of feeling ‘holier than thou’, help me understand what I can do to be better.”
He discusses how he looks at freedom like trees, and how forests aren’t grown overnight, seeds need to be planted. He discusses how he’s not about the retweets now and suggests that the woman treats the people like children, and give them understanding, time, love, and patience so they can grow.
The most crucial part of the song, though? Comes at the end, when he runs into a fan outside the store. The fan talks about how he appreciates what Cole is doing, but Cole feels like deep down, he hasn’t been doing enough. Yes, he’s been out there protesting, but he feels like he should be educated and do more with the money and platform that he has. As he says in the song, “Why I feel faker than snow on the bluff?”
This is a really good song. It lays out his feelings perfectly, and doesn’t put any blame on anybody except himself. He talks about how he felt after seeing those tweets, because he’s a human who actually feels things that might be subtweeting him, just like you feel those same feelings (yes, you, the person reading this), but still understands that he might be projecting. With that being said, this song isn’t perfect.
I think that the outro is a bit drawn out. The outro is about 2 minutes long and I think that had it been 30 seconds or even a minute, then it would have been more powerful. The outro at that point could give you time to really marinate on the words. However, with it being 2 minutes, it feels like you are just waiting for the song to finish after the minute mark. The message was still conveyed, but I think that it would have been thought about more if he finished with the last line about him not doing enough.
This song is a 4/5. Cole’s relatability through his flaws really shines through on here, and the way the production is stripped down so you hear the lyrics is a beautiful touch. The outro could have been shorter, and he honestly could have discussed why he wasn’t doing enough, but neither of those are enough to keep the song from getting its point across. Don’t get #Cancelled, y’all! MT Out!
Photo: Snow On Tha Bluff Cover
by Sekou | Jun 19, 2020 | Features, Reviews
Do y’all know what a good Italian dish is? Fettuccine Alfredo. The thick noodles, the cheesy white sauce, and the finished overall taste, it’s alchemy how it was made! While making fettuccine is pretty easy, the harder part is making your own sauce. It is a bit intricate to make and takes some time, but it is all worth it. It is crazy how something can seem so simple, but be super complex when you break it down. Welcome to the review of Freddie Gibbs and Alchemist’s Alfredo.
For those that don’t know, Freddie Gibbs is a rapper who is seriously underrated. Honestly, you don’t hear him in the top rappers of the 2010s convos a lot! Which is bizarre, because he has 2 amazing projects with the famous Madlib, Piñata and Bandana! He feels that way too, calling himself “Rap’s Black Sheep” in this very album. With that being said, this project right here has some amazing bars from Freddie Kane. It starts off with 1985, starting with a Bernie Mac skit at the beginning, and after that you truly get a feel for what this project is about. Freddie talks about how he smells the ‘caine burning from a mile away, and he feels like he’s Scotty because he beams the drug users up. Another thing that I noticed in this was the FLOW. Jesus Christ, this man’s flows are unreal. I was writing notes for 1985 and I straight up just started writing to the flow of the song. That thing TRAPS you. “Baby $hit” talks about how he’s rappin’, cookin’ dope, and potty training his baby boy, showing how he’s holdin’ it down in multiple aspects of life. He also discusses how he’s not trying to be hard selling dope in “Babies & Fools”. He has one of the best lines discussing how he does this for his kids. I won’t spoil it for you, just listen. My favorite song has got to be “Skinny Suge”. The song starts out with him talking about how he has nightmares of people coming to kill him, how his uncle was set up to be killed and how he was drunk with emotion and fear with a gun to his head, and how he’s a loner but still hates loneliness. There is so much to unpack that I probably should do a song review on it, but it is fantastic. “Scottie Beam” is the track where he calls himself the black sheep of rap, and this song right here is INSANE. All of these songs have a theme to them: don’t mess with Freddie Gibbs or his crew, and this one feels like the whole anthem of that. Plus, there is a Rick Ross feature, and Ross really does his THING. Ross is almost always bringin’ his A-game on features. Speaking of features,
The features on this are BEAUTIFUL. Griselda’s Benny the Butcher shows out on Frank Lucas, spitting about how dudes are out here cappin’ just so they can look hard and how he bought 2 of everything, Conway the Machine comes on Babies & Fools talking about how even though he got shot and has a broken jaw, he always knew that he would bounce back hard from this and how you probably shouldn’t mess with any of his crew, because he ain’t afraid to retaliate. My favorite feature comes on “Something To Rap About”, with Tyler, the Creator. This man… He comes in talking about how this beat sounds expensive and beautiful, how he used to be a Goblin, and how you got to watch who you are around. He obviously does it in a much doper way, but I just need y’all to listen to it, you will not regret it.
With all this said, there’s still another half for the album’s namesake. The Alchemist came in and produces beautifully on here. The samples he gets are top-notch, and it’s almost like the beat has a life of its own in certain songs. I would say that the best produced song is “Babies & Fools”. That “all of me” in the song is just perfect. All of the production makes you feel like you’re Freddie, and that is the mark of excellence right there.
Problems: There are none. Like, honestly, there aren’t any. Freddie came in with the best drug raps and varied it up, Alchemist’s production was amazing, and all the songs were fantastic. Ok, if I were to have one TINY nitpick… The album is packed with so much “good” that you’re exhausted when you get to the last song, and that’s still fantastic.
The ingredients for fettuccine Alfredo could be the noodles and the sauce, as that’s the simplest way to do it. Making the sauce is a bit more difficult and takes a bit more time, but you realize how well it pays off afterwards once you taste it. In a world where so many rappers would only choose the premade sauce, Freddie and Alchemist decided to get the ingredients and make it themselves. It paid off wonderfully. This album right here? It’s a 5/5.
Photo: Freddie Gibbs in Los Angeles
by Sekou | Jun 17, 2020 | Features, Reviews
It has been truly been one of the craziest years of all time. We had the threat of WWIII, we had that virus that I can’t say or my SEO tanks (calling it Rona right now), and we have been having one of the largest civil rights movements of all time. Plenty of people have been protesting, from every race, every state, and just about every country. With that said, plenty of rappers have been protesting as well. For example, Lil Baby. He used one of his protesting pictures as a cover for his new single, “The Bigger Picture”. This right here, man…
For those that don’t know, Lil Baby is what you would define as a trap artist. He has plenty of influence from Young Thug and you can hear it in some of his biggest singles. This is nothing like his biggest hits. In this song, Lil Baby discusses the state of the world. The song opens with overlapping newscasters discussing the protests around the world and how we want to see the officers arrested. He discusses how he has given them plenty of chances, pleaded with them to stop, and how those pleas fall on deaf ears. He discusses how the police will kill you and will still tell you to freeze, and he talks about how so many mothers are grieving the losses of their children, as well as people who look like their children.
He says that it’s bigger than black and white, and discusses how it’s the whole world that needs to change. He says how he had to tell all of the ones he loves to carry a gun when they leave the house. Now, this right here… This is real. The ones who protect and serve don’t protect and serve the Black community, they are one of our biggest dangers, that’s why every single Black person has had “the talk” with their parents. If you’re Black, you know exactly which talk I’m referring to. We are also accosted by random white people when we go for runs, or bird-watch, or barbecue, or exist, so a gun is very good protection. He also touches on the fear we have when we see the cops as well. When a white person sees those cop lights, I’ve heard that people often think, “Great, an asshole cop is stopping me”, “I wasn’t even going that fast!” “I’m going to be late!!” Well, for Black people, it is different. For us, we think, “Was that the last time I saw my family?” “Will I be okay?” “What if it’s all over?” Lil Baby hits those fears in a great way, saying, “I see those blue lights, I start runnin’”. Now, people will say, “Isn’t that resisting arrest?” Here’s the thing: humans have 3 responses; fight, flight, or freeze. As Black humans faced with cops, we are going to be terrified. Flight is a natural response, but would it really matter? Do you know how many Black people did everything right, and still got murdered? I still don’t know how many, because there are even more that go unreported. Sometimes, flight feels like the best option.
He also talks about how we forgot about Rona, and says, “What happened with that? That’s still goin’ on, isn’t it?” I thought that was a good point. We were in the midst of a whole pandemic, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous about how the new numbers will be for it. However, Rona is a relatively new issue. The issue of the police is 400 years of anger and rage, with it finally coming to a head. Not trying to downplay Rona at all, just stating the facts of the matter.
Now, some people might say, “Well, he’s a trap rapper, what does he know? He still rapped about guns and drugs!!” Well, Lil Baby talks about how he did rap about those things, and said something very important. He said that he’s a product of his environment. He raps about these, because he didn’t have a choice, and was all that he knew. However, he still encourages all of his young fans to vote, and realizes that he’s in a position where he has a much larger platform to tell those young fans that. As well as bringing awareness.
Overall, this was a fantastic song from a man who we’ve know as a trap artist. The important part of this song? It never felt preachy, or cash-grabby. There are plenty of songs that come out in times of distress or praise that can feel like an artist wants to get the check. Lil Baby isn’t conveying that message at all. He’s truly saying, “Things are so messed up with the whole world, and we will be making them better, whether you like that or not.” He’s discussing the real fears Black people have, he’s discussing Rona, he’s talking about how he rapped about what he rapped about because he’s a product of the environment, and he’s talking about how he’s tired of everything going on. Brilliant. This song right here? This is a 4/5.
Photo creds: Lil Baby
by Sekou | May 12, 2020 | Features, Reviews
Let’s talk about luxury. The lap of luxury has always had a big influence on hip hop in the past… well, since the 80s, but especially in the last decade. Luxury rap has become its own genre, and the pinnacle of that luxury always seems to be in Paris. Where there is a lot of fancy scenery, Paris seems to be the lap of luxury in hip hop, maybe because of that fancy reputation, maybe because of the Louvre, but maybe it is because rappers aren’t seen as rapping about Paris or going to Paris. Plenty of rappers came from gritty backgrounds and discuss those gritty backgrounds of drug dealing, living in the hood and making it out. What if I told you that one person combined those elements and still sounded dope? Look no further than Westside Gunn of Griselda and his album, Pray for Paris. Now, this is my first Westside Gunn project and JESUS CHRIST I should’ve been listening to him much sooner. Westside Gunn has this blend of gangsta and luxury down-pat, as he discusses selling coke and hiding it, but also talks about being seen in places that we’re too poor to go to. We start off with “400 Million Dollars Plus Tax”, which is an auction for a painting and is going for… well… 400 million, plus tax. Then, it goes right into “No Vacancy”, which is the synthesis of what you will be hearing. This, being called Pray for Paris, starts with “Bonjour”, and starts off by discussing high end products, such as whipping foreign cars left and right, but then goes into some hood shit. Like, “Shoot your brains out in broad daylight” shit. “327” is luxury rap, actually about some shoes and sounds like lavish living in a way, and you have songs like “Versace”, where he discusses robbin’ people for their expensive stuff. “$500 Ounces”, though… That song is an experience. The beat? FIRE. The features? FIRE. Westside? FIIRREE! I wish I could just have the song playing right here so you could understand how amazing it is. The stuff that really spoke to me, though? The wrestling references. I was a huge wrestling fan in my youth, so all the references that were intertwined in the songs and outros really caught my attention. The great part about the outros is that they intertwine with the song or the next song in a great way. For example, the outro on “French Toast”, which has a fantastic verse from Wale, and another wrestling reference (I’m never gon’ switch up, they all Eric Bischoff), the outro samples the infamous 2005 Shawn Michaels promo from Montreal and that’s all you need to know.
Westside gets busy on here, but the features definitely deserve some love too. JESUS CHRIST. He wasn’t featured, but all the features manage to deliver in a big way. On “George Bondo”, Griselda labelmates Conway the Machine and Benny the Butcher are coming for blood, “impactin’ the culture like Eric Bischoff”. On “327”, Joey Bada$$ comes through discussing how no one ever wanted smoke but marijuana (peace).Tyler, the Creator takes it back a couple years with his Wolf-like delivery and still manages to blend his old content and new content together. Wale goes hard as I said earlier, and Freddie Gibbs on “$500 Ounces”… there are so many bars that I just need you to listen to, but you can call him Fred DiBiase now. And Roc Marciano plays with MAC-11 in his verse in such a way that is so beautiful… in a hood way.
This album was entertaining and is pretty good, bar-for-bar. That being said, it isn’t perfect. One of the first things I noticed on the second listen was that a good amount of these songs definitely have the “rags-to-riches” style in common. The bars are still good, but I was wanting a little more variation. Also, Westside Gunn is dope, but… he ain’t no singer… “Allah Sent Me” has some dope verses, but when we get to that hook, you just want to turn the song off. These are literally the only things that I could think were less than favorable on this album.
Normally, I would say that albums like these are an acquired taste, but nah. The only way you won’t like this is if you just aren’t a rap fan. Seriously, this has something for just about everyone. It has the fantastic bars from everyone, it has the rags-to-riches raps on lock, it has the braggadocios raps when you feelin’ yourself, all while having some INSANE production. If I were to give it a rating, it’d be a 4/5 stars.
Favorite Song (s): $500 Ounces, 327
Least Favorite: Allah Sent Me
Illest Rhymes: Euro Step
by Sekou | Mar 29, 2020 | Features, Reviews
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy – Kanye West
It’s crazy that the best album of the decade came from one of the least favorable years for music, but it’s Kanye, that’s what he does. Before anyone starts, this is not a discussion of his political antics, or antics as of late. We are discussing things from 2009-2010. So let me set the stage for you: 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. For Video of the Year, Taylor Swift wins. Fans and musicians applaud and cheer the young woman for getting such an honor. All but one. And that one jumped out of his seat, took the mic, and said that Beyonce had one of the greatest videos of ALL TIME. Why am I bringing this up? Because this is integral to how Kanye moved afterwards. He exiled himself, left the public eye, and dedicated his time to working on one of the best albums of all time. I’ve discussed this in my Grammy article, but I can still go on. Even though this wasn’t an apology album, it definitely felt like it. Let me start by discussing some of the songs. “Dark Fantasy” is one of the best intros ever, “Gorgeous” has on of Kanye’s best verses, “Power” is about having so much power, and then having to relinquish it, “All of the Lights”… I could write an essay on why it is one of the greatest songs of all time. After repeated listens, this is an album about three things: loss, love, and acceptance. The song “Runaway” is one of the greatest songs to ever be produced, and I believe this to be the culmination point of everything. The first verse is Kanye battling with himself about not being great with females, finding something wrong all the time, toasting all the assholes, d-bags, jerkoffs of the world in the chorus. The second verse being Pusha T’s, where he plays that douchebag role very well, and pretty much tells the girl, “I’m going to do whatever I want. You can either accept it or leave, but I got more hoes waiting for me.” The third verse being about how Ye doesn’t enjoy romantics and how his girl sees that as a major problem. The third act, even though it is just mainly instrumental, is so beautiful. To me, it is part of the acceptance. It is Kanye saying some things through a vocorder, but mainly letting the instruments take you to a place where they let you think about everything he said. They take you on an emotional journey for 4 minutes where you can just reflect. This is the album that made everyone remember that while he seems like an egotistical asshole, he also is one of the greatest musical minds of our time. This is the album that we will look back on and study for its flawlessness and greatness, just as we will look back on it as the greatest album of the last decade.
Disagree? Well, I don’t know what to tell you, because these top 5 albums I’ve listed in this series are fantastic. However, I’d still love to know all of your opinions on music. Tell me what your favorite album of the decade was; tell me what album you’re anticipating the most this year; and tell me what music you might be listening to, so we can listen to even more! This wraps up my top 5 albums of the decade series. Hope you enjoyed it!
by Sekou | Mar 29, 2020 | Reviews
To Pimp A Butterfly – Kendrick Lamar
Best: EVERYTHING
Worst: NOTHING
Do I need to say why? It is a masterpiece! This is the BLACKEST albums you will ever hear. I remember the day I listened to this album (March 18, 2015 to be exact), and I was in love when I heard “Wesley’s Theory”. This album made me feel just about every emotion, the jazz and funk infused rhythms, the poem that ends with him interviewing Tupac, and the cultural phenomenon that it created. “Alright” was voted Song of the Decade for a reason, almost all publications put this album at #1 for a reason. There is no way to describe the feeling you get from listening to this album, especially if you’re Black. It is an album that needs multiple listens to understand the totality and importance of it. This is one of the albums that feels a lot like fine wine: it’s an acquired taste, and everyone might not enjoy it. This is my favorite album of all time, and I don’t get upset if someone were to say that they didn’t enjoy it. However, anyone would have to recognize that this is art at its highest form.
You might be thinking, “How the HELL did you put To Pimp A Butterfly at number 2?? Have you no respect???” I know I thought that while making this list, but there has always been one album that stood head and shoulders above everything else and it topped out as number 1 for my Top Five Albums of the Decade Series.
