OT: Kanye West

[Young Drachma]

Has anyone heard any of the tracks off "College Dropout"

Thoughts?

[korme]

I was just telling my brother how if I were to buy a rap CD it'd be Kanye's... Slow Jams and Through the Wire are two rap songs I can enjoy.

[Noop]

Seeing how I am the only person into the hiphop culture I would say that album is a very good buy. I would consider this to be up for album of the year for the hiphop culture.

[cmp]

I have the CD and it's quite good. Everyone's heard Slow Jamz and Through the Wire and those two songs are great, but there are even better songs on the rest of the CD. "Never Let Me Down" with Jay-Z and "Family Business" are my faves on the CD.

[Noop]

My favorites are...

We Don't Care
All Falls Down
Spaceship
Jesus Walks
Never Let Me Down
Get Em High
Workout Plan
The New Workout Plan
Family Business
Last Call

-= That last song explains how he go signed and what not great song and story=-

[Scholes]

I'm not a fan of his stuff... every one else seems to be, but I just can't get into it... He seems a bit slow... slower than most actually.

[korme]

damn baby i can't do it that fast but i know someone who can-

twista: hlafpadfdfsjhsfd husd uoeqpg ohwuoep grhofjo

[BishopMVP]

I haven't heard the whole album, so there are probably songs I'm missing, but here's my take. Never Let Me Down is a great song, Through the Wire pretty good but it's been played enough that I'm not too big a fan right now. Slow Jams was also on Twista's CD, so that's a little annoying.

Overall, he's a decent rapper and the CD is better than most albums out there, but he's a great producer and should stick to doing more songs where he doesn't appear much and lets good rappers rip the track. Encore, Overnight Celebrity and the aforementioned Slow Jams and Never Let Me Down are good examples.

Since we've got a thread with people who like Hip-Hop, I strongly recommend you buy or download some of the songs from Brother Ali. Shadows on the Sun is easily the best album I've heard in the past couple years. Somewhat similar to (but not as good as) Illmatic. Hopefully with Atmosphere getting exposure he can get some too.

[Scholes]

Brother Ali's from my area, Minneapolis, and along with Atmosphere and Eyedea form some of the best MC's in the genre. Intelligent, sometimes a little too deep though, and great beats. Excellent live as well.

If you're into those guys, check out Aesop Rock, Illogic, Buck 65, Sage Francis, and Sole if you haven't yet. All have similar styles. Illogic and Aesop are the cream of the crop.

[Butter]

Originally Posted by Noop

Seeing how I am the only person into the hiphop culture

How does it feel when all those people make their records just for you?

[Noop]

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

How does it feel when all those people make their records just for you?

I feel special :o Seriously I thought I was the only on FOFC very deeply interested into the culture...you learn something new everyday.




noop

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Scholes

Brother Ali's from my area, Minneapolis, and along with Atmosphere and Eyedea form some of the best MC's in the genre. Intelligent, sometimes a little too deep though, and great beats. Excellent live as well.

If you're into those guys, check out Aesop Rock, Illogic, Buck 65, Sage Francis, and Sole if you haven't yet. All have similar styles. Illogic and Aesop are the cream of the crop.

I've heard they're great live, but I only heard about them the last couple months after they had passed through Boston, and unfortunately they're going on a tour of Europe soon.

For the second group, the only one I've heard a lot from is Aesop Rock, and he's a little too underground for me. He definitely got skills, but it seems the production is lacking from my perspective. The same is kind of true from Atmosphere. Seven's Travels has some great songs (Always Coming Back Home to You, Reflections, Trying to Find a Balance, a couple more) but it's kind of hit or miss with regards to each song. That's why I was so impressed when I heard Shadows on the Sun. Ant's production is amazing top to bottom.

There are some people accusing Atmosphere of selling out because of the production on his album, so there are definitely those who don't feel the same way, but I come to the underground from the J5/Del angle. Guess I'm not hardcore enough.

[iceberg414]

college dropout is a solid album. kanya's beats are hot and i like him as a rapper. he doen't take himself too seriously, which makes him quite funny at times. the grey album is really hot, try to hear that if you can. illigal music had the entire album, but they pulled it off recently. hotness...i do not care for aseop rock/atmosphere. they are really wack to me, well to everyone i know, but that is us. has anyone heard dizzy rascal's cd? i have heard alot about it, but have not heard the cd, i really want to though
yep

[Scholes]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

The same is kind of true from Atmosphere. Seven's Travels has some great songs (Always Coming Back Home to You, Reflections, Trying to Find a Balance, a couple more) but it's kind of hit or miss with regards to each song. That's why I was so impressed when I heard Shadows on the Sun. Ant's production is amazing top to bottom.

There are some people accusing Atmosphere of selling out because of the production on his album, so there are definitely those who don't feel the same way, but I come to the underground from the J5/Del angle. Guess I'm not hardcore enough.

Ant produces Se7en's Travels, as well as all of Atmosphere's albums. The earlier ones didn't quite have the sound quality, but I thought Se7en's Travels sounded great.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Scholes

Brother Ali's from my area, Minneapolis, and along with Atmosphere and Eyedea form some of the best MC's in the genre. Intelligent, sometimes a little too deep though, and great beats. Excellent live as well.

If you're into those guys, check out Aesop Rock, Illogic, Buck 65, Sage Francis, and Sole if you haven't yet. All have similar styles. Illogic and Aesop are the cream of the crop.

I just wanted to hear what other people thought of Kanye's CD. I like it. It's not groundbreaking stuff, but I think with tracks like New Workout Plan, he's mocking a lot of the other stuff out there. But I'm really feeling it.

I like Sage Francis, Aesop Rock is solid, Sole, Atmosphere and all of that. I got into underground hip-hop a few years ago. I didn't listen to it growing up, but over the past few years I've got into a lot of random stuff. (Like Baroque Pop of all things) So..yeah.

Good stuff..

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by iceberg414

college dropout is a solid album. kanya's beats are hot and i like him as a rapper. he doen't take himself too seriously, which makes him quite funny at times. the grey album is really hot, try to hear that if you can. illigal music had the entire album, but they pulled it off recently. hotness...i do not care for aseop rock/atmosphere. they are really wack to me, well to everyone i know, but that is us. has anyone heard dizzy rascal's cd? i have heard alot about it, but have not heard the cd, i really want to though
yep

I heard that Dizzy Rascal CD. It's pretty hot. I like his beats, its ecletic and I hadn't heard before. I mean, its obviously very European - with that club vibe to it. I mean, his obviously has that real Reggae sound to his voice and that's different - though all the US rappers are getting into that now - and it sucks.

But he's hot. Brand New Day is a nice track. Fix Up, Look Sharp has a weird rock-sounding sample going on there. I dunno what I think of it. It's kinda cool, but...it takes time for it to grow.

Overall, I think you have to listen it to really know. I could where someone could totally hate it, but its not that bad.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Scholes

Ant produces Se7en's Travels, as well as all of Atmosphere's albums. The earlier ones didn't quite have the sound quality, but I thought Se7en's Travels sounded great.

I knew he produced Atmospere's albums. Who else has he produced? Is Eyedea a part of Rhymesayers, and if so does Ant handle those beats too? I've heard some songs off God Loves Ugly and Overcast, and I agree it's not nearly as heavy. I still like songs like The River and The Ocean, but not as much as something like Trying to Find a Balance or Always Coming Back Home to You. Se7en's Travels has some great songs, and is still one of the best albums I've heard recently, but there are some songs like Cats Van Bags and Los Angeles that I dislike.

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

I just wanted to hear what other people thought of Kanye's CD.

We don't get many threads on hip-hop around here

I like it. It's not groundbreaking stuff,

That's probably my opinion too. It's solid, but nothing deserving of Hip-Hop Album of the Year. As a producer, I like him as much as anyone else out there right now (others would be Dre, Timbaland, Ant, Dan the Automator and the people behind Outkast) but his ability as a rapper isn't great (I don't really care about lyrics, I'm just talking flow and voice.)

[iceberg414]

i love his flow and delivery. he has a comical edge in his lyrics and he flows diffently in every verse. not saying he is the best, but i could see his next album being great. i heard a bootleg version of college dropout and it was ALOT BETTER. there is so much filler on the released version, maybe 4/5 tracks that i want to listen to. did anyone hear about common supposedly signing with the roc under kanya's imprint? common rapping on kanya's beats could be pretty special although common was subpar on kanya's album. just my opinion.
yep

[Scholes]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

I knew he produced Atmospere's albums. Who else has he produced? Is Eyedea a part of Rhymesayers, and if so does Ant handle those beats too?

DJ Abilities does Eyedea's stuff... and is more talented than Ant. Eyedea's newest CD (comes out next month) is unreal.

[bhlloy]

The Dizzee Rascal album is very fresh and IMO the best album of this year by a long way... might be a little bit British for some people in the States (a lot of lyrics are very specific and there's a lot of UK Garage/ 2-step influence in there) but it's definitely worth a try. IMO best tracks on the album are Jezebel, Jus A Rascal, Brand New Day and I Luv U.
Pleasantly surprised you guys have heard of him... pretty rare British music makes it over the pond

[iceberg414]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

Pleasantly surprised you guys have heard of him... pretty rare British music makes it over the pond

It has been everywhere. I have seen ads in Rolling Stone and just multiple publications telling us to go buy the album. I'll pobably download some off of kaaza and if I like it I'll buy it.

[Easy Mac]

I like the Streets more than Dizzie.

[Young Drachma]

Dilated Peoples have a new CD, called "Neighborhood Watch". It's hot...check it out.

[Noop]

Dark Cloud I have a friend who raps who is pretty damn good. I could give you some songs before he signs his deal. Sorta like getting his stuff before the labels start making him change his lyrics and message. If interested hit me up on aim yaboynoop

[Logan]

Kanye will be performing at Rutgersfest 2004 on April 30th.

Should be fun...

[stevew]

Kanye is up for 10 grammy's. Im not really into hip-hop a ton, but this record is really good.

[Neon_Chaos]

Kanye West's album is really good.

[BishopMVP]

10!?! Seems a little high to me, but coming from an awards show that recently gave best rap song or album to Will Smith they could have done worse.

Other notes - Hilarious that they have Let's Get It Started up for song of the year (not just hip-hop but everything) when that was just a by-product of cleaning up the lyrics on an already released song. Can't believe they have Nelly, LL Cool J and the Beastie Boys albums for best rap album and no Tipping Point. And then all their "best songs" are basically whichever songs got the most airplay - and they couldn't find a place for Fabolous - Breathe over Just Lose It or 99 Problems? The Jay-Z version wasn't even the best version of that song (although I think the LP/Jay-Z collaboration came out after the deadline.) In other categories, groups like Franz Ferdinand, Muse and Kenna got shafted. Oh well, not like I've ever paid attention to the Grammy's.

Since this also kind of the rap/hip-hop thread here, I recommend the Handsome Boy Modeling School album. A very diverse album, but tracks like The World's Gone Mad and Class System are amazing.

[Julio Riddols]

Kanye, Mos Def, the Roots, Blackstar, Nas and almost anything off the Label Def Jux.

Quality.

EDIT: Dilated Peoples needed to be added to the list..

[ice4277]

I think it is one of the best 'mainstream' rap/hip-hop albums of the last couple years.

[korme]

very good album

[TheOhioStateUniversity]

Id give it a 4.5 out of 5, he definately is a breath of fresh air as far as mainstream rap is concerned.