April 8, 2013

My Gut Reaction: A$AP Rocky - Long. Live. A$AP (January 15, 2013)

I realize that this post doesn't make much sense when you read all of my prior comments regarding "finishing what I started" and how I can't really tackle new artists when I have many, many others I have to finish up with, but that's the best part about running this blog: I can write about whatever the hell I goddamn want.  And I know a lot of people were curious as to how I would feel about Harlem-based A$AP Rocky's proper debut album, Long. Live. A$AP, so I figured, why not?


My first exposure to the artist born Rakim Mayers came with the video for his mixtape hit "Peso", which was played on MTV at an alarming rate.  And I wasn't really impressed.  The beat was rather hypnotic, making it very different from what I was used to hearing on the station, but the rhymes kind of sucked, in my opinion.  Maybe I was turned off by his opening line, where he refers to himself as a "pretty motherfucker", I don't know.  Shortly after, I received a Reader Review from Standos, who tackled said mixtape, Life. Love. A$AP, so that I didn't have to, and his rather positive write-up surprised me, but not enough for me to actually track the project down.  I was a fan of the page hits the write-up gave to the site, though, so that was cool.

Anyway, Standos made the point that, even though A$AP Rocky hailed from Harlem, his music sounded like it was influenced from every other point in the country where hip hop is a major player, and that this is the new normal, considering that rappers can merely jump online and listen to anything from anywhere and get ideas.  I imagine this tactic has helped him gain a rabid fanbase all over the country, since he's managed to make himself seem not just like a rookie from New York, but like a rookie from the United States: if everyone can make a territorial claim on your style, then you must be appealing to all of the right places.

That mixtape snagged our host a record deal that included distribution from RCA Records, which guaranteed that your parents could come across his proper debut, Long. Live. A$AP at Target if they looked hard enough.  Although it leaked in full at the very end of last year, upon its actual in-store date A$AP Rocky was able to celebrate scoring a number-one album on the Billboard charts.

One look at the guest list on Long. Live. A$AP and I feel compelled to compare Rocky to a high school student who tried his best to make friends with every single social group out there.  This project is littered with nerds (Danny Brown, Action Bronson), jocks (Drake, 2 Chainz, Kendrick Lamar (who himself just now made it out of 'nerd' status, but just barely)), cheerleaders (Florence Welch, who could also be classified as one of the "goths", although that's stretching this analogy rather thin), drama geeks (Santigold, Lana Del Rey (who, curiously, doesn't appear on this album even though she was scheduled to)), band geeks (Skrillex, producer Hit-Boy), freshmen who try to be one of the cool kids (Joey Bada$$), the crazy white biy (Yelawolf), the guy who is just too cool for school (Big K.R.I.T., Rocky himself), the not-so-hidden gang bangers (Gunplay), and, of course, Rocky's own circle of friends (the A$AP Mob, represented on here by A$AP Ferg).

That metaphor took a lot out of me, so I'll just get to the music now, if you don't mind.

1.  LONG LIVE A$AP
The first track on Long. Live. A$AP, which includes the now-infamous introductory line "I thought I'd probably die in prison" that has been quoted both in the HHID comments section and in other reviews, is certainly much darker in scope than I was expecting.  The instrumental, credited to Jim Jonsin and Rico Love, among many others, is very, um, instrumental in setting the mood, and actually isn't that bad, but A$AP keeps his audience at arm's length, only flirting with the concept of lyrical depth while spitting random catchphrases, distorted vocal grunts, an out-of-left-field reference to Ol' Dirty Bastard's "Shimmy Shimmy Ya" (a song that our host will name-drop later on in the program, on "Fuckin' Problems", strangely enough), and singing off-key during the hook, where at one point he seems to be paired up with child vocalists.  A weird way to introduce oneself to a mainstream-ish audience, one that doesn't altogether work.  A$AP also commissioned a video for this shit, and that clip somehow makes even less sense than this song does.  And so it begins.

2.  GOLDIE
Okay, now this is more like it.  The much more accessible "Goldie" succeeds where the title track fails: the beat, by the omnipresent Hit-Boy, is catchy as fuck, and A$AP's attempts at passing off swagger and confidence as his currency actually works here, as this kind of musical backing demands materialism and superficiality.  (This is most noticeable in the way A$AP throws the line "bitching with your bitch ass" away on two separate occasions, sounding so disinterested that he can't even be bothered to complete a single thought about your bitch ass.)  The two verses on here are enjoyably goofy (at one point our host mentions the No Limit Records tank, which is never not funny), and he sounds like he's having a good enough time in the booth.  The hook, performed in the distorted screwed-up vocal style our host is wont to use, is annoying at first, since it aims for creepy and ends up sounding kind of laughable, but it's easy enough to gloss over when the rest of the song is this contagious.  Not bad.

3.  PMW (ALL I REALLY NEED) (FEAT. SCHOOLBOY Q)
A$AP reunites with Black Hippy's Schoolboy Q for what I was hoping would be a natural extension of their "Hands On The Wheel" collaboration (a song I quite like), but instead meanders and loses focus like any story from Abe Simpson.  Our host uses the T-Minus beat to craft an ode to his three favorite vices (pussy, money, and wainscoting), but while his actual verse sounded okay, his hook is performed in that distorted vocal thing that I'm sure is his trademark, but fuck, is that an acquired taste.  Q then switches the entire point of the song (pussy, money, waterslides) and tells a tale where he boasts about paying a girl for sex.  I don't know if I should find his honesty refreshing or if I should feel bad that a rapper who boasts about everything else going well in his life has to resort to the exchange of money for goods and services.  And that mule went on to save spring break.

4.  LVL
I imagine this track may be quite polarizing, since it definitely doesn't sound like anything else on the radio today, but I actually loved this Clams Casino instrumental: it comes across as a glitchy, hypnotic, rapper-friendly version of what the producer thinks a Crystal Castles song might sound like if sent through a Washed Out filter pissed on by M83.  If you're looking for instant atmosphere, the beat on "LVL" runs circles around that of the title track.  However, our host doesn't use the music to its fullest potential, choosing instead to rap about inane shit such as pussy, money, and washing machines, so "LVL" isn't as good a song as it most definitely should have been.  Right about now, I'm thinking that sounding cocky just isn't going to be enough.

5.  HELL (FEAT. SANTIGOLD)
Clams Casino also handles the beat for "Hell", but it isn't nearly as interesting as that of "LVL".  A$AP's style-over-substance-masquerading-as-substance (which, let me make clear, isn't always a bad thing) rhymes fail to stick to the beat or to the listener's mind, and Santigold's hook is so generic that her role could have been played by literally any other singer or non-singer had A$AP not been going for the hipster / Pitchfork crowd with his guest features.  (Speaking of which, why isn't Lana Del Ray on Long. Live. A$AP again?)  I couldn't get into this shit, but at least it wasn't nearly as hellish as I had originally feared.  It just sucked is all.

6.  PAIN (FEAT. OVERDOZ)
This incorrectly-titled song is hardly about any kind of tangible pain: A$AP and his guests, the Los Angeles-based crew OverDoz, rhyme about the benefits and, ever so briefly, the perils of stardom.  (The phrase "lights, camera, action" is used so often that I'm convinced that was the true working title of this song, right up until someone at the label remembered the Mr. Cheeks solo hit of the same name.)  Everyone who isn't named Rocky on here sound pretty damn good, actually, not because they're especially great emcees but because, after five straight tracks of A$AP's too-cool-for-school flair, it was refreshing to hear someone give half of a shit.  Groan.

7.  FUCKIN' PROBLEMS (FEAT. DRAKE, 2 CHAINZ, & KENDRICK LAMAR)
Kudos to A$AP Rocky on scoring a pretty major hit with a song called "Fuckin' Problems" (and somehow convincing a major label, RCA, to release it to radio).  As everyone and their mother has already taken great pains to point out, the Noah "40" Shebib beat is contagious, and the limited use of Tity Boi on the hook guarantees that Max will find his contribution goofy and not grating.  However, the main fuckin' problem on this track is Rocky himself: he sounds decent, but by surrounding himself with bigger name Drake (who turns in a stellar guest appearance that actually sounds like he was having something approximating fun while spilling his verse onto his notepad) and with (much) better lyricist K-Dot, he inadvertently minimizes his own contribution: there's no fucking way that anyone listens to "Fuckin' Problems" for A$AP.  Still, for what is apparently a radio-friendly song, this is certainly one of the better ones out there today. (This is the exact same paragraph I wrote when I posted that Billboard hot rap singles chart commentary, which, if you'll recall, I kind of warned you about, but I do have one new thing to add: I appreciate the fact that Rocky at least half-assedly came up with some cleaner lyrics for the video edit of "Fuckin' Problems".  The new lyrics aren't very good ("...at least Hilfiger rich"?  That's the best you could come up with?), but at least he tried to reach out to the MTV audience, unlike Drake, K-Dot, and Tity Boi, whose hook makes no fucking goddamn sense on the radio version.  Kind of reminded me of when artists used to record entirely different versions of their songs in order to gain radio airplay.  Ah, those were the days.)

8.  WILD FOR THE NIGHT (FEAT. SKRILLEX & BIRDY NAM NAM)

I'm predisposed to hate electronic-slash-dubstep artist Skrillex because I'm over a certain age (wow, how much more vague can I be?) and because his hair looks stupid and because his face looks highly punchable, and I'm sure that our host only collaborated with Skrillex in an effort to appeal to as many advertising demographics as possible, but I actually don't hate "Wild For The Night".  I don't really like it, either, but the beat (credited to our host and his two guests) would work well in a club (especially during the hook).  A$AP tries to force it on here, and he doesn't sound nearly as comfortable over this busy beat than elsewhere on the project, but this at least sounds better than most rappers' attempts at faux-dubstep.  Doesn't hold a candle, a motherfucking candle, to the Rampage and Busta Rhymes song of the same name, though: maybe A$AP could be nice and extend an invite to the Last Boy Scout for a remix or something.  The fuck else is Rampage doing these days?

9.  1 TRAIN (FEAT. KENDRICK LAMAR, JOEY BADA$$, YELAWOLF, DANNY BROWN, ACTION BRONSON, & BIG K.R.I.T.)
For the massive posse cut "1 Train", A$AP explained in an interview that he "wanted to make a posse cut that felt like an original '90s underground track, and I didn't have to tell anyone what to do", and in that regard, he succeeds wildly with what may be the finest track on Long. Live. A$AP.  Hit-Boy's instrumental bangs exactly in a late-1990s manner, and A$AP made some pretty goddamn solid choices for collaborators, aside from the miscast Yelawolf.  Kendrick's verse blows his guest spot on "Fuckin' Problems" out of the water (and, for the record, yes, I did like Lamar's work on that previous track), and up-and-comer Joey Bada$$, along with HHID favorites Danny Brown and Action Bronson, destroy the beat admirably.  Hell, even A$AP himself steps his game up.  With the closing verse, though, Big K.R.I.T. walks away with the entire store, his shit is that.  Fucking.  Good.

10.  FASHION KILLA
Also known as "the song for the ladies", which is a mandatory inclusion if you expect to actually move any units.  The beat, credited to Hector Delgado and our host, is alright, if a bit repetitive, and A$AP's bars rarely stray from praising his anonymous lady friend and her choice in fashion designers, but he at least sounds invested enough in the material (remember, pussy is one of the only things "a n---a really need", according to his mission statement way back on track three) that at least eight female listeners will believe Rocky to be the sweetest man ever.  Me, I just think the song was okay.  Not bad, but not great.  Then again, I'm not the target demographic, in that I possess a penis.

11.  PHOENIX
Danger Mouse (yes, that Danger Mouse; I know, I was impressed, too) provides a beat that is decent, but in no way does it fit A$AP's overall concept of the song, which apparently consists solely of abstractly talking about how he grew up poor and appreciating his success today.  You know, like every other rapper in motherfucking existence.  But there's nothing celebratory about the musical backing, and also the title doesn't make any goddamn sense: A$AP Rocky can't rise from the ashes like a phoenix if this is just his debut fucking album.  Dude hasn't even had time to fail yet.  Sigh.

12.  SUDDENLY
The final song of the regular program.  One weird artistic choice that our host has made throughout Long. Live. A$AP is seemingly rhyming independent (or in spite of, such as on here) of whatever kind of musical backing he's been provided with, but it's not that he's constantly off-beat: it just gives the listener the impression that A$AP simply speaks this way all the time, talking in rhymes like a drug-dealing court jester, while his producers race against time to record snatches of soliloquys and set them to music just so the label will be happy and to keep their host afloat.  This comparison doesn't make all that much sense, I know, but right now I share the same sense of apathy as our host when it comes to "Suddenly".

The following tracks are only available on the deluxe edition of Long. Live. A$AP.

13.  JODYE
The first track on Long. Live. A$AP After Dark channels C-Murder and attempts an apocalyptic tone, what with the yelling and the sinister instrumental and all.  The beat is kind of interesting, and A$AP's weak attempts to sound serious (but only in spurts) flail about like a child stuck on a see-saw in mid-air.  Quite easy to see why "Jodye" was relegated to bonus track status: it doesn't fit anywhere in our host's life, let alone on the proper album.  Next!

14.  GHETTO SYMPHONY (FEAT. GUNPLAY & A$AP FERG)
Using Frou Frou's "Psychobabble" as a foundation (proving that they did have more in them than Imogen Heap and the one song used in Garden State), A$AP Rocky teams up with Rick Ross's legally-troubled coworker Gunplay, and his own weed carrier, A$AP Ferguson, for a quick, weirdly spirited posse cut that works better than it has any right to.  Praise-slash-blame for this track's (mild) success lays at the feet at Gunplay, whose middle verse contains all of the passion, anger, and the need to prove himself that this entire goddamn album has lacked. He actually sounded great, and I'm not bullshitting you on that: hell, I'm shocked, too, considering that the motherfucker's nickname is "Gunplay", but here we are.  Rocky sounds okay as well, but Ferguson sucks taint: dude sounds fucking awful, so much so that I'm convinced he's only a part of the A$AP Mob because he somehow blackmailed Rocky into gifting him with membership.  Maybe this also helps explain why A$AP Ferg is the next one out of the group getting a push on the radio.

15.  ANGELS
Meh.  Yep, that's back.

16.  I COME APART (FEAT. FLORENCE WELCH)
The final song on Long. Live. A$AP features Florence Welch (from Florence + The Machine, even though nobody actually says the word "plus" when talking about the band), making for the weirdest guest spot on a rap album since vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro's cameo on Willie D.'s Play Witcha Mama.  The music isn't as complete as one would hope from a final song, and Welch's contribution is limited to singing vocals that have fuck-all to do with whatever the hell Rocky was aiming for on here.  Kudos for being cognizant of other musical genres, A$AP, but you could have done so much more with what you were given on here, what with Welch basically singing about how our host's success "won't last forever" and all.  At least we're done now.

THE LAST WORD:  Long. Live. A$AP has received good-to-great reviews all over the place, but I fail to see why: it's merely an okay album.  A$AP Rocky hasn't quite learned yet that swagger can only get an artist so far: it's impossible to coast on every single song and expect the same results each time.  Unlike some of his contemporaries, Rocky has an interesting ear for beats, especially those that wouldn't obviously translate well into our chosen genre, so in that respect, I feel the guy has a pretty good future, because at least the music on this album was mostly interesting.  But his rhymes leave a lot to be desired.  I don't require complex rhymes or serious street tales whenever I listen to rap music, regardless of what the comment section on HHID will lead you to believe: I merely need to be entertained, and Long. Live. A$AP doesn't do a good job of consistently entertaining the audience.  When everything clicks, such as on "Goldie" or "Fuckin' Problems", then A$AP Rocky seems like an exciting new-ish artist who deserves a wider audience.  (Little wonder why those two songs were the first two released to radio.)  But when A$AP crawls up his own ass, as he has a tendency to do (see: the title track, or "Suddenly", or pretty much any of the bonus tracks), it's increasingly difficult to root for the guy.  This project left me interested enough to actually check out his debut mixtape, a feat that the Reader Review I've already run on it couldn't do, but unless he adds some more passion or awareness into his bars, his lyrical days may be numbered in my mind: not for nothing are the best three verses on Long. Live. A$AP performed by Big K.R.I.T., Drake, and Gunplay.  And I'm dead serious when I say that.  Take that as you will.

-Max

RELATED POSTS: 
There's more to read on A$AP Rocky that can be found here.


 

59 comments:

  1. Derek ClaptonApril 08, 2013

    Basically dead on. I would rank Danny Brown's verse in the album's top 3, though I am a perennial rider of his dick.

    The High School bit was fucking wonderful, by the way.

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    1. Bitch pussy smell like a penguin, wouldn't hit that shit with my worst enemies penis. Danny kills that shit...but Krit does steal the show

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  2. I've lost all interest in this guy. Or maybe I'm drifting away from hip-hop, I don't know. He's just so... predictable. I can't stand his obsession with fashion and looking "pretty," things he claimed not to care about in "Wassup." Watch that music video, then immediately watch "Goldie." You will laugh.

    Btw, "Jodye" was a diss track aimed at SpaceGhostPurrp (Yeah, I'll finish his review). I listened to the first 40 seconds, then turned it off. That shit was awful.

    Hip-hop is so boring these days.

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    1. Most hip hop is boring, but various Madlib and Jneiro Janel projects keep things pretty interesting.

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  3. It has gotten good-to-great reviews because not everyone has a stick up there ass all the time like you do, Max. Your opinion used to interest me but your pessimism is unbearable at this point. Fuck you and fuck your site. Go back to listening to new wave, douchebag.

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    1. Your world view is narrow and you have no friends.

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    2. Aww, you remembered that I like new wave!

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    3. Also, you misspelled "their," fella.

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  4. Not much lyrical depth here. But hey I like the guy, his music entertains me. That's all I got.

    Maybe you should check out some othe big krit stuff.

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    1. speaking of which...hope im not the only one hyped for the Krit mixtape to drop tomorrow (or today depending on when this is read/posted)

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  5. Leutrim RexhajApril 08, 2013

    BB KIng saw the king in me, so why can't you
    In order to come up close you'll have to dig up Cash and Elvis too
    - line of the song

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  6. I got heavy into A$AP at first because of his ear for beats. His first mixtape, while lyrically tiring was excellent for the music. No coincidence, the best songs musically on that album were also done by Clams Casino, whose ethereal/atmospheric beats are just too dope. I hope his music penetrates farther and farther into hip hop circles and influences other producers..

    This album didn't have nearly the same amount of appeal to me as his first one, I only played it for about of week before it fell into the background, where as his first mixtape was on heavy rotation for many months. Not the follow up I was hoping for

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    1. I was a massive fan of LiveLoveASAP from the gate, mostly because of Clams Casino as you rightly pointed out. That shit blew my mind.

      I found this followup album to be weak as fuck. I knew it was flimsy the day it leaked. The funny thing is that it was initially more popular with the 'real hip hop' crowd, who tend to gravitate to anything generic after dismissing the really innovative shit. I had friends who were telling me about the greatness of "1 Train". And I'm thinking, "1 Train!? that shit is fucking weaksauce compared to Bass, Demons, Leaf... pretty much most of LiveLoveASAP."

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  7. kendrick could've put way more effort into his verses

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  8. All of the songs I thought you wouldn't like turned out to be correct, although I am a bit surprised you didn't like PMW. Not because of the lyrics but the beat is pretty damn sick, especially in the car with da bass

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    1. Derek ClaptonApril 08, 2013

      I agree with you there. The beat is pretty sweet.

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  9. ghostface killah-twelve reasons to die. Adrian Younge is the new RZA

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  10. Yeah max this album wasn't any good. Oh and all eyez on me isn't a classic ( sarcastic voice)

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    1. Wait, did you just compare Long. Live. A$AP to All Eyez On Me? I can think of a bunch of 2Pac stans who would take issue with that.

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    2. I wasn't comparing. Just saying that I respect your opinion very little because of your all eyez on me review. But you are very talented at writing which keeps me coming back for more.

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    3. That's all that I ask.

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    4. All Eyez On Me isn't good. Double albums very rarely deliver throughout the entirety of their run. All Eyez on Me is definitely an example of just how bad a bloated album can be.

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  11. 1 Train is the shit. Nice review too.

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  12. This was an improvement for Rocky to me. I used to like the mixtape (as my comment on that review will say) but i got tired of Rocky not being that great of a rapper. On here however, he stepped up to accompany the beats pretty nicely. Now don't get me wrong, i think this is good at best, because i still don't care for Asap when he does the whole "rap slow over a clams casino beat" thing, but the intro, Goldie, PMW, Fuckin' Problems, 1 Train, Suddenly and Jodye are my shit.

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  13. It's funny, because I thought "Hell" was far and away the best song on this album. It's really the only song I listen to from it. I thought Clams Casino's beat on it was SICK. To each his own, I guess.

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    1. Seriously?....

      Even for Clams Casino the beat was fucking terrible.

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  14. You mentioned that you liked "Hands on the Wheel" by Schoolboy Q.

    Are you going to do reviews on Jay Rock, Schoolboy, and Ab Soul's albums eventually?

    If not, which of their albums do you like the best real quickly?

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    1. No, no, no (I can't fit TOO many new artists into my project, or else I'll never finish), and I don't know, as I have yet to sit down with any of them in full.

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    2. Thats what I thought. Well, hope you get around to some of them eventually.

      Ab Soul's "Control System" and some of Jay Rock's "Follow Me" is excellent.

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    3. Control System was one of the best albums i heard last year, period. Haven't gotten around to Jay Rock yet, but he always comes correct on guest spots

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  15. My problem with this album is inconsistency. Some tracks simply bang, such as Jodye, Ghetto Symphony, 1 Train, and Goldie, but too often or not Rocky wastes his time on boring beats rapping bout some shit know one but him cares about.

    What the fuck was he thinking with Fashion Killa? I still dont understnad why some rappers think one song on their album aimed at the ladies will get thousanads of ladies buying the album, i'm pretty sure that doesnt happen.

    One train is probably the best song of 2013 so far and i have to say Max i think that Yelawolf does fit in witht he song and drops a stellar verse. KRIT does walk away with the red rosette though.

    Max, you seem preoccupied with the fact that ASAP is a materilaistic and vapid person and therfore he cannot rhyme about anything half serious and when he does try it comes off as insincere. That may be the case my friend, but when that insincerity sounds as great as Jodye, i dont care. I no its the beat that realy makes that song and not Rockys verses, but that shit still kills.

    i also disagree with your comments regarding ASAP Ferg, i do understand that he may come across as annoying in that double time sing songy flow of his but i like it. Have you heard about the features he got for his mixtape Trap Lord? Onyx and Bone Thugs, that shit should be banging.

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    1. That may be how I came across, which is why I made sure to throw a disclaimer near the end. I don't NEED lyrical genius, I just expect to be entertained. And no, I haven't heard any other A$AP Ferg work, aside from his single "Work", which I feel suffers the same fate.

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    2. Persian Wine is a good song. I hated Ferg until I heard it.

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    3. AnonymousJune 27, 2014

      Trap Lord was awesome

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    4. Ferg is fucking garbage. always has been.

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  16. This album is boring as shit. Almost as unlistenable as Tyler the Creator's "Wolf" album. The only reason to listen to rocky before was the clams casino production. Now there's NO reason to listen to him.

    BTW, I don't think you do leaks, but on soulseek the new cannibal ox single 'gotham' and the new ghostface '12 reasons to die' are downloadable.

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    1. The new CanOx single is AWFUL. Really, really bad.

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    2. I'm curious if any of the readers actually contributed on Cannibal Ox's Kickstarer page to fund their El-P-less sophomore album. If you're out there, why did you do it? No, really, I'm legitimately curious.

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    3. I highly doubt it, Max, considering they didn't even reach their studio album goal (and really, why would ANYONE contribute? I mean, the Can Ox member's solo shit has been boring-as-shit AT BEST, and El-P's production is the most distinct, defining, and amazing thing about Cold Vein... to me, it's not even Cannibal Ox without El-).... This single -- now that I finally listened to it (I'm the guy who wrote the original thing above) -- IS awful as other Anon dude said. The third song at least has a sub-RZA beat that gets the song off to a good start but then just fucking blows. And the lyrics? Makes "The F Word" seem not so embarassing by comparison. If you're looking for gems like "I TOUCH HEARTS LIKE KANO -- IF YOU'RE THINKING OF TOUCHING THE MIC, JUST SAY NO", well... don't look here. Horrible lyric sampling:

      "YO! It's cannibal ox in your stinkbox! CANNIBAL OX IN YOUR STINKBOX!"

      "Gases in hell -- inhale inhale, yo, ghost in the shell" [repeated 16 times]

      "Watch ME, I'm not an mC, I'm just a sorcerer in a spelling bee." ... what?

      "ALLAH IS SEEN AND HEARD, LIKE ABREE-HAM AND ELIJAH WHEN HE CAME TO SPREAD DA WURD."

      "heyzeus on the crucifix, you're the reason the devil is trapped in hell -- SIX SIX SICK" [yes, he noticed "Jesus" is pronounced 'gee-zus' AND 'hey-zeus' so he decided to, uh, cleverely -- ? -- substitute the normal pronounciation of the biblical Jesus with the, hmm, Spanish version. And it sounds really retarded here.]

      "I taught Caesar how to smash some grapes, ya niggers are all apes -- never think of crushin me it's olee olee OX-and-free."

      All those examples are Vaste lyrics. The other guy doesn't offend as badly but he's barely on the single and makes no impression. Musically, it's boring as shit, whoever they got is trying really hard to be El-P on the first 2 songs and then, like I said, a boring RZA on the last one. It all just sounds bad.

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  17. i'm hungryApril 10, 2013

    This guy stole SpaceGhostPurrp's style/image.

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  18. Agreed. Persian Wine is a great song. So many rappers sound the same nowadays and whilse Fergs voice is polarizing you have to admit he is unique.

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  19. I am from south africa and thought it may interest you to know that MOP appear in an advertising campaign for a local beer in which they perform 'cold as ice' in a bar. Previous ads in the campaign have featured mc hammer and vanilla ice respectively. It is a sad day for hip hop when the mash out posse find themselves in the company of those two, however, i never thought i would be watching lil' fame and billy danze on free to air TV in africa! Good to see those cats are still getting paper, even if our currency is a tenth of the value of a dollar.

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    1. This is hilarious and pathetic in 36 different ways.

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  20. Love how the comment section blows up when you review albums people give a shit a bout. Unlike say a fat joe album....

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    1. Given the fact that Fat Joe still makes music, it's obvious that there are a LOT of people that still give a shit about a Fat Joe album. Whether they comment on a review of one is another story, but that's a part of the overall experiment. Besides, it's not about liking the album, it's about the writing, blah blah blah.

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    2. Fat Joe sucks but he WAS in d.i.t.c... he was the worst member but he will always have somebody interested in his works simply for the d.i.t.c connection. Which reminds me... Max, you should really review the D.I.T.C group album as well as the first Diamond D album, the Percee P album produced by Madlib (this song which cleverly samples Contra might get you interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2frEZ0omi6E ) ... oh and the Lord Finesse albums you're missing reviews of. Please, Max. I'M DYING HERE!

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  21. Max, i cant help but feel that you should ditch the whole reviewing projects in chronilogical order thing, and just start reviwing good music. i admire your dedication but come one, if you review a rappers whole output your gonna come across a lot of duds, such as fat joe who has only two good albums.

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    1. The blog has shifted over the past six years depending on whatever my mood is at any given time (hence, no more 'Drink Coaster' write-ups), but the 'chronological order' thing is really a part of the project I'm trying to finish. It's about looking at an artist's entire body of work, which, in my opinion, is the best way to measure their successes, failures, and overall relevance and importance in our chosen genre.

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    2. think of it like this...if Max reviews nothing but good albums, whats the point of having a blog anyway?

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  22. Looks like this 'finished what I started' theme will once again be disrupted by a certain wu-tang member... Not to say I'm not looking forward for the review of Twelve reasons to die!

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    1. I wouldn't say "disrupted". I've written about every other Ghost project out there, so if I ignored the upcoming one, then I still wouldn't be finishing what I started. In other words, I'm writing about the damn album.

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  23. 2012 and 2013 have been and will be great years for the WU. Looking forward to releases from Raekwon, GFK, INS and the Clan. i just hope and pray that they excersise better control and wisdom over their beat selection. time and time again the Clan have been let down by weak production. GFK moving int he right direction with Adrian Younge and hopefully Supreme 2 will match the quality of Supreme 1. Raewkon and his beat selection really worries me. even though i feel OBFCL 2 was great, i still feel it lacked prodction wise, those Dre beats were weak. I wish that one of the Clan rappers would use some fresh production from people like Harry Fraud. but they either keep it in house or go for some young up and comer know ones no's or cares about. I love the Clan so much, but they frustrate me so much. 20% of their entire output is classic material and it could be so much higher.

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    1. Dawg, what are you TALKIN about? Harry Fraud is TRASH. Dude takes old songs e.g. Royal Flush- Worldwide and adds "new school" (aka mostly lame) drums behind it. I agree with your statement entirely but if you want Rae to stay away from weak production, he needs to stay the fuck away from Harry Fraud and "live drums RZA-lite" Adrian Younge.

      -SirBiatch

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  24. LiveLoveASAP was WAY better than this album. In fact, that album is my favorite new school album of the last 7 years. I haven't heard anything quite so unique, beautiful and brilliant as Clams Casino's work on this mixtape. It's really some new shit. I heard Bass way back when it was released for the mixtape and I was HOOKED. Sure I found Rocky lacking lyrically but I was dying to see his new Clams/Beautiful Lou sound change radio with a debut album. Then this bullshit album drops lol. -- SirBiatch

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