This is my thread

S O F I

Administrator
Staff member
of course.

Anyway, Kendrick is one of those all-around artists where if you ask 5 different people what songs are their favorite or what songs best exemplify him, you'd get 5 different answers.

But, FUNK, if you want to know why he's a lyrical beast and why his delivery is top notch, just listen to his two verses on this song. carefully. peep the word choice. he thought this shit through.


The top comment on the video tells you when Kendrick comes on. That should tell you.
 

dilla

Trumpfan17 aka Coonie aka Dilla aka Tennis Dog
The fact that he will be irrelevant after his next album releases (and fails to top whichever one everyone decides the best) has me thinking it's not worth getting on this train, and I'll just stick around and wait for the next one to see where it's going.

I thought hip hop in 2007-10 was boring and lame and washed-out. I just listened to the radio and todays "popular hits" on three different stations are auto tuned coons and white girls that have no talent. I can't list anyone that's big today and three of their songs.

Did anyone listen to the new Vinnie Paz? Why has that whole group of rappers put out albums that changed drastically with their releases pre-, oh say, 2008? Why are the beats completely different? Why are instruments used completely different? I'd have never guessed they used the same producers.

Did anyone listen to the new Prodigy album? It's like he talked on a mic for an hour and had someone add beats in the background. What happened to the shit Mobb Deep started with when they were 19-25? The Infamous, Hell on Earth, etc.?

Fuck hip hop. I got every new album that interested me recently. Xzibit, Shyne, Lamar, Z-Ro, Lil Keke. Some I was looking for lyrics, and others I was looking for beats. I found nothing in those albums. I swear every musician today has the same producer that makes sounds sound like a T-Pain/DJ Khaled song or some retarded Southern synth beat that sounds recycled.
 

S O F I

Administrator
Staff member
I'm not going to respond to that but I will suggest you check out The Man With The Iron Fists soundtrack (OST in bootleg circles). I've also pleasantly enjoyed Meek Mill's recent mixtape. The first 6-7 tracks are money. It's kind of hollow in the middle but it picks up towards the end. Not coincidentally, he reminds me of Rick Ross. There might not be an ounce of truth in anything he's saying, but he makes it entertaining and believable. Plus, great beat choices like his captain Rozay. Stalley needs to go solo though, he's not like them.

Kendrick's album is indeed a movie. A story told throughout. Swimming Pools has a totally different context (different from the oft-uttered one about "hey guys, he's not actually promoting drinking") after hearing the song previous to it. He did a pretty good job of balancing his story-telling with making songs catchy and enjoyable as stand-alone singles. Some tracks I tend to skip though. It's like "Yeah, Kendrick, this is a really cool story and all - cool story bro - but this song is like 12 minutes long and the beat is boring so I'm going to skip it." I have the right - I bought the album. A 15 minute m.A.A.d city song would have been nice but that's just the 15 year old in me. Black Boy Fly is top 5 on the album for me.

I haven't gotten around to listening to these releases yet:

1. GrandeMarshall - 800
2. The new K'Naan
3. The new Public Enemy
4. The new Skeme
5. That GBE tape full of nignorance
6. Uptown XO (sorry aron)
7. Vinnie Paz
8. Xzibit's Napalm
 

dilla

Trumpfan17 aka Coonie aka Dilla aka Tennis Dog
I just can't listen to songs about materialistic things anymore. The houses, the cars... women. It's not something I can listen to on my iPod as if the album were a story or novel. Now it's just random features about being in the club. And those that used to have albums like this a decade ago, have lost touch with the style that made them famous.

I'll give Kendrick a proper listen, but other rappers need to step their shit up.

Maybe hip hop's era is over. The late-50s to the mid-90s was rock's. With some overlap with rock in the 80s it seems as if hip hop's era is done in the next five years. We're gonna outgrow this Rick Ross Lil Wayne shit some time.
 

Pittsey

Knock, Knock...
Staff member
Rock isn't done.... There's still loads of great "rock" bands out there.

Although I find Rock is a generalisation of music rather than a genre.
 

dilla

Trumpfan17 aka Coonie aka Dilla aka Tennis Dog
Rock isn't done.... There's still loads of great "rock" bands out there.

Although I find Rock is a generalisation of music rather than a genre.
You mean thirty years from now you will look upon bands of this day and age the way you look at bands thirty years before now? Do bands like The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, to name just a few, share the same platform as bands from the 90s until now? Or will they share one some years from now?
 

Ristol

New York's Ambassador
You mean thirty years from now you will look upon bands of this day and age the way you look at bands thirty years before now? Do bands like The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, to name just a few, share the same platform as bands from the 90s until now? Or will they share one some years from now?
I think there's plenty. Radiohead, Arcade Fire & Wilco just to name a few. Rock is always being reinvented. As for the 90s, I actually prefer rock from that era. Nirvana, Pavement, Pixies, R.E.M., that's all-time great stuff to me.
 

dilla

Trumpfan17 aka Coonie aka Dilla aka Tennis Dog
I'm talking about modern-day bands, not bands on their way out. Stuff started post 2000. Radiohead and Coldplay have been out for a while. What is something relatively new that is looking promising?

But I guess I'm not that deep into rock either. I have picked up heavily on the suggestions from friends on classic rock.

Just fed up with music right now, hip hop especially. Deadmau5 disappointed, so it's not like the other genres are flourishing too.
 

Pittsey

Knock, Knock...
Staff member
The music industry became too money orientated. Xfactor >>>> Good music.

So I can see where you are coming from. But great music is still being made and is still out there. Modern music is still fairly new. Man has been around for 1000s of years, music only really got good when the electric guitar was invented. I like Sinatra, don't get me wrong, I like Elvis too... But for me, the 60s is when it started. That's only a generation or 2 ago.
 

Flipmo

VIP Member
Staff member
I hardly listen to music religiously as I used to. The only time is if I'm in the car, listening to the radio, driving from A to B, or if I'm on the bus and I just don't want to listen to hoochie mamas yapping their problems over the phone. There are exceptions, but for the most part I don't listen to music at home.

I don't even have a specific genre anymore, it's all about my mood. I might throw on some Dean Martin only to follow up with some ODB. Or I'll have two months straight of good trance and follow up the next month only listening to hip-hop. When I was younger it was hip-hop all day and night, but people change and horizons broaden.
 

dilla

Trumpfan17 aka Coonie aka Dilla aka Tennis Dog
I hardly listen to music religiously as I used to. The only time is if I'm in the radio driving from A to B, or if I'm on the bus and I just don't want to listen to hoochie mamas yapping their problems over the phone. There are exceptions, but for the most part I don't listen to music at home.

I don't even have a specific genre anymore, it's all about my mood. I might throw on some Dean Martin only to follow up with some ODB. Or I'll have two months straight of good trance and follow up the next month only listening to hip-hop. When I was younger it was hip-hop all day and night, but people change and horizons broaden.

That's pretty much how I am. On the bus/train or in my own car, I'll have music playing to not get bored. I do listen to music at home, but on my computer, and maybe when I'm browsing the web. That's actually where most of my music listening used to happen. That kinda stopped a year ago, or it definitely got less. Now I listen to music when playing COD and occasionally when messing around on the internet. But if I'm not using my computer for anything other than music, the computer is off.

When I had music in the background, it was just that; background music. I couldn't listen to something lyric-heavy passively. That required head phones and me not doing anything else, so on the bus or something. Driving too, I guess, but not talking to someone else and me alone in the car. I can't do that anymore, maybe just because time doesn't allow for it. But I doubt me not having as much time to dedicate just to listening to music is the reason why music is boring for me now.

Gonna put on the new Sean Price and see what happens. I can't listen to new (to me) music from artists like Kendrick the way I listen to established artists like Vinnie Paz, for example.
 

dilla

Trumpfan17 aka Coonie aka Dilla aka Tennis Dog
So turns out I've been letting my free leech tokens stack up on What.cd and so now I've got 20 tokens to use and basically get shit for free and not worry about my ratio.

I have always wondered the effects and improvements in sound quality by format of the song.

I wanna experiment with Led Zeppelin's Presence album. What format would be best for listening in a car with premium audio? I know, big-ass headphones probably work best, but I listen to music the most in my car. I see FLAC/Lossless. FLAC/24 bit lossless, AAC, etc. Same album can come as a 90MB file or a 900 MB file.

Which would I go for to hear the most results for the download size?
 

Pittsey

Knock, Knock...
Staff member
If you find any good albums in 24 bit lossless post here (not torrents though, please). I am always looking for more albums in that format. All my music is 16bit FLAC, minimum (except "2pac rares", but that is also a reason why I don't listen to them regularly - quality)

Also... I disagree (in the link above) that "your computer is a good DAC". Depends on the soundcard.

I personally hold all my music on a server. I then stream it using a streambox. Which connects to a decent DAC. Which connects to my stereo and my speakers. I have good speakers, but only bookshelf speakers. I will be upgrading to decent floor standers at some point. Very soon I am going to be swapping out my transistor amplifier for a tube amplifier.
 

dilla

Trumpfan17 aka Coonie aka Dilla aka Tennis Dog
I see. I do have an invite to What.cd if anyone needs one. I know you don't use torrents, but it would be near impossible for me to upload a several hundred MB file.

I'm anxious to try it out, but I don't have much I can compare it with.

And it sounds like I won't be able to put the high quality stuff on my iPod, either.


What would be the best balance between quality and diminishing returns on it? What format would be good for someone using computer speakers, car speakers, and the headphones that came with my GS3 to listen to music?
 

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