Welcome to Rap Roundtable, a new column where staff writers, Mickey White and Dan Vesper sit down with a new guest every two weeks to discuss five rap releases. This time, they are joined by Savannah State student Trisity Miller to discuss new releases by Earl Sweatshirt, Future, Action Bronson, Father, and Kendrick Lamar.
Earl Sweatshirt – I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside
Mickey: I liked it. It was the opposite of the Doris reaction for me. I was slow to warm up to that album, and it seemed like everyone loved it. I really like this one and think people will come around to it as the year goes on. Dan, I know you’re writing about it…
Dan: …yeah, we’ll see about that. I think it’s good, too. It’s pretty fresh. He’s so young and he’s on a whole new tip. I’d like to see him collaborate more, but what he’s doing by himself is amazing.
Trisity: I enjoyed the album, but with the change…I was really into the Earl/Tyler/Odd Future thing that it’s actually taking me awhile to get into [Earl Sweatshirt’s] albums. With Doris, it took me a good month or two to say I genuinely like this album. On the first listen with this latest one, I didn’t like it, but I knew it was going to take a few listens to get into it. I don’t want to call it dark, but it’s the complete opposite of Earl. I liked [I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside] because it was personal, but if you have never heard Earl, it would take some time to get into.
Mickey: Definitely. That is similar to the reception of the new Sufjan Stevens album…to your point, Dan, the features that were here were good. I liked that Wiki from Ratking has a feature here (“AM // Radio”).
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Future – 56 Nights
Dan: I listened to a bit of it and it’s alright, but not that great. There’s nothing to remember about it.
Mickey: It’s finally starting to turn a corner for me. I think that Future sounds revitalized on this mixtape run he’s on. I really like the middle section of this mixtape. If you took the highlights from Monster, Beast Mode, and 56 Nights, you have an ace mixtape.
Dan: He’s over-sharing. So is everybody, but I’ll take it. There is some good stuff on here, I agree.
Trisity: Well, it’s no Monster, but that’s not a bad thing, because I think Monster‘s a phenomenal mixtape. But it took me some time to get into Monster, it took me some time to get into Beast Mode, but this didn’t have any standout joints like “Fuck Up Some Commas”–songs that made me want to re-visit this mixtape.
Mickey: What about “March Madness”?
Trisity: It’s not that I don’t like it, but at the same time I didn’t like Monster when it came out. And now I’m shaking my head like, “what was I thinking?” This may be the same thing.
Mickey: It’s interesting that this mixtape run is coming off of what was, in my opinion, a disappointing album from him. The best songs on Honest were not because of what Future was doing, but what his guests were doing. “Move That Dope” might be the best rap song from last year, besides “Never Catch Me”.
Dan: I don’t know. There were some joints last year. There was that one with Young Thug and Freddie Gibbs and A$AP Ferg…
Trisity: “Old English”
Dan: Yeah, “Old English”. You should include a link to that shit.
Mickey: “Old English” was intriguing because you have three rappers converging at their creative peaks.
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Action Bronson – Mr. Wonderful
Dan: [makes fart sound] I just made a fart sound. That’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it.
Trisity: I liked the beginning. The middle’s rough with the singing thing. The Chance song is where it picks up. It’s a roller coaster for me, but I’ve never been a big Bronson fan. Despite his talent, I’ve never connected to his stuff. I like it enough that I would say, “Hey friend X, you should pick up this Bronson album.” But by the end of the year, I don’t know if I will be mentioning it among the albums of the year.
Dan: I think he and Gordon Ramsay need to start their own reality cooking show and at the end of the show (Action) should do a little rap about the food they made. And, other than that, I think he should stop rapping. I would like to hear him rap about the filet mignon he just made with Gordon Ramsay, though, that would be nice.
Mickey: You gotta eat the food first, then start rapping so he’d be out of breath like he is at his shows.
Dan: Yeah, he needs to be eating it while he’s rapping.
Mickey: [laughs] He’s rapping with a face full of food. “Hi, I’m Action Bronson and I spit hot brownies.”…Well, I think Mr. Wonderful is Bronson’s best. Like you, Tris, I have never been very celebratory of Bronson’s discography. I thought his best going into this was the Rare Chandeliers mixtape he did with The Alchemist. I’m also a fan of his stuff with Party Supplies. Aside from those two producers and a few of his notable features, he’s been average. Chance The Rapper returned the favor from “Nana” by providing a memorable feature on “Baby Blue” He has this show-stealing verse. I think Mr. Wonderful is a major label debut that succeeds by staying true to the artist’s aesthetic. Fitting all of his freewheeling personality into an album is the best thing he could have done.
Trisity: That’s the part I appreciate most. I hear these interviews on The Breakfast Club and when I hear these artists talk about their album, they make me want to listen more because they make it sound personal. That type of talk actually translates to this album. It feels like stuff he has done in the past, but he’s branching out to a bigger audience. I appreciate the album, but I don’t necessarily like it. Considering what we have heard this year, with all of these artists putting thought into their projects, I appreciate it.
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Father – Who’s Gonna Get Fucked First? (Full review here
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Trisity: I don’t know if I like Father yet, because the first tape had highlight after highlight–the wrist song was phenomenal–but this one is a much more mature album. I hate using that word, but that’s the only one I can think of. I either have to get used to his sound or I just have to stop listening to him. I enjoyed the album, but it’s a bit long for my liking. I give him props for making a good album and sticking to his sound.
Mickey: But it was like 30 minutes, though.
Trisity: But it sounds all the same to me. His style is like a robot rapping. It’s just different beats and it blends together after awhile.
Mickey: That description reminds me of Tree before his latest album.
Dan: I think if he took the best songs he made in the last 16 months, he’d have an amazing record. I think he’s trying to do what rappers do where they put out something every few months to stay relevant. All of the beats sound kind of same-y. It sounds like someone in their bedroom without a lot of money. If he had the same money Makonnen has behind him now, he might be doing better stuff.
Mickey: I liked this album. I think Father put a lot of sexual fervor into it. The Awful Records crew has more stuff out than I thought. There’s like 13 or 14 members and quite a few of them have put out projects this year. Father, having put out two projects in the last nine months seems rather tame considering them. The lyrics are great from Father and his features. Richposlim has a standout verse. After K-Dot, it’s my favorite rap album of the year.
Trisity: It’s great video game music and I say that as a complement.
Mickey: I’ve been out of video games since NCAA Football discontinued their series. I’d like to get into 2K, but I don’t want to spend $60 every time it comes out. My 14-year-old brother whoops my ass every time I play him.
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Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly (Full review here)
Trisity: This album was so sonically appealing to me, at first, that I ignored almost everything on the album. I’m just catching other things on the album, like on “How Much A Dollar Costs”, when he talks from two perspectives. I was just too into the music. The last time I’ve been too lost in the music on a rapper’s album was Kanye West’s Late Registration. Outside of that, it’s a great album. Just the details and time put into it–I respect it and that is what I like to see from my favorite artists.
Dan: It’s obviously incredible. It’s a convergence of hip-hop, soul, and jazz music at all times. It’s like there isn’t a single moment that isn’t fascinating. Even when there are moments that feel a little corny… I think it’s one of the best records ever made. It’s as good as D’Angelo’s record. There’s so much to say about it. You could write a dissertation about why he chose the sample he did at the beginning of the record. To my ears, it’s not even hip-hop a lot of the time, but jazz.
Mickey: You read what I had to say about the album and you know I love it. Going back to what I was reading on Twitter when it came out is that it didn’t go full-on funk, despite what we heard on “Wesley’s Theory” and “King Kunta”. When “King Kunta” dropped, I had to take some time to figure out whether I thought the background singers were whack or not…
Dan: You know that’s a reference to James Brown?
Mickey: Yes, but somethings don’t feel right in his hands.
Dan: I love it. This shit is bad as fuck. He references Michael Jackson and James Brown in the same song. It’s incredible. He uses the whole, “suddenly, girls like me cause I have money” trope, but also calls himself “King Kunta”. It’s amazing. The whole record is fabulous.
Trisity: Someone on Twitter said it sounds like a Suga Free song. Anything that sounds like Suga Free gets my vote, but the funk in those first few records…like why could we not get more of that? I needed more Thundercat. I needed more George Clinton.
Mickey: Thundercat’s all over To Pimp A Butterfly. But yes, there are multiple places where Suga Free could have dropped a great verse.
Trisity: Suga Free should be on every record.
Mickey: We could talk about how great Suga Free is for days, but the one thing that really caught my eye when he dropped the track list was the Rapsody feature. I’ve been following her since 2012 when she appeared on the last Murs & 9th Wonder album. In terms of straight emceeing, she’s probably Top 20.
Trisity: I agree.
Mickey: I love the turn this album makes around “Momma”, where it goes for dusty hip-hop. I love all of the turns the production makes on this album, because it justifies the 80-minute run time. Especially if you skip the Pac interview at the end. I think most listeners could grasp the album’s concept, which is important because Kendrick was trying to make an album that his target audience got. Kendrick Lamar’s aesthetic is this house of cards and this album could have easily been a failed experiment, but he really pulled this one off.
Dan: I don’t think this could have been a failed experiment. I think he is a musical genius and he will continue to make amazing music as long as he is alive. I think it’s interesting that you decided to talk about Rapsody, because I think all of the features here are amazing. Like he brought this rapper that virtually nobody has heard of, thrusts her into the spotlight, and now everyone knows her name. And Snoop Dogg. Who is more uncool than that guy? No one. And he killed it. Everyone he put on there was perfect.
Mickey: I don’t know how he got George Clinton on there.
Dan: The same way Dr. Dre got Roger from Zapp.
Mickey: Can we talk about this ghost-writer line on “King Kunta”? The best tweet I’ve read this year asks how Dre let Kendrick get away with that line? and “I wonder who Kendrick has ghostwritten for? *puts on Compton*”
Dan: I think that he’s acting there. Like, consider the shitty things that people say about Dre, like, “Fuck him, he had a ghostwriter.” (that line) came out empathy, I don’t think he’s going after Dre. That’s my take on it. I don’t think he’s talking shit about Dre.
Trisity: How is Kendrick in the presence of Dr. Dre and not once does he appear musically on this album? I thought the little quip at the beginning of the album was really cool, as it was his way of not forcing himself onto Kendrick as he has some of his past artists. But as a music fan, I love West Coast artists. Give me Dre somewhere. Jeez. There were so many amazing people on this album, like can we get a Bilal feature here, or Anna Wise there, or George Clinton for 10 more tracks. A lot of artists can’t balance their features like that, which is good for Kendrick. I wonder when do we put him in the Kanye West conversation of “can he make a bad album?”
Mickey: He made a bad album, it’s called Graduation.
(Dan and Trisity talk over each other)
Trisity: I can’t really put my finger on it, but I don’t really like Graduation like that. I go back to it from time to time, but it’s near the bottom of my Kanye list.
Dan: There’s some beautiful music on that record.
Mickey: Flying Lotus’ album from last year had a lot of these same people in the kitchen. Kamasi Washington, Thundercat, Kendrick, and Snoop are on that album. I love that this time around Kendrick Lamar has embraced the L.A. beat scene. I love that he shouts out Killer Mike. I love that Kendrick is getting involved with the right people.
Trisity: And how many rappers want to put in that time? Hanging out in the studio with Flying Lotus and Thundercat, feeding off each other. That takes time as opposed to bringing the producer in for him to lay down a beat. Like, it was Lil Wayne on “Star 67” who said, “I just go to the studio and do that.” I don’t know if these rappers want to take the time.
Mickey: And if they’re not on their A-game, those rappers are just going to be mediocre. It is what it is
Dan: But here’s the thing, in the past few weeks there’s been three amazing hip-hop albums. Which is to say, there’s a lot of rappers on their A-game … focused as a motherfucker right now.
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Prognosis:
Trisity
1. To Pimp A Butterfly
2. I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside
3. Who’s Gonna Get Fucked First?
4. 56 Nights
5. Mr. Wonderful
Dan:
To Pimp A Butterfly is the best. Who’s Gonna Get Fucked First? and I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside are also really good.
Mickey
1. To Pimp A Butterfly
2. Who’s Gonna Get Fucked First?
3. I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside
4. Mr. Wonderful
5. 56 Nights