For Kendrick's next album, he has to work on the writing

[BodeineBrazy]

the grammy academy is comprised of old cacs who gave taylor swift album of the year

Was that the criticism when Lauryn and Biggie won. Kendrick dope. His style is HIS style. It's working great.

 

[Insensitive]

Yeah. Anyone who criticizes a media darling, is a cac

The thing is, this is coming from Napoleon who is :
The biggest Drake stan on the coli.
The stan of a rapper who exudes corporatism and white middle class interpretations
of "Blackness".
A rapper who speaks about "poverty" and "authenticity" while living a lifestyle largely in relative
comfort, especially in comparison to a rapper who grew up smack dab in the hood ie. Compton.

I mean for me, it's not that you criticize kendrick lamar, it's that what you offer as the alternative to
him is laughable and to deem them "Pro-black" is even more hysterical.

Hell, you could argue fukking Gucci Mane and the Migos have more real "pro-black" empowerment songs than Kendrick but I won't let ya'll have that just yet...

Except.....that isn't what Gucci Mane or the Migos represent, they haven't proclaimed to represent that and anyone who doesn't
have an agenda KNOWS that isn't what they're aiming for.
There's nothing empowering about being so wrapped up in european designer fashion that you name yourself after a
brand or you have hit songs devoted entirely to a clothing company.

In fact, I think it's embarrassing and is more often than not devoid of any real writing talent.
Knowing this, I still dab and have fun, I just don't pretend it's "deep" or try to elevate it to the same level of works that
attempt to show Hip-Hop as an artform and not music you won't play in a years time.

Some of ya'll get wrapped up in this jazz "protest music" vibe instead of really saluting artists talking about real shyt in ways that their peers can't even imitate.

Can we stop this already ? Kendrick is more Hip-Hop than he is "Jazz" and with exception of a few songs, he covers a whole lot more
than just "Protesting" or "Civil unrest".

Also since when is embracing one of the highest art forms of music on the planet that was/is largely pioneered by Black musicians
a "bad" thing ?
I can't love Ornette Coleman AND Jay-Z ? I can't like Wayne shorter AND Dr. Dre ? I can't love Pharoah Sanders AND Pharoah Monche ?

 

[Amestafuu (Emeritus)]

Kendrick could remove easily 40% of his content and still deliver the same message. His wordiness affects his performance art, and ultimately his "replayability."

Without production and choruses, Kendrick is severely lacking in the departments that draw fans to artists in the long term....and i'm not talking about his stans.

Sales charts and critic lists say otherwise. I disagree

 

[SirBiatch]

duckworths rambling and deflecting as usual

 

[pon]

He really isn't though.
A lot of basic shyt that Lupe does gets hyped up to disproportionate levels.
Dude has many more average displays of lyricism than exceptional ones.
I mean I remember Lupe stans saying Lasers had "exceptional lyricism" when
a lot of it was remarkably basic with the exception of a few tracks.

I don't buy into this myth that Lupe is levels above Kendrick Lamar or other equally impressive
rappers like Elzhi or Skyzoo. I'd suggest you guys listen to more Hip-Hop before you crown
Lupe as the end all, be all of lyricism and writing.

Lupe is not the be all and end to lyricism, but kendrick is not on that level, and you know what, its working for him

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

Sales charts and critic lists say otherwise. I disagree

do critics and sales dictate your own opinion?

 

[Insensitive]

Lupe is not the be all and end to lyricism, but kendrick is not on that level, and you know what, its working for him

I think he's easily on Lupe's level, they write in different styles which emphasize different things.

Kendrick murders Lupe when it comes to more complex rhythms while Lupe prefers
the good ol' one, two, three, four.
Kendrick tends to write seemingly solely for the concept rarely deviating while Lupe tends
to write in a style that's a little more traditional, throwing in metaphors/punchlines that instantly
dazzle.
When I look at both of their styles, I just see them as both high level but different.

**This is a simplistic breakdown of what I hear obviously, there's more too it than that.

 

[Amestafuu (Emeritus)]

All that dense language seems like a crutch to me. Damn near every rap artist in interviews talks about how they had to learn to stop trying to rely on crutches of being too wordy and evolve into being better writers.

TPAB was so excellent because it was consistently a Kamasi Washington/Terrace Martin affair. They know how to make the vibes mesh on there sonically...and easily 70% of Kendrick's lyrics are unintelligible. Even when he performs you can tell that dude lacks punchlines, serious metaphors, or any of the other traditionally expected wit of a artist of his ilk. Its my biggest criticism of him.

You know he's capable of it too. I heard him on Kanye's album and a few features where you know he can stop trying to be so wordy, let the beat breathe, and rely more on skill than magic hand-waving to carry him through the song

Hell, even a Lupe class on, "learning how to say more, with less," would help him. I dont want to see him turn into another Eminem relying on impressing white boys on how many words he can cram into a verse instead of what he's saying actually carrying the song's message, whatever that may be, along.

do critics and sales dictate your own opinion?

No but they show that he is reaching people without dumbing down as you are advocating to reach people

His career is great.. Save that advice for self.

 

[DamonDashsRocAFellaChain]

so essentially you want him to dumb down his lyrics?

 

[FS4LFE]

Drake Stan telling Kendrick he needs to work on writing

What a time...

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

so essentially you want him to dumb down his lyrics?

this implies that his lyrics are somehow the opposite of dumb.

They're just low quality in terms of efficiency.

If you let J Cole rap faster, you get Kendrick

 

[Enzo]

I always have this discussions with the homies who are so quick to call him King Kendrick. My response to them is always.. alright, name some bars then...
I'll wait.

LOL.. I think the new generation of rappers just don't put as much into what they say. Before, you couldn't waste a 16 whereas now, it's more on rhythm and beat so you may only need to have a couple bars and people calling your mediocre rhymes classic.

Rap just seems easy for the avg person to do nowadays. I never in my life thought i could rap like Nas or Prodigy or even Face or Cube.

Good thread though.

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

I always have this discussions with the homies who are so quick to call him King Kendrick. My response to them is always.. alright, name some bars then...
I'll wait.

LOL.. I think the new generation of rappers just don't put as much into what they say. Before, you couldn't waste a 16 whereas now, it's more on rhythm and beat so you may only need to have a couple bars and people calling your mediocre rhymes classic.

Rap just seems easy for the avg person to do nowadays. I never in my life thought i could rap like Nas or Prodigy or even Face or Cube.

Good thread though.

dudes really not getting it.