quote:

Originally posted by lyno123:
Who are these rappers your talking about?? Maybe im just too commercially involved oh well.

You mean like Nas...

Since it looks like Lil' Wayne is the huge hip-hop breakout hit this year, I suppose it has been underwhelming overall. His lyrics are so predictable. All he talks about is how great he is and how much weed he smokes. That's so typical, yet Rolling Stone even thinks he is the greatest rapper alive. Bollocks.

quote:

Originally posted by Filmore Mescalito Holmes:
Since it looks like Lil' Wayne is the huge hip-hop breakout hit this year, I suppose it has been underwhelming overall. His lyrics are so predictable. All he talks about is how great he is and how much weed he smokes. That's so typical, yet Rolling Stone even thinks he is the greatest rapper alive. Bollocks.

I think you mean to say that his content is predictable, not his lyrics. Wayne is a pretty versatile rapper if you get into all the neat things he's starting to do with cadence and delivery. I think even his content has diversified quite a bit since, say, Lights Out or even the first Carter.

Anyway, I think you guys might want to not automatically ignore any record coming out of mainstream hip-hop. Bun B put out a fantastic record earlier this year. II Trill is sonically consistent, the beats are fantastic, and Bun's songwriting ability has really grown over the last few years. I would strongly encourage checking this one out for anyone that is disappointed with 2008 to date.

Killer Mike just released, yesterday in fact, I Pledge Allegiance to the Grind II. Killer Mike split with Outkast a couple years back, and his work has only gotten stronger. The new album is incredible, but if you've never heard Killer Mike you can check out the unreleased album he did under Organized Noize for free:

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.6167/title.free-d...ghetto-extraordinary

"Get on my level/You can't get on my level/You will need a space shuttle/Or a ladder that's forever."
This is the line Rolling Stone gives as proof that the greatest rapper of 2008 is Lil' Wayne. I find this to be incredibly predictable on all levels, since ever rapper since the beggining of time has said words to that effect and the last two lines show no imagination. Sorry.

Hey, whether you like it or not, the introductory track on the Carter III is ILL. I used to be a hater but he is indeed a unique rapper, and although he IS wack, his delivery actually makes it interesting. Also the best verse I heard this year is Kanye's on the Lollipop Remix.. everyone should hear it it's legendary.

And yeah, I think the Bun B > Lil Wayne, partly because the last few tracks on the Bun B are hella tight as well. The production is spacious yet relentless at the same time. Other than that, there has just been the Roots and that's about it for rap this year. But you know what? Who cares? Just use this drought as a chance to catch up on old hip hop that you've probably missed out on..

quote:

Originally posted by Filmore Mescalito Holmes:
"Get on my level/You can't get on my level/You will need a space shuttle/Or a ladder that's forever."
This is the line Rolling Stone gives as proof that the greatest rapper of 2008 is Lil' Wayne. I find this to be incredibly predictable on all levels, since ever rapper since the beggining of time has said words to that effect and the last two lines show no imagination. Sorry.

You have pretty poor reading comprehension. I have that issue of rolling stone and that line isn't intended to just prove that he's the greatest rapper ever. Think about that. How would one line, no matter how great, ever prove that? It's ridiculous. No where does it say that that's the greatest line ever or anything similar.

I'm not really going to take this any further because we're basically having two one-sided conversations, but it's pretty silly to dismiss an artist as predictable because of one line. It sounds like you just don't like him and aren't ever going to and that's ok by me.

quote:

Originally posted by MightyOrnery:
You have pretty poor reading comprehension. I have that issue of rolling stone and that line isn't intended to just prove that he's the greatest rapper ever.

Rolling Stone review
It's online too, you know. They use that line to "establish beyond a doubt that the zeitgeist in 2008 belongs to one artist: a dreadlocked dadaist poet from New Orleans with a bad weed habit and a voice like a bullfrog." It's only one of three quotes they used and none were remotely good. As such, I'm not convinced he is the greatest rapper alive. Don't question my reading skills.
-------------------------
"As I put the light down his throat/I can only see flow/His blood's starting to flow/His lungs starting to grow."
Wow, rhyming "flow" with "flow"... he's a genius.
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"Next time you mention Pac, Biggie or Jay-Z/Don't forget Weezy Baby,"
If you have to say this, it's not true. You might as well just say you're Jesus.

Alright, I will do one more go-around.

First, you're right, I shouldn't question your reading skills. It's petty. Sorry.

Second, that quote you pulled is talking about the sentence before it. Whoever wrote the article thinks Tha Carter III, as an album, proves Wayne is the best rapper alive. I don't agree, but when he quotes that line he only does so to say he agrees with Lil Wayne. Look at it again.

"Still, Tha Carter III is useful as an exclamation point. It [This has to refer to Tha Carter III, it wouldn't make sense to reference the quote before giving the quote] establishes beyond a doubt that the zeitgeist in 2008 belongs to one artist: a dreadlocked dadaist poet from New Orleans with a bad weed habit and a voice like a bullfrog. As Wayne croaks in the woozy "3Peat," "Get on my level/You can't get on my level/You will need a space shuttle/Or a ladder that's forever."

The two quotes he pulled aren't meant to showcase the best lines from the CD. The one from Dr. Carter is there because it's an example of the humor the author sees in the song.

The last one is, as the guy writes, another example of Wayne being confident in himself that he is one of the best ever. And, Jay-Z put his name in best ever consideration by saying he was the best ever, why can't Wayne? I don't recall people really saying Jay-Z was the best rapper alive/ever until HE started saying it before the Black Album.

quote:

Originally posted by MightyOrnery:
Second, that quote you pulled is talking about the sentence before it. Whoever wrote the article thinks Tha Carter III, as an album, proves Wayne is the best rapper alive. I don't agree, but when he quotes that line he only does so to say he agrees with Lil Wayne. Look at it again.

I did. I've read the review several times. So what? It's a retarded line that doesn't back up his claim. When you say "such and such proves he's the greatest of all time," you'd think you would follow that up with proof. The proof the author offers us is "a ladder that's forever." As the reader, I'm not convinced.

quote:

Originally posted by MightyOrnery:
The one from Dr. Carter is there because it's an example of the humor the author sees in the song.

It's also a boast on how Wayne is resuscitating hip-hop back to life. Somehow I don't think rhyming "flow" with "flow" is going to save anything. As a showing of humor, it also fails.

quote:

Originally posted by MightyOrnery:
Jay-Z put his name in best ever consideration by saying he was the best ever, why can't Wayne?

He can do that fine. It just proves how unoriginal Wayne is. The only proof the review gives me is he has a limited imagination (a ladder that's forever), poor vocabulary (flowflowflowflow), and bites the styles of more popular rappers.

All told, I don't hate or even dislike Wayne. I merely know that he's not an exceptional talent in any way. He's completely run-of-the-mill. He's a good interview, has a sense of humor about himself, but his rhymes say nothing new and his beats are standard. The fact even Rolling Stone is buying into his "best rapper" hype is a sad statement on the industry today.

The line isn't supposed to back up the reviewer's claim. What he said was that Tha Carter III, the album, the one Wayne just released, the whole thing, that album proved that Lil Wayne was the greatest rapper alive just like Wayne says he is. The line is just an example of Wayne saying he is the best.

Why would you look to three quotes in a review to prove x y or z about Wayne anyway. 3 quotes cannot sum up an album. Any Album. Ever.

Okay, but Lil' Wayne is pretty overrated. I mean, I like some of his tracks, his new album is actually pretty mediocre. I'll like pretty much anything by Wayne, but the album is very inconsistent and a step down from da drought 3.

quote:

Originally posted by Mike Angelo:
Okay, but Lil' Wayne is pretty overrated. I mean, I like some of his tracks, his new album is actually pretty mediocre. I'll like pretty much anything by Wayne, but the album is very inconsistent and a step down from da drought 3.

Co-sign. All his albums are inconsistent, though. Of all his records only Lights Out and Tha Carter are good from start to finish.

Anyway, Check out Bun B's II Trill. It's a great album. Wayne's verse on "Damn I'm Cold" is more creative than anything on the Carter III.

And if you like rap at all you have to check Killer Mike's new album, Pledge Allegiance to the Grind II. I've had some more time to listen to it and it will no doubt be one of the best albums out this year. I can't think of anything I've heard so far this year that matches it.

For real. Get that Killer Mike. Here's a review...

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/reviews/id.973/title.kill...ance-to-the-grind-ii

quote:

Originally posted by MightyOrnery:
The line is just an example of Wayne saying he is the best.

And as an example of how witty and humorous Wayne can be when he's saying he's the best, it's an epic fail. Thus, it seriously puts in doubt the claim that he is the best rapper of all time, let alone the actual average album start to finish.
For example, if I say I'm the best Metacritic forum rapper of all time and follow that with "I'm the greatest ever / my dick goes on forever / my wife's name is Heather / and her face is made of leather / I like fruit leather", you probably aren't going to go back through my entire post record to get a feel for my claim. You can get a good sense of my style right there. And yet, you'd think I'd follow that claim with an example of something good I wrote. Isn't the point of writing, in general, to back up what you say and be as convincing as possible? This is Rolling Stone, not a blog. I expect more from them (or, at least, I used to).

quote:

Originally posted by Filmore Mescalito Holmes:
For example, if I say I'm the best Metacritic forum rapper of all time and follow that with "I'm the greatest ever / my dick goes on forever / my wife's name is Heather / and her face is made of leather / I like fruit leather"

HAhaha. I'm convinced. Best Metacritic forum rapper of all time.

Actually, I'm the Metacritic GOAT.

I'm the greatest you know/I flow like a dead crow/Down a river flows/a whale's blowhole blows/the wind blows/a tree grows/come to my shows/uh-huh-huh

The place this conversation has gone is further proof of 2008's failure. Nobody can buck the topic of Lil Wayne (either sucking or ruling).

I actually disagree. Instrumental hip-hop has been banging this year and there are about 5-10 good to great traditional hip hop albums around. In addtion, Atmosphere released two stellar albums this year. Isn't that enough for you people?

quote:

Originally posted by Mike Angelo:
I actually disagree. Instrumental hip-hop has been banging this year and there are about 5-10 good to great traditional hip hop albums around. In addtion, Atmosphere released two stellar albums this year. Isn't that enough for you people?

I've been trying to get into more instrumental music of all genres. The main site doesn't review much of it so I'd love it if you gave me some artists/albums (Of absolutely any genre) to check out. You can PM me or whatever if you feel it wouldn't be appropriate to talk about non hip hop as well.

I'm also curious about Instrumental Hip-Hop. It sounds like something I would be interested in. My major turn off to Hip-Hop is the attitude, arogance, and sexism that comes out in the lyrics.

You should check Blue Sky Black Death's Late Night Cinema. That's my fave instrumental hip-hop album of the year.