Album of the Month 2015

Am I the only one who felt slightly underwhelmed by the new Kendrick? It is a good album and I'll give a few more listens, but honestly just from this year, I liked both Joey Badass and Ghostface + BBNG more upon the first listen. I will say that I wasn't a huge Kendrick fan before this album, and it didn't really do much to change that. I like him, but don't love him.

What is it specifically you don't like about it?

Lyrically it just didn't blow me away, and this may sound weird, but I'm not a huge fan of Kendrick's voice/accent. I don't know, something about his voice is just slightly off to me. Other than that, I never really got those goosebump raising, chill inducing "Oh Shit!" moments. Like I said, I enjoyed it but just not to the extent that most everyone else did.

To build upon what AllPlay said:

I think that people tend to have two different views on what makes something "lyrical" (in hip-hop at least). To some, lyricism is about building the most ridiculous metaphors (Lupe) or off-the-wall wordplay (Lil' Wayne). To others, lyricism is about delivering a message effectively. Lil' Wayne can spit some crazy (if inane) wordplay ("G's move in silence like lasagna"), but isn't really great and saying anything worth hearing. Great, you're a drugged-up rich gangsta. Cool. To take a step up in quality, Lupe is the cream of the crop in his use of metaphor and wordplay ("Dumb it Down") and does so with impeccable flow - however, one of his drawbacks is that his lyrics (aside from being alienatingly preachy at times) can be so complex that a little bit of his message is lost in the translation. They become fogged in complexity. Part of what gets perceived is "Wow, that was an incredibly clever verse" instead of "I really feel what he's saying here". If Lupe had better beat selection, a better label, a toned down his overly-flashy lyricism and soapboxiness, I think his career could have had a much better trajectory...but I digress.

The best lyrics, in my opinion, are the ones that use imagery, wordplay, and metaphor that add to the emotion or message instead of taking away from it. For example, in Outkast's "Ms. Jackson" - "I pray about it so much I need some knee pads". This is creative imagery that adds to what Andre is saying in a way that enhances the lyric - it makes it more powerful. Or from Nas: "I'm out for presidents to represent me (Say what?)/I'm out for dead presidents to represent me." Here Nas uses the dual meaning of presidents (the leader of the US/money) to say that power lies with those with the money. It's powerful and creative, and doesn't require jumping through the hoops that Lupe sometimes offers.

On TPAB, Kendrick isn't going for overly metaphorical individual lines. Instead, he is using the album itself - the unfamiliar structures of individual songs, the chronology of the songs in the album, the discordant sounds and frenetic jazz influence - as a metaphor for his story as a Black man rising to fame in America, and the responsibilities and regrets that come with that journey. I believe he channeled his creativity more into the foundation of the album as a complete work of art than into individual lyrics and songs. He still uses metaphor and wordplay ("Bitch everything is your fault/Faults breakin' to pieces, earthquakes on every weekend/Because you shook as soon as you knew confinement was needed", from "u") to convey aspects of what he's saying, but ultimately he wants the delivery of his message to be crystal clear - "And if I told your secrets/The world'll know money can't stop a suicidal weakness". While his lyrics on this album may appear to lack fancy-shmancy wordplay, they more than make up for it in conciseness and delivery. And that's exactly what Kendrick wanted. He can be Lil' Wayne-lyrical if he wants ("Nosetalgia"), but that would not serve what he is trying to do here. In terms of using this album and its lyrics to convey something powerful, Kendrick delivered - and he delivered in a big way.

TL;DR: This album is lyrical as fuck shut yo mouth

Kendrick definitely hasn't locked up this month for me. The album is a chore to get through. It's lyrical. It's produced amazingly. It's "important." But I'm feeling it less than I expected. Maybe its because I'm a privileged white male who enjoys a chorus from time to time. Been relistening to D'Angelo's Black Messiah in the wake of TPAB and really would pick it to listen to 9 times out of 10.

I could totally love it in a month though! And I'm sure the show will be nuts at Roo. Just right now, the hyperbole is actually a turn off.

I haven't listened to Laura Marling yet. That Sufjan is beautiful though. It's really grown on me a lot. Courtney Barnett's got one listen from me so far but I need to give it another shot. I totally forgot GYBE was this month too.

The new Courtney Barnett is the best thing I've heard from this month so far.

Right now it's between:
Goon - Tobias Jesso Jr
Sometimes I Sit and Think and Sometimes I Just Sit - Courtney Barnett

Still Need to Listen to for this month:
Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell
Lightning Bolt - Fantasy Empire
Twin Shadow - Eclipse

I listen to a lot of hip hop. It's a very good album but it's definitely at least a little bit overhyped. I think it's getting huge scores from people who don't listen to stuff outside of mainstream hip hop, because it definitely blows that stuff out of the water. A lot of people are overstating the social implications because it parrots their own opinions, even though he made valid criticisms of that same belief system. Additionally, some of his lyrics and/or delivery are corny/annoying (i.e., "booboo", and the helium voice, that was especially grating to my ears).

Every album has positives and negatives and, all in all, Kendrick's new album is definitely top-tier for hip hop. I appreciate the direction with the production and I have to commend Kendrick's ambition though I don't think some ideas were completely fleshed out. If every radio rapper was as talented as him, we'd all be better off. GKMC had 8-10 great songs (so did Section.80, imo), TPAB only has 5-7 IMO. I wouldn't say it's a step backwards from GKMC even though it's not as consistently good. It's more like a step to the side to a place he hasn't fully grown comfortable yet. I'd still say it will end up being a top 5 rap album at the end of the year. It's good shit.

It could very well end up as my AOTM but I still need to do a lot of listening to some new albums that have dropped recently. I really love Of Montreal's new record, though, and I have a feeling that will end up being my vote.

Laura Marling, Courtney Barnett and Action Bronson all leaked within the last day or so

All three have hand drawn album art on a white background.

Weird.

Soooo... TPaB isn't really that great y'all. I've listened about 7 times so far. Still not clicking like GK,MC or Section 80 did.

Easily the most overhyped album that I can recall off the top of my head. People are hailing this shit as the greatest ever. Spin gave it a 10/10. But why? Nothing here is new or special. This isn't going to revolutionize hip-hop like everyone is saying. Kudos to Kendrick for changing and doing something new, but imo it just didn't quite work.


Right now Sufjan is the clear winner for me.

Oh fuck right off with this mate. I didn't 'want' anything other than a good album. I don't 'need' shit.

No one is arguing with the albums message. People here are criticizing the conveyance of the message. He's not the first to use production like this. He's not the first to use jazz/funk/soul. He's not the first to rhyme and flow like that. He isn't even the best at it. It's a good album yeah, but dude if you legitimately think this album is a completely perfect 10/10 you're just buying into the massive hype train.

This sound has been around for a minute. These themes have been talked about before. The only reason this is so hyped is because it's Kendrick and he's the most mainstream rapper to do it thus far.

In my opinion it has some great songs (King Kunta is excellent, u is great, TBTB of course is a standout), but as a whole album it doesn't stand up to his previous efforts. Honestly I've been enjoying Sour Soul more as far as recent hip-hop releases go.

If you ain't feelin' it like K.Dot's other shit, then that's aight. Music touches some people and others not as much. I on the other hand think TPAB is hip-hop's benchmark album. To me, it has defined a new level of excellence for the genre, and it will be a long LONG time before it's bested by another project. Believe that.

But does it redefine the genre, as you thought it might? No. You're correct in that, but not for the reasons you think. To believe that this album will revolutionize hip-hop and bring on some massive sea change in sound and lyrical content is a bit naive to me. And that's not because TPAB lacks anything or fails to push the envelope far enough. (In fact, I think TPAB pushes all the boundaries and accomplishes it beautifully.) It's because the current narrative in hip-hop is deeply invested in tales of consumer culture, materialism, hyper sexism, partying, drug overdosing, and insular pettiness. Those narratives sell better than more heady or cerebral narratives. One great album ain't gonna change that in the slightest.

So, some people get TPAB and some people don't. Some people, like me, are praising it like a gift from the gods, and others are just meh. But I think that's good because it's so polarizing, which I think great music is supposed to do. 

A part of me also questions how you rate hip-hop if you're more into Sour Soul than TPAB. I've been a Wu fan since the 90s, and I love Ghostface. But Sour Soul, in my opinion, is overrated and didn't live up lyrically or creatively. Sonically, it was beautiful. But after listening like 10 times, most of it felt like a dud, uninspired, uninteresting, and unsatisfying.

I think the freneticness of it was part of the point. The issues he's bringing up don't have cut & dry answers and those championing the cause (including himself) have issues of their own. He's not telling a story with this one he's wrestling with the issues at the same time he's trying to figure out how to fix them. It's a really cool presentation IMO.

I still don't know if it will be my album of the month because this month has absolutely rocked.