Note to Self: Don't Ever Make Kendrick Lamar Angry/"Euphoria" Song Review

I previously wrote about how it seemed a lot of rappers were feuding, with the biggest, "Attraction," being Kendrick Lamar and Drake's beef. One big metaphorical volley of ammunition happened on April 19th. That date marked Drake releasing the diss track aimed at Lamrar, "Push-Ups." Then we all waited and waited...and waited for Lamar to respond. Usually, these lyrical fights move at a quick pace. Lamar did nothing, however. The clock was ticking for him to respond--would he let Drake have the last word? Well, as of today, April 30th, it is clear he would not.

Clocking in at just over six minutes, the track, "Euphoria," is Kendrick Lamar focusing all his rage onto Drake in a manner that with Lamar's skill results in something I don't think Drake can ever effectively counter. Lamar's response was worth the wait and feels less like faux-feud posturing than Lamar earnestly being pissed and outright declaring a hatred for Drake that is all-encompassing. With his rapid-fire delivery (over multiple beat-change ups, no less) Lamar gives us a scathing critique of Drake that paints him as a manipulative scam artist who needs to go back to acting and spend some time raising his son whom he denied for a period of time even existed. Give it a listen:

When Jay-Z and Nas had their big feud it ended with them coming together to collaborate. After, "Euphoria," I don't think Lamar and Drake will ever want to be in the same room together, let alone give us another team-up like, "Poetic Justice." Aside from seeming to accidentally confuse Haley Joel Osmet and Joel Osteen on his track, it is pure fire. I have made a note to myself to never make Kendrick Lamar angry, lest he unleash his vitriol on me in a musical manner I can never recover from.

5 out of 5 stars.

Jay-Z's 54th Birthday is Today and it Got Me Thinking About Rap Growing Older

Shawn Carter, or as he is also known, Jay-Z, turns 54 years old today. Hip-Hop was considered by many to turn 50 this year. A lot of rappers who once were young and edgy to the degree that parents protested them now are grandfathers who hang out with Martha Stewart (Snoop Dogg), popular mainstream movie or television stars (Ludacris, Ice Cube, Queen Latifah, Ice-T and more), or releasing instrumental albums dedicated to playing the flute and other woodwinds (Andre 3000, who outright has said he doesn't know what a 40-something man might rap about). 

There are plenty of young(er) rappers out there who are immensely talented, without a doubt. We've got Kendrick Lamar amazing listeners still. Drake is hugely popular too. That said, you see a stark generational divide in Hip-Hop between the new young folks rapping about the go-to subjects of partying and sex versus older rappers who either have quit for other passions or seem past their prime (Eminem belongs on a metaphorical rap Mount Rushmore but his newer stuff has been lacking). Dr. Dre is about a billionaire thanks to headphones. Uncle Luke of the 2 Live Crew maybe once was as nasty as he wanted to be, but now he's a high school football coach--and actually quite a good one! Rap isn't just young folks anymore, it has older talent too and arguably is a genre in a bit of a aged-up/midlife crisis.

Rap can be about drinking, smoking weed, having sex, and being a troublemaker. Rap can be about politics, life's struggles, religion, and being true to oneself. For a long time outside of some gimmick rappers, however, I don't think rap ever really thought about dealing with the subject of getting old. The idea was to live fast and die young, and that tragically did happen with a number of Hip-Hop stars. That said, Lil Kim arguably paved the road for today's raunchy lady rappers who proudly will discuss sexual subjects, but she's now almost 50 and while older folks surely have sex, she's dealing with other aspects of life like (unfortunately) trouble with the IRS. 

Rappers are getting older and so are their fans. Can someone in their 30s relate to Sexyy Red as much as the younger folks or do we need the older rappers to touch on subjects relating to us being older? I'm not saying Andre 3000 should finally release a rap album with a track about getting a prostate exam, but just as rap has covered a wide range of subjects, why not touch upon what it is like being middle-aged? Jay-Z once rapped about selling drugs to get by, now he can rap about being a parent. He's grown and parts of rap have grown too. There will always be space for the younger rappers and the subjects the teens/20-somethings want covered. Let's give some space to the older folks too.

"If I Get Caught," by DVSN is the Most Toxic-Yet-Catchy Song I've Heard Lately

DVSN is an R&B duo. They're singer Daniel Daley and producer Nineteen85. They are Canadian gents and signed to a label Drake (who has his own controversies) created, OVO Sound. They have a new song that is incredibly catchy and possibly one of the most toxic portrayals of a relationship ever. Titled, "If I Get Caught," it is basically about a man insisting that even if his lady catches him cheating, "That don't mean I don't love you." He also insists that she knew how he was when she met him and if she breaks up the relationship over his affair/affairs it is really her fault. It's about a man basically gaslighting a woman and even DVSN has acknowledged how awful the idea of the song is and that they are telling a story as opposed to endorsing the message of the lyrics. Still, the song slaps. Have a listen:

I'm not sure if it is the Jay-Z sample of, "Song Cry." The bassline, or how Daley croons so well, but, "If I Get Caught," is incredibly catchy and I have found myself humming it off and on these past few days since first hearing it. Jay-Z acknowledged it had a great sound but wanted to make sure it everyone knew he thought it was toxic. It is undoubtedly a song expressing an unhealthy view on relationships, but it also is fun to sing with. Just don't sing it with too much gumption or else your partner might get angry at you, as one commenter on YouTube said happened.

Flashback Friday: OutKast Edition Volume 6: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below

Intro

Andre was mostly tired of rapping. Big Boi wasn't. They were working together on some songs but both had a bunch of stuff they had done by themselves. Instead of making two solo albums, however, it was decided to release a double album. That resulted in OutKast's biggest album ever and the best OutKast album that kind of isn't an OutKast album at the same time.

Speakerboxxx/The Love Below

September 23rd, 2003 marked the release of this beast of an album. 39 tracks if you count the interludes/skits. It was an astounding enterprise that almost everyone loved. It is one of the very small numbers of rap albums to win, "Album of the Year," from the Grammys, not that the Grammys really matter as we've all discussed. Big Boi's, "Side," of the LP, "Speakerboxx," is more southern hip-hop goodness we are accustomed to with a great blend of party-rap and conscious-rap. Andre 3000 gives us something quite different with, "The Love Below," though. A surreal blend of poppy rock, jazz, funk, a dollop of rapping, and tons of sonic experimentation, "The Love Below," is jam-packed with amazing tracks as well as ones that aren't always astounding, but always interesting.

On, "Speakerboxxx," the album starts (after a little intro) with the wildly fast, "Ghetto Music," and only rarely slows down on that track to let you catch your breath. After that is my favorite song on the whole album, "Unhappy." It reflects on the difficulties of life Big Boi faced growing up but how his family always persevered through it. "Bowtie," happens and is snazzy, then Big Boi's first big single from the LP, "The Way You Move," is just a pure delight with Sleepy Brown's crooning contribution sealing the deal. Next, we get a solid mix of songs I won't detail as they are enjoyable but don't stand out in my mind a ton. That is, until, "Flip Flop Rock," with Jay-Z and Killer Mike just bringing the house down with Big Boi as they are accompanied by some fantastic piano riffs, beats, and guitar strumming. The late-album song, "Reset," is a delight too, and then after a few more tracks, the album wraps. Well, Big Boi's half concludes, in some ways we are just getting started as now it is time for, "The Love Below."

"The Love Below," opens with a lush orchestral score and Andre singing softly and beautifully. It lets you know you're in for something quite different than other OutKast albums. We segue into, "Love Hater," which is just a jazzy and energetic treat and after the, "God," interlude we have one of the small numbers of tracks Andre does rap on, "Happy Valentine's Day," a song about a modern-day cupid who is a little disaffected by love. It is a stellar track.  After the raunchy, "Spread," and another little skit we get to an absolutely stacked lineup mid-album. The endearing, "Prototype," about falling in love, "She Lives in My Lap," which discusses falling out of love, "Hey Ya!" and its discussion of messy relationships and, "Roses," with its angry thoughts on a just-ended relationship. 

All of those songs are absolute bangers and, "Hey Ya!" dominated the radio for quite some time. After that mid-album assortment of masterpieces, the rest of the LP is solid. It takes till the end of the album for more amazing stuff to appear, however. We have a short little song, "Take Off Your Cool," sung with a just-starting-to-get-hugely-popular Norah Jones, the surreal and experimental, "Vibrate." The album closes with a long monologue-rap on, "A Life in the Day of Benjamin André (Incomplete)," where Andre 3000 starts to tell the story of how OutKast started. It is immensely listenable and gets up to around the release of the 2nd album, "ATLiens," or so. I still hope we get more of this story in the future as Andre even labels it, "Incomplete," in the tracklist.

Conclusion

"Speakerboxx/The Love Below," is an amazing double LP. Is it, "Truly," an OutKast album? I would say yes but feel free to have your own opinion. It sold tons of copies, won a bunch of awards, and could've been the perfect final album from OutKast. It wasn't though. We got one more release in the form of, "Idlewild," a flawed but beautiful work. I'll discuss, "Idlewild," in my final post of this segment next week.