Strange Famous

Is anyone believing the hype?

I think from what I heard so far, he is ok, he's certainly probably the best rapper signed to the Roc - not that that would be hard I guess. I mean, Beanie can be kinda funny sometimes with his thug persona I suppose...

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"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

Mephex

What ?

Esoteric

Kanye is dope imo. He's a great producer and a good rapper. His album is one of my favorite atm. I don't think he's the best rapper signed to the Roc though, heh.

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Made a date with Divinity, but she wouldn't let me fuck
I got touched by a hazy shaded, God help me change
Caught a rush on the floor from the life in my veins

Strange Famous

The way he is being hyped is that he is standing between the mainstream and the underground - without being a lame thug rapper like Fiddy, and without being a Sage Francis backpacker type of rapper... which I guess is kind of where you would put Canibus for example too.

I like his flow, he has a nice laid back style, and his lyrics arent stupid, but then again I dont think he is lyrically on a level of the people he could be compared to... Canibus, JMT, Warcloud, BCC etc etc

I guess the problem is that when you try to be an inbetweener it is as easy to get lost as to be all things to everyone... but I would definitely rather listen to Kayne than Beanie or Cam'ron or Jigga (although Nas retired him I guess)

__________________
"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

World's King

He sounded better with his jaw wired shut.

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heavy is the head that wears the crown

wordssmith22

i don't think i've heard anyone compare him to Canibus or JMT. comparing 50 Cent and Sage Francis as the two reps for mainstream and underground oversimplifies the situation, though i doubt that was exactly as you inteded it to be. sure you have anticon and def jux that appeal to a crowd that would not be caught dead listening to ja rule (and with good reason too), but there's still another subgroup of underground, i'm thinking rawkus during its golden era or okayplayer now. canibus and jmt aren't really in the same category as rawkus, but they are really more underground than in-between.

as for kanye west, i like the guy's production, his lyrics are nothing stellar but nothing to really gripe against (though it always bothers me when in the song "through the wire" he says something like 'thank god for the safe belt' why not just say safety belt??). considering th number of albums he pushed in his first week, i'd group him in the mainstream category. what he's being hyped as is ushering in the new conscious stream of thought into mainstream, which isn't completely new, but it's a fresh breath of air anyways.

i suppose my biggest problem with kanye is he acts pretty damn arrogant. i mean, not to say that braggadacio doesnt have it's place in hip hop, but it just annoys me when he says he's had the best debut album since illmatic. is college dropout better than black on both sides? no. and i bet jay-z would be mad about that, wasnt reasonable doubt released after 94?

jay-g

He's not suppose to be the new 2pac or anthing like that. Other than his rapping ablities, i think he joined r.o.c. for his producing and vision. He's pretty good, but the other chitown rapper is better, Twista. And btw, what hype would that be? I thought it was normal new rapper, with a regular record release.

wordssmith22

well, as far as chitown rappers go, Common beats them all. and yeah, he never really was signed because he was god's gift of gab, he was signed because of his production skills, probably like just blaze.

jay-g

Common is pretty good. But Do or Die and Twista is alittle better. As a artist, i think R Kelly even has him beat.

docbungle

Comparing Kayne West to Common? Give me a break. Common kills him a thousand times over. Kayne West is just more of the same. There's nothing original there. Common is lyricaly insane. Since 'Can I Borrow a Dollar?' he has been original, thought-provoking and kept his integrity. Kayne West is radio music. Pop rap.

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Bad Luck City

wordssmith22

^^^

man speaks the truth! spit something for the kids! twista doesn't cut it for me, i feel that his speed is a gimmick to draw attention away from poor lyrics. if you want to hear someone who can spit as fast (or even faster?) as him with the content in check, listen to tonedeff.

however, i'm not sure to what extent i would label kayne west as pop rap. sure, he's got some poppish singles, but come on, when's the last time you heard something like "all falls down" on the radio? that's a good song with a good messge in my opinion

saut

I've heard the album, and I am not impressed. Most of it sound like the 2-bit manufactured shit that's already overcrowding the pop-culture airwaves. I'll take J-5 or A Tribe Called quest over Kanye any day of the week.

SAM821

I just recently got to hear his album and I really like it... Good stuff!

H12

I'm gonna get the album next chance I get..."All Falls Down" and "Through The Wire" are great listens. Also, does anyone know if "Slow Jamz" is on Kanye's or Twista's CD?

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--Aristotle

wordssmith22

i think they're on both. for sure, it's on kanye's.

diddagirl

I love Kanye. I havent been able to to stop listening to his cd since it came out.

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backwash

Kanye is the best thing to happen to commerical rap, but when it comes to real underground hip hop, he sucks

jay-g

What "underground" rapper wouldnt want to go mainstream/commercial. To make the big bucks, isnt thatwhat they all strive for. Dont be all proud, because you listen to music that no one has heard, or you have to be from the same city, as them, to hear of the rapper.

stdoug323

Kanye West's CD is one of my favorites right now. I think he is very talented b/c he is more than just a rapper too. He also writes and produces.

buclao

This is a hot cd. "Jesus Walks" and "Two Words" are the best songs on the cd. The skits are hilarious too.

docbungle

I believe the point that was being made is that Kayne West doesn't have a lot of "content" or intellectual stimuli in his music, which is most often what we find in most commercial music or "radio music." He's just another rapper that made it big. The right connections and all. Some of us like a little bit of thought involved in our entertainment, and, for me at least, Kayne West doesn't supply that.

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Bad Luck City

more fire

kanye's a talented guy.
ignore the hype around him and actually listen to his music

backwash

[QUOTE]Originally posted by jay-g
[B] What "underground" rapper wouldnt want to go mainstream/commercial. To make the big bucks, isnt thatwhat they all strive for. Dont be all proud, because you listen to music that no one has heard, or you have to be from the same city, as them, to hear of the rapper.

I dont care how popular he is, he doesnt have rapping skills, and his beats are weak. There arent any skilled commercial rappers that are being played regularly on the radio. Kanye is just the closest lately. Ive heard his cd several times and its ok, but he doesnt deserve all the publicity and money he is getting.

Grimlok

Kanye isn't a rapper... he's a producer. He's not the dopest lyricist around and I've never heard him claim to be. Right now though... he has the Missy Elliot Touch... I remember when she first came out, everthing her annoying little laugh was on went platinum... he's the same way. Missy has grown over the years musically but her roots are still writing and producing. Her first album is forgettable and now she's found her niche on the club scene. I think as Kanye grows, so to will his lyrics... and if anything his production skills will improve.

(you see... i had to back up from saying his lyrics would improve after thinking about P'Diddy... another Producer turned rapper)

Lay off of Kanye and judge him when his third album comes out.

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wordssmith22

how is he not a rapper? i don't get it.

SpikeQX99

Just bought the album and I'm really enjoying it. I like the Workout song. Don't have it near me or I would get the real name, but that's a catchy song for sure!

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H12

I got into this thread to say almost exactly the same thing. The song's called "The New Workout Plan", and it's a fun song to listen to, heh.

__________________
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit."
--Aristotle

SpikeQX99

"give head, stop...Breathe, get up check yo' weave"

Classic lyrics if I've ever heard any!!

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Strange Famous

RA The Rugged Man?

__________________
"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

jay-g

Listen to whoever you want, its all good.

Strange Famous

I mean, I heard that RA spent his whole promotion budget on hookers... I dont know if its just hype, but he doesnt really come across as someone who is aiming for the mainstream.

__________________
"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

Kush

I'm loving the album. There's no hype for it over here, the exception being Slow Jamz reaching quite high in the charts, but otherwise there's not much commotion. I can definately relate to the messages in a few tracks, which is refreshingly rare. It's nothing stellar, but i think its flaws (bloated tracklist, guest star overload, lyrical paradoxes) only help make Kanye West all the more personable as an artist.

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TonySpilotro

Nuff respect to The Chi, coming at you even harder in 2004-05, with Kanye leading the way...

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