got bored, here we go
got around to this today, good stuff. casual and breeze brewin
realised probably 7 of my top 10 from the year are all one rapper + one producer albums
is this a thing thatâs become much more common/better lately? or is it just a quirk I happen to prefer
Definitely has become more of a thing in recent years. Post early to mid 90s it basically died a death and everyone was always talking about inconsistency of multi-producer records and why doesnât X rapper do a full project with Y producer without it ever happening.
In many ways, a lot of your boom bap/jazz rap set are really honing in on an ideal of 90s rap that never quite existed, including that one producer/one rapper ideal, which was in practice kinda scarce. I also think that a certain type of artist, making a certain type of hip hop, knows it ainât gonna blow up and that thereâs no point littering their album with different beats from different producers, or attempts at different styles of tracks (the club track, the one for the ladies etc. like they used to), if thatâs not their vibe.
Similarly people used to say, why donât people just put out albums with 10/11 tracks rather than filling them with bloat, like Illmatic, and now there are about a dozen underground hip hop albums a week like that (but normally still without the quality control).
Definitely get this sense from your CRIME, YOD etc. Means that their fans get a lot of what they are into though rather than stylistically inconsistent stuff, so even if the fanbase stays small itâll get pretty passionate
I dunno, a lot of my favourites from that period definitely had that⌠or at least had a collective handling it so you would still get a cohesive sound on say a DITC, Beatminerz, Heiro, Organized Noize album.
Also, Iâd often get a strong sense that if they didnât, theyâd have someone doing the job of an executive producer - whether that person was also making beats (like on later Pharcyde and De La Soul albums) or a Puffy/MC Serch type on Ready to Die and Illmatic.
It is interesting though - the majority of my favourites this year are also single producer albums, compared to a handful the last 3.
Oh yeah. What Iâm kind of saying is, it was definitely a thing, that happened with great results in that period. And then people pined for it without it really happening much for a long time, apart from some obvious throwback groups. I donât think we really had this thing of rappers doing a bunch of one rapper/one producer collaborative albums with different producers, like we do now (was normally an in-house producer of the group/DJ-rapper pairing. DOOM being a big exception). And since at least Illmatic, the crack team of hit producers was definitely the norm.
Regardless, it was always something people liked, because itâs a formula that works. Was just a weird absence of it for a long time. It wasnât a derogatory comment, I think people are really honing in on what made great records from the period great, rather than focussing on the doldrums of rap from the time, which makes sense
having a great time going through albums i overlooked to make by best of 2023 list
this one bangs - that snare!
If it helps you not feel bad for overlooking it, it originally came out in 2017, only got a physical release & put on streaming services this year.
It is really good, Overthinking & Slow Burn are my favourites on it.
Thought the style sounded quite diff from What You Donât Get?! - so that makes sense
Itâs a fantastic record but some of the lyrics, especially in conjunction with that interview, seem to suggest he is seriously/ terminally ill? Unless that is a character he is creating
Yeah it does, and his backstory certainly alludes to that. But no one really knows.
âGâs Usâ is a pretty bad name tho
Guess there wonât be a Scaring the Hoes II, then
I think he might be taking the piss
How was the tour you guys just completed?
It was trash.
Iâm better than most people in the industry, talent-wise
Who else have you got your eye on to work with?
Nobody.
etc.
Laughed at this.
I just wanted to make something that wasnât boring and sterile like the rest of the shit you all listen to.
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Brown did say in a Quaranta interview that he wasnât good at collaborating at the time considering his circumstances but possible Iâm reading into it, yeah