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Breaking Down Kanye and Franti : "The College Dropout" and "Everyone Deserves Music"
So I am so filled with the Kanye West love right now that maybe I am not seeing the forest for the trees. I happen to think the his debut album "The College Drop-out"(as a headliner - he has produced several) is one of the best releases of anything this year, and I think that as an album itself it works incredibly well - this is one very complex, intelligent man and he presents such an honest look at himself and what makes him who he is that I just want everyone to listen to it right now.
Cutting for length
See, I was taught from a very early age when one has a religious experience, one goes out and converts. Otherwise the people you don't will burn in hell and it is all your fault. See, to me - *not* listening to Kanye would be like burning in hell or at least missing out on a really great experience. I am filled with zeal - but upon reflection, to someone not really familiar with hip-hop or common themes in rap/urbania - the man's genius could be lost on them. To someone not familar with early gospel "Jesus Walks" will not mean nearly as much (and GOD! What he does in that one song is both clever and also terrifying and also uplifting).
I walk through the valley of Chi where death is
Top floor the view alone will leave you breathless Uhhhh!
Try to catch it Uhhhh! It’s kinda hard hard
Getting choked by the detectives yeah yeah now check the method
They be asking us questions, harass and arrest us
Saying “we eat pieces of shit like you for breakfast”
Huh? Yall eat pieces of shit? What’s the basis?
We ain’t going nowhere but got suits and cases
A trunk full of coke, rental car from Avis
My momma used to say only Jesus can save us
If you don't know Lauryn Hill's "Mystery of Inequity" then "All Falls Down" won't make the impact it is meant to make - although I really think even without that, it will trigger at least a reaction:
Man I promise, I'm so self conscious
That's why you always see me with at least one of my watches
Rollies and Pasha's done drove me crazy
I can't even pronounce nothing, pass that versace! [Ver-sa-see]
But if you don't get that he is operating within a culture of extreme materialism - where obtaining goods is primary - then you won't get how astounding this song really is, astounding because of his honesty.
But if you are not familiar with the genre (and rap is hip-hop, but hip-hop can emcompass more than rap. Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock and Linkin Park do not rap and are not hip-hop. I don't care what they say - not rap) then this is not that significant. If you don't know who Mos Def is - and if you don't understand the culture of thugs or what gansta rap is or how East v. West started - then when Kanye all of a sudden on his album has Ludacris on to sing:
Yeah, breathe in, breathe out
If ya iced up, pull ya sleeves out
Push a big truck, pull ya keys out
Girls go wild and pull ya deez out
Which is classic Ludacris - just - that is him. And if you don't know that then when Kanye joins Ludacris on the song and says:
Golly, more of that bullshit ice rap
I got to ‘pologize to Mos and Kweli (probably)
But is it cool to rap about gold
If I told the world I copped it from Ghana and Mali? (Mali!)
First nigga with a Benz and a backpack
Ice chain, Cardi lens, and a knapsack
Always said if I rapped I’d say somethin’ significant
But now I’m rappin’ ‘bout money, ho's, and rims again
And to get this you have to understand the line Kanye is walking: Commercial Success and Total Lack of Content (Ludacris) and Socially Conscious Significant Spoken Word (Mos Def). And Kanye walks it and comments on both.
And if you don't listen to R&B and especially what passes for contemporary R&B on the radio, then you are not gonna get the BRILLIANT satire in "Slow Jamz"
She got a light skinned friend look like Michael Jackson
Got a dark skinned friend look like Michael Jackson
I play ‘Ready for the World’ - she was ready for some action
My dawg said you aint no freak, so you got to prove my man wrong
Imma play this Vandross
You gon’ take your pants off
Imma play this Gladys Knight
Me and you gon’ get right
Not to say Kanye does not have his critics. He does - man has been criticized for heavy sampling and some people (undercover bro I look at you) are turned off on his tendency to speed up and layer samples.
Samples: taking a track from an already published song and sometimes layering multiple tracks to get the background for a song. This is not confined to hip-hop although it is very common in rap ("Bittersweet Symphony" by the Verve is a sampled song). Sometimes the original vocals and/or gist of the song is maintained - it is like a revamp (Puffy and "Missing You" over "Every Breath You Take") sometimes you can't tell at all. Until the court date *g*
Kanye also has a tendency to take himself very seriously - but... eh - no, really I think that is just part of him really growing up making this album. There are some immature throwbacks, but for the most part he is self-aware in the most wonderful sense of self-awareness possible. There are very few dying unicorns doodled into the fabric of this album. This is a portrait of a man figuring out what he wants to be and becoming it and dealing with the struggles that arise along the way from a disfiguring and potentially fatal accident ("Through the Wire") to reconciling himself to the fact that while his family is changing - they are still a family in "Family Business"
This is family business
And this is for the family that can’t be with us
And this is for my cousin locked down, know the answer’s in us
That’s why I spit it in my songs so sweet
Like a photo of your granny’s picture
Now that you’re gone, it hit us
Super hard on Thankgiving and Christmas, this can’t be right
Yeah you heard the track I did man, this can’t be light
Somebody please say grace so I can save face
And have a reason to cover my face
I even made you a plate, soul food, know how Granny do it
Pumpkin bread on the side, know how the family do it
When I brought it why the guard have to look all thru it?
But now I see that Kanye is *not* the best intro into hip hop for the totally uninitated. Once you have a basis - then cool - totally - you will get this man. But he is not a starter set - he is more in the intermediate level (at the advanced level you begin to understand the absolute incredible genius and fire that is Dr Dre. Well, if you are me).
So, I'm thinking - what is a good intro into the genre and we could do an entire historical breakdown and start with "Rappers Delight" and move into early Run DMC and Public Enemy.
Eh. Instead go buy the Fugees album or even better - pick up Michael Franti and Spearhead's "Everyone Deserves Music" cause progressive hip-hop (HIPPIE HIP-HOP!!!) is something we all can appreciate. Such as this from "We Don't Stop" - the third track (? working off memory here)
They gotta war for oil, a war for gold
a war for money and a war for souls
a war on terror, a war on drugs
a war on kindness, a war on hugs.
A war on birds and a war on bees
they gotta war on hippies tryin'a save the trees
a war with jets and a war with missiles
a war with high-seated, government officials
Wall Street war, on high finance
a war on people who just love to dance
a war on music, a war on speech
a war on teachers and the things they teach
a war for the last 500 years
war's just messin' up the atmosphere
a war on muslims, a war on jews
a war on christians and hindus
a whole lotta people sayin' kill them all
they gotta war on Mumia Abu Jamal
the war on pot, is a war that's failed
a war that's fillin' up the nation's jails
world war one, two, three and four
chemical weapons, biological war
Bush War 1 and Bush War 2
They gotta war for me, they gotta war for you!!!
So yeah - I think this album is just as good as any as a starting place. So we start here and then we go to A Tribe Called Quest. Eventually. I should consult with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
heres_luck.
Cutting for length
See, I was taught from a very early age when one has a religious experience, one goes out and converts. Otherwise the people you don't will burn in hell and it is all your fault. See, to me - *not* listening to Kanye would be like burning in hell or at least missing out on a really great experience. I am filled with zeal - but upon reflection, to someone not really familiar with hip-hop or common themes in rap/urbania - the man's genius could be lost on them. To someone not familar with early gospel "Jesus Walks" will not mean nearly as much (and GOD! What he does in that one song is both clever and also terrifying and also uplifting).
I walk through the valley of Chi where death is
Top floor the view alone will leave you breathless Uhhhh!
Try to catch it Uhhhh! It’s kinda hard hard
Getting choked by the detectives yeah yeah now check the method
They be asking us questions, harass and arrest us
Saying “we eat pieces of shit like you for breakfast”
Huh? Yall eat pieces of shit? What’s the basis?
We ain’t going nowhere but got suits and cases
A trunk full of coke, rental car from Avis
My momma used to say only Jesus can save us
If you don't know Lauryn Hill's "Mystery of Inequity" then "All Falls Down" won't make the impact it is meant to make - although I really think even without that, it will trigger at least a reaction:
Man I promise, I'm so self conscious
That's why you always see me with at least one of my watches
Rollies and Pasha's done drove me crazy
I can't even pronounce nothing, pass that versace! [Ver-sa-see]
But if you don't get that he is operating within a culture of extreme materialism - where obtaining goods is primary - then you won't get how astounding this song really is, astounding because of his honesty.
But if you are not familiar with the genre (and rap is hip-hop, but hip-hop can emcompass more than rap. Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock and Linkin Park do not rap and are not hip-hop. I don't care what they say - not rap) then this is not that significant. If you don't know who Mos Def is - and if you don't understand the culture of thugs or what gansta rap is or how East v. West started - then when Kanye all of a sudden on his album has Ludacris on to sing:
Yeah, breathe in, breathe out
If ya iced up, pull ya sleeves out
Push a big truck, pull ya keys out
Girls go wild and pull ya deez out
Which is classic Ludacris - just - that is him. And if you don't know that then when Kanye joins Ludacris on the song and says:
Golly, more of that bullshit ice rap
I got to ‘pologize to Mos and Kweli (probably)
But is it cool to rap about gold
If I told the world I copped it from Ghana and Mali? (Mali!)
First nigga with a Benz and a backpack
Ice chain, Cardi lens, and a knapsack
Always said if I rapped I’d say somethin’ significant
But now I’m rappin’ ‘bout money, ho's, and rims again
And to get this you have to understand the line Kanye is walking: Commercial Success and Total Lack of Content (Ludacris) and Socially Conscious Significant Spoken Word (Mos Def). And Kanye walks it and comments on both.
And if you don't listen to R&B and especially what passes for contemporary R&B on the radio, then you are not gonna get the BRILLIANT satire in "Slow Jamz"
She got a light skinned friend look like Michael Jackson
Got a dark skinned friend look like Michael Jackson
I play ‘Ready for the World’ - she was ready for some action
My dawg said you aint no freak, so you got to prove my man wrong
Imma play this Vandross
You gon’ take your pants off
Imma play this Gladys Knight
Me and you gon’ get right
Not to say Kanye does not have his critics. He does - man has been criticized for heavy sampling and some people (undercover bro I look at you) are turned off on his tendency to speed up and layer samples.
Samples: taking a track from an already published song and sometimes layering multiple tracks to get the background for a song. This is not confined to hip-hop although it is very common in rap ("Bittersweet Symphony" by the Verve is a sampled song). Sometimes the original vocals and/or gist of the song is maintained - it is like a revamp (Puffy and "Missing You" over "Every Breath You Take") sometimes you can't tell at all. Until the court date *g*
Kanye also has a tendency to take himself very seriously - but... eh - no, really I think that is just part of him really growing up making this album. There are some immature throwbacks, but for the most part he is self-aware in the most wonderful sense of self-awareness possible. There are very few dying unicorns doodled into the fabric of this album. This is a portrait of a man figuring out what he wants to be and becoming it and dealing with the struggles that arise along the way from a disfiguring and potentially fatal accident ("Through the Wire") to reconciling himself to the fact that while his family is changing - they are still a family in "Family Business"
This is family business
And this is for the family that can’t be with us
And this is for my cousin locked down, know the answer’s in us
That’s why I spit it in my songs so sweet
Like a photo of your granny’s picture
Now that you’re gone, it hit us
Super hard on Thankgiving and Christmas, this can’t be right
Yeah you heard the track I did man, this can’t be light
Somebody please say grace so I can save face
And have a reason to cover my face
I even made you a plate, soul food, know how Granny do it
Pumpkin bread on the side, know how the family do it
When I brought it why the guard have to look all thru it?
But now I see that Kanye is *not* the best intro into hip hop for the totally uninitated. Once you have a basis - then cool - totally - you will get this man. But he is not a starter set - he is more in the intermediate level (at the advanced level you begin to understand the absolute incredible genius and fire that is Dr Dre. Well, if you are me).
So, I'm thinking - what is a good intro into the genre and we could do an entire historical breakdown and start with "Rappers Delight" and move into early Run DMC and Public Enemy.
Eh. Instead go buy the Fugees album or even better - pick up Michael Franti and Spearhead's "Everyone Deserves Music" cause progressive hip-hop (HIPPIE HIP-HOP!!!) is something we all can appreciate. Such as this from "We Don't Stop" - the third track (? working off memory here)
They gotta war for oil, a war for gold
a war for money and a war for souls
a war on terror, a war on drugs
a war on kindness, a war on hugs.
A war on birds and a war on bees
they gotta war on hippies tryin'a save the trees
a war with jets and a war with missiles
a war with high-seated, government officials
Wall Street war, on high finance
a war on people who just love to dance
a war on music, a war on speech
a war on teachers and the things they teach
a war for the last 500 years
war's just messin' up the atmosphere
a war on muslims, a war on jews
a war on christians and hindus
a whole lotta people sayin' kill them all
they gotta war on Mumia Abu Jamal
the war on pot, is a war that's failed
a war that's fillin' up the nation's jails
world war one, two, three and four
chemical weapons, biological war
Bush War 1 and Bush War 2
They gotta war for me, they gotta war for you!!!
So yeah - I think this album is just as good as any as a starting place. So we start here and then we go to A Tribe Called Quest. Eventually. I should consult with
heres_luck.
no subject
no subject
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I'm also over the moon about your little primer on The College Dropout, above. I get a lot of what you're talking about, but I have big gaps, so I'm making homework notes like "study essence of Ludacris" and "listen to Ready for the World."
I would love to take these topics step by step with you and h.l. We could have ongoing Kanye West discussion, too. Just based on lyrics right now I'm very intrigued by the "All Falls Down" reinterpretation of "Mystery of Iniquity" and the biblical/theological references wrapped up in the phrase "mystery of iniquity," (which is from 2 Thessalonians). I need to listen and read and think and discuss.
no subject