The concept does influence the music hence there isn't really anything you can call a real west coast banger on it, Kendrick is portraying a different side to Compton and the west coast. Dre obviously pumped the bass when mixing but this isn't that lowrider music the west is famed for. The skits aren't the only thing that makes this a concept album the sound is extremely cohesive almost as if there are no tracks and its just one long soundtrack. I was actually going to compare this to A Prince Among Thieves, I think it will eventually get an annual play from me. Prince Paul can also take the concept too far I've heard half of his new album is just skits.
The album does sound pretty "cohesive" I guess, but I still don't see how the beats all being sorta mellow makes it a concept album. The storyline and characters in Prince Among Thieves actually stayed in first person through the songs. I love this album but if there were zero skits, I'd have no idea there was even a theme binding any of the songs or beats together. Did a single producer do every beat?
EDIT: If this is a concept album, then the Frank Ocean album is a much more personal and affecting concept album to me.
It's not made by a single producer though the beats were selected and mixed to sound like pieces of a whole. The story is fairly straightforward and I don't think that is its strong point. What makes the album work is it essentially the life of someone growing up in Compton / the hood and not conforming to its stereotypes. The personal conflicts Kendrick has due to the pressures of adhering to what is essentially a broken way of life and eventually overcoming the pitfalls he faces. The album ends on Real, Compton is more of a celebration after the fact whereas on real he is enlightened to being 'real' which isn't being a gangster but taking on other responsibilities. I think even without the skits the album would retain its sense of progression in an overarching concept. The skits may make it easier to follow what is going on but I feel their main use was to add to the atmosphere of the album which is something special that a lot of albums recently have lacked. I don't agree that without the skits the concept wouldn't exist or even work because most of the important bits happen during the songs. Without the skits it may be a bit more subtle but nothing too hard to follow
I think the TDE in house guys do this a lot. The making of on Complex also mentions Kendrick browsing YouTube and randomly asking for certain videos to be flipped.
Sad that so many people still don't know Beach House. This is probably like the 4th song that basically sampled an entire Beach House track. It also saddens me that so many people are used to standard top 40 rap that something with a couple skits constitutes a concept album. I grew up in the Prince Paul era where the actual concept actually informs the actual music. This is a great debut but rap fans should demand a lot more from artists.
Kendrick does sound like a very very good and varied rapper on here.
Let us not kid ourselves with the concept album moniker. I think we all know the rapper that made the most illest concept album ever. No it wasn't El-P, Kool Keith, or Prince Paul. It was actually St. Louis native, Nelly with his collection sweatsuit. Some of the songs were made to get dirty. The other half was deeply serious songs to get to business.
You can read what you want from the album. I hear a good debut with some good lyrics and some very high points. I don't hear an album with some overarching concept. He already admitted that it's a balancing act between pop sensibilities with songs like Compton, A milli bangers like Backseat Freestyle, really fucking awesome songs like Money Trees, MAAD city, etc. He may have a message buried in the album and sequencing when you consider the skits, but I really don't see how a slow jam like Poetic Justice fits into the whole concept.
I didn' say you said it was a terrible album, but as if it's not a concept album. Every single song fits in, save for Bitch dont kill my vibe but even thats arguable.
Sad that so many people still don't know Beach House. This is probably like the 4th song that basically sampled an entire Beach House track. It also saddens me that so many people are used to standard top 40 rap that something with a couple skits constitutes a concept album. I grew up in the Prince Paul era where the actual concept actually informs the actual music. This is a great debut but rap fans should demand a lot more from artists.
been playing this for the past 5 days or so and it only gets better with each listen as the story really sorts itself out in my head. don't get how anyone could both respect the album and swap a song out for something else, honestly. it coheres so well that messing with it that way throws everything off.
I know there's an impulse to say that an album having a story automatically makes it better, and a common reaction to that impulse that says people overvalue story albums. following a narrative doesn't necessarily make an album better but when it's a good narrative it's a damn great feature. the skits on gkmc are sincere, funny, and engrossing. love them so much.
production-wise I do think the album is a bit of a mixed bag, but I wouldn't call a single instrumental on this anything below decent. the majority are excellent.
lyrically kendrick's king, and some of these flows are disgusting. and the different modes of pronunciation he uses to characterize kendrick at different ages/in different moods work well. hooks aren't mind-blowing, the choruses to Swimming Pools and Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe are up top. others fall kinda flat. like, Real is a mostly great song especially in the context of the album, the catharsis it provides is great. but the "I'm real, I'm real, I'm really really real"? c'mon.
overall I'm thinking it could end up being the best rap album I hear this year, edging in over cancer 4 cure, r.a.p. music, habits & contradictions, reservation ep, and the money store. but really all 6 of those are so awesome that they'll likely keep jockeying for top spot through the end of the year. and beyond.
now to read the thread, see what other people've thought.
can't decide whether to buy the deluxe cd or buy it on vinyl. at the moment I don't have a nice stereo set up or anything, just a table I can hook speakers up to. but I don't wanna spend double the price and end up with less art and no bonus tracks. does the lp version come with those?
the high-key emotion of Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst might be unmatched on the year. track's amazing. Guess I'd say it, Backseat Freestyle, m.A.A.d. city, and Swimming Pools Drank Extended are the best of the album, but everything's pretty insane through 5-6 listens.
so does Money Trees sample beach house - myth or not? hard to parse out but it feels like it does? edit: ah silver soul, duh. dunno how I couldn't pick it out.
only tde-related, but I need to listen to more jay rock (who I don't even have any solo work from, but his verse on money trees is ludicrous) and ab-soul (particularly control system, which I've listened to two or three times but still hasn't clicked for some reason).
goddamn see I couldn't bring myself to do this. like...part of listening to the album is figuring out the chronology of the skits, and the acts within a single track are a feature of the track. meddling this much sorta ruins listening to the album for me.
nah, one track. it's a long one and it has two acts, but it's one track for a reason imo. the maya angelou speech wouldn't work as well if it wasn't literally in the same song as
Reading the previous page, and, damn, no one has Real in his top 5 list. That song is my favorite message of the whole album, and I'm also a sucker for an artist being able to embody various points of view.
I think its message is the thesis for the album and the skits on real are impeccable. they strengthen the entire rest of the skits, turning them from funny interludes about his dad's muthafuckin dominos to true-to-life and relatable portrayals of an actual father.
all that said the chorus is the weakest on the album and the instrumental is on the lower side of the lp too. I won't listen to it as much on its own, but I'm never going to skip it when I listen to the whole album.
Well yeah, but its been out for 2 days. Lets slow it down. Start with comparisons to albums from this year, see how it holds up, then move on to that. It shouldn't be about what is better either way. Bottom line is that this album is great. Comparing it to the best of all time is just unnecessary. Comparing for the sake of it.
I really like this album. I say that as somebody who really thought section.80 was overrated. GKMC is still self-indulgent, overwrought, and preachy, but he sells it here. There was shit on section.80 that made me roll my eyes (No Make-Up, Kush and Corinthians, Outro) due to its bleeding-heart goofiness. I feel like on GKMC, he's figured out how to talk about social issues and personal problems and whatnot without it sounding like bad high school poetry.
And yeah, the skits and idea that this is a concept album that neeeeeeeeeds a story is a little silly, but he doesn't come across like he savors his own farts anymore, which was the impression I got from Outro on section.80.
Anyway, tl;dr, love it. It's a massive improvement. This has been a great year for hip hop.
I love how the story repeats itself after Compton which is by the way the most badass way to finish an album like this - what a fucking anthem, and smh @ people hating the track because of Dre: it's fucking Dr.Dre, get the fuck out
I love how the story repeats itself after Compton which is by the way the most badass way to finish an album like this - what a fucking anthem, and smh @ people hating the track because of Dre: it's fucking Dr.Dre, get the fuck out
Yep, first few listens I thought it was from Dave's POV, but it's from Dave's brother's. Which makes it more heartbreaking knowing they both die. No good kid lives. Hell, I didn't really even comprehend what was going on with the second verse fading away until about listen 2 or 3. This thing has flair.
