PhoenixDark
Banned
I disagree on HnC, it's a great project that showed a lot of promise. Catchy hooks without being poppy, great samples in the production, and a nice balance between anthems and darker street shit.
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GAF-Hop |OTX| Long Live the Watcher
- Thread starter Esch
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Vocal Orgasmizzle
Banned
peterb0y: I'll need receipts of me ever saying I liked a Slaughterhouse project.
But that's why when two of us form like Voltron you know it's real. HRD likes all types of weird bandcamp shit, Esch would have cosigned St. Anger if Hov was on the vocals, yall know I'd fuck with boy bands if they sang over dirty ass drums...we all can't be trusted rolling dolo. Put us together and no one does it better
Yup, I didn't give it a fair chance at first and just tossed it aside but when I gave it a real listen it ended up being my second favorite TDE release behind gkmc.
If you're arguing Q has a bigger mass appeal than Soul, that's pretty much fact.
In terms of quality, I don't see how being more mainstream affects that.
that would be straight fire.
Net_Wrecker
Member
I still think HnC > GKMC.
I unno what happened to Q and Ab-Soul since then. Pretty sure I had Control system in that year's top ten, now I don't even care to check Soul's new album.
I unno what happened to Q and Ab-Soul since then. Pretty sure I had Control system in that year's top ten, now I don't even care to check Soul's new album.
Has Stalley done any numbers?
who the fuck is Stalley?
CountBlack
Member
I don't think anybody's disagreeing that Soul and Q would be band camp rappers without Kendrick. Maybe Q would be able to do a little something, but Ab's career would probably not be that big. I know Q knows this because dude was just Kendrick's hype man before they asked him to throw out some bars.
Vocal Orgasmizzle
Banned
Truth is, I liked Control Systems a bunch but Soulo is polarizing to me. Something about the way he raps(especially recently) is really grating. His conspiracy believing and strange punch lines ass rubs me the wrong way. ILLuminate was his best song cause he didn't rap like an above average battle rapper who sounds like he's pausing to think up the next rhyme for once.
Still haven't listened to These Days. Will do so later. And I hope it's at least as good as Control Systems. I'd be satisfied with that.
Still haven't listened to These Days. Will do so later. And I hope it's at least as good as Control Systems. I'd be satisfied with that.
Enter The 36 Chambers
Member
Mediocre song concepts, mediocre emceeing, hit or miss production, songs way too long, too many songs. It's messy and the core of it is copper, not gold.
without kendrick and rocky cosign? 20k downloads on datpiff.
nah just saying don't think Q would end up in an internet landfill if he wasn't affiliated with Kendrick/TDE.
who's Stalley is right... but he is big enough to share the intro to First Take with Wale, shit goes...
SamuelSupreme
Banned
Just got my hands on These Days...what are the early impressions like? Anyone hear it all the way through?
Esch is on some next level hater shit. Soul more interesting than Q? HnC is a C+? C'mon fam.
I'd rather take Q's perspective on him trying to stay slightly below water through hardship than Soul's struggles to out-Lupe all the bad things about Lupe any day of the week. Even stylistically, Q brings much more to the table and we haven't seen the great, technical wordplay from Soul since Longterm Mentality and flashes of it on Control System.
EDIT: Nah, not jumping on in this troll. Disregard.
I'd rather take Q's perspective on him trying to stay slightly below water through hardship than Soul's struggles to out-Lupe all the bad things about Lupe any day of the week. Even stylistically, Q brings much more to the table and we haven't seen the great, technical wordplay from Soul since Longterm Mentality and flashes of it on Control System.
EDIT: Nah, not jumping on in this troll. Disregard.
I'm just being honest. If I was hating, I'd use more :troll: invective, it's just how I feel. Soul is more interesting than Q because he's a left field life perspective rapper from the tinfoil community who actually has a decent ear for melodies, beats and a chorus. It doesn't show often but it's there. Most of the rap in that lane is sonically pretty bad (K-Rino, Canibus, Immortal Technique, Lupe Fiasco) and not catchy on any level. Soul isn't the best song writer, but for his lane he's pretty fucking good. If conspiracy theory rappers are like sluggers, Soul is Stanley Ketchel or George Foreman. He also *had* a decent flow.
Q on the other hand is a swag/druggie rapper; which is a super saturated lane and has been since ~2010. He has to be a lot better of a writer to stand out in his pack, yet his hook and catchy factor isn't seeing A$AP Rocky level and he's lyrically quite average in his verses. Dude doesn't have consistently dope punchlines (which is like the most essential thing for a swag emcee), and consistently writes tracks that are too long for his own good. Dude should really never go over 4 minutes. I'll give him this; he has some charisma, a decent ear for beats (not great) and a decent hook game? Otherwise?
Not trolling.
I'm not as down on Q and Soul as everybody else is. I just think they've reached their limit on what they can do w/o outside influence/resources. You can tell These Days didn't pass by a lot of outside ears because if it did, half these tracks wouldn't have ever made it out the studio.
I haven't heard much about the making process of GKMC but I have to imagine being on Interscope opened up a lot of doors as far as what Kendrick could be provided as far as collaborators, guidance, references/drafts & sample clearances.
He's great but it's just such a step up from s80 that it's too much for me to believe that it can be credited to him solely (if he did than more power to him).
Interscope largely left Q and his team to their own devices w/ Oxymoron and Soul isn't even signed to Interscope. I think Interscope will invest a lot more effort into Q's next project now that he's proven himself at the market. You can even see it now with the Studio single push.
As for Soul? Well he might be up shits creek creatively unless he gets some inspiration soon. I can't see Interscope signing and putting resources into him.
I haven't heard much about the making process of GKMC but I have to imagine being on Interscope opened up a lot of doors as far as what Kendrick could be provided as far as collaborators, guidance, references/drafts & sample clearances.
He's great but it's just such a step up from s80 that it's too much for me to believe that it can be credited to him solely (if he did than more power to him).
Interscope largely left Q and his team to their own devices w/ Oxymoron and Soul isn't even signed to Interscope. I think Interscope will invest a lot more effort into Q's next project now that he's proven himself at the market. You can even see it now with the Studio single push.
As for Soul? Well he might be up shits creek creatively unless he gets some inspiration soon. I can't see Interscope signing and putting resources into him.
Wow, can't hate on that. Very realistic approach. As I was reading your Q writeup I was going to respond "but yeah no one has that Q charisma". And then got to your last sentence. You hit the nail on the head. The only thing I might say in Q's favor of becoming a mainstream success without TDE is that while the swag/druggie rap genre is super saturated, it's because it sells. I think an average swag/druggie rapper like Q could outsell even the top "left field life perspective rapper from the tinfoil community who actually has a decent ear for melodies" rapper if you'd want to put Soul in that category.
I don't really know what I'm saying because I stan them both. I prefer Setback and HnC to Oxy though, and everything pre These Days from Soul. Was #TDEFamAppreciationWeek the last time all four dropped a good song at the same time (just song in Jay Rock's case)?
And one last thing, I find he's consistently funny while being dope enough. Don't think any swag/druggie rapper has his sense of humor. I love Bet I Got Sum Weed and can't really think of any other artist out right now that could make that sound so dope so natural... idk my opinion
I actually agree on this 100%. I think his next project will be a cut above Oxymoron in terms of scope and ideas. If Q could write an album with 12 songs and even like 4-5 tracks with the vision of Prescription/Oxymoron, i'd be quite happy for him.
Q will have his lane. Plenty of people who consume rap like him, they think he's catchy and funny. Sales isn't what i'm talking about here, but Ab-Soul just doesn't make music that sells. That's okay too. Who knows, he might fuck around and drop a "Get By" on us!
Neon Icon > Oxymoron
He's the type to dip out to Africa on us lol
PhoenixDark
Banned
Interesting argument but Soul hasn't put out anything better than The Cool, Food & Liquor, Rip The Jacker, The Psychic World of Walter Reed, Revolutionary Vol 2, and a host of other conspiracy or smart dumb nicca rap...
I really disagree with so many points here. Pretty much everything you mentioned about Soul being unique to his subgenre was and is still done better by Lupe. Content? Less thought provoking, more fluffy and comes across as "just believe it's some smart shit" whenever he is asked about it. Sonically? Lupe has had way more hits than Soul, and way more catchy songs (almost offensive to say he has a better sense of melody than Lupe too). No question about that especially considering the breadth of Lupe's catalog and how fast Soul has gotten flabbier & sicker. Flow? Lupe. Soul has a bit more palatable of a voice, but that's as much as I'd give him. Why should I listen to Ab-Soul again? Let's not forget his big brother Kendrick is also in this same niche, and while he's stylistically different, he presents probably the most essential part to Soul's style, the content, much better, and from more thought provoking perspectives.I'm just being honest. If I was hating, I'd use more :troll: invective, it's just how I feel. Soul is more interesting than Q because he's a left field life perspective rapper from the tinfoil community who actually has a decent ear for melodies, beats and a chorus. It doesn't show often but it's there. Most of the rap in that lane is sonically pretty bad (K-Rino, Canibus, Immortal Technique, Lupe Fiasco) and not catchy on any level. Soul isn't the best song writer, but for his lane he's pretty fucking good. If conspiracy theory rappers are like sluggers, Soul is Stanley Ketchel or George Foreman. He also *had* a decent flow.
Q on the other hand is a swag/druggie rapper; which is a super saturated lane and has been since ~2010. He has to be a lot better of a writer to stand out in his pack, yet his hook and catchy factor isn't seeing A$AP Rocky level and he's lyrically quite average in his verses. Dude doesn't have consistently dope punchlines (which is like the most essential thing for a swag emcee), and consistently writes tracks that are too long for his own good. Dude should really never go over 4 minutes. I'll give him this; he has some charisma, a decent ear for beats (not great) and a decent hook game? Otherwise?
Not trolling.
Agree with Q's lane being saturated and that's why he'll never blow up, but the unique component is the gangster rap part of it. That's why he gets notice in the first place, you have all of these outlets really feeling like he's bringing gangster rap back and mixing the old stuff we lost in the mid-00s with a bit of the new melody-focused rap.I also don't think you need punchlines to stand out, flow is way more important in this lane than punchlines nowadays (punchlines haven't been important in a decade) and Q's style is pretty adaptive.
You can't really point to someone Q is like the same way you can with Soul, and I think the novelty (and quality, but that's much more subjective) of the music reflects that quite apparently.
Storm Chamber
Banned
Without TDE, Q would be stuck in Danny Brown's shadow
Syph Medwes
Member
Yes.
First listen through, 5 tracks in. If I had to describe the album so far in two words I'd say: really average
I enjoyed Control System
I'm saying Lupe now, not before he went full tinfoil/smartdumb. And I'm not saying Ab-Soul is great at what he does, he's just merely a standout young aspiring rapper in a mediocre crowd, hence the George Foreman reference. If he lived up to the potential he showed on Longterm Mentality then I'd feel comfortable putting him in with the people who HAVE made 'great' work in that rap niche.
Schoolboy Q is not bringing gangster rap, that's fucking hilarious. Punchlines haven't been important in a decade? Are you serious? Is Lil Wayne still not one of the most popular rappers in the world? Are you not a Big Sean stan? Drake? Even Jay-Z? Kanye West? All use punchlines heavy. I don't know how to even address that. Punchlines are still pretty fucking important dude. And swag rap is ALL punchlines. It's a pastiche of them, and swag rappers live or die on their quality.
Pickles the Firecat
Banned
I'm just being honest. If I was hating, I'd use more :troll: invective, it's just how I feel. Soul is more interesting than Q because he's a left field life perspective rapper from the tinfoil community who actually has a decent ear for melodies, beats and a chorus. It doesn't show often but it's there. Most of the rap in that lane is sonically pretty bad (K-Rino, Canibus, Immortal Technique, Lupe Fiasco) and not catchy on any level. Soul isn't the best song writer, but for his lane he's pretty fucking good. If conspiracy theory rappers are like sluggers, Soul is Stanley Ketchel or George Foreman. He also *had* a decent flow.
Q on the other hand is a swag/druggie rapper; which is a super saturated lane and has been since ~2010. He has to be a lot better of a writer to stand out in his pack, yet his hook and catchy factor isn't seeing A$AP Rocky level and he's lyrically quite average in his verses. Dude doesn't have consistently dope punchlines (which is like the most essential thing for a swag emcee), and consistently writes tracks that are too long for his own good. Dude should really never go over 4 minutes. I'll give him this; he has some charisma, a decent ear for beats (not great) and a decent hook game? Otherwise?
Not trolling.
What you're saying is fair, but really discounts how unbelievably fucking awful Soul is at anything approaching metaphor, simile, analogy, alliteration, word emphasis, pronunciation, just general communication. Soul is bad at speaking out loud. Broadly, that's probably the most important thing for a rapper, and he's fucking terrible at it. Always has been. His flow is also as garbage as it is inconsistent. You can literally hear dude stop and smirk when he hits those corny ass punchlines.
I understand that there's value in being able to construct a song, but I'm going to give Q a nod here regardless of lane, regardless of technical ability, and regardless of scarcity of product, because I don't want to cauterize my ears every time he opens his mouth.
I also think Oxymoron is a perfectly average, maybe slightly above average record, for what it's worth. Man of the Year, Break the Bank, and Los Awesome are solid club tracks/mixing material for DJs. Gangsta, Collard Greens, and Hoover Street are quality. Maybe that lane is oversatured but he didn't shit the bed with Oxy, just didn't live up to Kendrick...which was never, ever, ever going to happen for anyone at TDE. It's listenable. Not memorable, but listenable.
holy shit
best new poster
Edit: I wish I was able to enjoy Lupe Fiasco. Feels like I missed out on something. I literally can't listen to him. Something about his delivery or overall artistic tone is just abhorrent to me. I can't really put it into words.
Just finished These Days. The album isn't bad but it doesn't feel cohesive as Control System. Ab-Soul nailed the concept and sticking with a theme with Control System and even the Long Term / Mentality series.
But he did explain in an interview that These Days is suppose to be sound like THESE DAYS. Overall I give the album a 7/10. I am going to give it a couple more listens.
TWACT is the worst song on here!
But he did explain in an interview that These Days is suppose to be sound like THESE DAYS. Overall I give the album a 7/10. I am going to give it a couple more listens.
TWACT is the worst song on here!
CountBlack
Member
The Return of
Banned
You aren't the only one. I really can't fuck with him.holy shit
best new poster
Edit: I wish I was able to enjoy Lupe Fiasco. Feels like I missed out on something. I literally can't listen to him. Something about his delivery or overall artistic tone is just abhorrent to me. I can't really put it into words.
SamuelSupreme
Banned
Just finished my initial listen. Control System shits on this. Right now the way I rank TDE is like this.
Kendrick
Isaiah Rashad
Jay Rock
School Boy Q
Ab-Soul
Kendrick
Isaiah Rashad
Jay Rock
School Boy Q
Ab-Soul
Syph Medwes
Member
10 songs deep. Not even Kendrick can save this snooze fest. Like I said, it's not that it's bad, it's just so painfully average. There hasn't been a song so far that I would play again. I thought Oxymoron was only good, not great, but at least it was better than this.
Need that Jay Rock album tho
edit: beat on Feelin Us is nice
Need that Jay Rock album tho
edit: beat on Feelin Us is nice
Storm Chamber
Banned
CountBlack
Member
Kanye's teaching at a Fashion school as part of his community service lol
Kanye aint picking up NOBODY'S trash.
Kanye aint picking up NOBODY'S trash.
Lupe the Killer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FthS2IRL3bE
CountBlack
Member
What I'm kind of noticing with the type of flow that Soul is using is that it almost sounds like a battle rapper. He's heavily emphasizing the punch lines when they don't really sound all to good over the pace of the songs. I could almost imagine Soul's battle rap verse at the end just being placed over a decent beat then him calling it a track.
Still like the album tho, doesn't touch Control System.
I feel with this whole new generation of rappers, is that when they finally sorta make it, the hunger and drive dies out. It's like a lot of the newer guys were in their primes before they even blew up, then after they starting eating.. their music just went
Still like the album tho, doesn't touch Control System.
I feel with this whole new generation of rappers, is that when they finally sorta make it, the hunger and drive dies out. It's like a lot of the newer guys were in their primes before they even blew up, then after they starting eating.. their music just went
Pickles the Firecat
Banned
For the beat and/or electronic guys, Daedelus is going to do an AMA on Wednesday.
Enter The 36 Chambers
Member
The real talent is gonna be the guys who can put out multiple good recordsWhat I'm kind of noticing with the type of flow that Soul is using is that it almost sounds like a battle rapper. He's heavily emphasizing the punch lines when they don't really sound all to good over the pace of the songs. I could almost imagine Soul's battle rap verse at the end just being placed over a decent beat then him calling it a track.
Still like the album tho, doesn't touch Control System.
I feel with this whole new generation of rappers, is that when they finally sorta make it, the hunger and drive dies out. It's like a lot of the newer guys were in their primes before they even blew up, then after they starting eating.. their music just went
I feel with this whole new generation of rappers, is that when they finally sorta make it, the hunger and drive dies out. It's like a lot of the newer guys were in their primes before they even blew up, then after they starting eating.. their music just went
With a lot of them, it's the drugs. Some just don't have enough life experience or material to make great records.
Ab-Soul is still a talented rapper. I want to know why These Days is not getting the same push as GKMC and Oxymoron.
Did TDE even focus on These Days either?
Everyone go right now and play Control System. Right when you hear that intro, you know that album is going to be a focused, cohesive project.
Now everyone is going to shit on Ab-Soul, which isn't fair. Kendrick is a mixture of Jay Rock, Q, and Ab-Soul who can craft amazing songs. Kendrick songwriting ability is what stands him apart from the rest of TDE.
Q is talented too. He has the most charisma in the group. It has been evident since HnC and his features. He isn't going to have trouble carving out a segment in the mainstream.
Jay Rock will be fine once his album drops.
Ab-Soul needs TDE to be 100% focus on him like they did for Kendrick. Control System should have been Soul album debut. Then I am pissed off that Ab-Soul could never release Unit 6 with JMSN. It would have kept his momentum going after the release of Control System.
Fuck all these labels man. Ab-Soul is still dope. Hopefully his next project is more focused and cohesive like Control System.
Did TDE even focus on These Days either?
Everyone go right now and play Control System. Right when you hear that intro, you know that album is going to be a focused, cohesive project.
Now everyone is going to shit on Ab-Soul, which isn't fair. Kendrick is a mixture of Jay Rock, Q, and Ab-Soul who can craft amazing songs. Kendrick songwriting ability is what stands him apart from the rest of TDE.
Q is talented too. He has the most charisma in the group. It has been evident since HnC and his features. He isn't going to have trouble carving out a segment in the mainstream.
Jay Rock will be fine once his album drops.
Ab-Soul needs TDE to be 100% focus on him like they did for Kendrick. Control System should have been Soul album debut. Then I am pissed off that Ab-Soul could never release Unit 6 with JMSN. It would have kept his momentum going after the release of Control System.
Fuck all these labels man. Ab-Soul is still dope. Hopefully his next project is more focused and cohesive like Control System.
Pickles the Firecat
Banned
I feel with this whole new generation of rappers, is that when they finally sorta make it, the hunger and drive dies out. It's like a lot of the newer guys were in their primes before they even blew up, then after they starting eating.. their music just went
I think it's drugs, breh. Soulo smoked himself out of relevance years ago. Q got flabby on lean. Danny got flabby on lean. Wouldn't be surprised if everyone in A$AP fans out the same way. Riff Raff...I mean dude requires drugs to make music in the first place, he's kind of an anomaly. But a lot of the younger guys that are failing to make progress or straight up regressing probably owe a large portion of that stalling out to drug use.
They just use too much. In the right quantities, yeah, great time. Can make you more creative. Can put you in the right mindset. But all day everyday? Just saps your ability to create. Drains your ability to think critically about yourself. Focus. Determination. Hunger. A desire to improve. External and internal motivation wanes. You need a balance and a lot of these dudes aren't finding it.
Of course you can't blame it all on drugs, but it certainly looks like part of the puzzle with these guys.
that part is simple. Soul is only signed to TDE. Not Interscope like Q and Kendrick. And even then Interscope didn't get behind Q until they saw he was selling records.
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