Choosing The Resistance as my song of the year was a surprisingly easy decision. It’s play count has already totaled 168 on my iTunes. An astronomical amount considering it came out on June 15th in this bitch whasssuuuuppp. I tend to obsess over songs for days at a time and repeat them over and over, but The Resistance carried it’s momentum through the entire summer for me.
The entire freshmen class of ’09 has made the downside of newfound fame the most prevalent topic of discussion in their music. Cudi was apparently driven to coke addiction because of it, Wale’s More About Nothing is full of tales about losing friends (“lost a couple friends, cool, ni**a made a lot of fans”), and of course B.o.B. questioned “do you wanna be famous?” on his fucking fantastic adventures, but no one is better at articulating the negative effects that fame have had on their life than Drake. Songs like Fear, The Calm, and Say What's Real are intelligent breakdowns of how success and fame have jaded him. The Resistance is his magnum opus in this topic. What makes it so impressive is that he could easily come off as unappreciative or sick of his social status and gaudy bank accounts, but is able to stay cognizant of his revered lifestyle (“Am I wrong for making light of my situation?”). Although, he might need to work on his comprehension of the definition of irony.
What makes the song work so well is it's position within the album. Fireworks documents the effect his parent's divorce had on his childhood and view of relationships. Karaoke tells the story of losing his first loved one due to his fame ("the spotlight makes you nervous"), and the beginning of The Resistance acts as a sequel to Karaoke.
"Yesterday when we were getting high
You were invited, you woulda liked it
Uh uh nah, I know you all too well
We said that we can kiss the past goodbye
But your weren’t excited
There’s no way to fight it
You can stay shawty but here I go"
Once again targeting the same girl he speaks about in Karaoke he proclaims his desire to take her with him as he goes and sees the world, but due to a perceived change in him ("Alyssa told me that she missed the old me"), she declines. Drake sees this happening with all of his relationships. As he was blowing up he made the promise to not change, but his busy schedule prevents him from spending time with these people, proliferating the belief that he has become a different person. In turn Drake begins to fear the realization of his dreams ("what am I afraid of, this is supposed to be what dreams are made of"), which is an incredibly grounded and unselfish attitude.
The second verse is the most brutally honest of his career and this excerpt solidified The Resistance as my favorite Drake song.
"I heard they just moved my grandmother to a nursing home
And I be acting like don't know how to work a phone
But hit redial you'll see that I just called
Some chick I met at the mall
That I barely know at all
And plus this woman that I mess with unprotected
Texted saying she wished she woulda kept it"
His admission that he takes the time to call a random mall rat for a quick lay instead of his ailing grandmother gives justification to the people claiming hes changed. The story about his ex having an abortion is a snapshot into his rapidly evolving reality, but both of these instances are reasons why Drake's music is so arresting.
After the insecurity of The Resistance Drake begins Over with similar sentiments ("what am I doing?), but once those Boi-1da drums kick in, Drake has found his moment of verification. He finally realizes he is cut out for this lifestyle and hasn't become a new person entirely (" That's right I'm doing me"). It's the most triumphant fucking moment on any album since Cudi Zone, but without The Resistance it wouldn't be nearly as effective.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Songs of the Year - #2 Christian Dior Denim Flow
My first song of the year post was filled with interpreting and decoding Go To Sleep's lyrics and message, CDDF doesn't require such analysis. It's all the better that way. This song is a banger of all bangers that will rattle your trunk into oblivion. It was the masterpiece of the G.O.O.D. Friday series, which is saying a whole hell of a lot considering the diverse excellence of those songs. I really wish Metacricket's mojo was active when Kanye was releasing that weekly fire. It was like constant blogging material all of at least Sick status, acting as a well deserved (not really) reward of listening pleasure, after a long week of of mowing greens, from Mr. West as I'd head up to USM to sleep on Scotty's couch. G.O.O.D. Fridays reinvigorated hip hop. At the time we all thought these were merely MBDTF throwaways, that wasn't exactly the case, but you will not hear me speak ill of G.O.O.D. Fridays, and CDDF was the best of them all.
(Holy fuck. How badly does YouTube butcher the quality of songs? Everyone sounds like they inhaled 10 gallons of helium before the recording, if this is your first listen please don't judge off of this version and mmm word download the CDQ immediately.)
The greatness of this song comes with the hook. Kanye's decision to have both John Legend and Kid Cudi sing the hook adds to the songs griminess. Their voices come together and make it sound like the fucking apocalypse. The voice effect on Kanye's verse works perfectly in the mood of the song as he spits a laundry list of models he'd like to sexually parlay with, and includes a hilarious cunnilingus reference ("I'm tryna eat out so what we going to dinner for?"). After Pusha's verse the beat slows down to a crawl enabling Ryan Leslie, Lloyd Banks, and especially Cudi to rap over it. Cudi's verse might not even rhyme, but I say its the best on the song. He has smoked a lot of blunts in his lifetime and his voice reflects that. His smoked out flow and voice meshes seamlessly with the impending doom violins. I don't really know what else to say, other than this song is fucking awesome.
(Holy fuck. How badly does YouTube butcher the quality of songs? Everyone sounds like they inhaled 10 gallons of helium before the recording, if this is your first listen please don't judge off of this version and mmm word download the CDQ immediately.)
The greatness of this song comes with the hook. Kanye's decision to have both John Legend and Kid Cudi sing the hook adds to the songs griminess. Their voices come together and make it sound like the fucking apocalypse. The voice effect on Kanye's verse works perfectly in the mood of the song as he spits a laundry list of models he'd like to sexually parlay with, and includes a hilarious cunnilingus reference ("I'm tryna eat out so what we going to dinner for?"). After Pusha's verse the beat slows down to a crawl enabling Ryan Leslie, Lloyd Banks, and especially Cudi to rap over it. Cudi's verse might not even rhyme, but I say its the best on the song. He has smoked a lot of blunts in his lifetime and his voice reflects that. His smoked out flow and voice meshes seamlessly with the impending doom violins. I don't really know what else to say, other than this song is fucking awesome.
Songs of the Year - #3 Go To Sleep (WHAT NOW LOUIS?!)
Seeing as how the Crick has been dormant for months again I've decided to pick up the keyboard and start writing again. With Louis taking 15 classes this semester in order to graduate on time and Scotty void of a laptop I'm afraid all six of you will have to put up with my personal thoughts and opinions. With my recent move to the mile high city and no job I've been doing all kinds of introspection and could spill my deepest thoughts and inner demons to you all, but instead I'll probably just stick to talking about rap music. Considering the year is coming to a close I thought of this ingenious idea to rank the best songs that have been released within the past 12 months. Coming in at #3 is Lupe Fiasco's best offering in a long while: Go To Sleep.
Louis does not like this song, which is fine, ya dink ya donk you don't like a song. But a song riddled with such impressive wordplay and lyricism deserves to be praised and I am here to do just that. Go To Sleep is loosely based on Lupe's struggles to release meaningful and important music. He is at odds with the landscape of mainstream rap. Sick of it's perpetual mindlessness he wants to awake the listeners from the constant drivel they are subjected to. Unfortunately for him he is one step ahead of us, "baking eggs and pancakes eating that at midnight," and ends each impressive verse claiming he wont make a noise. A surrender of sorts allowing us to submerge ourselves back into the bullshit music we love so much.
What makes the song work is the fact that all three verses are rife with double entendres and slick wordplay that remind us why Lupe is one of the greatest wordsmiths rap has ever seen. The first verse contains this bit of fuego:
"But they can’t see me, I took out their eyes/I's
Replaced them with some mes, so all they see is hes
But I will never run, not even if they cry
See, I can never fall, not even down their cheek
But I will always ball/bawl, let’s see who the first to blink"
The extended theme of eyes and tears carries itself through these several bars, and may not be known to the listener after only one listen.
"Fill this bitch up with fans, you still wont blow my candle out"
"Won’t drill no door hole, I won’t make a peep, so you can go to sleep"
I'm sure you all have already caught the double meanings in those lines, and if not it's nothing Rap Genius can't explain. This is the type of lyricism that redeems the listener after repeated listens, and therefore lengthens replay value yet somewhere along the lines these writing methods have come to be considered corny or pretentious amongst some rap fans, the very ones Lupe is trying to awake. Yes, Lupe does try to hard at times to be complex, this is not one of those times. Those bars came off effortlessly within the context and flow of the song.
The third verse takes a bit of a somber turn. It contains a reference to Lupe's drug dealing past. While Lupe was never as overt as Jay-Z or 50 Cent were when it came to talking about dealing his music contains many discreet admissions of at one time being involved in the drug trade ("I'm nuts with the cain/cane, planters planters," "You see what I'm saying and I push keys/kis wonderfully"). I don't think Lupe enjoys talking about this subject in his raps anymore but he once again uses wordplay to disguise his confession.
"Close down all the opium, but I had to O-P-EN
They said they need a hero in/heroin it, so I'm back to dope again"
Many Lupe fans have been hoping for a return to his crazy lyrical ways of his early career, in other words asking for a hero. Lupe harks back to his old days ("time is all behind me, this make me feel old again") of drug references and uses heroin as a vehicle to convey the message that he is back to being a "dope" emcee. I'm not sure if he ever really fell off, but Go To Sleep is a welcome return to form.
All of this takes place over a ridiculous 1500 or Nothing beat that builds and builds in the third verse coalescing with Lupe's words to create an epic crescendo of sound and message.
Louis does not like this song, which is fine, ya dink ya donk you don't like a song. But a song riddled with such impressive wordplay and lyricism deserves to be praised and I am here to do just that. Go To Sleep is loosely based on Lupe's struggles to release meaningful and important music. He is at odds with the landscape of mainstream rap. Sick of it's perpetual mindlessness he wants to awake the listeners from the constant drivel they are subjected to. Unfortunately for him he is one step ahead of us, "baking eggs and pancakes eating that at midnight," and ends each impressive verse claiming he wont make a noise. A surrender of sorts allowing us to submerge ourselves back into the bullshit music we love so much.
What makes the song work is the fact that all three verses are rife with double entendres and slick wordplay that remind us why Lupe is one of the greatest wordsmiths rap has ever seen. The first verse contains this bit of fuego:
"But they can’t see me, I took out their eyes/I's
Replaced them with some mes, so all they see is hes
But I will never run, not even if they cry
See, I can never fall, not even down their cheek
But I will always ball/bawl, let’s see who the first to blink"
The extended theme of eyes and tears carries itself through these several bars, and may not be known to the listener after only one listen.
"Fill this bitch up with fans, you still wont blow my candle out"
"Won’t drill no door hole, I won’t make a peep, so you can go to sleep"
I'm sure you all have already caught the double meanings in those lines, and if not it's nothing Rap Genius can't explain. This is the type of lyricism that redeems the listener after repeated listens, and therefore lengthens replay value yet somewhere along the lines these writing methods have come to be considered corny or pretentious amongst some rap fans, the very ones Lupe is trying to awake. Yes, Lupe does try to hard at times to be complex, this is not one of those times. Those bars came off effortlessly within the context and flow of the song.
The third verse takes a bit of a somber turn. It contains a reference to Lupe's drug dealing past. While Lupe was never as overt as Jay-Z or 50 Cent were when it came to talking about dealing his music contains many discreet admissions of at one time being involved in the drug trade ("I'm nuts with the cain/cane, planters planters," "You see what I'm saying and I push keys/kis wonderfully"). I don't think Lupe enjoys talking about this subject in his raps anymore but he once again uses wordplay to disguise his confession.
"Close down all the opium, but I had to O-P-EN
They said they need a hero in/heroin it, so I'm back to dope again"
Many Lupe fans have been hoping for a return to his crazy lyrical ways of his early career, in other words asking for a hero. Lupe harks back to his old days ("time is all behind me, this make me feel old again") of drug references and uses heroin as a vehicle to convey the message that he is back to being a "dope" emcee. I'm not sure if he ever really fell off, but Go To Sleep is a welcome return to form.
All of this takes place over a ridiculous 1500 or Nothing beat that builds and builds in the third verse coalescing with Lupe's words to create an epic crescendo of sound and message.
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