tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6011834419662563584.post3490379116742741978..comments2023-10-24T01:40:31.335-07:00Comments on A People's History of Hip Hop: Top ChefAbe Beamehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02555083249178098320noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6011834419662563584.post-39283865334073883352009-09-13T01:25:12.540-07:002009-09-13T01:25:12.540-07:00Have to agree on your (excellent) post. Rae has b...Have to agree on your (excellent) post. Rae has been sitting on his ass mostly all these years, and not exactly spending the time writing the greatest rhymes of all time or developing some kind of stunning Wu-exegesis. Rapping is like anything else, you need to stay in practice to be good at it.elmattichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11933850880844830270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6011834419662563584.post-23559473039881454782009-09-12T22:06:45.691-07:002009-09-12T22:06:45.691-07:00Well, for example, T.I., theoretically, can rap re...Well, for example, T.I., theoretically, can rap really well when he wants, but isn't the problem with his last two albums that he frequently is on autopilot and doesn't do a whole lot of technically great and/or deeply felt rapping? I agree that most of the criticism of this album's shortcomings has tended to be more abstract; indeed, my complaint about a lot of rap criticism these days is that people look for really abstruse reasons to bash a rapper - Jay for instance - when the reality is that new Jay is mostly not so great strictly because he's not such a good rapper anymore. I see these reviews that say, "oh yes, Jay [or Cam] is still so technically proficient, I just don't like what he's talking about." A, he's not technically proficient at all for the most part anymore (same goes for Cam), B, when has the stuff that Jay had to say ever been particularly interesting? It was always the execution.Asherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06495408546806192092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6011834419662563584.post-70743976816285524282009-09-12T19:19:25.509-07:002009-09-12T19:19:25.509-07:00I totally disagree with good rapping equaling good...I totally disagree with good rapping equaling good rap. (See: Detroit, the city of) At this point any MC so and so can flow, the question is what else do you bring to the table? The idea here was a lot of criticism that exists concerning this album focuses on approach and seemingly ignores more technical aspects.Abe Beamehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02555083249178098320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6011834419662563584.post-45132595083087319792009-09-12T16:53:59.818-07:002009-09-12T16:53:59.818-07:00It almost always comes down to the physical (or ac...It almost always comes down to the physical (or actual) rapping. It's very hard to make a bad album, I feel, if you're really rapping well, and very tough to make a good one if you're not. All the philosophical shit is going to do, at most, is make the difference between a very good album and a classic (or a good album and a very good album, etc.). At least, that's how I feel. Anyway, Rae is definitely a bit stony and dull on this. Then again, it's nowhere near as bad as GZA on that Grandmasters album. That was just pure robotics. At any rate, rare is the rapper whose skills or verve don't substantially diminish over a 14-year span. I feel we got about as good an album as we could reasonably expect.Asherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06495408546806192092noreply@blogger.com