Rome is burning, so… It bums me out that he’s contributing to the speed with which we are willingly consuming “free new music,” which is to say all new music, which rarely gets more than a second or third listen because there’s always some new Great Kanye West track to get to. It bums me out that music is so devalued at this point that Kanye West - one of the greats - is giving away his entire album a track at a time here because albums are basically just “promotional materials” for “artist brands.” It bums me out because I like albums, not artists - so also it bums me out that Kanye West, who knows how good these songs are (he tells us so), week after week raises the expectations of what “free new music” sounds like, glossing over the fact that it took a lot of major label money and quality studios for Kanye to develop this sound. It bums me out that Kanye West, who is Kanye West, has 1.2 million Twitter followers, while Ashton Kutcher, who is Ashton Kutcher, has 5.9. That his music - very little music anymore, not even the best stuff - can’t do the kind of heavy lifting that movies and video games and television can without this extra-song-and-dance. How is Nikki the only person on the song that likes girlsĪs for my other foot dropping? It bums me out that even the most significant mountain-moving type pop artists like Kanye West have to be “good at Twitter” in order to put a dent in the zeitgeist. It is supposedly dropping in sept btw which seems pretty reasonable and god knows the industry is starved for a big event album but his albums seem to bring out the best in him. i'm imagining a single like "can't tell me nothing", but as was pointed out in my seminal 'worst kanye west guest verse of 2009' his rapping has kind of become intolerable recently. his albums have almost always been as interesting to talk about/think about from a conceptual standpoint as they have been to listen to (and sometimes more fun i.e. In any event it will be interesting to see what kanye is up to with this album. His precedent was crazy, this new one goes even farther.īut i'm also sure that pharrell shocked himself with some of the music he's put out in the past 5 years, and we all know how that's gone I think that people are going to be shocked. I had the chance to listen to the new Kanye West album. Lyrically….he is saying things like, ‘Wow, he said that?’ It is going to shock everybody, the first record.Īgain, he is british, so let's keep that in mind. If that’s a taste of what’s coming on the album, he has smacked it. Okay, so I’ve heard the first Kanye West joint. a british dj had this to say (via nah right): he was out recording in hawaii for a while and last night he was out in nyc playing tracks. Tupac's murder remains unsolved.First, we pour one out for kl0pper - wherever you are, i hope 'graduation' is there pleasing yehĪlright so supposedly this is gonna be kanye's 'return to real rap!'/boom bap album or whatever. Many new albums and compilations have continued his career posthumously, with "Changes" getting massive airplay in 1999. Numerous theories continue to surround his murder some blame Bad Boy, others think Suge set him up, while legions of believers think he is still alive.
On September 7, 1996, Tupac was shot repeatedly in Las Vegas and died six days later.
Bailed out by Suge Knight, his Death Row premiere All Eyez On Me - the first hip-hop double album - featured the hit "California Love" and easily went multiplatinum. Me Against The World (1995) debuted at No. In 1994 he released Thug Life, was shot several times in NYC, and was convicted of sexual assault. His second album contained the player anthem "I Get Around" and the ode to struggling sisters "Keep Your Head Up." In addition to his rising celebrity status, Tupac also saw numerous run-ins with both sides of the law. He released his first album 2Pacalypse Now in 1991, followed by starring roles in the films Juice and Poetic Justice. The Oakland emcee got his start as a dancer with Digital Underground before making his mark as a top-notch actor and hugely successful solo artist. One of the most idolized and imitated figures in the rap game, the legacy of Tupac Shakur is truly monumental.