Style: Hip Hop
Primary Emotions/Themes: A vocal adventure of one of the greatest villains to ever live.
Thoughts: "If I only had one hip hop album in my collection this would be it."
"That's a bold statement, but I get it - it's a masterpiece."
"I'm fully aware of the weight that statement carries, and I'll stand by it."
Out of all of the genres I truly enjoy hip hop is the one I've been into the shortest and have the least exposure to. I have yet to do a truly deep dive into the genre, something that I should probably put on my goals for the next year. I have however listened to enough to know what kind of hip hop I love and what I will normally pass on.
Unsurprisingly (at least to me) the kind of hip hop and rap that I dislike is the more mainstream music. I find it boring and repetitive. The samples are just thrown on top of a random beat and repeated for three to five minutes while different people talk over it. I know that is a gross oversimplification, but that's how most mainstream hip hop sounds to me.
On the other hand I find certain artists highly compelling, first and foremost amongst those is MF Doom - particularly on Mad Villainy. Where other artists spend time spitting their bars on random topics in predictable patters Doom takes a different approach. His bars are complex, and the meter is not always as easy to follow. It's not uncommon for songs on Mad Villainy to be in time signatures other than 4/4, and Doom's vocal approach takes on similar character.
It's not only the meter that makes this album special. It's the way the samples are curated, and the way that the album is put together. Many times it feels like the song should be over but it continues in a completely unexpected yet totally acceptable direction. There are forward thinking beats and sample curation, yet it still feels grounded in the traditions of hip hop.
Even having listened to this album dozens of times I'm still surprised by parts of it with every listen. There are brief moments here and there that I forget about and blind side me with every listen. It's a phenomenal adventure do listen to this album, and one that I look forward to every time it hits the turntable. My entry into the best hip hop album to ever be recorded.
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