Comments on: Cuban Linx: 8-6-07

By: Johhny Notville

Johhny Notville — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 08:19:06 +0000

Kanye > 50
end of story

By: esbee

esbee — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 02:32:48 +0000

You may have a point, there nahson but do you actually think ye doesn’t wanna progress at all with hip hop? I understand his ego and all but I actually think at his core he’s trying to do his best to expand the genre or at least create the room for freedom of expression…

By: Nahshon

Nahshon — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 23:13:53 +0000

I’m gonna come at this from the psychological perspective of Kanye. He’s not doing this for the progress of the music. He’s attempting to remain a step ahead and to the left of his perceived competition in order to maintain his air of superiority/swag.

He has proved that he can sample electronica…he shouldn’t try to reinvent himself with that.

I gotta agree about hiphop being a collage of sounds and styles. Valid point. But in this situation I disagree with that choice.

By: esbee

esbee — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 14:36:45 +0000

Ivan couple of problems with your argument here:

Amy Winehouse is just rehashing 50’s and 60’s styled jazz tunes..

Hip hop has always been based on using other genres of music as its foundational collage, as a beatmaker I’m sure you understand this. We don’t have to always sample motown classics, that to me is putting hip hop into a box and a dangerous one at that.

Also motown never had all instant classics…they were the POPular music back in their time, basically the interscope of their day so everything they dropped was by default carried by radio not to mention the backdoor politics involved with that.

Had not Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye individually stood up to Berry Gordy to create their own “sound” we would never have those classic albums we all herald so highly.

My main point is let the artists do what it is they feel and you as a fan try to keep an open mind. You sound like you’re already closed-minded to what it is Ye is trying to do without even giving it a listen before-hand. That is my problem with rabid hip hop fans..this is not 94, neither will it ever be.

We must keep pushing the genre by finding new and exciting sounds…if that means getting in with some eletronica or whatever I’m all for it. Then again I was born on the very point the 80’s began so I do have a soft spot for all things 80’s and I don’t agree the 80’s or 90’s for that matter corrupted music of today.

Record labels cashing in on what was “hot” in the ’streets’ did.

By: Ivan

Ivan — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 07:23:51 +0000

^ He’s colored outside the lines, but within the frame of the roots of hip-hop. Rumors about the album state that as a general rule, many of the tracks will be electronic/pop oriented. The further he moves from the SOUL, the more generic and forgettable the album/songs will be. (I dread that alleged T-Pain collab…::shudders::)

Look at the timeline of pop music in the past 30-40 years or so. SOUL!!! Motown = instant classics. Even (pop)rock was soulful. But music (IMO) degraded through the 80’s and 90’s to be flat.

Why else is Amy Winehouse earning so much (well-earned by the way) applause and reception? Cause she’s bringing back SOUL to the music.

Though I’m not a big fan of it, it’s generally alright for emcees to front. It’s been like that since the beginning. (Rapper’s Delight…My Adidas…Top Billin’) But keep it in the vicinity of hip-hop.

It’s the same problem/query I have with Timbo’s “progression.”

My rant is finished………for now…