Thursday, February 19, 2009

So Far Gone > Mixtape About Nothing



I said it.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

1. Im glad you did. Cuz i was thinkin it.
2. I'm glad loyalty doesnt cloud judgement.
3. I been wait for the "disappointment" post concerning Wales latest, but i guess this will do.
4. Drake got his RNLC on for a few tracks. A mixtape for the bitches...what a novel idea!

Pop-it-Philosophic said...

gotta disagree.
The casual playability of this mixtape is very low.
A grade mixtape, but let's be honest. Wale said a lot more than "I can snatch ya bitch" wit MBN. And that's what it comes down to with me.

The Paxtons said...

Yeah, I dunno. There are like 4 joints on sfg that I like more than anything on the whole wale joint, but I definitely can't sit through it without skipping. Perhaps if I knew what I was getting myself into (a la kanye's 808s) but instead it came off as a cool project with a lot of fresh ideas (ignant shit to taking work off is brilliant) that were poorly sequenced for front-to-back listens. That is all.

Call Me... "Mr. Garr" said...

i shall return to elaborate on my incendiary post, but for now, i'll say that, from front to back, i found SFG much more entertaining than MAN. That is not to say anything negative about MAN; it belongs in the pantheon of great mixtapes. But I think the accessibility of SFG is what pushes it over the top. Drake's rap persona is equal parts bragadaccio and carl-thomas-emotionalisms. Wale is a hugely cerebral rapper, to the point that a lotta niggas sleep on him cuz they don't get many of his subtleties. Drake on the other hand, delivered a mixtape that is just as entertaining superficially as it is after examining it further. Plus, his hybrid Jigga-Kanye flow is more accessible. i stay playing this jawn from front to back (though sometimes i start at "Successful"). thoughts?

Anonymous said...

A mixtape entirely devoid of anything but money and hos in regard to subject matter is better than MAN? What did Drake talk about on the mixtape really? Nothing, the same thing he always talks about it, and does it with some of the most subpar lyrics ever, but because he is able to accentuate them a certain way and because of his delivery people act like he's Lupe. "I see my ex girl standing by my next girl standing with the one I'm doing right now"...really, that's excellent lyricism? Dude is overhyped, overrated, has zero identity (it's pretty hard to argue that on half the songs he either sounded like Wayne or he sounded like Kanye). I will say that the production on SFG was better and that's where it stops. I'll give Drake credit when Drake can talk about something other than money, hos and how hard it is being in the rap game when you were on Nickelodeon for a decade sitting on over 150,000 a year at just 15 years old. Basically:

Lyrics:
Wale>Drake

Subject Matter:
Wale>Drake

Originality:
Wale>Drake

Production:
Drake>Wale

Author said...

i'll say that at first listen i enjoyed SFG more than MAN. but is it better? i think wale is hit or miss sometimes and i agree with greezy that he can go way too deep into a rhyme sometimes. on the other hand, drake is slick, but still easy to grasp. i dont have a problem with complicated rhymes, but i think wale has a hard time making them sound good sometimes.

Call Me... "Mr. Garr" said...

@anonymous: i find this mixtape to be about more than money cars and hos. i think it's actually a meditation on the trappings of hip hop, success by the standards of hip hop, and how it fails to fulfill our most basic needs of feeling loved and fulfilled. maybe u missed it, but the nigga is singing through half the cot durn mixtape.. and to flip Lykke Li's "Little Bit" isn't some "make-it-rain"-esque track. Wale is a thinking man's rapper. Drake isn't. but that's why drake comes up with lines that are so witty, even if their devoid of intellectual ruminations. sometimes music just needs to be that: music. And good music shouldn't have to hit you over the head announcing that it's good music. It should just be. So Far Gone is.

The best music, to me, are albums like Illmatic and Blueprint. Their works that someone just made. Nas didn't go into the studio saying he was about to change the face of rap music. He just spit what was real to him in a way that was real to him. Same thing with Blueprint. It's part of the reason why Jay has never eclipsed Blueprint. He's been trying too hard. Illmatic was organic. Reasonable Doubt and Blueprint were organic. Drake didn't try to make the greatest mixtape ever. He just wanted to make a solid piece of work. In my opinion, mission accomplished.