Mumble rappers find themselves constantly being accused of destroying rap. Whether Lil Yachty is fending off Pete Rock and Anderson .Paak, or Lil Uzi Vert attempting to stay in good terms with Ab-Soul, the conflicts mumble rappers are finding themselves in are providing social media entertainment for everyone to enjoy. There are many who absolutely despise mumble rap. Arguments are made that it doesn’t belong in the culture; it needs to stay far away from hip hop. Mumble rap is accused of being unintelligible, producing “unintelligent” fans where artists are perceived to be solely capitalizing on a trend and not taking their craft seriously. Lil Yachty certainly didn’t help the discussion of mumble rap belonging in hip hop with his statement that he couldn’t name 5 Biggie or 2pac songs – which only further fueled the discussion of the unimportance of mumble rappers. With all this hate, one has to question if hip hop has a space for these mumble rappers. It’s hard to just dismiss mumble rap. Rap has always been transformative; every couple years there are new trends that emerge. The truth is rap has become such a large genre with many different subgenres. From gangster rap, swag rap, conscious, auto tune, and even the westernized dancehall that rappers and R&B artists seem to be propagating this summer, rap finds its artists reinvigorating the genre from time to time, creating and adapting to new trends in sound. Sometimes these new trends create conflicts, especially when the new trend conflicts with preconceived notions on how the culture is supposed to be. What we witness is the reoccurring old school vs. new school debate of hip hop, where the elders of hip hop press the new school regarding the culture. This has been seen numerous of times: KRS-One vs. Nelly, Ice-T vs. Soulja Boy, David Banner vs. Lil B, among others. Mumble rap is one of the latest trends in hip hop that has been recently criticized by the hip hop community, with Pete Rock leading the charge.
These conflicts go beyond just the “old vs. new” in which seems to be the exterior of these beefs. Many are quick to point out that these are just OGs who are not accepting of the new school. One of the main arguments against mumble rap is that it is of a lower quality of music. As Pete Rock states in his Instagram post, “im a lil tired of people taking this culture for a joke”. In my opinion, people should just enjoy what they want to enjoy. If mumble rap speaks to you, then by all means enjoy it. It is hard to label something bad for the culture because music speaks to different tastes – and even if it is bad to you, your good artists will always exist. When Ice-T claimed Soulja Boy single handedly killed hip hop, it did not stop Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole from shining. The good and bad will always be there, just listen to what you want.
0 Comments
Young Thug the icon. I’ve heard an incredible amount of criticism over the past few years regarding Thugger and his image. Thug has become one of my favourite artists, especially since the release of his Jeffery project, but he still faces criticism for aspects unrelated to music. Some criticism can be justified based on personal musical preference - I have heard people hate on Thugger based on his voice, lyrics, music catalogue and audibility. But one of the criticisms about Thugger that comes up the most is the notion that he is weird. When pressed on what is so weird about Thugger, the response is that Young Thug is weird because of the terms he speaks with and his sense of fashion. To many, Young Thug can't be taken seriously as a rapper because he calls his friends “hubbies” and his closet is filled with effeminate fashion choices, such as dresses and skirts. Even though Jeffery is one of the better rap albums released this summer, Young Thug’s perception of being weird distracts audiences away from the fact that Young Thug actually has bangers and is telling his story through his unique imagination. I never was appalled at Thugger's choice in fashion; in fact, it is what attracted me to Thug. His IDGAF attitude and uniqueness is what made me first want to listen to his music. The melodic genius that is Young Thug has a unique ability to hit several notes with a single word; he stretches words and uses them to hit different pitches. It is what makes me find his music so addictive. Many people ignore his uniqueness because of the perception they have of Thug. What you can’t ignore about Thugger, he is one of the most interesting characters in rap today. If rap and its audience can accept Thugger’s image and can strive away from the traditional ideal of what it is to be a male in hip hop, what we see is a remarkable artist in Thug. Hate him or love him, Thugger is doing something remarkable; he is battling the ideal of the hypermasculine male in hip-hop. The lyrics in his songs paint the picture of a typical rapper: drugs, sex, guns, and money. But he is much more important than just a typical rapper. He challenges hip hop gender norms through his attire and vocabulary. Hip hop seems to be behind times when regarding sexuality, but Young Thug is forcing Hip hop to reevaluate and redefine what constitutes masculinity. He is important to hip hop because of what he is introducing to the culture, he is illustrating that there is more than one way to be a “man” in rap.
Osheaga 2016 is finished, and throughout the many performers, Lana Del Rey shined as one of my favourite sets of the festival. Lana was faced with the daunting task of headlining on a Saturday in between Red Hot Chilli Peppers and the weekend attraction, Radiohead, while sharing the same performance timeslot as rap heavyweight Future.
Here was Lana, with her smooth, calm and angelic toned music, pitted against the energetic, gritty, rock and rap type artists and their fans that occupied Osheaga grounds. It is understandable that there would be those who would be unimpressed and unentertained by her low-key style performance yearning for something more energetic; the thought of a Radiohead stan trying to enjoy Lana amuses me. “Snoozy” and “underwhelming” are the adjectives that some use to describe Lana’s performance. The undeniable truth is that this is just what Lana’s music embodies. Lana is not a party artist and her music is hardly energetic. Her music – especially her performances – will not win you over with her energy and movement; instead, she will amaze you with her vocal delivery and the emotion she pours into her sound. Her movements are subtle but still orchestrated to the song, and her actions are very casual. Much more than just a performance - it is as if you were witnessing Lana’s story unfold. Creating a west coast vibe – with a palm trees setting, yellow sundress and a neon “Del Rey” in the backdrop – Lana transforms the Parc Jean-Drapeau setting allowing the audience to further experience her story she intends to illustrate. Lana has evolved as a live performer, especially since her infamous SNL performance. Her vocal delivery and stage presence has become increasingly intimate, and her movements, while still casual and minimal, are well practiced and synchronized perfectly to her performance. This is what made her show unique; during her performance of Off To The Races, Lana would move her arms, as if she was running in place, along with her background singers to mimic the chorus of her song, and her simple movement would mesmerize the crowd. During Born to Die, she would casually smoke a cigarette with one hand, and perform her song with the microphone in the other. She would physically imply different methods of drug intake whenever she would sing the line “let’s go get high” through different hand gestures, and with every move of her hand, the crowd loved it. I have never experienced a performer who would hardly move during her performance, but was still able to captivate their crowd. Everything Lana would do made it seem like the performance was out of a black and white script. Her barely mobile movements, and smokey/dreamy voice drew reactions because it felt like a film. To top it off, the fireworks that accompanied Born To Die, Honeymoon and High By The Beach was fantasy-like, creating an unforgettable performance. Lana would then spend a couple minutes with the fans in the front row, taking pictures with them before closing with Off To The Races. Tease of the night: when Lana walked off stage and went to the crowd to interact with the fans. She came back on to the stage with a Canada flag gifted from a fan. I thought for sure she would go into National Anthem, but instead she closed off the concert It is about to get interesting in Atlanta.
There is a new look Atlanta Hawks team; stars have moved around, Jeff Teague and Al Horford have found new homes while Dwight Howard has moved in. But what can Hawks fans expect from their team with the loss of two former all-stars and the addition of one of the biggest question marks in the league, Dwight Howard? There is uncertainty with this team, and while some of that uncertainty is associated with Howard’s health and physical abilities, the Hawks still have one of the most respected coaches in the league in Mike Budenholzer, and an elite defensive team. Howard will fit in with this team defensively – it might possibly be one of the best teams defensively that Howard has ever been apart of. With Kent Bazemore resigning with the team, Thabo Sefolosha, and Paul Millsap coming off his All-Defensive Second Team nod, this team that was second last year in defensive rating has potential to match and even surpass that. Dwight might not be the physical presence he once was in Orlando – back injuries and lingering knee issues has changed the physical presence Dwight is – but he is still an intelligent and productive player defensively. Dwight should fit in well right beside Millsap, one of the most talented 4’s he has ever played with. Dwight’s strengths lie in his rebounding and shot blocking, and while not as elite as it was in previous years, it will prove to be significant with regards to Atlanta’s future success. Dwight should be able to immediately help Atlanta’s rebounding woes, who ranked 24th in the league in total rebounds last year. Offensively, this will be a different Atlanta Hawks team compared to what we were used to in the Budenholzer era. The addition of Dwight, and Dennis Schroder now taking over point-guard duties full time, will prove to be a change for the Hawks. The Hawks are now less spaced out compared to what they were in the previous 2 years. Some of the lineups on the floor for the Hawks the past 2 years would consist of 5 players who can all shoot the ball respectably from mid to long range (Teague, Bazemore/Carroll, Korver, Millsap, Horford). Exchanging Horford for Howard is a big change, especially considering that Dwight demands touches in the post, stopping ball movement. Coach Budenholzer - learning from the Popovich system - excels at creating an efficient offensive system, so there is a belief that Budenholzer will get Dwight the easy looks he needs to succeed. If Budenholzer can get Dwight to play the pick-and-roll with Schroder effectively, they can be a formidable threat as Dwight is an excellent roller scoring 1.1 points per possession shooting 63%. The only problem is that Dwight despises the pick-and-roll; he would rather stay stagnant in the paint. Dwight has to be engaged and focused. Easier said then done as many coaches have tried, but if Budenholzer can sell Dwight on playing the pick and roll, the Hawks will be in good shape offensively. This will help Dwight return to being a more formidable offensive threat. Defenses will crowd Dwight more often, which would then open space for others. Houston, in my opinion, was a misrepresentation of Dwight’s abilities. Dwight joined Houston as a star. 2 years later, after a coaching change that saw a young J.B. Bickerstaff take the helm, Dwight regressed offensively and looked less engaged. Whether this was because of the physical toll of injuries and 11 years in the league, different coaching philosophies or because of internal issues, Dwight seemed unable to accept and adapt to the new reality of his lesser role. If there is a team where Dwight can adjust, I think Atlanta is this team. Dwight needs a fresh start, and under a Budenholzer system, Howard has a real chance to turn around his career. Dwight is saying all the right things with regards to the media, him and his new coach seem eager to show the league what they can do together. This might be Dwight’s best chance to succeed since Orlando; it will be interesting to see how this chapter in Dwight’s career unfolds. Vince Staples is a West Coast artist hailing from Long Beach, California. Vince, not known for a party-style of music, creates an extremely dark atmosphere with his rap music. It seems as if Vince aims for this frightening picture he creates as many of his singles and mixtapes revolve around the use of minimalistic beats and dark, violent lyrics to illustrate his story. While the beats he uses are minimalistic, the way Vince raps in correlation to the beats creates a certain melodic groove to what he projects, especially the dark imagery that he portrays, which in turn becomes addicting and memorable.
Vince is slated for a 50-minute performance on Osheaga Friday. I was first introduced to Vince through his involvement on the Rocky and Tyler tour. A$AP Rocky and Tyler, The Creator headlined a tour together last fall, along with special guests Vince Staples and Danny Brown, which made a stop in Toronto at TD Echo Beach. In preparation for the Toronto show, I listened to each artist extensively, including Vince Staples and his debut album Summertime ‘06. I played the album on shuffle, and the first song I listened to was Summertime, a song that played with emotions of love; it instantly became one of my favourite songs. As I kept listening to Summertime ‘06, the deep bass of songs like Norf Norf and Jump Off The Roof, in conjunction with Vince’s rhymes seamlessly and beautifully creates a visual of the underdog story of Vince’s summertime in Long Beach during the year of 2006. My appreciation for Vince does not stop at his Summertime ‘06 album. When I got the chance to see Vince live at the Rocky and Tyler tour, one thing that stood out for me was his energy and ability to control the audience. Even though at the time I was not religiously familiar with much of his material, Vince’s energy had everyone in the audience moving with excitement. Summertime ‘06 does not do Vince’s performance and stage presence justice; the connection Vince creates with the crowd is remarkable. Vince is also more comedic than you could imagine, in between songs he would joke with the crowd and make them laugh, there was never a dull moment in his performance. Vince’s set at Osheaga will be a unique one; the anticipation of Vince’s performance grows with every listen of his songs. Some of my favourite Vince Staples tracks include: Like It Is, 3230, Summertime, Jump Off The Roof, Norf Norf, Street Punks. This year, I will be attending my first music festival, Osheaga, located in Montreal, Quebec. While this festival is not as popular as other more renowned festivals such as Lollapalooza, Made in America and Coachella, I am genuinely excited as in a span of a weekend I will be seeing many of my favourite musicians and artists. My aim in the next few weeks leading to the festival is to highlight some of the artists I will be seeing in anticipation for Osheaga 2016.
Montreal’s own KAYTRANADA is one of the artists slated for a set on the Saturday of Osheaga weekend. KAYTRANADA is a musician, producer and DJ. I came about KAYTRANADA from his work on The Internet’s Girl – a song that captivates you with its smooth composition and love trance lyrics. After enjoying his production on Girl, I later found remixes to Rihanna’s Kiss It Better, Crucial by K-OS and Danny Brown’s Lie4, all which made me further appreciate his abilities as a producer and DJ. His ability to take a song and reinvent it – and make you love it through a different lens - by remixing is amazing. His remixing abilities are top notch; his performance at Osheaga is a set that I am excited to see. KAYTRANADA has recently released his debut album 99.9%, which I enjoyed entirely. KAYTRANADA’s talent can be seen as he caters to a wide range of genres. Gathering artists from R&B, Rap, Jazz and neo soul, KAYTRANADA’s features are from different genres, giving them all a platform to coexist. His versatility and seamless transitions exemplified on most songs is what makes this project stand out for me. Features on 99.9% include: Craig David, AlunaGeorge, Vic Mensa, BadBadNotGood, Anderson .Paak, SYD, and many more. Illustrating his versatility, KAYTRANADA’s production, along with his unique use of percussive instruments, creates a dreamy listen for the audience. A feature that cannot be avoided in discussion of this album: Anderson .Paak on GLOWED UP. Anderson .Paak and KAYTRANADA create a soulful and futuristic track which quickly became one of my favourite songs from 99.9%. What I love about this track is that it is basically two songs in one. Anderson .Paak starts the song with charismatic verses boasting, “lately I’ve been glowed up, paper finally showed up.” Anderson .Paak then transitions to more soulful excerpts, “In the hands of love, just like I wanna be.” GlOWED UP not only illustrates Anderson Paak’s versatility, but KAYTRANADA’s ability to create two different spacey beats filled with synths and drums that seamlessly transitions well together.
One year after all the ghostwriter accusations, tweets and memes, Meek Mill and Drake, to no surprise, still hate – and are going at - each other. Subtle jabs and insults are situated on the majority of Meek and Drake records currently being released indicating that this beef is not going away any time soon. While this feud is still blatant, both artists have approached 2016 with new music and strong ambitions trying to make summer sixteen theirs.
While there are no instances of dedicated songs solely focused on the conflict, Meek and Drake have both released multiple songs that contain a few subtle jabs and verses aimed at each other. It seems as if every song coming out between the two has some sort of remark against the other, and because of this, Meek and Drake appear as if they will continue with this beef for the time being. The constant insults will be something we have to get used to as an audience of Drake, Meek and rap. Drake will constantly boast about how he obliterated Meek last year and Meek will continue to accuse Drake of using ghostwriters. I am not complaining about this at all, their beef was a defining moment in both of their careers and the culture itself; it is a rap beef that escalated to the wax, with two artists going directly at each other – full dedicated songs with no assumptions or hidden messages - something fans of the genre have not seen in years. With the majority of the mainstream music audience believing Meek’s career was over when Drake pranced around his OVO fest stage with memes and an aggressive record in Back to Back, Meek has slowly recovered from his demise and has gradually accumulated himself a handful of wins. Meek has put together a slew of singles and jumped on several remixes that had the rap community buzzing with interest. Meek was featured on Young Thug’s Digits as well as the remix for Fat Joe and Remy Ma’s hit All The Way Up. In addition to this, Meek has been releasing singles like War Pain, Pray For Em, and Trap Vibes as he has fans anticipating the release of his next project Dreamchasers 4. I believe DC4 will be a success if he can captivate the “hood” audience he has always been known to attract. He may never be commercially accepted in the mainstream – because of Drake’s inability to take a loss and Meek’s lack of musical versatility - but if he can continue to find success with the audience that enjoys trap beats and aggressive vocals, he will have a successful summer. Regarding the slew of successes in which Meek has accumulated this year, another surprising victory was his win at the Billboard Music Awards. He has somehow edged Drake, Future, Kendrick Lamar and Dr.Dre for Top Rap Album (which has me confused; TPAB and IYRTITL were the best rap projects of last year). While he may never gain the recognition he deserves on a mainstream basis, all of these wins are starting to change the perception of Meek in the rap community. It is only a matter of time until Meek announces some sort of tour, especially since his house arrest is almost over. Drake, so far in the year, has released his highly anticipated album Views, and is now in the preparation process of his Summer Sixteen tour with Future and opening acts dvsn and Roy Wood$. Drake’s album Views has received a very mixed reception. Even with the ambiguous reaction to his album, Views is breaking records in terms of streaming and is on track to being certified double platinum. In addition to these successes, Drake garnered his first number-one single in the United States and Canada as a lead artist for his single One Dance. His album Views has been regarded as a highly mainstream album filled with cringe worthy lyrics (e.g. key chain go jang-a-lang & got so many chains they call me Chaining Tatum), and has even added fuel to the accusations of Drake being a “culture vulture” with his dancehall influenced tracks such as One Dance, Too Good and Controlla. Even with the success and accusations, Drake has not forgotten or forgiven Meek, songs like Hype, Weston Road Flows and Summer Sixteen illustrate this; and even with audiences labeling Views as being mainstream and basic, Drake has heard the criticism and released a more lyrical track in 4 PM in Calabasas. Drake is making sure we do not forget about his lyrical skill, 4 PM in Calabasas would no doubt be the most lyrical song on Views if it were to be included. Eventually, all of us, especially the rap fans, who chose a side to this beef whether it was favouring Meek Mill or Drake will come to realize that these are two artists that can both be enjoyed simultaneously. Both are releasing quality music and are having success in their own lane. You can be a Drake fan – as I am - and appreciate Meek’s verses of Digits, War Pain and All The Way Up. You can be a Meek fan and still appreciate 4 PM in Calabasas. To disregard their music based on artist loyalty, hate or trends is ignorant, especially regarding how both of these artists are approaching the summer of 2016 aggressively with quality music. If you are a fan of the genre, you have to appreciate what they have both have done so far this year. Summer sixteen might prove to be just as instrumental to their career just as last summer was. One of the latest fashion trends associated and growing with the Hip-Hop community is the dad hat. I would never have thought that anything my unfashionable 34-year-old-brother would wear would become a trend, but the “dad hat” has suddenly become one of the latest fashionable developments among Hip-Hop’s prominent stars. No more fitteds, beanies, bucket hats and snapbacks, the dad hat is the new wave.
One artist that models the dad hat, exemplifying the desirable casual look associated with the hat, is young star Bryson Tiller. Tiller ultimately started wearing the hat so people would take him more seriously as a father while working at UPS - as he states in a HOT 97 interview - but as an artist, he has kept the hat, thus becoming a staple in his attire. Usually, being severely worried 2 games into a series with a record of 1-1 is silly – but not with this team and this playoff history.
As the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference, and while looking like an elite team the entire season, I expected the Raptors to get their first playoff home-opener victory in the DeMar-Kyle era. While I am disappointed in my incorrect and expected outcome, I still believe that the Raptors will win this series, thus proceeding to the Eastern Conference Semifinals. With that said, every Raptors fan – including me - is worried about another first round exit. Paul George, in two games, has torched the Raptors. George is playing like the elite player he has been throughout his career. George is a player that has had difficulty performing against the Raptors during the regular season. The Raptors succeeded in the task of containing and suppressing George in their 4 matchups during the regular season, but so far in the postseason, he is taking advantage of pick-and-roll scenarios and getting easy looks for himself. George has already doubled his season average against the Raptors in Game 1 (16.3 points vs. 32 points). The Raptors have to make it hard for George on the offensive and defensive end. Easier said than done, but expect a decline in Luis Scola’s minutes and an increased role for Patrick Patterson, Norman Powell, DeMarre Carroll, and maybe even James Johnson – more versatile defenders who can switch effectively on opposing players. In addition to the superiority of George, another factor that could play a significant part in the demise of Toronto is the emergence of a second star, something the Raptors have had experience with regarding Washington in the 2015 playoffs, notably Bradley Beal and Otto Porter. Monta Ellis strikes me as the prime candidate of George’s sidekick. Ellis excels offensively and in transition, but struggles defensively; the Raptors have to exhaust him at that end of the court. The Raptors have to take advantage of his defensive woes, as Ellis is usually tasked with the easy job of guarding Norman Powell. Zach Lowe of ESPN has an interesting method of combating and punishing Ellis: “One method: Have Joseph, Lowry and DeRozan screen for each other in jumbles with one Raptor big man. Good things happened when Toronto did this in Game 1, and it's an easy way to make Ellis do actual work on defense.” The success of the Raptors ultimately revolves around their all-star duo playing at an all-star level. DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry both disappeared in their first two games of the postseason. While Lowry is still effective as a defender and playmaker, the duos offensive struggles are a significant hindrance to their success. As long as DeRozan and Lowry continue shooting 27% from the field, the Raptors cannot expect to succeed in this series. The DeRozan-Lowry duo is one of the best guard duos in the league, but both are playing at a subpar level. Both players must get back to playing at the elite level. The two guards went from averaging 44.7 PPG, and accounting for 43.5% of the Raptors’ offence to averaging 26.5 PPG, accounting for 28.2% of the team’s offence. It is surprising at all that the Raptors won Game 2, but fortunately for the them, Patterson, Joseph and Jonas Valanciunas have been playing at a phenomenal level, hiding DeRozan and Lowry’s inefficiencies. The Raptors have so far looked ugly in the postseason, and as their postseason shifts to Indianapolis, it will be interesting to see if their stars can respond and get some wins on the road. If the Raptors do lose this series, expect Masai Ujiri to make serious changes. The question of the summer will be: DeRozan or Casey? Or both? adidas Ultra Boost Shoes - Black, White, Grey
An abundance of comfy mixed with street fashion. The Ultra Boost is difficult to purchase because of the overwhelming demand it has garnered. This shoe is weight-defying and has become popular in recent years; it is one of the genuinely light sneakers available while appealing to streetwear connoisseurs. The neutral colour way of this Ultra Boost can compliment any outfit. Breathable upper for a flexible fit while giving a weightless feel. Mamba Day NIKEID option for the Kobe XI - Black, Gold, Blue A gesture of appreciation to the Mamba and everything he has done in his Basketball career. It is Kobe’s last year in the league and Nike has been releasing countless classic Kobe sneakers as an ode to the legend’s legacy. One of the sneakers in which Nike will release is a NIKEID option for the Kobe XI, only available April 13th 2016 (the day of Kobe’s last game in the NBA). Any sneakerhead would love to get their hands on these. Great for athletes: Flex grooves for multidirectional movements; responsive cushioning for shock absorption; and lightweight support for agile movements. |
Categories
All
Archives
September 2016
|