Twenty, maybe even ten years ago, this album would have been deemed iconic, and it’s a shame it hasn’t received that attention. Like most great art, what started out as a creative exercise has become so much more. These are beats you can drown in, blunted jazz so luxurious that you’ll want to wear it.
Much respect to DJ Mustard, Flying Lotus, El-P and the rest of the great producers this year, but Madlib takes home the crown for best production front to back on an album this year. He has Madlib to thank for that, who plays John Williams to his Steven Spielberg. There’s the delirious, playful “Robes” immediately followed by the poignant, world wearied hush of “Broken.” Pinata is a study of contrasts, with Gibbs spanning a field of ideas and emotions without it ever feeling too disparate. He tells stories with the best of them, whether about lost love on “Deeper” or adolescent memories on “Knick.” There’s the gleeful hedonism on “High” and the paranoid noir of “Bomb.” He drops off the best diss track of the decade with “Real,” a scathing, explicit attack on former mentor and rap icon Young Jeezy. For all the (unwarranted) critiques that Freddie Gibbs can be boring because of the homogeneity of his lyrics, Pinata finds him as a master songwriter. All the song titles are one word and yet perfectly named, summarizing the efficient style of the album. What exceeds expectations is how they find greatness in simplicity. The sheer technical prowess is so evident on the record - the way Madlib cuts his samples into jagged soundscapes, and the way Gibbs finds a way to flow over them - that Pinata could be the best album of the year on that merit alone. They both provided what the other needed.įreddie Gibbs and Madlib are both incredible at what they do. Madlib, after years of churning out instrumental projects, came out of the wilderness to find one of the best rappers he’s had a chance to collaborate with. Freddie Gibbs got a chance to flex over the best production he’s ever had, forcing him to be more creative with his songwriting. But what could have been a genre exercise turned into a masterpiece and a career benchmark for both parties. This is rap as athletic activity, with Madlib lobbing out absurdly difficult beats for Gibbs to knock out of the park. Pinata (originally the much better named “Cocaine Pinata”) is not a beautiful act of chemistry. transplant from Gary, Indiana, a rap cyborg who was kicked off Interscope for not toning down his technically driven murder music, teaming up with the Beat Konducta himself, the patron saint of the L.A.
If that’s not impressive I don’t know what is. There’s just the best beats of the year from one of the greatest producers of all time and the best rhymes of the year from someone on the short list for best MC breathing. There’s nothing fancy, or even innovative, about this record. That’s the only explanation for the unfair, lukewarm reception that has greeted Freddie Gibbs and Madlib’s masterpiece Pinata. The most popular rapper on the planet doesn’t even write his own raps! Maybe Drake’s right and rapping isn’t impressive anymore. So far 2015 has been the year of the rapper who doesn’t want to rap they want to be a rockstar, or a jazz icon, or a fashionista, or a conductor. As rap has gotten intertwined with pop, it’s as if the only way to get noticed is to immerse yourself to radio or stand out completely. You have to be a multi-layered artist.” The age of the rap-singer is upon us. In Sprite’s new hip hop focused ad campaign, our resident rap ruler Drake says something a bit disorienting: “Just rapping is not really that impressive anymore. We’re finally here! Look back at the nine previous albums now! Trapped In The 90… on A Better Tomorrow Can’t… Trapped In The 90… on There Ain’t No Award For… Trapped In The 90… on Eminem And The Generation… Well Versed: Enter T… on Trapped In The 90’s: Hip… Well Versed: Enter T… on A Better Tomorrow Can’t… Holla At Ya Boy My Tweets Recent Comments Hungry Hippopotamus Best Albums of 2014: #1 – Freddie Gibbs.
Taking Us All Downtown: Macklemore’s Hip Hop History Lesson.Trapped In The 90’s: Hip Hop’s Obsession With The Past.Well Versed: Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers).Witty Unpredictable Live (Concert) Shit (5).I've Got A List, Here's The Order Of My List That It's In (14).
0 kommentar(er)
