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Having heard R.A.P. Music, I'll say it's definitely worth checking out. It may not have brought around completely to Killer Mike, who's style sounds more like 'browbeating' than 'rapping' (this comes to mind)

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though the intensity is appreciated, in places. But the beats? Incredible. El-P does an even better job here than on his own album, which is pretty good as well. Between these two albums, El-P is 2012's rap MVP.
 
I really don't care for El-P's production style :reject: It sounds incredibly synthetic and soulless to me, and I think it clashes with what Killer Mike is trying to do. I love his intensity, and El-P is off on some electroclash shit. More old school beats would suit his street poet style better. Bring the Bomb Squad in.

I've never liked El-P though. Fantastic Damage bores me. The only thing he's done that kicks ass is The Cold Vein, because that album was meant to be frigid and inhuman. It works like a charm there.
 
LemonMelon said:
I really don't care for El-P's production style :reject: It sounds incredibly synthetic and soulless to me, and I think it clashes with what Killer Mike is trying to do. I love his intensity, and El-P is off on some electroclash shit. More old school beats would suit his street poet style better. Bring the Bomb Squad in.

I've never liked El-P though. Fantastic Damage bores me. The only thing he's done that kicks ass is The Cold Vein, because that album was meant to be frigid and inhuman. It works like a charm there.
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Funny, because his production reminds me of the Bomb Squad, in terms of the density and layers of abrasive sound.

A good example of why I think it works is the lead track. Killer Mike, T.I. and Bun B all turn in great verses that seem perfect for a typical booming Southern rap beat. But El-P turns it into something else entirely.
 
Yeah, Bomb Squad's production is a lot like El-P's, but it feels more organic to me, in that it tends to utilize found sounds over electronic ones. Kind of going for the same thing, but in a different way.
 
Madvillainy.

I found it pretty inaccessible. Kind of a frustrating listen with all the sampling, instrumentals, shorter tracks. MF DOOM isn't high up on my list of favourite MCs. Production not quite what I hoped.

This, of course, is based on one listen. I'm sure I'll come around.
 
It's a little fucked up, yeah, but Accordion, Bistro, Fancy Clown and All Caps are all among the best hip-hop tracks ever and there's literally nothing else out there like any of it. Believe me, I've heard a lot of abstract hip-hop, and never has a hip-hop album come so close to feeling like a dream. Especially the first time you hear the album, it's almost impossible to process what's happening. It's not so much that there aren't any hooks or great melodies (there are loads of them, and you find more as you listen further), but the way the songs are structured prevents you from ever getting a proper rhythm. At first, this is kind of frustrating, because your expectations always go back to intro-verse-chorus-verse-chorus-NEXT SONG-intro-verse-etc. but Madvillainy doesn't give you that. You can't tell where the next song even starts, most of the time.

Best way to listen to Madvillainy is in the dark, with headphones, just like most good music. It's an adventure, something really special and exciting that smashes convention. MF Doom is easily one of the best pure MCs around, because he throws around these dense volleys of wordplay and metaphor without breaking a sweat. He always sounds like he's in his element, no matter how complex the ideas. Seriously, break out the lyric sheet and be amazed by some of that shit. I find a great new use of language each time I hear it, even after 30+ listens.

Easy 5/5 for me, and probably my...4th favorite hip-hop album ever. If I ever made a hip-hop album, I would not necessarily want it to sound like Madvillainy, but I would want it to be just as brave and creative. It, to me, is every bit as innovative as Endtroducing, only it has the added bonus of great lyrics.
 
If I get a chance tonight I'll make a drink, whip out my Beats and the lyric sheet and give it another spin.

I was reading it actually sold reasonably well too, which is great, because there is literally not one song on it that I thought "well, that could be a good single".
 
Wow, rateyourmusic has it at #8 for hip-hop in general and #191 overall. That's crazy. Awesome, but crazy. I don't know when it happened, but it's absolutely a hip-hop touchstone now. Maybe the day that this happened:

MOS DEF ACCORDION - YouTube

Hip-hop covers don't happen often, but when they do, it's an incredible sign of respect. Great MC, great song choice.

Givin' y'all nothing but the lick like two broads
Got more lyrics than the church got 'Ooh Lords'
And he hold the mic and your attention like two swords
Or even one with two blades on it
Hey you, don't touch the mic like it's AIDS on it
 
While Madvillainy is great, for me the Quasimodo albums are among the greatest hiphop albums ever. True Madlib genius.
 
I'm glad I'm not the only one who's struggled with Madvillainy. I can't actually seem to finish the album, despite the times I've tried.
 
I dug Madvillainy almost immediately :shrug:

As far as weird conceptual hip-hop goes, I think it's far more accessible than say, Dr Octagonycologist.
 
Hahaha I listened to that album when I had a bad cold once and was half asleep. Really trippy stuff, I barely remember any of it other than it was bizarre and raunchy.
 
Bizarre and raunchy about sums it up; Kool Keith is rather scatalogically obsessed. I can't say I love it, but certain songs work well (Blue Flowers) and the production by Dan the Automator is pretty good.
 
I'm starting to dig R.A.P. Music a bit more. I can feel what's going on here; purist, old-school hip-hop with some really in your face rapping and lyricism. It's not something to throw on whenever, but it does make you feel like a badass whenever you do.

Big Beast and Ghetto Gospel are my favorite tracks taking everything into account, but the beat of Jo Jo's Chillin' goes hard.
 
I have to say, Liquid Swords in my top five hip-hop albums now. It took me a while but jesus christ is it good. I'd say it and Kaputt are my two most-listened-to albums in the past year.

GZA is just an absolute master. His style doesn't hit you immediately like Ghostface, ODB or RZA, it's more like death by a thousand cuts.
 
Ab-Soul has a serious mancrush on Yeezy.

Besides this one sampling Addiction heavily:

Ab-Soul - Nothing's Something - YouTube

There's one track on the album that references "Yeezy taught me" and there's another track here called "Beautiful Death." Makes me smile to see My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy already proving so influential on young hip hop acts.
 
I'm only on track 1 of R.A.P. Music, but...it can't possibly be this good straight through right?
 
Big Beast is probably the best thing on there, but everything else is strong as well (save for Reagan which is stunningly embarrassing)
 
"Big Beast" starts so strong and then "Untitled" is quite good as well. It's not that it gets bad after that, but it goes from, "Oh shit, oh shit, this is my favorite album ever" to #15 of just this year by then end of the listen. "Reagan" is fucking hilarious. I'm so glad that song exists...but so confused by its existence in 2012. I like how he tries to tie it together by throwing in some lyrics about Obama, and it's just a beautiful train wreck of hilarity.
 
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