The "artist" formerly known as Kanye West says....

Kanye's the shit.

He's a bit unstable, true, but he's a musical genius and I don't really give a damn about anything besides that.

808s and Heartbreak is a mixed bag for me - I LOVED some of the tracks (namely "Paranoid" and "Amazing"), others fell flat, but the thing is I missed the most were his lush, expansive hip-hop beats. He relied on tribal drums for 808s.

 

It's all about ego with him. He thinks he can do anything. That vocalizer shit makes me sick, so I'm glad a I avoided this album. And I am a big fan of Lupe Fiasco. I have both albums.

 

If you want real Chicago rap listen to the entire catalog from Common.

Lupe is dope, but Common is unreal.

 

I sputter when people throw around the term "genius" and "Kanye" in the same sentence. Man, the bar for that distinction has been lowered so far of late that Verne Troyer would have problems limboing under it.

 

Lupe is amazing. Too bad he really didn't push mainstream until "The Cool."

 

I wanted to pick up Common's latest album until I saw him and Cee-Lo perform on a tv show about a month ago. The title track is phenomenal, but whatever shit they performed on tv was horrendous. It was like he was covering a Beach Boys song or something.

 

As much as I love hip-hop, there are very few artists that can carry off good live performances. I have been to shows by probably 25 different artists and maybe 5 were good. The Roots put on an amazing show arguably the best live group out, Outkast is damn good, Naughty By Nature can hype a crowd and Jay-Z can do his thing. I also saw the Lost Boyz when they came to a small club and they were very good.

 

You're absolutely correct about The Roots. Killer show.

 

This SNL clip sums up Kanye at his finest away from the studio ... at least he could laugh at himself.

http://www.imeem.com/mixtapemessiahjr/video/MNAavW6W/snl_saturday_night_live_kanye_west_snl_skit_spoofing_hi/

 

The Roots are one of the best live BANDS, period.

Common is a Hall-of-Famer. Lupe is an up-and-comer.

Kanye just seems good, because the stuff coming out of the South ---- and right onto the radio ---- is god-awful, caucophonic, mindless, shallow, repetitive, substance-free tripe. By comparison, Kanye (talented but milquetoast lyricist) seems like The Low End Theory crossed with the last eight tracks of Black on Both Sides.

"Hip hop" should sue hip hop artists from about 2001 on for libel.

 

I forgot about Jurassic 5, they put on a helluva show. The Roots were great every time I saw them, I am up to eight now, and they are some of the most easygoing guys I have ever met. My buddy and I got to meet them and Black Thought was so cool to talk to.

 

Damn, guys. The Roots are my favorite band (by far), and I haven't yet had a chance to see them live. As I said on another thread, if any of you don't have Jay-Z's "Unplugged" album, with The Roots as the backing band, go buy it now.
I haven't gotten too much into Common, although "The Corner" is one of my favorite songs and I own that album. Also love Lupe and Jurassic 5.
Kanye makes good music, but is not a great MC. As happens with a lot of these "geniuses" (and he's not), they try so hard to make the next big thing that they get away from what they're good at. I'm all about artists taking chances, but some of this stuff is just not good.