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Is Lil Wayne Officially Washed? · Hip-Hop Now Podcast

0:00
Speaker 1: Coming up on this week's episode of hip Hop Now
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Speaker 1: podcast is Little Wayne officially Washed. Timbaland doubles down on
0:11
Speaker 1: AI music with a new venture, and my thoughts on
0:15
Speaker 1: Slick Rick's new album Victory. Let's go to the scorecards
0:22
Speaker 1: first before we say that. Let's do it. Welcome to
0:30
Speaker 1: jip Hop Now Pod. Fat as to do from the future.
0:35
Speaker 1: You know what this studies show as out so disrespectful
0:42
Speaker 1: leg like hip hop is say to today. Let's get
0:47
Speaker 1: right into the business. What up, y'all? I am your
0:50
Speaker 1: host Vegas and this is hip Hop Now podcasting podcast
0:54
Speaker 1: specifically designed to keep you caught up on all things
0:57
Speaker 1: hip hop, music and culture that happened throughout the week.
1:01
Speaker 1: Big shout out to the subscribers and audio form and
1:04
Speaker 1: the subscribers right here on YouTube. Shout out to you
1:07
Speaker 1: for taking the plunge, for pressing the button that says
1:11
Speaker 1: I like that record. But also a big shout out
1:17
Speaker 1: to those who are new to the channel on YouTube,
1:19
Speaker 1: new to the podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. I
1:23
Speaker 1: hope you enjoyed the content. I hope you like comment
1:27
Speaker 1: and obviously subscribe. Man, we got goals, you know, we down.
1:31
Speaker 1: The campaign is down. A little bit, but whatever, because
1:35
Speaker 1: we're looking to get to twenty five k at some point.
1:39
Speaker 1: So that's where we are now. Right now, I think
1:41
Speaker 1: we're sitting at thirteen thousand, which is more than I
1:44
Speaker 1: could have asked for. Again, last year, the goal was
1:47
Speaker 1: to get to a thousand. Now we had thirteen of
1:50
Speaker 1: the joints, so can't complain for those who maybe didn't
1:55
Speaker 1: watch last week's episode, maybe didn't get a chance to
1:58
Speaker 1: listen to it. I have already put out my best
2:02
Speaker 1: of twenty twenty five so far, so far, not so far,
2:09
Speaker 1: not for the year, but so far ahead of the
2:13
Speaker 1: end of the second quarter, because honestly, I just have
2:17
Speaker 1: a feeling within these next couple of weeks that list
2:21
Speaker 1: is not going to change very much, to be honest.
2:24
Speaker 1: So you can check that out on the channel it's available.
2:28
Speaker 1: A couple of joints have dropped that can contend for
2:31
Speaker 1: my best of the year for sure, but we still
2:34
Speaker 1: have a long way to go and a number of
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Speaker 1: albums to drop. Wonder that I'm going to talk about today,
2:40
Speaker 1: that drop, we're gonna talk about it today, and so
2:45
Speaker 1: much more. Right we got the clips coming in July,
2:47
Speaker 1: so this opportunity for so many projects to get into
2:52
Speaker 1: my best of the year. So we'll see, but so
2:55
Speaker 1: far it's been a slower year than last year. Last
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Speaker 1: year was dope. It was the dope year for hip hop.
3:02
Speaker 1: Fifty to fifty year of hip hop was dope. But
3:06
Speaker 1: this one is kind of slow. So we'll see maybe
3:08
Speaker 1: the second half of the year picks up and we
3:11
Speaker 1: get some better releases. Big shout out to hip HOPDX
3:16
Speaker 1: dot com and brose you for heads in a couple
3:19
Speaker 1: of places where I'm getting some of my stories from.
3:21
Speaker 1: Let's get right into the business stuff. Is Lil Wayne
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Speaker 1: officially washed? That's the question, you tell me? Is he washed?
3:36
Speaker 1: What's the last Wayne song you like? What's the last
3:39
Speaker 1: Wayne album you like? When's the last time you even
3:42
Speaker 1: checked for Lil Wayne as an artist. Now that's not
3:45
Speaker 1: to say there are people out there who do all
3:48
Speaker 1: of those things, because I still check for Little Wayne,
3:51
Speaker 1: you know. I checked to see if records are dope
3:54
Speaker 1: that he releases or albums are. But recently the Carter
3:59
Speaker 1: six that's sixth stolement in the Carter series. If you're
4:03
Speaker 1: not keeping up, it dropped and Lulu Wayne has been
4:10
Speaker 1: getting destroyed on social media. On social media, on YouTube,
4:16
Speaker 1: on podcasts, even podcasts that primarily focused on sports are
4:24
Speaker 1: like reviewing the album and saying it's trash, and I'm
4:29
Speaker 1: not gonna lie, y'all, I'm low key scared, because let's
4:33
Speaker 1: just keep it real. I know black folk, you know
4:35
Speaker 1: white folk, y'all just sit on the side for a second.
4:37
Speaker 1: Just listen for black folk. A lot of times we
4:39
Speaker 1: can see that our family member, not all the time,
4:44
Speaker 1: but a family member, our friend. It's probably an attic,
4:48
Speaker 1: it's probably a junkie, but we just keep ignoring the
4:52
Speaker 1: signs here. Okay, no, look at him. He's standing up straight,
4:58
Speaker 1: he breathing our He looks like a junkie. Sometimes he
5:05
Speaker 1: sounds like a junkie. The Card of Six isn't like
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Speaker 1: Lil Wayne sounds terrible on every track. He doesn't, but
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Speaker 1: it does sound like you're getting different versions of Wayne
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Speaker 1: musically and just vocally, you know, and lyrically. The albums
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Speaker 1: such a mixed bag. And I didn't get to review
5:26
Speaker 1: because I did my Best of the Year last week
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Speaker 1: and I just it wasn't good, So it wasn't gonna
5:32
Speaker 1: make that list. But if you were looking for a
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Speaker 1: review from me in this podcast, it's not good. There's
5:40
Speaker 1: some songs I like, Don't get me wrong, there's some songs.
5:43
Speaker 1: There's enough songs that I like to make a solid EP,
5:47
Speaker 1: but an album and a sixth installment in the Carter series, which,
5:52
Speaker 1: if you ask me right now, is three and three right,
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Speaker 1: three dope entries or whatever installments and three that are
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Speaker 1: like from so so to just not good, Carter four
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Speaker 1: being the one that's like so so so for the
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Speaker 1: most part. And I guess I said three for three,
6:16
Speaker 1: three and three, but I think this card of six
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Speaker 1: just says, stop, stop littling, stop, don't stop making music
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Speaker 1: for some time, go to rehab or therapy. And maybe
6:30
Speaker 1: maybe he's doing some of these things. I don't know.
6:33
Speaker 1: And what makes it interesting for those who are not
6:36
Speaker 1: on social media and not able to see the conversation
6:40
Speaker 1: to know that people are dogging this album. It's not
6:44
Speaker 1: just the music. Most of the music, there's nothing really
6:48
Speaker 1: wrong with it. It's just that for what occurred leading
6:53
Speaker 1: up to this album and the fact that on the
6:56
Speaker 1: heels of not getting the super Bowl and I'm Gonna
6:59
Speaker 1: be Weezy had Baby and all that talk, right, all
7:02
Speaker 1: that talk, you know, like don't don't wake up the
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Speaker 1: Lion or whatever he said online. We woke up the
7:10
Speaker 1: Lion and he was defamed and he didn't have raw anymore,
7:15
Speaker 1: and he was all over the place, So it seems
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Speaker 1: like he didn't really live up to what he was
7:22
Speaker 1: building right he was. It was almost as if they
7:27
Speaker 1: were using what he was in the past to tell
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Speaker 1: you that this album was going to be hot. Because
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Speaker 1: he's a hip hop icon. Lulu Wayne is the first
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Speaker 1: ballot Hall of Famer in hip hop, and it's not
7:39
Speaker 1: just the Carter series, it's what he did with cash Money,
7:42
Speaker 1: and it's definitely the mixtape run. His features when he
7:47
Speaker 1: was hot were crazy, and he was on everybody's stuff
7:50
Speaker 1: from boom back Underground to the most commercial artists. So
7:54
Speaker 1: he's he's one of them ones, basically, as the children
7:58
Speaker 1: would say, he wanted it at once, But this album
8:04
Speaker 1: maint good, and I started thinking, like, have we seen
8:10
Speaker 1: the last of Lil Wayne as an artist making albums?
8:14
Speaker 1: Not features in a single here and there, but making albums,
8:17
Speaker 1: because it just looks to me like he has so
8:22
Speaker 1: much else going on internally, and you know, trying to
8:28
Speaker 1: tell us like I'm now I'm good y'all when we
8:31
Speaker 1: watching videos of you on stage looking like yo dog.
8:35
Speaker 1: We've been to spots in the hood where like, I'm
8:39
Speaker 1: from Brooklyn, New York, but I lived in Baltimore for
8:41
Speaker 1: some time and it was a a portion. I don't
8:44
Speaker 1: know if it still happens because I don't live out
8:46
Speaker 1: there no more, but I know, like the joint Lexitive market,
8:49
Speaker 1: you will see the themes nodding off just all over
8:53
Speaker 1: the place, and at some point you're kind of desensitized
8:57
Speaker 1: to it because you just used to seeing it, right,
8:59
Speaker 1: especially if you're growing up in the hood and you've
9:01
Speaker 1: seen that before. This is a little wing on stage
9:06
Speaker 1: at a show doing that, and some people say, oh,
9:08
Speaker 1: he was just sleeping standing up at a concert. If
9:13
Speaker 1: you're sleeping standing up, and I know baby was the one,
9:16
Speaker 1: but it was him too. You've seen the video. If
9:21
Speaker 1: that's the case, you need to stop for a second.
9:24
Speaker 1: You need to pause for a minute and take care
9:27
Speaker 1: of yourself, because honestly, I hear the little wing we
9:32
Speaker 1: like in this album, but the production is kind of
9:37
Speaker 1: all over the place as far as the choices, the concepts,
9:42
Speaker 1: the trying to reach back to the things that you
9:46
Speaker 1: knew about him trying to flex features that make records
9:50
Speaker 1: that don't sound good, right, Like, Okay, you got Bono
9:53
Speaker 1: on here, but it's not a good record. It's the
9:57
Speaker 1: flex that you got him on here. I mean, the
10:00
Speaker 1: first time he been on a rappers album. I don't
10:02
Speaker 1: think so. But if so, who cares? It's not good Wayne.
10:06
Speaker 1: So I don't think he's washed. I think he has
10:10
Speaker 1: bigger issues. But I think the Wayne you know is
10:14
Speaker 1: still in there, because even on this album, there's times
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Speaker 1: where I'm hearing certain songs and I'm like, Okay, that's
10:22
Speaker 1: the way I know. But it's just not sustained throughout
10:25
Speaker 1: the album. It's mostly garbage. Okay, mostly garbage. So there
10:32
Speaker 1: you have it. That's my review, but that's also my
10:35
Speaker 1: thoughts on liul Wayne in twenty twenty five? What do
10:38
Speaker 1: you think about Lil Wayne? Did you check out the
10:40
Speaker 1: car to six? Is it as fast as the internet saying?
10:45
Speaker 1: Is everybody jumping on the bandwagon? I'll tell you like this,
10:48
Speaker 1: I'll keep it the fuck with you. I don't have
10:52
Speaker 1: no tickets to any bandwagons because I think that's corny.
10:56
Speaker 1: But I know what I hear, and other people know
10:59
Speaker 1: what they hear. Also, so do with that? What you
11:02
Speaker 1: with next? I swear Timberland is like he's another like
11:12
Speaker 1: legend in the game, but he is annoying. He's like
11:16
Speaker 1: really annoying. Now he's not quite love of annoying, he's not.
11:21
Speaker 1: But what he's been doing with this AI stuff is
11:23
Speaker 1: very annoying to me, very annoying. Let's go to the headline.
11:27
Speaker 1: This is on hip hop dx dot com and it
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Speaker 1: says Timberland announces he is working with an AI artists.
11:35
Speaker 1: What does that contract look like, mister Timberland, It says
11:39
Speaker 1: Timbaland has announced that he is now working with AI
11:43
Speaker 1: artists that aren't actually real well, of course whatever. The
11:48
Speaker 1: iconic producer has launched Stage zero and AI focused entertainment company,
11:54
Speaker 1: and comes as a result of him experimenting with the
11:58
Speaker 1: AI programs on No, that's the one that that's kind
12:03
Speaker 1: of like the leader if you want to really do
12:05
Speaker 1: some stuff with audio and especially video, Like I think
12:08
Speaker 1: that's the one. I think they have a video component
12:11
Speaker 1: where they be doing in baby joints whatever. Timbo has
12:16
Speaker 1: revealed that the company has signed the first of an
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Speaker 1: AI artist, who is being called tie Time. Well, hold up,
12:23
Speaker 1: hold up, hold up, hold up, how do you sign
12:27
Speaker 1: someone that's not real? How do you sign them? Now?
12:32
Speaker 1: Now I ain't gonna I'm not gonna hold you, but
12:36
Speaker 1: I'm thinking I don't like it as a music fan,
12:39
Speaker 1: but I'm thinking, what if we enter a space? I
12:44
Speaker 1: did a whole AI show for y'all, but here's a
12:46
Speaker 1: little nothing tipate. What if we into a space? Right?
12:48
Speaker 1: Because this whole he signed an artist, but artists not really?
12:51
Speaker 1: How did you sign them? Did they audition? Like? I
12:54
Speaker 1: don't understand what are you talking about? But I kind
12:58
Speaker 1: of feel like, let's say, if I go and I
13:03
Speaker 1: create an artist, right, I say, I'm gonna give this
13:06
Speaker 1: artist this name. I'm gonna describe them as this and
13:10
Speaker 1: get AI to make images of this person till I
13:16
Speaker 1: get it exactly how I wanted, how I want that
13:19
Speaker 1: artist to look. I'll describe that artist's style, you know,
13:25
Speaker 1: everything about them, and then I start to curate songs
13:30
Speaker 1: and lyrics for them. So not just putting in commands
13:33
Speaker 1: to say, make a storytelling record about bricks of coke
13:37
Speaker 1: right now? That would be ill, but whatever, and I
13:42
Speaker 1: kind of tweak. Let's say, if I'm tweaking AI to
13:46
Speaker 1: kind of get what I want, and I'm using like
13:50
Speaker 1: rich because you can even get AI to make beats
13:52
Speaker 1: like you can just get AI to do all of it.
13:54
Speaker 1: And then I go to Timberland and say, here's my
13:59
Speaker 1: package of this artist, Coke Sniff for number nine. That's
14:03
Speaker 1: gonna be his name. I don't ask me what the
14:05
Speaker 1: number nine mean, just back up, but I say, yo, Timberland,
14:11
Speaker 1: Coke Sniff for number nine. Higgo his crack his wack record.
14:16
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying, bars beween talking rap of
14:20
Speaker 1: the records of a single. Let's get all of these
14:24
Speaker 1: on here and here Timberland, would you think? And he says,
14:28
Speaker 1: I want to sign your artists. Now, I don't know
14:32
Speaker 1: if that means I get a creator's fee or some
14:40
Speaker 1: kind of compensation for creating the AI, or maybe a job,
14:45
Speaker 1: because you're not signing me, you're signing this AI, and
14:50
Speaker 1: maybe they take over the content that's produced with that bass.
14:56
Speaker 1: It sounds crazy as hell, but I I feel like
15:00
Speaker 1: there's a generation coming up. I hope not. I hope
15:06
Speaker 1: I'm wrong, a generation coming up that will entertain this
15:11
Speaker 1: kind of nonsense and humans, human artists will be competing
15:17
Speaker 1: with AI artists because let's just put it this way. Music,
15:23
Speaker 1: for the most part, like the way I listen if
15:25
Speaker 1: it's an artist I've never heard of before, whether it's
15:28
Speaker 1: a rap artist or a singer, And let's just say
15:31
Speaker 1: enough people mention their name and I go listen, and
15:34
Speaker 1: I like them, and I like it a lot, and
15:37
Speaker 1: then somewhere down the line, I just discover that it's
15:40
Speaker 1: an AI. It's tough to decide whether or not you
15:47
Speaker 1: should continue to listen to it because you like it. Now,
15:52
Speaker 1: there are a lot most people need to relate to
15:54
Speaker 1: their artists, and in some ways I do, but I
15:59
Speaker 1: don't rely on it, and that would make I'm kind
16:02
Speaker 1: of making a case for goddamn AI. Okay, but I'm
16:07
Speaker 1: just saying, if you wind up liking the record, what
16:09
Speaker 1: do you do? You said always AI, I'm out here, Nah,
16:12
Speaker 1: I might feel like, well, so what you know? I
16:18
Speaker 1: like that record. It sounds dope. The beat sounds dope.
16:20
Speaker 1: Music sounds dope. And I could see why Timberland thought
16:27
Speaker 1: this was a good idea, because y'all remember back when
16:30
Speaker 1: he started playing around with the whole artificial intelligence thing
16:34
Speaker 1: in music, and he was like, there's one artist I
16:38
Speaker 1: never got the chance to work, but now with the
16:41
Speaker 1: power of technology, I could work with it. And he
16:45
Speaker 1: played it and the beat was kind of like I
16:47
Speaker 1: was like, Okay, what's this, But then the rappings started
16:51
Speaker 1: and I was like, is that Biggie? And when I
16:56
Speaker 1: say it was, and then for those who saw it,
16:59
Speaker 1: it sounds like Biggie. It was taking breaths in spaces
17:04
Speaker 1: that Big would take breaths. It was almost uncanny and
17:10
Speaker 1: it sounded good, but it wasn't Big because the Notri's
17:15
Speaker 1: Big passed away in nineteen ninety seven. No one who
17:20
Speaker 1: knew Big was around. For Big. A fan of Big,
17:22
Speaker 1: nobody's going to like that because it's not coming from Big.
17:28
Speaker 1: But what Timberland was able to do was kind of
17:34
Speaker 1: impressive because the Big, let's just say Big, was still
17:38
Speaker 1: here or it was like, yo, we found the loss
17:41
Speaker 1: track from early early Timberland and Biggie and he played that.
17:47
Speaker 1: People would be all over it. But it just showed
17:50
Speaker 1: me how much he's into it where he thinks I
17:54
Speaker 1: could I could be the leader in this regard. And
17:58
Speaker 1: I remember Timberland and you know, I want to say
18:00
Speaker 1: this and that we're gonna move on, but I remember
18:02
Speaker 1: timbaland mentioning how he didn't always want to work with
18:06
Speaker 1: well established artists, like for example, like a like a
18:10
Speaker 1: Michael Jackson, because he felt like he wanted to create
18:14
Speaker 1: It was better to create the future artist the newer artists.
18:19
Speaker 1: And I was always cool with that, even though I
18:22
Speaker 1: kind of wanted to hear Mike over some Timberland. I
18:26
Speaker 1: think that's what he's trying to do here as far
18:29
Speaker 1: as leading to charge. I think he's trying to get
18:31
Speaker 1: into something that is inevitable so that he can reap
18:38
Speaker 1: the benefits early because he was there early when it
18:42
Speaker 1: pops off, reaped the benefits when it pops off. I
18:46
Speaker 1: still don't like it. I still feel like what does
18:49
Speaker 1: that do for a generation who a generation of singers
18:53
Speaker 1: who haven't gotten to that point where they can get
18:56
Speaker 1: that break eventually. And I'm talking about like a right
19:00
Speaker 1: like everybody was a kid at some point. Like imagine
19:03
Speaker 1: like when you see them videos of her performing and
19:07
Speaker 1: she's mad young, but she's playing the guitar and she
19:10
Speaker 1: could sing and she just sounds good. What if you
19:14
Speaker 1: have somebody like that who now has to not only
19:18
Speaker 1: compete with AI, but maybe they have to pour their
19:21
Speaker 1: own natural talents into an AI because that's the only interest.
19:26
Speaker 1: It's like in so many ways it could go wrong,
19:29
Speaker 1: and in a lot of ways, I don't like Timberland
19:33
Speaker 1: like being one of those bigger people in the music
19:37
Speaker 1: industry to co sign it, because then it all it
19:41
Speaker 1: takes is one and all it takes is for somebody
19:44
Speaker 1: to make a stupid amount of money and then everybody
19:47
Speaker 1: start thinking about it. And I'll say this in party,
19:50
Speaker 1: there is one person who I want to use AI
19:54
Speaker 1: in the worst way. But the main reason, not the
19:58
Speaker 1: main reason, by what I'm thinking and is why it
20:00
Speaker 1: never happened, is because there may be some contractual things
20:04
Speaker 1: regarding his likeness, meaning his voice, and that's Beanie Siegel.
20:11
Speaker 1: Don't think for one minute that people who stop making
20:15
Speaker 1: albums don't owe albums to record labels. So if you're
20:19
Speaker 1: gonna go do AI, maybe you might need permissions or
20:22
Speaker 1: maybe putting that album out means job or not job.
20:27
Speaker 1: I don't think job exists. Death jam or whoever needs
20:32
Speaker 1: to get a cut or needs to be in charge
20:34
Speaker 1: of that, like you can't independently go and do it,
20:37
Speaker 1: or for somebody like Beanie Siegel who was shot and
20:40
Speaker 1: because of the complications of his situation lost his voice.
20:45
Speaker 1: So now even now when he appears on records, is
20:47
Speaker 1: just not the same. It's not Beanie Sigel to us.
20:51
Speaker 1: But he can easily sample his voice before he was
20:55
Speaker 1: shot and write new rhymes. It'll still be beans right
21:00
Speaker 1: in the rhyms. It'll just filter his rhyms through his
21:05
Speaker 1: original voice, which is crazy. So I don't know, y'all. Well,
21:11
Speaker 1: see what do you think you're down with AI? You
21:15
Speaker 1: like some of the things Young Guru was saying too
21:17
Speaker 1: Timberland about doing this AI thing. Leave your comments of
21:22
Speaker 1: the common section below. And lastly, Slick Rick is one
21:30
Speaker 1: of my favorite hip hop artists of all time. He
21:36
Speaker 1: was probably like an early influence as far as what
21:40
Speaker 1: I liked in hip hop, what I wanted to hear
21:43
Speaker 1: in some ways, how I wanted to be right because
21:45
Speaker 1: he was always fly with the jewelry and all that
21:49
Speaker 1: with the clothes, and he was unique right, he was
21:53
Speaker 1: had the London accent right, he's as he says, London,
21:58
Speaker 1: Jamaican and America, and all those influences shine through. And
22:03
Speaker 1: I remember, you know, I was a kid. One of
22:06
Speaker 1: the greatest adventures of Slick Wrick came out, which was
22:09
Speaker 1: like eighty eight, so I was probably like eleven, and
22:13
Speaker 1: you know, his stories were like grown stories, you know,
22:16
Speaker 1: but I loved it because it was almost like he
22:19
Speaker 1: made the stories for kids, but they had adult themes.
22:23
Speaker 1: So if you're eleven, you like, what what's she do?
22:28
Speaker 1: Davy Crockett, what he DoD? What's happening in the TP?
22:32
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying, you wanted to know? And
22:34
Speaker 1: Slick Rick was doing that. But also, you know, he
22:38
Speaker 1: had other songs like Hey, Young World and Teenage Love,
22:42
Speaker 1: just Dope Records and undeniable classic in hip hop history period.
22:49
Speaker 1: One of the greatest storytellers of all time, if not
22:52
Speaker 1: all time. And I know a lot of people will
22:54
Speaker 1: be like, well, his story is not better than what
22:56
Speaker 1: now is so big and blah blah blah. But he is
22:58
Speaker 1: the blueprint. That's what you're missing in He is the blueprint.
23:03
Speaker 1: Rock Him's the blueprint. Koogie Wraps a blueprint, KRS One's
23:07
Speaker 1: a blueprint. Big Daddy Kane is a blueprint ice Cube. Like,
23:12
Speaker 1: there's so many people who are the blueprint, the inspiration
23:18
Speaker 1: for those to come along, and they're supposed to be better.
23:22
Speaker 1: They're not supposed to be on par with the master.
23:25
Speaker 1: They're supposed to evolve. So with slick Rick, I call
23:30
Speaker 1: him the greatest storyteller of all time because when you
23:33
Speaker 1: drop an album that's all stories in eighty eight, which
23:38
Speaker 1: was a packed year for classic hip hop albums, and
23:42
Speaker 1: everybody say, your joint is a classic too, and it
23:46
Speaker 1: was all stories. You can't beat that, right, and he
23:53
Speaker 1: went to prison. We ain't gonna get into that. You
23:56
Speaker 1: can look it up, you can google it. And def
23:59
Speaker 1: Jam dropped his second album, which was The Rulers Back
24:02
Speaker 1: that had some joints on it. Definitely has some joints
24:05
Speaker 1: on it, but it wasn't as good as The Great
24:08
Speaker 1: Adventures to Slick Rick. But how can you be. Sometimes,
24:11
Speaker 1: when you got this undeniable classic, you almost never going
24:15
Speaker 1: to meet those expectations. You have to do something different.
24:19
Speaker 1: And then def Jam dropped his third album called Behind Bars,
24:22
Speaker 1: which contained some songs he did before he was locked up,
24:28
Speaker 1: but he had less of an imprint on it than
24:32
Speaker 1: the first two albums, and it showed. It's clearly the
24:36
Speaker 1: weakest album in his catalog, which isn't that big because
24:40
Speaker 1: he has four He has four albums only and in
24:43
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety nine, he dropped the art of storytelling, which
24:47
Speaker 1: for me was surprisingly dope for a dude who debuted
24:53
Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty eight. Like it was really good, like
24:58
Speaker 1: really good, like a man think about everything that happened,
25:03
Speaker 1: how many errors and this man was locked up? How
25:06
Speaker 1: much he missed being locked up in ninety nine. But
25:11
Speaker 1: that was the last album he did until twenty twenty
25:15
Speaker 1: five with this new album, Victory and I'm not gonna
25:19
Speaker 1: even lie. I was a little afraid because of one.
25:24
Speaker 1: I'm thinking, why has this slick Rick done an album?
25:28
Speaker 1: Because he's definitely done features, And one that stands out
25:31
Speaker 1: to me is the one I always say. I think
25:32
Speaker 1: it's called the Auditorium. It's on most death aka Yes
25:39
Speaker 1: and Day, but on most depths album is static. And
25:44
Speaker 1: I was like slick Ricks versus crazy, Like I ain't
25:49
Speaker 1: talking about bar work and float the coke overseas, I
25:53
Speaker 1: ain't talk about that. That's not all rap is okay,
25:56
Speaker 1: it's not all coke bombs, But you got the storytelling.
26:00
Speaker 1: He didn't sound dated. It was socially conscious at the
26:04
Speaker 1: same time as well. I was like, man, can I
26:06
Speaker 1: get a Slickwork album? But we didn't since nineteen ninety nine.
26:12
Speaker 1: So with this new deal with Mass Appeal that's spearheaded
26:17
Speaker 1: by nas and this run of seven albums from seven icons,
26:23
Speaker 1: and like I said last week is Slick Rick, Mob, Deep,
26:28
Speaker 1: Big L, Ghosts, Ray Dayla Soul, and Nasen Premier. This
26:34
Speaker 1: is the first of those seven albums. I don't know
26:37
Speaker 1: at what pace they're gonna drop. I don't think it's
26:41
Speaker 1: week for week. I'm thinking it's I'm thinking it might
26:46
Speaker 1: be each month or every two weeks or whatever I'd
26:52
Speaker 1: rather go for. Honestly, from a marketing standpoint, I think
26:57
Speaker 1: they need to be closer to each other two or
27:01
Speaker 1: three weeks, so slickwork has room to breathe and do
27:05
Speaker 1: you know, interviews and drop videos and all that. But
27:11
Speaker 1: the album is out and for those who don't want
27:16
Speaker 1: the context, they don't want to detailed review, they want
27:19
Speaker 1: to know what is it? You like it or not?
27:22
Speaker 1: I do not like it. M hmm. It's not worse
27:30
Speaker 1: than Behind Bars. I still think that holds the crown
27:34
Speaker 1: for a Slickwrick's worst album. And it's saying something that
27:38
Speaker 1: that's his worst album because he was in prison, right,
27:43
Speaker 1: so that that's saying something. But this one's right behind it.
27:47
Speaker 1: It's right behind it. And before I get into it
27:52
Speaker 1: real quick, it's fifteen songs, fifteen tracks, which includes so
28:01
Speaker 1: it's closer to it might be closer to ten. I'm
28:04
Speaker 1: not even gonna hold you. But it's only twenty seven minutes. Now.
28:10
Speaker 1: Typically I will never complain about that. But to me,
28:15
Speaker 1: then this is an EP, Ricky D. This is the EP.
28:19
Speaker 1: This is not in today's times. This is an EP.
28:23
Speaker 1: This is not an album. That's where my disappointment started, Like,
28:29
Speaker 1: oh boy, why is it so short? It's so short
28:32
Speaker 1: because some of these songs are really short. And I mean,
28:36
Speaker 1: I look and I'm like, is that song like a minute?
28:39
Speaker 1: In fifteen seconds? Something is brewing because Westside Gun just
28:46
Speaker 1: did it with one of his EPs, where they're making
28:49
Speaker 1: the songs even shorter. And I don't mind if it's
28:53
Speaker 1: two minutes, two thirty right, three minutes tops, I don't
28:58
Speaker 1: mind that. When you start talking about like one minute,
29:02
Speaker 1: it's not a song. It's an incomplete project. Get out
29:07
Speaker 1: of here. The album doesn't have the features that I
29:12
Speaker 1: thought were going to be on here. There was a
29:13
Speaker 1: rumor about I guess somebody made it up. A rumor
29:17
Speaker 1: about a song that was like story called Storytelling, and
29:22
Speaker 1: it had like nads and mob deep and a whole
29:25
Speaker 1: That song got on here. It's not there's a song
29:29
Speaker 1: with Nas on here and Nas gets busy on it,
29:32
Speaker 1: and I think, unfortunately it stands out so much that
29:38
Speaker 1: it reminded me of how not good this album is. Now,
29:42
Speaker 1: let me tell you why I say it's not good.
29:45
Speaker 1: I say that only because and for me personally, but
29:51
Speaker 1: I say that because it's clear if you watch the rollout,
29:58
Speaker 1: they're saying this is a visual album, right, So it's
30:01
Speaker 1: not just the album you stream, but there's also a
30:04
Speaker 1: video version of the album that you can watch that's
30:10
Speaker 1: executive produced by it Just Elbow. Now, the album has
30:15
Speaker 1: a heavy London theme per slick Rick, right, so not
30:21
Speaker 1: only the influences that are in the music, even guest appearances.
30:26
Speaker 1: But this is probably the first time on a slick
30:30
Speaker 1: Rick album where he really embraced it. Not that he didn't,
30:34
Speaker 1: but he really put up front England, you know what
30:39
Speaker 1: I'm saying. Because it wasn't like he was claiming Burrows
30:43
Speaker 1: all crazy and we oh, I thought he was from
30:44
Speaker 1: Queens like no, but this was the first time you
30:48
Speaker 1: felt like the guy with the London accent is actually
30:53
Speaker 1: talking about London and making music that's inspired by being
30:58
Speaker 1: from there, and with that in mind, when you press
31:03
Speaker 1: play and you say what song is this? When you
31:10
Speaker 1: hear the dance beat hit more than once, you'll be like,
31:15
Speaker 1: is this a house record? Why is this on it?
31:20
Speaker 1: And it's because some of it is, you know, Slick
31:23
Speaker 1: Rick's personal tastes right, none wrong with that, but some
31:27
Speaker 1: of it is him trying to grab a vibe. And
31:31
Speaker 1: it's not just the house music thing, because you know,
31:34
Speaker 1: that's kind of everywhere, including America, and I think that's
31:37
Speaker 1: why they thought it would work for this hip hop.
31:40
Speaker 1: We don't want to we want to hear that. There's
31:44
Speaker 1: other situations where they're beats that are kind of like
31:50
Speaker 1: you could have got better beats. You just could have
31:54
Speaker 1: on some songs. But there are songs I like. And
32:00
Speaker 1: it's very easy for me to tell you right now
32:03
Speaker 1: what songs those are because I had to look at
32:06
Speaker 1: him like, thank you. Finally, this is the slick work
32:09
Speaker 1: I've been looking for. I like the song stress. There's
32:14
Speaker 1: a song called Angelic after that. I like that joint.
32:18
Speaker 1: There's skits on him that you know, just kind of
32:21
Speaker 1: sometimes I don't even know why. He's like, why you
32:23
Speaker 1: saying this? Like what, Maybe I'm missing it? Maybe I'm
32:28
Speaker 1: missing it, y'all. I like the song Landlord. Landlord is
32:32
Speaker 1: probably quizzitsential slick Rick. It was a song that I
32:39
Speaker 1: was like, finally, there it is, even though I like
32:42
Speaker 1: those other records, it was like, that's what I was
32:45
Speaker 1: looking for. Doesn't sound dated. Slick Rick don't sound old either,
32:50
Speaker 1: not at all. He in the pocket, it matches him.
32:56
Speaker 1: Why isn't there more of this? I like the song
33:01
Speaker 1: Documents with Nas. Again, Nas kills that, and I think
33:09
Speaker 1: I think that's it. There might be one more, But again,
33:13
Speaker 1: the album is twenty seven minutes and these are not
33:17
Speaker 1: enough of those songs happen. This is not one of
33:21
Speaker 1: the better albums of the year at all. It's not
33:25
Speaker 1: one of the worst. It's just disappointing. Now I'm gonna
33:30
Speaker 1: check out the visual album because again, maybe there's something
33:34
Speaker 1: about seeing the film that's gonna make me understand a
33:37
Speaker 1: little bit more of what I'm listening to. But you
33:39
Speaker 1: shouldn't have to watch a film in order to like
33:42
Speaker 1: an album more. You just shouldn't. It should be conveyed
33:45
Speaker 1: in the music to make you like the music, and
33:47
Speaker 1: the movie is the bonus. That's how it should be.
33:51
Speaker 1: So with that being said, I think when it comes
33:55
Speaker 1: to slick work desography because regardless of what I'm saying
33:58
Speaker 1: about this album, please understand, I'm not saying Slickrek is whack.
34:04
Speaker 1: He is one of the greatest of all time. He's
34:06
Speaker 1: the greatest. He is the blueprint of storytelling in hip hop,
34:10
Speaker 1: hands down. I don't care who's his age. You might
34:12
Speaker 1: have been doing it. He made an album that was
34:14
Speaker 1: all stories. How are you not the final boss when
34:21
Speaker 1: you make an album in eighty eight and it's a
34:23
Speaker 1: classic and it's all stories. So stop. But Great Adventures
34:28
Speaker 1: of Slick rec is still number one. Number two, I
34:31
Speaker 1: would say, is the artist storytelling Number three? The rulers back,
34:37
Speaker 1: number four Victory and number five behind Bars. And I
34:42
Speaker 1: know there's those you guys who like the only ones
34:45
Speaker 1: like behind Ball started cool. No it was not not
34:48
Speaker 1: to me, it wasn't. So there you have it. Have
34:51
Speaker 1: you heard Slick Rick's brand new album Victory or are
34:55
Speaker 1: you anticipating it? Did you want to hear it? Did
34:57
Speaker 1: I just ruin your listening experience? Leave your comments and
35:01
Speaker 1: a commentsation below. Subscribe to this podcast right here on
35:04
Speaker 1: YouTube at the like button if youllrect the video if
35:06
Speaker 1: you like, I don't want to see your face. I
35:09
Speaker 1: just but I will listen. You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
35:15
Speaker 1: and wherever you get your audio podcasts. Until next time, y'all,
35:19
Speaker 1: I'm not a critic, I'm a fan. Face