Recommended If You Like thread - January 08, 2022 - HipHop | HipHop Channel

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Recommended If You Like thread - January 08, 2022 - HipHop

Recommended If You Like thread - January 08, 2022 - HipHop

Recommended If You Like thread - January 08, 2022

Posted: 08 Jan 2022 08:00 AM PST

If you're looking for a recommendation give a description/music link/artist so that other people will know what you want.

Example: "I want to hear an artist that sounds like old Kanye production" (you can get more specific but usually enough). And then someone will respond with recommendations X, Y, and Z.

You can also leave a top level comment recommending an artist/project/scene that you think others might like if they like X, Y, and Z.

Example: "You guys should check out DJ Mustard's mixtape Ketchup RIYL (recommended if you like) post-hyphy and minimalistic west coast beats"

Remember, the point of this thread is to share music, try not to post stuff that's already really popular unless it answers someone's question.

The more descriptive you guys are with your posts, the easier it is to help you find what you want. Just stating an artist's name isn't that helpful since you might only like one specific aspect of that artist's music.

​

Previous RIYL posts

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Album of the Year 2021 #21: Laylow - L’étrange Histoire de Mr. Anderson

Posted: 08 Jan 2022 08:23 PM PST

The Album:
L'étrange Histoire de Mr. Anderson is the second studio album by Toulousian rapper, producer, and director Laylow, also known as Jey or Mr. Anderson; with features from Hamza, Damso, Alpha Wann, Wit., Nekfeu, Fousheé, & slowthai; and accompanied by a short film starring Laylow and directed by Osman Mercan.

Listen:
Youtube
Apple Music
Spotify

Music Videos:
STUNTMEN
SPÉCIAL

Song Lyric Translations:
Fortunately, Genius provides English translations, which you can find here!

Watch the Film:
Youtube (should have subtitles)
Letterboxd

Background:
Laylow, born Jeremy Larroux on March 12, 1993, is an Ivorian-French rapper hailing from Toulouse. Raised in Toulouse and Abidjan, his introduction to hip-hop was through the American stars of the early and mid 2000s, namely G-Unit and Ja Rule.

His musical career began as part of the Toulousian collective Fattoyz, which is nowadays only active as a streetwear brand, and his first mixtape, heavily inspired by American West Coast rap, was a collaboration with fellow Toulousian Sir'Klo, titled Roulette rousse or Russian Roulette, and released in February of 2013. This tape also included Laylow's first collaboration with Montpelliér rapper Wit., who would go on to feature on most of Laylow's solo projects. Later that year, the duo of Laylow and Sir'Klo dropped another tape, a free EP titled 310.

In 2014, Laylow released his first solo works, a trilogy of EPs titled Volume Uno, Volume II Asian Tour, and Volume 3, between March and November of that year. Notably, the name "Mr. Anderson" appeared for the first time in the production credits of these EPs, being Laylow's alter ego and production alias. Laylow's next offering, a 2015 collaborative EP with Wit. titled Digital Night, introduced yet another name: TBMA, or Travis Bickle et Mr. Anderson, named after characters from the Matrix films, the video production duo of Laylow and Osman Mercan. TBMA would go on to provide visuals for several other notable artists, such as Nekfeu, Keith Ape, and Hamza, as well as being the masterminds behind nearly every music video for the rest of Laylow's career to date. Unfortunately, everything released by Laylow up through Digital Night has since been removed from streaming, and the website used by Jey and Sir'Klo to distribute 310 has also gone offline, meaning Laylow's early work is now extremely difficult to find.

Laylow rebooted his solo career in late 2016, with the 10-track cloudy pop-rap mixtape Mercy, featuring Sneazzy, Aladin 135, Di-Meh, and Wit., with video direction from TBMA. The track "10'" was Laylow's breakout hit, amassing over 12 million streams on Spotify as of writing. He followed this success with another 10-track project in 2017, Digitalova, sonically similar to Mercy, which opened with a reggaeton-flavored flip of an Arctic Monkeys track, and included his most recent collaboration with Sir'Klo and first track with Parisian rapper/singer Jok'air. No tracks from Digitalova reached the same success as "10'", but it kept Laylow's name in circulation among fans and critics, building his fanbase and popular appeal.

In 2018, Laylow released a pair of 10-track "EPs", .RAW in June and .RAW-Z in December. The sonic palette of these projects differed markedly from his previous works, dropping the poppy instrumentals in favor of dense ambient pads, overwhelming basslines, warped granular synth leads, creating a cinematic atmosphere that tied in with Laylow's longstanding obsession with the Matrix trilogy of films. The track "Maladresse" was the most successful song on these EPs, breaking 13 million Spotify streams. In these tapes, Jey mixed popular appeal and catchy melodies with experimental production and song structures, as exemplified by the seven-minute-long epic "I Don't : Need U / Know".

After a quiet 2019, Laylow returned in February of 2020 with his smash hit debut studio album, TRINITY, named after the heroine of the Matrix films. This ambitious narrative album followed the story of Laylow in a destructive relationship with an "emotional stimulation software" AI named Trinity, and explored the nature of romance in a world where love itself is commodified. In order to make a listenable album without sacrificing narrative density, Jey split the longer skits into their own tracks, and distinguished them from the proper songs through a simple titling convention: spoken-word skits used normal title case, and full songs were titled in all capital letters, allowing listeners to easily skip the dialog if so desired. The production of TRINITY was, with three exceptions, handled by Algerian-French beatmaker Dioscures, who had previously provided a handful of beats for Laylow's last few tapes, but took center stage here, creating a cohesive, marvelously ambitious and cinematic ambience. TRINITY marked Jey's first entries on the French charts; "BURNING MAN", his collaboration with Parisian singer Lomepal, peaked at 62nd; "DEHORS DANS LA NIGHT", a four-minute two-parter with a creative beat switch, peaked at 74th; "PLUG", another team-up with Jok'air, peaked at 85th; and Laylow's first collaboration with Parisian lyricist Alpha Wann, "VAMONOS", reached 109th. In the leadup to the release of TRINITY, three singles were dropped, selected to summarize the narrative of the album. The first, "MEGATRON", with a beat that pays homage to Kanye West's hit track "Black Skinhead", acts as the album opener and shows Laylow and Dioscures in top form, bringing in Lillois pianist extraordinaire Sofiane Pamart to contribute a bitcrushed piano intermission. When asked about "MEGATRON" and its reference to "Black Skinhead'', Laylow said "I love that guy (Kanye) and I loved Yeezus. Besides, there are several nods to that album on this project." To this day, "MEGATRON" remains Jey's most streamed song on Apple Music, although outside his top 10 on Spotify. The other two singles, "TRINITYVILLE" and "MILLION FLOWERZ", did not see quite the success of "MEGATRON", but both charted at 126th and 187th, respectively.

The story of Laylow's career to date is one of a clear ascent to stardom, gathering notoriety through individual hits like "10'" and "Maladresse", then leaving his mark on the French rap scene with TRINITY. However, his next step would be complicated, as Dioscures announced his retirement from production with the release of his solo project CIELA in early 2021. Laylow faced a new challenge, creating a worthy follow-up to TRINITY without his go-to producer.

Album (and Film!) in Review:
On June 4th, 2021, Laylow announced his second studio album, L'étrange Histoire de Mr. Anderson, releasing a 22-minute teaser film to set the stage. Directed by Osman Mercan, as usual, the film focuses on three characters, introducing the central characters of the album itself. Jeremy Larroux stars as both Laylow and Mr. Anderson, with the "Mr. Anderson" persona represented by Laylow hiding his face from the camera with a rough, aged voice dubbed over, courtesy of Loïc Houdre. The third, Laylow's mother, does not appear on screen, but is voiced by Maïk Darah, best known as the French dub voice actress for Whoopi Goldberg.

The plot of the video is simple, a dramatization of Laylow's life and career to date, embellished with plenty of grandiose stylings and typical TBMA psychedelia. It opens with a scene of Jey, at some point in the past, bleaching his hair, with his mother hammering on the door and yelling. Some of her words are indistinct, but the message is clear: she finds Laylow's lifestyle, all about drugs and music, intolerable. Next, Laylow is kicked out of home, and Mr. Anderson serves a narrator, musing about the inevitability of Laylow leaving. Mr. Anderson then introduces himself properly, shown from behind to be identical to Laylow and apologizes for hiding his face, then pointedly refers to himself as "the other", establishing himself as some sort of inverted reflection of Laylow. His introduction takes place in a prison of glass and greenery, and the first act ends with Mr. Anderson making reference to his plan to escape said prison.

The second act begins with Laylow, clearly in the early stages of his career, making arrangements to rent a flashy car for a video shoot from an extremely dubious car dealer. After initially turning Laylow away, the dealer changes his mind and decides to sell Jey a certain, special, car. He claims that it is a "beast", that will kill a driver who doesn't have a "pure heart". Laylow assures him that his heart is indeed pure, and hops behind the wheel of a banana-yellow supercar. He speeds away, splitting lanes and flying down the freeway. The voice of Mr. Anderson returns, noting that Laylow was simply running away without a plan, and he wouldn't stop unless someone stopped him. Therefore, Mr. Anderson decided to send "the witch" to Jey.

The third act starts with Laylow, in his new car, stopped at a red light, with street performers panhandling outside his window, some juggling, some playing musical instruments. He shoos them away, but a mysterious figure holding a dog appears from the crowd and approaches the car. He hands her a coin, which she tosses aside and demands a cigarette. When Jey complies, the witch seizes his wrist and gives him a cryptic message: "You will find him in the cabin." She vanishes, and when Laylow turns his head, her dog is sitting in the passenger seat.

The short fourth act, titled "LOST FOREST", begins with Laylow taking an unmarked exit from a highway, passing a sign proclaiming the area to be said "lost forest". As Laylow listens to a voicemail from his mother, distracted, a deer steps into the road, and the car flips. The fifth act is one of retrospective, as Mr. Anderson reveals a great deal about the past. Indeed, he reveals that, as Laylow's alter ego, he originated in Jey's childhood, and that Laylow's artistry came from the "Mr. Anderson" personality. As Laylow wandered through the woods, thrown from the wrecked car, he found himself at the cabin, as foretold. He stepped inside, the door slammed shut, and Mr. Anderson triumphantly proclaimed that he would "change places" with Jey.

However, after a cut into the final act, we find Laylow eating at a diner, listening first to a waitress talking about her lost love for art, then to Mr. Anderson offering advice to said waitress. As the camera pans out, it is revealed that Mr. Anderson himself, appearing as an older version of Laylow, is sitting next to him at the table. Laylow agrees with Mr. Anderson's advice and the two leave, seemingly in harmony. Laylow walks to the mysteriously intact car, Mr. Anderson disappears with a laugh, and the car is seen zooming away, with no sign as to which one is driving. After the credits roll, the car dealer asks the witch why she helped Jey, with her response being that "those two will change the world".

The film has been generally well-received, although due to its release on Youtube, it hasn't received much critical attention. However, the mysterious stylings of the plot raised interest in the upcoming album, as many were interested to see how Laylow would tie the story of the film into the album, either as an adaptation or something new.

On June 14th, Laylow released the first, and only, single from L'étrange Histoire de Mr. Anderson, titled "STUNTMEN", enlisting previous collaborators Wit. and Alpha Wann for a verse each. For the music video, Jey teamed up with Nike to promote their new Vapormax EVO, and as a result, the video was directed by a team from Nike, making it Laylow's first music video not directed by TBMA. Unlike with TRINITY, the single reveals very little about the overall narrative of the album, with absolutely no narration on the intro or outro at all. Indeed, the song seems completely unrelated to the plot of the film released a month prior. Ultimately, it's about little more than Laylow, Wit., and Alpha Wann flexing their wealth and skill, although Jey's hook seems to tie these themes into his relationship with an unnamed lover. This song raises the question, how will it fit into the story of the album?

This question would be answered on July 16, with the release of the album. L'étrange Histoire de Mr. Anderson consists of 13 full songs and 7 skit tracks, for a total of 20 tracks.

Opening with "UN RÊVE ÉTRANGE", meaning "a strange dream", Laylow throws the listener straight into the world of L'étrange Histoire de Mr. Anderson, summarizing exactly where he is in life at the start of the story, smoking weed, ambitious, broke, aggressive, and violent, all over a cloudy beat provided by Loubensky. With an unrelenting, machine gun flow, Laylow lists his vices, and it becomes clear that this is the portion of the film left off-screen: the reckless lifestyle that drove his mother to kick him out. The second track and first skit, "Bonsoir Mon Vieil Ami", continues in this theme, first showing Laylow's difficult relationship with his mother, before he leaves to hang out and cause trouble with his friends.

The third track, "IVERSON", shows the depths to which Laylow is trapped in his lifestyle. He describes his life as darkness, saying:

French English
avant-hier, j'étais dans l'noir, demain soir, j's'rai dans l'noir day before yesterday, i was in the dark, tomorrow night, i'll be in the dark

He doesn't pretend that everything is all fine, instead cursing his life:

French English
ouais, fuck, là, j'maudis ma life, là, j'té-ma la lune, là, j'crie comme un loup, ouh ouh yeah, fuck, i curse my life, i look to the moon, i howl like a wolf, oh oh

This track continues in the same themes as "UN RÊVE ÉTRANGE", a hedonistic celebration of money, sex, and senseless violence. He also categorically rejects romance, saying to call him for love songs, but never for love. Indeed, his outlook at this point is simply summarized by a single line:

French English
mais j'vais pas vous mentir, bien sûr j'voudrais faire mieux but i'm not going to lie to you, of course i'd like to do better

Next up, Laylow pays homage to his favorite rapper, New York's own 50 Cent, specifically his 2005 track "Window Shopper". The reference is a bit blatant, as Jey's song is titled "WINDOW SHOPPER PART. 1", and opens with an especially on-the-nose shout-out:

French English
deux-zéro-zéro-cinq j'mate le clip de Fifty 2-0-0-5 i watch 50's video
j'ai même pas cinquante balles, j'me sens window shopper i don't even have fifty euros, i feel like a window shopper

This song continues with the exploration of Laylow's early career, a struggling rapper with big dreams and small pockets. Where 50 Cent took the position of the high roller, mocking the titular window shopper, Laylow embraces the role of window shopper, refusing to sugarcoat his current standing while also keeping his ambitions high. The first verse highlights his struggles and goals clearly:

French English
l'impression ça va jamais finir, comme le crédit sur la Lamborghini, oh shit this feeling is never gonna end, like the loan on the Lamborghini, oh shit
y'a pas nos ses-bla qui sont gravés sur la liste, l'impression ça va jamais finir our names aren't on the guest list, this feeling is never gonna end
ça cherche le papier, négro, villa dans les Hills looking for paper, nigga, a villa in the Hills
mais pour l'instant, ça mange des frappes, ça mange des cheeseburgers but for now we eat punches, we eat cheeseburgers

The following hook shows Laylow's view on this part of his life, ultimately a more optimistic perspective than his overall opinion given earlier. He romanticizes and accepts his struggle, keeping with his inversion of the original 50 Cent song. Belgian rapper and singer Hamza shows up for an uncredited feature, a few ad-libs and four lines at the end, mostly devoid of content but certainly quite stylish. The song ends quite abruptly, and the following skit, "Tu Veux Déjà Me Dire Aurevoir ?" explains why. Laylow has his first interaction with Mr. Anderson, who seems to catch him by surprise. Laylow's dialogue seems to imply that this exchange takes place in a nightclub bathroom, where Mr. Anderson's sudden appearance and even more surprising vanishing confuses Laylow, setting the stage for a more substantial interaction down the line. Jey reunites with his friends, who tell him to bring his A-game to the girls on the club floor, in order to "score like R9". The next song, "R9R-LINE", revolves around this comparison to legendary Brazilian soccer player, Ronaldo Nazário "O Fenômeno". Laylow enlists Congolese-Belgian star Damso to spin a tale of violence and mayhem. Trading bars on the hook, Damso and Jey compare their evasion of police and potency of their weed to Ronaldo's dribbling and powerful shots, respectively:

French English
peu-fra d'enculé comme R9 (sale), dribbler la police en S Line (ouh, ouh) dope kicking in hard like R9 (dirty), dribble around the police in an S Line (ooh, ooh)

The next skit, "Ça Va Pas Être Possible...", is one of the shortest, closing one chapter of the story as Laylow and his friends are kicked out of the nightclub, with Jey promising that one day his music will be played in said club, and opens the next chapter as they take to the streets. Finally, we close the window shopper saga with "WINDOW SHOPPER PART. 2", a significantly longer song than part one, where Hamza returns alongside Laylow to write a trap love song, focusing on a relationship while clearly being written from the same point in life as part one. For now, Laylow remains a broke struggle rapper, and he's honest about how that affects his relationship with the subject of this song. Hamza's verse starts fairly light on lyricism but closes strong with some thoughts on drunken conversations with his mistress:

French English
ne crois pas qu'j'pense à toi quand j'suis dans la Mercedes, on s'est vu sur la croisette mais nos regards s'évitent don't think you're on my mind when i'm in the Mercedes, we saw each other on the Croisette but avoided eye contact
maintenant dans mes DM, rien tu fais bel3ani, j'suis sous l'effet du Henny donc j'suis vraiment hami now in my DM, you act ignorant, i'm under the effects of the Henny so i'm truly hot

"WINDOW SHOPPER PART. 2" ends with the sound of a car starting, and it's the rumble of that engine, clearly meant to evoke the car featured in the film, that opens the next song, "STUNTMEN", the previously mentioned single. Here, the single is put in context, and does indeed make more sense. The mindless hedonism of Jey and company is how he lived before being kicked out, and the number of features, being two, matches the number of unnamed friends present alongside Laylow in the previous skits. Do Wit. and Alpha Wann represent the friends? Maybe, maybe not, but so far, the friends haven't played a significant role in the story, so does it matter? No way to find out but to continue with the album.

Next up is another skit, "NightShop BlaBla". Laylow and his friends decide that they're in need of some liquor, so they stop by a convenience store to pick up some essentials. However, when Jey enters, he finds Mr. Anderson inside, behind the counter. As Laylow places his order, Mr. Anderson questions him, asking how this would help achieve "our goals", as he puts it. Laylow refuses to answer and leaves empty-handed and confused.

The following song is where the plot truly begins to shift gears. With "VOIR LE MONDE BRÛLER", or "seeing the world burn", Laylow tells a rather straightforward story. Jey and his friends, drunk after the events of the previous skit, call up a girl and ask to go to her house party. She denies them without giving a satisfactory reason, so the group decides to go anyway. Outside the apartment, unable to enter, they then take out their frustration, beating up a passerby who they accuse of having been at the party. In the verses, Laylow concedes that the victim did nothing wrong, yet the short bursts of dialogue scattered throughout the track make it clear that he didn't care in the moment. Chased away by the girl they had called previously, the group splits up, and Laylow returns home. Smoking a blunt in his room, Jey is berated by his mother for his drunkenness and habit of smoking at home. Fed up with his antics, she kicks him out of the house, taking us to the opening scene of the film.

The next track, "QUE LA PLUIE" or "just the rain", represents Laylow's troubled thoughts as he walks through the rain away from home. He expresses regret, primarily for the way he treated his mother:

French English
j'n'entendais que la pluie, ta voix qui chuchotait dans ma tête i only heard the rain, your voice that whispered in my head
probablement, j'étais seul, tellement seul qu'j'entendais même plus tes appels probably, i was alone, so alone i didn't even hear your calls

After this turning point, Mr. Anderson appears again. In the skit "+ De Pluie...", Laylow encounters him again, and Mr. Anderson attempts to convince Laylow that what happened at his home was a necessary step towards his goals. Laylow pushes Mr. Anderson away again, claiming he doesn't know him or want to know him. In response, Mr. Anderson insists that Jey really is someone special, leading right into the next track, "SPÉCIAL", also the track that played in the background of the diner scene in the film. Joined by American RnB singer Fousheé and Parisian lyricist Nekfeu, Laylow crafts a song about the trials faced by "special" individuals. The hook is the simplest example of this message:

French English
spécial, ah, ah special, ah, ah
y a rien d'normal dans c'monde pour celui qui est spécial (ah, ah) there's nothing normal in this world for those who are special (ah, ah)
donc tout l'monde veut l'dissuader d'rester spécial (ah, ah) when all the world wants to dissuade you from being special (ah, ah)
mais y en a pour qui c'est dur à vivre, tellement qu'ils prennent le .38 Special (ah, ah) but for some it's too hard to live, so much they take the .38 Special (ah, ah)

Also, no, your ears do not deceive you, Fousheé does indeed provide the first English-speaking feature on a Laylow song. Admittedly, she doesn't exactly enunciate so it's still not particularly understandable for English-speakers but it's still a welcome addition for those of us who didn't grow up speaking French. Nekfeu brings a typically dense verse, reflecting on his tough times and how he grew from them:

French English
un frère aide un frère quand il peut, j'laisse ouvert la f'nêtre quand il pleut a brother helps a brother when he can, i leave the window open when it rains
on séchera sur la moquette comme des vieux chiens mouillés au coin du feu we'll dry on the carpet like an old soaked dog by the fire
se chamailler et se battre, ne jamais les décevoir to argue and to fight, but never to disappoint them
ceux avec qui j'passais l'été sous l'bât', les seuls qui m'ont prêté de vrais sabbatt' quand c'était spécial those i spent the summer on the block with, the only ones truly lending me shoes when i was special

The final hook is cut off by a gunshot, followed by a short skit, where a nurse alerts a doctor, who sounds suspiciously similar to Mr. Anderson, to a patient who committed suicide. They attempt to revive him, despite the gunshot wound in his head, and fail, with the doctor mysteriously proclaiming the patient to actually be in a coma, not dead. Next up is "LOST FOREST", sharing its name with an act of the short film as well as the setting of said chapter. However, while this is indeed a storytelling track, it doesn't follow the plot of the film. Laylow and his friends are apprehended by a pair of crooked cops, who force them to play a twisted game for their amusement. An untraceable gun is given to the trio, and the cops order them at gunpoint to fight for the gun, then kill each other until one remains. One of Jey's friend picks up the gun immediately, and the others attempt to convince him to hold his fire, but the "friend" with the gun airs his grievances, claiming the others never truly cared about him, and shoots the other friend. Jey tries to calm him down, but the song ends with a second gunshot, implying Laylow's death. But the next track, the skit titled "C'est Eux Contre Nous", opens with Mr. Anderson telling Jey that it was really all just a dream, created by Mr. Anderson to show Laylow that his friends really didn't care about him. Jey wakes up, and greets his friends, clearly shaken by the dream. He overhears a dispute between a nearby couple turn violent, leading into the next song, "HELP !!!".

This song is brief, just a verse sandwiched by two hooks, but it clearly expresses the torment felt by Laylow as he hears the woman beaten by her husband. The hook itself is simple, and portrays the inaction of Laylow and his friends:

French English
elle a crié "à l'aide, à l'aide" pendant des heures she screamed "help me, help me", for hours
mais bien entendu, l'enfer c'est pas nous, l'enfer c'est les autres but of course, we aren't hell, hell is other people
elle a crié "à l'aide, à l'aide" pendant des heures she screamed "help me, help me", for hours
mais bien entendu, l'enfer c'est pas nous, l'enfer c'est les autres but of course, we aren't hell, hell is other people

The last skit, "Tu Comprends Maintenant ?" or "do you understand now?", is an argument between Laylow and his friends, as he tries to convince them to intervene, but they refuse, insulting Jey, his ambitions, and his music. Mr. Anderson offers only one line at the end, dropping the title of the skit as a pointed question directed at Laylow.

The second-to-last song is "FALLEN ANGELS", a collaboration with English rapper and HHH darling slowthai. Tyron's contribution is a bit out of his normal comfort zone, singing the hook and bridge through heavy vocal processing. Laylow brings just a single verse, lamenting the cruelty of the world, and resolving not to live for those who don't live for him:

French English
monde est cruel, a pas pitié d'toi, j'fume une clope, j'suis sur le toit the world is cruel, has no pity for you, i take a smoke, i'm on the roof
mélancolie, mode cinq étoiles, j'dois faire comme s'j'étais sûr de moi melancholy, five-star mode, i have to do it as if i was self-confident
y a du monde quand faut faire la fête mais plus personne quand faut assumer there's a crowd when it's time to party but no one to take responsibility
les yeux dans l'vide, c'est parce que j'vois loin, c'est pas parce qu'y a de la fumée staring into space, it's because i'm looking far away, it's not because there's smoke

In addition to slowthai's feature, his recent go-to producers, Kwes Darko and Kelvin Krash, show up to link up with two members of Laylow's production team, Selman Fares and Sacha Rudy; the combination of this quartet results in one of the most dynamic instrumentals on the tape, evolving seamlessly from a driving drum pattern over an expressive piano line into a mournful violin solo.

The album ends with "UNE HISTOIRE ÉTRANGE", "a strange story", written as a message from Laylow to his younger self. He acknowledges the struggles and pain of his past self, and tells himself that it was all worth it. On this optimistic note, Mr. Anderson closes the track by addressing the listener, telling them that their story is much like the story of this album. He tells the listener to keep moving, through the struggles of life, in order to write their story, and with this, perhaps a sappy and cliche ending, but satisfying nonetheless, the album reaches its conclusion.

The album follows a notably different story than the film, but both follow similar themes of looking out for yourself and refusing to give up when faced with adversity. While it's certainly easy to fall into the traps of generic approaches to these topics, Jey has handled them without coming across as preachy or generic. Also, Laylow has managed to take songs about basic trap subject matter, and work them into a project with a greater message. Also, he successfully avoided the uninspired production plaguing trap in recent years, organizing an impressive selection of instrumentals drawing from everything from cloud rap, drill, synthpop, and psych rock, with plenty of genres in between, although he has the benefit of the support of a remarkable team of producers, including Ikaz Boi, the producer behind "Rerun" by Quavo and Travis Scott, and prolific drill producer Binks Beatz, among others.

L'étrange Histoire de Mr. Anderson has proven to be Laylow's most successful album to date, with "R9R-LINE" peaking at 4th in France and marking Jey's first entries onto foreign charts at 25th in Belgium and 55th in Switzerland. "SPÉCIAL" also performed well, peaking at 7th in France, 45th in Belgium, and 91st in Switzerland. The rest of the album did not chart outside of France, but performed so well in the country that even the skits charted, with "Ça va pas etre possible..." being the highest at 43rd. Clearly, Laylow's passion for blending the trap sound of the streets with ambitious, cinematic album structures has resonated with French audiences. Neatly avoiding a sophomore slump, Laylow has built on his success with TRINITY and now has countless fans in the French-speaking world, and quite a few outside of it, waiting for his next artistic endeavor.

Favorite Lyrics:

"IVERSON" translation
En sous-marin, c'est la Navy, Boulogne Boy's dans la playlist Lowkey, it's the navy, Boulogne Boy's on the playlist
Fuck une ligne, fuck un train d'vie, j'gratte un texte dans la 13 qui parle d'une villa avec une putain d'vue, ouais Fuck a line, fuck a lifestyle, I drop a text in the 13 talking about a villa with a fucking view, yeah

In an album about Laylow's life and career, it only makes sense for him to make reference to his previous work, right? In this case, the first line:

En sous-marin, c'est la Navy, Boulogne Boy's dans la playlist

is a reference to the hook of the track "Amy" from .RAW-Z, specifically:

Nouveau flow wavy, tout en sous-marin, baby c'est la Navy
Remplis ton leggings, baby j'ai rempli les poches de mon Levi's
J'suis dans la playlist, j'suis dans la ville avec Fares et Nabil
Demande à Amy, j'sais qu'on finira tous un peu dépressifs

Also, he's mentioned his desire for a villa, ideally on the coast, certainly with a fucking view, on multiple tracks across his past works, most notably "Villa sur la Côte" from Digitalova and the second part of "I Don't : Need U / Know" from .RAW-Z.

"VOIR LE MONDE BRÛLER" translation
Woah-oh, quand tu traines la night Woah-oh, when you're out at night
Avoue qu'tu penses à deux-trois trucs qui sont lointains mais qui rongent ton âme Admit that you're thinking of two or three distant things that eat away at your soul
Comme la fois où t'as hagar un mec, comme la fois où t'as mis ta mère tellement mal Like when you beat up a dude, like when you hurt your mother so badly
T'étais tellement high, t'entendais pas l'ange pleurer tout au fond d'toi (Ouais, ouais) You were so high, you couldn't hear the angel crying deep inside of you (Yeah, yeah)

Jey's admission of guilt, the turning point in the album's story. Here he finally acknowledges the pain caused by his lifestyle, and while he says nothing about changing, his dissatisfaction with his existence is implied.

"LOST FOREST" translation
faut qu'tu visualises la scène (allez), y avait un corps mort et des policiers qui braquaient mon pote (allez !) you have to visualize the scene (come on), there was a dead body and cops holding my bro at gunpoint
donc lui m'a braqué à son tour (c'est bon, j'vais l'faire, c'est bon !) so in turn he pointed his gun at me (ok, i'll do it, ok!)
il m'a dit : "j'suis désolé, khey, jamais j'aurais voulu t'faire ça, à la base, on était frères (appuie sur la putain d'gâchette !) he told me "i'm sorry, bro, i wish i'd never done this to you, we were brothers" (pull the fucking trigger!)
mais la vie c'est traître, il faut qu'j'me sauve, là, c'est pas ma faute, ciao mon pote" (allez !) "but this life is treacherous, i have to save myself, it's not my fault, goodbye my brother" (come on!)

One of the most impactful moments in the album, where, in the dream created by Mr. Anderson, Laylow's friend turns the gun on Jey. This serves both as a part of the narrative, possibly proving Mr. Anderson's point about the lack of loyalty shown by Laylow's friends, as well as a larger statement, on the racism shown by police and the judicial system every day in France (and in other countries, certainly).

Talking Points:
L'étrange Histoire de Mr. Anderson is a very ambitious project, as both a film and album. Do these aspects work together in proper harmony? Or does one part, visual or audio, fail to live up to the quality of the other?

At this point, the closest we've come to French rap breaking into the American conscious was the canceled 2017 PNL Coachella performance due to Ademo's criminal record, and the rumored collaboration between PNL and Drake that was allegedly shot down by the French duo. With Laylow's love for American rap, particularly 50 Cent, being well-known, and his music drawing comparisons to popular American acts like Travis Scott and Kanye West, can he be the first to properly bridge the gap and work with English-speaking A-listers?

Does L'étrange Histoire de Mr. Anderson live up to the standard set by TRINITY? L'étrange Histoire adds the additional dimension of film, but is the personal narrative of Laylow's second studio album as compelling as the sci-fi commentary on mass-produced entertainment offered by his first album?

On a related note, how did the retirement of Dioscures affect the quality of the final project? Did the team of producers assembled for this album match up to the near-solo work on display in TRINITY?

Since this album tells a personal story about Laylow, does the presence of features affect the quality and impact of the story? Jey has proven in TRINITY that he can incorporate outsiders into his narratives, with Wit. playing the role of a homeless man telling a cautionary tale on "...DE BATARD", but did Laylow pull it off here?

submitted by /u/quetzalnavarrense
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Ukrainian Rapper Chopped Up & Fed To Rats By Wife After Affair with a Fan

Posted: 08 Jan 2022 02:10 PM PST

Lil Wayne announces Sorry 4 the Wait coming to streaming

Posted: 08 Jan 2022 11:15 AM PST

Meek mill freestyle at 17

Posted: 08 Jan 2022 11:01 PM PST

Young Dolph's Suspected Murderer Says He's Turning Himself in

Posted: 08 Jan 2022 11:04 AM PST

What are some examples of two songs you love, that share the same original sample?

Posted: 08 Jan 2022 05:19 PM PST

The two songs that got me interested in finding more pairs of songs like this are "Acid Raindrops" by People Under The Stairs, and "What You Say" by Pete Rock and InI. They both sample "Lay Lady Lay", by David T. Walker!

submitted by /u/izbene
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Ramirez - Tales from da Guttah

Posted: 08 Jan 2022 10:23 PM PST

JPEGMAFIA - DIKEMBE!

Posted: 08 Jan 2022 10:43 AM PST

Daily Discussion Thread 01/08/2022

Posted: 08 Jan 2022 11:18 AM PST

Welcome to the /r/hiphopheads daily discussion thread!

This thread is for:

  • objective questions with right/wrong answers (e.g. "Does anyone know what is happening with MIXTAPE?", "What is the sample in SONG?")
  • general hip-hop discussion
  • meta posts...e.g. ideas for the sub

Do not create a separate self post for these types of discussions outside of this thread - if you do, your post will be removed, as stated in the guidelines.

Weekly/Monthly Threads

Other ways to interact

There are a number of other ways to interact with other members of HHH:

New to /r/hiphopheads or hip-hop in general?

Check these out:

submitted by /u/HHHRobot
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[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] The Weeknd - Dawn FM

Posted: 07 Jan 2022 09:01 PM PST

opinions on the weeknd's new album? do you like the sonic direction he seems to be moving into?

submitted by /u/astronxxt
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Lil Uzi Vert - LUV SCARS K.o 1600

Posted: 08 Jan 2022 08:13 AM PST

[FRESH ALBUM] Tobe Nwigwe - THE MONUMINTAL LIVE RECORDING

Posted: 08 Jan 2022 09:10 PM PST

50 Cent - Ryder Music

Posted: 08 Jan 2022 10:03 PM PST

[FRESH] Gunna - south to west

Posted: 08 Jan 2022 12:21 PM PST

Tommy Wright III (Live in the San Fernando Valley) FULL SHOW

Posted: 08 Jan 2022 01:48 PM PST

[DISCUSSION] Chief Keef – Two Zero One Seven (5 Years Later)

Posted: 08 Jan 2022 08:15 AM PST

After and entirely quiet 2016, Chief Keef was back on the first day of 2017 with his mixtape named after the new year. The tape features a lot of muddy and weird trap beats by a producer tagged T.U.R.B.O. which allow Keef to experiment with flows (sometimes several during a verse like on Knock It Off). The combination is so organic that it was not much of a surprise to learn that Turbo is Keef himself! Most of the remaining beats were provided by Lex Luger, which reveals the influence of 2010 trap beats on keef's production. The DIY feeling of the album is capped off by the features of Keef's cousin Tadoe and his sister Kash.

Songs like Empty, Falling On The Floor, Knock It Off, Check and Dope Smokes are all bangers. All produced by Keef himself.

His output that followed for the next years was largely under the radar (except for Thot Breaker), but many of the tapes contained a lot of experiments that would accumulate in the excellent 4NEM dropped a few weeks ago. It's therefore worthwile to check each of them out.

submitted by /u/flyestshit
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[FRESH] RXK Nephew - Nephew Swifty

Posted: 08 Jan 2022 10:45 PM PST

Ras Kass - See What I See feat. Pharoahe Monch

Posted: 08 Jan 2022 08:34 PM PST

22 for 2022: Houston Women Carrying Hip Hop Into The New Year

Posted: 08 Jan 2022 05:46 AM PST

Ruben Slikk - B Yo Guhh

Posted: 08 Jan 2022 11:50 PM PST

DJ Kay Slay has reportedly been hospitalised with COVID and is on a ventilator fighting for his life

Posted: 07 Jan 2022 04:50 PM PST

[FRESH VIDEO] Ralfy the Plug - The Truth Hurts

Posted: 08 Jan 2022 02:07 PM PST

Earl Sweatshirt releasing new album SICK! next friday the 14th

Posted: 07 Jan 2022 11:37 AM PST

Earl Sweatshirt shared the tracklist for his new album, which comes out next friday.

Tracklist

  1. OLD FRIEND (Produced by The Alchemist)
  2. 2010 (Produced by Black Noise)
  3. SICK! (Produced by Ancestors)
  4. VISION ft. Zelooperz (Produced by Black Noise)
  5. TABULA RASA ft. Armand Hammer(Produced by Theravada & Rob Chambers)
  6. LYE (Produced by The Alchemist)
  7. LOBBY interlude(Produced by Samiyam)
  8. GOD LAUGHS (Produced by Alexander Spit)
  9. TITANIC (Produced by Black Noise)
  10. FIRE IN THE HOLE (Produced by Black Noise)

All tracks mixed by Young Guru.

​

Tracklist screenshot

https://imgur.com/JiNqNXT

submitted by /u/YaboiCece
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OG Keemo - Regen | A COLORS SHOW

Posted: 08 Jan 2022 12:56 PM PST

Live Nation Gets Extension on Astroworld Report From Congressional Oversight Committee

Posted: 08 Jan 2022 04:32 PM PST

[FRESH VIDEO] Ralfy the Plug - The Truth Hurts

Posted: 09 Jan 2022 01:54 AM PST
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