The Official 2021 r/HipHopHeads Christmas Advent Calendar (Day 15/25) - HipHop |
- The Official 2021 r/HipHopHeads Christmas Advent Calendar (Day 15/25)
- Album of the Year 2021 #1: Drake - Certified Lover Boy
- Album of the Year #2: Mach-Hommy - Pray For Haiti
- [FRESH] Dr. Dre & Various Artists - GTA V: The Contract Update Songs (feat. Freddie Gibbs, Anderson .Paak, Eminem, Busta Rhymes, Pusha T, Nipsey Hussle, Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross, Schoolboy Q, YG, and More)
- Isaiah Rashad announces Canadian tour dates
- Danny Brown covers KORN
- Skepta - Crime Riddim
- (THROWBACK) Gucci Mane - St. Brick Intro
- What is the worst song “update” that's occurred after an initial drop on streaming?
- Witness Says Meg Thee Stallion and Friend Fought Before Tory Lanez Shooting
- Lil Wayne - Gucci Gucci (Sorry 4 The Wait)
- Daily Discussion Thread 12/15/2021
- Mach-Hommy - Bloody Penthouse
- Complex: The Best Songs of 2021
- 55 CRIP - The Insane Rise of C-Mac (Trap Lore Ross Documentary)
- Tory Lanez's Lawyer Lays Out Defense Against Megan Thee Stallion
- EPMD - Get The Bozack
- [FRESH] Shortie No Mass - Tragic Charade
- Lil' Flip - I Can Do Dat
| The Official 2021 r/HipHopHeads Christmas Advent Calendar (Day 15/25) Posted: 15 Dec 2021 11:55 AM PST |
| Album of the Year 2021 #1: Drake - Certified Lover Boy Posted: 15 Dec 2021 11:48 AM PST Artist: Drake Album: Certified Lover Boy Listen: Background The man who needs no introduction is Drizzy. Aubrey. Champagne Papi. 6 Man. 6 God. Wheelchair Jimmy. And so many more nicknames and pseudonyms to go around. Drake announced he was working on his next endeavor in mid-2019 telling the world that he was in album mode. Dropping a few teasers here and there throughout that year, Drake had yet to tease any new music yet but just telling everyone that 2020 was the year. ... As it turns out, Drake was a lying jerk, and to delay his album, Drake created a global pandemic causing the deaths of millions of people. Not cool. Drake teased a few songs throughout the year. With the release of Dark Lane Demo Tapes containing leftovers and loosies from the Scorpion and CLB era, Drake officially announced that CLB would drop in late 2020. Teasing the album throughout the year, he released more CLB leftovers by giving Greece and Pop Star to DJ Khaled. With the debut single "Laugh Now Cry Later" dropping mid-august. While finishing off the year with more songs like Outta Time with Bryson Tiller, B.B King Freestyle with Lil Wayne, and You're Mines Still with Young Bleu, the hype was at an all-time high, and the release would soon be in our hands. It didn't release. Drake then said January 2021. So did Odell Beckham Jr. (who I thought I could trust because he was in the music video for the lead single). It turns out that Odell is Mr. liar-liar pants on fire, so the album didn't drop in January. As a Browns fan, I'm glad we got rid of him. Drake claimed that ouch owie my leg, so no album. In early March, Drake released Scary Hours 2 with What's Next, Wants and Needs with Lil Baby, and Lemon Pepper Freestyle with Rick Ross. Knowing the original Scary Hours leading up to Scorpion, the album was so close you could almost taste it! April came and went with another CLB loosie titled Solid featuring Young Thug and Gunna dropping on Slime Language 2. May came and went with Nicki Minaj's Seeing Green featuring Drake and Lil Wayne. June came and went with Migos's Having Our Way releasing with Drake. July came and went with Brent Faiyaz's Wasting Times and Smiley's Over the Top releasing where Smiley washed Drake throughout the entire song. August almost didn't have a Drake song, but Trippie Redd didn't fumble the Drake bag and released Betrayal at the end of August. Drake being the top-selling Hip-Hop artist in the world comes with a lot of perks. One of those perks is casually announcing the release date of Certified Lover Boy on the morning intro of SportsCenter (which I posted). He began doing a major promo with billboards of lyrics from the album while also announcing every feature on the project in billboards from their hometowns (ex. Rick Ross billboard in Miami, Jay-Z billboard in NYC, and Lil Durk billboard in Chicago). After feening for the album for two and a half years, Drake couldn't even release the album at midnight. We had to wait two more hours to hear this damn thing. Thank God Drake is not Kanye, and it was actually released. The Lover Boys around the world rejoiced as we were given an album with every single leading up to the album left behind in favor of 83 minutes of new Drake. Review The long-awaited Certified Lover Boy begins utilizing the beat of Masego's Navajo on the track "Champagne Poetry". On the track, Drake gives an update on his life mentioning his son, his relationship with others, and just throwing some flexes around like it is nothing on an effortless flow showing that Drake is still on top of the world. The song transitions into its second half where Drake brings the energy over a beautiful gospel sample of "Until I Found The Lord". The second half focuses on the issues Drake has witnessed and experienced since his last album discussing gang violence in his hometown of Toronto (as well as the criticism he faced from it), racial injustice throughout North America, how his dedication to music has caused him to lose focus on what matters most to him, and how him and his baby momma, Sophie Brussaux have worked together to take care of their child. After setting the bar high with the opening track, Drake repurposes the classic Montell Jordan song "Daddy's Home" into "Papi's Home" where he lets the rap world know that he's back and is ready to run the industry again. The song includes a brief unlisted cameo from Nicki Minaj that adds a nice flair to the track. The chipmunkified sample and the hard-hitting drums reminiscent of UGK done by Supah Mario allow for Drake's charisma and flow to slide through the instrumental like butter. It's irresistibly fun. After going two for two on the album Drake goes into his melodic style on "Girls Want Girls" with Lil Baby. The track opens with the now infamous line "say that you a lesbian, girl, me too". The track is carried by Lil Baby and the ethereal instrumentation. I think Drake flows well on the verse and the pre-chorus is irresistible, but the chorus is very cheesy. The song transitions perfectly into "In The Bible" with previous collaborates Lil Durk and GIVĒON. The style of the track is almost identical to "Girls Want Girls", but Drake delivers a stronger performance than the predecessor, and Lil Durk slides on the track with ease. GIVĒON's outro is beautiful and is a fantastic addition to the track. He takes over the backhand of the track stripping everything but the ambient synth swirling in the background letting his voice do the heavy lifting. "Love All" featuring JAY-Z might be my favorite of the sung tracks on the album done by Drake. The soulful sample and somber tone of Drake's voice sounds like he's been betrayed, and he's not mad but disappointed. JAY-Z drops probably his best verse of the year on the track talking about how he could ruin anyone if they do him wrong and you definitely do not want to get on his bad side. His rhyme scheme on it is pretty cool! I always think it's funny when songs sample other songs that came out less than 2 years ago or on albums that came out this year which "Fair Trade" featuring Travis Scott does. Sampling Mountains by the wonderful Charlotte Day Wilson, Drake talks about how he doesn't need fake friends in his life and cutting them off is good for his mental health while Travis Scott just scraps the song's topic and flexes his money being up. At least he flows well over it… The next song was initially a ??? moment for me on the album, but now I know every single word to this stupid song and I listen to it almost daily at this point. On "Way 2 Sexy", Drake enlists Future on hook and verse duty while also throwing Young Thug on the track. I don't even have much to say, the sample and reinterpretation of I'm Too Sexy by Right Said Fred helps turn the track into Cardi B and Megan's WAP but for men. (i saw a tweet that said that, and they aren't wrong. I feel empowered and inspired listening to way 2 sexy). Drake, Future, and Young Thug all just talk about how great and beautiful they are, and that's really it. The next songs are tributes to H-Town and the Houston music scene with TSU (Texas Southern University) starting with a sample of choppednotslopped legend OG Ron C shouting out the entire state of Texas. Utilizing a sample of *NSYNC, the instrumental is very vaporwave-esque and Drake delivers a legendary melodic performance that you can't just help yourself to not smile at. The Houston vibes continue with "N 2 Deep" (while sampling a UGK song lol) with Future. The song consists of a slow and moody beat with synths going up and down the scale and distorted guitars that would make Mike Dean smirk. The production is quite minimal with the only drums being a snap track that comes in around the 2-minute mark of the song. The song metaphorically takes off like a … into the second half with Drake's vocal going in and out speaker on the chorus while Future comes back for seconds dropping a beautifully melodic verse to end the song off. I'd like to think that the track tells a little story where he's initially outside of the club with a girl, and he is convinced to go inside the club. It's not Sing About Me, I'm Dying Of Thirst, but it's pretty cool. Working on Dying gets called in for "Pipe Down" where Drake talks about how to silence the thoughts of a girl he's not over and get over the feelings he has for her even with how much money and things he has. Drake sounds pretty upset on the track and delivers a tone I have never heard from before. It's nice. The track flows nicely into "YEBBA's Heartbreak" which is similar to other interludes on his albums ("Summers Over Interlude", "Jorja Interlude", "4422", and "Wednesday Night Interlude") where he lets an R&B singer take an interlude. YEBBA continues the themes of love and desire from the album beautifully. The piano is fantastic, and I definitely have a newfound appreciation for her after only being mildly aware of her music. There are two cheat codes to make me instantly love a hip-hop song which are 808 Cowbells and Three 6 Mafia/Memphis Rap samples. "No Friends In The Industry" has both. The track is the first of two Ye diss tracks and the first of two Memphis-style tracks. The beat of course is reminiscent of the Memphis lo-fi beats utilizing very pixelated and low-quality instrumentation throughout. The synths are dope and Drake brings the energy to create a perfect workout track. He follows it up with "Knife Talk" featuring Project Pat (in sample) and 21 Savage and production by Metro Boomin. Drake and 21 trade verses over the horrorcore beat with 21 giving his standard laidback but aggressive performance with Drake comes in with viciousness and anger that helps balance the track out. Though they go back and forth, they have entirely different flows which add a good variation throughout the song. You know when there's a time and a date, it's a high-quality Drake song. "7 am on Bridle Path" is no different where Drake disses Kanye and drops a one verse no hook track. He features the line "Could at least keep it a buck like Antetokounmpo" in reference to a tweet that predicts he would do such a thing. I think that's pretty funny. "Race My Mind" reminds me of Nothing Was The Same or Take Care drake with his more youthful performance. He sings on most of the track but drops a heartfelt rap verse on the backend of the track. It's clean and the harp on the track is pretty dope. "Fountains" features up-and-coming afrobeat singer "Tems". The track is pretty solid but feels like a more lowkey "One Dance" without all the flair the views track had. Drake keeps the R&B style on "Get Along Better" with Ty Dolla $ign on background vocals. In my opinion, it's the most forgettable song on the entire album just from its general blandness. It is not bad, but at the same time, it's nothing special. Legendary producer Bink! gets called in to produce "You Only Live Twice", the sequel to The Motto featuring Rick Ross and Lil Wayne who are both major collaborators with Drake. It starts with a wonderful transition from "Get Along Better" with Rick Ross's Maybach Music ad-libs echoing through the stereo speaker in silence before the beat comes in. Rick Ross takes the first minute of the track delivering his bombastic vocals over the instrumental. These beats are always perfect for Rozay as he slides in through the AC vents of a topless convertible. When you put Drake with two rap legends of course he's gonna give a hungry and feisty performance where he flexes on everyone and compares himself to the modern-day Michael Jackson. Wheezy continues his feature streak by delivering a fast and addictive verse to finish the track off. It's phenomenal. Drake and Kid Cudi squash the beef on "IMY2" where Cudi takes over the majority of the track and mostly puts Drake on his back. Drake delivers a decent performance, but it feels like a Kid Cudi song with a Drake feature than what it actually is. Drake grabs OVO signee PARTYNEXTDOOR to do background vocals on "Fucking Fans" where he regrets … fucking. fans? i guess? i dunno. Pretty forgettable track on a strong album. He doesn't like fucking fans. I guess. Drake finishes the album like he always does with his long one verse over a mellow soul sample type of track with "The Remorse". It turns out the sample is not a sample and is original vocals by Anthony Hamilton just pitched up. Similar to the second half of the opener where he talks about the relationship he has with others and the problems he's been going through while also flexing his net worth and announcing that he owns his own masters which is a win for anyone in the industry. I always have a sweet spot for Drake closers like "Do Not Disturb". They're always a bright spot in any Drake album. Other than a standard Drake album with themes of love, loss, and money, cohesively the album is all over the place. Even if you hated Scorpion, the album is consistent with its rap side and its sing-songy R&B side. On CLB, Drake will bounce around both losing some of the cohesion. Though on the first listen I thought the album was really bad and bland, a few hours later on my second listen, I fell in love with the album and constantly see myself jumping into a few songs and even the entire album more than most projects from this year. It's fun, it's carefree, the features are stacked, and the production is solid like you would expect from Mr. Drizzy. I can see what people's issues are with the project, but I think it's cool. Favorite Lyrics
Questions
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| Album of the Year #2: Mach-Hommy - Pray For Haiti Posted: 16 Dec 2021 03:08 AM PST Artist: Mach-HommyAlbum: Pray For HaitiListen:Background:Over the past 5 years Mach-Hommy has released a barrage of new age boom-bap projects: from his Griselda debut 'Haitian Body Odor' in 2016, to the colossal 2017 wave of 'Dump Gawd: Hommy Edition', 'Luh Hertz', 'Fete De Morts', 'The G.A.T.' and numerous more, his 2018 and 2019 releases including 'Bulletproof Luh' and 'Wap Konn Jòj!', as well as 2020's 'Mach's Hard Lemonade'. Staying quiet after the release of MHL, photos emerged Christmas Day of Mach-Hommy and Westside Gunn together, showing the two had reconciled after a falling out following the release of HBO. After this Gunn announced various albums on Twitter, including a Mach release under Griselda, titled HBO 2 in the tweet. On Easter Sunday, Gunn released 'Easter GunnDay 4', featuring Mach-Hommy, in which it was proclaimed that the two would be dropping a project titled 'Pray For Haiti'. Photos and footage of work on the album in Puerto Rico showed collaboration with the likes of Camoflauge Monk, SadhuGold and Westside Gunn himself. It was announced the album would drop on Haitian Flag Day, May 18th. Despite this, it wasn't until the following Friday, May 21st, that the album was finally released. Review:When first announced 'Pray For Haiti' featured a Jean Michel Basquiat piece as it's artwork, a precursory glance at the album's Haitian imagery (the artist's parents were Haitian and Puerto Rican). The colourful painting, Untitled (Fishing), features a skeletal, black fisherman, a scribbled fish in his hand and hook-like scrawls woven around the depicted scene. For the album cover the piece is edited to feature Mach's signature Haitian bandana covering the fisherman's face, an encapsulation of the rapper and his work's allure. The album's title also continues along the Griselda canon in its reference to Westside Gunn's 2020 album, 'Pray For Paris', which also featured an edited Caravaggio painting akin to the Basquiat piece. Album intro 'The 26th Letter' (referencing the letter 'Z' and Mach's 'Billy Zee' moniker) opens on menacing Haitian Rara horns fading in from the low end, as the rapper's similarly motivated flow enters the fray. Standout bars include accusations of his haters "singing in falsetto, hitting them Prince notes" or GOAT proclamation "Mach-Hommy is an icon, end quote, this gon' be the year I get my python trench coat". Mach also acknowledges his slower "50 Cent flow", but later suggests his raps are still full of "Mach-phonics", the signature, impenetrable ideas of the elusive artist that are present in his previous projects. An interlude by Westside Gunn also divides the two verses, but Mach forgoes a chorus in favour of a continuous stream of consciousness. The beat is produced by Denny Laflare, and marks an ominous but celebratory entrance to the project. This is followed by 'No Blood No Sweat', with production by Camoflauge Monk, as sunny chords ripple as if submerged, whilst abrupt horns finish every bar. The Griselda tag sounds as Mach opens the track's single verse, including standout bars such as "put this .38 in your mouth, go ahead and spit your magnum opus". It closes asserting a collaboration of Dump Gawd and Flygod, as Mach shouts out collective members Tha God Fahim and Your Old Droog, proclaiming their takeover alongside the Griselda empire. A short glimpse, we are soon met with the following song. The opening tag for Conductor Williams will soon become a familiar sequencing tool on this album. It first sounds three times at the beginning of 'Folie Á Deux' featuring Westside Gunn & Keisha Plum. The expertly crafted beat begins on a constant drum break, with ascending and descending melodies rising over it, before slower, vibrant chords take their place over that same break. The French title can be translated as 'Madness for two', serving either an actual diagnosis or a colloquial nod to collaboration. Gunn's verse opens the song, his piercing pitch flowing over Conductor's luxurious chords. He ends the verse yelling "my shooter don't shoot unless it got drums", as the listener is barrelled with a cascade of gun shot adlibs. Griselda's in house poet Keisha Plum follows, detailing imagery of "crescent moons and indica trees" alongside 'three killers to the left of me", continuing on to describe the violence they partake in. The final verse is then where Mach takes centre stage, his raps following the same rhyme scheme throughout, varying from artistic references ("Julian Schnabel near Van Gogh's grave") to visceral ("the yolk ran all over them hoe's legs"), as well as a reference to Basquiat's Untitled (Fishing) ("catch, release, mackerel long as the pole length"), all before final line "you really stuffed up, you need a Flonase" is disrespectfully repeated to close out the song. 'Makrel Jaxon' is a creolised play on the name Micheal Jackson, as well as another potential reference to the PFH's album art, which depicts a mackerel fish in the hands of a fisherman. Conductor's beat is comprised of soulful, psychedelic strings (noticeably reminiscent of J Dilla's 'Time is the Donut of the Heart' which samples the Jackson 5), as well as momentary Japanese vocals before the loop repeats. Mach's verse opens stating "to get rich switch the lingo", alongside a proclamation he is "multi-lingual" - suggesting his ability to balance both his underground roots and the mainstreaming of his talent. He continues stating his aim to separate the "bustas from the Charlie Browns", before referencing his position as one of the "new leaders", tying the previous bar to rap group Leaders of the New School which featured aforementioned rappers Busta Rhymes and Charlie Brown, a comment on the star power of individual members within a group. The verse also features Mach's signature line in "flip you like crypto", one of the album's various references to cryptocurrency which will be expanded on later in the project, and ends with "we stay fresh like every day is Easter GunnDay", nodding to the iconic series which he often takes the stellar role in. The loop beneath then shifts into a slower swirl of those same soulful strings, before the track ends. Released on Haitian Flag Day, the album's first single 'The Stella Ray Theory' was anxious fans' first taste of the new album. Again produced by Conductor, the beat is stylistically noir, comprised of cool, melancholy horns and a driving drum break. Mach's raps are full of imagery depicting an all-encompassing rain that "could never run out". In the first verse he compares this downpour to his project releases, with "tapes pouring like cats or dogs". The chorus states "shit hard when the rays don't shine, n****s finna blame the clouds or the rain in the sky", ruminating on the day to day struggles of life through the image of a rain that means the sun does not shine. The second verse continues this imagery, describing the rappers unlike himself who do not "shine" and find his success. The track then ends with a sample from Taxi Driver (1976), describing "a real rain" that will "wash all the scum of the streets". Overall, it is apparent that Mach finds solace and creativity in the falling rain, refusing to allow the absence of rays to put him down. Following this is 'Marie' produced by Cee Gee, which follows the Hommy tradition of hip hop ballads titled after a woman's name (previous iterations in the series included 'Regina' and 'Yvonne'). The first moments of the track feature Mach melodically singing in Creole, before he switches language into the first romantic verse. The song's chorus is an interpolation of Tupac's 'Hail Mary', as Mach raps "momma told me never stop until I bust a nut, fuck the world if they can't adjust', as the hook is laced with more melodic Creole in the background. The second verse builds upon this allusion as he depicts his girl "bumping Mach-avel", a play on Tupac's Makavelli and the similarities between that and his own moniker. The track's female focus can be seen in lines such as "every time I heard the voice of God it was a female" or calling on "that femininity divine" in the verse's close. After this, the album's first skit 'Leta Yo (Skit)' sees a young boy yelling in Haitian Creole amid the sounds of background bustle, in what can be seen as a representation of life on Haiti. Album highlight, 'Kriminel', is an accusative stab at the corruption of Haitian politicians. The beat, produced by Nicholas Craven, is a mournful soul loop, consisting of calming organ and chopped up vocals. It's gravelly hook sees Mach crooning in creole, singing "yo dim sé kriminel, gadém pa kriminel, sé yo ki kriminel, sé moun sayo kriminel". Here he proclaims his own innocence, rejecting the moniker of criminal, and labelling those who label him as the true criminals. One of these true criminal accusations is aimed at "Tèt kalé", a reference to the Haitian political party of that name, as well as its translation 'bald head' which targets the various presidents of Haiti; René Préval, Michel Martelly and Jovenel Moïse. Mach establishes the damage of governmental criminality and corruption on the country's population, suggesting a leader that views his own people with scorn and through superiority is unfit to govern, and serves only as a continuation of the criminal exploitation of a colonial people. The rapper's baritone is overlain with the vocals of a Melanie Charles (also of Haitian descent), who sings the same sorrowful refrain. Proceeding this is 'Pen Rale', which sees the rapper return to the production of SadhuGold, whose beats laced projects such as Dollar Menu 2 or Dump Gawd: Hommy Edition. It's beat features subdued, recurring vocals - eventually shifting into menacing, high pitched chimes around half way through the track. It features the line "MC killer, mutton chops and mint", which was speculated to be aimed at Benny The Butcher, who dissed the rapper in the past after being labelled Griselda's Mach-Hommy replacement. It is unknown whether the diss is genuine or not, as Mach is back within the Griselda camp and Benny is Gunn's cousin, reducing the potential for the presence of this beef on the album. The second track to feature project curator Westside Gunn is titled 'Murder CZN', and is also produced by Griselda staple Camoflauge Monk. More sunny chords open the track, before a synchronised boom bap drum beat enters beneath it and Mach begins to sing the song's hook over Gunn's violent adlibs. This chorus culminates in the rapper yelling "I ain't even gonna tell you what Jigga told me!", an assertion of keeping the wisdom of rap veteran JAY-Z to himself, after the pair met in 2019. The first true verse is then Gunn's, in which he gives the gory details of drug dealing, themes which are echoed in the Mach verse that follows before the track closes. In contrast to the preceding Griselda-centric track comes 'Magnum Band' featuring Tha God Fahim and produced by Messiah Musik. Its title is a reference to the Haitian band of the the same name, whose 1980s work channeled Haitian culture into popular music through creole lyrics and musical traditions of the island. It opens with booming drums and a scraping bass line overlain with more rippling piano, a menacing beat that channels the experimental 90s revivalism of past Hommy projects. At one point Mach raps "put the biscuit to your teeth like it's England", a threat which calls upon imagery of the forced colonial culture imposed by various European nations. Another standout is the line "catalogue one in a trillion, Dumpelstiltskin" which references the German legend of an imp whose name is unknown, drawing parallels with the mystery Mach places around his own name. After this Fahim raps his verse, similarly referring to the Dump Gawd catalogue as "like treasure chests with gems in it", as well as declaring an authority to the collective's word as "the Dump manuscript". Overall this track serves as an ode to the movement that Fahim and Mach have built up together. Following this is 'Rami', another moniker of Hommy's that is speculated to be his real name, or at least a closely associated nickname. It is the third and final track to feature a verse from Westside Gunn and sees more production from Camoflauge Monk, whose piano boom bap laces Mach and Gunn's back and forth rapping. Announcing his intention to 'put n****s on Rami', this sits at the heart of the track (and the entire album), opening up the rapper's elusiveness through the simple reference to a name (in Mach's words; "a peek at that persona"). Gunn closes the track singing a refrain of "Go get a wig shot". The album's second skit 'Kreyol (Skit)' references the language spoken in Haiti, mentioned several times in this review and which Mach raps in often. Haitian Creole is a French-based language that stems from the colonial presence of France over slaves who were forced to work on the island. The process of creolisation occurs when languages make contact and merge to form a single variant to better communicate between a population, in this case French, various other Romance languages and the slaves' own African languages. The formation of a Creole then results in a fully formed and functioning language that stands by itself, and can be best seen as a restructured language of cultural value and solidarity. On the emotional 'Au Revoir' Mach steps out from the mystery built around him more than ever before. It opens on mellowed and reverberating guitar courtesy of DJ Green Lantern, with Mach similarly paced vocals singing the track's send-off chorus. This is proceeded by the second appearance from Melanie Charles, her soulful voice once again echoing in creole and her flute dancing in and out of the beat. The verse opens with the rapper's clear intention, "making sure everybody and they momma heard of Mach-Hommy", establishing his presence in the mainstream. He no longer feels the need to be "hiding", stating "I earned my spot without shucking and jiving" and suggesting that he feels confident the appreciation he has gained through the underground and genuine fans of his work justifies his emergence from the allure of the unknown. Overall this sentiment encapsulates the entire album, as a true portrait of the artist Mach-Hommy. PFH's penultimate track is titled 'Blockchain', a reference to the database system of cryptocurrency transactions. With production by Camoflauge Monk, it opens on a luscious soul sample that begins to warp and slow before morphing into a loop of triumphant horns. To open he states "please add the hyphen", a reference to the name stylisation demands of MF DOOM's "all caps" mantra. In the track's hook he raps "I blockchain n****s out the game, too many information highway n****s riding the wave", suggesting the true value of cryptocurrency is not in 'riding the wave' but its more long term and uplifting considerations. The final track on the album is the mysteriously titled 'Ten Boxes - Sin Eater'. Just like the album opener, it is produced by Denny Laflare, its beat comprised of dusty bells and a slow but powerful breakbeat. During the song Mach consistently refers to "the sin-cake eater", an allusion to the practise of 'sin-eating', derived from Welsh culture and surrounding English counties, where the sins of a deceased person would be consumed and taken on by another through food such as cakes or biscuits. Referring to this 'eater' the rapper states he "died and was forgiven, he rose on the third day", calling upon the archetypal 'sin eater', Jesus, who took on all the sin of humanity. Christian imagery persists in the line "Mach-Hommy is a patron Saint", where he grants himself the title of religious representation. In these comparisons it seems that Mach considers himself a 'sin eater', willingly and forgivingly carrying the misdeeds of others. His verse then ends and the track closes as the beat fades away, only for the breakbeat to be brought back in for the album's final, looming moments. Describing Gunn's curation of the project, Mach suggests his style is akin to the 'burning bush', likening Pray For Haiti's curator as the translator of Mach's style into the more interpretable tablets, allowing the wider people to understand what was previously veiled. This is prevalent in the album's overall clearer and more straightforward style, some of the rapper's esotericism and impenetrability opens up into a clarity. This is not to say it loses anything for this change in style, it is just another model distinct from his previous releases. Mach has also seemingly refrained from the 'capitalist art' of previous releases; exclusive drops and high prices are replaced with a wider availability that has allowed the larger hip hop community to acknowledge the strength of his work. Overall, I would describe the album as a cultural delve into the underrepresented island, with Mach's focus placed on the political, socioeconomic, linguistic, musical and wider cultural characteristics of Haiti. He channels it's proud and revolutionary past into a celebratory hip hop record that does more than just giving listeners impressive flows or stand out bars. Instead, Mach-Hommy takes part in a consciousness raising that displays Haitian culture in an effort to better the nation. He has pledged a part of the album's masters to a fund for the island, and is working to better its population and ensure they are not forgotten and left to float away on the world stage. Some months after the album was released the international spotlight was shone upon the island as Haitian President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated following controversy over corruption. In an interview with NPR Mach spoke on the aftermath of this, stating 'I'd like the conversation to be about the resiliency of these people and the untapped wealth of skill, thought, language, art'. As is often the case, this third world nation only received the attention of the world in light of its apparent chaos, yet works such as Pray For Haiti stand as examples that must also be noticed, in order to see past the dire situation and give the island the true attention it deserves. Questions:
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| Posted: 15 Dec 2021 12:18 PM PST [FRESH] songs from Dr. Dre
[FRESH] songs on Radio Los Santos
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| Isaiah Rashad announces Canadian tour dates Posted: 15 Dec 2021 07:51 PM PST |
| Posted: 15 Dec 2021 11:10 PM PST |
| Posted: 15 Dec 2021 05:43 PM PST |
| (THROWBACK) Gucci Mane - St. Brick Intro Posted: 16 Dec 2021 04:09 AM PST |
| What is the worst song “update” that's occurred after an initial drop on streaming? Posted: 15 Dec 2021 08:45 AM PST |
| Witness Says Meg Thee Stallion and Friend Fought Before Tory Lanez Shooting Posted: 15 Dec 2021 10:52 AM PST |
| Lil Wayne - Gucci Gucci (Sorry 4 The Wait) Posted: 15 Dec 2021 09:26 PM PST |
| Daily Discussion Thread 12/15/2021 Posted: 15 Dec 2021 11:37 AM PST Welcome to the /r/hiphopheads daily discussion thread! This thread is for:
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: [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 15 Dec 2021 06:57 PM PST |
| Complex: The Best Songs of 2021 Posted: 15 Dec 2021 02:37 PM PST |
| 55 CRIP - The Insane Rise of C-Mac (Trap Lore Ross Documentary) Posted: 15 Dec 2021 02:22 PM PST |
| Tory Lanez's Lawyer Lays Out Defense Against Megan Thee Stallion Posted: 15 Dec 2021 05:02 PM PST |
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