EXAMINING THE LIFE OF PABLO

The Life of Pablo takes us on a messy sonic journey through everything about Kanye West we have grown to love, hate, hate to love and love to hate, but does so beautifully. His most enjoyable work since MDBTF, an aptly titled The Life of Pablo, it is Kanye’s most Kanye project to date. From it’s dramatic heavenly opener Ultra Light Beam, which in my opinion is a full on gospel song complete with a choir, an uplifting verse from Kelly Price and a prayer from Kirk Franklin, to the polar opposite Freestyle 4 which is a dark insight into Kanye’s more primal side both lyrically and sonically, rapping about having sex in the middle of a party and on top a table, with this sinister voice. These two tracks could not encapsulate the beginning of Kanye’s career to the last we’ve seen, or rather heard from him better. Ultra Light Beam is very reminiscent of that College Dropout/Late Registration Kanye whereas Freestyle 4 and a track like FML exudes the Yeezus era of Kanye. It’s this disjointed mesh of familiar but not necessarily cohesive sounds that make TLOP so intriguing and wild, but the songs themselves are so well crafted that as a project it makes sense. There is, however, some method to the madness in a way, and diving into the tracklist brings this to light a bit more.

After we get the glorious and illustrious opener in Ultra Light Beams the albums continues upbeat but in a more hip-hop way with the tracks Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1 and 2 feeding off of the energy of the opener and taking us on more trap infused route through a similar energetic area. Metro Boomin’s new signature adlib, coined by Future, “If young metro don’t trust you imam shoot ya” followed by Kid Cudi’s vocals on the opening of Pt. 1 really set things off with these two tracks. New G.O.O.D. Music signee, Designer, lays some entertaining Future-esque verses on Pt. 2, taken from his underground single Panda, albeit much more entertaining and audible than Future actually would. Famous and Feedback is the Kanye we saw on Graduation, his most braggadocios and cleanly produced album. In much the same vein, these tracks are the two most legitimate bangers on the album. Famous had the album’s most memorable line “For all my southside niggaz that know Kanye West, I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex, why I made that bitch famous”. Feedback reminded me of Glory from Graduation with lines like “PETA mad cuz I made a coat out a possum, I'm awesome, Steve Jobs mixed with Steve Austin” and gave us a Yeezus moment with a “Ghetto Oprah” interlude at the end, which in some ways was unnecessary, but hilarious nonetheless. Low Lights is an interlude which in many ways feels like an ode to the skits we found littered throughout College Dropout and Late Registration, which were not really necessary, but it is part of the overall theme of joy and positivity Kanye definitely was going for on this album. Highlights feels like a MBDTF throwaway (not in a bad way), with traces of auto-tune at the beginning, but a mix of personal and braggadocios raps for the rest of the track. Young Thug’s feature was underutilized in my opinion as he delivered a bridge that was very unlike the Thugga sound we have grown to love, but again, much like on Can’t Hold My Liquor on Yeezus, where Kanye gave us an unknown side of Chief Keef, it was not unexpected. It was yet another nod to a past version of Ye. At this point as if to wave a sign in our face highlighting this underlying theme, we get the interlude I Love Kanye, which is basically Kanye reminiscing on all the things we have grown to love about him over that past decade in a sort of satirical way, as if to say “well I’m really giving you all of this now while you still complain about wanting this old Kanye, you satisfied?”. Waves in many ways seems like a filler, with no real theme going on it’s just a well produced, great sounding track with excellent vocals from Chris Brown and minimal vocals from Kanye. This, in my opinion, is where Kanye seems to be right now in his constant evolution as an artist. Very minimalistic on the traditional hiphop element to a song, but heavily focused on the sonic aesthetics and mixing of different production styles to sort of set the mood or vibe. Whether or not it’s a good thing remains to be seen as this side of Kanye continues to show himself. This was no more present on than on the track Fade, which closed the album. Fusing elements of house, dance, electronic, hiphop and soul into this sonic montage if you will, Kanye with minimal vocals sort of decided to close the album setting a mood of, I think, where he wants us to see his head is at now. Much Like Ultra Light Beam was how he started (it is no coincidence that Jesus Walks was similar in theme), Fade is Kanye telling us, how he feels now sonically. Very upbeat and happy. Directly reflecting how he seems in real life with his much desired and new found success in the fashion world (contrast this with the anger/frustration he felt on Yeezus by being denied those opportunities). It’s the track that encapsulates all the sounds Kanye has experimented with, into one mix. Unknown to many, it’s the first track that leaked off this project over a year ago, when Virgil (Kanye’s DJ) played it at a nightclub. It was the first glimpse into Kanye’s new creative headspace.

The remaining 4 tracks (excluding the Silver Surfer Intermission) is the personal and vulnerable side of Kanye, which are heavily reminiscent of 808’s & Heartbreaks and MDBTF.  Wolves is more of the 808’s type track where the others, Real Friends, 30 Hours and No More Parties In LA, are MBDTF influenced, with deep dense verses, soulful samples, clean production. Here we see Kanye open up about his family, friendship and relationship (past and present) issues.  A stellar guest feature from Kendrick Lamar made No More Parties in LA an instant fan favorite, but it’s on Real Friends where I truly see Kanye excelling lyrically. His tone, flow and content fit superbly with the beat, making the track one of it not the best song on the album. On FML we see a mesh of 808s and MBDTF influence, with Kanye West being his most sincere about his struggles with being a faithfully married man for the sake of finally finding his true love and starting his family. The Weekend delivered an epic vocal performance on the chorus and the second verse sounds like a sped up version of a verse on Blame Game from MBTF, definitely a highlight of the album. On Much like how MBTF is widely celebrated as Kanye’s best album, these tracks are widely considered to be the best part of the album, understandably so.

My only two negatives with TLOP, came first in the form of the track Facts. Though the beat is redone, and makes the song a lot more enjoyable, Kanye has a lot of struggle bars and mimics the flow of Drake and Future on What A Time To Be Alive. This is the one moment where we see Kanye do something he has never done before in his entire career, bite someone else’s style. Had Kanye swapped Facts for All Day, the banger we received last year (single of the year 2015, imo) this album would be much more complete. The second downfall was some of the cringe-worthy lines scattered throughout the album, albeit scarcely. Lines like ‘If I fuck this model and she just bleached her asshole, and I get bleach on my T-shirt then imma feel like an asshole” on Pt. 1. or the “you left your fridge open, and they took your sandwich” line on Wolves. It’s moments like these that show us Kanye’s lost his wit just a tad.

In conclusion I think the most important aspect of this album, which conversely is its greatest downfall in some ways, is, that it was meant to feel all over the place sonically. Much like the paintings of Pablo Picasso, the muse after which the title is influenced, it was not put together to feel like a complete, well thought out body of work. Picasso once famously said, “The world does not make sense, so why should I paint pictures that do?”. In a similar vein, Kanye’s world at particular instances made sense in a vacuum, we can tell from the music he gave us as he grew. But mixed up together, his entire world doesn’t make sense, so why should his art (this album) do so as well. Despite the extremely late addition of tracks to this album, I think it was intentional. It was Kanye making a few last minute brush strokes to his abstract piece of art, ones that he felt portrayed a particular emotion. Looking at previously released tracklists show that the album, under it previous names, had a particular theme (the whole Act 1, Act 2 + Act 3 idea), but somewhere along the way Kanye consciously decided to have his Picasso moment. He scrapped those ideas and renamed the album and gave us his entire life thus far as he sees it, The Life of Pablo. Even examining the album cover we see the words, The Life of Pablo scattered all over the cover arbitrarily and a picture of a young Kanye standing with his family juxtaposed to a picture of a model with a voluptuous ass posing seductively, as if to show the dichotomy of what it means to live the life of Kanye West (Pablo), family and love vs fame and lust. Regardless of the fact that it does not feel like the traditional Kanye album, it is the most Kanye, Kanye album we’ve gotten to date. He took a paintbrush and dipped it in the different paint buckets of what we loved about all his albums, and splattered it on a canvas. It may be hard to love but it’s even harder to not love.

My rating: 9/10

DRAKE'S GHOST

After Meek Mill’s emotionally influenced slew of tweets about a week ago, the world at large was taken aback by his accusations. Meek is quoted as saying to not compare him to Drake, Drake doesn’t write his raps, he didn’t write his verse for RICO(a song on Meek’s latest solo album) and that his work should really be attributed to Quentin Miller, a member of the OVO camp who allegedly gets paid $5000 USD a month to write and craft records for Drake. Since this fiasco which lasted anywhere from 5-6 hours to 3 days, involving a slur of other rappers, including OG Maco, Roscoe Dash and OVO Producer “40”, Drake has yet to release a statement. Quentin Miller has denied being Drake’s Ghostwriter and prefers to be known as a collaborator. Funk Master Flex has played the reference track recorded by Miller for 10 Bandz, and claims there are reference tracks for Know Yourself, 6AM in New York and 6 God, all songs of Drake’s last solo album (though none of those were played). This has brought the big question into being, “Does drake having a Ghostwriter matter?”. Being the avid hiphop head I pride myself on being, I’ve decided to chime in and give my opinion on the matter.

Firstly let’s get something clear, there is a HUGE difference in getting ideas for lines or song structure or even entire hooks for songs from persons present during the recording process. This has and always will be a very integral part of Hiphop, it’s almost the manifestation of “Hiphop is the voice of the people, by the people”. That part of it is not considered “ghostwriting”. When someone else is paid to write entire verses or like 70-80% of their material is taken, paid for and done over and added to by an artist and we hear the final product, THAT is ghostwriting. In that regard, Mr. Miller’s statement that I alluded to earlier is in fact false, because the reference track that was used for Drake to do over 10 Bandz is not simply collaborating, but way more into the realm of Ghostwriting, much the way it is done in R&B. Now that the distinction is drawn let me say this, Ghostwriting in hiphop has always been alive and well. In fact entire classic albums have been ghostwritten (The Chronic, The Chronic 2001, Doggystyle, Big Willie Style, etc). However those albums have been celebrated the way they are because the artist made the fact that they paid for writers very well known previously and we accepted that and the MUSIC was still able to resonate with the world at large. The problem arises where an artist is heralded for having a sick pen game, and for being one of the great modern lyricists and having such real and personal content that invokes strong emotions in his fans, but then information leaks that they have ghostwriters. That in no way tarnishes the music, those records are still GREAT records but the artist, the legend to be, definitely is tarnished. Drake falls into this category, unfortunately. Though solid facts have not come out to prove how far back this has occurred, this goes back to the age old metaphor “if you take a teaspoon of dirty water and drop it into a glassful of clean water, you are going to end up with a glassful of dirty water”.

There is a silver lining for him though. Drake is one of the rare rappers whose music is not as big as him. His music is in his shadows, so to speak. Allow me to explain what I mean. Drake has never released a body of work as a major label, mainstream artist (post So Far Gone) that has stood the test of time and has impacted Hiphop in a way a MBDTF or a Blueprint or a Carter III has. Neither has his singles. Yes he has a slur of hits, but a majority, if not all of them are big not because they a classic timeless songs, but because they are Drake records. When you think of an artist like Jay Z, you think Hard Knock Life, PSA, Can I Live, Empire State of Mind, Big Pimpin etc. Landmark records that have and will stand the test of time and that have shaken up Hiphop and shifted culture forever. These songs mean a lot to the culture. Drake however, in my opinion has none of these type of massive records that are timeless and meaningful to the culture. He still somehow has managed to rack up 15 number ones and had all the songs off his entire last full-length album IYRTITL chart on the billboard simultaneously. It’s because somehow with Drake, it’s about him more that his music. He just needs to put something out and people are going to herald it. My point in saying this is that, Drake having a ghostwriter or ghostwriters (who knows) is not THAT terrible as say a NaS or Jay Z or Kendrick Lamar having ghost writers. Their music is bigger than themselves and means more to hiphop if they sincerely penned it. They shifted culture with their honest music and stories. Drake will continue to be a multiplatinum artist and still probably go on to be a legend in hiphop BUT, solely as an artist not and emcee and lyricist. That conversation is no longer available with Drake’s name in it.

Hiphop was built and born on talented chosen individuals, having the unique gift to craft real life stories all around them or real life experiences of others into music. With rhyming and flow and melody, people were able to connect with the words of this talented emcee and the message was able to resonate with them emotionally. The person who did this the best, or does this the best, is heralded as the G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time) and the people determine him/her. If someone has a “ghost” so to speak, penning these words for them and portray it to the world as if it was constructed/created by them and then later on it is found out to be false, he/she does not fit that GOAT criteria. They may still be a GREAT artist and song creator, but the words and the lyrical ability to pen their realities into pictures that have life through rhymes, is essentially the MOST important element in Hiphop. I accept that many a rapper has this ability and lack the gift of making a GOOD SONG with melodies and good structure. Drake has those other qualities and as such is not automatically kicked out of the conversation of not being a talented artist. BUT that sincere factor, that lyrical ability and the fact that in hiphop your pen is your sword, THAT now is up in the air for him. Here is where I respectfully disagree with “40” who came out in Drake’s defense and stated that Drake is more than a rapper, and more of a creator and that the OVO team will not be stuck in the box of the mentality of hiphop that the artist must write their own rhymes. While this might be so, one is free to do as he/she wishes, but it does not change the CORE values and foundations of the art form. It’s almost an unwritten rule/requirement for being a great rapper. I am no Drake fan, post-So Far Gone. I thought Comeback Season and So Far Gone were damn near perfect projects, and I do like some tracks here and there over the years, I even found Know Yourself and 0 – 100 to be phenomenal records, but overall Drake’s content and hiphop persona is completely opposite to what resonates with me, and I personally find him to be an overrated emcee. Now that this Ghostwriting fiasco has surfaced, I hope other people begin to accurately rank Drake where he is supposed to be in the lyricist and emcee category. Continue to love his music, yes, and continue to buy is work, he does make good songs and is a talented artist, but please don’t put him in the conversation of “best rapper of our generation” or “on of the best rappers of all time” etc etc. Drake is a great icon and legend in music; his actual pen game and lyrical ability leaves a lot to be desired. We’ll see how this story continues to develop.

Aight enough on this, peace.

PS: Stop hating on Meek for being a real nigga and speaking his mind. I ain’t no Meek fan, but I respect him actually not giving a fuck and going against the conformist status quo of just keeping quiet for fear of other people chastising you etc. He felt that is another rapper don’t write his own raps, he shouldn’t be compared to him and rightfully so. It wasn’t simply because Drake didn’t “tweet his album”. Do your research.

AT. LONG. LAST. A$AP ALBUM REVIEW

Whaddup folks. Welcome to another not so frequent edition of hiphopmade album reviews, where your boy jellz, aka the personification of hiphop itself 100% accurately reviews and gives FACTS (not opinions) on new popular hiphop releases. My last review was Aubrey’s non-free load of fuckery mixtape, but luckily since then the hiphop gods have forgiven us of our sins and sent their only begotten Lord Pretty Flacko Jodye to save hiphop. So with out further adieu, At Long Last A$AP…

    1.     Holy Ghost (feat. Joe Fox)

This was a perfect start to the album. I love the fuckin sample at the start reminded me of Jay Z’s What More Can I Say, track off the Black Album with the sample from Gladiator, shit was fuckin EPIC and really set the tone for how seriously Flacko took this entire project. We get a rare serious track here, with the topic focusing on his struggles with religion and God, shit we can all relate too, because lets face it… we a bunch of fucckinnn heavy sinners my nigga, we ain’t lookin too good out here. Good track though Rocky. I’ll address the Joe Fox feature later on in this review because this motherfucker is EVERYYWHERE on this album.

  

    2.     Canal Street (feat. Bones)

The production on this shit was jiggy as fuck! Has this clean bounce to it and some DJ Premier level scratches, I feel like I’m in a fuckin Ma$e video minus the corniness with this one. Rocky’s flow on this is flawless too, my word. I really like the general airy feel of the track especially on the chorus. It sounds like they recorded that hook in a cathedral or something love the effects they utilized on Bones’ voice. Rocky always got the weirdest but freshest hooks bro. Great track!

    3.     Fine Wine (ft. MIA & Future)

I gotta come clean… I don’t all the way fuck with this record. Rocky was fuckin fresh as usual, using that deeper voice like the one on the Goldie hook from Long Love A$AP, but I ain’t really dig the way they constructed MIA’s hook, like something was off. Then FUTURE came in UUGGGGHHHHH… let’s be clear, not referring to this track, but Future is Top 5 worst recording artist of our generation, all genres included. This Dinosaur lookin flat faced fucker is TERRRIIBBLLLLEEE I don’t get his appeal. That being said he dropped a fuckin 4/10 verse on this as usual, but like that’s his best g. This is one of the best Future verses you gonna hear, period so appreciate how not so mediocre son came here. Overall it’s an OKAY track… like I wouldn’t skip it, but it’s probably the weakest track on the album.

   4.     L$D

First of all this song has one of the best music videos I’ve ever seen in my life. This video is trippy as fuck and so well put together. All the lights and colours and the little story that you have to follow to understand the track… fuckin artistic and original shit. Now the track is even better bro! This is easily my favorite song on the album. Rocky is not even rapping on the record, he’s fuckin singin(and not very well might I add) but son does puts it together so fuckin tastefully. The production is stellar, and song feels like drugs, this is the most drug influenced track you gonna hear in a while. In many ways this track symbolizes the undertone of this album, it’s almost like a title track. I would say if you need a song to identify the feel of this record, L$D does it perfectly. Fuckin phenomenal track from Flacko!

   5.     Excuse Me

This the Rocky we all know and love. Braggadocios, cocky (pause) and confident flowing all over all the beats changes and dip on this record. Son has like four flow changes g, it’s beautiful to listen too. Plus he sings the hook. This track was one of my most anticipated records because it came out as a cameo midway into the L$D video. Rocky lyrics is funny and clever, ideally everything you will expect from a Rocky track. Great song!

    6.     JD

THISSS NIGGA’S FLOOOWWWWW BRRRUUUUHHHHHHH. I’m not sure how much more I can stress this, we 6 tracks in and I’ve been blown away with a new, fresh n unique flow like 4 times. This beat on this track BANGS. That bass fuckin sped up my heart rate to be honest with you. You can do CPR with this beat, I’m sure of it. The sample on the opening, I’m not too sure where it came from actually, I want to believe it’s from the new movie he’s starring in called “DOPE” (how fitting of a title) but I’m not sure. It could just be a staged conversation in the studio. This track was more of an interlude where just by the content of the lyrics, and the use of his alias “Lord Pretty Flacko Jodye” numerous times during the song, you already know what track he was setting up for this to flow into…

     7.     Lord Pretty Flacko Jodye II

“WHO DA JIGGY NIGGA WIT DA GOLD LINKS?!?!?” Yo… if somebody tells me they don’t like this song, well I automatically don’t like you. This track is so much fuckin flames, I sometime sweat if my speaker volume is too loud. This track is sooo fuckin fresh and exudes so much confidence you start to look more appealing to women after you listen to it fellas (n girls too, shouts out my lesbian real quick). But yooo, I all the way fuck with this, like the record has all the elements of a banger and replay value is damn near infinite. This song came out monthsss before we even got an album date, I’ve played this at least 100 times before I got this album, I fuckin kid you not and I was STILLL excited to hear it when I was listenin to this record. Perfect track from Rocky.

      8  .     Electric Body (ft. Schoolboy Q)

These two have only made great songs. Their chemistry is like Wu Tang level synchronized. They feed off of each other’s energy soooo well yo, like it’s a joy to listen to. First and foremost the beat is jiggy as fuck. The bounce and that sorta clap effect on the hook got me ready to just make it rain on some hoes bro. This should be the new strippers anthem. The hook was kina not all that great but still I get why it is what it is. I’m gonna hazard a guess and say this is the next single off this album with the most fuckin rachet and stripper laden video one can imagine (watch out Tyga!) Let’s take a moment of silence for Rocky’s flow on the first 30 seconds of this record (cry face emoji) I really think son is out doing himself at this point…

Also Q said “I can fuck your bitch off hype!”  LMMMMAAAAOOOOOO

  

 9.     Juxebox Joints ( ft. Kanye West)

First and foremost I love the underlying concept of this record. The title of the track is the driving force behind the sound and the beat change ups throughout the song. Basically it’s all traditional juxebox sounding songs as the beats and as one finishes it transitions into the other in a similar manner as a juxebox would. Rocky came in with some of his more memorable lines here “she the type that seek love and make it everlasting, I’m the type to wake up and say it never happened, I mean I fucked the bitch with hella passion, but it’s cold how we smashed and left her sleepin on a separate matress” lmaaoo like if that’s the first 4 lines of your song, I’m already loving this. Not to mention Mr. West is in the building with a hilarious verse. At the point the “juxebox” is coming to an end and the beat slows down drastically so we’re getting a oddly slow sounding verse from yeezus, but I fcuk with it super hard yo, it made a lot of sense, despite being funny. It gets better with each listen, like it’s difficult at first to grasp the pace of the raps. This was overall another stellar track.

  10.  Max B (ft. Joe Fox)

The song structure of this song is so unique and fresh. Joe Fox did his thing hook and writing wise. First lets start with the hook, it sounds like a sample but to my understanding it’s actually that crafty Joe Fox singing in this light raspy but high pitched and distorted voice, wondering to himself “did I fuck it up”. It’s such an interesting sounding hook. Not to mention the actual distortion sound that buzzes before the hook comes in. Rocky really sound energetic and bold on the verses despite the somber mood of the hook and overall track. The beat has this sort of dragging horn I believe, it kina sounds very Indian influence like some sort Indian instrument. I love at the end of the song how Joe Fox strums the guitar and sings then it flows into his normal voice without the distortion, as he speeds up the percussions of the guitar strums, only to realize YO this guy is British! LOL who knew. FUN FACT ABOUT JOE FOX: Rocky saw him on the street on his way back to the hotel from grabbing a bite to eat at 4am in London. Fox tried to give him a demo CD, Rocky refused but asked him to play something with his guitar as he had one on him (he was a street performer). Rocky was so impressed he fuckin took him with him to help him record the rest of the album we have now, hence why he is on all these tracks. And basically he is part of Rocky’s camp. How fuckin cool is A$AP Rocky?!?!? The COOLEST OF ALL TIME, that’s how much.

  11. Pharsyde (ft. Joe Fox)

Beginning to believe Joe Fox is a human 70’s RnB/Blues Sample… why the fuck his hooks so classic sounding?! I love the topic on this track to , Rocky kina is rapping about this place he goes when times get hard or things seem rough, and his regrets about those times and paints these vivid pictures of trials he faced growing up in Harlem and still faces now. Apparently this place he goes to is when he sleeps, so it seems as though it’s imaginary or prolly drug infused, who the fuck really knows?! I love the change of pace on this track as well as it’s very somber but not druggy, so it feel very serious… it’s always interesting to see characters like A$AP Rocky be vulnerable from time to time, it was super refreshing. Of course we get another excellent display of rapping and one of the best lyrical displays on the album so far. The beat is really slow paced but still very thematic… well put together track.

  12.  Wavybone (ft. UGK $ Juicy J)

This track is that staple ode to southern classic hiphop that Rocky has on every single project he’s put out so far. Fuckin Bun B is like this niggaz hero according to him. For a New York rapper that ballsy as fuck but being this smooth silky, jiggy muhfucka that he is… those southern legends embrace Rocky’s homage whole heartedly and show up here to prove it. How the fuck do you get the entire rachet ass hood as UGK group on one track as a FEATURE in 2015, that’s not a Bun B track bro?!?!? Who the fuck are you, the King of the South?! Rocky got some fresh fucking quotables too, “I went to France and almost got deported, the fans were screaming when I hit the border, I visit Nice like it’s my sister’s daughter!” Then the southern legends came in and blessed us with wise words of how to be the best fuckin southern hood nigga one can be followed by a decent verse from one third of satan’s own rap group 3 six mafia, Juicy J. This was a really fun record about makin money and being a nigga, who doesn’t love this sorta stuff g?!

  13.  Westside Highway (ft. James Fauntelroy)

This song was really laid back and subtle, but a very different sound for Rocky. A lot more mainstream if you ask me. Nevertheless he executes it well and James Fauntelroy delivered a clean hook. I always found his voice sounded a little computerized, it’s weird, but fresh as fuck at the same time. This ain’t one of the best songs on the fuckin album, but it’s aiiiittteee, ya dig.

  14. Better Things

Classic deep voice effect at the beginning of the track, A$AP really delivered here. After the first 20 seconds, which were super slow and eerie sounding, the beat switches and ohh fuckk was that shit amazing. It’s some kina futuristic trap meets new york meets cloud rap. Shit is like New York in 2050. Sound like fuckin Daft Punk’s attempt at hiphop it’s fresh beyond explanation. Lyrics-wise we can’t forget the 4-6 bars fuckin up Rita Ora, apparently he busted in her mouth she spit it out and he kicked her out… I know what you mean fam, I’ve been there, can’t be fuckin mistreatin niggaz kids n whatnot.

  15. M’s (ft. Lil Wayne)

Bruh, that track SLAPPPSSS like the beat is audible hardness, pause. The beat had me in awe at first listen. Not to mention the fuckin lyrics… A$AP has this unique ability to sound and rap and flow exactly like the aura he exudes and the way he acts. If you’ve never seen an A$AP Rocky interview or documentary, and you’ve hear his music, look no further. This nigga lyrics is the fuckin coolest shit ever bro… “me n yams made a plan, then I paid myself n I gave myself advance…. Way before I became myself, I’d like to thank myself because I made myself the man”  who else BUT Rocky gonna glide so effortlessly over such a hard be spewing gems like that.

BUT THE REALLLLL MVP LIL TUNECHI AKA BIRDMANS EX HUSBAND… WEEZY F BABY. Let me just give you a brief history as to why lil wayne always got a special place in my heart (pause) despite the recent FUCKERY he been putting out. The first album I ever bought with my own fucking money, Tha Carter I. In 2005 after hearing Tha Carter II for the first time I played that album for like 2 years straight, I put it in my Top 5 favourite hiphop albums period. Upgrade U freestyle is like fuckin punchline gold, noooobbboooddyy ever escalated to them punchline heights since. Wayne is that nigga and he returned to form on this feature. Thanks God, I really need this!

  16. Dreams Interlude

It’s an interlude… fuck you want from me here?!

  17. Everyday (ft. Miguel, Mark Ronson & Rod Stewart)

First of all, Mark Ronson might be Top 3 song writers and constructors in music right now, PERIOD. He gets wayyyyyyyy too little credit. WHY THE FUCK BRUNO MARS GETTING ALL THE PRAISE FOR UPTOWN FUNK?!?!? Fuckouttahere wit that, but back to the topic at hand, excellent hook writing skills from Mark here. Rocky fuckin floated ever so gracefully over the beat here, and when that beat SWITCH UP BRO, we got some kina super saiyan double time god flow from Rocky, shit was majestic. Miguel was superrrbbbbbbb as per usual, and my nigga… Rod Stewart, on an A$AP Rocky track… HOW THE FUCK?!?! Yo this kid is special to have this legend bless him with a handshake, much less a goddamn feature. This lowkey probably the best song on the album, if we being un-biased towards niggerdom, but that’s a damn near impossible way to approach it, so I put it right after L$D.

  18. Going Home (feat. YASIIN BEY & Acyde)

A single tear streamed down my cheek in the most manly way possible, when I heard Yasiin Bey aka Pretty Flacko Senior fka Mos Def, the fuckin GAWD emcee. Yo I truthfully think I love that dude (again, pause) He rose from the ashes like a fuckin Pheonix and soared it to place the crown Jewel on the end of this album. Truthfully the verse was just decent, and a little too short… but bro… Mos FUCKIN Def is on a track, in 2015. We as a human race need to start praising and thanking God more for moments like this in history, shit is like a fuckin meteor shower. Anyways, such a fuckin classic sample at the start of the track, and the beat matched it perfectly not to mention that subtle hook which contrasted so perfectly with Rocky’s outstanding verses. Yams audio at the end was fuckin classic Yamborghini… yo Earth gonna miss that guy, for real. Great way to close the album Rocky.

CONCLUSION

Truly an outstanding and bar setting project from the lord, that pretty muthafucka himself (yeah, pause again) A$AP Rocky. This man has improved his lyrical ability tremendously and his flows have elevated beyond everyone in rap today. ALLA was a much more refined and polished Live.Love.A$AP where Rocky was young and a little un-focused back then, now he has mature and perfected is craft and carved out a very entertaining and unique lane in hiphop for years to come. Great fuckin way to set the pace for the remainder of 2015!

My Rating 9/10

Next review in wheneverthefuckifeel weeks, Look out for it!