So Kendrick Lamar officially lost his cred

ill o.g.
Battle Points: 170
At the risk of losing my cred, I gotta tell ya that Swift is a very good pop artist. My point of view comes from me having a broken cd player/aux in my car for the better part of 2 years and never replacing it, along with me being conscious of what my kids listen to in the car. The top hip hop club station where i am is unlistenable to me, the old school r&b station plays Luther Vandross waaaaay too much and i only recently found out about an old school hip hop station which is pretty coo. So when the kids are in the car, we're listening to some sort of pop station 75% of the time. Thus is my introduction to Swift and music from her last 2 albums. So not only does she consistently have multiple platinum singles on her albums, at least 4 off every album at my count, if u listen to them unbiasly , they are very catchy .

I'm not gonna post any examples of her songs, cuz i know exile from the Illmuzik community would soon follow, nor have I heard the song with Kendrick.
All i'm doing is trying to give a different perspective about such things.
 

Fade

The Beat Strangler
Administrator
illest o.g.
No doubt that Swift is very popular, but that's where it ends. Her songs are catchy, just like every other Pop artist. As for Kendrick, it's only his earlier stuff that was good, then as soon as the popularity came in, he's now more of a Pop artist. No one can dispute that.
 

J Rilla

Tha Fresh Prince of L.A.
ill o.g.
No doubt that Swift is very popular, but that's where it ends. Her songs are catchy, just like every other Pop artist. As for Kendrick, it's only his earlier stuff that was good, then as soon as the popularity came in, he's now more of a Pop artist. No one can dispute that.
Bro have you listened to TPAB??? Aint nothing pop about that album
 

J Rilla

Tha Fresh Prince of L.A.
ill o.g.
Na man, I gave up on him.
Check out the album. He may be an artist that doesn't mind appearing on pop songs, but his album is the furthest thing from "pop" a mainstream hiphop album can get.


Furthermore Kendrick appearing on pop songs has hundred of suburban white kids listening to some pretty authentic hip hop instead of Iggy Azelia all day. I think we are missing the bigger picture when rap artist appear on pop songs at least in Kendricks case
 

Id on Id

Newbie
its cool to hate on swift/swift assosciates because Kanye said so guys...
no but really. who gives a fuck. one collaboration destroys his entire credibility? the fuck outta here...
so if tupac collabed with a britney or a madonna, would that void his cred? dont think so

I thought this post was about to say something crazy like Kendrick actually grew up in toronto, canada or something... lmao

sand in vagina?
 

Fade

The Beat Strangler
Administrator
illest o.g.
so if tupac collabed with a britney or a madonna, would that void his cred?
Yes, it would.

Someone like Fat Joe is a perfect example. His earlier stuff was great, then he got all soft and started coming out with cheesy raps, along with collabs with R&B/Pop artists. Out the window.

It's great if a rapper can collab with someone, but when you have a certain persona, you want to avoid certain styles of music altogether. Someone that is into a rapper that starts out with gutter beats and raps, is not going to want to listen to their new single featuring Britney Spears called "Shake That Ass (In Da Club Mixxx)".
 
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 170
its cool to hate on swift/swift assosciates because Kanye said so guys...
no but really. who gives a fuck. one collaboration destroys his entire credibility? the fuck outta here...
so if tupac collabed with a britney or a madonna, would that void his cred? dont think so

I thought this post was about to say something crazy like Kendrick actually grew up in toronto, canada or something... lmao

sand in vagina?
While i disagree with @Fade main point about Kendrick , I think he and his work is coo, history has shown what Fade is referring to accurate.

Big Daddy Kane was huge coming off Long Live the Kane and It's a Big Daddy Thing. Then the madonna sex book came out, he started wearing purple ensambles in Heavy D videos and he couldn't regain his footing in hiphop.
Nas was on his symbolic deathbed around the time the Genuine collab came out.
Thankfully hiphop has become more accepting of such things....

but to u more directly @Id on Id .....I notice this is ur first post ...and u use it to tell the host of the site to "f!@# outta here" and use a vagina reference. Maybe u didnt kno who Fade was. Maybe u didn't care. Maybe u just wanted to say f*$# outta here and vagina to another person.....online.
The reason this community is close knit and in good standing is because we can disagree without being disagreeable and disparaging. Do better.
 
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Fade

The Beat Strangler
Administrator
illest o.g.
@SoberMindedMuzk true! I forgot about Kane and the whole Madonna thing.

Another example is (going way back) the UMC's. Their first album was them jumping around with a fun style, then their next album they looked borderline like Das EFX and were all rough. That was their last album.

The point is - if I like an artist it's because of a certain song/image/personality that they portray. Once they start to stray from that then that's when their credibility (with me at least) is lost.

And ya, at @Id on Id not a good first post!
 

J Rilla

Tha Fresh Prince of L.A.
ill o.g.
Cant talk to the boss like that,but Fade took it like a champ. Its the Canadian way. If Cold Truth was still here though his first post may have been his last.

Back to Kendrick. After GKMC came out he was on songs with Robin Thicke and Radioactive Dragons yet his next solo project To Pimp A Butterfly, which i really recommend you check out @Fade. Its pretty politically driven. Almost like early Ice Cube. Whats funny is its almost a contradiction to him appearing on these songs. In one of the songs he actually calls himself an hypocrite
 

Id on Id

Newbie
While i disagree with @Fade main point about Kendrick , I think he and his work is coo, history has shown what Fade is referring to accurate.

Big Daddy Kane was huge coming off Long Live the Kane and It's a Big Daddy Thing. Then the madonna sex book came out, he started wearing purple ensambles in Heavy D videos and he couldn't regain his footing in hiphop.
Nas was on his symbolic deathbed around the time the Genuine collab came out.
Thankfully hiphop has become more accepting of such things....

but to u more directly @Id on Id .....I notice this is ur first post ...and u use it to tell the host of the site to "f!@# outta here" and use a vagina reference. Maybe u didnt kno who Fade was. Maybe u didn't care. Maybe u just wanted to say f*$# outta here and vagina to another person.....online.
The reason this community is close knit and in good standing is because we can disagree without being disagreeable and disparaging. Do better.

i can defnitely be cynical at times. but i really meant no offense. sorry Fade.

But dont worry be happy. I think these type of things are natural. I dont think kendrick is the type to lose sight of who he is.
I think he is just trying to better himself and as his form of art as a hip hop artist.

1.First, i think the aim of great music is to ultimately give something to the listener. An emotion or an idea.
I don't see Kendrick as just a great "rapper" or a great "Hip Hop" artist. I see him as great musician. I don't see Swift as a great "pop artist" or a great "country star." I see her as a great musician. I think both of them see themselves that way; if not they should. Who needs a box?

2. At large, Kendrick makes music that brings up questions, inspires emotion, gives energy. Hes been doing this knowingly by spitting hot shit over bomb ass beats. But he doesn't forget that he's a musician. There are some really good things that come out of breaking through set thresholds or expectations. Why does everything have to be so compressed? As musicians we should aim to give breath and freshness to what we create. Deviation is a form of Evolution.

3. If I was Kendrick, right now, at this very moment. I would've been doing the rap grind for a long odd amount of years. I would be a little worn. I would want to deviate. Not get comfortable, but instead get out my comfort zone. This is a form of learning. This helps perpetuate ideas that are already existing. I think he is doing a great thing for Hip Hop and music at large by breaking down these barriers.
He's trying elevate himself and everyone with him.

If Taylor didnt evolve out of country, there would be no great singles like "shake it off"
If Kendrick didn't evolve into a rapper... Who knows what he would be doing right now? For better or worst...
Some people need this to get through their daily routine/ struggles.

Shit, if Sonny Moore didnt leave his Emo band and start "experimenting" with EDM; there would be no SKRILLEX. That itself has had a massive impact on music.

I think it's important that artists like Kendrick do what he do. I just hope he is doing it for the right reasons and isnt taking his opportunity for granted. You never know. Some good songs have come out of these strange types of collaborations. I think as musicians its natural for these types of collaborations to happen. But eventually even great musicians get burned out on what they do. Inevitably a grind will become just that; a grind. Eventually a pampered lifestyle will take the rawness out of someone. Maybe Kendrick is just trying to refresh. I dunno. But i wouldn't be so quick to give up on him. I haven't listened TPAB yet. but im holding off. i wanna listen to it without all the hype in mind so i can digest it for what it really is. Bu i think he is doing a good job as long as he tries to give something back. Even know im starting to doubt myself. Theres so much gray area in this topic aha

Thats just my two cents

Ima leave a successful, imo, collab that prolly shouldnt have been. nostalgia out tha ass

 

sYgMa

Making head bangers!!!
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 26
I was wondering about the title of this thread... So, Fade, did you listen to his latest album? What do you think?

His album is the reason I actually came back to producing hip hop again. I was fed up with kids asking me beats that sound like what passes as hip hop these days... even stopped listening to new stuff althogether for a while... And then I heard that album...
 
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