New videos are popping up left and right, with Kanye and Jay finally coming through with the visuals for Otis, their first single from Watch the Throne.
If anything, the video -- which shows the two Roc stars laughing and enjoying the spoils of success by driving around a vacant parking lot in a one-of-a-kind Maybach while trading verses -- makes me like the song even more.
With that said, I'm still not sure what exactly the song is about, nor do I understand why two veritable musical geniuses would work so hard on an album only to reward its lead single with a lazy, unimaginative title that, again, apparently has nothing to do with the song's enigmatic subject matter.
For years (decades even) rap artists have been hard at work pushing the genre’s musical envelope in new directions in hopes of adding on to what can sometimes [rightfully] be perceived as a somewhat stagnant art form.
Despite an ever-diversifying array of Hiphop producers who are seemingly eager to break up the monotony of mainstream rap by incorporating new sounds and styles into their music, it has been the rappers for the most part who are reluctant to test the unfamiliar waters of nontraditional Hiphop production, opting instead for the safety of formulaic 16-bar verses and a hook.
But today’s release of Watch the Throne, the highly anticipated collaboration album from Jay-Z and Kanye West, more than crushes the above stereotype of the lazy rapper and the producer(s) who enables him or her.
More specifically, Jay-Z, the flawless lyricist and revered elder statesman of rap, and Kanye West, the boastful wordsmith and accomplished beat-making producer who is known for bending the rules when it comes to rap, have created as close to a genre-busting masterpiece as we have seen in quite a while.
While it was some time in the making, soon-to-be former G.O.O.D. Music rapper Consequence yesterday, with the release of his new song (below) that accuses his co-worker, Pusha T, of lyrical forgery, officially declared war on his record label complete with a promissory heat-seeking missile soon to be aimed at his boss, Kanye West.
In the song -- named The Plagiarist Society -- Consequence shuns subliminal bars in favor of a clear and obvious threat, referring to Pusha by his government name: "Terrence ... go take a breather on the terrace before he does something to make his team perish/ 'Cause he ain't nothing but a body shield for that coward from the Midwest/ So yes, you can bet that your boss is next."
For months now Consequence has alleged that Pusha not only copied his lyrics, but also the title for My God, the lead single for his Fear of God mixtape.
Maybe I'm in the minority here but let me first say that I much rather prefer the Electric Circus / Universal Mind Control / Be version of rapper Common over his latest incarnation, which has him exchanging hardcore rhymes with NaS over a banging street track courtesy of producer No I.D.
Let me clarify.
Any rhymes from Common are always soothing sounds for ears sore from the prevailing hodgepodge of random rap music that shows no signs of slowing its invasion of Hiphop. But when he kicks hardcore lines – specifically when he starts off the songs with lines like "I wanna bitch who looks good and cooks good" -- it comes off as forced at best and insincere at worst. Hell, we already know Comm has been linked to some top notch females so what's with these ridiculous demands? But I digress.
Before Pusha-T's first solo album drops on Black Friday, he is first planning to [re]bless the world later this month with Fear of God 2, a slight tweak of the three-month-old original version that is still getting heavy spin in the streets and on the Web alike.
With tons of positive feedback from the fans, critical acclaim from varying media outlets of note, a fledgling acting career, and, most importantly, a Kanye co-sign, the artist formerly known as Terrar is poised for a debut that could for the first time in a long while unite rap purists and champions of the so-called underground -- who appreciate Pusha for his ability to kick effective flows with serious wordplay and vocabulary regardless of genre or subject matter -- with its formidable hip-pop and down south trap rap counterparts -- who tend to favor swagger over substance. Lucky for everybody, Pusha exudes all of these characteristics, and then some.
And although Malice -- who is no slouch on the mic -- may add depth and introspect where his younger brother favors a flashier style of rhyming, Pusha has been for a long time widely regarded as the better rapper of the two.
Usually when it comes to most if not all rap groups, one or even each of the group's rappers will eventually go solo. But for the Clipse, who have been a professional rap duo since they signed to Elektra around 1996 (their would-be first album ultimately got shelved by the label, only to be re-issued by Star Trak 11 years later), it took 15 years for Pusha to go solo. (Pusha vows there will be another Clipse album.)
What was the hold up? The streets wanted it, and it was the streets who helped Lord Willin' sell more than a million copies. Why not give the streets what they wanted; especially since street life comprised such a large portion of their material?
To Pharrell's credit, Pusha was featured on plenty of other artists' music, including and especially Justin Timberlake's Like I Love You, which was a platinum single on a multi-platinum album that for sure added an extra zero to the Clipse's bank accounts.
And every verse that Pusha to soloist spit on a feature was lyrically and rhyme-wise nothing short of flawless.
Then along came the 2010 VMAs and out of nowhere Pusha pops up sporting a Miami Vice-inspired salmon-colored blazer, kicking his verse from Kanye's Runaway, delivering a lyrical ultimatum to any female who thinks they can do better without him: "Split and go where? Back to wearing knock-offs? Ha! Knock it off," before offering a friendly reminder, "Every bag, every blouse, every bracelet/ Comes with a price tag, baby, face it."
But don't think just because of Pusha's new found association with Mr. West that he lost any of his edge, as demonstrated on the aforementioned Fear of God mixtape -- specifically whenever he returns to his comfort zone that is his penchant for seemingly endless cocaine metaphors: "Got me looking at the crown from a bird's eye view/ 'Cause I hit the ground running from the birds I flew," and, "They say I talked coke for nine years long/ that means my rap sheet is more than nine years strong/ you niggas woulda thought that I was nine years gone/ but I'm still in the mix like nine ounces and a straw."
However, with celebration comes cynicism, and, in a classic case of the crabs in a barrel syndrome, Pusha's G.O.O.D. Music label mate and rap veteran Consequence has unfortunately taken umbrage at Pusha's position as the next rapper on the label scheduled to release an album.
It will be interesting to see how the working relationship between Pusha and Pharrell evolves, seeing as Pharrell has bit of a pattern of longtime collaborators seemingly eager to work with producers other than the Neptunes -- Kelis, Usher, Robin Thicke, Justin Timberlake, to name a few.
Isn't she behaving in the most obvious of patterns for all gold-digging, talentless groupies? Haven't we seen this type of shameless hoeing before? What makes Amber Rose stand out above all the other groupies vying for the attention of her past conquests?
I wonder how those same aforementioned stars would react if Amber Rose was a dark-skinned woman with that same short-cropped hairdo.
Not that I'm advocating hoeing in any way, shape, form or fashion. I'm simply questioning the judgment of these wealthy pop culture figures who have a wide array of women to choose from, not just the limited pool of groupies that they seemingly prefer.
I'm not mad at Amber for getting her money while she can. Women like her who depend on a physical appearance for income have but a small window of opportunity to cash in. Once word hit the Web about indications of unsightly weight gain, she quickly quelled that rumor with the convenient timing of newly "leaked" photos of her frolicking topless in the Caribbean waters of Barbados, showing nothing remotely overweight about her at all.
But the question still remains -- what is so special about her that she has rich black men readily [and embarrassingly] accepting sloppy seconds? Who will be her next victim?
