This is the first of many offical RTF album reviews to come. I will start off by telling you how and why I grade the records the way I do. First off I don't give sh!t reviews like Source/HiphopDX/too many to name, because I actually LISTEN to the CD multiple times before I will review it so the review many not come out until a day or two after a CD drops, but this one was an exception because I believes it deserves to be reviewed and since no one has submitted one I felt the timing was perfect. OK here we go...
I am rating the CD's on a scale of 1-5 going in halfs, for instance a 3 rating means its a decent album, a 4 means that its a good album but it could have been or should have been better and 5 star is reserved for the top CD's of the year so don't expect to see a lot.
The way I grade albums is mainly made up of five parts;
1. Experience - meaning how many albums they have had, their years in the industry, types of albums they have made [a real artist should not sound the same on every album imo], and who they have worked with/can work with at the time of release.
2. Production - now this doesn't mean that Eminems Relapse would have gotten a great grade in this area just because it was all Dr.Dre. This is where I look at who the rapper has worked with, the choices they made on their beats and how it flows on the album lyrically and fluidly. [I also despise albums where half the beats sound so similar you cant even remember what song it is at first, just bores me to death]
3. Guest appearances - now I am definitely not saying that you need an Eminem, T.I. or Kanye West on your album, rather this part is graded on who they worked with verses who they COULD have worked with, and how we'll they use the features on the songs[Good ex: Eminem Feat. Rhianna, Bad ex: Kid Cudi - Don't play this song F. Mary J Blige]
4. Lyrics - I do not need every MC spitting like Eminem or Weezy back in '04, I just need to see the artist use their talent to the highest level, for instance Kid Cudi and Ye are not the best rappers but they play to their strengths and have a few lyrical songs - that is all I am looking at in this part. Also no repetitive lyrics and they need to have some meaning people can relate too besides selling drugs and shooting someone in EVERY SONG [YOU PROBOBALY LIVE IN THE SUBURBS STOP THE ACTING - personal shot at Weezy, Ro$ and 50 cent sorry]
5. The album flow - I take this into meaning how well the album is when you listen to it all the way through, where they place certain songs, if it sounds like it should be on the same CD, etc. I expect to be able to listen to a 5 star CD all the way through with no thoughts of skipping any song easily. [not including skits here]
NOW!!! to read the full review on Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy click the jump!!
Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Wow my first post in a minute well here it goes. Between Eminem coming back after five years and reclaiming the best rappers alive imo, T.I. going back and forth to jail, Curren$y getting 10 times better after he stopped having to act fake thanks to Young Money records and the fact that Kanye and Weezy were the ones running with T-Pain and ruining the rap game with auto-tuned song over and over I really did not what to quit expect from this CD. What I came to find out is that Kanye is exactly what I thought he was five years ago, a decent rapper and one of the best/diverse producers in the industry. The production is top notch throughout the CD with contributions from RZA, No I.D. & Emile to complement Ye's always amazing production.
The album has a good flow starting off with probably the two most lyrically sick songs from 'Ye on Dark Fantasy and the Kid Cudi and Reakwon song Gorgeous. This is where you see what seperates 'Ye from a good producer. Just like how Dr. Dre only has Akon on the hook of Kush (which is where Akon needs to stay) Kanye uses Cudi to lay a nice hook that flows well with the insane tho distorted lyrics from Kanye and Reakwon.
He uses his guests to their best including Kid Cudi, Charlie Wilson, Alecia Keys and even Elton John on his Streetlights song, and he puts together a great song in Devil In a New Dress with Rick Ross, and has Jay-Z, Swizz Beatz and Nicki Manaj who he said to HipHopDX in August "This is gonna be such a big statement, and such a big thing to fill: the scariest artist right now is definitely Nicki Minaj," he said. "I think she has the most potential to be the number-two rapper of all time. Nobody's gonna be bigger than Eminem."
I believe that is the truth maybe not the part about Nicki being number 2 all-time but honestly if he would have added Eminem to Monster it would have been even that much better because I personally believe that he could destroy that beat and possibly Nicki Minaj, sorry to say but she put Jay-Z under pressure after that... seesh she murdered that beat.
Kanye is definitely putting Pusha T in the spotlight with him being featured on So Appalled and one of the albums best songs Runaway. My only real beef with the album is the fact that he only included See Me Now [which features Beyonce and Big Sean] on the iTunes bonus package. This could have introduced even more people to Sean who will be blowing up with Pusha T this year and I believe that with this song on the album (which would then have 12 real tracks) I might be inclined to give it a five stars, alas I am giving it a 4.5 which is still excellent and as for Kanye I believe this is his best CD since his debut album College Dropout, and even without putting out a cd 2011 is going to be a G.O.O.D. ass year for him and his label.
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