Loyalty
written by Just K
written by Just K
Any frequent visitor of PTM knows that I’m pretty much the only blogger on this site that refuses to cop the new Kanye joint whenever it drops (yeah, I’m not even checking for the release date). My colleagues, however, are willing to take a trip with Kanye as he ventures way outside the box. When an artist like Yeezee can go that far away from what we’re accustomed to and you guys can stick by him, hell, you deserve boarding passes on whatever spaceship he hopped on.
But then that got me to thinking. Am I the problem? Am I what’s wrong with hip-hop?
Really, Just K, where is your loyalty? Are you the fickle hip-hop fan? You know the type. The “fan” that doesn’t really invest in an artist – just the songs you like. Are you the guy that only picks and chooses a few songs from a disc, but doesn’t really look at or appreciate the whole project and what it represents as a whole? And you call yourself a hip-hop fan.
Look what you did to Jay-Z. Sure it was a rushed project, but he tried to do something different with the Kingdom Come album. Jay really tried to make a mature project for the button-up crowd. And what happened when his “fans” completely ripped apart his attempt at a creative departure from his modus operandi? Jay went right on back to his comfort zone with American Gangster. Can you imagine what would’ve happened if we didn’t allow Outkast to leave their box? The Speakerboxxx/Love Below project would’ve never happened. Or what if we made Snoop stick to his thug persona and nothing else? We wouldn’t have gotten the Rhythm & Gangsta album, the gem of a song that was Sexual Seduction, or even the pimp that brought us those lovely Girls Gone Wild featuring Snoop Dogg videos (thanks Uncle Snoop, for the joy that $9.99 plus shipping and handling can bring).
So back to you Just K. You know how the system works. True MCs don’t want to be pigeonholed and confined. They need room to grow and experiment. If an experiment doesn’t succeed financially, labels are quick to pull in the reins and force an artist into trying to produce an imitation of his earlier work on the next go ‘round. With all of the quality Kanye has brought you in the past, he takes one step to the left with 808s and Heartbreak and you’re just going to turn your back on him, huh? Damn, homey. I guess if the title of a Kanye CD ain’t got nothing to do with college you don’t want any part of it. That’s cool. One attempt at something different and you’re out. That’s cool. YOU AIN’T EVEN HEAR ALL THE SONGS YET!! Again, that’s cool. Don’t trip.
Just remember, the next time you hear an artist doing the same thing over and over and over again, don’t you dare ask him to try something new. Don’t even think about asking him to step out the box. After all, “fans” love boxes.
5 comments:
haha... interesting spin on the concept of loyalty but I don't think you not liking the songs has anything to do with that...
You heard the songs and you didn't like them. If Nas started using autotune and made only love songs for Kelis, hell f**king no, i'm not buying his next album.
And Kingdom Come wasn't an attempt of Jay being "creative". Listen to it again. Its not much different than the content on the Black Album. And people are stupid if they think American Gangster is like Reasonable Doubt in terms of his maturity. AG is probably his most mature album.
People would have dissed his "comeback" album no matter which one it was. The expectations were way to high and when it didn't meet, they s**t on it. In 5 years people are going to listen to their Kingdome Come album and be like, "wait, I thought I didn't like this joint - this album is dope" - It will be a clear eyed moment for many.
Eh, real talk, the beats on KC were @$$.
As for loyalty, I dunno. It's just interesting when an artist takes a departure from his/her norm and they get abandoned by fans. Then the artist tries to go back to what they used to do and it doesn't work (obviously, sometimes it does). I guess it's all about how well that departure works. Either it's hot or it's not, right?
I can't help but wonder, though. If this experiment failed both critically and financially, would the next experiment have been that thing? That crazy, off the wall, "did he just do that," experiment that everyone loves and understands that bridges gaps and unites fans across genres? And what if people not supporting Project A (despite it not being the hottest thing on the market) prevents Project B (which would've been the best thing since turntables) from being released?
that last paragraph was too complicated for me to follow. haha
ok. Lemme try to simplify it a bit. Sometimes without A, there can be no B.
Without ATLiens doing well in terms of sales, there could've been no Aquemini.
But what if we didn't support ATLiens? Would the world have missed out on Aquemini?
True. But ATLiens didnt suck. That album was the truth. I mean its not liked we bought a sub-par album (at least knowing it was sub-par before we bought it. the pre-download era not withstanding), and then was lucky enough to be treated with a classic.
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