The Greatest Generation

The sadness of the greatest generation:

They were the greatest. They fought Hitler. They defeated the Axis.
They lead us against the Soviets
and now they are dead and old like everyone else

Man Wonder Years just fucking kill it. Every CD is a classic

WOLF

Tyler the Creator's newest album WOLF is a superb album. It's also a concept album. In the previous albums, Goblin and Bastard Tyler has had been in therapy with Dr TC, who is revealed to be Tyler's imagination at the end of Goblin. In Wolf, it starts out by introducing the listener to Sam, who is aggressive and violent. Sam is introduced to Wolf, who is shy, artistic and introverted, by Dr TC. All of these characters are at Camp Flog Gnaw. However, I believe that Camp Flog Gnaw is actually all in Tyler's head.

One of the best lines comes at the end of the album WOLF when Tyler (who is probably Sam in this song) says, "If you think I'm fucking koo-koo, Try talking to my shrink then" (which is a reference to the albums Goblin and Bastard) and then Dr TC goes "hey", like saying "what's up? why did you say that?" to which Sam responds, "Bitch" and Dr TC says, "I'm right here" (reminding Tyler that Dr TC is at Camp Flog Gnaw) and then Wolf asks, "Yo who's that?" (which is a very clever turn, because we dont know if Wolf is talking about Dr TC or Salem. We're not really sure that any of these people are real, so this may be Tyler's egos finding out about each other), but Sam responds, "Thats Salem, That's my girlfriend, You stay the fuck away from her alright?". But We're not sure that Salem is real either. Iff Camp Flog is Tyler's imagination, a world entirely in his head, then the characters in it are all himself as well. That would mean Salem would be based off of someone, but its entirely his own construction. This would mean he's making up this girl, and he's basically worshipping someone who doesn't exist.

He's conflicted about these parts of his life knowing about each other and interacting. They're all different sides of Tyler's personality, they all embody him in some way. That's why every song is from a character's point of view, but has Tyler's own personal life intertwined with it.

Favorite songs are either Rusty, Slater or Bimmer. But Jamba, Cowboy, Domo23, Pigs, Tamale, and even Trashwang are really good as well. Just a winner of a CD,

Good

How active is Kendrick in the gang banging aspect of his homies? How much does he suggest, how much does he go along with it? Does he object to what his friends do? How much does this change how we think of him?

Specifics play a big part in the aesthetic of the album. His mom says "you won't pass on to the next grade" but then takes a point to stop and go back and say, "the 11th grade.". How does that change our perception of the album? It creates a concreteness to the album. We know the kid in the 11th grade. A kid "in the next grade" isn't as real to us. His dad asks for "Dominos", not pizza. When they hop out of the car at the end of "drank", you can hear the door ajar noise in the background as K-Dot and the other kids shoot at others, and its a stark moment of contrast. It draws a direct juxtaposition of the normal door ajar sound with the abnormal gunshots. "Me an my niggas, four deep in a white toyota. quarter tank of gas, a pistol and orange soda". He creates an image in your head with that description. He nonchalantly refers to a pistol, in between the mundane "quarter tank of gas" and "orange soda". It's an image that in conjured in your head, but it neither portrays it positively or negatively. It just is. That's one of the strong points of the album: the ambiguity of it. He doesn't say he's awesome for having a pistol, nor does he say he's foolish. Its just what is happening. Lamar allows us to decide for ourselves, and without authorial guidance, that decision isn't easy to make.

What effect do the lapses in continuity affect the album? Are the skits foreshadowing, or are the songs the emotional preludes?

His parents' voices are a constant grounding effect on him. They call and he remembers that he's not just him and the homies in the world.

Good art doesn't have to be aware of the context it exists it. It is often a product of a larger socioeconomic cultural trend and a well developed piece of art can be an embodiment of certain aspects of that culture. This CD lives in a time after gangster rap. A time after NWA. It's ghosts haunt this CD, as little homages creep up here and there to remind us that a false golden city had been constructed by Edgar Wright and O'Shea Jackson. They made it up. Not that life wasn't hard, but the way of life they glorified didn't exist. But it became a cultural idol, promoted by white people to sell records that fetishized violence. Now, that violence has been internalized into the poor community, uneducated enough to tell the difference between fantasy and reality.

Trap Makes Great Rap Beats

Good CD

Maybe it's just where I am, but I am really digging these guys. It feels really heartfelt.

And they're from Walnut Creek.

So

Bonus
Favorite tracks:
Roam
Quicksand
Mt. Diablo
Four Years
Placeholder

Fall Out Boy is back

This isn't a reunion

 Because we never broke up

Tyler the Creator

Tyler the Creator is really smart.
He may not agree, but i think so