Hill explores various themes throughout the record: love, struggle, pain, and hopefullness. This album is critically acclaimed for its lyrical content, but the instrumentation is also a standout that allows listeners to find different aspects within the album that stands out for them personally. Hill does explore similar themes that other hip-hop artists of the time were (political, economic, etc); however, she also tells a very personal story from start to finish. Some of the tracks have personal connections to her life (Superstar and Forgive Them Father) and I think that's why I appreciate this album so much - it's more than just a vibe, it tells a story but in a balanced way so that the instrumentation isn't left behind.
I hope you guys enjoy this listen, it truly is considered a classic within the hip-hop genre and for good reason imo. If anyone is interested, Rolling Stone released an article for the 10th anniversary of the record that gives a nice story on the background of the album.
What a great album. I've heard some of the songs before, especially THAT THING THAT THING THAT THIIIIING obviously, but have never listened to the full album. Some of my favorites besides That Thing were Final Hour and Nothing Even Matters because, duh, D'Angelo. Parts of To Zion were really good - Santana is a cool choice and I had no idea he was on this album.
ReplyDeleteThe only parts I didn't like as much are when she really belts out - the parts where she modulates her voice a lot. Not sure if that term can be used here, but I'm doing it. For example, the last track on the album.
Overall, I don't listen to a ton of hip hop, but I can hear good instrumentation in any kind of music and I like the mix here of beats and electronic elements with a nice wide variety of real instruments. It's so much easier for me to hear the talent in musicians this way. This is a very confident debut...one of the most I've ever heard. And it's a great album.
So. Let me just get this out of the way, I can tell this is a good album. The tracks are interesting, the rapping is solid, the overarching personal connections are well done and quite meaningful. Having D'Angelo on there was cool too, as Sam mentioned.
ReplyDeleteOkay and now onto the part where I act ridiculous. I had so much trouble listening to this album all the way through in one sitting. It's just so damn 90's. That may seem crazy, but it really held back my enjoyment of the album. Something about a lot of 90's hip hop and R&B seems so corny to me now. Doo Wop (That Thing) is a song I'd listen to with friends when we're joking around. Mary J. Blige and Santana (remember his song with Rob Thomas?) being on tracks just screams 90's. It's silly, but I just had a hell of a time getting past that feeling. Listening to it in 2016 reminds me more of how far hip hop has come instead of making me long for the past.
Like Tyler, I found the album hard to finish each time, mostly due to the length of the album itself. I think I didn't give the later tracks a fair enough chance for that reason. I don't think it sounds too "90s" as Tyler stated, and even if it did, I wouldn't really mind anyway. I actually find the RnB elements add to the songs, not subtract.
ReplyDeleteThe beginning of the album was my favorite part on each listen, mostly because I found that the formula got stale after a while, and a lot of the songs blended together. Fortunately, the skits that were weaved through it kind of kept me grounded.
Unfortunately, I couldn't really see why this album is hailed one of the GOATs of hip-hop, but I lack the temporal context and knowledge of hip-hop history to argue against it. Maybe it's because the social implications of the album speak louder than the actual music. I will say that I love hearing a female voice in the genre for a change, and I definitely agree with Sam in that she has a ton of confidence. I guess it would have impressed me more listening to this album when it came out.
All in all, I was grateful to have the experience of listening to this album, as it's definitely not something I would seek out on my own.
I have to be honest here, I am not into R&B or Soul. As such, this album was not something that I connected to very well. I tried to focus on the lyrical content exclusively at one point, but even that was difficult due the music itself not being something that I dig.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest theme on this album is clearly love. Lauryn Hill is a very good lyricist and the theme of love is an unending resource for music. That said, love itself is not a novel subject that holds my interest on its own. For me love is a subject that connects best when it's part of a musical style I can really get into.
I liked the little classroom play that was going on at the end of songs. It was very cute and reminded me of The Execution of All Things (Though Miseducation predates that one by a few years).
Again, I don't really have any issues with this album's quality. It just a style that I couldn't get into.
I like Erik, I am going to start by saying that R&B is one of my least favorite genres of music. I can appreciate what's happening on a technical music level, but it just really doesn't do anything for me for some reason. If you asked Sam what that reason is he might say I'm too angsty, but for these silky smooth cool jams, but who is really to say?
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I can tell that this is a masterful and ambitious collection of music and I actually enjoyed it a lot on the first listen. Maybe it was the mood I was in or maybe I can only enjoy R&B in small doses, but the listens after that became a bit of a chore and I heard the music with more and more of the "90's bias" thing Tyler was talking about.
On the positive side, favorite moments of the album were when Lauryn rapped because I can't really think of another female rapper that I've listened this closely to. "Forgive Them Father" was a standout track to me lyrically and stylistically. Overall I'm glad I gave this album a listen. I got a lot of enjoyment out of it the first listen and it's a good addition to my general music appreciation.