"I would say My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West. I think it had all the elements of hip-hop that you love. It had the dope rhyming, hardcore beats, but he did something that was really new and progressive. He had the perfect subject matter. Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid M.a.a.D. City. That album had a story to it. The songs were unique and fresh. His perspective was fresh. I liked Chance The Rapper’s mixtape Acid Rap. I liked that because anybody sampling Slum Village, you already know that there’s something special there. (Laughs) There was something real about it and true. I loved Nas’ Life is Good. That definitely let you know that some of the classic artists still know how to make music that’s relevant. And talking about subject matter, “Daughters,” was like, 'Man!'"
That was a great record.
"To tackle that kind of subject matter, that was something that writers did back in the day, you know? You know those timeless records. People would sing songs like “Family Reunion” and “I’ll Always Love My Mama.” Those were soulful songs and records. I think “Daughters” was a song like that. Like [Pete Rock & CL’s Smooth] “T.R.O.Y. – They Reminiscence Over You” will always be there. So what Nas did with Life Is Good, he created something that was special. I think the fifth – I wouldn’t say it’s not a hip-hop album – but the fifth album that I think was under something you would say, 'Man, you could do innovative music,' was that Frank Ocean album, Channel Orange. I thought that his writing was real good. And for you to build an impact, be on the Grammys singing songs, and have an Andre 3000 on the album, it was dope, man. Those are the five albums that I feel like gave me hope in hip-hop and what Frank Ocean’s album did, gave me hope for other music as well."
You touched on subject matter. Being in the music industry for over two decades, do you feel the level of subject matter is deteriorating? Or, do you feel that it has actually gotten better over time?
"Well, I don’t think there’s a big variety of subject matters, to be honest. I think early on in hip-hop, there was a phase when people would talk about dope various topics. You had N.W.A. saying, “F*** The Police”, and [Ice]Cube doing a song called, “I Ain’t The One” or “Once Upon A Time In The Projects.” You had KRS-One doing a song about talking about the Bible or peace. You had Brand Nubian talking about the Five Percent Nation. You know, it was very diverse what people were talking about. There was a time where you had some story-telling. You had Biggie’s “I Got A Story To Tell.” I don’t think right now the subject matter is as diverse. But, I do think that there’s good music out there and there’s some talents out there. I can’t name besides the artists that I named in that arena that we were just talking about; I can’t name a lot of different types of subject matter outside of [those]."
Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid Maad City
Chance The Rapper - Acid Rap
Nas - Life Is Good
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
lig finally getting some love
http://www.djbooth.net/index/news/entry ... -interview
