#( I lowkey love Abe's gun icons )

[cabbxges-and-kings]

WHICH  RAGE  LANGUAGE  ARE  YOU  ?

* 𝐀𝐁𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐎𝐃𝐇𝐔𝐋𝐋

STEP BACK

usually, you're able to bottle up your emotions and ignore the frustrations. but, after weeks of shoving everything down, your body needs a release, and i pity the poor person who managed to piss you off. it's screaming crying, shouting, kicking lockers, whatever you can do to get it out of your system. it's a whole jean grey moment, fire and fury blasting out of you.

[killuabutgayer]

sonic 3 thoughts! (major spoilers)

so they changed A Lot of shadow's backstory, but hearing it from a gun agent he prob got misinformed or is lying (they lied ab the blast being from shadow's experiment) so who knows🤷‍♀️ doesnt explain why he looks like sonic and has his kinda powers, or why maria is even there cuz "taking my granddaughter everywhere" isnt a reason to let her stay in a "dangerous alien facility" skhdjdhfs.. i was so ❓❓ when maria said theyre on earth cuz huh,,

didnt like how they completely erased maria's illness too- cuz the fact that even if the gun raid didnt happen shes still gonna die from it either way makes everything sadder. so she died from an explosion instead of a direct shot, but gerald and shadow survived with little damage- they probably felt hella guilty for being the ones to survive instead of her even tho they were RIGHT THERE.

he didnt remember anything before arriving there so im guessing he'll find out ab the black doom stuff later on in his spin off. im lowkey hoping 10 mins of it to kinda be like 'zuko alone' ep. But also maybe possibly we can have team dark and mephilies there too??

moon scene visibly showing how sonic literally became the light of shadow's life then sonic fell to earth instead of shadow.. they thought each other died....yeah im very looking forward to their reunion and everyone else looking so confused in the bg🥹💙🖤❤️

knuckles and tails saved him with the "last ring"... wdym last ring- is it the VERY last stock they have or the last one they bring there? is it a one time use- can they get more?? where???

as for amy AMYYYY omg i did predict her cuz shes the only one missing from the main cast. so happy to see her sassy grin, i want her to be confident and sillie. they HAVE to adapt her iconic boom scenes w knuckles- oh and for him to have a rival w an equal match in strength would be so interesting to see.

i also predicted metal sonic cuz i thought after shadow eggman realized he needed someone exactly like sonic to rival him. but is it activated after his death making it confirmed, or did stone finish the project? im expecting to see orbot and cubot in the next movie too. stone is probably the main villain with a lot of inner conflict- grieving eggman while wanting to avenge him, but still sympathizing and caring for team sonic in some way (i rly dont think he hates them before but later on blames them for not saving him too).

overall i really loved and enjoyed it! v v fun watch and i freaked out a lott haahhsjsbdj

[evilradmedieval]

Kendrick Lamar - “DAMN.” Review

I’m gonna be that guy and say that I’ve been listening to Kung-Fu Kenny for a hot minute, now. He’s been around since the early 2000s, hanging around longtime friends such as Jay Rock and several others who would soon become known as the Black Hippy collective of the then-future TDE label. Dropping Lil Wayne-inspired mixtapes here and there while collaborating with TDE labelmates ScHoolboy Q, Jay Rock and Ab-Soul, he didn’t quite come into artistic fruition until his release of his debut EP, The Kendrick Lamar EP in 2009. Lyrically and instrumentally raw, the EP was packed with both anthemic and lowkey cuts, and showcased a fairly young Kendrick rapping about more common hip-hop themes such as relationships and coming up in the rap game. He then continued this onto his major fifth mixtape Overly Dedicated, an album with more lush production and a more central over-arching theme of “gangster-realism”, while also including more sensual tracks as well. He included bigger-named features, most notably a young Jhene Aiko, LA-native Dom Kennedy and underground legend MURS. However, it wasn’t until 2011 when K.Dot made major waves on the internet with his major debut mixtape Section.80. Fully honing his lyrical skill over more illustrious and well-sampled production, I was simply blown away. He truly embraced his more nasally delivery, however his technical skill was ridiculous. Lyrically he stood out over cuts such as “HiiiPoWer” and the ridiculous “Rigamortis”. There are bangers here and there as well, yet also had its fair share of more laidback, drugged-out cuts. However, topically he seems to go deeper and darker, referencing themes of racism in the system and medicinal tolerance. One can also make the claim of calling this a concept album, as he explores the stories of women who are going through hardship such as abandonment and the circumstances facing teen pregnancy. At this point, King Kendrick has really caught my attention, whist also being deemed “worthy” of carrying the torch for the west coast by Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and The Game. Then he drops a song called “Swimming Pools”, a song that seemingly sounds like another drinking anthem, but is genius in the sense that it talks about alcoholism in a different perspective. Little did I know that this banger of a track came through in a bigger context within an album, as the 2012 release of good kid, M.A.A.D. city proved to be the epitome of the modern hip-hop storytelling album. Here, we follow the narrative of a young Kendrick Lamar, growing up in a very dangerous environment of South Central LA. Gang violence, racial profiling and even the dreary recollections of a woman really put us in his point of view, while flawlessly making every song act as one chapter of his life. However, each song acts as a great stand-alone track as itself, as bangers like “Backseat Freestyle” and “m.a.a.d. city” are one of the hardest beats I’ve heard Kendrick rap on to date. After a bit of a 3-year hiatus, we find ourselves with probably one of the most socially conscious albums, let alone hip-hop albums, that I’ve ever heard. To Pimp a Butterfly was packed with so many different layers upon layers of instrumentation that pulls from Parliament/ Funkadelic-esque soul-funk rock, gospel, jazz, spoken word, G-funk and boom-bap. Production by artists such as Thundercat, Terrace Martin, Flying Lotus, Knxwledge, Boi-1da and TDE affiliate Sounwave. yet, with all these genre-bending instrumentals, we get an album that comments on today’s current African American culture, racial inequalities, institutionalized discrimination and depression. The album honestly is hard to digest track by track, but once you dig deeper within the narrative of the LP as one cohesive project, it becomes apparent how well-crafted and thought-out this project was. I understand that a lot of people did not like this album due to this experimental and avant-garde approach, but what many of those people don’t understand is the scope of the album and magnitude of its message is. The instrumentation is beautiful, and the more aggressive “The Blacker the Berry” hits harder the more I listen to it. It was honestly perfect in my eyes, and I cannot see how Kendrick would ever be able to top this masterpiece.

But then again, I thought about it and realized that each album he’s ever released came with completely different narratives and themes. In a way, he reinvents himself every album in order to fulfill each respective albums’ content. good kid, m.a.a.d. city was an on-going narrative on his life growing up in Compton through several perspectives. To Pimp a Butterfly was an encompassing. cohesive work that gave us more insight with different perspectives on the current state of African American culture and racism in America. The theme on DAMN.? It’s a little... disjointed compared to his previous works. Not saying that’s a bad thing, it’s just something he hasn’t necessarily done on his past projects. In comparison to his last album (not including his unmastered. untitled. compilation), this album sonically sounds way more accessible and would appeal to more types of people across the board due to its more poppy, trappy-flavored and skeletal instrumentals. The features? U2 and Rihanna, along with a random feature from a Jeremih-esque singer and Kid Capri adlibs sprinkled throughout. There are random gunshots and reversals of tracks, giving me allusions of death and then resurrection? In addition to so much talk about death, we get a very wishy-washy Kendrick going off about various topics here and there, hence the slight incohesiveness, which isn’t necessarily bad. But here on this album, I can be the cause for some slight blunders and conflicting points of view which can be interpreted either way as intentional or not. The songs titles are also pretty vague and bold topics to be addressing topically, with tracks such as “GOD.”, “LOVE.” and “LOYALTY.” Of course, you can’t entirely break down such topics within a couples minutes on a conventional rap album, but it still was interesting the way he decided to proceed with what songs topically to include. 

The intro "BLOOD.” is interesting in the sense that it begins with Kendrick telling the story of encountering an old woman who seems to have lost something. The elderly woman then proceeds to shoot him with a gun, which then sents him into a strange spiraling out of reality which conveniently careens you towards the start of “DNA.” Probably one the hardest tracks on the entire project, we get a banger of a trap-flavored anthem about Kendrick lashing out against his haters and critics. Here, he explores aspects of black history and African American culture, topics in which are deeply rooted in his lyrics. The track also features a sample of the dialogue of Fox News commentator Geraldo Rivera. Being criticized for his lyrics that openly disapprove of law enforcement, he lyrically roasts Rivera claiming how he was preaching hope and not adversity. I especially love how towards the middle-section of the track, the album decides to come through with the heaviest of bass that I’ve ever heard from a Kendrick Lamar song, which really reinforces his constant bar after bars regarding African royalty, a common tenet of Afrocentricism. “DNA.” is heavy song with fantastic delivery and lyrics all-around.

The next track in “YAH.” delivers a very stripped back and repetitive instrumental. Supposedly being referenced to God’s name in “Yahweh”, the song has very deep religious undertones. The hook showcases a very slurred delivery, similar to a “buzzing noise” whenever he repeats the song title, announcing his awareness of everything that’s happening around him.  With it, he continues on his tirade on Fox News, how he is labeled another generic rapper that detriments society due to the content of his music. he then throws Bible verses and allusions left and right, which may need some room for interpretation. A very lowkey and skeletal instrumental with a slurred delivery, the track isn’t one of my favorites but has a definite eeriness to it.

“ELEMENT.” happens to be one of my favorite songs on the album. I’m not sure if there’s a Big Lebowski reference in it, but I love the part of the chorus whenever he says he’ll “make it look sexy.” But essentially the track is a bunch of shit-talking and braggadocio, with clever lines left and right. He also delves into his personal life regarding his family and his upbringing, and how he basically went from the bottom to the top of the game within years. Surprisingly, James Blake had a share in the production, assisted by TDE’s Sounwave. The track is atmospheric and skeletal, yet upbeat and still hits hard with Kendrick’s unrelenting delivery. Definitely a noteworthy cut from the album.

From the heavy-hitting flows of “ELEMENT.”, we transition into a more depressing and lowkey cut off the LP which actually sounds like something I’d find Kanye singing on. Here, we get a very confused and depressed Kendrick, rapping about deception and abandonment. It’s quite apparent that beneath all that success and fame, there’s underlying feelings of toxicity that ultimately lead to suffering. Probably one of the more negative-sounding cuts off the tracklisting, he’s seen to definitely struggle emotionally and interpersonally. This is something we don’t normal get from him, which was interesting to see. 

It’s kind of crazy to think that the next track “LOYALTY.” was a flip of Bruno Mars’ “24K Magic”, reversing and slowing the hook of the track. A very poppy yet G-funk-inspired instrumental, pop icon Rihanna comes through with minimal backing vocals, but was able to contribute a pretty decent rap verse herself. The song is pretty straighforward, regarding loyalty in both platonic and romantic relationships. I thought the song was just run-of-the-mill for me, as he doesn’t too philosophically deep into the tracklisting, but the track still sounds great as a stand-alone single for the radio.

Next up, we get this constantly changing vocal inflection of a delivery on “PRIDE.” With help from The Internet’s Steve Lacy, we get these really melodic garage rock riffs, along with this thumping and groovy tempo. He also contributes to the hook, which has these really dreary and high-pitched harmonizing vocals by Anna Wise.  Here, we get more religious allusions, in which Kendrick delves more into his position in the rap game and how his recognition causes tensions between his own ideals and actions. Despite the sound being really lowkey and melodic, this track actually contrasts itself with the ever-sarcastic follow-up in “HUMBLE.” Taking a huge U-turn and doing the exact opposite of being modest, Kendrick drops bar after bar of obnoxious braggadocio , and urging his contemporaries (*coughs* Big Sean *coughs*) to “sit down” and “be humble”. Working into the context of the album, it doesn’t really add more meaning than it did initially as a single, but contrasts humorously with the previous track in the sense that each song evokes emotions the opposite of the established topic. 

Sexual intimacy and... well lust are dominating topics on the track “LUST.” He discusses not just sexual drive, but also things that we strive for that are for self-indulgence. Money, drugs, and fame are a couple things, hence the refrain for “water” to quench his thirst for such things. Again, the track is stripped back and minimal instrumentally, with his high-pitched vocals dominating the hook, which aren’t necessarily his forte. Not one of my favorites, but still an intriguing track. 

The next track “LOVE.” is absolute garbage. I don’t care for the Jeremih-esque vocals by Zacari, and the really annoying refrain by Kendrick with the “I wanna be with you!” just kills me every time. The only thing I like about the song is Kendrick’s flow, but again despite this, he comes through with underwhelming lyrics and a really lazy R&B-tinged inflection in his voice, similar to Drake’s rap-singing. The track is ethereal, atmospheric and really skeletal with looming synths in the background. Additionally, the track doesn’t elaborate much upon such a generically topical song.

“XXX.” came through with a U2 feature that actually went over well better than I expected, as I’m not a fan of Bono’s work other than Joshua Tree. I love how the track has these three segments where the beginning starts off with K.Dot delivering this sort of monotone flow over a skeletal trap-flavored instrumental, which then climaxes around the middle-section of the track where the heavy sub-bass kicks in that is accompanied by these blaring sirens that really fit well into the beat. The track then abruptly settles down into a momentary lull, in which Bono delivers some decent vocals. Kendrick then follows the hook with more bars about the current state of the United States, including gang violence, the recent Trump election and the hypocrisy of our nations leaders. 

“FEAR.” appears on the tracklisting as one of the longer tracks, sitting at a whopping 7 minutes. Here, there is an obvious allusion to the biblical scriptures, which heavily draws from the story of Job. Kendrick gives us a very paranoid point of view of being fearful of all the bad things that are happening to him and everyone around him, beckoning towards the mercy of God. This is the first time I’ve seen Kendrick act so unsure of himself and really draw from more religious themes in any part of his discography. There are vocal samples throughout, alluding to how the African Americans are the Israelites of the country. In my personal opinion, this is an interesting take, however I can see how it can draw away some fans from this album. The religious undertones are more apparent than you think, however this track really takes the cake in regards to directly addressing Kendrick’s suffering due to God’s will. Sonically the track sounds great, but the content of why Kendrick is so heavily in constant sorrow can be unsettling.

“GOD.” happens to be one of my least favorite tracks, in which he pulls from the trend of rappers who need to sing their own hooks on their tracks. He does okay for a majority of the singing until he attempts to croon then throws in these Kanye-inspired vocal snippets that sound Autotuned and strangely altered for the sake of sounding like Kanye. The track has a pretty generic trap-flavored, atmospheric instrumental. The track has a decent pair of verses in which he alludes to how rappers view themselves in very god-like figures. But the singing really kills it for me.

“DUCKWORTH.” closes out DAMN. with one hell of a standout. We have this soulful ballad sample in the beginning which then drops you into a beautifully-sampled vocal loop over these boom-bap drums. 9th Wonder does a fantastic job on the boards, giving a very jazzy and soul-inspired hip-hop beat, an aesthetic I wish Kendrick tried to opt towards more on this LP. The track has a couple beat-change-ups, which really make Kendrick’s bars pop even more with every transition with each topic. The track is simply a recollection of when his father almost got killed accidentally by a future musical contributor in his life, TDE founder Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith. The track then ends with another gun shot, which then reverses the track into the entire tracklisting and then drops us off back into the intro to the LP like some sort of freak time-machine accident, where we meet the same old woman Kendrick encounters in the beginning. 

It was honestly a huge challenge breaking down every aspect of this album. The more and more I listen to it, I get more and more addicted to trying to interpret every single moment. The gunshots, the track rewinds, the simplistic instrumentals, the constant biblical allusions... everything just seems to make this album more intricate than it actually sounds on first listen. DAMN. gives us a Kendrick we haven’t seen before: vulnerable, depressed, and yearning for forgiveness and mercy from a benevolent God. The song titles are extremely conceptual, yet most of the tracks don’t completely make a sufficient comment or complete central theme honed in upon the said title. “LOVE.” for example, gave very little in what it had to do with topically, yet songs like “PRIDE.” and “HUMBLE.” were clever in the way that their assumed meaning sarcastically flipped sonically upon each other with the former being more lowkey while the latter being more obnoxious. Kendrick delivers, however, a collective of tracks with one of his best rap flows yet, despite some vocal blunders on several tracks. The instrumentals were a little too dumbed down and accessible for my taste, as the lush and heavily sampled live instruments and influences spanning various genres on To Pimp a Butterfly really gave me a sense of maximalism in regards to instrumentation. This album has a more straight-forward sound, yet has very hard-to-interpret moments that keep many listeners still scratching their heads. Additionally, with the rumors of follow-up album NATION. being an upcoming release, DAMN. makes me also yearn for more material to satisfy all the questions that have arisen from listening. Not the best in Kendrick Lamar’s discography, but that doesn’t really anything wholly negative, as he’s released several of the most influential benchmarks in modern hip-hop today through his previous two albums. 

RATING: 7/10