#and as much as i enjoy the weeknd's discography that series (?) of his left such a sour taste in my mouth

[neembu]

to each their own, but there are a lot of artists who produce alright-good music but i cant imagine cheering them on due to how flawed their character is

[redbaretta]

Rules: answer 21 questions then tag 21 ppl you want to get to know better

Tagged by: @gessh0ku (thank you!!)

Nickname: Pei (or Bebe, if you’re family)

Height: 170 cm / 5 ft 7 in

Age: 28

Last thing I searched for: how to stop NPCs from calling my active sim to invite her on dates (I just got back into Sims 3 and this interaction is so fricking annoying, they’d call her up at late in the night up to 3am like who designed this algorithm)

Favorite musician: it’s been a while since I kept track of who I like and don’t like, but the one consistent thing is I could probably listen to The Weeknd’s entire discography while skipping only a bare handful of tracks.

The song stuck in my head: "Growing Pains” by Alessia Cara. The lyrics of this song really hit home for me.

If I had a time machine would I go back or visit the future: Time travelling is problematic, so I wouldn’t touch that if possible, but I am tempted to travel to the future to see whether humanity has died off yet and if so what caused it. Maybe then we can convince the old hacks in power today that they need to see things in the long term and start doing something to prevent the doom of future generations or make sure that what’s good stays good for the future.

Do I get asks: Not really. And if it’s mutuals I usually use the chat function.

How many blogs I follow: 110-120 blogs.

Would I rather be rich or famous: Rich, definitely.

How much sleep do I get: My body at one point ran on 5 hours, but these days I think it increased to 6 or 7. Which I don’t mind.

What’s my favorite food: I like a lot of different foods, but the foods I get more excited about than others are anything stew- or soup-like, like curries, stews and spicy soups, any form of potato, raw seafood (e.g. sushi, raw shrimp in garlic/lime/chili/fish sauce), and bubble tea.

Favorite books/films/shows/games:

Books: I read a lot, but am really not an avid reader of Actual Books. I enjoyed the Harry Potter series, and a few years back really enjoyed the Captive Prince series. I also recently read the His Dark Materials series, and while I didn’t really like the ending, I really, really liked the relationship development between the two main characters.

Shows: Community - this show has a special place in my heart. BBC’s Sherlock is always a good one. The Good Doctor has also been very enjoyable. And more recently, The Boys. Season 1 just aired and I really like it. Some of the characters are way too one-note for my liking, but overall the series and its commentary on society and fame came out at the perfect time. 

Films: The Lord of the Rings trilogy - I binge-watch the whole extended edition when I’m down and need to rejuvenate my entire soul. Constantine is a B-movie I can watch over and over again without feeling bored, and it has Keanu Reeves. Thor Ragnarok is absolutely delightful *pounds fist on the table*. Other films that left an impression on me are the first The Matrix and the first How To Train Your Dragon (that shit hit hard).

Games: I have been a long-time fan of The Sims series, though I have been deeply unimpressed with the offerings/pricing of The Sims 4, so I’ve just been sticking to Sims 3. I hope Sims 5 is better, so I can play a more optimized/less laggy game already.

Lucky number: I wish I had one. Wish it would appear in my dreams, so that I know which number lottery ticket to buy.

Instruments I can play: Piano and Guzheng (Chinese Zither)

What am I wearing: A grey dress and flats (I’m at work)

Dream job: A dynamic job with a lot of variety, new and interesting things to learn all the time, requiring little-to-no coordination with other people, fantastic work-life balance and good pay. Hey, you said “dream” job, not “realistic” job.

If I were an animal what would I be: I’d probably be an unassuming house cat.

Favorite season: Dry season (Thailand); Summer (for countries with 4 seasons)

Zodiac sign: While conventionally I’m Aquarius, I relate to Capricorn a lot more.

[soyoureviewhiphoptoo]

Soundtrack of the Week 21/07/2017

It might be a day late but it is that time. It is time for the Soundtrack of the Week, the SYRHHT blog segment where I discuss latest music releases and other projects that I listen to over the space of 7 days. So, here is the Soundtrack!

French Montana- Jungle Rules Released July 14, 2017 Label: Bad Boy Records, Maybach Music Group and Epic Records

I am going to start off with a confession. I can count the amount of French Montana songs I have heard on one hand; I have never gone out of my way to listen to him before. I never had a major problem with him per say and I did like what I have heard but nothing really pushed me to listen to him more. Then, French released Unforgettable featuring Swae Lee (one-half of Rae Sremmurd). The song itself is wonderful, an interesting mixture of dancehall and afro-beats with Swae Lee laying down vocals that were certainly unexpected. However, what intrigued me most about this lead single was the music video and short documentary attached to it where French would go to Uganda, to embrace the culture and witness the musical and artistic talent within the African nation. It gave me a new view on the South Bronx M.C. and built an intrigue towards his upcoming project.

I walked into this project with relatively low expectations; Unforgettable was the only song I had heard and I have never heard a previous project from French Montana. To be honest, I was pleasantly surprised by what I heard. Jungle Rules includes an impressive mixture of hip-hop, trap, dancehall and afro-beats. The rap songs are very well produced and have catchy lyrics and melodies that stick with you while the songs that feature afro-beats and dancehall themes feel genuine and it does not feel like French just appropriating these genres amidst their rising popularity in pop culture.

I will definitely say that this album was a pleasant surprise with multiple songs that could become anthems. I see Jungle Rules taking French Montana to new heights and it is certainly a top project for this year.

RATINGS

Concept: 2/5 Production: 4/5 Lyrical Content: 3.5/5 Flow and Delivery: 3.5/5 Repeatability: 4/5 Did I enjoy this project? A lot more than I thought I would Songs to Recommend? Unforgettable, A Lie, Whiskey Eyes, Hotel Bathroom, No Pressure and White Dress

Final Rating: 3.4/5

French Montana featuring The Weeknd and Max B- A Lie I bet you were expecting Unforgettable to be on here. As a huge Weeknd fan, I had to place A Lie here. With a bumping bassline and lyrics that are difficult to not sing along to, this is a great song to follow up the uber success of Unforgettable

Tyler, The Creator- Who Dat Boy/911 Released June 30, 2017 Label: Odd Future Records, Columbia Records

I have two more confessions I would like to say. 

I have known of Tyler, The Creator for 6 years (which is a large portion of my life unironically) but I had never been a fan.

I first learned of Tyler from a diss toward him.

Hip-hop's dead, and I'm the lucky savior I'm kinda mad and I don't wanna pile up the anger All these no-flow, gimmicky-ass, fired-up behaviors With wack beats and gap teeth like Tyler the Creator Motherfucker, you not dope So you tryna get some attention by cussin' And eatin' a fuckin' cockroach? In "Goblin"? You get no props on it It sucks so much I get blowjobs from it

Taken from Hopsin- Ill Mind of Hopsin 4

This diss placed a certain perception of Tyler which was further supported when I would go on to listen to Yonkers for the first time. The beat was strange, I was fixated on Tyler’s weird mannerisms and how he would go on to eat a cockroach, vomit and then hang himself. It was a lot to take in as a 14-year-old. Two years later, a friend of mine would recommend Tyler to me so I said “f*ck it, let me listen to him”, I would go on to listen to his albums Goblin and Wolf and once again I found it hard to get into him so after a few listens of both, I left them. What finally brought me back to Tyler, The Creator was a combination of a few things: Tyler is one of the funniest rap personalities ever and recent verses on songs that I really like. This leads to my second confession

I spent this past week listening to a majority of his discography.

Jungle Rules and the next album on this week’s Soundtrack were listened to in between listens of Tyler’s discography. In the space of this week, I have re-listened to Goblin, Wolf and listened to Bastard for the first time. This listening experience has opened my eyes to many things and I do not know how to react. 

The reason I have placed Who Dat Boy/911 here is that, aside from being the first single for his latest album, Scum F*ck Flower Boy, I did not want to break down every single project in Tyler’s discography....on the Soundtrack of the Week...

Who Dat Boy/911 consists of two tracks: Who Dat Boy and 911/Mr Lonely, the latter of which follows the trend of having a song on the project consisting of two or more songs. Who Dat Boy is an awesome back and forth between Tyler, The Creator and A$AP Rocky while 911/Mr Lonely is a dark self-reflection of a person’s loneliness and solitude. Two very strong songs that set the tone for Tyler, The Creator’s most controversial project to date (because he came out as gay?)

Tyler, The Creator featuring A$AP Rocky- Who Dat Boy

Tyler, The Creator- 911/Mr Lonely

Dr Dre- 2001 Released November 16, 1999 Label: Aftermath Entertainment, Interscope Records

What brought around this listen of 2001 was the release of The Defiant Ones. The Defiant Ones is the HBO documentary series displaying the rise of Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine (record producer and co-founder of Interscope Records), the build of their friendship, the impact the two men had on the music industry, all the artist they have worked with and their $3 billion selling of Beats Audio. This documentary is split into four parts and includes interviews with numerous artists as well as Dre and Iovine. Part three included a montage compiled of the parallel rises of two of Interscope’s most controversial figures, Tupac Shakur of Deathrow Records and Marilyn Manson of Nothing Records. These were two men I never saw as similar but just a few minutes of vivid imagery blew my mind. I absolutely recommend everyone to watch The Defiant Ones.

Coming back to the album., 2001 is my favourite Dr Dre project...I daresay it is his very best work. To me, this was the height of Dre’s production prime, compiling a strong showing of iconic G-Funk beats and bringing together some of the best artists to not only be on Aftermath but in the entirety of hip-hop. Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, Xzibit, Nate Dogg, Eminem, just to name a few of the iconic names that help shape this timeless album. While the lyrical content was controversial (I think that is the word of the day), it was a reflection of the gangsta rap that helped Dre and many of his associates make names for themselves and it has some of the most memorable lyrics ever.

There is only one problem I have with this album and I will show you with a handy diagram.

This pie chart is a visual representation of the artists and performers who offered vocals to 2001. I would like to direct your attention to the unattached segment of this pie chart. That is the second largest segment and it belongs to an artist some people may not have ever heard of...Hiitman. 

Aside from sharing a stage name with one of the most famous wrestlers ever, Los Angeles M.C. Hiitman is the most featured artist on 2001, one of the most famous hip-hop albums. Despite making NINE vocal appearances on this album and being signed to Aftermath in the 90s, he had not released a project until 2005, six years after the release of 2001 and long after he had already left Aftermath. Hiitman’s most famous single Last Dayz, is a song that was on the B-Side of the far more famous Forgot About Dre. What makes this worse is that Hiitman is a spectacular rapper; his flow is smooth yet methodical and he reels off strong gangsta lyrics with ease...it is a damn shame.

Still, 2001 is one of the most iconic albums in history. It would be difficult to find some who have never heard songs like Still D.R.E, Next Episode, Forgot About Dre or Xxpolsive. If you’ve never heard this album as a rap fan, you need to really question yourself.

RATINGS

Concept: 2.5/5 Production: 5/5 Lyrical Content: 4.5/5 Flow and Delivery: 5/5 Repeatability: 5/5 Did I enjoy this project? Yes...of course, I did Songs to Recommend? Still D.R.E, Next Episode, Forgot About Dre, Xxpolsive, Some L.A. Niggaz and The Message

Final Rating: 4.4/5

Dr Dre featuring Eminem- Forgot About Dre I had to put this song. It is my favourite collab between Dre and Em, it has my all-time favourite Em verse and even though the music video version cuts the verse short, it literally acts out the words Shady was saying...it’s just amazing And the music video version even has an extract of Hiitman- Last Dayz...which is also a very good song