Sach O prefers Bass to base. That’s fish and sub frequencies.
9th Wonder and Lil B deserve each other. Both are over hyped internet monstrosities created in the labs of insular rap ideologues, both ultimately make very boring music and both compensate (or compensated in 9th’s case) by releasing so much material that it’s easy to confuse the glut for an overarching narrative. On the other hand, neither of them are quite as bad as their detractors would have you believe: Little Brother had a couple of jams and the law of averages dictates that Lil B will occasionally release something listenable when he stops calling himself a faggot, bitch and/or Miley Cyrus. This song is listenable but not very good and as such both the backpack contingent and B’s cult hate it for essentially the same reason: it splits the difference between two aesthetics and lands nowhere in the process.
You could argue that Based Gawd deserves some credit for expanding his purview (not that its a new approach, that Amalgam LP was full of half-baked pseudo positivity over soul samples) but that ignores the real issue: the results aren’t very good. “Base for your Face” is remarkable solely for the novelty of having a rapper backpackers hate on a backpack beat, the kind of shtick 9th’s been peddling since he somehow landed on The Black Album. On the other hand, even if Lil B’s rap-deconstructionist shtick is interesting in theory, the results are usually just as piss poor and rarely worth a second listen. When your options are half-baked originality and half-baked traditionalism, it’s lose-lose. All the MF Doom references in the world won’t save you until you can write a song that’s memorable for more than 5 minutes for reasons other than semi-intentional hilarity. I’m not saying that can’t happen, I’m saying that I won’t give a fuck about his music until it does.
For contrast’s sake, you could do far worse than Greg Enemy’s new-ish single Muggsy Bogues (Slam Dunk). Former Pack producer Young L provides a seasick beat (are those James Blake synths?) and despite name-dropping the based lifestyle on his blog, Enemy’s verse is coherent and amiable without dipping into milquetoast positivity. It’s a song with limited potential but it reaches its modest goals, as opposed to B’s unfulfilled promise. Combine one tune’s focus with the other’s reach and make sure L’s behind the boards and you might get somewhere.
Oh, Jean Grae’s on the Lil B song too. Anyone care? Didn’t think so.
Download:
MP3: Lil B ft Jean Grae – Base for your Face (prod 9th Wonder)
MP3: Greg Enemy – Muggsy Bogues (Prod Young L)
13 comments
Holly says:
March 10, 2011 at 1:36 pm (UTC -7)
Tossed off, meanspirited s*it like this is why I’ve stopped caring about this website.
See Noz (and commenters) for a real article.
Thun says:
March 10, 2011 at 1:59 pm (UTC -7)
I’m finding it extremely hard to believe that someone who insists that Lil B “is an over hyped internet monstrosity created in the labs of insular rap ideologues” sat down and listened to his entire catalogue, or enough of it (nearly all of it) to be able to legitimately claim that he has never once made song that was “memorable for more than five minutes” or didn’t involve him calling himself a “a faggot, bitch and/or Miley Cyrus.”
No, scratch that, it’s pretty much implausible.
There’s a really strange lack of self-awareness running through this post, for example “neither of them are quite as bad as their detractors would have you believe.” I cannot for the life of me understand how you consider yourself to be something other than a hyperbolic detractor after you made the claims I cited. The fact that you are spewing vitriol at both “sides” does not amount to being objective or insightful when your critique amounts to “you both suck for different but similar reasons one of which involves a blogger conspiracy.”
rojonekku says:
March 10, 2011 at 2:06 pm (UTC -7)
not surprising lil b would get defended in the comments, but really, even if he has his moments, sifting through a steady stream of shit because there might be a gold ring in there once in a while is not worth the trouble. I find nothing wrong with this opinion for me, and in fact, am willing to cosign.
Victor says:
March 11, 2011 at 11:39 am (UTC -7)
My sentiments exactly. I wont claim to have listened thoroughly to any of his projects, but no songs of his have lead me to delve deeper.
I agree with Sach in that this song is middling and a bit obvious tbh, but again it’s an admittedly smart move by Lil B as he has generated an even greater level of net interest.
However, my ultimate issue with Lil B is that many people, myself included, just dont like him and it has nothing to do with “not getting it”. I just dont like dude’s music.
When he starts making music that I enjoy I will check for dude.
Sach O says:
March 10, 2011 at 2:20 pm (UTC -7)
Thun: I didn’t claim he never made a song that doesn’t involve him calling himself a faggot, I said that any worthwhile forthcoming material won’t involve that bullshit. As for having listened to his entire catalogue: no I haven’t. I don’t need to listen to 600 songs to form an opinion about his music anymore than someone has to listen to Madlb’s entire output to figure out if he’s the second coming of Coltrane or an overly productive pothead.
As for the detractors, check the reactions on twitter.
Thun says:
March 10, 2011 at 7:36 pm (UTC -7)
My bad, misread that part.
Not sure what Madlib has to do with this. Was that supposed to be funny or insightful. Failure, either way.
How many of Lil B’s songs have you heard, then? Its a relevant question given your claims.
And the fact that there are twitterers with more extreme opinions thant yours doesn’t exactly validate your conclusions.
Justin says:
March 10, 2011 at 8:06 pm (UTC -7)
I think the Madlib reference is in regards to voluminous output, ala Lil B.
achapa says:
March 10, 2011 at 3:36 pm (UTC -7)
If you don’t enjoy/appreciate Lil B at least on some level, you’re taking yourself and rap music way too seriously.
Sach O says:
March 10, 2011 at 8:08 pm (UTC -7)
My opinion is based off Blue Flame, his MFDoom cover tape, Rain over England, Angels Exodus and (skimming) his myspace shit.
At the end of the day, I just don’t think he makes very good music no matter the approach. I won’t rehash what I wrote above but I find his craft sloppy and derivative. I understand the benefits of immersing one’s self into an artist’s musical world but I’ve given B ample opportunities to show and prove and nothing’s grabbed me. The main thing I take away from his music is that rap now has an answer to Wesley Willis.
Justin says:
March 10, 2011 at 8:09 pm (UTC -7)
No disrespect to Lil B, but I’ve not heard anything from him that really grabbed my attention. I just find him sort of ‘blah’ as an MC. But, as they say, opinions are like rap careers, everybody’s got one.
Trackstar the DJ says:
March 10, 2011 at 9:06 pm (UTC -7)
“The main thing I take away from his music is that rap now has an answer to Wesley Willis.”
Whammy
“opinions are like rap careers, everybody’s got one.”
Ha.
Shapey Fiend says:
March 11, 2011 at 1:23 pm (UTC -7)
More comments than usual.. touchy subject.
I haven’t listened to much Lil B yet but the few highlights I’ve seen upped by friends on Tumblr were pretty entertaining. He’s a good ear for production anyway. The whole calling himself a faggot and a pretty bitch thing is hilarious I like the whole punk attitude. Anything that fucks with established hip hop rules and homophobia should be encouraged.
I’m probably going to hold off delving through all the shit he probably has to find the nuggets but I’m pretty sure the album with Danny Brown is going to be pretty slick. He probably just needs some collaborators and he’ll cut out the more throwaway stuff.
WIG E says:
March 15, 2011 at 4:45 pm (UTC -7)
There’s a reason why Lil B is known for everything except his music.