Some Things Left on the Table

So there are a few things that I have been meaning to talk about but certain factors have kept them from becoming full entries so here we go:

- Please start listening to KiD CuDi. I know his mixtape, A Kid Named CuDi came out a while ago and he has been praised on sites with much greater readership them this one (pick a site, any site). However, I really need to put out there how much I have been loving the tape, in particular the first half. At first CuDi doesn't come off as the most technically gifted rapper, no double time, no tricks, no outrageously long breaths like Lupe. However, I don't think that is a bad thing. He keeps things fairly simple with his flow, but he really is a gifted wordsmith, and he also has a very interesting take on what rap should sound like. While "The Funeral" by Band of Horses, isn't really new, it is still interesting to hear him go in over the sample, and sort of sing. Same with "50 Ways to Make a Record" which samples Paul Simon's "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover." The tape kind of trails off after single "Day & Night" but it is still very solid. I actually wish this and Wale's Mixtape About Nothing cut the "worse" songs and became one tape, but hey that's just me being picky.

- So "Love Lockdown." What are you? I still have yet to form a good opinion at first. On first viewing I was very happy and intrigued. After getting the live version I only got more excited. Then the studio version leaked and I definitely felt like the air had been let out. He just seems very complacent. All of the energy he had during the chorus at the VMA's goes out the window in the studio. For such a personal song, his singing is so weak. That may have to do with Kanye not being a singer, but I think it more has to do with him not going in hard enough on the hook, which seems odd with how fucking hard he's been trying lately.

- It kind of sucks being a football fan in the state of Michigan right now