Mos Def, Talib Kwali, Ghostface and more 11/1/05 - Santa Cruz

[ThaSaltCracka]

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Ghost sucks. Yeah, I said i. Pharoahe should absolutely destroy that show.

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You're saying Ghost sucks in general or just live? I'll be at the LA show.

[/ QUOTE ]naw, he just hates Ghost.

Talib sucks live.

[ThaSaltCracka]

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Pharoahe should absolutely destroy that show.

[/ QUOTE ]As long as Mos Def doesn't act like a blues singer, he should be pretty good too.

Also, GHOST will pwn. Yeah I said it.

[loose passive]

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Talib sucks live.

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Sorry, must disagree....saw him just a few months ago and he put on a really good show.

Someone who does suck live though is Atmosphere.

[ThaSaltCracka]

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Talib sucks live.

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Sorry, must disagree....saw him just a few months ago and he put on a really good show.


[/ QUOTE ]its possible. I saw him live, and I enjoyed it to some extent because I like his music, maybe it was the crowd, but there wasn't much energy. Just sorta him rapping, thats it.

[Swax]

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if there's anyone who has "no flow" in this bunch it's DEFINITELY Kweli.

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you're serious?

If skills sold/
truth be told/
I'd probably be/
lyrically Talib Kweli
-- Jay -Z

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And this proves what? First of all, Jay-Z thinks Memphis Bleek is dope and performed with Linkin Park, so regardless of how nice he might be, his opinions and mine ain't exactly gonna coincide. Second, he's talking about Kweli's lyrics, which are certainly well above average (as long as he doesn't battle rhyme, which is embarassingly bad), not his flow.

I think Kweli gets way too much credit because he's the only rapper to at least register a blip in the mainstream in a long time with any message other than "I'm a walking money clip", (I guess you can count Kanye, but he's more a producer than an MC) hence a lot of the vets are trying to big him up more than usual. While that's admirable, and I think it'd be great if some younger cats understood that hip-hop at some point was about empowerment instead of consumerism and phony gangster stories (although I'll always have a soft spot for the Geto Boys lol), that still doesn't help me get over Kweli's choppy-ass rhyming. I think he tries to do too much - I mean, look at Mos, he doesn't try to get too acrobatic with his flow, he stays fairly basic and lets his lyrics carry him. Kweli is fine when he does that, but when he does that five-words-per-second thing he just loses it. Monch, however, can pull that off effortlessly. Seriously, listen to some of the tracks of "Stress" - it's too bad that the beats were so bland and Monch's rhymes were so far ahead of their time, because if the world had been ready that album would have blown some minds.

[Swax]

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Someone who does suck live though is Atmosphere.

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Really? I haven't been able to stomach Atmosphere since Slug started recycling his "women have scarred me" routine for every song, but I remember seeing them four or five years ago and they pretty much destroyed it. I'm always really impressed when a live MC can kick some obviously spontaneous freestyles nowadays - I think it's an important element to a live hip-hop show that most people don't have anymore.

However, it's not hard to believe that they're wack now.

[-Skeme-]

Slug is awful at freestyling. A Nas is the gayest performer.

[ThaSaltCracka]

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A Nas is the gayest performer.

[/ QUOTE ]I don't follow, clarify please.

[Swax]

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Slug is awful at freestyling. A Nas is the gayest performer.

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I'm curious - who exactly is "good at freestyling" in your mind? I have a list - but I'm wondering who you think is nice. And those tracks on mixtape that are called "freestyles" and are just a verse from the album over a different beat don't count.

You are correct about Nas though. He is a great writer when he tries, but he certainly doesn't command the stage.

[-Skeme-]

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don't follow, clarify please.

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It's pretty self explanatory. Nas doesn't have a good performance at concerts.


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I'm curious - who exactly is "good at freestyling" in your mind?

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Mostly people you wouldn't know about. TheSaurus, NoCanDo, Illmaculate, Okwerdz, and a bunch of other bay area people.