Observations From Amine's Good For You

Admittedly... I've been sleeping on new releases, BIG TIME. Albums worth checking out this year seem to have been scarce. Though Jay dropped, Kendrick dropped, and Eminem is (rumored to be) releasing right around the corner, hip hop has been a little bit dry this year in terms of the big established names dropping, but one up and comer from Portland, Oregon is attempting to change that "up and comer" title to household name fairly quickly. His album Good For You had seemingly dropped out of nowhere and suddenly grabbed blogs by the throats with fun and vigorous enjoyment (kind of ironic how that works, isn't it?). The album's lead single "Caroline" has already been certified 3 times platinum by the RIAA, peaked on Billboard's Hot 100 at number 12, and even found Amine a record deal with Republic Records. See the damage a song can do nowadays?  Oh, the age of the single. However, single success does not impress me anymore seeing as anyone and their mother can do it nowadays... So what does this mean for Anime's Good For You?  Was it indeed Good For You?  I'll be breaking down a few of the high points of the project, below.


Hip Pop - It's Okay To Have Fun!


For so long I've bashed the one-track-minded (quite literally) artists of today that all sound the same and seemed to promote the same goals; platinum singles, auto-tuned filth and enough syrup to give Aunt Jemima a heart attack WITHOUT sipping any of it. But Anime's Good For You is a gasp of fresh air, almost completely drowning in the syrup before I'm able to sneak a nostril up and above the Codeine infested waters that are today's hip hop climate. Anime puts fun in every lyric, bouncing around on beats as if he'd just invaded a rich kid's birthday party and claimed first dibs on the bouncy house ("Hero", "Yellow", "Wedding Crashers", etc.). The "Wedding Crashers"' instrumental feels like you're dancing with Elmo and Big Bird all down Sesame Street with the rest of the kids off the block, and even Oscar's grouchy ass joins in (oh yes, it's that mood-inducing). His ode to the Spice Girls ("Spice Girl") is another fun one to reminisce to 90's pop to; the pure piano keys in the bridge build up to a gleeful flute followed by some lively drums that add the extra pop needed to round out the record.


Serious Undertones Darkly Shadow A Fun Loving Amine


On the surface, Good For You is a dancing field of daisies, an album that you'd pop in while wandering through a field of flowers with no worry of tomorrow. The lightheartedness and delightful weirdness of Amine is showcased in an ultimately stress-free environment that sets it's goal from the absolute jump of the record. The pop of each musical styling Amine offers properly backs him enough for you to understand that not every song on the album offers happiness, and that's okay. On "Turf", a sobering, somber number that is Two-Face to the rest of Good For You (Harvey Dent), Amine finds himself reflecting on his past, and realizing that home isn't for him, ultimately leading to his "moving out" moment. Just listening to the atmospheric pads surround the track sound eerily like finally taking a look around an empty house that you once called home, and finally walking out for good; like the last episode of Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air. "Beach Boy" is catchy in it's upbeat piano and spacey background "Oooooo's", but deceiving in it's message, like making your final thought a good one, reflective and subtractive of regrets, most notably in the end ("I don't know when I'm gonna die, my watch can't tell the time, hopefully there's some hope in me, I won't trip if it's meant to be").


(*I do not own these videos, songs, or the rights to them*)

Overall, Good For You is indeed... Good For You! Amine brings funk, positivity, realization, fun, and uniqueness in a heavily watered down genre. Amine's musical prowess is proven more in the fact that he wishes to use vocal tones and funk instruments to provoke more of a response rather than auto-tune and drug talk. His light-hearted attitude throughout the album (minus a couple of songs) isn't enough to make you want it to stop, using strictly positivity, but in different ways, and different places, different shades, and different spaces. His sense of humor, vocal range, and cool attitude shine throughout the album, and they make Good For You a must listen. Anime gives his very own take on girls, drugs, fun, money, deep thoughts, and much, much more; all of it being very good... and Good For You.                 
















 

              






               

Throwback Thursday: Hip Hop Hooray!

This song is as old as me but I CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF IT! 1993 was the year that Naughty By Nature dropped one of the catchiest, most known hip hop jams of all time. "Heeeeeeeeey, Hooooooooo, Heeeeeeeey, Hooooooo" the hook sang out, and it got people moving. Even if played today, I'll bet "Hip Hop Hooray" could still get parties jumping. To celebrate such a fantastic song, I'm here to kick a few facts about the jam for today's "Throwback Thursday" post.

The music video was actually directed by the legendary Spike Lee, and also boasts appearances from Queen Latifah, Easy E, Monie Love, Da Younsta's (which I never even heard of until now), Kriss Kross, and even Run DMC. The song spent one week at number one on the U.S. R&B chart, and even reached number eight on the U.S. Pop charts (which I'm not sure how, this is hip hop to it's CORE!). The song is also certified Platinum by the RIAA in the U.S. So why do a Throwback Thursday post on "Hip Hop Hooray?" I personally remember being an NBA Live junkie when they made it for the computer as a kid back in the day, and this was the background theme song for the home screen on NBA Live 2000 with ole' Timmy Duncan on the cover. So my question to you is; why not?  Enjoy the music video below.

                                      (*I do not own this video, song, or the rights to them*)

Ranking J. Cole's Albums Worst To Best

Cole World!  If you're a rap fan you've heard a Cole song, and if you're a Cole fan you've DEFINITELY heard at least a whole Cole project before, whether it be one of his fantastic albums or one of his critically acclaimed mix tapes. I find it funny that people honestly compare the two and say that his albums are better than his mix tapes, or his mix tapes are better than his albums (which is the more common argument) when in reality you're almost getting 2 completely different Coles entirely. The creative energy, hype, and hunger as an artist changes entirely when you compare your debut mix tape to your debut album, although unfortunately if your a Cole mix tape fan, you'd be disappointed when I say that we are not here to discuss his mix tapes. This post is strictly for albums: Cole has had 3 major label efforts, each one sounding more different and experimental than the next. Now if you could rank them from worst to best, how would that order go exactly?  That's what we're here to find out. Below, ranked worst to best, along with (arguably) the best song from each album, are J. Cole's 3 albums, ranked.

Cole World:  The Sideline Story

Cole World: The Sideline Story is J. Cole's confusing, yet promising burst onto the music scene. Mix tape Cole fans fell in love with an honest, lyrical, story-telling poet that showed more promise than any emcee that anyone had heard in quite awhile, yet The Sideline Story left a lot to be desired for die hard Cole fans. The Sideline Story is an album that shows every side of Cole that you love to see; the shit talking, the gritty talk of the hood and growing up and becoming a man, along with love and handling pregnancy at a young age. Cole is clearly still hyped at this time because of the recent Roc Nation signing and the bragging rights that come along with saying he's got a Jay-Z cosign, yet the industry's contribution to this album is clear with singles like the Kanye-sampled "Work Out", (which ended up disappointed Nas as Cole talks about later, but we'll get to that in time hip hop nerds).

Born Sinner

Cole's second effort Born Sinner showed a much hungrier, yet experimental Cole than anybody was used to seeing. Cole's rhymes are at the absolute top of his game with his lyrical, compacted flows and clever punch lines, though the song making ability wasn't quite there yet. You can tell that Cole is destined for greatness with this effort, if The Sideline Story didn't do it for you than Born Sinner certainly gives you a good Cole fix in terms of bars, and his respect for the greats is shown on an entire song dedicated to Nas titled "Let Nas Down". Nas even jumped on a remix to the song later to show how much respect he had for Cole and what he was doing for the game. If that's not being given the green light, than what is?  No seriously, I'll wait. Regardless of legendary features, Cole's sophomore effort was good, but you could certainly tell there was something missing, and that there was a part of Cole that fans weren't getting.

2014 Forest Hills Drive

                               (*I do not own any of these songs, videos, or the rights to them*)

Here it goes:  prepare yourselves for this one. 2014 Forest Hills Drive is the best Cole album to date. If I personally could dream up a Cole album myself with all creative control in terms of production, lyricism, flow, writing skills, song topics, etc., this would be the album I'd choose for Cole to make. This is Cole's Illmatic. I can't even believe I just said that. Now many hip hop heads will get uptight about mentioning any Cole projects with Illmatic, or any projects at all for that matter, but in all seriousness, Cole's 2014 Forest Hills Drive is the best rap album to hit since Good Kid Maad City. It is at least the most complete rap album since then. 2014 Forest Hills Drive has everything a rap fan wants, everything a Cole fan wants, and even more. The emotion emitted in tracks mixed with the controversy and thought it provokes is an absolute perfect blend and it embodies everything you envision a perfect story to be, and the music itself hasn't gotten nearly the recognition it deserves, the only reason being Cole has put out no singles for it. Cole has already been certified Gold by the RIAA, but the recognition is not in the numbers, it shows up in the appreciation for his fans and his conscience voice towards violence in America. Cole has showed up to random fans' houses to sign memorabilia and hang out with them, tweeted people about surprise concerts (and obviously showed up to venues to perform), and he even used his supposed "promo" for the album on Letterman to perform his song dedicated to the victims of Ferguson, Missouri, "Be Free."  Is Cole the new Tupac?  Actions speak louder than words, and Cole's words speak volumes, yet somehow his actions remain greater. Cole's 2014 Forest Hills Drive not only is the best rap album since Good Kid Maad City, not only was it the absolute best of 2014, but it embodies everything Cole represents as not only an artist, but as a person. 2014 Forest Hills Drive allowed me to appreciate music properly again.

Being a J. Cole fan obviously you get a mixed bag between projects (the difference being albums and mix tapes, though I don't truly believe this, I am going off of what the masses believe), but in terms of Cole's albums you truly can't ask for better progression. If the process of growing and becoming a better artist is evident in any rapper, it's J. Cole. The creative process has never been one to give Cole problems, because when you're a real person with real problems and show it through your music, you grow even more. The emotional connection Cole has gained with his fans grew times a thousand with the release of 2014 Forest Hills Drive, and that's after they already had a strong enough bond to love  everything he does. It'd be criminal to ask what Cole has planned next after a momentous release like 2014 Forest Hills Drive, but if you're a fan you can't help yourself. It's always exciting to see what Cole has in store for his fans, and if there is a peak moment in Cole's career, it is now. The fans appreciate everything he does because he gives to them, and they give back to him by showing loyalty. Once Cole gives, it is your opportunity and privilege to appreciate what he gives to you. Truly Yours.