Albums Dave East - Paranoia: A True Story (Discussion Thread)

[Jesus Bhrist]

Yes nikka. Don't understand what you about stick to Gangstarr threads or some shyt you

Be stuck in 1994 brehs

 

[Jesus Bhrist]

Just being fair this shyt came out yesterday nikkaz acting like it supposed to be his magnum opus or something the era & climate is different from when reasonable doubt & illmatic dropped...reason being nikkaz needed that first album to be an instant hit or classic because of contractual reasons with the label & the monopoly the record labels had over artists career....usually if you put up a brick back then it was over for you because the marketing,promotion, & advertising dollars they spent on you usually through your advance check so if the album wasn't multiplatinum they just dropped you & cut they losses because you weren't going to recoup....now tho records ain't really selling like that & with streams & social media artist can cultivate a more personal intimate fan base....Dave east is solid & bytches love him so he has potential just needs more polishing

 

[Grizzly]

I like East, I think he needs to tighten his bars, and leave some of the late 90's, 2000's tropes in the past, where he is clearly influenced by Nas, Jay, he's picked up a lot of baggage, with too many bars about getting head in the bentley, that just no one is interested in anymore. Where he shines are tracks about the grit and grime of East Harlem, and how he ran in the streets, and what his life is like now, tracks like "Paranoia", "They Hate" and "Have You Ever", are the ones I connect with the most.

Production is solid throughout, though some needed more polish, more dramatic, a little light. The "My Dirty Little Secret" is well produced, but a tired, tired, subject that should be left behind, if no originality is going to be brought. The Chris Brown track is total miss, and again, 2000's baggage. This project works for what it was intended, I think he'll be fine. If he really wanted to separate himself, I would have darkened this up, and done 7 tracks of straight paranoid, angry, street tracks, instead of a few generic singles thrown in, and a lot of skits, (again the 90's baggage), let them die.

"6 in the morning with baggies on em, was a way of life"

That is where East shines.

Bad outdated moments:

Lighter flicking and exhale in "Have You Ever" (which is the dopest track on there)

Minor, minor complaint on a really strong track.

Solid assessment...I agree with you about some of the outdated bars and lazy writing. The first half of this album feels like one big Patek Philippe endorsement. I disagree with you about "My Dirty Little Secret." I feel like it's the most easily listenable record on the album. He didn't try to bar the listener's life away. He spit some smooth shyt for the females. He shines on those type of joints, even more so than the deep, introspective joints because it's not forced. Pretty much agree with you on everything else. He has a couple bad writing habits he needs to fix but he'll be straight.


On another note, some of you nikkas need to take notes from my dude's post about how to give critiques without coming off like some hating ass bytches. You could tell shyt is deeper than rap with some of yall.

 

[Barnett114]

Bro are you kidding me? You ever heard these nikkas? Smh let me put you on some shyt real quick my nikka.







And if you fukk with them jawns (i mean why wouldn't you?

) they gotta whole tape out together.



@ISO You see this? add some more heat too my nikka.

 

[re'up]

Solid assessment...I agree with you about some of the outdated bars and lazy writing. The first half of this album feels like one big Patek Philippe endorsement. I disagree with you about "My Dirty Little Secret." I feel like it's the most easily listenable record on the album. He didn't try to bar the listener's life away. He spit some smooth shyt for the females. He shines on those type of joints, even more so than the deep, introspective joints because it's not forced. Pretty much agree with you on everything else. He has a couple bad writing habits he needs to fix but he'll be straight.


On another note, some of you nikkas need to take notes from my dude's post about how to give critiques without coming off like some hating ass bytches. You could tell shyt is deeper than rap with some of yall.

Appreciate that man...."My Dirty Little Secret" is like one twist, production is perfect, one good idea away from being a really dope record, I'm like maybe 3 years older than East, but some of his bars feel so much younger. I guess it says more about the culture and society in general than East, that these are songs that "appeal to women", when they are such an insulting and shallow look at them. For sure no women I know will ever play this record, but I wish I did, and I know NY is a whole different demographic with female rap fans. I would have fukked with this track as a teenager, like aspiring to be like East, and envisioning all these trysts and affairs, but now, as someone who kinda lives it, or could, in a relative way, it feels a little thin, stale, and superficial.

A line about sex with the jewelry one? Check. Good head, check. Don't trust her enough to _____? The interesting part is when he kinda breaks into instagram culture and norms, but doesn't really follow through.

Make a song where you are vulnerable, or DON'T get the girl, or lose her to someone else, and leave all the cliches about great sex game, and good head in the past. With these kind of tracks, and East's rhyme schemes I can feel the next bar coming, like a line in a movie. Needs to add some edge or rawness to the bars. Some of this will come with time.

 

[straightcash]

Just being fair this shyt came out yesterday nikkaz acting like it supposed to be his magnum opus or something the era & climate is different from when reasonable doubt & illmatic dropped...reason being nikkaz needed that first album to be an instant hit or classic because of contractual reasons with the label & the monopoly the record labels had over artists career....usually if you put up a brick back then it was over for you because the marketing,promotion, & advertising dollars they spent on you usually through your advance check so if the album wasn't multiplatinum they just dropped you & cut they losses because you weren't going to recoup....now tho records ain't really selling like that & with streams & social media artist can cultivate a more personal intimate fan base....Dave east is solid & bytches love him so he has potential just needs more polishing

I'm a relatively NEW dave east fan myself, and this is how i see it. This project has been his MOST publicized release to date. As you can see, all the coli people criticizing it are actually checking it out themselves for the first time. So truth be told, he did squander that new publicity and audience. Even some of the older fans here are disappointed with it cuz we thought it was gonna be his album, with other tracks he previewed. Not some bait-and-switch EP with a false advertised "Nas feature."

This isn't the end though, he still gained a newer fanbase. And he gon get a bigger audience with the next release, but it needs to be good. If the LP is another bait-and-switch or mixed-bag bullshyt, he might lose his chance for good as far as breaking it big.

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

Just being fair this shyt came out yesterday nikkaz acting like it supposed to be his magnum opus or something the era & climate is different from when reasonable doubt & illmatic dropped...reason being nikkaz needed that first album to be an instant hit or classic because of contractual reasons with the label & the monopoly the record labels had over artists career....usually if you put up a brick back then it was over for you because the marketing,promotion, & advertising dollars they spent on you usually through your advance check so if the album wasn't multiplatinum they just dropped you & cut they losses because you weren't going to recoup....now tho records ain't really selling like that & with streams & social media artist can cultivate a more personal intimate fan base....Dave east is solid & bytches love him so he has potential just needs more polishing

Stop 'splaining...

This is a bad project.

:rambling:

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

Bro are you kidding me? You ever heard these nikkas? Smh let me put you on some shyt real quick my nikka.







And if you fukk with them jawns (i mean why wouldn't you?

) they gotta whole tape out together.



@ISO You see this? add some more heat too my nikka.

One Year Ago, DON Q gave the internet a classic freestyle




I can't sleep on A Boogie either...that shyt was dope
he's crushed every freestyle possible

 

[loyola llothta]

Wait its not the album? Fk out here

 

[gluvnast]

I thought EP's were 4-5 tracks. This is a full length project.

Those are usually called maxi-singles. EP's are usually 6-8 tracks or half an album length.

 

[straightcash]

I thought EP's were 4-5 tracks. This is a full length project.

Its 9 tracks, the rest are skits. Really confusing tho. But i guess it works, if we pretend the skits don't exist. Comes around 30 min or so.

 

[porque]

after a few listens

the album definitely has some good songs, its not all trash but its not a great album

I know I'll be making a playlist and only including the better tracks and bumping this for the next few weeks



here's a youtube playlist for those of you not up to the premium streaming game


Paranoia: A True Story - YouTube

 

[D.C Young]

album was just ok to me, not bad, not good, just aiight

the only joints I'm bumping is Paranoia and Maneuver

 

[jaguar paw]

I just realized that this nikka looks like a mini DeMarcus Cousins.

 

[nahnah]

Is it worth checking?


Never gave Dave a listen tbh what are his best mixtapes?