Phonte - No News Is Good News (DIscussion Thread)

Insensitive

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Those fukking drums on "So Help Me God" with the chord stabs is just.... Ugh !

Neck snapper.

Kick + Snare
Kick + Kick + Kick + Snare
^^^ Hip-Hop to the fukking core.
Snare rolls :ohlawd:
Those chimes :wow: :lawd:
That repeating chord progression. :blessed:
:to: I love Hip-Hop :to:


The drumming in general is dope as fukk.

So funky.

This album + Skyzoo's + Black Milk's should be a healthy reminder that the FUNK is the foundation and Rhythmic variation in Hip-Hop is more than just changing where you'd lay down the 32nd Note Hi-Hat run or add the sub bass under your 808 kick.

Straight neck snappers which are matched equally by Phonte's wit, wisdom and introspection. Neither half of the whole is weak and it remains strong throughout .

Expensive genes flows into Cry No More so easily. And knowing that genetic history directly effects a person's personality/temperament and the medical history of that person's family tied with culture adds layers to what's a simple premise. This to me is what marks a good writer and puts Phonte's writing up there with some of the best to ever do this rap shyt.

All the features are solid as well.
This is an album which doesn't have the pressures of major label expectations to conform to a changing landscape in Black Pop which is increasingly trending toward the banal and ephemeral in contrast this album and it's concepts are timeless and relatable.

Resulting in music that someone 30 years from now will understand.
 

steadyrighteous

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I think he was inspired by hov's album. Really strong effort. Best hiphop album so far this year. I wonder who can challenge him

I can see how you'd think that, but this is what Phonte's been doing since The Listening.

At every stage of his life he's been introspective, honest and brave in his self-assessment as a rapper, father and a man.

To me, this is just a continuation of the story of Phonte. NNIGN isn't like 4:44, 4:44 is Jay-Z's version of what Phonte's been doing his whole career.
 

PhonZhi

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Finally listened to this earlier today and :wow:

Great album. I had no issues with the production. Phonte/Little Brother has never rapped over "bangers" for the most part so I wasn't disappointed at all. Matter fact, I would like to hear more hip-hop over these types of beats. Like others have said, this is straight up "grown man" hip-hop. You really have to be of a certain mindset and maturity to enjoy music like this.

I was really taken aback by "Expensive Genes" because I've personally thought for awhile now that Phonte' could stand to lose some weight. Good to hear him touch on the topic of health. "Such Is Life" was probably my favorite song overall. Loved the production on it.

Phonte's is an absolute beast on the Mic as a rapper and it was great to hear new bars from him.


The only flaw to me (and its a personal preference, not a flaw really), is the profanity. Its like the older I get the less I wanna hear profanity and N-bombs in my music. I would love for a rapper to make an entire album profanity-free, and a grown, mature album like this would be a perfect type of album to do it.

Other than that this is a great album and was worth the wait.

Welcome back rapping Te':salute:
 

aceboon

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I think he was inspired by hov's album. Really strong effort. Best hiphop album so far this year. I wonder who can challenge him
What a ridiculous comment, Phonte been doing grown man bars, reality rap since the beginning. Only difference is Phonte's shyt is actually relatable to the average consumer, the regular 9-5 nikka can fantasize about generational wealth and billionare talk all we want, most won't be in Hov's position.
 

SirBiatch

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so I'm listening to "So Help Me God" off the strength of the comment on this page. and it's :yawn: as expected. Are y'all really expecting people to be excited over this type of shyt?


Hip hop is so goddamn stagnant it's unbelievable :snoop:
 

Monoblock

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Amazing album. Te went smooth the fukk off on Pastor Tigallo. Expensive Genes is some shyt every black man in here should relate to when it comes to health and family history. Such Is Life...:ohhh:
Great work all around. Just might be my AOTY so far.
 

NYK Loyalist

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Finally listened to this earlier today and :wow:

Great album. I had no issues with the production. Phonte/Little Brother has never rapped over "bangers" for the most part so I wasn't disappointed at all. Matter fact, I would like to hear more hip-hop over these types of beats. Like others have said, this is straight up "grown man" hip-hop. You really have to be of a certain mindset and maturity to enjoy music like this.

I was really taken aback by "Expensive Genes" because I've personally thought for awhile now that Phonte' could stand to lose some weight. Good to hear him touch on the topic of health. "Such Is Life" was probably my favorite song overall. Loved the production on it.

Phonte's is an absolute beast on the Mic as a rapper and it was great to hear new bars from him.


The only flaw to me (and its a personal preference, not a flaw really), is the profanity. Its like the older I get the less I wanna hear profanity and N-bombs in my music. I would love for a rapper to make an entire album profanity-free, and a grown, mature album like this would be a perfect type of album to do it.

Other than that this is a great album and was worth the wait.

Welcome back rapping Te':salute:

Check Oddisee if your not familiar with him. I can listen to his albums with my kids in the car
 
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