Thursday, July 23, 2015

Song of the Day #165 - Tyler, the Creator - Smuckers

Why, oh why, why, why don't they like me?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPAO-73B54o

Do you guys have a sorta thing where an album comes out and you're really excited about it and you listen to the whole thing over and over, but then that sorta peters out and there's other new stuff coming out, and you start skipping some tracks and it's sort of a "survival of the fittest" thing, like, which tracks will remain? And eventually it just gets down to one or two, and in this case, one triumphant anthem, holy hell this song is good, will I ever stop listening to it?

Like the beat? That tightness and intensity, while still feeling really haphazard and "performed"?? This is the beat that everyone wishes they could have but only Tyler could make. Apparently he shopped it around but everyone was like "nah this one is for you". And it's for his heroes too, heroes that are now being inspired by him. It's no wonder Tyler's verse is so full of deserved triumphant bravado... but not without Tyler's signature "spill your guts for a laugh": "But you fucked up as a parent: your child's idol's a nigger", "And that shit gon pop just like that nigga that was never 'round"... and the ending, like, "Mom I made you a promise, it's no more section 8", that's REAL, that's an actual promise that's come true, he did it, he actually did it.

Trading lines with a more tryhard Wayne than I've heard in years, he gets a little more srs, like his whole section about lynchings, it's brutal, it's hilarious, it's such a complex structure, how could he possibly make it flow like that? Man like... how much work did he put into this verse? It seems absurd. And then to have Lil Wayne deign to actually sit down with a pen and work out something equally good, with this much interplay, this much cohesion, this much cleverness and rawness, what an honor, it's an honor to even hear that.

And speaking of that sentiment... these verses really just bookend the greatest part: YEEZY SEASON. This verse validates absolutely everything ever said about Kanye, good or bad, lmao. Provocative ("Scarier than black people with ideas", "I know they tell they white daughters 'Don't bring home Jerome'"), bravado ("I feel like Michael Jordan", "I am the free nigga archetype, I am the light and the beacon"), self-aware ("They say I'm crazy but that's the best thing goin for me"), socially-aware ("It's funny, when you get extra money, every joke you tell just be extra funny"), referential (where do I even start?), and then pure Ye, the stuff no one else can do, the stuff that goes beyond words ("and I was textin God, he said 'I gave you a big dick, so go extra hard'"). Truly masterful. Yeezy season IS APPROACHING, and you're gonna get smashed in the face with a brick if you aren't ready.

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