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'Graduation' satisfying; 'Curtis' same old topics
By Malcolm X Abram Beacon Journal music writer
Published on Saturday, Sep 15, 2007
With hip-hop slowly losing the grip it's had on the pop charts for the past several years, its purveyors are finding new ways to maintain public interest.
Two of rap's biggest mainstream stars, 50 Cent and Kanye West, have spent the past few months hyping the release of their third albums with a mock battle, instigated when West moved up the release date for his Graduation to this past Tuesday, same as 50's Curtis.
50 has turned invented beefs with other artists into a standard marketing tool, so naturally he took the bait, publicly threatening to quit making music if West sold more records (he later backed off that) and belittling West's status as critical darling and award winner. The media ran with it, and the two eventually teamed up for magazine covers and a mock showdown on BET's 106 and Park.
But the ''rivalry'' has had little bite, in part because 50 is always crying wolf about someone else, and because West has taken every opportunity to remind fans that the ''challenge'' is purely about marketing. Nevertheless, the two rappers have worked to tie their releases together and consequently they will be compared to one another.
Anyone who has been paying attention to their careers already has a notion of what to expect, as neither artist stretches too far beyond his previous output.
In some ways they are two sides of the ''blazing hip-hop & R&B'' coin. 50 is the ''controversial'' gangsta rapper, often shirtless and oiled up, flexing his muscles and threatening to murder anyone in his way with his many, many firearms purchased with the proceeds from his street pharmaceutical business and his rapping. He's an alpha-male, growling at the world, humping random women (including yours) for whom he has no respect save in the requisite ''thug love'' singles which demand a (slightly) softer approach.
50 is a pragmatist; in his world, he who sells the most records wins, and you sell the most records by giving the people exactly what you think they want.
West is the creative middle-class kid with the massive yet fragile ego and enough artistic ambition to want to work with producer Jon Brion and Elton John. His beatmaking skills automatically gain him more respect in the industry, belying his many tantrums about the lack of awards he feels he deserves.
West is not the strongest lyricist, but he is willing to rap about his dreams and ambitions as well as his foibles and (gasp!) feelings, and he occasionally looks beyond his own navel to address larger issues. West also has a sense of humor, with a willingness to poke fun at his image and inflated sense of self that 50 is apparently too ''hard'' to display.
'Curtis'
On Curtis, 50 Cent lets listeners know immediately that there are going to be more of the same guns, hos and the hoarding of expensive objects of his past work with the hook of the first song My Gun, which declares ''N-----, my gun go off!!'' The following two songs, Man Down and I Still Kill, featuring Akon singing sweetly about his willingness to murder people in his old neighborhood, are more of the same: 50 Cent will kill you, take your girl and drive off in a really nice car that you can't afford.
Mainstream hip-hop listeners should have heard every variation on these themes by now. His charisma and butter-smooth flow aren't enough to offset the simple fact that through 17 tracks, he has nothing different to say. For many fans and non-fans, 50 represents everything wrong with mainstream rap, though fans likely will use this as a badge of honor.
Curtis goes on to cover all the standard gangsta rap bases. There are the aforementioned hardcore gun-totin' tracks, and the ode to strippers, Ayo Technology, produced by Timbaland and featuring Justin Timberlake. (Dear hip-hop artists, the stripper community has more than enough tunes for spotlight dances to last them for the next decade, so can we move on, please?)
He's got the metaphorical thug love tune Amusement Park, a lame Candy Shop rewrite, as well as the Dr. Dre-produced club-ready Fire with Nicole Scherzinger and G-Unit's Young Buck. Guests include Mary J. Blige, Robin Thicke and 50's boss Eminem, and overall the beats are solid, provided by a solid mix of big names and up-and-comers such as Jake One and K Lassik.
'Graduation'
Graduation finds West still name-dropping his favorite clothing brands, and he employs live strings but surprisingly few of the sped-up samples that provided the hooks of his earlier work. There's nothing on Graduation as immediately arresting as Jesus Walks or as fun as Gold Digger, and West does make a few missteps. One is the sluggish Drunk and Hot Girls, which though not nearly as lyrically disrespectful as its title would imply, meanders aimlessly on a sample from Krautrock legends Can and wastes rapper/actor Mos Def's skills.
But West does have a bit more on his mind than his own bad self. On the piano- and string-laced I Wonder he offers a verse about women who give up on their dreams. ''Do you even remember what the issue is / you're just trying to find where the issue is / you could still be who you wish you is / it ain't happen yet and that's what intuition is.''
On the lazy rolling Everything I Am, featuring scratches by legend DJ Premier, West talks about his image and his Chicago hometown. ''I know some people wouldn't rap this / but I got the facts to back this / just last year Chicago had over 600 caskets / man killing's some wack s--- / except for when n-----s are rapping do you know what it feel like when people is passing?''
Big Brother details West's relationship, mixed feelings and dealings with mentor/label head Jay-Z with surprising honesty and candor.
West is still a clumsy lyricist, finishing too many couplets with the same word, or awkwardly rhyming ''sensitive'' with ''emphasis'' and ''collagen'' with the invented word ''apologian.'' But he can turn a clever phrase, and his mix of bravado and self-effacing humor (''My head so big you can't sit behind me,'' he raps on the head-snapping Barry Bonds with Lil' Wayne) makes him likable when he's not whining about his perceived lack of respect.
Early results have Graduation outselling Curtis, and West is expected to top the Billboard charts next week, with 50 Cent and country superstar Kenny Chesney not far behind. Whether this represents a change in the mainstream listener's appetite from self-absorbed, gun-totin' gangsta rap stars toward self-absorbed, self-aware, fashion-obsessed producers/writers remains to be seen. But for listeners looking for a bit of creativity along with their rhymes, Graduation is simply a more ambitious and satisfying experience than the gangsta-by-numbers Curtis.
Malcolm X Abram can be reached at mabram@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3758.
With hip-hop slowly losing the grip it's had on the pop charts for the past several years, its purveyors are finding new ways to maintain public interest.
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