Comments on: The Power of Diminished Expectations

By: Tray

Tray — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 22:19:39 +0000

Ah yes, he said he’s bald like Jalen. Well now that’s not an interesting line at all anymore.

By: zunkie

zunkie — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:47:12 +0000

ya served

By: p-417

p-417 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:54:28 +0000

well if tray wasn’t just “owned” by wes right there I do not know the meaning of the word

By: wes

wes — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:35:26 +0000

that’s the line that interests you most? i can’t even tell if you’re hearing the lines correctly because he didn’t pick jalen rose as a commentary on his skills.

we are fine, nigga, like amber rose
we ball-ed, nigga, like jalen rose

he connects bald from amber rose to jalen rose, two people without hair, and the past tense of ball. throw in the fact that rose is now retired and balled works that way, too.

By: Tray

Tray — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:11:35 +0000

I will say that there’s something almost “Lemonade is a popular drink and it still is”-esque about “I ball, nigga, like Jalen Rose.” Actually, maybe the correct Gang Starr Foundation comparison there is Malachi The Nutcracker’s “It’s a wonderful world, a world of wonder.” I mean, Jalen Rose of all people. Neither someone who’s actually really good, or rather, was really good, as Rose isn’t even in the league any longer which would make the line make sense in a traditional, Jay-Z “I am like Jordan” way, nor someone who no one’s ever heard of, which would make the line mildly interesting in that random Cam sort of way. (Imagine, for instance, if he said Matt Bonner.) Instead it’s exquisitely calculated to be the most pedestrian half a bar imaginable. Other than that one line, not much on this tape interests me.

By: Booned — Blog — The Power of Diminished Expectations « We Eat So Many Shrimp

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:06:13 +0000

[...] i’ll listen to “single” – i downloaded the original leak of the tape and then didn’t bother getting the 4 songs that leaked afterwards. Reply. 9 Jordan. November 5, 2009 at 7:21 pm. @wes. i mean, i would def say that ‘ no ceilings ‘ is … BS . this post was borne out of what i perceived to be people hyping up the ‘encouraging’ signs of the tape as some sort of return to form or even a high-water mark of 09 rap or even 09 mixtape rap. i don’t hate ‘ no ceilings ‘ by any means, …Next Page [...]

By: daws

daws — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:52:07 +0000

the sound was more hi-fi than i wanted it to be. i think the almighty croak benefits a lot from the shanty sound.

david can i get some comparison credence back if i explain that i had only heard 3 or 4 of the beats on no ceilings before listening to wayne’s versions and don’t give any semblance of a rat’s butt how rappers come by the beats atop which they rap?

writing on the wall’s cool (and has fewer ghey beats) but i’ve bumped the upper echelons of sans ceilings songs a lot more based on wayne’s lyrics and tastefully varied delivery trumping, in my mind, even the most capable of contemporary paint-by-numbers placeholders

By: LK

LK — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 02:48:43 +0000

I’m not gonna jump into the controversy, but does anyone else think the mixing was weird on No Ceilings? His voice sounds like they used diff mics/equipment than normal. I think that mighta been a big thing w/ the energy of his performance.

I might be wrong here…

By: Jordan

Jordan — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:12:37 +0000

yeah i cited “upgrade u” a lot cuz i know those lines off the top of my head but the second disc of D3 has exponentially more quotables, genuinely funny jokes & twisty flows than ‘no ceilings’ i just didn’t feel like listening back when i was writing this post (blogging!). like

george gervin im’a get my chill on
i’m cold yeah i get my buffalo bill on
beat up ya block yeah i get my emmitt till on
in the new edition yeah i get my johnny gill on
keep a shotgun yeah i get my jason will on
fuck it swizz i’m still gone
black entertainment yeah i get my stephen hill on
only talk to models yeah i get my seal on
make that chick rock yeah i get my emil on
Two girls let em get they pill on
let em get they feel on i get my tip drill on

is obv formulaic but it’s for a reason & it allows him to tell some funny & creative jokes and finish it off with a great punchline. he’s either lazier now or he ran out of jokes (or fried his brain <- i vote 4 this)

By: wes

wes — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:11:09 +0000

@david

i could see the argument…writing on the wall is the best gucci tape to date