Ty Listen's the Pusha T's "It's Almost Dry"

I have now listened to Pusha T's new record "It's Almost Dry" about three times now. I enjoy it. I do not like it as much as his last record, but with each new listen I find something new that I enjoy about it.

I'm a Pusha T fan. I have been since the first time I heard Clipse in 2001. He just has this very cool flow about him when he raps. It comes out smooth. I think that is why it has taken me multiple listens to really get into "It's Almost Dry". I wasn't ready for it when it first came out. I have been in a pretty deep soul, R&B and heavier rock groove lately. There has been tons of Black Keys, Etta James, Leon Bridges and, I know this is a little out of left field, Bo Brunham on my playlists. So I just was not ready to receive what Pusha T was putting out there. But the more I've heard the better it has become. I truly do like every song on the album. I also appreciate that it is a tight 35 minutes long.

The record starts off strong, has some great stuff in the in between and has a perfect ending, with him reuniting with the other member of Clipse. Pusha T has a way of rapping over a beat that is like no other. He is one of the few rappers I have heard who do not really wait for a beat to kick in. When he is ready he goes. And he is good. The flow is so good that it doesn't need him waiting. I love how he just gets to it. He has something to say and he refuses to wait.

The record is produced by Kanye and Pharrell. I do not like Kanye at all. He needs real therapy. He needs true help. He has some mental stuff going on that only a doctor can fix. But the dude can make a beat. He has that skill. That has not left him yet. And the fact that he doesn't rap on this record, save for a few weak bars during some hooks, makes it all the better. The beats are his, you can tell, and Pusha T makes them work. Pharrell, on the other hand, is a true musical genius. He does things with hip hop that have just further pushed the genre to a whole new world. He makes complicated beats sound simple. He knows how to get the best out of his performers. He doesn't dip his toes too far into the water. He lets the talent do what they do best. Sure there are tweaks here and there, but for the most part Pharrell just refines it all in the end. He rules. There is a version of the record on Spotify right now titled "It's Almost Dry: Kanye vs Pharrell", and it is astounding to hear the two producers on the same record and how different they are. And how much better Pharrell is at his job.

I think what I like most about the album, and I mentioned this for a second a minute ago, is how there are now real hooks on the songs. It is all Pusha T's line of thought being put on wax. He has his verses and his bars and he rolls with it. He puts it all out there. He doesn't need a hook. He doesn't need a chorus. He can just go from verse to verse and not miss a beat. Sometimes hooks help, but in this case, I do not miss it at all. It almost seems like a hook would hinder the greatness that is Pusha T.

I am a fan of this record. I have most definitely come around after three listens. I will continue to listen. Pusha T is very famous, but I think he should be talked about far more than he already is by the media. This record is a great appetizer to the new Kendrick Lamar coming out in a day. I will for sure have both albums on repeat for a bit.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Ty Watches "Holy Calamavote"

I watched the Run the Jewels show that they did on Adult Swim this weekend, "Holy Calamavote", this afternoon, and it was amazing.

This was the first, and only time, they will perform this album live this year. They had a planned tour, supporting Rage Against the Machine, but the pandemic put a total halt to that. I read things where RTJ was trying to do something like this, a live performance, but didn't have a platform, or felt comfortable enough to do it. Then Adult Swim and Ben and Jerry's got involved, and they had their chance. They got tested, quarantined for the allotted time, and were able to pull off this show. They also wanted it to be important, to take a stance and help people, and they used the platform to urge people to go out and vote. This show was put together to promote voting. They mentioned time and again how important it is, especially this year, to go out and vote. Our vote is our weapon, and that is the only way we can make things change. They put that front and center.

As for the performance, I mean come on, these guys are at the top of the game right now. They are the best rap group, and best overall group, making music right now. Not only is the music good, it is well made, important, personal and an absolute reflection of the world we live in right now. I have sung the praises of this most recent RTJ record to the high hills. This is the record of the year by a mile, and this performance only further proved that. They were awesome. The visuals were amazing. The guest list was top notch. And seeing Killer Mike and El-P perform this record live, it was so god damn amazing and impressive. They did each song, in order, from the new record. Eric Andre hosted the show, and they would cut to him from time to time, but this was all about RTJ and their music. All the songs were great, and hearing them live just adds so much more to the listening experience. DJ Nice was on stage with them during "Ooh LA LA". That was pretty cool. A famous Atlanta DJ came out and scratched during a song. Gangsta Boo came out during "Walking in the Snow", and that was a transcendent performance. I mean, the song started with that heavy guitar, and El did his verse, and then it was Killer Mike's turn. He smashed the first part, and when he got to the "I can't breath" part, the whole stage and group went silent, and then Killer Mike ended that verse acapella. It was powerful and moving and made me listen more than I ever had before to what he is saying in what I consider to be the song of the year, and possibly the generation. It was an astonishing performance. They did "JU$T" after that, and Pharrell and Zack de la Rocha did their spots. Josh Homme and Mavis Staples appeared on screen for the song they are featured on as well. Staples' voice was beautiful and haunting. They ended the show with "A Few Words for the Firing Squad", and to see the two of them bear their souls was so, so great. It was such a moving and cool and fierce and awesome and perfect way to present that song. When they were nearing the end, when the song is all horns, both members expressed the importance of voting and using our voices this election. Then El-P formed a fist and Killer Mike formed a gun to make the RTJ symbol, and the lights were on their hands only. It was so god damn cool. They proceeded to leave the stage with the secret ending that shows up at the end of "Firing Squad", and El grabbed his stuff, and both he and Killer Mike put on a mask and drove off in Killer Mike's car. They came back on to again express the importance of voting. It was truly wonderful. The show was cool, the visuals added so much, El-P and Killer Mike are damn fine performers, their music is important , the people filming were masked and kept their distance, all the while getting amazing shots, it was simply perfect.

I loved this so very much. It gave me so much of what I have missed this year. I got to see my favorite band perform live. I was moved to vote more so than I already am. I have even more respect for Michael Render and Jamie Melina, which I didn't know was possible. I got to vibe out to the best record of the year. And they did it all for a great cause. I highly recommend this special for everyone. It is available to watch everywhere, it is as live as we will get this year and it is the best music you will hear all year. Please watch and make a plan to vote. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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"RTJ4" Breakdown: Day 2

Okay, so the next 3 songs I'm going to talk about off "RTJ 4" run the gamut of greatness, importance, revolutionary and may be the best three song sequence I have ever heard on a record in my lifetime. These songs are going to go down in history. Especially the first one I'm going to speak on, "Walking in the Snow".

“Walking in the Snow” is the anthem for the current mode of society. This song speaks so many truths it is insane. The fact that this was written well before what is currently going on in the country involving the police is foreboding. It has some "Simpsons" type vibe to it as in predicting the future. The song starts off with a very cool, very distorted guitar. Then it shifts right into verse one, and El-P crushes. He is so good at talking about how bad the world is. How people are treated unfairly because of their place in the world. He says so many things that I agree and can relate with. Throw in the fact that Gangsta Boo is doing the chorus, it makes this song great. What makes this song legendary, historic and profound is Killer Mike's verse. The way he breaks down school scores in world wide testing is perfect. When he then shifts to this is how they predict what prisons will be like in the future, I swear to goodness he is an oracle. He then hits us with the verse where he talks about a police officer choking him out until he says, "I can' breathe", it took my breath away in the best, and most prolific way I have ever been through when listening to music. To then follow it up saying the best it will get out of people is a Twitter rant and people talking for a week, then just forgetting about it, I don't know if a truer statement has been made in music. Both come back with minor verses to close out the song, and I love what Gangsta Boo does at the end. But, "Walking in the Snow" is going to become the anthem for the time. It will be our new "Fuck tha Police", our new "Fight the Power", our new protest anthem for decades to come. This song was a vision of the future when they wrote it around two years ago, and to hear it now, it brings a shiver down my spine by how accurate it is. It is, without a doubt, the most important song on the record, and might be, scratch that, is the most important song of the year, and possibly decade.

They follow that up with "JU$T", which features Zack de la Rocha and Pharrell Williams. This song is a perfect encapsulation of people trying to make money off their image, but being controlled by the government and the powers that be. Killer Mike mentions all this in the first verse. He also does it later in the song when he talks about telling us to "Kill Your Masters", which is also a great, important song. Pharrel Williams is fantastic on the chorus. The things he says are so true, and the way it is put out there is perfect. El-P then comes in and reiterates what Killer Mike says, but puts his wonderful spin on current affairs. He is a great, great writer. Add that to his production, the guy is a genius. His comedy line at the end of his verse is dope as hell too. Then de la Rocha comes in and spits straight fire like he has always done. His verse is brutal, he rips everyone and the verse apart. I love the distortion he uses on the mic too, that is kind of his signature. When he teams up with RTJ, it is going to work no matter what. When the three of them are together on a track, that is what gives me my most visceral moments when I listen. I yell out in my car, or on my runs whenever I hear the three of them trade verses. It is true beauty.

"Never Look Back" is RTJ at their bleakest on this record, but they do that better than anyone. This song is all about not dealing with the BS, at least for me. They both had rough childhoods it sounds, but they are pushing ahead and trying to right their wrongs. This song is kind of like them growing up on the mic. It is really cool to hear them talk about personal experiences, and how they have grown from them. I like when artists bare themselves on tracks like this. They also slow this one down a bit in the middle, but come back with a vengeance, and of course it works. When El-P comes back in after the little slow down, and he and Killer Mike trade words and verses, it is such a great way to close out this near perfect track.

These three songs are some of the best songs, in any genre of music, that I have heard in quite some time. This is the point in some records where it might drag. But "RTJ 4" is different. They take this time to really push their message out there. They let it all out on these three songs, and like I said at the top, these songs are going to go down in history as three of the most important songs in music history. I do want to single out "Walking in the Snow" one more time. That song will be talked about forever. I feel like my son will be talking about it when he is my age. It has that kind of staying power. This run of songs only solidifies how perfect "RTJ 4" truly is.

This is one of the best runs of songs on an album of all time. This is like what The Beatles did on "Abbey Road". I'm not joking, and that is the highest of high compliments from someone like me. These songs are perfect. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

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SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.