Hi, everyone! It's been a while since I've posted an op-ed, but I figured I'd make up for that by posting another hot takes submission across my social media feeds. I got some really great takes that I'm really excited to answer, so let's get into the ones I received!
“Griselda had a MUCH better 2019 than Dreamville and TDE”
There’s not really too much to compare here. Neither TDE nor Dreamville had a great year to show off, as releases from both groups were somewhat limited. I’m not really much of a fan of the artists on Griselda, and their group album wasn’t really super impressive to me either. The trio of artists don’t really seem to have their own sound, they seem like echoes of past 90s & boom-bap artists. Westside Gunn sounds like a discount Ghostface Killah, Conway the Machine sounds like a cross of GZA and Freddie Gibbs, leaving Benny the Butcher as the only man who puts out half-decent tracks from the label.
“Music has been stale for the past four months or so, especially for hip-hop”
I beg to differ, really. the fourth quarter of 2019 actually had a fair amount of decent records. It wasn’t necessarily stale, per say, but I think that the beginning of 2020 needs a good boost of new artists. We have confirmed release from artists like Tame Impala, Grimes, and King Krule in February, so there will definitely be a positive change in scenery coming up soon. In terms of the last few months, I heard very good things about Angel Olsen’s new album, one that I did not get to. There was also Magdalene by FKA, and even some of the rap records weren’t half bad. I heard cuts from releases from Danny Brown and Clipping which weren’t too bad. And for my mainstreamers, you saw the release of Trippie Redd’s new album, and the Travis Scott/Dom Toliver collab JACKBOYS dropped a record in late 2019, too.
“David Bowie is a top-five artist of all time”
I’d say that’s a pretty valid take. For me, there are artists that are higher up than him, but there’s no doubt in my mind that Bowie has made an impression on me. He’s very talented and has released so many awesome records over the years. Whether we’re talking about his early releases of Hunky Dory or Ziggy Stardust early on, the Berlin trilogy, or even his later albums, The Next Day and Blackstar, there is a clear case for Bowie to be on one’s top-five list.
“Joker is an overrated movie and didn’t deserve any of the nominations that it got”
Here’s my thing: I saw Joker on its opening night, and I really liked. I did a review on it for my October bazzcast if you’re interested in hearing my overall thoughts on the film. After rewatching it when it came on streaming recently, I think it still stands as a good film. Did it deserve all the eleven Oscar nominations? Well… I don’t think so. I think the screenplay has flashes of good at times, but Todd Phillips made the film really make its audience wait until that sensational third act. For reference, I decided to watch Taxi Driver again, and the critics are right-- they did take a lot from that film. Like TD, the film is on the slower side, and really puts viewers on the edge of their seat until the end. Joker’s aesthetic feels very Scorsese-esque, the characters within the film are almost like carbon copies of some of the ones in the film, and Joker follows a very similar storyline to Travis Bickle. I’m no film pundit by any means, but my predictions for this film at the Academy Awards will be Best Actor for Pheonix (his performance is marvelous, and he’s cleaned up at many award ceremonies so far), as well as a possible chance for Costume Design & Makeup. I think Hildur Guðnadóttir’s score and the cinematography department could also score wins, but it still surprises me how many awards this film ended up getting. Although critics were mixed on it at the time, I feel like it’s come to grow on them.
Antics by Interpol is better than Turn on The Bright Lights
I disagree here. I like the more gothic sound on TOTBL. To me, Antics kind of sounds like it’s trying too hard to imitate something. The more diverse, jovial sound on here reminds me of a mix between Franz Ferdinand and Funeral-age Arcade Fire. I feel like it didn’t age super well in comparison to its competition. It’s funny, because all three artists released their respective albums in 2004, and I definitely think I prefer Franz’s debut and Funeral much more than this project. While TOTBL was released only a mere two years earlier, it came at a time when garage rock was emerging, and not many bands had had really offered such a sound in the market at that time.
Brandon Banks by Maxo Kream was a top-5 rap album from 2019.
Eh, I mean, it’s okay. Maxo’s got some decent cuts on here, sure, but I had a few more albums I’d put ahead of this one. There were so many awesome offerings last years, including Nothing Great About Britain, IGOR, Grey Area, Bandana, The Lost Boy, Baby on Baby, and, dare I say it, Jesus is King? He’s got potential to go places, that’s no doubt. To put it simply, I just think he got overshadowed by a lot of other artists in a pretty decent rap year of 2019.
So, do you guys agree with my responses? If not, I'd love to hear from you! Follow me on instagram, @bazzreviews, or you can email me under the contact page. Thanks again for checking this out, and I hope to see you back here ready for more content!
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