The 37th Chamber 09.17.08: Oh Kanye

Posted by Patrick Robinson on 09.17.2008

Kanye has decided to use the auto-tune for the majority of his next album...you're either angry, or you've got another reason to hate the man

I think we've completely bypassed Spring, Summer and Autumn (Fall) here, and we've gone straight back to Winter. It was hot on Monday, actually humid, then it rained yesterday, and it looks like more rain again today. And they say Australia has some of the best weather in the world…

Maybe if you like bi-polar weather perhaps. The thing I liked about England when I lived there, was the fact that you knew it was always going to be cold/raining. If you prepared for that, any sunny weather was just a bonus really.

But enough small talk about the weather, the SOMEWHAT EXCITING announcement is the fact that come this Friday, I'll have been writing here for a year. It's been extremely satisfying writing for 411mania, but unfortunately I have some bad news.



I think I've broken my mouse. I recently re-installed Diablo II due to the inability to play the Wii (my sister had her smelly-ass friends over. They really do smell because I don't think any of them shower regularly…makes me want to punch them). Four hours of furious clicking later, the mouse stopped being responsive and I have to HOLD DOWN REALLY HARD when I want to use a scroll bar.

Could be a problem, what's the average life for a mouse anyway? This one's about six years old I think.

Reader Feedback
(May be edited for spelling, grammar etc.)

"Wonder if I'll get flamed for this but the most disappointing album in recent times for me is Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III. After hearing tons of hype, and seeing the massive sales figures, I listened to this album, and all it led me to believe is that quality music is virtually dead. His "can't be bothered" style of rapping bugs the hell out of me, and the only good songs were the ones, which had other quality artists on it (Robin Thicke, Babyface). Feel free to disagree, but in this time of Lil Wayne, and Soulja Boy I find myself harking back to the 90's.

Oh and I just remembered "The Aftermath". That was another big letdown." - Taiso

"OMG YOU FAIL LOL!"

Ha, just kidding. Wayne's one of those guys you either like or don't, and I'm certainly not going to fault you for not liking Tha Carter III, as this time last year, if you'd told me I'd be enjoying Wayne's music, I would have choked on whatever drink I was drinking at the time. The hype for that album began to overshadow the actual product, and I think had he not been calling himself the Best Rapper Alive for some years now, the album might have been received a little better. As it was, it became even MORE hyped up by Wayne Stan's saying it cemented his claim, whilst to his detractors, it became another piece of evidence to discredit it.

Me, I enjoyed it, it's not the best album of the year, but will make my Top 10. I guess I'm a little more into the weird rap than I should be, I think it comes from me watching strange TV shows like Invader ZiM and Aqua Teen Hunger Force. That or I'm on the slow road to insanity.

If you're talking about the Dr. Dre album, you're definitely right. That album really had no right to be as disappointing as it was, given the people involved with the album.

I miss many aspects about the 90s music too. Pun, a happy Wu-Tang Clan, Nate Dogg having a job, actual ALBUMS instead of discs focused around the lead single…

"Adding on to the "what's hot right now sells the most" theme, look at what happened to Chamillionaire with Ultimate Victory, he changes his style and gets a little more political, but in the end it was a far better album than Sound Of Revenge, only it didn't have the banger tracks like Turn It Up and Ridin' Dirty. He goes from doing remixes and guest appearances and in the year after Ultimate Victory he had the one hit song of Hip Hop Police and nothing I can remember. He was the hottest rapper coming out of Texas and basically fell off because of some creative decisions that made for a BETTER album." - Jordan

He didn't get a lot of promotion for the album either, AND coming in the week after the Kanye / 50 sales war certainly didn't help things for the man either. Cham really is talented and I think it was a lack of a ‘killer' single that hindered him a little in the public eye. "Ridin" was everywhere when it came out, and while "Hip-Hop Police" was popular, I think the concept went over the heads of most of the mainstream listeners. I think you only ‘got' it, if you knew what the term meant in the hip-hop world. To other people it was just another song. I loved the second verse of that song though, ("Saw the Meth while I was Inspecting your Deck") and it was nice to see Slick Rick was still around.

Still, he's got a new album coming in December, as well as Mixtape Messiah 5 in November. Hopefully, he'll get some commercial acclaim this time round without selling himself out. I can't honestly see him doing that though.

"It took me a while to realize it but Lil Wayne's verse on 'Breakin My Heart' really wasn't bad at all. Put Phonte's voice with Wayne's verse and what would you think?

"I don't want a broken heart because I'd lose the pieces"... that line was gold to me.

More Fish is almost like a half album/half EP to me... wasn't it just songs that weren't used for Fishscale?

Just downloaded 'The Quilt' today... "I'll never turn down an Oreo if you got it." - Joe

The only thing that annoyed me about Wayne's verse, and a lot of his guest appearances actually, is that he has a tendency to drop too many similes. I know it's a kind of blend between the punchlines style and metaphoric use, but some of them are a bit silly. That being said though, I'll give the song another chance, it's been sometime since I threw GetBack on, so I'll give it a spin this week. That WAS during the time I didn't really like Lil Wayne too so that might have had something to do with it.

"50 got old after the 115th mc he made a dis track for.

At least Eminem can make fun of himself. With 50, it is always about being a fucking thug.

I always said that the rappers who expand their repertoire and purview seem to last while the gangstas and g's end up falling by the waste side.

Just look at Ludacris. his guest spots on Law and Order: SVU should have gotten him an Emmy nomination."

The funny thing about 50 is that when he DOES step outside his thug box, he can make a good song. "A Baltimore Love Thing" was executed well, the singsong hook, compared to the more aggressive verses worked and the production wasn't the usual generic copy of "what's hot" stuff he's been using lately. "God Gave Me Style" was also a pretty open song, which showed he could pen a decent song about enjoying life without money, cars etc., or killing someone.

Still, Curtis had…well, it had "I Get Money" which was saved by the beat alone. Actually, listen to "You Better Watch Me" off LL's latest album, sounds very similar, but it's got that old-school BOOM feel to it. Very enjoyable.

"Is that the same cat that was stealing my Internets?" - nick

I think it was. Unfortunately, said cat was eaten by the hawk and didn't make it to his 2:00 appointment which was upgrading my RAM! COME ON I'm still running 512mb here!

"I think what 50 meant was that while new artists can come out, re-use old ideas, and become popular, 50 is *expected* to reinvent the wheel with each release because he's held to a higher regard." - Joe

Yeah, the thing that annoys me though, is that he ultimately TRIES to, and we get some decent songs out of him, but then he decides not to bother, and we end up with a damn pentagon instead of a wheel. At least he's trying to make actual songs though, instead of some corny ringtone track. Then again, let's pray he doesn't go that route, he might actually make the single catchiest album in the history of the world.

The Rant

I hear that Kanye is intending on putting the auto-tune to ‘good' use on his next album. It's got to be the most annoying thing I've ever heard an artist intending to do. I like Kanye's music a lot, I've got all three of his albums so far and a half dozen mixtapes on the PC, but if this next one is say, +70% auto-tune, I probably won't buy it.

When T-Pain first came on the scene, he was using the affect heavily. Songs like "I'm In Luv" and "I'm Sprung" featured it prominently, and it became his gimmick really. But then on subsequent songs, he's cut back the use, not using it on some songs at all, or if he does, it doesn't really take your focus away from the song itself as much as it used to.

His latest single for example, "Can't Believe It" doesn't really use it as much as other lead singles in his past have, but Wayne seems content to combine the auto-tune and mumbling for one of the most incoherent verses of the year.

It was funny when T-Pain did it, it became part of who he was as a rapper / singer. It was damn funny when Snoop did it for "Sensual Seduction", and when they parodied them and Akon, priceless. Butternut Reduction baby (of course, I can't find the ORIGINAL version of the video now).

But now we've got Chris Brown (or Chrith Brown with his damn lisp) using it, Lil Wayne using it and even 50 Cent on that abysmal song off T.O.S.. With Lil Wayne, it's somewhat entertaining, because when you combine it with his "just finished getting high" flow, and his tendency to ramble, it can be amusing. Chris Brown…just no, and 50 Cent really didn't need "Rider Pt. 2" to hurt sales of T.O.S..

So Kanye uses the auto-tune on the "Lollipop" remix (I think that was the first I heard him use it), and suddenly he becomes fascinated with its use. At the VMA's, he performs "Love Lockdown" off his new album, 808s & Heartbreak and I want to strangle the dude from my living room.

It's not because I think he shouldn't be using it, well I do, but in reality, it's because I see him dooming himself to becoming trapped within the gimmick. Much like Snoop's album, people will be quick to write the whole project off as a bunch of weird crap, instead of appreciating the creativity. Creativity can only go so far when it comes to the auto-tune though.

Still, I will give the album a chance, so long as it isn't basically "T-Pain in disguise Kanye West" music. Here's hoping that Kanye doesn't resort to the auto-tune, gives us a nice solid album to ring in the New Year, but still has a little fun on the creative side.

YouTube For The Week

Ne-Yo – Miss Independent



Apologies if those annoying windows pop up in the video, this was, unfortunately, the best quality vid available, given some people don't like you embedding it on external sites. YOU GUYS SUCK LIKE LEMONS.

Before We Go…

Next week, The Top 10 returns, with I'm feeling…The Top 10 Most Annoying Career Moves. Always something different here.

Catch you tomorrow!