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"POP WAS THE KING OF NEW YORK, NOW I'M THE ONE IN CHARGE"

"POP WAS THE KING OF NEW YORK, NOW I'M THE ONE IN CHARGE"

February 18, 2022

The King of New York is one of the most controversial titles in hip hop. Even Nas once said “There's more shit than wanting to be this King of New York shit”. However its still one of the most coveted titles in hip hop because New York was once the mecca of hip hop (which we all know is Atlanta now). There has been many kings of NY, including but not limited to: B.I.G., Hov, 50, just to name a few but for a while that title went void and almost became meaningless. With Atlanta currently having their foot, hand, and Draco on the rap game’s neck, New York didn’t have a true hometown hero they could rally behind for the masses because most NY artists had to keep up with the modern sound to stay relevant.

I.YOU CANNOT SAY POP AND FORGET THE SMOKE!

Then came along the Canarsie MC, POP SMOKE. Pop had all the makings of a superstar and was clearly getting ready to be the undisputed king of NY Hip Hop due to being a pioneer of Brooklyn Drill + His aura that was reminiscent of Get Rich or Die Tryin’ 50. When Pop met his untimely demise it felt like once again the King of NY seat would be empty for a while. Lil TJay snuck in some hits, Kay Flock is leading the charge in the Bronx, but are they King of NY material? Who knows beloved. But there is one name that had the potential to take the throne and that is frequent Pop Smoke collaborator and fellow Brooklynite, Fivio Foreign.

II.VIRAL

Fivio may have seem like another notch on the belt which is drill rap but then he got the biggest feature on the critically acclaimed, DONDA album by Kanye West. The track “Off the Grid” which also features Playboi Carti, gives Fivio Foreign the most blatant headstart for a musical run, since 2chainz on “Mercy”. Once the beat switches to the signature Drill slider synth, Fivi goes off for probably 32+ bars of simple but effective lyrics.

That Fivi verse on Off the Grid put him on a whole new radar, next thing you know features everywhere! Also, most of the songs are being tailored to him so he can give that same crushing flow from ”Off the Grid”. Once he dropped “City of Gods” w/ Alicia Keys & Ye, he officially made his claim for the throne,

“Pop was the king of New York, Now I’m the n***** in charge”.

Ok! we all know you have to say it first before we believe it right?! So once he said that he officially placed himself under extreme scrutiny. At this point, we know Fivi is the best doing drill rap right now but what would he have to do to take that King of NY title? A Lot!! He has to have people wanna emulate him, his presence has to be everywhere, but most imporantly that first album has to be a classic!!!

Beyond this point is where I acquired new info for the article after its original written date.

III.B.I.B.L.E. TALK

Fivio Foreign dropped his debut studio album, B.I.B.L.E., April 8, 2022. Let me be the first to say the album is……NOT a classic. It starts off cool and he tries to step out on certain songs but it just don’t capture you like it should. Its definitely a strong debut I would say because he can only go up from here but now we have to ask, can he go up from here? Was “Off the Grid” just a moment? B.I.B.L.E. was apparently executive produced by Kanye but is it or me is it hard to see his(Ye) input on this? With all the hype around the album it felt like we should’ve been given way more.

While Fivi’s debut wasn’t bad its not a undisputed instant classic that it should’ve been for a person who claims to be “King of New York”. The throne is still up for grabs in my humble opinion. Who is worthy of it though? Will it be another new young up and comer or will Fivi make me eat my words and take the necessary steps to become the king he wants to be?

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ALBUM CREDITS AND WHY THEY’RE IMPORTANT

​ALBUM CREDITS and WHY THEY’RE IMPORTANT


new kanye west album out now , “YE”, https://tidal.com/album/89768255

new kanye west album out now , “YE”, https://tidal.com/album/89768255

 Today a new Kanye album has released and it sparked something in me about album credits. Being that I heard the album during a livestream it made me wonder about who produced what, who’s featured, what are the name of these samples??!


 Gone are the days of flipping through that CD book admiring the fresh photo shoot, reading the thank you note, and of course the album credits(which sometime featured lyrics).


 Album credits are essential to an album because you can see everyone who contributed to the sound that are pleasing to your ears.


 For example, Kanye West’s All of The Lights from his 2010 album “MY BEAUTIFUL DARK TWISTED FANTASY”. It was like a thousand people on that song and without the credits it would hard to identify everyone who was apart of that song.

1. everyone’s voice wasn’t distinguishable

2. Every person behind each instrument/lyric cannot be identified.

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My album. FIRST OF HIS NAME, out now , go to the music tab to listen. Also on all streaming platforms.

My album. FIRST OF HIS NAME, out now , go to the music tab to listen. Also on all streaming platforms.

 Album credits add to the excitement of the album. Even with my own album, if you check the iTunes info you can see the names of people I went to school with and samples I’ve used that may not be identifiable. It makes people wanna listen even more when they can identify with something so close to them like seeing they’re on name or hearing themselves.

 

 With the digital takeover, the CD collector has been at a disadvantage with fully capturing the moment of purchasing a new album.

 But thanks to Platforms like TIDAL that include the credits, users can get a sense of the old times once more.

 

 

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LAYERS

LAYERS

 I was listening to the recent episode of OTHERtone [Hosted by Pharrell Williams & Scott Vener] when Pharrell gave someone advice on the vocals of their music. He told him he should stack the tracks so that he can get more depth and a bigger sound out of the vocals. Then I watched a video of legendary artist Hajime Sorayama, who is known for his meticulous detailing and all throughout the video he keeps putting layers and layers of different grays to give the picture more depth. Which brings me to my point, layers are what make simple things complex and interesting. 

 Imagine if a person just had one trait about them and nothing else…that would be an extremely dull/boring person. However learning what’s underneath a person and finding out multiple things about them is what makes them seem otherworldly and uncanny. A person without layers is like baking a cake and skipping out on key ingredients, it’s definitely isn’t going to be a cake you wanna eat.

 Another example to consider, is the lyrics of JAY Z. JAY Z is known for his double(sometimes triple) entendres and saying things that you don’t understand until much later in life. When JAY adds those levels of depth and perspective to his music it makes you(the listener) gain a deeper understanding of him that makes him complex and interesting.

 So that’s the power of layers, it’s always something new to discover it only depends on how deep you’re willing to go.