|
Louder, I'm surprised by your reaction to this new Blonde. Not as surprised as I was when you flat out hated TLOP, but still... pretty shocked that you aren't more stoked about it.
I think Endless is a more interesting entity and its quietly experimental in a fresh and welcome way, but I REALLY dig Blonde, and I think he chose the stronger individual songs for the actual album. Endless is, like you said, "sketches," strung together in a hypnotic and mesmerizing way. It's awesome that his toss-off material is so strong, and the fact that it all runs together makes it feel very unique. It's great, but honestly I'm glad it's not the album. It's a bit of a tense listen, and the tension never really breaks. So I'm glad Blonde has a bit more to it. I'd be disappointed if channelO was followed up by something as minimal as Endless.
It's hard to compare it to Orange, though. CO is right behind MBDTF and Good kid on the decade's list of hip-hop & hip-hop adjacent classics. I think it would be really hard for something to live up to it right out of the gate. But Blonde has a lot going for it, and I'm pretty sure it'll be a classic itself soon. I hope you give it a chance to simmer.
|