Hits me in the gut. Takeoff was the relatable one because it felt like he was just happy to be along for the ride. It had to be tough to outshine Quavo and Offset, but he found his own laid back lane that helped make them such a perfect trifecta.

I found myself enjoying his solo album The Last Rocket back in 2018 during the CULTURE afterglow. Had a good psychedelic vibe complimented by Takeoff’s sleepy vibe…

…a vibe he dispels effortlessly on “Slippery”:

They think I been sleep a lot
They think I’m dumb
They don’t know I see the plot

RIP Takeoff

if someone shows they have changed and have been apologetic for past unkind behavior, I am willing to forgive. but so far, 50 cent has not matured into that state, and i have removed his work entirely from my itunes for a variety of reasons, most recently due to homophobic posts allegedly outing young buck and benzino (he has done the same to diddy, steve stoute and rick ross, among others). whether they are gay and he is outing them or if he is using the idea of being gay as an insult, his comments are wrong and hurtful. he has also previously said comments such as, “i don’t like gay people around me because i’m not comfortable with what their thoughts are” and claimed to shoot up a gay wedding. besides the homophobia, he also starts unnecessary beef with many of his contemporaries (from lil kim to french montana and the game to ja rule), has made fun of terry crews for coming forward with being a victim of sexual assault, and continues to mock floyd mayweather for a learning impairment, among many other cruel acts. so i decided last year to no longer support him (i guess mainly that would be through playing his music on streaming platforms), and with that, i will do my best to just comment on the actual song (and any future ones by him) as i recall it through memory (i’m too lazy to pop in the, admittedly amazing, cd).

this is definitely an entertaining song that surprisingly never got irritating for me despite its constant rotation during its peak and eventual birthday celebrations over the past 20 years. 50’s melodic singing during the chorus takes from the ja rule playbook (which i’m sure 50 will never admit to and something he called out kanye west for later on), but i like that its distinctly him and fun to sing along to. 50 even winks at a future rb/hh #1 of his, and does seek consent if mami is into getting rubbed. despite the one gay slur (which i would probably be more forgiving of if he didn’t continue hurling insults in 2022), the rest of the song is pretty harmless and mainly just braggadocious, which is fine. i’ll give “in da club” a 7.

“Did y’all know there was a hurricane?”

“Sorry, can’t understand what you’re saying.”

[Brings out proto-fascist governor with an election in a week and a half who invited himself to the stage]

“Thank you, I’m aware now!”

As with Lose Yourself, this is another one that I’d be hard pressed to rate because of the slur and 50 Cent’s apparently still-ongoing issues with gays. Bottom line–I don’t give a hot damn what context anyone uses the term f*g or any other homophobic slur, once you do it and show little to no remorse for it you’ve effectively lost me and what interest (if any) I had in your music (and I actually think this is one of the better Number Ones of this virtual year, but alas….). I’m also glad Tom owned up to the hypocrisy; he’s dragged previous artists for far less than some of the sh*t both 50 and Eminem have spewed in the last two decades, but whatever. End of rant.

VV Top

Was scrolling down to the comments and fell across this from Tom about the use of F in this song: “The malice wasn’t specifically directed at gay people”.

I get what Tom means but as a gay man it really doesn’t matter who this slur is directed at. Ultimately it’s always directed at us no matter who you think you’re tossing it at.

I know, I’m a broken record on this. I will stfu about this, when we stop seeing it in number one songs…

Gonna go wayyyyyyy out on a limb here and suggest that Luke Bryan doesn’t really give a shit about any of those things because they don’t affect him or his immediate family and friends.

Meanwhile, at the perfect covers side of town . . . 
Johnny Cash released his version of Hurt. 
A song that was made originally by Nine Inch Nails, the one that with an extremely loud guitar crunch before fading into silence as Reznor silently wails, the one that closes The Downward Spiral -a punishing album-, all this didn’t matter anymore after Cash made it his. The video (which is really one of the best that exist) only cemented this as it yuxtaposes scenes of a youthful Cash with him in his advanced, frail state as June Carter watches. 

“White rock stars trying to take back the n-word” was such a weird 70’s trend re: Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello, ect. We get it, you did coke and listened to a Richard Pryor album.

I guess “polarizing figure” is one way to describe someone actively waging war on trans and LGBT people, trying to suppress knowledge in regards to how horrifically America has treated and still treats black people/people of color, and allocating millions of dollars towards anti-immigrant showmanship instead of allocating that money anywhere worthwhile, but go off I guess Bryan. 🙄

Not sure where else this would go but it’s a stoner rock concept album about Arby’s and has some seriously beefed up riffs. Someone make sure meat gets this 🥩