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I'm in the essay writing mood so i thought id write a little piece about IANAHB2 in particular why it is over-hated as a project and why it is influential in its own
I am not a human being released in 2013 after a pretty evident decline in quality by Wayne across 2012's D4 and the 2012-2013 feature run, the verses and songs that released in this era lacked the normal care and quality that wayne used to demonstrate throughout his C1-C3 run in fact it seemed that Wayne was falling into an even worse regression from his weak 2009-2011 supa dupa/corny bars era and became creatively vacant as a result with genre defining and altering albums like Good Kidd Madd City/Yeezus dropping in the same window as IANAHB2 as well as the rise of groups like Odd Future/GOOD MUSIC and the rise of other YMCMB stars like DRAKE/NICKI hopes , hype and expectations for IANAHB2 were non existence and Wayne as an artist was taken less seriously then ever before which was especially a shame since WAYNE revived and rebirthed rap music as a genre from 2005-2011 and nearly singlehandly ensured that hip-hop remained relevant and diverse
"My bum-ass album coming out March 26... it's 26? You're gonna get that shit or you won't. If not, it's whatever."
with no surprise the release of IANAHB2 landed and was panned critically hip hop fans and critics alike began to wonder and consider if Wayne still had anything to offer the genre anymore? main critisims of the album centered around waynes seemingly lack of interest and his reliance on sub-par/flat lines and that a considerable amount of the production was forgettable these criticisms are self-evident and completely valid but of-course shitting on IANAHB2 is a lot easier then defending and making a case for it which is what im endeavouring to do here so lets go
Uh, it sucks. I hate it. But it's a new album, it's for the people. It's I Am Not a Human Being II.
So what does IANAHB2 do right? i argue that the throw paint at the wall and hope it leaks into a work of art approach kind of admirable with this project.We can see this type of approach occur with artists like THUG nowadays in which lyrical content falls by the way side in the effort of making the most craziest and catchiest tracks possible which is where this album truly sticks out from the rest in Waynes catalogue this album singlehandly has some of waynes very best and catchiest hooks
The Album is catchy af + Has great hooks Some of my favourites from Wayne: Gunwalk, Curtains, Trigger Finger and the features themselves also offered a bunch of fire hook -2 Chainz on Rich As Fuck Drake & Future going back and fourth on a hook on Love Me Which was next level at the time and has more then stood the test of time Detail on No Worries Juicy J on Tripp if you need hooks and catchiness this albums is most certainly qualified and in extension of that each of these features offered up distinctive strengths that they usually bring to they own music and helps give the album a unique diversity
Interesting Concepts
you know me, just the thoughts on the left side of my brain, I just put 'em together and made an album of it. And then, you know, later comes the rest.
"On I Am Not a Human Being, he is definitely showing some weirdo, left-brain, I'm-not-from-here type side. He can say what he wants. There are no boundaries, there are no limits."
I Am Not Human Being 2 as described by Wayne himself (and mack) as a collection of all the wacky ideas and concepts that occur on "left side" of his brain which is of course the "creative" side of the human brain as opposed to the logical problem solving right side Wayne is not solving a problem on this album Wayne is not logically constructing songs carefully keeping himself in the boundaries of reasonableness IANAHB2 is an album that is ready to take risks and marinate and dive deep into ideas that wouldn't usually be built upon and for that alone i can definitely admire the project. <br><br>which artist can confidently get behind the mic and make a song like back to you? like romance? like my homies still? hell like wowzerz? only an artist with the range and unfiltered confidence like wayne could realistically even attempt to make music like this at that time NO one in the genre was making music like it, now? every second artist attempts to approach they music in this way in fact artists like Young Thug have built an entire career on this very approach as such i believe IANAHB2 to be incredibly influential in its own
the album also has some of the most bizarre out worldly verses and lines in rap music history
To many versions made/lack of focus was its biggest hinderance in the end
i truly am of the belief that this album went through multiple versions and track-lists which hurt and dismantled the ultimate product we got in the end i'm not sure if any album in Waynes career (besides C5) went through as many versions and ideas as IANAHB2 this is supported by the interviews leading up the album but as well as a number of leaks that saw the light in recent years GWG sessions were rumoured to be "OG IANAHB2" this is supported by the listening experience of an MTV journalist who stated that "Carter 2 Wayne" is back on IANAHB2 i mean anyone who listens to the 2013 released version can very clearly identify that not to be the case however GWG sessions contained sessions from C3 and some OG I CANT FEEL MY FACE sessions that were worked upon by Wayne its very possible that Wayne intended to revisit a bunch of old C3/C4 ETC. sessions and update them with the IANAHB2 touch these sessions provided us with some unique gems like: KIDNAP CUPID, LIGHT, WORLD ON MY SHOULDERS, STARING AT THE WORLD it seems that the 2012 IANAHB2 was about to sound very different to the version we eventually got in the end its a shame that songs in this era are very likely lost to time and will not surface but its very possible that the best version of IANAHB2 remains on a YMCMB team members hard drive and may not see the light of day ever its surprising to me that anyone thought wowzers are deserving of immediate release when sessions like the above exist^ Wayne was also rumoured to drop DEVOL which very clearly built up to the songs like BACK TO YOU, ROMANCE two of some of the better tracks on the project seems the label pushed Wayne to produce a standard rap album whilst Waynes intentions were ready to be placed elsewhere
"My bum-ass album coming out March 26... it's 26? You're gonna get that shit or you won't. If not, it's whatever."
with no surprise the release of IANAHB2 landed and was panned critically hip hop fans and critics alike began to wonder and consider if Wayne still had anything to offer the genre anymore? main critisims of the album centered around waynes seemingly lack of interest and his reliance on sub-par/flat lines and that a considerable amount of the production was forgettable these criticisms are self-evident and completely valid but of-course shitting on IANAHB2 is a lot easier then defending and making a case for it which is what im endeavouring to do here so lets go
Uh, it sucks. I hate it. But it's a new album, it's for the people. It's I Am Not a Human Being II.
So what does IANAHB2 do right? i argue that the throw paint at the wall and hope it leaks into a work of art approach kind of admirable with this project.We can see this type of approach occur with artists like THUG nowadays in which lyrical content falls by the way side in the effort of making the most craziest and catchiest tracks possible which is where this album truly sticks out from the rest in Waynes catalogue this album singlehandly has some of waynes very best and catchiest hooks
The Album is catchy af + Has great hooks Some of my favourites from Wayne: Gunwalk, Curtains, Trigger Finger and the features themselves also offered a bunch of fire hook -2 Chainz on Rich As Fuck Drake & Future going back and fourth on a hook on Love Me Which was next level at the time and has more then stood the test of time Detail on No Worries Juicy J on Tripp if you need hooks and catchiness this albums is most certainly qualified and in extension of that each of these features offered up distinctive strengths that they usually bring to they own music and helps give the album a unique diversity
Production
Moving on from hooks but still very much focusing on the catchy qualities of this album moving our focus to the production displayed i never quite understood the criticisms of the production on this album from critics and fans alike i find a lot of these beats unique diverse and one of the biggest strengths to this project as a whole beats like trippy, back to you, romance, rich as f, trigger finger, love me are modern and diverse and unique to the point they give the album much needed diversity and a sound that most certainly couldn't be replicated easilInteresting Concepts
you know me, just the thoughts on the left side of my brain, I just put 'em together and made an album of it. And then, you know, later comes the rest.
I Am Not Human Being 2 as described by Wayne himself (and mack) as a collection of all the wacky ideas and concepts that occur on "left side" of his brain which is of course the "creative" side of the human brain as opposed to the logical problem solving right side Wayne is not solving a problem on this album Wayne is not logically constructing songs carefully keeping himself in the boundaries of reasonableness IANAHB2 is an album that is ready to take risks and marinate and dive deep into ideas that wouldn't usually be built upon and for that alone i can definitely admire the project. <br><br>which artist can confidently get behind the mic and make a song like back to you? like romance? like my homies still? hell like wowzerz? only an artist with the range and unfiltered confidence like wayne could realistically even attempt to make music like this at that time NO one in the genre was making music like it, now? every second artist attempts to approach they music in this way in fact artists like Young Thug have built an entire career on this very approach as such i believe IANAHB2 to be incredibly influential in its own
the album also has some of the most bizarre out worldly verses and lines in rap music history
To many versions made/lack of focus was its biggest hinderance in the end
i truly am of the belief that this album went through multiple versions and track-lists which hurt and dismantled the ultimate product we got in the end i'm not sure if any album in Waynes career (besides C5) went through as many versions and ideas as IANAHB2 this is supported by the interviews leading up the album but as well as a number of leaks that saw the light in recent years GWG sessions were rumoured to be "OG IANAHB2" this is supported by the listening experience of an MTV journalist who stated that "Carter 2 Wayne" is back on IANAHB2 i mean anyone who listens to the 2013 released version can very clearly identify that not to be the case however GWG sessions contained sessions from C3 and some OG I CANT FEEL MY FACE sessions that were worked upon by Wayne its very possible that Wayne intended to revisit a bunch of old C3/C4 ETC. sessions and update them with the IANAHB2 touch these sessions provided us with some unique gems like: KIDNAP CUPID, LIGHT, WORLD ON MY SHOULDERS, STARING AT THE WORLD it seems that the 2012 IANAHB2 was about to sound very different to the version we eventually got in the end its a shame that songs in this era are very likely lost to time and will not surface but its very possible that the best version of IANAHB2 remains on a YMCMB team members hard drive and may not see the light of day ever its surprising to me that anyone thought wowzers are deserving of immediate release when sessions like the above exist^ Wayne was also rumoured to drop DEVOL which very clearly built up to the songs like BACK TO YOU, ROMANCE two of some of the better tracks on the project seems the label pushed Wayne to produce a standard rap album whilst Waynes intentions were ready to be placed elsewhere
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