1001 Albums Summary

This album is very well produced and has a nice cinematic feel to it. I do not typically listen to Hip-hop as it not really what I enjoy listening to, but on this album, there were moments which positivley surprised me. The electronic samples are layered very well throughout the album. Swimming Pools is a standout song, with its synthetic keyboards and synthetic drums and I like the use of Hi-Hats on the song too. Lyrically, there are metaphors and annecdotes mixed in with humour which portray a bleak/seedy look into urban life and working class America. Themes of Violence and Peer Pressure are sprinkled throughout the album and how once you are involved in something too deep, you can never get out. This allows the theme of Drug and Alcohol abuse to come into play, as the characters in this album use drugs and alcohol as a form on escapisim (from the life that they have found themselves in). I must iterate that I do not listen to Hip-hop so I do not know the criteria of what makes a Hip-hop record great or even stand out, but my enjoyment form this record came from the presentation of the narrative, the narrative itself and how the lyrics have a narrative feel to them. The sound of the album was not always my cup of tea, but it had it's moments. 3/5