TESTING - Causing Controversy

ima start off by saying i really like this album. now, before you start arguing with me in your head, hear me out haha. I had tweeted that I think this album might be Rocky's '808s & heartbreak' and whewwww y'all came for me. let me just say, im not directly comparing the two ALBUMS. im comparing the situations. when 808's dropped everyone hated it. it was nothing like what Kanye had previously put out. People thought 808's was "boring" and "weird". fast forward to now and we recognize 808's and Heartbreak as a CLASSIC, an album that really shifted music from that point forward. maybe not right away, but we listen to music today and any "banger" without heavy 808's slapped on, isn't a "banger". not only that but just the entire sound of hip hop took a shift because we were introduced to a different sound. 

artists drop albums that establish themselves and bring them traction into the industry. once artists have an actual outlet and audience, they’re able to put out projects & still have listeners regardless. sure, we may view some of these projects as "lazy" moments where music is put out without thought. but, we have to shift our perspectives of artists and music when we get into new songs, ep’s or albums. artists create ART. without labels, just art. when we break it down to something that simple we are able to listen with fresh ears. 

oftentimes we go into it expecting a similar sound to an artists older work. however, how do we expect music to grow and evolve if the same artists are constantly putting out the same sounding music? not only that, but lets bring up the fact that when an artist DOES have a consistent sound, people complain about the artist remaining stagnant in their art. artists need to evolve. artists WANT to evolve. putting out the same thing over and over is what will ultimately be the death of an artist. artists can feel themselves lacking when they are not able to put out different things. in turn, audiences also feel artists are lacking when they don't put out new things, so they move on to newer artists putting new content out. 

we've seen and continue to see this with a ton of other artists. when Tyler the Creator put out cherry bomb, everyone hated it. a good amount of people still do. but when you really take the time to understand what Tyler was doing with Cherry Bomb, you come to respect it. I had listened to a Tyler interview where he explained he went into creating the album just "wanting to make music." He said, “everyone hated it. Except for, like, real music lovers who cares about drums. Like, I opened a rap album with a rock song.” Tylers 'Flower Boy' was also controversial. people loved it. but no one expected it. Tyler, as an artist, knew he wanted to put out something different, and he did. now lets take a look at Travis Scott. his fans are getting tired of the same huncho jack/birds sound he's had. his features are considered lackluster because they all sound similar. so now we have fans waiting for his album Astroworld, gunning for something different than what we’ve been getting from him. he releases the same type of music, fans will be enraged. he releases something different, fans who love his current stuff will be enraged at the difference.

so i beg the question, at what point do we stop comparing the art these artists are putting out? we’ve stopped taking the music simply for what it is. artists feel proud of what they put out. Rocky specified this album was “experimental”. he literally titled the album TESTING. this is certainly not something Rocky feels will sit beautifully with every audience, BUT he’s confident in it enough for us to appreciate it. the album has a consistent vibe but the songs don’t all sound like the same song. this album is really beautiful in my opinion. i’m not saying its album of the year but i definitely think it’s good.