Even if it was my favorite artist, no album is that urgent to where I would need to sign up for a competing streaming service just to hear it a week or two earlier.
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Jay-Z's Album '4:44' Ends Tidal Exclusivity and Debuts on Apple Music and iTunes
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Thanks for the summation. Very informative. I'll be happily avoiding this one-dimensional, on-the-nose, no-subtext object lesson drivel.
And you, in turn, have misspelled the name of what is arguably one of the most influential music groups of all time, The Beatles.
Karma is a mean one, I probably deserved it for something.
A lot of popular music is very creepy and the lyrics and videos for them incorporate imagery and symbols that don't make sense unless you understand what they are really singing about and why. And it's not necessarily what their spin for general public consumption says it is.
If you realize a lot of these people in the music and entertainment business at large got sucked into some weird occult stuff for some reason that I, as a fan of logic and reason will never understand, then it will start to come together and make sense. Otherwise you're going to keep seeing weird costumes and lyrics and symbology that seems to come out of nowhere and makes an otherwise interesting and normal song seem off putting. FYI, numerology is very significant to people mixed up in this stuff. When they use numbers, it's for a reason.
Katy Perry's really gone off the rails these days, for example. My 12 year old liked a couple of her songs and her friends' parents liked Katy because most of her concerts and videos were more or less okay for that age group. But her videos have gotten progressively bizarre and the latest one is outright disgusting and had us moms and dads agreeing we would ban it at our houses. (We look out for each other's kids when we host get togethers).
As a parent who has to screen through all the stuff the kids listen to and watch, I was pretty mystified at first at what I was seeing in pop music. I kept seeing common themes and symbols and performers going through similar stages of their careers that also included a phase of compete bat poop crazy breakdowns and dead eyed blank faces. Kanye definitely exemplified this. Britney was another. Mariah. Miley.
While some of it can be attributed to stress or substance abuse, other parents clued me into what was going on with the occult aspect of entertainment and some of the random but repeated elements I was seeing started to make sense. It's really weird. Seeing adults messing around with occult symbols and ritualistic behavior like emo teenagers just puzzles me.
I'm hoping it's just some weird Hollyweird fad, but after learning that one of my own childhood music idols is also into this stuff and had always been, I'm taken aback. It's really sad if these people take it seriously and think they are going to gain anything by all this negative and often violent imagery they are putting out for public consumption.
Edit to add: I'm not sure that's what's going on with this song or album, just saying there is something weird going on in entertainment at large that may explain when songs and videos have creepy inexplicable elements.
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You're very much welcome to avoid it. Not everything is for everyone, but I'm only suggesting you be educated on the subject you're spewing venom towards.
I like my art metaphorical with subtext. Your assessment suggests a lack of subtext therefore an absence of insight, as we're merely told the bald exposition of who is who and what is what. Also from your review, the substance of Mr. Z's lyrics seem more like object lessons and cautionary tales, not aesthetics.
Great assessment Asarien. I happen to be a huge fan of Jay-Z. I'm also a fan of hundreds of artists that cover many genres. The works of many of these artists caused me to reach beyond what I was comfortable with and appreciate the beauty in what they created. For example, I had honestly never really understood who Chris Cornell was until he died. Once I started to get into the music he helped create I was hooked. Did I go listen to every Audioslave or Soundgarden album on Apple Music, of course not. However, I can say that when I came across the song I Am the Highway, I was moved by the lyrics and beauty of the song. If you trash an artist or album without first listening and understanding, it says more about you than anything else. For those of you who only have a surface understanding of Jay-Z or his art I would suggest purchasing the book Decoded by Jay-Z. It may be your thing or it may not be. Researching and appreciating things you don't understand or that are unfamiliar should be a hallmark of the contributors to a site like Macrumors.
LOL. I feel like Wikipedia came to the rescue on this one. Either way, good job providing information that I care about more than JayZ.
The Macrumors community does a pretty good job of tearing itself part without the help of jay-z...
Eh, we are always arguing like this. And I always make the occasional weird post. It's business as usual. It's been a fun thread. Jay Z is way more interesting than I thought. It's not surprising he's a polarizing figure, though.
I listened to the album yesterday while working. It's quite sample-heavy; I really enjoyed the overall 'sound' of the work, seemed very summery.
It appears a lot of people get far too hung up on genre and limit themselves instead of just enjoying a wide gamut of music.
It appears a lot of people get far too hung up on genre and limit themselves instead of just enjoying a wide gamut of music.
This should help your memory:
Google Search = Macrumors beatles on itunes
MacRumors 11-23-2010: The Beatles on iTunes: Two Million Songs, 450,000 Albums Sold (175 comments)
MacRumors 11-16-2010: The Beatles Appear in iTunes Store (1928 comments]
MacRumors 12-22-2015: The Beatles Are Coming to Apple Music on Christmas Eve (150 comments)
MacRumors 11-15-2010: More Speculation for Tomorrow: Beatles on iTunes (1050 comments)
Voucher code doesn't work anymore if anyone else is interested.
You guys are making me want to check out this album, even though I'm not a big fan of Jay-Z. I agree though, not willing to pay $10 to try out an album.
Apple has a great selection of non-American music, including the Arabic music* that really doesn't match any of the usual genres. That's what made me use Apple Music over Pandora, Spotify, etc., which in my experience had nothing.
* Robert Plant (of Led Zeppelin) is a fan, and Led Zeppelin's later music (not just Kashmir) was partially influenced by classical Arabic music, part of what makes them unique.
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- A lot of music is on Apple Music. Most poeople, like myself, don't have time to listen to everything we want to hear.
- Id, along with many others, would like to spend 37 min doing something I like doing.
- dont care if someones a succesful this or has X money's. If that's what you base respect on good for you. Don't respect him myself so why should I listen to him?
- A lot of non-commercial music is riddled with messages. So what? I listen to "mature" music already.
- I'm sure billionaire level failures, mom coming out, cheating on wife and being a ****** father are relatable to you but not everyone else. I as a 20 something Mexican male have no connection with someone like him.
Listen, you're doing what you're calling out. I don't like modern rap but you don't hear me saying **** about a great album and rationalizing it for you. Honestly think this story just shouldn't be here and causes these responses. It's not that related to Apple and just pop trivial bs.
