OT: - Super Bowl best ad | Page 4 | The Boneyard

OT: Super Bowl best ad

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I genuinely can't imagine someone with internet access (and access without paywalls in your case) not knowing who Kendrick Lamar is. He's been the face of rap for pushing 15 years now.
I have had internet access since the early 90s and had never heard of him before the SB (and quickly forgot about him as soon as I learned that he presents insufferable noise rather than music) .
 
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It must really suck becoming the meme. Hope this never happens to me.
Music taste is clearly highly subjective, was a little harsh on calling it noise - you’re right in that if you’re not purely into lyrics and into at least some of the narrative that is Lamar, his music will not hit home.

Me personally, I enjoy great vocals, instrumental talents. I like a melody, a chorus, crescendo, some high to low. He’s more of a poet than he is a singer, and there’s really not much to it beyond the words. No one is applauding the synthesized beats in the background. He’s also good at stirring sh&t up, which I guess is also a skill today. To each their own. I appreciate unique tastes just don’t connect with this particular form.
 
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Music taste is clearly highly subjective, was a little harsh on calling it noise - you’re right in that if you’re not purely into lyrics and into at least some of the narrative that is Lamar, his music will not hit home.

Me personally, I enjoy great vocals, instrumental talents. I like a melody, a chorus, crescendo, some high to low. He’s more of a poet than he is a singer, and there’s really not much to it beyond the words. No one is applauding the synthesized beats in the background. He’s also good at stirring sh&t up, which I guess is also a skill today. To each their own. I appreciate unique tastes just don’t connect with this particular form.
I think calling it noise was kind of the opposite of what it was, because the mixing and production was pretty underwhelming. Could barely hear the background music a lot of it lol
 
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I think calling it noise was kind of the opposite of what it was, because the mixing and production was pretty underwhelming. Could barely hear the background music a lot of it lol
I just don’t think that venue works for how his style is intended to grab the audience.

I was at a loud party with 50 people at it. If you’re not focused on the lyrics, there’s really not much else to appreciate.
 
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I think there is more to it than that. It’s behavior, cultural shifts, distractions and technology more than it is opportunities to be creative. Music is a platform with endless ways to be creative, but time has to be invested, passion & collaboration needed. And maybe some good old fashioned boredom to give the brain time to think creatively. Kids these days don’t have the time to sit in the garage and jam.


But then again, jazz people always thought rock was lazy and lacked creativity and were frustrated that people could get famous strumming the same three chords and “making noise”.

I’d say rap was never my thing. But in my college years, I’d crank up Nuthin’ But A G Thing and starting singing “it’s like this and like that and like this and uh”. I couldn’t get the hook from OPP by Naghty by Nature (the actual correct spelling gets filtered - ha)out of my head. Heck I watched the Humpty Dance video enough times to get almost all those lyrics down. Those songs were catchy and fun and/or cutting edge.

Nowadays the creativity is largely on a computer, finding the right samples, beats and lyrics, and effects to put together the right hooks. It’s different - but it isnt necessarily not creative. I don’t particularly care for it - the lyrics and poetry feels authentic but the music part totally lacks humanity to me. But I have my biases from how I absorbed music in my formative years.

Rap has been front and center for 30 years now and may soon get old. Maybe something new will come along, or maybe guitar rock will become fresh again. There have been some rock elements to mainstream songs from Olivia Rodrigo and Billie Eilish, who have had massive popularity, so it isn’t out of the question that a new Beatles or Nirvana could change the landscape again. Ideally (to me) stripping away the computers and auto tune and being more raw. But the old people don’t usually have a say in which way art evolves.
 
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I just don’t think that venue works for how his style is intended to grab the audience.

I was at a loud party with 50 people at it. If you’re not focused on the lyrics, there’s really not much else to appreciate.
It would have been a lot better if:

A: The crowd noise and background mysic was mixed in better
B: He played 1 or 2 classics
C: He brought on some other legends, for example Dre. Or featured some more in general.

I’m a huge Kendrick fan, as you can tell. I enjoyed it, I liked this last album, SZA is great, and his music is A LOT more interesting than most today. But, it definitely could’ve been a bit better. I gave it like 7/7.5
 
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But then again, jazz people always thought rock was lazy and lacked creativity and were frustrated that people could get famous strumming the same three chords and “making noise”.

I’d say rap was never my thing. But in my college years, I’d crank up Nuthin’ But A G Thing and starting singing “it’s like this and like that and like this and uh”. I couldn’t get the hook from OPP by Naghty by Nature (the actual correct spelling gets filtered - ha)out of my head. Heck I watched the Humpty Dance video enough times to get almost all those lyrics down. Those songs were catchy and fun and/or cutting edge.

Nowadays the creativity is largely on a computer, finding the right samples, beats and lyrics, and effects to put together the right hooks. It’s different - but it isnt necessarily not creative. I don’t particularly care for it - the lyrics and poetry feels authentic but the music part totally lacks humanity to me. But I have my biases from how I absorbed music in my formative years.

Rap has been front and center for 30 years now and may soon get old. Maybe something new will come along, or maybe guitar rock will become fresh again. There have been some rock elements to mainstream songs from Olivia Rodrigo and Billie Eilish, who have had massive popularity, so it isn’t out of the question that a new Beatles or Nirvana could change the landscape again. Ideally (to me) stripping away the computers and auto tune and being more raw. But the old people don’t usually have a say in which way art evolves.
IDK on the 3rd paragraph. There is something to be said for a group of artists harmonizing real instruments with human hands and then watching them work together. Listening to a product of a singular dude mixing computerized beats in his basement just doesn't hit the same. Not unlike sports teams, when you get that unique collective that somehow becomes magic (Uconn 2024), it's that which hooks us in.

I've liked plenty of rap selectively over the years. Def not the favorite genre, but the top 5% is great. Tend to like the stuff with samples, and/or some melody to it. The straight flatline rap does nothing for me.

Do agree with the last take that it would have been cool if Lamar brought in a couple cool big name colabs, just to bring some vibe in. The whole ensemble felt pretty flat to me. The Samuel L bit was cheezy, yes I know he was Uncle S. Speaking of which, was watching Coming to America with the wife Saturday and Sammy played a bit role, who knew. One of his first movie gigs.
 

HuskyWarrior611

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It would have been a lot better if:

A: The crowd noise and background mysic was mixed in better
B: He played 1 or 2 classics
C: He brought on some other legends, for example Dre. Or featured some more in general.

I’m a huge Kendrick fan, as you can tell. I enjoyed it, I liked this last album, SZA is great, and his music is A LOT more interesting than most today. But, it definitely could’ve been a bit better. I gave it like 7/7.5
He goes back and forth between doing what the people want and doing what he feels is best.

He seemed to have chosen the path of what he feels is best with this performance. Definitely something his fans and real hip-hop people will appreciate but will be lost on outside audiences for the most part.

Definitely tried doing a more “impressive” show over an appealing one.
 

storrsroars

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For the olds like me who have no clue why a petty argument was featured on the most watched 20 minutes of the year, here's some background:

So some of it now makes sense. But I'm still hung up on the accusations. If nothing is proved about Drake and paedophilia, then hell yeah, Drake should be suing the hell out of Lamar.
 
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For the olds like me who have no clue why a petty argument was featured on the most watched 20 minutes of the year, here's some background:

So some of it now makes sense. But I'm still hung up on the accusations. If nothing is proved about Drake and paedophilia, then hell yeah, Drake should be suing the hell out of Lamar.
Drake also accused him of Domestic Abuse amongst other things. Its rap, suing over lyrics in a song is weak.
 
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Music taste is clearly highly subjective, was a little harsh on calling it noise - you’re right in that if you’re not purely into lyrics and into at least some of the narrative that is Lamar, his music will not hit home.

Me personally, I enjoy great vocals, instrumental talents. I like a melody, a chorus, crescendo, some high to low. He’s more of a poet than he is a singer, and there’s really not much to it beyond the words. No one is applauding the synthesized beats in the background. He’s also good at stirring sh&t up, which I guess is also a skill today. To each their own. I appreciate unique tastes just don’t connect with this particular form.
This is some top notch personal growth for a 4-page boneyard thread.
 
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Definitely tried doing a more “impressive” show over an appealing one.
That tracks with Kendrick, though. He's an artist first and foremost and he's at a point of his career artistically and financially where he finds more value producing a halftime show that is more "impressive" than necessarily appealing to the masses.

It didn't feel like the "halftime show" but more of a Kendrick multi-media performance and I found it creative/interesting/provoking and liked it.

Back on thread, I liked the commercial that told me to use the bathroom.
 
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Any one of Kendrick's albums has a whole lotta something on Def Leppard's entire catalog. I haven't really listened to him since his first couple albums and that much is obvious.

It's bizarre you think Kendrick is for kids. He's most popular with the 25-40ish crowd. Folks young when MAAD City and DAMN. were popular. All kids know is about the Drake beef and "Not Like Us."
I wanted to like him. I tried and tried but I just don't get it. He's certainly not new but I think he was the start of something that's just turned into a garbage mainstream industry these days. I've loved rap my whole life so this isn't any rock vs. rap thing for me. Mainstream rock is garbage these days as well, IMO. I feel the same way about the Hollywood movie industry of today as well.

When people talk about Kendrick Lamar and Drake as the best ever it's bizarre to me and it's even stranger that this feud is the biggest thing in music. It's a 5 foot dude who sounds like an infant going back and forth with the dude from Degrassi High who was grooming the girl from Stranger Things.

It's hard to believe we went from Rakim, Kool G Rap, Beasties, LL, Ice Cube, Nas, AZ, Big Pun, Andre 3000, Meth, Biggie, Pac, Eminem etc. to these guys being called GOATS and a bunch of guys whining on auto tune and mumbling.

I'm really happy I grew up in the 90's.
 
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I wanted to like him. I tried and tried but I just don't get it. He's certainly not new but I think he was the start of something that's just turned into a garbage mainstream industry these days. I've loved rap my whole life so this isn't any rock vs. rap thing for me. Mainstream rock is garbage these days as well, IMO. I feel the same way about the Hollywood movie industry of today as well.

When people talk about Kendrick Lamar and Drake as the best ever it's bizarre to me and it's even stranger that this feud is the biggest thing in music. It's a 5 foot dude who sounds like an infant going back and forth with the dude from Degrassi High who was grooming the girl from Stranger Things.

It's hard to believe we went from Rakim, Kool G Rap, Beasties, LL, Ice Cube, Nas, AZ, Big Pun, Andre 3000, Meth, Biggie, Pac, Eminem etc. to these guys being called GOATS and a bunch of guys whining on auto tune and mumbling.

I'm really happy I grew up in the 90's.
Kendrick is a better, more creative rapper than a majority of guys you listed. TPAB and GKMC are top tier classic Rap Albums.

It’s your opinion so it’s fair and all, but you are certainly sounding like a nostagia-bias individual.

And I love a lot of those guys too, so i’m not just riding Kendrick. Just crazy that people have to put down him and others in order to raise up their favs.
 
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I wanted to like him. I tried and tried but I just don't get it. He's certainly not new but I think he was the start of something that's just turned into a garbage mainstream industry these days. I've loved rap my whole life so this isn't any rock vs. rap thing for me. Mainstream rock is garbage these days as well, IMO. I feel the same way about the Hollywood movie industry of today as well.

When people talk about Kendrick Lamar and Drake as the best ever it's bizarre to me and it's even stranger that this feud is the biggest thing in music. It's a 5 foot dude who sounds like an infant going back and forth with the dude from Degrassi High who was grooming the girl from Stranger Things.

It's hard to believe we went from Rakim, Kool G Rap, Beasties, LL, Ice Cube, Nas, AZ, Big Pun, Andre 3000, Meth, Biggie, Pac, Eminem etc. to these guys being called GOATS and a bunch of guys whining on auto tune and mumbling.

I'm really happy I grew up in the 90's.
Recency bias at it's best. I like you SuperJohn. Being a fan of petty squabbling through music feels like a sign of the social media times. More look at me, then creative authenticity.

And as much as I want to buy into the spin that KL did what he thought was best for him, dude, it's the Superbowl halftime show, just friggin entertain the masses. This isn't a Lamar only venue where it's only his fans that get him, it's a wide @ss audience.
 

HuskyHawk

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For the olds like me who have no clue why a petty argument was featured on the most watched 20 minutes of the year, here's some background:

So some of it now makes sense. But I'm still hung up on the accusations. If nothing is proved about Drake and paedophilia, then hell yeah, Drake should be suing the hell out of Lamar.
Kind of confirms what I thought. As a topic for great music, this doesn't rate. It's like two 13 year olds insulting each other in the playground. It's not exactly Bob Dylan level thought provoking lyrics. I get why Lamar fans found it fun. The same reason Tom Brady fans enjoyed watching Mahomes fail.

Anybody know why he had a Buick Regal Grand National on stage? That was my favorite part.
 
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Kind of confirms what I thought. As a topic for great music, this doesn't rate. It's like two 13 year olds insulting each other in the playground. It's not exactly Bob Dylan level thought provoking lyrics. I get why Lamar fans found it fun. The same reason Tom Brady fans enjoyed watching Mahomes fail.

Anybody know why he had a Buick Regal Grand National on stage? That was my favorite part.
His latest album was titled GNX.

He grew up in Compton and saw them, it was like a symbol for “making it” to him, at least that’s how he described it.
 
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I wanted to like him. I tried and tried but I just don't get it. He's certainly not new but I think he was the start of something that's just turned into a garbage mainstream industry these days. I've loved rap my whole life so this isn't any rock vs. rap thing for me. Mainstream rock is garbage these days as well, IMO. I feel the same way about the Hollywood movie industry of today as well.

When people talk about Kendrick Lamar and Drake as the best ever it's bizarre to me and it's even stranger that this feud is the biggest thing in music. It's a 5 foot dude who sounds like an infant going back and forth with the dude from Degrassi High who was grooming the girl from Stranger Things.

It's hard to believe we went from Rakim, Kool G Rap, Beasties, LL, Ice Cube, Nas, AZ, Big Pun, Andre 3000, Meth, Biggie, Pac, Eminem etc. to these guys being called GOATS and a bunch of guys whining on auto tune and mumbling.

I'm really happy I grew up in the 90's.
I feel like if you had to pick two of the bigger name modern rappers for someone that likes that list, it would be Kendrick and J Cole.
 

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