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Norembcr 16 - 22 2011
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 11
Cole World vs. Ambition
vs. Take Care
Taylor Williams
Arts and Entertainment Editor
D rake.J. Cole, and Wale are three of hip-hop’s biggest stars right now. All three rappers have
released major albums this fall and were all solid releases, which has led to a debate about
which album was the best of the three. I dissected each album and graded them individually
on production, lyrics, content, and its features.This week I’m going to focus on the production
and lyrics on the three albums.
AMBITION
Production: B
Producers on Wale's debut album “Attention
COLE WORLD: THE SIDE
LINE STORY
Production: C-
Otherthan being a phenomenal rapper J.
Cole produces as well. On “Cold World:The
Sideline Story,” J. Cole produced 12 of the 16
tracks on his debut album. Other than Kanye
West, Q-Tip, Havoc (of Mobb Deep), and Big
K.R.I.T there aren’t any other rapper/produc
ers. J. Cole has added himself to this short list,
but unlike the aforementioned artists, Cole is
a beat maker and not a producerThe differ
ence between a beat maker and producer is
that a beat maker simply makes the beat with
no layers and no added instrumentation, while
a producer adds the extra layers to the beat
making it more complex and layered. Because
of his lack of skills in that area,J. Cole’s production was subpar and fell short of what it could
have been.
Lyrics: A
Since his mixtape “The Warm-Up,” J. Cole has impressed many with his lyrical ability. He has an
affinity for including double-entendres within his lyrics, which are always interesting to dissect.
J. Cole pens on “Sideline Story,” “No pain, no gain, I blow brains, Cobain, throw flames, Liu Kang,
the coach ain't help out, I call my own shots I’m David Blaine, I'm breakin’ out of my own box,
you stay the same.”
Elijah Peterson
* ■
wearing Ralph
Lauren
Deficit” included Best Kept Secret,The Nep-
tunes, Cool & Dre, Mark Ronson, Dave Sitek,
and Syience.This is a solid list of producers
that any artist making a debut album would
be satisfied with. However: none of these
producers returned to produce a track on
"Ambition,” but the production was still solid.
Producers on “Ambition” include Diplo, Lex
Luger DJToomp, andT-Minus. Wale has always
had a pretty good ear for beats, so it was no
surprise that the production on this album
was astonishing.
Lyrics: A
Wale has always been a strong lyricist, one of the few rappers whose punchlines are so subtle
that it takes multiple listens to catch them.The lyrics on “Ambition” follow along this same path
as he manages to make the listener pay attention.
Wale pens on “Double M Genius,"“A modern-day goodfella, I’m Ray Liotta, loud smoking so
pass the L like a semi-colon.”
If you don’t get ft, take a look at your keyboard.
TAKE CARE
Production: B+
Similar to “Thank Me Later;” Noah “40” Shebib
did the majority of the production on “Take
Care.” It is clear that 40 has grown tremen
dously as a producer since “Thank Me Later.”
Shebib has added more layers to his sound,
which is very evident on “Doing It Wrong”
and “The Real Her" 40 and Drake’s cohesive
ness is at an all-time high. Although 40 did the
majority of the production, the standout beat
on the album was “Lord Knows,” which was
produced by Just Blaze.
Lyrics: B
Drake has always been a strong rapper; argu
ably one of the top rappers in hip-hop right
now. Drake is not a super-witty rapper like
J. Cole or Wale, but he is a very good songwriter He has the ability to make a great sounding,
catchy, and cohesive song, which explains why he has a bunch of hits.
DC’s New 52 Sets a New
Standard for Comics
Kevin Webb
Contributing Writer
O n Aug. 31, DC Comics
launched a historic re
numbering of the entire DC
Universe comic book line
with 52 first issues, which is
entitled “New 52.”
The New 52 shows the entire
DC Comics superhero lineup,
featuring popular characters
such as Batman, Superman
and Green Lantern, revamped
and re-launched with a brand
new first issue. By the end of
September, DC had released
an issue one for 52 new titles
hoping to usher in a new
readership.
In addition to revamping its
creative approach, DC Com
ics announced a brand new
sales initiative to become the
first major comic publisher to
offer its newest books digitally
on the same day as the print
release; a move that could
set the standard in the comic
book industry.
With this change, potential
readers can now purchase and
download every one of the
52 new issues on computers,
iPhones, Android-powered
devices and Amazon Kindles.
However, brick and mortar
stores feared that the same
day digital availability of new
books would hurt the already
struggling sales of print com
ics.
Currently in its third full
month of publication, DC
Comics has gained a strong
hold over the comic book
market share. According to
an August report by Diamond
Comics Distributors, Amer
ica’s other comic book pub
lishing giant, Marvel Comics,
held a majority 42 percent of
the market compared to DCs
34 percent.
With the introduction of
the New 52, the situation re
versed with DC holding a 51
percent share to Marvel’s 30
percent in October.
However, new content is
more important than the
sales. DC has ended the con
voluted, overlapping story
lines that made it difficult for
casual fans to follow their fa
vorite heroes.
DCs writers used the New
52 as an opportunity to re
establish its continuity by
crafting a new timeline for
their iconic superheroes. For
example, Batman #1 does not
attempt to retell the origin
of the character, but instead
creates a new starting point
for readers to follow without
needing to catch up on older
books.
After DC announced that
it would be canceling all of its
on-going series, or potentially
using a new writer to begin
a revamped series in favor of
the New 52, loyal fans met the
move with extreme backlash.
In a business that is often
criticized for its lack of inno
vation in both creative and
sales matters, DC chose to
take the reins and establish a
new standard.
With the new editions
drawing in more, and, most
importantly, new readers than
ever, numbers tell the tale of
their success.
The entire New 52 series is
available at read.dccomics.
com for a free preview of all
52 books and the ability to
purchase new issues starting
at $2.99. The same capabili
ties can also be found via the
DC Comics app in both the
Android Marketplace and
iTunes.
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