Arobie1992 - It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back VS The Infamous lyrics

ChrisDono17 - It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back Initial Argument: Rebu*tal: Jalf - The Infamous Initial Argument: Though it opens with “The Start Of Your Ending”, Mobb Deep's second album The Infamous certainly began a whole lot more than that. Released in 1995, Prodigy and Havoc's cla**ic has a genius production to it and gritty realism and an*lysis to its lyrics that still makes it worthy of comparison to the cla**ics after and certainly influenced all of them. In terms of cla**ics beforehand, Public Enemy's It Takes A Nation… (working together to be bothered to read this album title) I've been drawn against must certainly seen as a leading light of 80s music- but decidedly lacks the same influence and universal appeal that the dateless Infamous holds As mentioned, The Infamous holds a gritty realism of mob life to it while also holding up a mirror to this lifestyle with interesting an*lysis. The rife anger of “The Infamous” prelude shows this, while lyrics on “Trife Life” with lyrics like “Every angle of the car was smoked out and tinted / So we couldn't tell if the enemy was in it” both giving a vivid image of gang paranoia and explaining why (too much MJ) with “smoked out and tinted”. This compelling and fearless self-an*lysis literally reaches boiling point with the conceptual track of “Temperature Rises”. The song is narrated by someone holding back information about a fugitive from the police- and its general feeling gives that kind of action to explanation paranoia- and could even be seen as a metaphor for how Hectic and Prodigy feel about honestly informing, so to speak, on their lifestyles in completely honesty and an*lysis. This is honesty and an*lysis comprises achievement that was almost unique at the time- as many rappers simply spat about their gangster lifestyles without really considering it, such as Easy E or most of Biggie Smalls discography. Public Enemy in It Takes A Million do fantastically to deliver a very strong, but perhaps vague, message of uprising and revolution- however there is little sophistication or self-an*lysis to this message that is held by The Infamous. Indeed it has inspired many to do the same since, with perhaps only Eminem achieving the same kind of introspection and complete honesty, while even more recently rappers like 50 Cent with his hard, too many attractive lifestyle and Kendrick Lamar with his incisive an*lysis fail to achieve this same compelling combination In terms of sonic concept The Infamous also has strong and compelling arc which is very arguably superior to that of It Takes A Nation. Produced solely between Havoc (making probably one of the most suitably named and successful rapper-producers in history- up there with Kanye) and the legend Q-Tip, The Infamous makes a use of acoustic and universal instruments that is way ahead of its time. This can be seen from the soft double ba** and the raw violin sample on “Right Back At You”, the piano in “The Start of Your Ending” or penetrating snare in “Temperature Rising”. This eclectic and universal use of instruments gave hip hop a appealing sound to almost every ear- and was taken up gladly in 2Pac's later albums for example, and the career of Eminem when rap turned into a worldwide sensation- essentially dominating the charts in the 10 years that followed The Infamous' release. Public Enemy's default employment of a their G-funky squeal throughout most of their tracks, while charming, pales in comparison in terms of longevity and influence. Reverb is also used to a liberal and progressive extent from the very “Infamous Prelude” of the the album as the studio's voices ghostly echo away. This echoing reverb is used throughout the album to give it that haunted, profound feeling “Up North” or at the very end of “Party Over”. Along with this (also launched in the “Infamous Prelude”) is the theme that we're literally in the studio with Prodigy and Hectic as they make the cla**ic. The frequent acapella intermissions and prelude contribute to this feeling, of the duo talking away from the mic, into the mic- so to speak. This gives a sense of honesty and realism that makes the hardcore subjects Mobb Deep rap about even impacting. It Takes A Nation on the other hand, while delivering well to start with “In Countdown To Armageddon” the opposite idea of them playing to a concert hall, arguably then forgets this theme- rushing in another canned crowd sound with “Caught, Can We Get a Witness?”, and then largely forgetting about it. The Infamous has cohesiveness and ambitiousness with its sound that escapes the dated impression one gets from listening to It Takes A Nation On its initial release The Infamous got full or a half of full stars in every review except that of the Rolling Stone- who then ate their words later on in 2005 when retrospect they gave it 5/5. Indeed even this initial success has since been overshadowed as The Infamous has come to be recognise almost universally as cla**ic in 90s hip hop and in my opinion all time as you can still see its influence particularly in the use of live production and reverb that defined Dr Dre's later aftermath particularly in the Eminem Show for example.Furthermore more than simply being a highly influential album- it is regarded by many as the cornerstone of hardcore (such as Steve Huey from AllMusic, to mention but one). The gritty realism and pure hardness shown in The Infamous has been the holy grail for rappers ever since- to be truly considered real. Though It Takes A Million is lapped up by the world New Yorker readers NME rankings- the world rap has historically and should sonically choose The Infamous over it every time, especially when comparing the albums in relation to the modern day Rebu*tal: