Big Ghost Chronicles & The Needle Drop Present... The Indicud Review

 

Ayo whattup you now in the presence of the mighty Hands Of Zeus aka the grand imperial Cocaine Biceps or the magnificent Galaxy Knuckles etc etc... Truth be told I wasnt gon review this shit cuz I wasnt really feelin the last couple Cudder joints namsayin..so I aint wanna bother listenin to this shit even. But my man Anthony Fantano from The Needle Drop reached out to the god n asked if I was down to do a review wit him for this joint nahmean...so I figured aight... Now normally I aint really do no shit like that  but I figured.. y'kno...that might be a nice twist to the usual format n what have you. This way you gettin two opinions instead of one n we buildin off one another n pointin out the shit that the other mighta missed like Ebert (RIP big homie) n Roper so it aint like whatever whatever namsayin... Plus homie get that YouTube love n he a respected individual n such... I figured if Imma REALLY be gettin that Pulitzer prize in the next 5 years the only way that shit gon happen is if I got the respect of my peers n shit. So me n son kicked it over G-chat n politick'd over this shit n whatever. Now the way this shit is bein presented to yalls is like some unbiased shit. So to keep that extra real I aint gon tell yall who was sayin what til the end...that way what you gettin is jus straight opinions n you aint gon be like AYO WORD I AGREE WIT THAT jus based off the fact you happen to fuck wit Thor Molecules or wit my dude Anthony nahmean. Keepin the shit confidential is gon make it so you forced to think for yaself namsayin. All yall need to kno is that one of us is Y n one of us is Z. Straight like that. It jus makes the whole thing more interesting b. Word is bond...aight lets get into this shit.

   Y: Whattup fam how you wanna start this? Imma jus play the track actually. This shit is called The Resurrection Of Scott Mescudi Y: Kinda dramatic for the name of a song if you ask me. How you feel bout it bruh?Z: It's a pretty epic intro. It's got some Terminator 2 vibes to it, I think.

The damn cover is an explosion, isn't it?Y: Word. Dope cover.

  At first I thought Cudi was going Last Action Hero on this thing...

The beat almost reminds me of Nine Inch Nails, too.

  Do you think it's too much, or does it set the mood, right?

Y: If you got the time/patience to listen to 45 seconds of slow motion robot orgasms before some shit finally happens Im happy for you... but that shit got on my nerves quickfast...at least til the beat kicked in yo. But I aint mad at it. I definitely need to edit the first 45 seconds off that muthafucka tho. 

 Z: What about the Good Son Quote right at the start of the next track? Y: Is that what that shit is from? Yo you really did ya homework son.

  Z: It's like Cudi's making a movie here.

  Do you fuck with Unfuckwittable? Or is it seriously unfuckwittable?

Y: I aint gon front on the movie snippet but the way son is rappin on this shit it sounds like he got hit witta tranquilizer dart or like he a 45 rpm record spinnin at 33-1/3.. feel me?  The beat is wild annoying too yo.

 Z: I think the beat is OK. It's pretty basic.But the synths got a dark vibe.

  What I can't stand is Cudi's singing.

  The dude's got passion, but sometimes he's about as tone deaf as an American Idol tryout.

 Especially when he's calling out like, "Woahhhhhohhhh!"

 Y: Word. Son can come up witta catchy hook here n there... This aint one of those hooks tho.

 Z: It's true. A lotta these beats don't even change up when he slides into the hook. The hook sounds pretty much the same as the chorus.

 Y: This shit is actually a mess yo. If I heard this shit at a club Id throw a chair at the DJ bruh  

 Z: What about Just What I Am? Would you huck anything at the DJ on that one?

 The flow's a bit poppier, but....

 That huge voice on the hook sounds like he grabbed the robot for "Intergalactic" to do a cameo.

  But it's another ultra simple beat with some bare synths.

  I'm not sure if Cudi's guitar leads add much of anything to the recipe. Dude sounds like he's just learning to play guitar.

 Y: Im kinda feelin this one. Reminds me of that Man On The Moon shit. The beat is cool. King Chip floatin on this one too yo...

Y: Shit is mad simple but at least it aint trash like the last one.

 Z: Yeah, it's a better take on the same formula.

 Y: Word. I quasi-fucks wit it too. 

 Z: Young Lady is kind of a change of pace, though. It makes Cudi the first rapper I've ever heard sample Father John Misty. Dude used to play in this folk outfit named Fleet Foxes. The song comes from an album he put out last year titled Fear Fun. Y: I see...I aint kno who Father John Misty was but that shit sounds mad emotional n delicate... I cant realy appreciate no dude wit the word ‘misty’ in his name in the first place namsayin. But yeah I heard of his band. Not really my kinda shit but I wouldnt do nothin violent to nobody over the music they make. But he takin Jesus' name in vain on some blasphemous shit bruh. I aint really wit all that but this shit aight...its aight... Reminds me of that shit the Roots did wit Cody Chestnutt...The Seed.

 Z: Not exactly sure if he grabbed the most interesting part of the song, tho: "JEEEEEEEEEEEESUS CHRIST GIRRRRRRRL!" I guess Cudi is trying to link his lyrics to Father John's, but sitting in the middle of these beats can kinda be like watching paint dry.

 The sample brings a different vibe, but Cudi isn't exactly displaying himself to be a versatile producer so far--even with the sweet background vocals. That guitar part over the bridge is, uh, pretty limp. It's like listening to kids practice Nirvana songs at a guitar shop.

 

 Y: Shit DO gotta amateur vibe to it yo...you right.

 Z: What do you think about the song subject?

  It's kinda like he's secretly creepin' on this girl from afar. I guess he's just kinda muttering all of this stuff to himself about this girl.

 Y: I had no idea thats what this shit was bout... Personally I dont condone NONE of that fam...I dont condone stalking broads or creepin or standin in the bushes outside they windows or none of that yo.

 Z: He says he's digging on this stuff about this girl, but he's just gonna admire from afar.

 Doesn't say a lot about why, tho. Y: Creepy bruh... 

  Z: What about the next track, King Wizard? Cudi pretty much says "fuck you" to everybody who ain't a fan right at the start.

 Y: This shit got such a dope song title....but the music is some new wave minimal soundin 80s type shit... like Depeche Mode minus catchy melodies n shit. I cant all the way fuck wit it fam. Aw damn...n it got robotic voices forreal on this shit too. This is like some shit for niggas who rock hemp pullovers n snug jeans.

  I dont gotta white iphone son. I cant really appreciate this shit.

 Z: It's kinda like all of Cudi's least likeable elements with weaker production.

  You've got his monotone choruses that have no passion.

That weird, sticky, robotic flow right at the start of the song that's got no guts to it.  

 Y: This next track Immortal gotta snippet from Billy Madison at the start jus fyi.

 Z: I know. That came outta NOWHERE!

Y: It makes sense. I aint mad at it.

 Z: Ha! I guess.

  The premise of the song is just as ridiculous as most Adam Sandler movies.

 Y: He struggle singin on this one again tho.

 Z: It's true, but the song does have one of the better beats.

Y: Speakin of Adam Sandler... I fucked wit that Happy Gilmore joint. That shit was thoro.

Z: This song is about super powers, though. Is there a Sandler movie that's got super powers in it?

 Y: Zohan?

 Z: Close enough.

 Sandler and singing aside, I do think this track has one of the better beats.

  Still, those guitar leads are just lazy. Dude sounds like he just started playing, again.

I think that's another Good Son quote at the end, too: "Don't fuck with me." Y: I never saw the Good son. I aint learn to appreciate Elijah Wood until Lord of The Rings  personally. Even then I was like yo chill wit all that effeminate shit homie... Like when him n Merry n Pippin was rollin around all on each other in the bed it was like SON!

  Then Samwise was all peakin from round the corner touchin his joint n shit...it was like NAH B

  Z: Some of the sampling on this album is just sloppy.

It's like Cudi doesn't care if the beats sound good. Nobody's gonna put out an instrumental version of this album...

Y: True. But I aint really mad at this joint. 

 Z: Dude, the next track Solo Dolo pt II has got Kendrick!

Y: Word. Kendrick the future. I been told muthafuckas that. The beat sounds like some shit a hipster nigga concocted in his loft while takin wheat grass shots tho.

  How you feel bout it?

Z: Again, Cudi wants to use samples, but he chops and executes 'em sloppy.

  If the butcher at your grocery store chopped your steak like that, you wouldn't come back.

 

 

 Y: I aint kno he was producin this shit. But if thats the case dawg needs to go back to GOOD Music n get Kanye n his army of co-producers to supply him wit some heat Z: I agree! But he wanted to do the whole project by himself, I guess. It's like Cudi had something to prove.Y: Son should stop tryin to prove that.

Z: Cuz the production on his previous two albums is clearly flashier, more detailed.

  Even he has to hear that.

 Y: Yeah this sounds likea child made it on garageband on his first try

Z: What do you think of his lines on this track?

  "Pussy motherfuckers get the Will Smith smack."

Y: Yeah... I aint wit all that tough talk from a dude who said if he "had one wish" he "would wish for more wishes"...but I kno Scott been known to throw em bows n punch niggas in the audience at his shows too so Im not sayin dawg cant shoot the fair one... But he also sings bout turnin into a butterfly n shit like that. So naw...

Z: Kendrick's verse is sick, tho. They put a weird effect in his voice that makes him sound pretty insane.

 Y: Kendrick is like the Kobe of this rap shit...not ey'body loves him but he a clutch player n he can get the job done. Z: I agree that Kendrick picks the song up--and the album, really--but the next track is my least favorite on the album, I think.

     Girls

  Z: Not only is the hook the worst hook on the whole album, but the dude is musing on girls like ice cream flavors at Baskin Robbins.

 "I see pretty girls everywhere I go."

 "Every-every-where I go."

 Y: Yeah its so much synth on this shit...He rappin like a stalker on this shit too. Like he that college dude lookin for his next underage date rape victim at a high school house party n shit.

 Z: Too Short comes in and makes the song even goofier, too.

  Cudi sees a lotta pretty girls, but he ain't talking to a lot of 'em.

 He's just looking at colors and sizes.

 Y: Too $hort gettin too old for that shit b. Son is damn near in his 50s bruh

 Z: That's true.

 Y: Im sayin that as a day one Too $hort fan... but dawg needs to slow that shit right the fuck down. 

Y: This New York City Rage Fest track sounds like some Feist shit bro. Im only like 30 secs in tho.

 Z: The only thing I like about it is that it's short.

  Just kind of an interlude, synth piece.

  Lotta synths, but nothing interesting about how they come together.

Y: True

 Z: Cudi's production continues to leave me hanging.

 Y: Yeah I aint exactly a fan of this corny production at all yo. 

 Z: Red Eye is another change of pace, but I dunno if it's that good. It's got guest vocals from Haim, which is this female pop trio that have some good tracks out.

  I dunno if Cudi utilized them well, tho. I mean, it's good to hear some good singing voices, I guess. Y: Word. Even tho they the ones singin he still Timbo'd that shit n inserted his vocals in the background.

Z: But the song is repetitive like many other tracks on here. The production doesn't change up on the hooks that much, and the lyrics leave a lot to be desired.

  I get a lotta visions, understanding, running, heads, craziness, minds, insanity, but none of it is memorable.

 It's like a lyric salad of a half dozen different ideas.

 Y: The words sound like they makin em up as they go...which is only impressive if they all made em up n knew what the others was thinkin without sayin anything out loud like they jus communicated the shit telepathically n shit.

 Z: The more we go through this album, the more the beats remind me of, like, a Phil Collins remix.

 Y: I hear that.... The more that Red Eye shit plays the more I think Id rather dip my balls in hot chinese tea than listen to it again.  

 Z: I dunno, I think I like the next track even less, Mad Solar.

 The beats on this thing get worse and worse. What is that synth doing?

  It's so ear-piercing.

  It's like a bad sci-fi movie.

 Y: This shit gay as hell bro.

 Z: Cudi's flow sounds like he's just moaning on some parts.

  It sounds like he's not even trying, honestly.

I'm not even sure what this song brings to the album as a whole.

 Y: Word. This sounds like a collection of throwaways n mistakes n shit

  This shit in particular was jus straight ass my dude.

 Z: I agree. Damn.

  Cudi could have used some auto-tune on this, honestly.

Y: Chill son.    Y: But listen to Ruler Zig-Zag-Zig Allah flexin some new styles on this Beez joint.

  I might actually be fuckin wit this...

 Z: Yeah, it's true. RZA does come through with some solid lyrics on this track.

 Y: Its been confirmed...I AM indeed fuckin wit this shit.

 Z: "I don’t write songs, grasshopper, I write sceneries."

 Y: The little Bushwick Bill sample from Mind playin Tricks On Me was a nice touch too.

 Z: It fits the vibe that RZA brings, but I can't say I'm in love with the beat. Y: I aint in love wit the beat neither...It aint exactly Mass Appeal (shout outs to Preemo) but it was a nice break from the 80s synths n guitars

 Cudder only doin the hook on this? Thats dope.

 Z: Yeah, pretty much just doing the hook.

  Which, sadly, makes it one of the better tracks.Y: Its like a nice break tho.

 

 Z: It was, but the song's still got me worried.

 RZA's a legend, but this is easily one of the best tracks on the album so far.

  And Cudi didn't even spit a verse on it.

   Y: Word. But the same thing is happenin on this Brothers shit. Its not as dope but still...

 Z: It's true.

  King Chip sounds better on this second track he's appeared on, tho.

 Y: Its gettin to the point where Im hopin he only doin hooks on all the songs left

 Z: Again, we got more UFO synths flyin' in all over the place.

 Y: True that. I aint wit all that crazy space shit neither (shout outs to Outkast tho)

 Z: Even A$AP Rocky's got a more confident flow than Cudi at this point.

 Y: Yeah Cudder got washed on that.

 Z: The verse beat would work fine if it changed up on the chorus, but it doesn't. The beat is just excruciatingly repetitive. Cudi's all tension and no release.

  Cudi's flow toward the end of the track doesn't sound bad, tho.

  At least he steps it up to match A$AP and Chip.

 Y: Word.

   Y: How you feel bout this Burn Baby Burn shit?

  Z: You know, you were saying earlier that you feel like "Mad Solar" was some kinda throwaway or b-side, but I actually feel that way about this track and the next two.

  They're really short, too.

 It's like Cudi didn't wanna stretch 'em out past three minutes or nothin'.

  It's just more of that monotone flow and a repetitive synth beat. I don't see what he's adding to the album at this point.

Y: This jus sounds like a whole anthology of throwaways n b-sides to me yo...

 They still got b-sides? I kno rappers stopped all that when ringtones n itunes took over the game...

 Z: That's a good question when you point it at the album.

 If these are the tracks that made the album, what do the extras sound like?

Y: Word. But yo summa my favorite joints ever was b-sides tho...Rebel Without A Pause, Erotic City...you fucks wit Oasis? Them muthafuckas had b-sides for days bruh. Lyrically they was wild retarded n half they songs is plagiarized like a muthafucka but they had some good shit at the end of the day.

Z: I agree. There are still b-sides collections out there, but I doubt there will be a collection based around Indicud, Ugh!  

   Z: I think Lord of the Sad and Lonely could have been a decent song idea.

  But it feels effortless like a lot of other tracks here.

  Y: Lord Of Sad And Lonely is probably the corniest most simped out song title I ever heard of in my whole life yo. I cant believe he had the nerve to share that publicly like YEAH DONT MIND ME IM JUS THE LORD OF SAD N LONELY...IM CHILLIN THO. IM THE LORD OF THIS SAD N LONELY SHIT YO. CALL ME THE LONELINESS GAWD

Z: You know Cudi.

  He's always been sad and lonely.

  This ain't the first tear he's shed.

  I actually think this is his least tear-stained album.Y: You right homie.

 Z: Maybe that's a positive.  

 Y: This Cold Blooded cut is probably one of the better joints to me...beat-wise. And the way he spittin on this its like he spent the whole album jus wakin up n now he ready to get up outta bed finally.

 Z: That's true.

 Y: It aint like its perfect or nothin but he definitely came to life on it.

 Z: It's like this is the album, and the previous 15 tracks were just a really long, nightmarish prelude.

  It was just a hellish intro.

 Y: Thats accurate as fuckZ: Even the singing isn't bad.

  Y: Naw its like forreal the first shit where theres no guest carryin the song n he jus held it down.

Z: I agree!  

 Y: Or maybe we jus desperate to like some shit on this album already...but hol up...

 SON...does that say "featuring Michael Bolton" on this Afterwards (
Bring Yo Friends) track or am I buggin?

 Z: It's true

  It's 9 minutes, too.

 It sounds more like a sample the longer the track goes on, tho.

  You thought the previous tracks were repetitive, get ready for this... Y: WOW. The only thing that would shock me more is if that said "featuring Bette Midler" or "featuring Tyga's purpose in living"

Z: Dude, this beat sounds like a leftover from the Lion King soundtrack.

 

 Y: Word. Like that shit at the end where they dancin n singin cuz Scar finally got murked n shit

 Z: The song pretty much becomes a dance remix of itself around the middle,

featuring a Halloween-style synth.

Y: This shit is ASS.

 Z: I don't know whether or not I'm gonna get slashed by Jason or go up in a spaceship. Y: I dont kno whether to punch holes in a tree or dropkick some elderly people...

  This shit got me vexed

  Z: Cudi was seriously on some Stanley Kubrick, Michael Myers stuff on this one.

  Michael Bolton just happened to be around.Y: Word

Z: "Girl show you how to do this dance."Y:  Terrible...

  Z: Man, OK. It's not a sample.

 Bolton is improvising over this instrumental. He's there. This is real. Y: Yo this shit is like physical torture to sit thru either way.

Z: All I can do is wonder how Bolton and Cudi conversed in the studio while they were making this track.

  I imagine it had to be a lot like the studio scene in Boogie Nights.

Y: This shit sounds like a cover version of the extended remix of the worst song left off of Justin Timberlake's 20/20 experience as performed by the losers of a Eastern European talent contest n shit fam.

 Z: How is this song nine minutes and "Cold Blooded" is only 2:32?

  Y: True like he got in the zone over the wrong song n shit...

  I wanna stab ey'body involved in the makin of that muthafucka

Z: Well, at least it's over.

  I guess the last track is just a spacey interlude.

  Like the first track.

  I guess it's fitting that it stops like it started...

 Y: Aint nobody got time for that yo.

 Z: At this point, yeah.  

 Big Ghost: How you feel bout this shit overall

How many Fantano thumbs you give this outta 5?

 Anthony: Seriously, this is one of the worst albums I've heard all year. Not even lying.

  I'm gonna give it a 1 out of 5

or a "Decent 2" in The Needle Drop terminology.

 Big Ghost: Son. I almost paid money for this shit. I might gotta take Beez n Cold Blooded n windmill dunk the rest of this illegal download in the recycle bin forreal 

  Imma be generous n give this shit 1.5 slaps tho...  

 Anthony: That is generous.

 Big Ghost: Im a generous dude

 Anthony: Amen.

Big Ghost: Word. So I appreciated choppin it up wit you bro.We might gotta do this shit again soon.

 Anthony: That'd be great. Big Ghost: Aight Peace