Idolator

Wow, are we really that down on Pharrell now? I know his solo joint blew last year, but he also produced the Clipse. I'd put him in the "draw" column, personally.

I liked the previous album's Broke Phi Broke skits (well, the first couple...), but I agree that going back to that well is lazy.

I'm not sure if you said "Travis" as an intentional dig at the similarities between bands like Coldplay and Travis, but Chris Martin is a member of Coldplay.

Al Be, as in Al Be Sure? I thought Phife had a monopoly on usage of the man who can't be your lover.

@dennisobell:

Pharrell does some creative shit, but please...can we not all just safely admit now that "Hell Hath No Fury" was the most critically overpraised, overrated release of last year? I mean yeah, sure, its fight-the-man back-story is the stuff every root-for-the-underdog dream is made of and all, but I dare you to take another listen to "Dirty Money" or "Trill" and tell me honestly that you imagine either track took more than five woefully uninspired minutes to create.

@KingHater: Still listening it. Still enjoying it. "Trill" especially. Made my top five last year, and I'm not regretting it yet. I guess I'm simple that way.

@dennisobell:

Don't get me wrong. It's not an awful album, and not a Shock Value degree underwhelming. Tracks like "Hello New World" and "Ride Around Shining", for instance, are the goods. Maybe my judgment of it was tainted by the fact that felt Pitchfork might as well have picked up a check for their work as unofficial publicist...and then given it right back to Pusha T and Malice to make up for the album's lack of physical sales.

If the song Pharrell and Lupe Fiasco appear on is the same one from the Kanye mixtape that features the Thom Yorke sample, then I'd put them both in the "yay" column. That song is pretty exceptionally produced, and all three guys hold their own lyrically on it.

Personally I dug Pharrell's solo album A LOT more than the Clipse album.

Since when is Lupe Fiasco a "draw"? No matter what one thinks of his debut album (I personally love it), the last Ye-Pe collaboration, "Heard 'Em Say," was undeniably awesome.

(And yes, I did just refer to West and Fiasco as Ye-Pe. Trust me, it'll catch on.)

The Clipse album was strong but in no way deserved the critical tongue-bathing places like Pitchfork and CMJ gave it.

The hype certainly was suspect considering the sources.

@AquaLung:
The hype certainly was suspect considering the sources.

Including...ahem, Idolator's own Jackin' Pop poll. There's a bunch of tongue-bathers, eh?