No.9 B.O.B: OK Fine, I'll Do A Rap Album

The aim of this blog is to publish a list on the everlasting infinity of the internet featuring what I believe to be the essential artists, albums and songs for any respected music collection. Obviously, there are various criteria that require assessment before selection for this list, one of them being relatablity (which is clearly not a recognised word but it fits here so don't start). This is a factor, therefore, which has prevented me from focusing on a hip-hop and/or rap artist. The stereotypical ideas and slang relating to the ghetto, getting 'stacks' and more notably getting b*****s proves too much for my British faintly middle-class mind to comprehend. It seems to me that rap, the most patriarchal of genres, and its many artists seem to obsess over getting things. What do they do once they have all of them? I presume they lock them all away in a room somewhere and just look at them. Maybe that's where Dr. Dre has been all this time between endorsing products and smoking cannabis.

Perhaps, this is why I deemed B.O.B (a pseudonym by Bobby Ray)'s  Strange Clouds fit for my list since his lyrics and subject matter of the album deviate from the generic concepts of the rap genre. Overall, the album is not entirely meaningful let alone insightful with songs dedicated to sunglasses and holidays but he expresses his awareness of the stereotypical nature of many rap songs as well as the shallowness of the music industry in songs such as So Hard To Breathe; this is certainly admirable. These lyrics are delivered fantastically and I would even go as far as to say Ray has 'good flow' if I use that term correctly. Obviously there is plenty of reference to 'riding the beat'  (which I deduce after much research is the skill and confidence of delivery) and some such but it wouldn't be a true rap album without it.
     Potentially more impressive is the music itself with a range of different instruments and styles from calm piano and guitar to more traditional drum and bass employed to affect the tempo and atmosphere created by each song. To further this, Ray is accompanied by a range of artists from Taylor Swift and Ryan Tedder of One Republic to Lil' Wayne and TI. This allows a wide variation in styles commonly missing from rap albums which is commendable.

So there we have it, maybe not the best for easy listening but certainly the talent is obvious despite the generic comments of it being 'talking with music' from bigoted old English blokes. Listen to this excellent remix of Bombs Away among others, until next time.

To hear these songs, albums from the other posts and other music which I find, follow my blog on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/user/w-avery/playlist/4CAps4jqmlBK7LPOPFgi3T