They had many stronger options for Kanye, so I am surprised that this is one of only two songs he has on this list, big a hit as it was. I would’ve expected that “Jesus Walks,” “Gold Digger,” and “Heartless” would make more ballots. Maybe the role it played in bringing Daft Punk to a bigger audience put it on the radar of some voters.
Not a Kanye fan in particular but I think this is a great song; I have no problem with it being on the list. Reading up on it a little, he apparently put in copious hours and used multiple audio and mixing engineers to come up with more than 50 versions of the track. He also put in a lot of effort in finding the right drum programming. I don’t know how anyone can say he needed to work harder. BTW, thank you for starting the thread. I had already planned to listen to some of the songs on the list, starting backwards from the end. So far I’ve only listened to #500-490, though.
I liked the song only for the reason it gave Daft Punk the respect they deserved. Can't stand Kanye though.
I gave Stronger a listen, for the first time ever. I think it's alright, although I wouldn't rush out to buy it (or even move slowly for that purpose). It's constructed and produced well enough, and certainly can't be accused of being incoherent. I'd prefer to hear people singing rather than talking, but others might have said that about Dylan in the past. Anyway, it won't provide any ammunition for anyone who would like to proclaim that rap is all rubbish ...
Daft Punk deserves some credit here. Without their sample, it wouldn't been as popular or possibly on this list.
a 500 "best song" list and the thread appears to be devoted to kanye west - coming in at #500 lol what decline of western civilization.
Because that's the song that's being discussed today. Which is how these song-a-day threads work. Spoiler alert: we'll be talking about a different song tomorrow. What decline of reading comprension.
“comprehension”. If you’re dissing people regarding their reading comprehension, you might at least try and spell correctly .
I’m not much of a fan of Kanye the solo artist. His production for other people is usually really good. This is an okay track, with electro-pop elements. Not sure it’s one of the best 500 songs, but I suppose that will be a frequent sentiment.
I have not looked at the entire list, and I think I'll keep it that way, so I can be surprised, pleasantly or otherwise. I will listen to every song that is not familiar and at least give it a chance. The end of the first decade of the 2000s I found to be a pretty vacant period for pop music. In part it was because of the decline and fall of the physical single, which made me less interested because I wasn't going to buy an entire album for one song, nor was I going to lease a download. In part, too, it was the rise of lazy production (fake finger snaps and clap tracks, which began to plague R&B and hip-hop in this period, need a LOT of other things going on to overcome them). Lyrics are usually the last thing I notice about a song; there are plenty of songs I like that I first heard 50 or more years ago for which I still don't know the lyrics. That tends to work against hip-hop for me, because on way too many of those songs, the rapper might as well be reciting poetry over a generic beat, and I won't even give it a chance. Anyway, that's my bias up front. So what do I think of #500? If I'd heard it before, I wasn't playing close attention, so to these ears, it might as well have been the first time. I was pleasantly surprised! It wasn't lazy; the song worked without having to focus on the lyrics. I agree with a couple others that it feels too long, by about a minute to me. Would I have it in my own personal Top 500? No. But it's pretty decent.
"I gotta write some rap lyrics, but I need a subject. How about how no one is more awesome in bed than I am?" "That was your last song" "How about how much crap I get from people but I persevere because no one is more awesome than me?" "That was the song before" "How about how no one is more awesome than me?" "Okay, go for it." Yawn. Swag is kinda myopic and boring.
oh, you ( ahem ) people, and your rules lol. jesus walks ************ oh, and yes. i did not bother to actually read the scintillating thread title. mea culpa. but i have now nominated it. for the thread in which i lost all reading comprension.
It is a song-by-song thread starting at number 500 and going to number 1, what exactly is the signalling of Western civ's decline here other than adhering to a thread premise? lol
Thanks for starting this up - I'm looking forward to listening to the whole 500. This will also give me a good platform to listening to the albums that each track belongs to. This should introduce me to quite a few artists. Speaking of which... I've never listened to a Kanye album in my life! Kanye West: Stronger I'm a huge Daft Punk fan so this was an easy listen for me. In truth though, I'm a little baffled how this made a top 500. It's an enjoyable listen but what is there here that's noteworthy? However, I've been listening to Graduation this morning and it is fantastic - a great synthesis of styles. This is definitely going to get played some more.
#499. The Supremes, "Baby Love" (2007) Written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Eddie Holland Wikipedia says: “Baby Love" is a song recorded by the American music group the Supremes in 1964 for their second studio album titled, Where Did Our Love Go. It was written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland. It was released on 17 September 1964. Baby Love topped the Billboard pop singles chart in the United States from October 25, 1964 through November 21, 1964, and in the United Kingdom pop singles chart concurrently. Beginning with "Baby Love", The Supremes became the first Motown act to have more than one American number-one single, and by the end of the decade, would have more number-one singles than any other Motown act (or American pop music group) with 12, a record they continue to hold. It was nominated for the 1965 Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Recording, losing to Nancy Wilson's "How Glad I Am.”
Yeah, there are indeed stronger (ha!) Kanye songs that could've made the list. Don't know what the other one is (we'll get there eventually). I thought about it a bit more this morning. I think the Daft Punk sample is too overpowering for this song. Yes, Kanye has made other songs where the sample is very prominent (I Got A Woman by Ray Charles in Gold Digger and Movin' On Up by Curtis Mayfield in Touch The Sky) but there they seem to be better integrated in the whole song. As Daft Punk was already quite known to me (and probably many others outside the USA) I wouldn't give Kanye credit for that either.
From my understanding, it was using a Daft Punk sample that opened up the floodgates for hip-hop to incorporate more electronic sounds, so the impact went beyond Daft Punk becoming more well known in the US. My guess is it’s gotten over the finish line because of a combination of those factors. But no way to know for sure without knowing who specifically voted for it.
We have moved on to #499, but still want to share this hilarious clip from Donald Glover/Childish Gambino (on the list as well) which references Graduation.
The Supremes - Baby Love Classic Motown. Not the best Supremes single though, Holland-Dozier-Holland would write better ones for them. 3,5 / 5
