God, this makes Prince seem more moronic than D'Angelo makes him seem.

[Edited 1/30/15 8:42am]

I just don't get how the smartest lyricist in R&B; the most intelligent songwriter in R&B; and
the most obvious successor to you know who doesn't get more recognition in this board as
opposed to that other cat from Virginia who is really just a one trick pony (it's a great trick,
though, no doubt); but Van Hunt is perspicacious. Yet, then I remember that Van Gogh sold,
what, three paintings in his life time?

This was exciting, I'm eager to hear the new album, and everybody on D'Angelo's dick ought
to be ashamed of themselves to watch this brother push the boundaries of R&B outward (did
you hear What Were You Hoping For?) with no fanfare.

2020 said:

KingSausage said:

Get down with your bad self, Van! I can't wait to get my hands on an autographed copy of the CD.

2020 said:

2020 said:

P aint got nothing to worry about with this nobody

Yes he does.

Prince hasn't written anything interesting since "If I Was Ur Girlfriend." Notice I didn't say
"catchy," or "good." I said "interesting." Van Hunt, at this very moment, is a more interesting
songwriter than Prince and D'Angelo.

KingSausage said:

I like the grimey / raw Charles Wright "Do Your Thing" feel.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

I like the grimey / raw Charles Wright "Do Your Thing" feel.

Pretty good call there. It reminded me of The Meters, however.

i've been REALLY thinking about getting into this guy. this is the first thing i've heard by him. i won't judge him too harshly but this has confirmed my worst fears, that i'm not missing much. is his debut his best? i know that's subjective, but just asking

duccichucka said:

2020 said:

P aint got nothing to worry about with this nobody

Yes he does.

Prince hasn't written anything interesting since "If I Was Ur Girlfriend." Notice I didn't say
"catchy," or "good." I said "interesting." Van Hunt, at this very moment, is a more interesting
songwriter than Prince and D'Angelo.

Huh.

This track's supposed to be more interesting than anything that Prince has done in nearly thirty years? I hope you don't expect the majority of orgers to agree with you on that one.

[Edited 2/1/15 11:12am]

duccichucka said:

I just don't get how the smartest lyricist in R&B; the most intelligent songwriter in R&B; and
the most obvious successor to you know who doesn't get more recognition in this board as
opposed to that other cat from Virginia who is really just a one trick pony (it's a great trick,
though, no doubt); but Van Hunt is perspicacious. Yet, then I remember that Van Gogh sold,
what, three paintings in his life time?

This was exciting, I'm eager to hear the new album, and everybody on D'Angelo's dick ought
to be ashamed of themselves to watch this brother push the boundaries of R&B outward (did
you hear What Were You Hoping For?) with no fanfare.

come on, ducci . . . you're not one to praise one artist at the expense of minimizing another. I love this track, and i'm right there with you regarding his status as a trailblazing soul artist. As a matter of fact, I hear echoes of WWYHF in Black Messiah. But D is putting in work too.

let's celebrate the BOTH/AND . . . we get releases from Both D and Van, with hopefully others to follow.

there seems to be a chain reaction going on right now . . . P releases his best LP in at least a decade, then D moves the needle with his first LP in 15 years, now Van is going to hit the ground running in '15. I couldn't be happier as a fan of them all.

namepeace said:

to my ears, Van Hunt and D'Angelo are regressing, just like Prince. However, these cats still aren't at the level that Prince was when he was 19, 20, 21, 22...etc. That's how talented Prince is/was.

datdude said:

Revolution said:

to my ears, Van Hunt and D'Angelo are regressing, just like Prince.

It's all subjective but I don't hear that from either artist. At all.

looking forward to the new album and still can't get over watching him perform with the Afghan Whigs

namepeace said:

duccichucka said:

I just don't get how the smartest lyricist in R&B; the most intelligent songwriter in R&B; and
the most obvious successor to you know who doesn't get more recognition in this board as
opposed to that other cat from Virginia who is really just a one trick pony (it's a great trick,
though, no doubt); but Van Hunt is perspicacious. Yet, then I remember that Van Gogh sold,
what, three paintings in his life time?

This was exciting, I'm eager to hear the new album, and everybody on D'Angelo's dick ought
to be ashamed of themselves to watch this brother push the boundaries of R&B outward (did
you hear What Were You Hoping For?) with no fanfare.

come on, ducci . . . you're not one to praise one artist at the expense of minimizing another. I love this track, and i'm right there with you regarding his status as a trailblazing soul artist. As a matter of fact, I hear echoes of WWYHF in Black Messiah. But D is putting in work too.

let's celebrate the BOTH/AND . . . we get releases from Both D and Van, with hopefully others to follow.

there seems to be a chain reaction going on right now . . . P releases his best LP in at least a decade, then D moves the needle with his first LP in 15 years, now Van is going to hit the ground running in '15. I couldn't be happier as a fan of them all.

"Both/and"....you've been reading Deleuze?!?!?

I minimize Prince and D'Angelo here because both have posters genuflecting before them un-
critically while it appears that Hunt goes unappreciated for whatever reason. I don't hear echoes
of What Were You Hoping For? in Black Messiah, but I have not listened to the latter as critically
and often as I have the former. But I agree that D'Angelo released something credible and
artistically viable. I cannot say the same for Prince, who is simply re-hashing and relying upon
old formulas.

I don't see a chain reaction in the releases (that implies some type of correlation/relationship)
but I am pleased nonetheless.

phunkdaddy said:

datdude said:

i've been REALLY thinking about getting into this guy. this is the first thing i've heard by him. i won't judge him too harshly but this has confirmed my worst fears, that i'm not missing much. is his debut his best? i know that's subjective, but just asking

His first two albums are great(self titled and Jungle Floor). The unreleased Popular is just okay and in some ways sound incomplete. Then his 4th album What were you hoping for is a mixed bag because he switched to a full blown rock grunge set. Yes it's all subjective. I like Van Hunt a lot but it's a little overblown to put him in the genius category just yet. I think people like him a lot because he thinks outside the box and that's a good thing. I just want him to get back in that zone he was in on the first 2 albums.

I couldn't disagree with you more.

I thought Popular was a masterpiece on par with Prince's Parade in that each represents the best
album in the artist's oeuvre. I though Bill Bottrell's limp production ruined On The Jungle Floor
despite Hunt's songwriting prowess while his debut was typical neo-soul fare for the most part,
even if it gave us a glimpse of his songwriting talents.

What Were You Hoping For? did not switch to a full blown rock grunge set; his template is still
R&B for the most part. That album totally reshapes what an R&B album can sound like and there-
fore, ain't for everybody.

Popular is astonishingly good in my opinion.

Revolution said:

to my ears, Van Hunt and D'Angelo are regressing, just like Prince. However, these cats still aren't at the level that Prince was when he was 19, 20, 21, 22...etc. That's how talented Prince is/was.

In my opinion, I think Prince is regressing (I have reasons for this belief and it has to do with music
theory and music education). He hasn't written anything in years that gave me pause.

I think D'Angelo is a one trick pony. Don't get me wrong; it's a great fucking trick and no one
does "it" as well as he does. But he's limited. There is not too much difference between Voodoo
and Black Messiah in terms of songwriting, musicianship, and arrangement. The vast difference
between the two rests in production values where Voodoo was mixed, produced, and mastered
with care while Black Messiah is messy, muddy, and sounds rushed.

I think Van Hunt, as King says, gets better per release, and is a much more interesting songwriter
than Prince or D'Angelo.

duccichucka said:

namepeace said:

come on, ducci . . . you're not one to praise one artist at the expense of minimizing another. I love this track, and i'm right there with you regarding his status as a trailblazing soul artist. As a matter of fact, I hear echoes of WWYHF in Black Messiah. But D is putting in work too.

let's celebrate the BOTH/AND . . . we get releases from Both D and Van, with hopefully others to follow.

there seems to be a chain reaction going on right now . . . P releases his best LP in at least a decade, then D moves the needle with his first LP in 15 years, now Van is going to hit the ground running in '15. I couldn't be happier as a fan of them all.

"Both/and"....you've been reading Deleuze?!?!?

nope.

I minimize Prince and D'Angelo here because both have posters genuflecting before them uncritically while it appears that Hunt goes unappreciated for whatever reason. I don't hear echoes
of What Were You Hoping For? in Black Messiah, but I have not listened to the latter as critically and often as I have the former. But I agree that D'Angelo released something credible and artistically viable. I cannot say the same for Prince, who is simply re-hashing and relying upon old formulas.

Understood, reasonable minds can disagree. I don't necessarily think all listeners are as reflexive in their praise of those other artists. As a matter of fact, the praise for Prince's work from many fans is premised on the fact that he is reinterpreting his own work, but in an enjoyable way.

I don't see a chain reaction in the releases (that implies some type of correlation/relationship) but I am pleased nonetheless.