by EminemBase » Aug 16th, '10, 23:47
Absolutely, B.o.B is amazing.
It's really rare where you just hear an artist or see somebody that's so talented that you just immediately go "wow, he / she is going to be HUGE". But that's exactly what I felt as soon as I heard him. I'm kind of picky too but I think first song from him I heard was "Goodnite". Then I just seeked out everything I could find and have been following him since. His consistently is amazing, like... Almost every single song just sounds stellar. He constructs them so well.
He's also a majorly overlooked lyricist by 'rap fans' I feel. Some people brush him off as a pop artist just because his songs are big and catchy or because he doesn't rhyme or traditionally rap as much. But what he's doing is so much better than that, breaking down conventions, blending genres. And his lyricism on songs like "Wonderland" is so mature and poetic. Really far ahead of some guys.
Some people and artists are so limited like... Like 50 Cent for example. He's cornered himself into such a TINY space artistically and he wonders why he wins no awards. He's built up this cliche' image that he feels he has to stick to no matter what now, speak a certain way, say certain types of things. Not because it's him but because it's the 'perceived him'. That's so lame as an artist to do that.
And that's why B.o.B is brilliant. He's just free as a bird. He started off adhering to that crap then just said fuck it and now he's fucking limitless. It's what Kanye's begun to do too with stuff like "Power". The limited fears of rap are now being broken down by B.o.B, Kanye and Cudi, it's like light shining through the dark judgemental walls of a genre that was running in circles. Complaining about harping back to X and doing Y instead of Z. Fuck that, experiment all the way. Can't wait to see what these guys do next.