Todd In The Shadows

[S@credC]

I have to believe it had something to do with virtue signaling. Especially considering it was released in the summer of 2016, when it became clear Trump running for president was more than a joke.

That's part of it.

I also think it had to do with Lemonade being her turn to serious, "political" music. Any criticism of her after that would look "racist".

(worth noting that his fellow music-adjacent YouTube critic, Rap Critic, observed on his own podcast that Beyonce was more of a trend chaser than a trend setter. This was, of course, before Lemonade, her Superbowl performance, and "Beychella")

 

[Random Internet Person]

At least Todd can still post about music occasionally.

Spoiler: More feud talk. Thanks, replies.

I’m pretty sure Kendrick Lamar will perform “Not Like Us” at the Super Bowl halftime show because of course he will (and it’ll be the last song of the setlist because of course it will), so it’s gonna be real funny if he doesn’t.

 

[The Jackal]

I’m pretty sure Kendrick Lamar will perform “Not Like Us” at the Super Bowl halftime show because of course he will (and it’ll be the last song of the setlist because of course it will), so it’s gonna be real funny if he doesn’t.

You know, it's actually fucking crazy that the track that won the Grammy Award for best song this year (also possibly the Super Bowl half-time performance highlight) is all about how Drake is a child molester. Who could have imagined this happening like 10-15 years ago? The fact that the Grammies are willing to give it the top prize considering how potentially libellous it is, is bizarre. Not too many years ago they would have wisely steered clear of anything that controversial.

It's like no one gives a fuck about calling Drake a pedophile, even big corporations. It's an accepted part of mainstream culture now. The world has gone in very strange directions in the last decade or so.

 

[Random Internet Person]

You know, it's actually fucking crazy that the track that won the Grammy Award for best song this year (also possibly the Super Bowl half-time performance highlight) is all about how Drake is a child molester. Who could have imagined this happening like 10-15 years ago? The fact that the Grammies are willing to give it the top prize considering how potentially libellous it is, is bizarre. Not too many years ago they would have wisely steered clear of anything that controversial.

It's like no one gives a fuck about calling Drake a pedophile, even big corporations. It's an accepted part of mainstream culture now. The world has gone in very strange directions in the last decade or so.

I have to wonder if that’s because of how hated Drake is. The time period you mentioned really shows how things will be excused as long as it’s aimed at somebody a lot of people don’t like, and isn’t like Kathy Griffin where it’s too in your face that the outrage goes beyond the undesirables.

“No bad tactics, only bad targets”, am I right? Shows what a real cheerleader Todd Nathanson is.

Also the only thing that came from the libel talk is making fun of Drake for being a thin skinned bitch. It’s amazing what happens when the Internet is united in hate towards something.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

You know, it's actually fucking crazy that the track that won the Grammy Award for best song this year (also possibly the Super Bowl half-time performance highlight) is all about how Drake is a child molester. Who could have imagined this happening like 10-15 years ago? The fact that the Grammies are willing to give it the top prize considering how potentially libellous it is, is bizarre. Not too many years ago they would have wisely steered clear of anything that controversial.

It's like no one gives a fuck about calling Drake a pedophile, even big corporations. It's an accepted part of mainstream culture now. The world has gone in very strange directions in the last decade or so.

It's part of how SJW shit has infected everything. Part of their ideology is that they can never be wrong, and if they fight against someone bad, they will always win. So if Drake is a bad person, calling him a child molester is good. Much like calling Donald Trump a rapist. They never get in trouble for the Trump stuff, so calling Drake one will also not cause any issues for them.

Was Drake ever charged with child molestation though? I stay out of celebrity gossip shit.

 

[The Jackal]

Was Drake ever charged with child molestation though? I stay out of celebrity gossip shit.

Lol, absolutely not, this is all just rumor. I imagine the truth of the matter is probably that he likes banging 18-year-olds, like many other famous musicians. But who knows?

The thing is, even if it comes to light that he was holding underage Diddy parties in his mansion, it doesn't make it any less weird that Not Like Us has been so thoroughly incorporated into mainstream culture, it just gets a whole lot darker.

 

[Lil Miku]

At least Todd can still post about music occasionally.

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Spoiler: More feud talk. Thanks, replies.

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I’m pretty sure Kendrick Lamar will perform “Not Like Us” at the Super Bowl halftime show because of course he will (and it’ll be the last song of the setlist because of course it will), so it’s gonna be real funny if he doesn’t.

Aaaand it's more beef shit. Yaaawn, I am SO tired of it. Todd is still so obsessed. Can't wait for the Super Bowl to be over.

 

[S@credC]

Aaaand it's more beef shit. Yaaawn, I am SO tired of it. Todd is still so obsessed. Can't wait for the Super Bowl to be over.

Too bad. I'd be more interested in the Lady Gaga talk.

That's one of the things Todd used to be really good about: exploring a pop star's progression through their career. He's had a few PSRs where he gives a good background on the artist before tackling the main song (his "Girl on Fire" video did this well), or if he's covered multiple songs by one artist (Ke$ha when she was still mainstream and I guess Taylor Swift as of late) he did a good job sort of tracking where he thought they would go and where they had ended up.

This is harder to do in the last ten years because hardly anyone seems to stick around long enough to build that sort of public presence. It's times like this I'd wish he'd do more things like Trainwreckords. At least then he'd have the option to go back and find someone who had more presence for longer.

 

[UnKillFill]

I just googled "Not like us" how is this any different from all the other mumble rap shit? Even rap feuds in the current day are lame and gay.

 

[Random Internet Person]

This is harder to do in the last ten years because hardly anyone seems to stick around long enough to build that sort of public presence. It's times like this I'd wish he'd do more things like Trainwreckords. At least then he'd have the option to go back and find someone who had more presence for longer.

I think that “somebody who had more presence for longer” may mean that they end up being disqualified because of releasing something that brings them back to prominence. Here’s a tweet he posted:


Todd liked these replies, Which TV Tropes say is an indication that episodes on the following albums will never happen:

Bush: “Razorblade Suitcase” and “The Science of Things”

Kid Cudi: “Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven”

Pink Floyd: “The Final Cut” and “A Momentary Lapse of Reason”

Lou Reed: “Metal Machine Music”

Snoop Dogg: “The Doggfather”

I just googled "Not like us" how is this any different from all the other mumble rap shit? Even rap feuds in the current day are lame and gay.

Because it’s a kill shot aimed at a guy who’s been seen as a joke for about a decade now. From who many call a “thinking man’s rapper” aka the antithesis of the rapper he’s dissing. And yes, rap feuds have fallen off since the 90s.

 

[S@credC]

I think that “somebody who had more presence for longer” may mean that they end up being disqualified because of releasing something that brings them back to prominence

That's a fair observation. But I'm thinking of acts whose careers are definitely past the point of having a revival. Someone between a true One Hit Wonder and someone like, say, Madonna or Justin Timberlake—people who were massively successful and had more than one era before getting to the album that derailed it all. There are two hit wonders and people who had promise at the beginning of their careers, but ended up not really going anywhere. Those artists who you remember Being a Thing for a minute, but years later, wondering, "Hey, whatever happened to So-and-So?". He could call it "Flash in The Pan" or some derivative.

Now that I'm thinking about it, and what could count for a Trainwreckord, you know who might be a good candidate? Alicia Keys. That woman was EVERYWHERE through most of the 2000s, and then she just....stopped? I know she still made music, but she didn't have the hits that you would hear all the time, nor the impact anymore.

 

[Random Internet Person]

That's a fair observation. But I'm thinking of acts whose careers are definitely past the point of having a revival. Someone between a true One Hit Wonder and someone like, say, Madonna or Justin Timberlake—people who were massively successful and had more than one era before getting to the album that derailed it all. There are two hit wonders and people who had promise at the beginning of their careers, but ended up not really going anywhere. Those artists who you remember Being a Thing for a minute, but years later, wondering, "Hey, whatever happened to So-and-So?". He could call it "Flash in The Pan" or some derivative.

I think that’s kind of like what an episode of One Hit Wonderland already does? Todd structures OHW so he talks about the artist after their big breaking hit.

 

[S@credC]

I think that’s kind of like what an episode of One Hit Wonderland already does? Todd structures OHW so he talks about the artist after their big breaking hit.

Well, the criteria for being a—you know— one hit wonder excludes acts that had a second hit. Plus, for some acts, I think the set up of Trainwreckords fits better: someone who did have a bigger impact than a one hit, but then suddenly dropped off. In some cases, it wasn't one disastrous album that stopped their career dead in its tracks. It was a gradual tapering off.

Todd tends to set these rigid criteria for his shows that doesn't always allow him to talk about cases in the grey area. That may have been helpful in the past. But if he has to find stuff to talk about to pay his bills, then being a little flexible might work to his advantage.

 

[Random Internet Person]

Well, the criteria for being a—you know— one hit wonder excludes acts that had a second hit. Plus, for some acts, I think the set up of Trainwreckords fits better: someone who did have a bigger impact than a one hit, but then suddenly dropped off. In some cases, it wasn't one disastrous album that stopped their career dead in its tracks. It was a gradual tapering off.

Todd tends to set these rigid criteria for his shows that doesn't always allow him to talk about cases in the grey area. That may have been helpful in the past. But if he has to find stuff to talk about to pay his bills, then being a little flexible might work to his advantage.

I can only think the reason Todd doesn’t is because he thinks “a gradual tapering off” is way less impressive than straight up crashing and burning.

 

[The Jackal]

Just came across this old photo of Todd and various breadtubers at Lindsay Ellis's wedding:



I have nothing further to add, it just makes me laugh.

 

[S@credC]

I can only think the reason Todd doesn’t is because he thinks “a gradual tapering off” is way less impressive than straight up crashing and burning.

True.

I guess I'm thinking of people who were a thing, and one day you just realized people stopped talking about them and wonder what happened. Not full crashing and burning, but like, yeah, where'd they go?

In fact, the Liz Phair episode kind of fit that progression. Todd mentioned that people recommended her Self Titled as the Trainwreckord, but it was her most successful album, and it wasn't until two albums later that he decided that was the true "wreck". That—to me— looks more like losing steam as opposed to an abrupt crash.

 

[Samuel Fuller]

I’d almost be interested in seeing him do a Trainwreckords on Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned by The Prodigy, but there is absolutely no way he would have anything close to the knowledge required to cover it properly, and they bounced back from it to where some people totally forget it exists.

The story behind the album is kinda nuts.

 

[Random Internet Person]

Well, what was expected to be done, was done.

Wake me up when the fanboys finish blowing their loads and “eulogizing”. At that point maybe we can get a real critique on this show. Hopefully Todd will have finished his glazing by then.



New national anthem, are you serious?

 

[Lil Miku]

After Drake drops his collab album with PARTYNEXTDOOR this Friday, could he please for the love of God move on and talk about something else? Can he please get a new hyperfixation? Can two other black guys please start beefing so he can focus on that instead?

 

[The Jackal]

Combined with Trump completely bending Trudeau to his will hours after announcing tariffs, Kendrick doing this performance seems like a giant 'fuck you' to Canada. And Trump was watching the whole thing from the presidential box.

Which is pretty funny, but surely people are over the whole anti-Drake thing now? Hell, I'm rooting for Drake to uncover some serious dirt on Kendrick at this point.