Bro... i know this video isn't going to be 1 of your most viewed or most engaged but im SO glad you did this album! One of my favs and Ka is an absolute POET! About to dive in now! PEACE!
Have you ever considered listening to an Armand Hammer album? Haram and Paraffin are really good and billy woods is a huge influence on earl sweatshirt
If I remember clearly, I remember bob replying to a comment (which was mine) about Armand Hammer if he was going to eventually listen to an Armand Hammer album. He actually said it's on the list, but that'll have to wait sometime in the future. I also hope he gets to do Billy's solo albums.
Such a delight watching to struggle to break down Ka's lyrics like I have lol. I totally agree with you about understanding more of his lyrics while listening than while reading them and trying to analyze. There's so much I get from reading that I didn't get before, but sometimes I'll hear a verse of his that I've listened to and broken down countless times, and suddenly, on the 100th listen or whatever, I'll get stuff that I didn't get before. And sometimes, I won't understand lines exactly but they'll resonate with me. Ka's a rapper who is rightfully appreciated for his writing primarily, but I think people underrate how much emotion and weight is also conveyed through the instrumentals and delivery. I just feel so much grief and wisdom seeping into me every time I listen. And if you wanna do more Ka, people will say to listen to Orpheus vs. the Sirens (released under Hermit and the Recluse) and you absolutely should, but I'd also highly recommend Descendants of Cain (my personal favorite).
What's great is that even he says he wants you to hear the lines over time, not take it all in on one listen. He wants the listening experience to evolve over time, and I love that 👍
I met Ka in Amsterdam last month. What an amazing and nice guy. As of october 2024: Mannn rest in peace to one of the greats.. am forever grateful that i met him.
would be nice to see some Mach-Hommy reaction too he is highly lyrical rapper and have many great things under his belt, my favs are Haitian Body Odor and Pray for Haiti the thing is there is no lyrics available on sites like Genius cause he DMCAd them and many of his albums even weren't on streaming platforms for long time but he started adding them
would be interesting for Bob to listen to Mach-Hommy, especially since Bob would have to go without lyrics on screen. absolutely love HBO and Pray for Haiti, he’s got an incredible catalog but those two are especially great.
IM SO HAPPY RN! cant wait to see u react to another KA album at some point even if it takes a year !😂 i recommend orpheus vs the sirens or descendants of cain. those 2 albums are top tier. orpheus vs the sirens one of my fav albums of the last decade. KA is really good at using metaphors to relate to street life, so this album is a metaphor, honor killed the samurai is a metaphor for the pride and ego of the people in the hood is getting them killed. really fucking interesting shit from this dude
I got on this album pretty late, it was reccomened to me by a college friend after I ran into him years later when I ran into him at a bar. super glad you've listened to this, incredible record.
Gotta react to billy woods. He’s the best writer in hip hop imo and has one of the best discographies of all time. I’d recommend Haram by Armand Hammer which is also produced by The Alchemist. Hiding Places is his most personal album and Brass has the most poetic writing ever in hip hop imo. Also Orpheus vs the Sirens is another incredible album by Ka if you want more of him
You had it right with the sports reference. “My Boys in the tiers/tears, but they ain’t ball/bawl, they all strike. Meaning the guys around him don’t throw balls, they throw strikes. They’re in the top tier, and they do this even though they shed tears. And the line where he says “moving rocks like easter Sunday” he follows with “trynna get fly, ima slide, peep the runway”. Just saying peep is a reference to the Easter bunny candy and goes with the trynna get fly portion as well. A lot of lines/entendres hinge on previous or future lines and don’t always complete both sides. Most rappers will settle for a simpler sorta half entendre if the line works better. So any easier way to get a line if it’s not clicking is don’t take singular as much, but add it to the previous or next line, or both.
@@bobthepoppopthe my boys on tiers, they don't ball they all strike is also referencing prison tiers and they can't hlball because they all got strikes (felonies). Ka has double and triple entendres within metaphors and riddles, a more dense Pusha T
I have this on LP and the backsidecover is killer (litterally) aswell. One of the best album covers to match one of the poetically finest pieces of rap
Great album, big of an acquired taste but if you get past the initial lowkey shift, his writing is so coded but yet one of the most underrated and well fleshed out concepts! Bob the goattttt
"Served on curbs where they bought it, no gods lorded" is a double entendre. The first referring to how Ka feels God abandoned him and the hood. There were no gods to lord over or protect them. The second meaning is similar but he pronounces "lorded" in a way that makes it sound like "loitered". So "no Gods, loitered" referring once again to the lack of God's protection on the block. Very clever phonetical trick by Ka here.
In "Finer things", you were almost spot on when describing the luck of surviving the boats. The line actually is a double entendre where Ka is describing the luck of surviving rides on slave ships and pairing it to the mongel's luck of surviving the navel invasion of Japan. The line right after actually does good on the album title "shoulda been cutting throats" is a play on how Japanese samurai believed in honor when fighting where kublai khan's men did not. So the Japanese endured a brutal fight because of their 'Honor' leaving most to think "shoulda been cutting throats"
Ka is my all time favourite rapper - possibly the only artist of any genre where I haven't found a single song I dislike. I'm not in the discord yet, so i'm not sure what you've been recommended of his, but these would be my recommendations: 'Orpheus vs the Sirens' - as Hermit and the Recluse (My favourite Ka album - production is very grand, and I think it has some of his best lyrics) 'Descendants of Cain' as Ka and 'Days with Dr. Yen Lo' as Dr. Yen Lo, which i think is pretty slept on. So glad you gave this album your time. It probably won't bring in the same number of views as some other styles of hip hop, but I think that's pretty reflective of Ka's art and the lane that he operates in. I seem to recall you saying you didn't really get much from the MF DOOM redbull interview thing, but personally I think Ka's one is worth watching if you're interested.
Wasnt expecting this one, I have this vinyl I love this album I used to listen to this album like every day for a long time there was a period of time I’d put it on like every time I went to bef
some people say that the ka's beats are more just to support the lyrics, but imho they are amazing in their own right. The album would be very different without such interesting, well textured and emotive instrumentals.
always cool to listen to albums for the first time! but i’m really hoping we get some more earl sweatshirt or mac soon 😢 i don’t like shit i don’t go outside or faces
1:40:00 I thought that the idea about cuban immigrants was interesting but to me it sounds like Ka is talking about slavery. The luck of the slaves was to not survive the boat trip to America, the dead who never had to experience the horror of chattle slavery and toil in the mud. The way slaves were transported to the America's was absolutely horrifc, they were packed and stacked like wood in the bottom of the ship in compartments 10 inches high and forced to lay down by chains and/or shackles. In such tight spaces where they stayed for months during the Atlantic voyage, disease was extremely common with food and water being rationed between 500 - 600 slaves for the entire trip. The reason the slave traders packed so many was because they knew most would die. But even still, those that died on the way are the lucky ones. They escaped the pain and desolation of the fact your life and the life of your children was only to turn a profit for your owner and 300 years later your descendants are still suffering in that land. The line about the mother land and Kublai is about how when the Mongols under Kublai Khan invaded Japan they were met with fierce resistance and war. Ka wishes the people in the mother land of West Africa had resisted European invasion the same way so then maybe things would've been different. "On the mother's coast shoulda been cuttin throats" as in kill the slave traders and forces of European opression as they come off the boat.
I know this is a shot in the dark and you get so many recommendations, but "Little Dominiques Nosebleed" by The Koreatown Oddity is so underrated. I don't think the reaction would get a ton of views, but if you like the world-building and attention to detail in this album, you'd love it. Thanks for all ya do. If you listen to it let me know!
you know thats interesting I never viewed the album cover in any other way besides a picture of a samurai from behind who is about to take out his sword. thats what i always thought at least
Ka’s “Jesus piece” line on 5 is a reference to rappers who often get super iced out chains with Jesus on the cross as the chain piece. As if Jesus would care about such luxury lol
Hey Bob This will be tough to react to but listen to I didn’t mean to haunt you by Quadeca Deeply layered and eerie but unique and euphoric The concept is him offing himself and being in the perspective of a ghost. Seeing your loved ones move on and carry a burden all at the same time himself being in denial that he is a ghost until he accepts that he is. Dark album but the lyrics and production is strongly consistent as a whole. Features Danny Brown and the Sunday Service Choir. Hope to see your reaction soon!
rest in peace to Brownsville Ka man
gives me chills just having to say that
not fiction. dude is from the toughest parts of brooklyn
you need to do hermit and the recluse!!!! so glad you did this though!! ❤️
Fck yes
2nd this and we need Descendants of Cain
Yes!!!! Ka’s best
for REAL!
While he's at it, he should do a Roc Marciano project.
Ka really brings the poetry aspect back to rap
Really does
Bro... i know this video isn't going to be 1 of your most viewed or most engaged but im SO glad you did this album! One of my favs and Ka is an absolute POET! About to dive in now! PEACE!
Ka is the most underated rapper of all time
Fax
Actually true. He has almost no listeners. I wonder if he cares
@@baukelotringen3124 He doesn't, he's an humble guy even though rappers like El P, Killer Mike, Earl, Mos def are fans and considers him the best
@@mehdi-les-termes yeah thats much more valuable to be loved by the real hip-hop masters instead of general public
@Tony Montana exactly what I was thinking
This won’t get the views other albums will but man it’s worth it
Was gonna comment the same thing. So glad he reacted to it though
Totally worth it. Fuck the numbers 🤘
So happy you got to this one. Would love to see you do his 2020 album Descendants of Cain sometime!
One of my favorites ever
I personally prefer this album, and I love Samurai. Would love to see this!
Omg are you The shade? From Twitter?
That's my all time favorite
@@der_oberbaboboss0092 Yeah
Have you ever considered listening to an Armand Hammer album? Haram and Paraffin are really good and billy woods is a huge influence on earl sweatshirt
Agreed. Also the hiding places Album by Billy is incredible and prob his most concise project with the production and lyrics aside from any A&H album.
If I remember clearly, I remember bob replying to a comment (which was mine) about Armand Hammer if he was going to eventually listen to an Armand Hammer album. He actually said it's on the list, but that'll have to wait sometime in the future. I also hope he gets to do Billy's solo albums.
@@hihello4642 watching Bob trying to decipher lyrics off of Aethiopes or History Will Absolve Me would be so entertaining.
@@mysaintlaurent566 True, as well as for many other artists. I would love to see him do a lil ugly mane album.
Armand Hammer and Billy Woods are both on my list, have been for a long time, I just have no idea when I'll get to them
Such a delight watching to struggle to break down Ka's lyrics like I have lol. I totally agree with you about understanding more of his lyrics while listening than while reading them and trying to analyze. There's so much I get from reading that I didn't get before, but sometimes I'll hear a verse of his that I've listened to and broken down countless times, and suddenly, on the 100th listen or whatever, I'll get stuff that I didn't get before. And sometimes, I won't understand lines exactly but they'll resonate with me. Ka's a rapper who is rightfully appreciated for his writing primarily, but I think people underrate how much emotion and weight is also conveyed through the instrumentals and delivery. I just feel so much grief and wisdom seeping into me every time I listen. And if you wanna do more Ka, people will say to listen to Orpheus vs. the Sirens (released under Hermit and the Recluse) and you absolutely should, but I'd also highly recommend Descendants of Cain (my personal favorite).
What's great is that even he says he wants you to hear the lines over time, not take it all in on one listen. He wants the listening experience to evolve over time, and I love that 👍
Descendants of Cain will forever and always be one of my favorite albums
R.I.P. Ka.. ❤
NO WAY!! Ka is my favorite rapper so very very excited for this one.
I met Ka in Amsterdam last month. What an amazing and nice guy.
As of october 2024: Mannn rest in peace to one of the greats.. am forever grateful that i met him.
Damn this popped back up in my recs... RIP Ka, one of the best writters in Hiphop.
RIP
Highly recommend “Descendents of Cain” by Ka as well!!
I second this
W
Bob I'm so glad u do smaller artists especially ones as small as Ka, this reaction is fantastic
would be nice to see some Mach-Hommy reaction too
he is highly lyrical rapper and have many great things under his belt, my favs are Haitian Body Odor and Pray for Haiti
the thing is there is no lyrics available on sites like Genius cause he DMCAd them and many of his albums even weren't on streaming platforms for long time but he started adding them
would be interesting for Bob to listen to Mach-Hommy, especially since Bob would have to go without lyrics on screen. absolutely love HBO and Pray for Haiti, he’s got an incredible catalog but those two are especially great.
I’ve been wanting to suggest Pray For Haiti as challenge (since he can’t use lyrics) for Bob
Vouch for pray for haiti
Highly recommend Orpheus vs the Sirens by Hermit and the Recluse. It’s KA’s best work
Thank you for bringing KA back to my attention
Been absorbing Ka’s new albums and a lot of lyrics I miss on the first second and even third time. So much to unpack with Ka.
IM SO HAPPY RN! cant wait to see u react to another KA album at some point even if it takes a year !😂 i recommend orpheus vs the sirens or descendants of cain. those 2 albums are top tier. orpheus vs the sirens one of my fav albums of the last decade. KA is really good at using metaphors to relate to street life, so this album is a metaphor, honor killed the samurai is a metaphor for the pride and ego of the people in the hood is getting them killed. really fucking interesting shit from this dude
had a literal episode when i saw you uploaded this, waited till breakfast to watch and i’m SO EXCITED
Love the album cover for this one
Same
I’m just waiting on the forever story. You brought it up like you were gonna listen to it after your “Halloween” themed albums.
Maybe January? Before the stupid-ass Grammy's decide give their awards.
I got on this album pretty late, it was reccomened to me by a college friend after I ran into him years later when I ran into him at a bar. super glad you've listened to this, incredible record.
"Never ran, never will" has been a motto and epithet of Brownsville, Brooklyn for many years.
Love this album. RIP KA
I'm very excited watch this. This is the best album you've reacted to in ages, Ka is incredible.
Amazing album, can’t wait to see Donuts reaction… been waiting so long
If you like this typa writing definitely check out billy woods (any album) and boldy james's manger on mcnichols
billy woods don't really hit the same way for me as ka
Gotta react to billy woods. He’s the best writer in hip hop imo and has one of the best discographies of all time. I’d recommend Haram by Armand Hammer which is also produced by The Alchemist. Hiding Places is his most personal album and Brass has the most poetic writing ever in hip hop imo. Also Orpheus vs the Sirens is another incredible album by Ka if you want more of him
Billy Woods has been suggested pretty often. He's on the list. I may bump him up a few slots after this 👍
Been waiting for this and donuts 😎
Been waiting for this one for a long time! Keep up the great content Bob
my favourite reaction of yours. would kill for you to do Descendants of Cain!
You had it right with the sports reference. “My Boys in the tiers/tears, but they ain’t ball/bawl, they all strike. Meaning the guys around him don’t throw balls, they throw strikes. They’re in the top tier, and they do this even though they shed tears. And the line where he says “moving rocks like easter Sunday” he follows with “trynna get fly, ima slide, peep the runway”. Just saying peep is a reference to the Easter bunny candy and goes with the trynna get fly portion as well. A lot of lines/entendres hinge on previous or future lines and don’t always complete both sides. Most rappers will settle for a simpler sorta half entendre if the line works better. So any easier way to get a line if it’s not clicking is don’t take singular as much, but add it to the previous or next line, or both.
Goddamn, the 'peep' line! Didn't even click with me about how that ties into bunnies 🤦♂️
@@bobthepoppopthe my boys on tiers, they don't ball they all strike is also referencing prison tiers and they can't hlball because they all got strikes (felonies). Ka has double and triple entendres within metaphors and riddles, a more dense Pusha T
I have this on LP and the backsidecover is killer (litterally) aswell. One of the best album covers to match one of the poetically finest pieces of rap
Bob when you eventually get to his follow up projects -- Orpheus Vs The Sirens and Descendants of Cain -- your lyrical loving brain will go mad
Rest in peace Ka 💔
Great album, big of an acquired taste but if you get past the initial lowkey shift, his writing is so coded but yet one of the most underrated and well fleshed out concepts! Bob the goattttt
I would love if it you reacted to Billy Woods or Armand Hammer. Billy is probably my favourite poet / rapper of the decade.
Both are on my list, just gotta get to them eventually
Ok, it's Billy Woods time.
so happy to see this album getting recognition!
This album is great, also very calming
Used to listen to it when I had trouble sleeping or wanted to relax, despite the heavy subject matter
"Served on curbs where they bought it, no gods lorded" is a double entendre. The first referring to how Ka feels God abandoned him and the hood. There were no gods to lord over or protect them. The second meaning is similar but he pronounces "lorded" in a way that makes it sound like "loitered". So "no Gods, loitered" referring once again to the lack of God's protection on the block. Very clever phonetical trick by Ka here.
Super unexpected but great! Ka is one of a kind. Would be great to see Hermit and the Recluse in the future.
Rest in power Brownsville Ka
Ka is a different beast
Should do his new / final album bob! “The Thief next to Jesus” .
In "Finer things", you were almost spot on when describing the luck of surviving the boats. The line actually is a double entendre where Ka is describing the luck of surviving rides on slave ships and pairing it to the mongel's luck of surviving the navel invasion of Japan. The line right after actually does good on the album title "shoulda been cutting throats" is a play on how Japanese samurai believed in honor when fighting where kublai khan's men did not. So the Japanese endured a brutal fight because of their 'Honor' leaving most to think "shoulda been cutting throats"
Dude, this is so epic 🔥
This is one of my favorite albums ever, great reaction too.
This is a great album from an amazing artist, i love it, Ka's one of the best lyricists alive
Intro to we mourn at night gives me chills every time. For me, so representative of the overall feeling of the album. Such a great song.
Ka is my all time favourite rapper - possibly the only artist of any genre where I haven't found a single song I dislike.
I'm not in the discord yet, so i'm not sure what you've been recommended of his, but these would be my recommendations:
'Orpheus vs the Sirens' - as Hermit and the Recluse (My favourite Ka album - production is very grand, and I think it has some of his best lyrics)
'Descendants of Cain' as Ka
and 'Days with Dr. Yen Lo' as Dr. Yen Lo, which i think is pretty slept on.
So glad you gave this album your time. It probably won't bring in the same number of views as some other styles of hip hop, but I think that's pretty reflective of Ka's art and the lane that he operates in. I seem to recall you saying you didn't really get much from the MF DOOM redbull interview thing, but personally I think Ka's one is worth watching if you're interested.
Great album! More Ka! Orpheus next please!
Excited for this one!
Hey, I wrote a guide about Ka's discography / backstory if you're interested, glad you're reviewing one of the best lyricists of all time
Wasnt expecting this one, I have this vinyl I love this album I used to listen to this album like every day for a long time there was a period of time I’d put it on like every time I went to bef
some people say that the ka's beats are more just to support the lyrics, but imho they are amazing in their own right. The album would be very different without such interesting, well textured and emotive instrumentals.
never expected you to ka, i think you would really like SPM. their voices are similar too now that i think about it
6 minutes in and I’m hyped to hear u listen😂
always cool to listen to albums for the first time! but i’m really hoping we get some more earl sweatshirt or mac soon 😢
i don’t like shit i don’t go outside or faces
no way you listened to this im soe xcited to watch
Had to come back, still hoping to see a reaction for Descendants of Cain by Ka
You need to follow this up with Ka - The Hermit and the Recluse. And then later Decedents of Cain.
one of the best pens in hip hop
hermit and the recluse is another great album from ka…based around greek mythology
WOW
MASSIVE W BOB
1:40:00 I thought that the idea about cuban immigrants was interesting but to me it sounds like Ka is talking about slavery. The luck of the slaves was to not survive the boat trip to America, the dead who never had to experience the horror of chattle slavery and toil in the mud. The way slaves were transported to the America's was absolutely horrifc, they were packed and stacked like wood in the bottom of the ship in compartments 10 inches high and forced to lay down by chains and/or shackles. In such tight spaces where they stayed for months during the Atlantic voyage, disease was extremely common with food and water being rationed between 500 - 600 slaves for the entire trip. The reason the slave traders packed so many was because they knew most would die. But even still, those that died on the way are the lucky ones. They escaped the pain and desolation of the fact your life and the life of your children was only to turn a profit for your owner and 300 years later your descendants are still suffering in that land.
The line about the mother land and Kublai is about how when the Mongols under Kublai Khan invaded Japan they were met with fierce resistance and war. Ka wishes the people in the mother land of West Africa had resisted European invasion the same way so then maybe things would've been different. "On the mother's coast shoulda been cuttin throats" as in kill the slave traders and forces of European opression as they come off the boat.
Found this album cuz i thought the cover and name were cool. I wasn't prepared for the beautiful atmosphere and poetry it was gonna bring
I know this is a shot in the dark and you get so many recommendations, but "Little Dominiques Nosebleed" by The Koreatown Oddity is so underrated. I don't think the reaction would get a ton of views, but if you like the world-building and attention to detail in this album, you'd love it.
Thanks for all ya do. If you listen to it let me know!
Descendants of Cain next king ❤️
i dont like shit i dont go outside by earl soon?
I’d love him to react to the Brandy “Full Moon” album 🔥.
Yes!!!!!!
Black Messiah- D’Angelo, Kaleidoscope Dream from Miguel would be some other good choices
🦉#ImOvrHearNow
you know thats interesting I never viewed the album cover in any other way besides a picture of a samurai from behind who is about to take out his sword. thats what i always thought at least
Ka is just absurd when it comes to his writing
Please do billy woods - hiding places
the hard forty was 100% a reference to 40 days and 40 nights
thank you
Great album to react to
Peak
amazing album
Last time begging u to do Manger on McNicols by Boldy James🙏
LETS GOOOOOO IM SO HAPPY
Ka’s “Jesus piece” line on 5 is a reference to rappers who often get super iced out chains with Jesus on the cross as the chain piece. As if Jesus would care about such luxury lol
Hey Bob
This will be tough to react to but listen to
I didn’t mean to haunt you by Quadeca
Deeply layered and eerie but unique and euphoric
The concept is him offing himself and being in the perspective of a ghost. Seeing your loved ones move on and carry a burden all at the same time himself being in denial that he is a ghost until he accepts that he is. Dark album but the lyrics and production is strongly consistent as a whole. Features Danny Brown and the Sunday Service Choir. Hope to see your reaction soon!
Feels like more of an indie rock album with some rapping than a "real" hip hop album imo. Great album for sure but may not quite fit Bob's channel
for some reason i could never get into this album even though i absolutely love orpheus vs the sirens, idk why
Did he miss the track entitled “$” that is between mourn at night and destined?
No, he didn't annotate it but it's there
nah its just not timestamped, its in the video
Hopefully you decide to react to Lupe soon 😩
alright last comment i swear lmao. im a little zooted. but i would love if you listened to Haram from the alchemist and armand hammer
W Mind Melter Friday
Now we need a billy woods album
Wiz means mother
Hermit and the recluse next plzzzz
LETS GOOO
it finally happened.
YESSSSSS
Now you going deep
please add time n place by kero kero bonito to that list 🙏🏽 fun and great project i never hear anything about
You should really listen to Ka Descendants of Cain