For the past few weeks, Noisey and Hennessy have been releasing small snippets from an ambitious project they dubbed "the Rap Monument." Today, the final product was unveiled in all its glory: over forty minutes of no-holds bar censored rhymes from a plethora of up-and-coming and legendary rappers in the game. That's right, everyone from Raekwon the Chef to Young Thug make appearances; slinging their best rhymes, just to have them stripped of all profanity, leaving only the butchered remains of what could have been.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDthtLCzhhw#t=664[/youtube]
Whoever thought, "wow, we should have Kilo Kish rapping over a Hudson Mohawke beat, right before the Flatbush Zombies" clearly has an impressive imagination. In reality, while all the parties are great artists in the own right, this combination is not so amazing. This can be said about majority of the song and the collaborations. There are some bright spots, Danny Brown, Young Thug, Killer Mike, Retch and whatever demonic being he brought in the booth with him, none shine brighter than Mohawke's production. The censorship is partially to blame, but most of it is due to the lack of chemistry and random sequencing. The lineup doesn't really have any theme, it seems randomly thrown together. Pusha T transitions into Bryant Dope (who is criminally underrated), it really doesn't make much sense.
This is a great idea, but once executed shows it is nothing more than that: a great idea. Watching "Rap Monument" is as tiring as a 5k. It will leave you gassed and bored. Hopefully Noisey returns with another one that flows better, and not censored (rap edited is like watered down Coke, nasty). Check it out for yourself and let us know what you think, did you make through the entire track?