Vinyl Me Please Rap & Hip Hop

Jmcg85 said:
Sorry for long essay but anyone willing to read thanks

I joined VMP sometime around 2014. I was monthly and dipped in and out depending on what the ROTM was before it was renamed Essentials.

When they announced an R&HH sub I was pumped as R&HH is my main genre of focus and at least 90% of my personal overall listening I reckon.

I was initially underwhelmed with some of the choices, that's when I took a step back and realised well it is curation and I'm not the only customer they have so it is either going to be hit or miss.

I expected from it being the specific genre I love to be more hit but I don't know if it has tbh. Underwhelmed happens quite frequently

I also thought well I either get on board and hopefully pick up stuff that

1. Hasn't been pressed and want
2. Is a superior version of an album I already own
3. Is something I wouldn't have ever picked up myself but end up enjoying or some cases loving
4. Worst comes to worst there is usually something else available to my taste I can swap for
5. Clues & Guessing from members on here lead me to listen to other albums I wouldn't have perhaps tried or come across by myself also

With that in mind I haven't cancelled my sub in almost 2 years so I suppose it's somewhat worked for me to an extent.

The shipping included for everything I buy from them is a big staying point for me, importing from anywhere to Ireland generally adds at least 10 to 20 euros on top of the vinyl cost so being able to get store exclusives etc is great too

Conversely & Admittedly I do often feel massive surges of elation when guesses come through like as recent as this month the thoughts of possibly getting MNIMN on vinyl followed by major deflation when it starts to point to Nicki Minaj but levels back out again when it comes to Future Honest

If I look at the vinyl I've received through the sub majority of it I've probably "just got on board with", a minor handful of it has been gems I wouldn't have bought off my own back followed by a minor handful of it being something I really wanted personally

Most months in here if I'm being honest feels like folk just accepting whatever they are being given without being especially happy about it

So do we stick with the curation of some random vmp employees in hope of adding the odd gem now and then? Or do we quit and curate our own collections via discogs and other outlets?

I think the FOMO of what's coming next month keeps majority of us here sadly....

It is impossible to please everybody all of the time though
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Some great points here, thanks for writing it up.

For me, I am definitely in the category of not really knowing why I'm still subbed to R&HH. 3+ years ago (when I first became a VMP member) the main genre I listened to was R&HH so when they announced the sub I too was really excited. The fact that they opened with Noname as well was a perfect intro imo, as she was an artist that I had on my 'one to watch' list (I have seen her live twice since). As my tastes have changed I rarely buy R&HH records now and pretty much rely solely on this sub for any new purchases in that genre.

Looking at the collection now there is a fair few that I could easily live without (Living Legends, Rico Nasty, Ivy Soul, Camp Lo, Juvenile, HBMS). I still enjoy these, they are just ones that I would never think of listening to unless I made a point of playing a record that I haven't spun in a while. To balance that though there have been some releases which I think are fantastic (Noname, Madlib, Little Simz, De La Soul, Open Mike Eagle etc) and VMP has also turned me onto records I wouldn't have otherwise heard of (Saba, Denzel Curry, slowtai, Blackalicious, Rick Ross, etc).

When I compare the 'success' rate of R&HH with Classics for example, Classics wins by a mile. There has yet to be a single release from Classics which I thought I could have done without getting. I know taste is obviously a big factor here, but I feel like the types sub-genres within the R&HH (jazz rap, poetry rap, instrumentals, british rap/grime, etc) are much more diverse than those chosen in Classics (jazz, soul, funk) so the hit/miss ratio is likely to be higher.
 
Selaws said:
When I compare the 'success' rate of R&HH with Classics for example, Classics wins by a mile. There has yet to be a single release from Classics which I thought I could have done without getting. I know taste is obviously a big factor here, but I feel like the types sub-genres within the R&HH (jazz rap, poetry rap, instrumentals, british rap/grime, etc) are much more diverse than those chosen in Classics (jazz, soul, funk) so the hit/miss ratio is likely to be higher.
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This is a great point. The R&HH sub is definitely more diverse for sub genres and would have a larger selection over all to choose from than classics too because isn't classics limited to anything before 1980 also? Or am I making that up 😂 I'm sure I read that somewhere. (Suppose R&HH is limited to 80s onwards too though 😂) plus the differences between my live without picks and yours are there to show its really down to the individual

Classics only ever fails for me personally when it comes to jazz, that's purely only because I know nothing about jazz and haven't delved into it at all, nothing against the genre it might come on to my radar someday
 
Selaws said:
When I compare the 'success' rate of R&HH with Classics for example, Classics wins by a mile. There has yet to be a single release from Classics which I thought I could have done without getting. I know taste is obviously a big factor here, but I feel like the types sub-genres within the R&HH (jazz rap, poetry rap, instrumentals, british rap/grime, etc) are much more diverse than those chosen in Classics (jazz, soul, funk) so the hit/miss ratio is likely to be higher.
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I mean Classics sets the bar real high, but same as RHH, the one's that have branched out further from those core genres of Jazz, Soul, and Funk I feel like (at least initially) got a more lukewarm reaction. Like Patrice Rushen, Celia y Jonny, Sarah Webster, etc. I know these will be hit or miss but I'm happy they go for them, as they are the ones I would be less likely to check out on my own. I feel like if they are hitting at least a 70% hit ratio for someone, it's still worth it. Especially if theres enough swaps to make someone happy.
 
Does anyone know how many people roughly on average subscribe to take an R&HH ROTM per month?

Just curious to numbers because on the grander scheme of things we obviously only have a handful of opinions in here compared.

General consensus in here seems most people prefer Pinkprint over Honest which surprised my (clearly now biased) opinion.

I've had Pinkprint on today its got some really decent Hip Hop orientated tracks on there but most of it sounds more Rnb fused Pop to me personally, nothing to bring me back to it though, I've gone back to Young Thug - So Much Fun now, I wish VMP would press that 🤞🏼
 
dhodo said:
I mean, it does for him. I don't understand your point. It is just a simpler way of saying that their curation doesn't match his tastes/preferences. I think it is clear that is what he means.
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My point is that one statement implies that the blame lies with the curator, and the other positions the mismatch as just that, with no value judgement ascribed.
 
juiceless said:
This is where I'm challenged, and I'm sorry if you think I'm picking on you. But "I don't like this" doesn't equal "bad curation".
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Point taken but when the general consensus on certain picks have come down to really bad curation what else is there left to call it?

Whoever picks these albums will just have to take that on the chin how badly they got a pick wrong in certain situations, this is clearly stated when they fail to build a credible story around an album as to "why it was a pick" or maybe Future Honest will be more pro feminist & political than you care to remember 👍🏼
 
juiceless said:
My point is that one statement implies that the blame lies with the curator, and the other positions the mismatch as just that, with no value judgement ascribed.
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I don't really see the difference personally since we know curation and it's reception are both purely subjective. Curation matching or expanding one's tastes is the only value that it has to a specific person.
 
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Jmcg85 said:
Point taken but when the general consensus on certain picks have come down to really bad curation what else is there left to call it?

Whoever picks these albums will just have to take that on the chin how badly they got a pick wrong in certain situations, this is clearly stated when they fail to build a credible story around an album as to "why it was a pick" or maybe Future Honest will be more pro feminist & political than you care to remember 👍🏼
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I mean, you’re making a pretty big assumption (that I believe to be false) when you say the general consensus is that certain picks have been bad.

You’re also getting really fired up about an album that hasn’t been announced...
 
juiceless said:
I mean, you’re making a pretty big assumption (that I believe to be false) when you say the general consensus is that certain picks have been bad.

You’re also getting really fired up about an album that hasn’t been announced...
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I joined the original forum November 2018 and moved over to here straight away. I've been in constant conversation within the R&HH thread and there has been times in here when it was almost unanimously accepted that a pick was poor. They have even picked albums which i enjoy but still felt like it was a poor pick overall. What do you not understand?

How am I getting fired up about an unannounced pick?

Say what you really feel? Don't just dance around everything and pick holes in things I say.

I will have more respect for your honesty
 
mudketeer said:
You're good. I thought you were really clear that you were giving your opinion on how it fit "for you actually". You even said, "it's just imo" at the end.
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dhodo said:
I mean, it does for him. I don't understand your point. It is just a simpler way of saying that their curation doesn't match his tastes/preferences. I think it is clear that is what he means.
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Thank you 👌🏼
 
Jmcg85 said:
I joined the original forum November 2018 and moved over to here straight away. I've been in constant conversation within the R&HH thread and there has been times in here when it was almost unanimously accepted that a pick was poor. They have even picked albums which i enjoy but still felt like it was a poor pick overall. What do you not understand?

How am I getting fired up about an unannounced pick?

Say what you really feel? Don't just dance around everything and pick holes in things I say.

I will have more respect for your honesty
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I think I’m speaking very plainly.

You’re getting all riled up about Future, and it’s not even a confirmed pick at this point.

I think confirmation bias is in effect here. I don’t recall an RHH pick that was unanimously considered poor.
 
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