Right. Yes. Yes. Correct. Yes. Absolutely. Positive.

Buy. Sell. Don't. Do. Yes. No. Up. Down. Left. Right.

That's right. I'm Anthony Fantano, and it's time. I'm running for President. President me. Me for President. Have we done this bit before at the start of an argue? I feel like we've done this bit before. I feel like I've run for President before.

Just a little President joke, just a little reflection humor on topic. Just being real up to date, real current events. That's my thing. Just being aware of general goings on in the zeitgeist. Zeitgeist.

Okay, Let's get into it. No more funny business. It's time for Let's Argue. I went on the internet. I accepted your hot takes, your unpopular opinions, and your tough questions. I whittled it down to the best ones. That was a struggle because there were so many great takes. When I posted this up on Twitter, so many amazing takes, I couldn't even pick from the best ones. There were so many amazing takes.

"After this Peggy album, he needs to be in consideration on one of the best producers of all time."

- @BaccaWatch

Honestly, I don't really disagree. I think it actually goes beyond just one of the greatest producers of all time because Peggy is truly building up one of the most artistically eclectic, interesting, versatile, and consistently impressive discographies in modern rap music. Eventually, as he continues with a few more albums under his belt that presumably will be just as good, if not better, than the one he recently released. We're talking like one of the most solid discographies in hip hop of all time.

But yeah, at least hitting that standard for the modern era is an impressive feat, considering that it's really only been 10 years since he truly started to blow up, blow up, and really get the snowball rolling and just continue to grow his brand, grow his audience, continue to challenge himself. Especially on the production side, with this new LP with all of the metal and rock instrumentation worked into his usual trademark style of hip hop. The bars are there, the songwriting is there, the production is there, the artistry is there, the creativity is there. He's really just like, impressing on all fronts. As of right now, absolutely, positively no sign of Peggy stopping. Let's go.

"You are the most biased ye reviewer ever and you need to learn how to put out an authentic review stop saying his stuff is unreviewable because it is just listen to the album and realize there is amazing parts even if you don't like all of it."

@ye303030330

Okay, first off, please, grammar, commas, periods, anything, so I can actually say what you're trying to say. This tweet is unreadable. Never mind a Ye album being unreviewable.

Look, if you want a reviewable Ye album, two things need to happen – That dude needs to stop weaponizing his audience and treating them like his own personal cult and preventing them from being able to think freely about anything that he says or does because he's just constantly acting like he's the victim of haters and so on and so forth when there actually are legitimate criticisms of his output and his behavior, especially as of late. Number two, he actually needs to put out a fucking finished project that doesn't sound like garbage.

Kanye challenge, seriously, put out an album that once it's dropped and we're all hearing it, sounds done. Yeah, don't just fix it a million times after it's already out and all of your fans are talking about all the various parts of it that are garbage. How's about that? How's about we do that? What's wrong with that?

"It is better for a band to 'stay together' and never release another album/do shows than it is for a band to officially break up. It leaves the door open for feelings to change, and a lot of bands just reunite eventually anyways."

@COBBTIMUS_PRIME

I don't know if I fully agree with this take. Number one, because if they do officially break up, the return, the comeback, the reformation feels that much more exciting. It doesn't feel like we're just getting another album after a very long time of random studio album silence for some reason. I'll say optically, marketing-wise, again, makes the comeback that much sweeter.

I understand a lot of bands and band members wanting to break up because what if they just really don't want to make music anymore, or they just don't want to genuinely make music together anymore as a group? Some of them want to move on and do other things, and maybe there's going to be some band members that feel some type of way about that. Like, 'Hey, why are you... I thought you liked me. Why are you making solo stuff? Why are you in that other band? What's going on? Is it me? Did I do something wrong!?'

Some musicians, as far as bands go, they're monogamous. They're not in an open musical relationship. You can't be just joining other bands without clearing it with the rest of the group.

"I think Anthony would look sexy if he had a perm."

@DatelBunBoi

Do we have the editing technology for that, Ryan? Is there editing technology to give me a perm?

Oh, yes. Yes. Looking sexy with this perm. Certainly that I am. Haha! Leave a comment if you think I look better this way.

"Rating an album one week after its release is too early."

@ASAP_Robby_057

Okay, you're entitled to feel that way, but at this point, it's pretty much a goddamn industry standard. Especially if a publication or a reviewer got a hold of the album early. They're reviewing that shit day of release or even a few hours before.

Look, it's not even reviewers and music publications doing that thing. That's literally the fans, too. Like, seconds after an album has come out, especially a highly anticipated one, go on Twitter. There's like dozens and dozens and dozens, really an infinite amount of what seems like very solidified takes on the record right out of the gate. It hasn't even been out for the amount of time that the album takes to listen to in full.

Excuse me if I think as a reviewer, I'm entitled to getting a review out in a week or several days, if need be, because that's what you all are doing or worse.

"Even as technology advances, it will be much harder for 'homegrown' artists to be put on, and more nepo babies will be shown to the masses

With the death of music journalists, mixtapes, interviews, and music label payoff, Chapel Roan's will be the exception to the rule."

@ianjtheboy

We've talked about this to a degree before, I believe in the Argue Series and on my YouTube channels, generally, maybe even during streams as well. You are making an apt and accurate observation here, but we need to talk again about why this is happening. Because, yes, you are talking about the whittling down of the music journalism industry and an increase in just nepo babies out there and people who come from some means being more likely to make it in the music industry than, let's say, an average person.

We need to ask, why is this happening? Why is this a thing?

It has absolutely, positively nothing to do with technology. If anything, the technological advances of the past 10 years are just making recording and disseminating music easier for the general person. But no matter how easy the process of recording and making music becomes, you still need time to do it. You still need time to make a proper track. You still need time to focus and hone your craft and your talent. You still need at least some means or budget to accomplish these things.

I mean, not just time, but recording equipment and a host of other things that are necessary for creating music. None of this shit is free. We're currently living in a very ugly stage of dog-eat-dog capitalism, where your average person is being squeezed between a rock and a hard place where their dollar does not stretch as far as it used to. On top of it, cost of living between food and housing is getting more and more and more expensive.

With that, for many people worsening every year, where the fuck is the time to make some fucking music? I mean, under those conditions, of course, it'll be more likely that people that don't so much have to worry about that economic squeeze are going to have the wherewithal to actually produce the level of quality of music that you would need to in order to make it in music to some degree.

"Eminem's new album isn't just a concept album, it's more than that. It's a concept album about being a concept album, while simultaneously not having a concept that it's a concept album. It's genius, once you understand the concept of the album first, of course."

@ScaloneyBologna

No, it's not any of this. It's barely a concept album because it's narrative concept finishes before the album is over and then the rest of it doesn't even make any frigging sense within the context of the concept. Stop building this record up to be something that it wasn't or that it could have been, please.

"Brat is probably the most overrated album of 2024 by far. It's sound in comparison to many other pop releases of the year and aesthetically it's just really uninteresting."

@RobotJonees

List them. List them. Like who? Dua Lipa? The Dua Lipa album? What are you talking about? The Billie Eilish album? That album is good, has a lot of good tracks on it, but is it as bold sonically as the Charli album? No.

Plus, as far as songs and anthems, tracks that really pack a punch, you're getting more bang for your buck on BRAT. What's better? The Beyoncé record? Very good record. Great album, but it's more of a country record than just a straight-up pop album. The Taylor Swift? Are we comparing it with the Taylor Swift and her mini child baby, Gracie Abrams, who made that mid, mid, mid, mid, mid album that nobody is even talking about anymore.

I'm sorry, again, what is it? Is it the Ariana Grande? No, that was bland. Is it the Justin Timberlake? No, that was a total mess. I mean, I did really enjoy the new records from Remi Wolf as well as a Porter Robinson, but I feel like as far as bold pop esthetics that are very synthetic and have a mainstream appeal to them. They're not really competing in that way. It's a bit of an apples to oranges thing.

Again, where are all of these bold, superior pop albums that you're talking about? Because you're saying it, but I don't know. To my ears and eyes, they don't exist.

I think that's going to be the last take in this Let's Argue episode. Virtual hug, but not like a weird parasocial one, just a platonic one. Thank you for watching and engaging and doing all that you do. Forever.