Honestly, I've been having a pretty good week this week. Pretty sick week, feeling strong, feeling in good health, been having some nice healthy streams when going pee.

I also gave the new Clipse album a 10. And the reception, the response to that 10 has been pretty positive. I'm very thankful that a lot of people seem to agree with what I had to say about the album and that the record is doing very well commercially right now. It made it number 4 in the top 10, also did over 100K in the first week, which for a group at Clipse's level for a comeback record like that is really impressive.

But there have been some reactions that have not been so positive. I mean, sure, some nitpicks and slight disagreements here and there, like, "Oh, I think it's maybe a little mid, or I think it's maybe a nine, not so much a 10," which is fine. All of that is valid. I'm not here to dictate what you have to think about every album.

But some thoughts and opinions I've just found to be really uninformed and out of line, like, "The album is just outright trash. It's the worst thing ever." My opinion on the new Clipse record also came under fire when xQc was talking about it in lieu of also my review of the recent JackBoys/Travis Scott project.

"He gave Clipse a nine? Chat, the reality with this guy is that if you care that much about lyrics, just read a book. Ask the rappers to write books and read their books, read their tweets, read their thoughts, something like that. The music is more than just fucking lyrics. Nobody gives a shit. I listen to a song, I don't care about what they say. They could be speaking German for all I give a shit about. I listen to some Chinese rap sometimes. You want to know why? Because if it's a vibe, if it bops, if it bumps, I play on my speaker. I played a song because I don't give it no lyrics, bitch. It's noises. It's not fucking, 'Oh, dude, that was poetry.' I don't care." - xQc

So yeah, there's that. Let's try to take this dummy statement piece by piece. First off, he's obviously reacting to the score there. Did he watch the entire review? I'm just curious as to why he would watch an entire review of something that I've done because he doesn't seem to care that deeply about music criticism or music itself, outside of it being able to serve the purpose of just fulfilling a vibe, playing in the background of something else he's doing.

He doesn't strike me as the type who would actually think about a piece of music that he has on in any respect whatsoever. Why he would want to hear someone else's thoughts on music, I don't know. But seemingly, he was observing my JackBoys take and was misinformed that I gave the Clipse album a nine. I did say strong nine to a 10, but the score is a 10, buddy. It's a 10. I don't know why it's so difficult for my detractors to recall numbers.

Now, I love the rant that xQc goes on without me even leading him in that direction, and that's that, if you care that much about lyrics, bleh. Okay, first off, who says the main reason that I'm giving Clipse a 10 and JackBoys a 2 is the lyrics I've been reviewing Travis Scott's music for years at this point for over a decade, and most of those reviews have been pretty positive. Rodeo, 8. Astroworld, 7. Utopia, 7. I gave Birds in the Trap a 3. I did do that. Yeah, I don't like that one.

But for the most part, I enjoy Travis's music, and I accept that his artistry doesn't really operate on a wavelength that is a super lyrical one. Like, this is not my first rodeo. I am well aware that there is a lot great rap music out there that isn't the most lyrical. And that's fine. Not every rap album needs to be a lyrical one for it to be good.

But even on an instrumental and songwriting level, JackBoys is far more mediocre than anything else Travis Scott has formally put out. A lot of the production and song structures are even shottier than what we heard on that much shorter JackBoys release years ago. I did say in the review that I thought the lyrics were underwhelming and nothing to write home about, but also that Travis, knowing that he has that shortcoming as an artist, typically will pack his songs with great features, top-tier production.

Honestly, I'm sorry, in terms of choruses, in terms of hooks, in terms of overall production, JackBoys, to me, is trash in comparison to not just other albums in Travis's discography, but the Clipse album, too. Which, yeah, I love the lyrics on the album, but I'm sorry, Pharrell produced his fucking ass off on that record, and there's not a single solitary beat on that JackBoys album that is better than any beat on the Clipse album.

And if the beats on the Clipse record did suck ass, and they were trash, and it was like some of the worst beats I've heard all year. I'm sorry, Pusha T and Malice, I love them, and they could write as many amazing coke bars as they want. But if the beats were horrible, I wouldn't want to listen to it.

So yeah, on xQc's part, and it's not surprising. He has a complete misunderstanding of the way I listen to and perceive music or understand the relative artistry or discographies of Clipse and Travis Scott, which is embarrassing, considering that I literally lay all that shit out in my Travis Scott review. And yet, apparently, he can watch that and think the only reason I do or don't like certain rap albums is just based on whether or not they have lyrics.

Oh, but xQc's stupidity does not stop there, because apparently, if you want to know rapper's thoughts, you should just have them write books or read books they've written or read their tweets. This idiot over here, and there's probably a lot of idiots who agree with him thinks when I'm listening to music, when I'm consuming this art form known as music, I don't want to think any thoughts. I don't want anything to be communicated to me. I don't want to be told anything. I just want to be able to shut my stupid ass brain off that's barely functioning to begin with, and not have to be aware of anything that may or may not be getting said. I'd rather just quietly vibe to the thing that I'm listening to because music is so much more than just words. When I listen to a song, I don't care what they say.

Yeah, because you're an idiot. Which I'm not saying every song has to have the deepest meaning or for you to have to confront yourself with the meaning of every track when you listen to it and lock into every detail that is being put in front of you when you put a piece of music on. But to say that you never care about what's being communicated on a song ever in your life?!

Because even one of his faves, whom he has streamed with and has undying support for Drake, that man, for all of his flaws and all of his issues and everything, puts meanings and expresses emotions in his songs. Would xQc say to Drake to his face like, "Hey, man, I really like your music, but I don't really give a shit about anything that you say on it, and I don't want to have to think about any of the lyrics that you write, and I don't care."

And if I'm Drake, and me as an artist, I know that I am attracting the ears and the attention of people like this, I have to sit back and think, am I doing something wrong? Am I making music for people with low vibrations? Am I making music for cavemen who can't multitask and focus on a musical composition going on in the background with lyrics happening in the foreground?

And the German comment is just weird. Surely, German artists don't want to hear that their music merely serves the purpose of letting xQc be able to listen to a piece of music without having to think about what the words are because there's a language barrier there.

I review music in different languages, and sometimes I even go and look up what the songs mean when it's in a language that's not my native language. But xCc, "When I'm listening to a piece of music, it's just noises. I put it on my speaker. Why would anyone care?"

Look, I'm not like some hip-hop rule enforcer or dictator. I'm not the type of guy to come in here and be like, "All rap songs have to be deep and have meaning and speak to political, social, this, that, and the third." I mean, some of my favorite hip-hop does that. It is true, but some hip-hop songs don't have to do that. We can have variety. We can have versatility. We can have diversity of thought.

But to say, "I don't care about lyrics. Why would anybody care?" Is just such a deeply ignorant and narcissistic thing to think or say, to not even be able to conceive of maybe other people might care about things that you don't. And that thing is LYRICS!

Yeah, why would people care about one of the most popular aspects of all forms of music, vocals and lyrics? It boggles the mind. But for now, I will leave it there. Thank you guys very much for reading. You're the best.

Anthony Fantano. xQc. Forever.