#1 DRAKE STAN - Los Pollos TV vs Anthony Fantano

This series of videos began with a tweet from LosPollosTV stating about Drake's CLB (Certified Lover Boy), 'Drake not only dropped AOTY... But he dropped a fucking CLASSIC... The fucking GOAT... Drizzy... Drake,' to which Fantano replied, 'big fat fucking cap.'

After a bit of back and forth on Twitter, LosPollosTV invited Fantano on stream to an imprompt to debate. What ensued was a 50-minute debate surrounding the project.

This video is gold and has prompted follow-up debates for Honestly, Nevermind and Her Loss.

It's just so funny to watch the back and forth Between LosPollosTV and Fantano, especially when both are put on the spot. This discussion highlights the true disconnect audiences (LosPollosTV) and critics (Fantano) have while discussing or enjoying music.

To condense both arguments, LosPollosTV thinks Fantano is 'trolling' with his reviews, especially with Drake essentially throwing for content to get more views and is an overall Drake hater. From Fantano's perspective, Drake is more or less underperforming compared to his contemporaries, given his time in the industry, access to virtually infinite resources, and songs lacking substance + energy.

The way Fantano (a critic) reviews an album is complicated, to say the least, taking a multi-faceted and non-linear approach. Fantano did break down his process into 'three steps' in a 2019 video (link), which included 

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FANTANO'S ALBUM REVIEW PROCESS

1) Discovery

Listening through a gauntlet of projects in a saturated market to find unique sounds, taking subscriber requests and other factors into account.

2) Surface Level

A casual listening experience to a project focusing on details included in a '10 second,' response to what someone thinks of the album. For instance, this could consist of genre, emotion, recording, comparisons, # number of tracks, etc.

3) In-Depth Listening and Writing

The in-depth listening comes in a format in which distractions are eliminated, and Fantano listens to a project on headphones or a speakers system. In this process, he focuses on the more abstract notions of music, including production, mix, song structure, narrative, sequencing, themes, etc.

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One of the big points he hammers home in this third phase is when discussing aesthetics. For Fantano, a project can have great sounds + vibe (aesthetic), but when that is eliminated, and a deeper lens is positioned, the album won't hold up. Fantano even acknowledges that all people don't listen to music in this fashion, which is fine, and even in casual settings, he doesn't listen to music like this.

For critiques, this in-depth analysis is what a 'good' project will likely have. Watch the analysis Fantano does on any of his infamous 'ten' reviews. The depth in which those projects exhibit in this third phase account for such a high rating.

At this point, you can see where we're going with this.

LosPollosTV listens to Drake in a casual setting (through a non-critical lens), enjoying the vibe + bars of his music. There's nothing wrong with this, and this is how most people listen to music.

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The foundations for music involve how they move you, and often that comes on a subconscious level. An album doesn't have to be particularly nuanced to be objectively good, especially when all art is subjective in the first place. However, when critics (such as Fantano) look at albums, usually high-rated ones set some sort of creative foundation, during an in-depth analysis.

We highly recommend you watch the (now trilogy) of Drake album reviews, and enjoy your next Drake and drive responsibly.

Check out our interview with Anthony Fantano - Click Here.

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CLB

HONSESTLY, NEVERMIND

HER, LOSS

FOR ALL THE DOGS