Rain in England

Last updated
Rain in England
Rain in England Lil B.jpg
Studio album by
Lil B
ReleasedSeptember 21, 2010
Genre
Length73:52
Label Weird Forest
Producer The Based God
Lil B chronology
6 Kiss
(2009)		Rain in England
(2010)		 Angels Exodus
(2011)

Rain in England is the second studio album by American rapper Lil B, released through Weird Forest on September 21, 2010. Produced by Lil B under his persona "The Based God", Rain in England is unusual for the hip hop genre because it has no percussive beats. Instead, Lil B raps over new-age-style synthesizer music. The lyrical style, which finds Lil B speaking on topics like family, love and death, has been noted for its sincerity and reflectiveness.

Contents

The album had a mixed reception upon release; some critics and artists praised its unorthodox musical and lyrical content, while others were left baffled. According to Louis Pattison of The Guardian , the album "transcended familiar notions of good and bad, being one of the most peculiar rap albums ever pressed". [1]

Background and music

Before Rain in England, Lil B had developed a cult following through social media by sharing music through YouTube and MySpace. [2] Lil B wrote the lyrics to Rain in England in a coffee shop [3] over the course of about a month. [4] It was also his first time producing his own music, [3] though he credited the production as a collaboration with his alter ego The Based God. [5] [6] In advance of the album's release, Lil B told XXL that Rain in England would be "one of the best hip-hop albums to ever come out and one of the most unique albums to ever come out in hip-hop". Lil B described it as "like a melting pot to the soul, just thinking and melting into your emotions", and said the album would deal with both dark and positive themes. [7]

Rain in England is described by Lil B as the first ambient hip hop album. [8] [9] The lyrics, described as meditative and surreal, explore themes like death, life, family, God, birth and gender. [10] Most tracks begin with Lil B announcing the theme, which he then contemplates in a zigzag of free associative thought. [10] Lil B took care not to use profanity at all on the album. [4] The synthesizer music is droning and tonally simple; one critic compared the tonality to the nursery rhyme "Three Blind Mice". [5] Tom Breihan of Pitchfork called Rain in England "an album of quasi-rap spoken-word over self-produced music even more ambient than the spaced-out, lo-fi synth landscapes he usually raps over". [11] Nitsuh Abebe wrote in Pitchfork's "Why We Fight" column that the album is "beatless washes of new-agey synths with Lil B flowing over them more like the host of a self-hypnosis tape than a rapper." [12] Rain in England has been compared to the music of Brian Eno, [13] Stars of the Lid, [14] Ray Lynch and Tangerine Dream. [15]

Release and reception

Gnome-mime-sound-openclipart.svg
"Birth to Life"
"Birth to Life", the album's opening track, demonstrates the ambient synth sounds and Lil B's nearly spoken word-style flow used throughout the album.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Rain in England was released on September 21, 2010 on the independent label Weird Forest, which usually focuses on experimental and electronic music. The album was released digitally, as a CD, and as a double LP edition of 1000 copies with a poster. Pitchfork called it "a rare opportunity to own a physical Lil B artifact". [11] The album officially became available for free from the mixtape website DatPiff on November 22. [16]

Critical reception to the album was mixed, [17] with writers acknowledging the album's uniqueness but questioning its lyrical and musical quality. Sam Davies of The Wire wrote, "There are hits and misses: platitudes and cliches, interspersed with bursts of surreal genius. [...] So much indie hiphop [ sic ] tries to challenge mainstream orthodoxy through a cryptic acceleration of thought and voice [...] but Lil B's slower, more ruminative delivery here feels far braver for being more exposed and vulnerable." [10] A positive review in Vice called Lil B "the most revolutionary MC of the last 15 years," but said Rain in England is not a good starting point for people new to his music because the album is "a bit too raw for most life forms to process". [18] Rating the album a 6 out of 10, Charles Aaron of Spin said the album was Lil B's "least accessible" release to date and sounded like "a therapy-session testimony that sounds like Soulja Boy having a Damascus moment in the champagne room over a beatless synth tide." [19]

Blogger Andrew Nosnitsky of hip hop blog Cocaine Blunts wrote, "while it's a very personal and honest affair there's also something, well, not quite good about it. The early buzz about B was that he was making outsider art and England is probably the closest he comes to that standard. He has ideas about what the creation of spoken word poetry and ambient music entails but it's quite clear he hasn't taken a ton of time to study those forms." [20] David Morris of Tiny Mix Tapes said that although the album is "conceptually daring" and a showcase for Lil B's "poetic, philosophical streak", he called the musical backing "utter garbage" and "pure, unstructured noodling". Morris blamed what he saw as a misguided effort to be "left-field and trendy" on Lil B's internet hype and coverage in the indie rock press. [21] The Quietus praised the album as "baffling, flawed but utterly engrossing", and said Lil B's flow is "more measured but no less dexterous than his contemporaries, and the pace of his eloquent, brooding verses lend themselves well to the alien, frosted glass synth sounds and syrupy electronics that form the majority of the backing tracks here. Rain In England comes across like the work of some rap savant, a man whose inner filter has been disabled, creating something which may polarise but which is, at least, utterly distinctive." [22] Daniel Levin Becker wrote in Dusted that, despite its unconventionality, the album is "irredeemably bad". [13]

Legacy

Rain in England has been repeatedly referenced for its uniqueness and its demonstration of Lil B's broad range of styles. Hip hop writer Andrew Nosnitsky remarked in The Wire that Lil B was likely the only rapper who could pull off both an ambient release on Weird Forest and a collaboration with Soulja Boy in the same year. [23] The San Francisco Bay Guardian said the album demonstrated Lil B's unpredictability; [24] similarly, SF Weekly called it "a different beast entirely" from the rest of his work. [25] In Seattle Weekly , Eric Grandy called Rain in England an "oddity" and said Lil B's music is better served by randomly listening to him on YouTube then in a long-form album format. [26] In a 2012 profile of Lil B's career so far, The Wire's Lisa Blanning said the album "feels like a new musical expression". [27] Lil B himself described Rain in England as "my favorite work ... I think that's my most powerful work, to myself. ... That's my favorite, because I know no one else has done that, and that's what I'm most proud of, when I do things that I know nobody else has done before." [27]

At the end of the year, the album received one vote in the Village Voice Pazz & Jop music critics poll. [28] Rob Sevier, co-founder of the label The Numero Group, [29] and Games, a collaboration between Daniel Lopatin (Oneohtrix Point Never) and Joel Ford, named Rain in England one of their favorite albums of the year. [30] Dean Blunt of the electronic duo Hype Williams admired the album and said, "it was artistic, it was the merit. ... Part of the reason it's so interesting, part of the reason why I think this is so good, it's a juxtaposition of two things that you really don't think are meant to be together." [31] Oakland, California rapper Kreayshawn said Lil B "was an influence on me. I was starting to listen to his music and hanging out with him a lot when he was working on Rain in England." [32] Cloud rap duo Main Attrakionz has been compared to the style of Rain in England. [33]

At Lil B's unscripted lecture at New York University in 2012, a fan told Lil B, possibly facetiously, that his mom cried while listening to the track "All Women". [34] Lil B responded:

I love you. Thank you family. I love you man. Respect knowledge. If you see somebody with gray hair, embrace that beauty. Show the world that we are beautiful! That was me trying to get everybody to rally. Show the world we're beautiful! [34]

Lil B also said at the lecture that he was "the first artist ever to release an ambient album in history with no cursing, Rain in England." [35] Portland-based producer E*Rock adapted a transcript of the lecture into an ambient music piece with a synthesized voice, and the result was compared to Rain in England. [36]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Birth to Life"3:48
2."Everything"5:56
3."Just Dream"4:55
4."Love Is Strange"3:35
5."My Windowsill"5:30
6."All Women"3:17
7."Earth's Medicine"6:12
8."I Am the Hellraiser"6:59
9."My Business"8:10
10."Hate Is Fear"6:21
11."Letter to Family"4:53
12."All My Life"5:32
13."Death"3:31
14."God Kissed Me"5:39

Related Research Articles

Lil Wayne American rapper (born 1982)

Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record executive.. He is commonly regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation, and often cited as one of the greatest rappers of all time. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman, joining Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label. From then on, Wayne was the flagship artist of Cash Money Records before ending his association with the company in June 2018.

Lil Kim American rapper from New York

Kimberly Denise Jones, better known by her stage name Lil' Kim, is an American rapper and reality television personality. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, she lived much of her adolescent life on the streets after being expelled from home. In her teens, Jones would freestyle rap, influenced by fellow female hip hop artists like MC Lyte and the Lady of Rage. In 1994, she was discovered by fellow rapper The Notorious B.I.G., who invited her to join his group Junior M.A.F.I.A.; their debut album, Conspiracy, generated two top 20 singles in the United States and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Cash Money Records American record label

Cash Money Records is an American record label founded in 1991 by brothers Ronald "Slim" Williams and Bryan "Birdman" Williams. The label is distributed by Republic, which used to be Universal Republic. The label has been home to a roster of hip hop artists, including Juvenile, Lil Wayne, Drake, and Nicki Minaj, and is regarded as one of the most successful in hip-hop history.

Through the Wire 2003 single by Kanye West

"Through the Wire" is the debut single by American rapper Kanye West, who wrote and recorded the song with his jaw wired shut after a car accident in October 2002. The song samples Chaka Khan's 1985 single "Through the Fire" and was released on the last day of September 2003 as the lead single from his debut album The College Dropout (2004).

<i>Tha Carter III</i> 2008 studio album by Lil Wayne

Tha Carter III is the sixth studio album by American rapper Lil Wayne, released on June 10, 2008, by Cash Money, Universal Motown & Young Money Entertainment. It follows a long string of mixtape releases and guest appearances on other hip hop and R&B artists' records, helping to increase his exposure in the mainstream. The album features appearances from Jay-Z, T-Pain, Fabolous, Robin Thicke, Busta Rhymes, Juelz Santana, Babyface, Bobby V, and Kanye West, among others. It also features Static Major, who is credited posthumously following his death in February 2008.

Pusha T American rapper (born 1977)

Terrence LeVarr Thornton, better known by his stage name Pusha T, is an American rapper and record executive. He rose to prominence as one-half of the hip hop duo Clipse, which was mainly active from 1994 to 2010, alongside his older brother No Malice. As Clipse, the two released three studio albums and a number of mixtapes, and had hit singles including "Grindin'" and "When the Last Time". They also founded the label Re-Up Records and the fashion label Play Cloths.

<i>Dedication 2</i> 2006 mixtape by Lil Wayne

Dedication 2 is the fifth mixtape by Lil Wayne, hosted by DJ Drama. It is a sequel to Lil Wayne's previous mixtape, The Dedication, and is second in DJ Drama's Gangsta Grillz series with Lil Wayne. It is one of the few mixtapes in the hip hop genre to be both financially successful and critically acclaimed. Despite its illegal use of unlicensed instrumentals and samples, it was sold through iTunes and retail stores such as Best Buy and FYE, was widely reviewed in the mainstream media, and peaked at #69 on Billboard's "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums” chart. The cover shows Lil Wayne with "Fear God" tattooed on his eyelids. Much of the mixtape showcases Lil Wayne's free associating rhymes and "liquid non-sequiturs."

<i>Crack</i> (album) 2008 studio album by Z-Ro

Crack is the twelfth solo studio album by American rapper Z-Ro. It was released on September 16, 2008 via Rap-A-Lot Records, Warner Bros. Records and Asylum Records. Production was handled by Mr. Lee, Bigg Tyme, J. Moses, Cory Mo, Tone Capone and Z-Ro himself. It features guest appearances from Lil' Keke, Mike D, Mýa, Paul Wall and Slim Thug. The album chronicles the life story side of Z-Ro, like most of his albums. He stated that the streets would be hooked to the name of it. The chopped and screwed version of the album was done by Michael "5000" Watts and released on October 28, 2008.

Drake (musician) Canadian rapper, singer and actor from Ontario (born 1986)

Aubrey Drake Graham is a Canadian rapper, singer, and actor. An influential figure in contemporary popular music, Drake has been credited for popularizing singing and R&B sensibilities in hip hop. Gaining recognition by starring as Jimmy Brooks in the CTV teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001–08), Drake pursued a career in music releasing his debut mixtape Room for Improvement in 2006; he released the mixtapes Comeback Season (2007) and So Far Gone (2009) before signing with Young Money Entertainment.

Lil Freak 2010 single by Usher featuring Nicki Minaj

"Lil Freak" is a song by American recording artist Usher, taken from his sixth studio album, Raymond v. Raymond. Featuring guest vocals by Trinidadian recording artist Nicki Minaj, the song was written by her, Usher, Ester Dean, Blac Elvis and Polow da Don, the latter two producing the track. Its hook is based on a manipulated sample of American soul musician Stevie Wonder's 1973 hit, "Living for the City". "Lil Freak" was released as the second single from the album in the United States and Canada on March 2, 2010.

<i>Careless World: Rise of the Last King</i> 2012 studio album by Tyga

Careless World: Rise of the Last King is the second studio album by American rapper Tyga. It is his first album under a major label after his independent release, No Introduction. Production for the album took place during 2009 to 2012 and was handled by Jess Jackson, Arthur McArthur, Pharrell Williams, Boi-1da, and Noah "40" Shebib, among others. The album was released on February 21, 2012, on Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records, and Universal Republic Records. The album endured several release dates due to sampling credits, and experienced a limited release in retail stores due to an uncredited use of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I've Been to the Mountaintop", which was his last speech before he was assassinated on April 4th, 1968. Despite the limited release, the album received strong digital downloads, and debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 61,000 copies in its first week. The album has received generally positive reviews from music critics upon release.

Lil B American rapper from California (born 1989)

Brandon Christopher McCartney, professionally known as Lil B and as his alter ego The BasedGod, is an American rapper. Lil B has recorded both solo and with Bay Area group The Pack. His solo work spans several genres, including hip hop, new age, indie rock and choral music. He describes his work as "based", a term which denotes a lifestyle of positivity and tolerance; and is noted for his extensive use of social media to build an online cult following.

<i>TM:103 Hustlerz Ambition</i> 2011 studio album by Young Jeezy

TM:103 Hustlerz Ambition is the sixth studio album by American rapper Young Jeezy. It was released on December 20, 2011, by CTE World and Def Jam Recordings.

"Did It On'em" is a song by Trinidadian-American rapper and singer Nicki Minaj. It was written by Minaj with J. Ellington, Safaree Samuels, and Shondrae "Bangladesh" Crawford, who produced the track. The song served as the sixth single from her debut album, Pink Friday, in the United States.

<i>Pluto</i> (Future album) 2012 studio album by Future

Pluto is the debut studio album by American rapper Future. It was released on April 17, 2012, through A1 Recordings and Freebandz, and distributed by Epic Records. The album features guest appearances from Drake, R. Kelly, T.I., Trae tha Truth and Snoop Dogg, with the production, which was handled by Will-A-Fool, Sonny Digital and K.E. on the Track, among others.

<i>Trap Back</i> 2012 mixtape by Gucci Mane

Trap Back is the thirteenth mixtape by American rapper Gucci Mane. The mixtape was released online on February 5, 2012, coinciding with Super Bowl Sunday, at 10:17 a.m.—a reference to Gucci Mane's label, 1017 Bricksquad. It was Gucci Mane's first major recording project following his release from jail at the end of 2011, after spending a total of six months incarcerated that year. Trap Back was conceived as a "comeback mixtape" to revive the rapper's reputation and career, which had stalled for years due to ongoing legal troubles and other personal setbacks.

<i>Choices and Flowers</i> 2012 studio album by The BasedGod

Choices and Flowers is the first instrumental studio album by American rapper Lil B, released under the moniker The BasedGod. It was digitally released on May 17, 2012, through Lil B's own record label, BasedWorld Records. The album consists of instrumental versions of songs from his previous releases Rain in England, Dior Paint and Roses Exodus. Lil B has described the album as his "classical music debut", although most critics have instead classified it as a New Age album. It was followed later in 2012 by a second "classical" album released under the BasedGod name, Tears 4 God.

Lil B discography Cloud rap recording artist discography

This is the discography of American rapper Lil B.

Memphis rap, also known as Memphis hip hop or Memphis horrorcore, is a regional subgenre of hip hop music that originated in Memphis, Tennessee in the early 1990s.

Emo rap is a fusion genre of hip hop and emo. Originating in the SoundCloud rap scene in the mid-2010s, the genre fuses characteristics of hip hop music, such as beats and rapping, with the lyrical themes, instrumentals, and vocals commonly found in emo music. XXXTentacion, Juice Wrld, and Lil Peep are some of the most notable musicians in the genre.

References

  1. ↑ Pattison, Louis (February 18, 2011), "Grab your spatula! Could "based" Lil B be the next big thing?", The Guardian , retrieved March 20, 2013
  2. ↑ "Lil B drops one of the year's weirdest records, Rain in England", Fact , September 20, 2012, retrieved March 20, 2013
  3. 1 2 Staley, Willy (September 7, 2010), "The man behind the meme", San Francisco Bay Guardian , p. 2, retrieved March 20, 2013
  4. 1 2 Baker, Ernest (September 7, 2010), "'Everything' — Lil B Breaks Down His 25 Most Essential Songs", Complex , retrieved March 20, 2013
  5. 1 2 Nelson, Brad (April 13, 2012), "Live: Lil B Absorbs The Audience, Talks Axl Rose And Trayvon Martin At New Museum", The Village Voice , retrieved March 20, 2013
  6. ↑ Ehrlich, Brenna (November 16, 2011), "Lil B On His Social Media Empire", O Music Awards , retrieved March 20, 2013
  7. ↑ Gipson, Brooklyne (August 30, 2010), "Lil B, 'I Felt Like [Joe Budden] Was Making a Mockery of Me.'", XXL , retrieved March 20, 2013
  8. ↑ Brown, Jacob (March 11, 2011), "Lil B | Back to Cali", T , retrieved March 20, 2013
  9. ↑ Roberts, Steven (January 14, 2011), "Lil B The BasedGod Sends New York Fans Into A Frenzy", MTV , retrieved March 20, 2013
  10. 1 2 3 Davies, Sam (December 2010), "Lil B Rain in England Weird Forest CD/DL/LP", The Wire , vol. 322
  11. 1 2 Breihan, Tom (September 20, 2010), "Lil B Releases Ambient Rap Album", Pitchfork , retrieved March 20, 2013
  12. ↑ Abebe, Nitsuh (October 8, 2010), "Why We Fight: Self-mythologizing and Artist Branding", Pitchfork , retrieved March 20, 2013
  13. 1 2 Becker, Daniel Levin (October 27, 2010), "Dusted Reviews: Lil B: Rain in England", Dusted, retrieved March 20, 2013
  14. ↑ Watson, William Cody (November 23, 2010), "Never Waking Up's top records of 2010, or something", Impose, retrieved March 20, 2013
  15. ↑ "New Arrivals #356", Aquarius Records store , October 8, 2010, retrieved March 20, 2013
  16. ↑ Lil B "The BasedGod" Rain In England Produced By The BasedGod Hosted By The BasedGod, DatPiff, November 22, 2010, retrieved March 20, 2013
  17. ↑ Rain in England Reviews, Metacritic , retrieved March 26, 2013
  18. ↑ "Records", Vice , vol. 17, no. 9, November 2010, retrieved March 20, 2013
  19. ↑ Aarons, Charles (November 2, 2010), "Lil B, 'Rain in England'", Spin , retrieved March 20, 2013
  20. ↑ Noz, Andrew (July 31, 2010), "God In The Building", Cocaine Blunts, retrieved March 20, 2013
  21. ↑ Morris, David, "Lil B – Rain in England", Tiny Mix Tapes , retrieved March 20, 2013
  22. ↑ Pounds, Ross (November 22, 2010), "Reviews: Lil B: Rain In England", The Quietus , retrieved March 20, 2013
  23. ↑ Nosnitsky, Andrew (May 2010), "Lil B", The Wire , vol. 315, p. 16
  24. ↑ "Best of the Bay 2011 Editors Picks: Arts and Entertainment", San Francisco Bay Guardian , June 26, 2011, retrieved March 20, 2013
  25. ↑ Covert, Adrian (December 22, 2010), "The Top 10 Bay Area Hip-Hop Albums of 2010", SF Weekly , retrieved March 20, 2013
  26. ↑ Grandy, Eric (April 25, 2012), "I Got Based", Seattle Weekly , p. 2, retrieved March 20, 2013
  27. 1 2 Blanning, Lisa (February 2012), "Based in the Bay", The Wire , no. 336, pp. 44–51
  28. ↑ "Pazz + Jop 2010 Albums — All Votes", Village Voice , retrieved March 20, 2013
  29. ↑ "Guest Lists: Best of 2010", Pitchfork , December 20, 2010, retrieved March 26, 2013
  30. ↑ "Best of 2010 #1: The Bug, Solar Bears, Bok Bok, Games", Fact , December 20, 2012, retrieved March 20, 2013
  31. ↑ Blanning, Lisa (January 2012), "Hype Williams transcript", The Wire , retrieved March 25, 2013
  32. ↑ Ahmed, Insanul (May 31, 2011), "Who Is Kreayshawn?", Complex , retrieved March 20, 2013
  33. ↑ Hughes, Josiah (February 21, 2011), "Main Attrakionz "Who Am I" (prod. by Babe Rainbow)", Exclaim! , retrieved March 20, 2013
  34. 1 2 Gipson, Brooklyne (April 12, 2012), "Lil B Gives Lecture at NYU", BET.com , retrieved March 20, 2013
  35. ↑ Cooper, Duncan (April 12, 2012), "Based Scripture: The Full Transcript of Lil B's Lecture at NYU", The Fader , retrieved March 20, 2013
  36. ↑ "Check out E*Rock's ambient rendition of Lil B's NYU lecture", Fact , April 17, 2012, retrieved March 20, 2013

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.