Review Summary: Intuition is a Douche Bag
"People that listen to my music will know more about me than they ever would know by my talking to them. There's not a single lie on this album, and if someone doesn't like the record they would probably hate me as a person." Intuition boldly describes his sophomore LP, Girls Like Me, with a stark honesty comparable to the polarizing nature of his lyrics. To state it blunty, Intuition is a douche bag. He's cocky, even chauvinistic at times. His arrogance saturates nearly every second of 15 tracks and his acknowledgment of it does little to dilute the harsh impact on listeners. What Intuition's own sentiments of the album fail to recognize is something any listener can interpret on their own: Music this good transcends any moral discernment or ethical objection.
Opener, Say Hello To Goodbye shows Intuition coming out full force; showcasing his verbal prowess and the almost annoyingly confident persona that sets the tone for the entire album. Lyrics such as:
"Well I'm the reason that your girl thinks your crew is weak.
She says she loves how I inspire her.
She bought my cd, she memorized the words.
Fix her up her, she relates to the entire verse.
She knows if we met up there'd be fireworks,"
while not that impressive on paper, show without a doubt this persona is where Intuition really thrives. He's mastered an often under appreciated aspect of the rap game: delivery. Yes, word play, variation, and speed are all important qualities in our favorite emcees. But Intuition truly highlights a distinguished level of intonation. He literally turns the pitch and tone of his voice emphasized on each word into an art form. Combined with the lyrics and production (which I'll get to in a minute), it surpasses Intuition being merely a character. The album is in fact an experience.
The production caliber is immedietely stated, much in thanks to Equlibrium who opts to use live instrumentation and samples for a majority of the albums duration. It creates the illusion that Intuition performs with a band. There are guitars, audible bass parts, live drums, synths, and excellent guest vocalists. Perhaps the most impressive guest spot comes from Slug of Atmosphere fame on album closer, Buzzkill, though the lesser known artists still meet a common standard of excellence. The intro for Hold Your Breath features Raquel Rodriguez giving the harmonic equivalent of a freestyle, paving way for Intuition to spit about the change of his sound resulting from his experience in the industry.
"Its been a little minute but we came through. New voice, new sound, new town, same dudes.
We're just a little more polished. We been pay'n dues. Singing sad songs wasn't workin so we changed tunes."
The allusion to his debut, Stories About Nothing, shows a welcomed progression, though not to be confused with maturation, from previous works. That is in contrast to Stories, Girls is a fun album. (albeit Feeling the Emptiness which is the only weak track here.) This lighthearted, carefree attitude, when placed in context of the philisophical awareness of Stories, provides a legitamacy to it all. Girls is the work of a man who, as a product of time, has a positive new outlook on life. And because of the circumstance, it works. Lyrically, Intuition is at his womanizing best on tracks that knowingly, yet tastefully objectify the fairer sex. Homegirl is an aggressively one sided conversation attempting to turn an evening at a bar into a one night stand. In terms of pronunciation and rhyme scheme, this track possesses some of the most astonishing work on the album with lines like:
"I get it, you don't usually do this, but baby
Love is war and I ain't losin to cupid, I mean
Me and you would make some beautiful music
I'm trying to do yoga manuevers and unusual movements."
The track Lonely takes things a step further, detailing the type of late night phone call you sorely regret the next day. Here Intuition drunkenly harrasses an old fling, delightfully recalling their past as he trys to get laid again. In these scenarios Intuition is at his most relateable. Whereas some rappers come off as boastful or fabricational, Intuition seems like he's just showing his true colors, as ugly and desperate as they may be. It's almost unfortunate how realistic he is about relationships, and if it wasn't apparent by this point of the album, its certainly clarified on Future Ex Wife. Even when he's really falling for a girl, there is a maintained wisdom it probably won't work out in the end. It's easy to see where his general sentiments of women were fashioned, and I imagine we'll eventually be treated to a depressing mixtape titled after and revolving around the one girl that crushed his soul and single handedly cast the mold for who Intuition is today.
In conclusion, part of me doesn't want to like this album. I flat out don't like Intuition as a person. There are moments, lines, even entire versus where I imagine I'd resort to violence if someone said the same thing within earshot. Despite my antipathy and his relentless douche baggery, Intuition has managed to craft perhaps the most captivating hip hop album of 2010, and certainly one warranting repeated listens for any fan of the genre.
