搬運自：微信公眾號【評論搬一堆】（在原文基礎上添加了英語原文與排版調(diào)整）?

翻譯：Tyler Smith

審譯：Ryan-Chopin

排版：SpencerC

DJ Khaled has ranged from summertime hitmaker to self-help guru, but neither are all that interesting on his latest guest-filled album. There are plenty of voices but no clear message or intention.

無論是作為夏日熱單制造機還是勵志導師，DJ Khaled都沒有能給自己眾星云集的新專輯增添任何的趣味，專輯華麗外表下是一具空殼。

The creep of positivity culture has been steady and relentless. It has become a dominant modality of Instagram influence and global culture ever since the publication of Rhonda Byrne’s?The Secret?and among its most ardent benefactors (and beneficiaries) is?DJ Khaled. For years, he has blended be-your-best-self mantras with middling music to great fame and, presumably, growing wealth; he even?published a book?detailing his “keys to success.” In the Snapchat era, Khaled’s vague, emphatic preaching made him an intriguing public figure beyond music. But unfortunately, as in the arena of emotional development, shouting aphorisms does little to prompt significant artistic growth.

積極向上的文化不斷蔓延至各個領域，自從Rhonda Byrne的《The secret》（書中作者揭露了運行在宇宙間主宰人生的強有力的黃金法則，并清晰明了地解析了如何運用這個法則，來創(chuàng)造美滿幸福的生活。）發(fā)行之后，這種文化席卷ins和全球各個角落，而它最熱心的追崇者（也是受益者）便是DJ Khaled。多年來，“成為你最好的自己”這樣的咒語（暗指DJ Khaled喜歡在每首歌中喊麥“We the best music/我們做最棒的音樂”）以及一般般的音樂使他聲名鵲起，想必也給他帶來了許多收入;他甚至出版了一本書，詳細描述了他的“成功之鑰”。在Snapchat時代，Khaled讓人聽不懂又底氣十足的說教，讓他成為音樂之外一個引人入勝的公眾人物。但不幸的是，就像在情感發(fā)展的方面一樣，大喊大叫的警句對促進藝術的發(fā)展作用甚微。

Khaled’s new album,?Father of Asahd, continues in his tradition of envisioning every song as a posse cut. The project’s 15 tracks feature 29 different performers plus his own signature bellowing. (The absence of?Drake, a reliable hitmaker and longtime collaborator, is palpable.) The result is pure chaos. Since assembling Akon, T.I., Rick Ross, Fat Joe, Birdman, and Lil Wayne for “We Takin’ Over” in 2007, Khaled has proven himself adept at project-managing rap and R&B’s biggest stars into contributing verses for transparent plays at song-of-the-summer singles. Along the way, the strategy has?produced?actual?anthems, hit songs with a backseat full of guests that will likely activate nostalgia even when they sound thin and tinny in retrospect.

Khaled的新專輯《Father of Asahd》延續(xù)了他一貫的風格，把每首歌都看作是一首長歌巨作的一部分，這張專輯的15首曲目就有29個表演者，當然，還有他自己獨特的喊麥。（顯而易見的是，當紅的冠單制造機Drake缺席了）。結果便是亂成一團糟。自從2007年Khaled在專輯《We Takin’ Over》中集結了Akon, T.I., Rick Ross, Fat Joe, Birdman, Lil Wayne等一眾巨星后，他向世界證明了他掌握著rap界和R&B界的一手資源，并且讓他們在口水的夏日單曲中獻聲。不過在這一過程中還真產(chǎn)生了贊歌：眾星云集的熱單，即使他們的聲音回想起來細碎微小，但仍能引發(fā)我們的懷舊之情。

The formula’s limitations are evident on?Father of Asahd: There are plenty of voices but no clear message or intention. The world seems colder than it did in 2015, and Khaled’s platitudes no longer function as an effective anchor. Vaguely uplifting songs (“Won’t Take My Soul” and “Weather the Storm”) mingle with generic theses on envy and loyalty (“Jealous” and “You Stay”). Specificity, I’ve learned, is another victim of positivity vulture. It’s hardly a flex to gather dancehall’s biggest names—Mavado,?Sizzla, and?Buju Banton, newly released from prison—for a motivational opener, only to throw in strained vocals by New Jersey singer?070 Shake.

這個公式的局限性在專輯《Father of Asahd》體現(xiàn)的明明白白：歌曲里各路明星紛紛獻聲，但表達的東西卻毫無意義。這比他2015年的專輯還要尷尬。Khaled的陳詞濫調(diào)不再是一個行之有效的內(nèi)核支柱。含糊不清的土嗨歌曲(例如“Won’t Take My Soul”和“Weather the Storm”)，混合嫉妒與忠誠的爛俗念經(jīng)歌曲（例如“Jealous”?和“You Stay”)應有盡有。我發(fā)現(xiàn)其專一性也是積極文化的受害者。把剛從監(jiān)獄中釋放出來的舞曲大牌Mavado、Sizzla和Buju Banton集結起來創(chuàng)造一個熱場子的專輯開頭，又把新澤西歌手070 Shake的緊張唱腔插入其中，只能說是張弛無度。

But something is bound to stick. There are a handful of introspective verses from Meek Mill and Lil Baby; it’s a shame they are not alchemized into effective songs.?Cardi B?and?21 Savage?rapping over a Tay Keith beat on “Wish, Wish” is refreshing and poised for radio play. The clear standout is “Higher,” featuring?John Legend?and the late?Nipsey Hussle. Especially in the context of his death last month, Hussle’s two verses are an eerily on-time reflection on his own life, beginning with his family history and ending with this urgent prophecy: “Homicide, hate, gang banging’ll get you all day/Look at my fate.” It offers a rare moment of depth and vulnerability on an album largely marked by inanity.

但有些東西注定是不會改變的。Meek Mill和Lil Baby在片段中進行自我反省，不過很遺憾，這幾首歌并沒有起什么作用。Cardi B和21 Savage順著Tay Keith（當紅hip-hop制作人）歌曲“Wish Wish”里的嘻哈節(jié)拍說唱，令人耳目一新，為稱霸電臺做好了準備。另外一首亮點歌曲是由John Legend與已故的Nipsey Hussle加盟的“Higher”。尤其是在Hussle上個月去世的背景下，他的兩個獻聲片段是對他自己生活的一個奇怪而及時的反思，從他的家族歷史開始，以這個緊急的預言結尾：“殺人、仇恨、幫派暴行會時刻裹挾著你/看看我的命運?！?/span>這首歌在這張精神錯亂的專輯中營造了一個罕見的深沉且脆弱的時刻

In recent years, ostensibly as Khaled has increased his budgets and access to the major-label clearance apparatus, his more-is-more approach has expanded to include a reliance on recognizable samples and interpolations; “Wild Thoughts,” featuring Rihanna, Bryson Tiller, and a prominent sample of Santana’s “Maria, Maria,” reached No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard charts in 2017. This time around, samples include OutKast’s “Ms. Jackson,” which is remade into “Just Us,” a cloying pop song featuring SZA; “Freak N You,” featuring Lil Wayne and Gunna, is built around sped-up Jodeci vocals; the Buju Banton closer “Holy Ground” borrows a riff from Lauryn Hill’s “To Zion.” It strikes as a cynical play at nostalgia. Whereas his peers are trying new strategies to best the streaming wars, Khaled, a firm Gen Xer, appears to remain focused on traditional radio. His challenge to the hegemonic structures of radio and music industry marketing, he recently told Jimmy Fallon, is to force multiple current singles into rotation.

近年來，表面上看，隨著Khaled預算的增加以及自我標識減弱，他“多多益善”的方法應用得越來越廣，甚至到后面開始依賴于十分有辨識度的聲音和采樣，上張專輯里Rihanna，Bryson Tiller加盟的“Wild Thoughts”便是一個例子，該曲在2017年Billboard單曲榜中最高排名第2，它采樣于Santana的單曲“Maria Maria”。這一次，樣本還包括了OutKast的“Ms.Jackson”，并制作成了“Just Us”這一首令人膩歪的流行歌曲，由SZA演繹；Lil Wayne和Gunna參與的“Freak N You”是建立在急速的Jodeci歌聲上的，Buju Banton即將發(fā)行的“Holy Ground”也從Lauryn Hill的“To Zion”里借了一小段即興曲。在Khaled把專輯打造成一個憤世嫉俗的懷舊戲劇時，他的同行都在絞盡腦汁搶占流媒市場。Khaled，作為一個X時代出生的人（X世代中的X是由英文字Excluding的字母X而來，有被排擠的世代的隱喻，出生時間范圍是1965年1月至1976年12月之間。主要是指美國和加拿大在這段時間出生的人），他仍然把重心放在傳統(tǒng)的電臺市場上。他最近對Jimmy Fallon說，他對廣播和音樂行業(yè)的主結構挑戰(zhàn)是使當前的多首新單同時進入電臺輪播列表。

Here and elsewhere, Khaled owes a great debt to Diddy, another guru of positivity and the progenitor of Khaled’s style of not-quite-producer, not-quite-curator auteurship. The blueprint for much of Khaled’s discography was established by Diddy way back when he was known as Puff. In 1997, he released?No Way Out, a Bad Boy compilation that repurposed songs by the Police, Grandmaster Flash & the Message, and India to various degrees of effectiveness. One of those tracks, “Senorita,” is literally referenced on?Father of Asahd’s “You Stay,” in the form of a similar use of India’s “No Me Conviene.” More than 20 years later, it’s time to try something new.

無論在哪兒，Khaled都虧欠Diddy一大筆債。Diddy是另一位積極文化大師，是Khaled不完全創(chuàng)作、不完全操控、讓合作者發(fā)揮風格的鼻祖。Khaled許多迪斯科作品的藍圖都是在Diddy很久前還被稱為Puff的時期建立起來的。在1997年，Diddy發(fā)行了專輯《No Way Out》，這是一部“壞男孩”歌曲精選集，它運用警察，閃光信息大師和印度等元素對歌曲稍加了修飾，頗有成效。其中“Senorita（一首西語歌）”的歌詞與《Father of Asahd》里的“You Stay”對應，且其形式均類似于印度風的歌曲“No Me Conviene”。二十年過去了，也是時候嘗試些新東西了吧，Khaled先生？