Where does PARTYNEXTDOORS' most acclaimed project rank on the scale of other classics
Almost three years ago I wrote a pretty trash article called "What Makes a Classic Album".
However, in that article, existed a gem, as a 17-year-old me broke down the definition of a classic project and used that definition to stumble upon the three major categories that almost everyone unknowingly uses to determine a classic: impact, longevity and outshining peers.
Often times, when attempting to compare classics it becomes nearly impossible since they are some of the best music we know. This series will help better structure future comparisons, as a classic project will get rated weekly based on the above categories.
How it works: Based on my strong belief, to even be labeled a classic, a project has to be considered at least a 9 on the 10 point system. So every project that is rated in this series starts at a nine. The remaining point will be calculated by the three previously mentioned categories.
For example, an album like Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy would get the highest possible score on outshining peers at 0.33, bumping it from a 9 to a 9.33, and that process would repeat for every category.
Impact
Disclaimer: The word sex came up a lot for this category.
The impact category for PARTYNEXTDOOR TWO is completely tied to sex.
The dark R&B feel combined with it’s stripped instrumentation and PND’s laid back delivery are all byproducts of The Weeknd, so as great as the project is, PND can't get impact points for something he didn't create or popularize.
However, PND does deserve credit for emphasizing a universal topic that The Weeknd chose to use as a secondary subject behind his drug references. Instead of singing about both drugs and sex, Party sung almost strictly about sex, as 10 of the 12 songs on the album follow the same theme of having or wanting to have sex.
Even the two songs with no sex references, "Her Way" and "Grown Woman", are dedicated to empowering women to go after what they want and make their own decisions, which is basically subtext for "stop thinking rationally, and go have sex."
From “Thirsty” to “Bout It“, tracks off PARTYNEXTDOOR 2 will make it on to and elevate any person's sex playlist.
Combining the dark R&B sound of The Weeknd with more sex and less coke makes for the perfect soundtrack to end a night, but Party can only get so much credit for making an already great sound better with a more universal theme.
Impact Rating: 0.05
Longevity
Timeless lines, themes or verses that a listener can live through then revisit after having gone through it makes most classic albums have the longevity factor. Other classics, like Zapp & Roger’s "Computer Love" single, achieve longevity through a timeless sound that can never truly be duplicated.
Read this next paragraph in the voice of the somy kid that does the artist song impressions:
PARTYNEXTDOOR 2 lacks lyricism, as most songs follow a similar structure of Party explaining the setting with the first half of his verse, saying what he and a female subject is doing (usually, not yet together) in the second half of the verse, then singing what they should be doing together in his hooks. This structure is true for over half of the album--"East Liberty", "SLS", "Sex On the Beach", "Her Way", "Grown Woman", "Options" and "Muse".
The sound is purposefully stripped back, so on the surface, there's no legendary production to help the project get points in that realm either.
However, with all that being said, the same plain production and simple lyrics that could subject the project to criticism makes the album cringe-free and effortless to revisit years later.
PARTYNEXTDOOR 2 is the practice of minimalism in a sex album. It doesn't paint an extreme nonrepresentative picture of young people being in love and wanting to be together forever with sex operating as some soul tie; instead, the album sounds like an accurate summary of the alcohol-fueled lusty lines that get told to potential partners towards the end of the night.
This album isn't the sex classic newlyweds go to on their wedding night, but as long as people want each other without actually wanting to be together, PARTYNEXTDOOR 2's minimal lyrics and production will provide the perfect ambiance.
The only reason a perfect score isn't rewarded in this category is because Party deviates from the effortless feel on the backend of "SLS".
Longevity: 0.30
Outshining Peers
PARTYNEXTDOOR 2 sits in an almost unfair slot because PND's sound and talent places him in the same box as two of the biggest artists of the 2010s--Drake and The Weeknd.
Let's use Carmelo Anthony for context.
Anthony has over 25,000 career points, 10 All-Star appearances and a scoring championship. Carmelo Anthony is no doubt a future Hall of Famer but his career doesn't come close to his peers of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.
PARTYNEXTDOOR is Carmelo Anthony and P2 is Carmelo's 2012-13 season. Party is undoubtedly one of the best talents of his generation and the legend of P2 will be heard for years, but there's no outshining Drake or The Weeknd.
The main reason that it's impossible is that his sound was literally created by one half of his competition and his other competition is his boss, meaning even when Party snaps on a track, a "leak" or remix of his more popular boss performing the track will steal the mainstream spotlight.
Example: the Youtube views of "Freak In You", the lone standout track off PARTYNEXTDOOR's COLOURS 2 EP.
The PARTYNEXTDOOR version currently sits below half a million views; meanwhile, Drake waited all of 22 days to one-up his top artist with his remix which currently has over 7 million views.
For what it's worth, Drake's version is nowhere near Party's version, but it doesn't matter because people are always going to choose LeBron over Carmelo.
Score: 0
P2 is a classic project that will live on in the name of lust for as long as not committing is accepted.
However, the project's lack of innovation and the fact that Party's talent and sound place him next to two of the greatest artists of a generation makes it tough for PARTYNEXTDOOR 2 to climb higher on the classics ladder.
Classic Score: 9.35
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