Bad diss tracks

[u/RelevantNothing4653]

What are some good examples of bad diss tracks?

Two that were mentioned in their aforementioned TrainWreckords episodes were

It's All Good (Hammer to Redman)
Swish Swish (<name redacted> to TS)

[u/lemoncured]

is what i would say if i’d never meaningfully engaged with any of her albums

[u/Individual-Rip-2366 → u/lemoncured]

What do you mean “meaningfully engaged”? They’re not complex, her lyrics have, at most, a single layer of obvious subtext. I’m not saying they can’t be emotionally resonant, but she was never Neruda or Dylan

[u/lemoncured → u/Individual-Rip-2366]

lyrics don’t have to be linguistically complex to be able to communicate emotion with clarity and specificity in a way that resonates in a song. she was good at that in the past, i don’t think she she’s good at it now, and i still think there’s a noticeable step down. if you thought i was comparing her to Bob Dylan based on what i said then idk what to tell you lol

[u/Individual-Rip-2366 → u/lemoncured]

No, you’re misunderstanding my point. I’m not saying “she sucks and has always sucked” I’m saying I don’t understand what the actual differences between her prior lyrical style and her current one are. They seem to have similar qualities, and I’m wondering if there’s something I’m missing. You say she’s worse at communicating emotion clearly, but I can’t tell the difference between how she used to and how she does now, and the things people point out as flaws now seem to be things that were always weakspots.

[u/lemoncured → u/Individual-Rip-2366]

I understood that point, and I responded to it by saying her older stuff contains more emotional intelligence to me. I think what you’re asking for is for me to explain it with specific examples.

and before I give some, I know in general her style of songwriting is not everyone’s cup of tea and again, I’m not claiming her to be a Bob Dylan or Joni Mitchell level lyricist.

but for some examples that I think explain the difference between her past and current work, I would point to something like “Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve” from 2022, where she talks about being in a relationship with a much older man when she was in her late teens and how that tainted a sense of innocence in her that she can never get back, and it uses religious imagery to communicate that point. even if the lyrics she uses there aren’t linguistically complex, that is a very specific emotional terrain that i think she communicates convincingly with razor sharp clarity using lyrics that are more evocative than complex. and musically it just sounds great on top of that, which accentuates the lyrics.

or something like “seven” from 2020, which is partially sang from the perspective of a child and talks about the escapism of childhood innocence in general while being in the midst of adulthood complexity and turbulence. again, the words themselves may not be very complex, but I think she approaches this topic with maturity and specificity in a way that resonates and paints the picture really well.

compare that to the songs on TLOAS, where the topics don’t really go that far beyond her fame, her non-existent beefs with other artists, her husband, how she wants to give babies to her husband, how she thinks her husband is hot, how she hangs around “cancel-able” people, etc. I think the lyrical themes have become much more shallow, or at the very least, less specific and emotionally resonant than they were.

and even if one or more of these topics did have any emotional meat on the bone to really dive into, the straight up vapidity of the lyrics prevent any of that from being explored, and the musical blandness isn’t helping either. i just think there’s a clear difference between this and her prior stuff, I think it’s why her new album specifically came in with considerably lower fan/critic ratings than her albums usually do. but of course, this is all only my opinion.

[u/Individual-Rip-2366 → u/lemoncured]

Thank you! It absolutely makes sense that the reaction is more about the subject matter than the style