Before I leave, an excerpt from the comments (emphasis mine):
The theory goes that sometime in the late nineties or early 2000s, record executives started pushing up and coming talent to back off of more topical issues (like say, fucking tha' police), to make the albums more sellable to the rest of the population.
o_0
― HI DERE, Monday, 12 May 2008 20:50 (sixteen years ago) link
this is like 1958---1967 in reverse, or something
― deeznuts, Monday, 12 May 2008 20:50 (sixteen years ago) link
A poster above referred to Matt Taibbi's piece on this subject in Rolling Stone, and I agree with Taibbi's assessment 100%. Modern "Pop" rap and hip-hop is a minstrel show: white music executives hawking a nasty, debased parody of black culture to white kids in the burbs.
― and what, Monday, 12 May 2008 20:51 (sixteen years ago) link
by which i mean it looks like exactly the same old day the music died bullshit except flipped if that makes sense
― deeznuts, Monday, 12 May 2008 20:52 (sixteen years ago) link
"Hip Hop died in the '90s. The last real hip-hop record was the first Wu Tang record. Everything else is just bullshit - including Jay-Z, Biggie Smalls and everything that Nas has done since Illmatic. And anything that's not from New York doesn't count - because it's not hip-hop anyway. It's just rap."
― Alex in SF, Monday, 12 May 2008 20:53 (sixteen years ago) link
ha i suspected him of BSing about being a farm kid from IA, but hubbard IS fkn tiny
― gff, Monday, 12 May 2008 20:54 (sixteen years ago) link
Hey Pipecock posted a letter:
"I agree with you for the most part. Though I'd chart hip hop's demise to Puffy in 97 with his insipid "Every Breath you Take." The rhymes he and Mase put over that wildly popular track set the bar lower than ever before. Next, comes Master P, who finsihed off what Puffy started and truly retardidized hip hop.
We must remember that just before this, in 95-96, the Pharcyde, Tribe, and De La Soul all released phenomanal albums (all sharing the same prodcuer, JD, for many of their best tracks.) I consider that a high water mark."
― Alex in SF, Monday, 12 May 2008 20:54 (sixteen years ago) link
we still haven't mentioned his assertion that ludacris "begat" cash money
― J0rdan S., Monday, 12 May 2008 20:55 (sixteen years ago) link
Forth from his loins
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 12 May 2008 20:55 (sixteen years ago) link
-- J0rdan S., Monday, May 12, 2008 4:55 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Link
OH NOES KIDS R DANCING HIP-HOP IS DEAD
"Atlanta (Outkast and Ludacris mostly) begat the Cash Money Millionaires of New Orleans (think Juvenile and Back That Ass Up."
paul wall as an example of real lyricism contrasted with lil boosie fat joe and lil wayne
"when did young black men become so lame?"
-- and what, Monday, May 12, 2008 4:44 PM (12 minutes ago) Bookmark Link
― and what, Monday, 12 May 2008 20:57 (sixteen years ago) link
actually i just remembered the most appropriate response to this nonsense
― J0rdan S., Monday, 12 May 2008 20:58 (sixteen years ago) link
Hip-hop is no longer cooler than me It's a sad day when a farm boy from Iowa can say that about a musical genre he once loved. When will the YAHH TRICK YAHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Soulja Boy? He sees what's hot at the nearest elementary school and calls it his own.
this is whole thing is a giant FAIL and redundant etc but this is just a basic lack of understanding/grasp of the situation/stupid white old guy bullshit
― chinchillas they can fit on gorillas, Monday, 12 May 2008 20:58 (sixteen years ago) link
Thanks, Soulja Boy!
http://www.virginmedia.com/images/soulja-boyxmas-400x300.jpg
― J0rdan S., Monday, 12 May 2008 20:59 (sixteen years ago) link
also a song's worth is based on how long it takes to make
― chinchillas they can fit on gorillas, Monday, 12 May 2008 20:59 (sixteen years ago) link
if only DJ Shadow hadn't hung himself
― El Tomboto, Monday, 12 May 2008 21:00 (sixteen years ago) link
"The problem with the dances of hip-hop -- and with the genre as a whole -- is that these artists are in fact choosing to do what they're capable of. This is their best, people."
A long, long time ago... I can still remember How that music used to make me smile. And I knew if I had my chance That I could make those people dance And, maybe, theyd be happy for a while.
― deeznuts, Monday, 12 May 2008 21:00 (sixteen years ago) link
my bad ethan
point being, his opinions are fucking stupid and pretty CHALLENGING but not really all that uncommon, it's that he's basing those opinions on incorrectness assumptions of "fact" that is most infuriating
― J0rdan S., Monday, 12 May 2008 21:02 (sixteen years ago) link
he should have read wikipedia
J0rdan getting angry about this is pretty silly.
― Alex in SF, Monday, 12 May 2008 21:04 (sixteen years ago) link
i'm not actually mad at this dude or this article just that these people exist in general
― J0rdan S., Monday, 12 May 2008 21:06 (sixteen years ago) link
lol @ at these people in general
― Jordan, Monday, 12 May 2008 21:07 (sixteen years ago) link
Paul Kix is an associate editor at D Magazine. He grew up on a farm in Iowa, graduated from Iowa State University, interned at ESPN the Magazine, and spent a year in Phoenix and a year and a half at the Dallas Observer, where he was a staff writer. He has in his office a remote-controlled Cadillac Escalade. It has spinners.
― gff, Monday, 12 May 2008 21:12 (sixteen years ago) link
hey did he mention if he was a white dude from the midwest or not
― J0rdan S., Monday, 12 May 2008 21:13 (sixteen years ago) link
he grew up in the ghetto in los angeles, & has in his office a remote-controlled john deer combine. it is equipped to harvest corn.
― deeznuts, Monday, 12 May 2008 21:16 (sixteen years ago) link
http://i1.tinypic.com/n2o8sy.gif
― am0n, Monday, 12 May 2008 21:20 (sixteen years ago) link
looooooooooooooool perfect time for that .gif
lol @ deeznuts as well
― J0rdan S., Monday, 12 May 2008 21:21 (sixteen years ago) link
for me the giving a damn aspect comes from the fact that this moron gets paid to write this shit
― deeznuts, Monday, 12 May 2008 21:22 (sixteen years ago) link
define "paid"
― J0hn D., Monday, 12 May 2008 21:25 (sixteen years ago) link
financially compensated in some way
― deeznuts, Monday, 12 May 2008 21:26 (sixteen years ago) link
I doubt if he gets paid too much.
― Alex in SF, Monday, 12 May 2008 21:28 (sixteen years ago) link
By Salon anyway, I can't speak for Boston magazine.
Hip-hop is no longer cooler than me It's a sad day when a farm boy from Iowa can say that about a musical genre he once loved. When will the YAHH TRICK YAHHHHHHHHHHHH!-- J0rdan S., Monday, May 12, 2008 4:58 PM (19 minutes ago) Bookmark Link
-- J0rdan S., Monday, May 12, 2008 4:58 PM (19 minutes ago) Bookmark Link
Beat me to it, you asshole!
― Whiney G. Weingarten, Monday, 12 May 2008 21:30 (sixteen years ago) link
-- Alex in SF, Monday, May 12, 2008 4:53 PM (45 minutes ago) Bookmark Link
otm
― sleep, Monday, 12 May 2008 21:41 (sixteen years ago) link
this man has the exact opposite taste in hip-hop from mine
― Curt1s Stephens, Monday, 12 May 2008 21:50 (sixteen years ago) link
Young black men, arbiters of pop culture, raise your chains and fight!
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 12 May 2008 21:53 (sixteen years ago) link
70% of rap/hip-hop sales are to white folks
98% of ilx comments on rap/hip-hop are made by white folks
mtv is mostly owned by white folks
― nicky lo-fi, Monday, 12 May 2008 21:53 (sixteen years ago) link
white people are people too
― M@tt He1ges0n, Monday, 12 May 2008 21:54 (sixteen years ago) link
i like wu-tang better than soulja boy
http://www.impawards.com/intl/australia/2006/posters/book_of_revelation.jpg
― J0rdan S., Monday, 12 May 2008 21:54 (sixteen years ago) link
i like wu-tang better than soulja boy is a popular new dance, I believe
― chinchillas they can fit on gorillas, Monday, 12 May 2008 22:01 (sixteen years ago) link
crank dat i like wu-tang better than soulja boy
― max, Monday, 12 May 2008 22:06 (sixteen years ago) link
Oh ffs, this is apparently now an Internet Talking Point:
http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/05/is-hip-hop-over.html
― Dom Passantino, Monday, 12 May 2008 22:07 (sixteen years ago) link
"Easy-E's bemused inventiveness"?, "the oeuvre of Biggie"? Could you be more annoying?
-- maxban [Read maxban's other letters]Permalink Monday, May 12, 2008 05:34 AM
― Billy Pilgrim, Monday, 12 May 2008 22:13 (sixteen years ago) link
something about the poll at the bottom of that article is hilarious.
xpost
― horseshoe, Monday, 12 May 2008 22:14 (sixteen years ago) link
i'm v curious about the comments but i have a strict lol fuck salon policy
― gff, Monday, 12 May 2008 22:15 (sixteen years ago) link
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40127000/gif/_40127544_students_203152.gif
Yay! Death to Hip Hop!
Posted by: Neil | May 12, 2008 2:27:25 PM
― Bodrick III, Monday, 12 May 2008 22:16 (sixteen years ago) link
only white working-class men in swing states, silly.
― marc h., Monday, 12 May 2008 22:42 (sixteen years ago) link
his opinions are fucking stupid and pretty CHALLENGING but not really all that uncommon, it's that he's basing those opinions on incorrectness assumptions of "fact" that is most infuriating
-- J0rdan S., Monday, 12 May 2008 21:02 (1 hour ago) Link
Dude weren't we just saying this about our own opinions the other night
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Monday, 12 May 2008 22:54 (sixteen years ago) link
at the super jackoff sesh
― and what, Monday, 12 May 2008 22:56 (sixteen years ago) link
Please let me be as cool as hip hop, please let me be as cool as hip hop, please let me be as cool as hip-hop... YES!!!
― Hurting 2, Tuesday, 13 May 2008 03:23 (sixteen years ago) link
And that's the 70s, not a great decade for anybody's art.
So much RONG.
― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Tuesday, 13 May 2008 09:34 (sixteen years ago) link
I mean, all over this article and everything else cited here, too.
― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Tuesday, 13 May 2008 09:35 (sixteen years ago) link
Hispanics/Conservatives fite article is OK.
― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Tuesday, 13 May 2008 09:39 (sixteen years ago) link
Funny that most/all of the letters that rate "editor's choice" or whatever are dissing the article.
― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Tuesday, 13 May 2008 09:48 (sixteen years ago) link
hahaha there but for the grace of god
― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 13 May 2008 11:34 (sixteen years ago) link
I don't know the moron who wrote this article to care about his opinions, but I know a lot of y'all well enough to be kind of disappointed that you can still entertain yourselves with threads about articles like this every 6 months.
― Alex in Baltimore, Tuesday, 13 May 2008 12:52 (sixteen years ago) link
are we grounded?
― s1ocki, Tuesday, 13 May 2008 13:03 (sixteen years ago) link
anyone who's doomed to willingly repeat the same thread this many times doesn't need further punishment.
― Alex in Baltimore, Tuesday, 13 May 2008 13:12 (sixteen years ago) link
i cant be arsed to read all of that article - seems so predictable but cant say i disagree that most new hip hop leaves me cold/bored. i like crank dat, low, etc etc as much as the next man but not in the same way i might have liked what was coming out say, a decade ago. or even as much as i liked saltshaker, get low etc.
― titchyschneiderMk2, Tuesday, 13 May 2008 13:24 (sixteen years ago) link
This thread could be my new Macarena-zation fantasy.
― briania, Tuesday, 13 May 2008 13:35 (sixteen years ago) link
this reads like one of those fake columns they do at the onion
― J.D., Tuesday, 13 May 2008 14:40 (sixteen years ago) link
― Bodrick III, Tuesday, 13 May 2008 14:44 (sixteen years ago) link
lol stanley crouch
No way. Crouch undoubtedly considers the R&B songwriters of the 40s to be hopeless sellouts.
― Sara Sara Sara, Tuesday, 13 May 2008 14:46 (sixteen years ago) link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgMgLjMghuk
― fantasimundo, Tuesday, 13 May 2008 14:55 (sixteen years ago) link
Most of what he criticizes "Crank That" for could equally apply to "Rapper's Delight."
― jaymc, Tuesday, 13 May 2008 14:59 (sixteen years ago) link
Do you notice any similarities between ILMers getting worked up about people criticizing rap and right wingers getting hot and bothered over gay marriage? They're both equally predictable.
― kornrulez6969, Tuesday, 13 May 2008 15:03 (sixteen years ago) link
You must create some interesting slashfic.
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 13 May 2008 15:04 (sixteen years ago) link
it's funny how humans are!!!!
― s1ocki, Tuesday, 13 May 2008 16:31 (sixteen years ago) link
s1ocki i love your voice-of-reason zings but you're kinda going overkill with them lately :(
― Alex in Baltimore, Tuesday, 13 May 2008 16:34 (sixteen years ago) link
s1ocki no longer cool sez white dude on ILXOR.com
― s1ocki, Tuesday, 13 May 2008 16:39 (sixteen years ago) link
Don't worry guys, Sage Francis and Scroobius Pip are gonna make hip-hop relevant again.
― Bodrick III, Tuesday, 13 May 2008 16:45 (sixteen years ago) link
The article is very boring and stupid and tl:dr. It's a shame it's a "talking point on the internet", because that probably makes it successful for the people who commission pieces on salon.com, and they'll likely want to put up more work in a similar vein. Sometimes I think the best thing to do w/such pieces would be to totally ignore them.
― Pashmina, Tuesday, 13 May 2008 16:48 (sixteen years ago) link
We are witnessing nothing less than the Macarena-zation of a genre
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Tuesday, 29 October 2019 21:44 (four years ago) link
hip-hop died when the first Iowan saidWhen will the awful / dance crazes end
― Paul Ponzi, Tuesday, 29 October 2019 22:07 (four years ago) link