Bill Cosby defents criticism of Hip Hop...music industry "glorifies the wrong things..."

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Anyway, I was just gonna say that Michael's "Old Man" description still makes it sound astoundingly prescient from a hip-hop perspective. How often did people do ANYTHING like that, in the pre-rap years??

Chuck, you'll be amused to know Mr. Miccio parodied your style brilliantly here -- down to the brackets.

-- chuck (cedd...) (webmail), July 29th, 2004 12:33 PM. (later) (link)

"deck of cards"!

-- chuck

I totally agree with this. Kids making their own world in a decaying city has become a theme of early hip-hop & that was definitely true of the Cosby Show.

this reminded me of how awesome bill cosby is.

That was the first movie I saw alone in a theater (7 1/2 years old). My mom periodically checked in on me and brought me chocolate chip cookies.

OT, I know, but there is an entire series out there called "Classroom Scare Films". I wonder how the crack films compare to the LSD ones we had to watch. "Dead is Dead" - that's not the one where the kid is in his coffin but doesn't realize he's dead, is it?

Hey Cosby, how about taking your message into the projects, instead of speaking at colleges? His whole "black man, help yourself" screed doesn't play out as well when he's telling it to people with degrees.

Curious. When was the last time that he actually taught a class of kids? And since educators tend to use music lyrics to educate their students these days, hip hop isn't totally useless.

eh?

It's ridiculous. People have been going to the movies to see sex and violence and various extreme situations for a hundred years now, and has it totally destroyed our Social Fabric? Sure, many American black people indulge in the stupidest things and maybe they ought to be reading Henry James and rebuiding their neighborhoods...in fact, many of them are engaged in rebuilding their communities. The problems many non-rich folks in this country face have far less to do with pop culture than with deep systemic problems in the larger culture. Bill Cosby may have been a funny guy at one time but he really needs to shut the fuck up.

omigod talking so much shit on Tim Russert's show now...

Cosby is seemingly fourteen months away from having a O'Reilly/Glen Beck/Lou Dobbsesque talk show.

http://funky16corners.wordpress.com/2006/10/30/bill-cosby-funky-north-phildelphia/

http://www.dickdestiny.com/blog/2007/10/music-for-monday-hooray-for-salvation.html

http://christonium.com/politicalmusings/ItemID=11923775652574

Bill Cosby says the audience for Gangster Rap is made up mostly of Whites. This adds to the negative stereotype for Blacks. The "Gangster Rappers" use of negative stereotype comments in their videos provide the opportunity for young whites to use those very same words, "N" words.

Dr. Poussaint talks of "values" having been corrupted. The lyrics in the rap music and videos portray young blacks as unimportant. This prevails throughout the black community.

Sunday, Oct. 14 with Tim Russert on Meet the Press
Entertainer Bill Cosby and Harvard Medical School Psychiatry Professor Dr. Alvin Poussaint tackle the controversial and complicated issues facing black communities across the nation and discuss their new book, "Come On, People: On the Path from Victims to Victors."

Here's the transcript http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21293963/page/2/

DR. POUSSAINT: They took part of the N-word and put part of the white word and called themselves wiggers.

MR. COSBY: But you see, when youth does that, you have to understand that youth—these are, these are kids, they, they don’t have the responsibilities that, that we have. They don’t have to have a job. They don’t have to support a family. They don’t have to buy insurance. They—so they’re, they’re free-forming and they’re freewheeling. It’s the people who make these records. It’s the, it’s the guy in the boardroom. I have another friend of mine who said to me, “I, I write rap lyrics.” He said, “And I went to a man”—I mean, “I went to work, and the guy said, the executive said to me, ‘I want lyrics about rape. Rape is good.’” He said, “And I looked at the guy, and I said, ‘You’re talking about my mother.’ And the guy said, ‘Well, if you don’t want to write it, then I’ll get somebody else who will.’” But, see, all these things, this dopamine-raising level. Alvin has a very interesting viewpoint on whether or not kids are listening to the lyrics. Because if you, if you challenge them, you say, “Why are you listening to that?” They say, “I’m not listening to the words. I just like the beat.”

DR. POUSSAINT: Which is nonsense. They’re listening to the—they got to hear the words. And the, the young, young girls will be dancing to words that degrade women and degrade them and they’re dancing to it. It shows you how much values have been corrupted, you know, by some of the media influences, and the young people can’t distinguish between what’s right and wrong. It’s like the, the bad stuff has become normal, and then they even see it as part of their culture instead of something that’s abhorrent and, and, and, and hurtful to their, to their lives and to their community.

I know! I can't tell how many times I've gone to my office to work hard at my job of writing rap lyrics and found on my desk a memo like this from some Caucasian executive: "Rape sells. Especially mother-rape. Give me 16 bars on it by noon or you go back to the mail room." Please withhold my name until I can secure federal whistle-blower protection.

Ten points for Cosby shoehorning "entropy" and "inertia" into his sentences.

I have another friend of mine who said to me, “I, I write rap lyrics.” He said, “And I went to a man”—I mean, “I went to work, and the guy said, the executive said to me, ‘I want lyrics about rape. Rape is good.’” He said, “And I looked at the guy, and I said, ‘You’re talking about my mother.’ And the guy said, ‘Well, if you don’t want to write it, then I’ll get somebody else who will.’”

This obviously happened to Eminem.

If only Tim Russert had asked him who that exec is...

Cos' take on this shit is both OTM and brave, for a gazillion reasons.

brave yes, otm not really. its taking a much more nuanced situation and trying to find the bad guys in a very specific place. the real 'bad guys' wd actually require a much more sweeping indictment of american culture & systematic white privilege and oppression

I'm with Cosby until he gets feisty about hippety-hoppety lyrics.

He needs more nuance, although I must say I'm bored with the UGK cd lyrics('n' this and 'b' that) and not too crazy about the sentiments expressed there (whether it has great soul music samples or not)--That "2 kinds of B's" song. But I guess I am supposed to excuse them because those type of sentiments have long been expressed by folks of all colors,classes, and creeds; school systems and housing have long been segregated resulting in the parents of many of the participants on the UGK cd, and the participants themselves having difficult lives, Texas' Republican governors; and well those soul samples sure sound good.

I'm with Cosby until he gets feisty about hippety-hoppety lyrics.

why what stops you there?

I'm amazed that a comedian who understood the value of irony and timing as well as anyone in his generation is this tone-deaf about how music and lyrics work.

Bullshit. The "irony" argument may have been passable with "Cop Killer" 15 years ago -- it isn't now.

plz explain how cop killer is ironic but kanye sampling daft punk & lil wayne rapping about man-purses is hurting the community

who the fuck thought cop killer was ironic

doh xp

we simply must not allow young black men to continue to crank dat soulja boy - lets take it back to the carefree, ironic days of 'aint no fun' and 'black korea'

we simply must not allow young black men to continue to crank dat soulja boy - lets take it back to the carefree, ironic days of 'aint no fun' and 'black korea'

lol

yeah like no one complained about those songs.

(I mean come on Ice Cube took a LOT of shit in the press for Black Korea, Doggystyle was specifically brought up for criticism in the House of Reps, etc.)

also Cop Killer is excusable not because its ironic but because its good storytelling and hey, you know, fuck cops.

jokes, bruv?

so they’re, they’re free-forming and they’re freewheeling
so they’re, they’re free-forming and they’re freewheeling
so they’re, they’re free-forming and they’re freewheeling
so they’re, they’re free-forming and they’re freewheeling
so they’re, they’re free-forming and they’re freewheeling
so they’re, they’re free-forming and they’re freewheeling
so they’re, they’re free-forming and they’re freewheeling
so they’re, they’re free-forming and they’re freewheeling
so they’re, they’re free-forming and they’re freewheeling
so they’re, they’re free-forming and they’re freewheeling

I like the part where he complains about giggling on buses. Bill Cosby hates the laughter of children! times done changed.

I have a friend. Her name is Jessica Pope, and she spoke at a—or two or three of the callouts. She’s a graduate of Swathmore. She’s African-American. She’s from Memphis, Tennessee. And she spoke to the people and she said, “I want you to think of your children like you think of, of a genie in the lamp.” In that we all know the story of the genie in the lamp. There’s a genie, and she also equates genie with genius, genie/genius. So in order to have the genie come out of the lamp and grant you your three wishes, you rub the lamp. You rub it, the genie comes out and grants you three wishes. She then says, “Think of your child that way. Rub your child. Stroke you child like this magical lamp. The genie/genius will come out.” And then I add to it, and the other two wishes you can put in your hip pocket and save for a rainy day.

It’s cursing and it’s calling each other niggers as they walk up and down the street. They think they’re hip. They can’t read; they can’t write. Fifty percent of them. They, they, they take it into the candy store. They, they put it—they put themselves on the train and on the buses, and they don’t even care what color or what age somebody else is. It’s about them and their cursing and grabbing each other and laughing and giggling and going nowhere.

I thought there was a bungled 50 Cent reference in this but then I realized it's a quote from 2004.

Results 1 - 10 of about 168 for bill-cosby crotchety-old-man.

ya see Theo, YA SEE

haha every time I read one of these quotes I imagine it in the voice of Bathtub Cosby.

lol @ "they take it into the candy store"

Shakey Mo did you get a sarcasm immunity shot or something?

http://www.internerd.com/frinky/images/screenshots/sarcasmdet.jpg

I just don't get how pointing out that hip-hop's basically always had violent/mysognistic elements in it somehow invalidates Cosby's critique.

http://www.heffadesign.com/COVERS/Single_Promo/images/50Cent%20-%20Candy%20Shop.jpg

I mean we all know what musical era Cosby would like to dial back to (civil rights era/bebop)

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Kinda with Shakey here: I don't really understand the LOLs/shocka aspect of Cosby being among millions of older Civil Rights-era black Americans who are annoyed by how what's considered "black culture" looks these days -- he's not even that batty in how he talks about it. (Batty, sure, but not that batty.)

What do you expect, nabisco? This is ILM we're talking about; pretty much any time Bill Cosby gets brought up, it's in the context of young white guys getting defensive about listening to black people call each other "nigger".

who's getting defensive?

Up until just now, not you.

Whatever. I just think one can find rappers lacking as role models and still find Cosby's rants incredibly batty, crotchety, what have you.

I'm kinda curious about this loaded statement: They, they put it—they put themselves on the train and on the buses, and they don’t even care what color or what age somebody else is. Why does the race of your fellow bus patron matter?

who the fuck thought cop killer was ironic

The writers for Law & Order: SVU?

Two strands here. I think Ethan was responding to this:

Bullshit. The "irony" argument may have been passable with "Cop Killer" 15 years ago -- it isn't now.

...and he was right: what "'irony' argument"? There isn't & wasn't one, as far as I know; there was and remains a personified narrator trope, in which I believe, that can be advanced to explain a song like "Cop Killer," I think persuasively.

The other strand is white men on ilm explaining each other how neither "nigger" nor "bitch" are at all degrading when the musicians they like use them, and that strand I won't be touching with a ten-foot pole.

can we name names on this latter strand?

bebop is pretty rad

^^^this

haha Dan you wanna field that one?

I just don't get how pointing out that hip-hop's basically always had violent/mysognistic elements in it somehow invalidates Cosby's critique.

Also, he's old.

The other strand is white men on ilm explaining each other how neither "nigger" nor "bitch" are at all degrading when the musicians they like use them

Prof. Isiah Thomas of NYU says that the word "bitch" is Negro for something much less offensive than the white man thinks.

What do you expect, nabisco? This is ILM we're talking about; pretty much any time Bill Cosby gets brought up, it's in the context of young white guys getting defensive about listening to black people call each other "nigger".

-- HI DERE, Monday, October 15, 2007 8:07 PM

i'm just gonna let that sit there.

thanksbighoosakathesteedriver.jpg

i don't get it what you mean hoos.

oh unless....

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why does black people never want to goth?

haah while looking for thanksbighoos.jpg i found this:

I think black people would either be more or perhaps less likely to kick a drunk woman out of a hotel for calling a gay coworker a fag. Does ILX have an opinion on this?

-- Dom Passantino, Sunday, May 27, 2007 3:05 PM (4 months ago) Bookmark Link

It's the question that needs to be answered.

"Y'see Theo, when you call my gay co-worker a fag, y'see..." etc etc etc etc

I think I'm going to sit this one out.

should bill cosby kick jay blanchard out of a hotel for calling ronaldinho a fag?

Depends how much he tipped.

"The most important reason for the decline of musical miscegenation, however, is social progress. Black musicians are now as visible and as influential as white ones."
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/musical/2007/10/22/071022crmu_music_frerejones?currentPage=1
dear cos, everything is fine. yours, sfj

everything is fine?

This really deserves its own thread (or just to be ignored), but WOW I love how he makes his thesis about how rap and rock couldn't be further apart by dismissing rap-metal and hip-hop influenced pop-rock as "commercial, if generally unappealing" even though it's sold shitloads more than Flaming Lips, Wilco and every other white act he'd rather blather about in relation to Snoop Dogg.

and all the indie rap groups that are actually pretty much rock groups like why? and all that anticon type stuff.

Linkin Park? What's a Linkin Park? Are they as big as Devendra?

I only read the first page of that article and I'm not sure I want to read the rest.

I'm glad he's articulating what I find...troubling about the likes of Panda Bear, but his ill-advised journey through the last 35 years of rock stops the thing cold (although, what I know, maybe this is news to New Yorker readers). And then stuff like this:

Last month, in the Times, the white folk rocker Devendra Banhart declared his admiration for R. Kelly’s new R. & B. album “Double Up.” Thirty years ago, Banhart might have attempted to imitate R. Kelly’s perverse and feather-light soul. Now he’s just a fan

Substitute "white folk rocker Joni Mitchell" for Devendra and "admiration for Marvin Gaye's new Let's Get It On" and it's not as far-fetched as he thinks.

*although, what do I know

Maroon 5? Gym Class Heroes? White Stripes? Those aren't popular "rock" bands really, they're not as relevant to the discussion as the Fiery Furnaces and Panda Bear.

When discussing the history of rock bands mining black music for inspiration, it's important to ignore all acts that reach shooting range of gold.

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I see that he's now calling his own old group Ui, a funk band. Did he always do that--I seem to recall them being considered a postrock band or some such. Parts of the article make sense to me, but then elsewhere he 's got unsupported statements that I strongly disagree with. Am not sure what Bill Cosby would think. Sasha's been warning on his blog that he was gonna post or write something that would get attention. I guess this it it (it's a followup of something he presented at the EMP a few years back, isn't it?).

the real question: would Cliff, Claire, and Sandra Huxtable have gone to a Ui concert?

relax people there's always been honky music, it's not a crime

indie musicians making shitty music bcuz of cowardly indecision = new yorker article

I think that article's pretty good - cringeworthy references to own music and debatable cherrypicking of history aside - certainly it articulates a dynamic that seems readily apparent to me, and has been for quite some time (at least, as he notes, since the early 90s and Pavement)

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um, college rock in the 80s was plenty white too

and the entire history of the British charts in the 1980's.

i miss the ass shakin' beats of dino jr. and throwing muses

i mean if we're gonna focus solely on art-rock, we can take this much further back than Pavement.

Whatever -- it's an article in the goddamn New Yorker! I don't expect its audience to understand the distinctions between a Style Council record and Panda Bear's attempts to studiously avoid sounding like a Style Council record.

hahaha

i never really got why it was so bad that some indie rock wasn't danceable or sounded white or whatever, excepting like douchebags that think indie is inherently superior, like i dunno there's got to be music for dancing, there's got to be music for being unemployed and sitting around at 2 in the afternoon feeling sorry for yourself and smoking schwag.

ew!

nobody said it's bad, we're just laughing at the idea that this is news or has anything to do with a decrease in "miscegenation" in popular music.

i wish he would finish upending the canon and just stop talking about bad indie bands altogether.

its weird - one thing he doesn't get into at all is how the Rock Music Industry(tm) basically ruined the blues as source material with its endless parade of cheesy white guitarists trying to bee authentic (see: Blueshammer by way of Clapton). White guys appropriating blues became such a bad, egregious aesthetic and political error that it basically sped an entire generation (punk generation, cf. Talking Heads' "no blues rule", Greg Ginn, etc.) in the opposite direction.

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but then he'd have to deal with the commercial if generally unappealing, deej!

the real horrifying idea would be IF arcade fire decided to incorporate hip hop influences

One shouldn't be forced to think about tacky things like popular rock bands when discussing rock history

history is written by the losers

http://www.publispain.com/posters/revenge_of_the_nerds.jpg

I'd have been more comfortable with a reactionary but worthy-of-discussion-in-a-mainstream-liberal-publication essay on the twentysomething music fans who want to talk to you about Of Montreal's album over Ciara's -- who'll privilege the former over the latter for reasons they can't even articulate.

I believe the New Yorker would consider that killing the goose, better to sing "Everybody's beautiful" and pretend 311 doesn't STILL sell more than the Flaming Lips.

goddamn it I'm drunk and I'm going to listen to the Style Council.

I'd have been more comfortable with a reactionary but worthy-of-discussion-in-a-mainstream-liberal-publication essay on the twentysomething music fans who want to talk to you about Of Montreal's album over Ciara's -- who'll privilege the former over the latter for reasons they can't even articulate.

-- Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, October 15, 2007 11:31 PM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

would you seriously want to read that article??

hell yeah! The Great Big World Outside ILM doesn't understand the problem. (And before anyone jumps in to say, "Well, Of Montreal's album is better than Ciara's," understand that the college-age twentysomething to whom SFJ is indirectly addressing his essay won't even consider buying the Ciara album; at most they'll buy a song.)

the problem that some college students prefer indie rock to r&b?

YES

THE UNACCEPTABLE FACE OF YOUTH

but the vast majority of college students are like jocks and normal people and shit and don't give a crap about indie rock just like the majority of high school students and, um, people in general

http://www.mymusic.com/DI5/graphics/elvis_costello.jpg

"Hi, I'm Elvis Costello, here to talk to you a problem facing the young intellectuals of today. Would you be surprised to know that I am a fan of Lil Wayne? That my favorite album of 2006 was B'Day? Rap and R&B are rich genres that continue to provide us with classic music that reward just as much as indie rock, maybe even more. Increasingly, white music fans do not seem willing to give modern black artists the respect they deserve. Join me, and the good people at Rhapsody, in our fight against this ignorance."

plus nerdy dudes need to get laid...the trim status at a lot of these indie shows is off the hook these days

all we need is EC in a brownshirt acting out "Oliver's Army" in a college-radio setting.

The tastes of nerdy white college guys are of vast importance to nerdy white music writers.

"Hi, I'm Elvis Costello,etc."

Are those real quotes or jokes quotes?

see for yourself

www.blacktiewhitenoise.com/costello

ibowiebyrnecostellodarnielletweedy-wnbtpressconference.jpg

woops, fucked up the link

ihttp://blacktiewhitenoise.com/bowiebyrnecostellodarnielletweedy-btwnpressconference.jpg

fuck, just type it in.

This is either really funny and over my head or you're getting the url wrong.

...I fudged, splitting the difference between singing, chanting, and rapping, each time with diminishing returns. (I can hardly stand to listen to these tracks now.)

i couldn't hardly stand to listen to those tracks then!

lol, yeah, ui was a "funk" band. sure.

This is either really funny and over my head or you're getting the url wrong.

-- kingkongvsgodzilla, Tuesday, October 16, 2007 12:29 AM (

^^^^^

A Paler Shade of White---Sasha Frere-Jones Podcast and New Yorker article Criticizing Indie Rock for Failing to Incorporate African-American Influences SFJ discussion moved over here

college rock in the 80s was plenty white too

-- da croupier, Tuesday, October 16, 2007 12:19 AM (11 hours ago) Bookmark Link

and the entire history of the British charts in the 1980's.

-- Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, October 16, 2007 12:20 AM (11 hours ago) Bookmark Link

yeah coz hip-hop and house really found it hard breaking here, in comparison with the US.

vvvvv

-- BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Monday, October 15, 2007 9:12 PM (Yesterday)

“You can’t land a plane in Rome saying, ‘Whassup?’ to the control tower. You can’t be a doctor telling your nurse, ‘Dat tumor be nasty.’ ”
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/16/opinion/16herbert.html?th&emc=th

So I went out and picked up a copy of B'Day based on Elvis Costello's recommendation.

omg @ "dat tumor be nasty"

jesus christ

You know, if someone went through 10 years of medical school and had the proper training to remove my tumor, I could really give a fuck how they said it.

Doctor?

http://www.jahozafat.com/0095461785/WAVS/Movies/Idiocracy/onyourchart.wav

http://media.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2007/oct/saggin/pants_billboard540.jpg

the social acceptability of sagging vs. the social acceptability of homophobia

myspace.com/pullyourpantsupman

Ay man, all you adults out there, all you supposed "grown people"
Will you please stop lying to your people? Could we please have a moment of fucking honesty?
You know, honesty, the shit that you ask
your people to be with you, when you ask them are they having sex, or doing drugs? Could we please stop fucking lying? (that's life)
Like you preachers out there, who spread the myth that young boys
who slack they pants pick that shit up from prison to let niggas
know they homosexual. You and your faggot twisted mind know that
ain't true, you sick fuck, for even saying that shit. (that's life)
We wear our fucking pants big because our mothers were too poor to buy our size, so they had to buy two or three sizes up. Call it what it is, nigga, poverty. It's fuckin poverty.
You know, poverty, the opposite of the big fuckin cars and planes you drive, motherfucka.

gee, the NPR feature somehow missed this angle

killer mike not invited on NPR feature shockah

God damn Bill Cosby and his faggot twisted mind

Like you preachers out there
not talking to cosby but it related to the debate so

not endorsing it pt. by pt. either

no I know, I love that track and a lot of what km sez on it, I'm just sorta obligated by persona to squawk y'know

john at the risk of getting ultra-flamed by you I don't think it's your place to school a black artist on how to represent himself - hate if you gotta hate, whatever, but when a white writer starts telling a black artist what his community responsibilities are...shit man I can't see you putting up with that from somebody else!

some of this stuff transcends/supercedes specific ethnic communities doesn't it...? I mean on some level this is stuff that applies to and affects all Americans, not just black (or white) people.

(I mean the pants thing is stupid and who cares really - but the endless homophobia/glorification of consumerism/violence/etc those are not ethnicity-specific issues that affect and involve just black people)

i though baggy pants as a style signifier originated as a way to easily hide guns?

i thought it was meant to signify that the wearer enjoyed phil collins and showed up late to appointments

"for eazy access baby"

you been holdin' that one in for over 24 hours huh eth

"No no, see, when someone says 'who is it', you're supposed to say who it is!"

(knock knock)

"Who is it?"

'WHO IT IS!'

john at the risk of getting ultra-flamed by you I don't think it's your place to school a black artist on how to represent himself - hate if you gotta hate, whatever, but when a white writer starts telling a black artist what his community responsibilities are...shit man I can't see you putting up with that from somebody else!

-- and what, Friday, 26 October 2007 22:24 (1 month ago) Link

You can't really talk about this as though it were just "black artists" and "how they represent themselves." The industry has a good deal of say in how major rappers come across, what they rap about, how they act in videos, etc. So although I don't dismiss mainstream rap on objection to the lyrics, an honest discussion of this has to reflect the larger forces at play, and saying a white writer has no right to criticize the lyrics of a "black artist," is avoiding that difficult issue.

ethan at the risk of getting ultra-flamed by you I don't think it's your place to school a black artist on how to represent himself - hate if you gotta hate, whatever, but when a white writer starts telling a black artist what his community responsibilities are...shit man I can't see you putting up with that from somebody else!

-- J0hn D., Thursday, October 25, 2007 3:16 PM (2 months ago) Bookmark Link

What's The Deal With Saul Williams?

Sorry, didn't see the first post. Point stands though.

I mean a lot of people in non-mainstream hip-hop, including black artists, blame the music industry for the way black people are portrayed in mainstream hip-hop, feeding to a mostly white audience a hyper-sexual, hyper-violent hyper-capitalist fantasy projected onto black people.

u really think i would use a word like 'ultra-flamed'

i dont give a fuck john hates on or not i think every head has got the right to tell artists what they wanna see them doing but i got the right to call it racist/corny/played/clueless/whatever

And there is probably a big difference between Saul Williams, who I'd imagine has a great deal of say in how he represents himself, and mainstream hip-hop. I don't mean to say that mainstream rappers are all patsies either. A Jay-Z or a 50-Cent is obviously making a very clear choice, but that choice is based largely on what will make money, and they don't seem to particularly care if that feeds a negative stereotype. It's the system, man!

No, I don't really think you'd say that - sorry dude. Wasn't really trying to call you out as much as just call the whole debate out.

oh fuck it
http://m.assetbar.com/achewood/autaux?b=M%5ea11f09b8576e606bcb5038dfdb92fb821&u=http%3A%2F%2Fachewood.com%2Fcomic.php%3Fdate%3D12242007

"mad-rutty" vs. "ultra-flamed"

And there is probably a big difference between Saul Williams, who I'd imagine has a great deal of say in how he represents himself

My Dearest Friends and Fans,

It is my greatest honor to present to you The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!,
my new album produced by Trent Reznor and mixed by Alan Moulder. The wall of sound that we've created is tagged with such graffiti that a passerby would seek out doors and ways to ENTER. Once inside a world defined by dreams come true they'd find aligned with the simplest act of sharing what we treasure. Most people aren't aware of the world of art and commerce where exploitation strips each artist down to nigger. Each label, like apartheid, multiplies us by our divide and whips us 'til we conform to lesser figures. What falls between the cracks is a pile of records stacked to the heights of talents hidden from the sun. Yet the energy they put into popularizing smut makes a star of a shiny polished gun. The ballot or the bullet for Mohawk or the mullet is a choice between new times and dying days. And the only way to choose is to jump ship from old truths and trust dolphins as we swim through changing ways. The ways of middlemen proves to be just a passing trend. We need no priests to talk to God. No phone to call her. And when you click the link below, i think it fair that you should know that your purchase will make middlemen much poorer...

NiggyTardust!

love,

Saul

During the first Lollapalooza tour, Jane's Addiction brings out Ice-T to perform a rendition of Sly & the Family Stone's "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey (Don't Call Me Whitey, Nigger)". Perry Farrell sings the white part, Ice-T sings the Black part. Black quartet Living Colour comes onstage afterward and bandleader Vernon Reid announces "I'll never be anyone's nigger for entertainment..."

I really hate being called whitey

I really hate Achewood

I love that story about Vernon Reid.

Living Colour was my first show.

i was never into living colour but that story is whats up

Living Colour was my first show.

ha same. Trent woulda been at that Lolla show, so it all comes full circle.

Well then.

omg the last sentence

laz112 said:
I actually have this old album with Cosby and Quincy Jones. Cosby been rapping since before rap started yo. There is this one track called "Hicky Burr" he tore that shit down yo. I think it was released in 1974 or something.

Got a Cosby sweater
Rep it cuz it's better
Follow to the letter.
Yo.

Fingers crossed for a Jello reference

"They think they're hip. They can't read. They can't write. They're laughing and giggling, and they're going nowhere."

with the laughing and the giggling and the jibber-jabber night-train going to nowhere

He's against laughter now?

The beef is on (maybe).

okay at this point everyone involved just needs to stop

Dyson is that dude, but I don't look forward to his mic moment.

i saw michael eric dyson speak at my school a couple weeks ago, hes a supremely intelligent and dynamic guy and because i have a lot of respect for him i am just going to pretend that this doesnt exist

i took a class from that guy! the day michael jordan retired (the first time) prof dyson wore a bulls jersey under his tweed jacket

Can we put together a rap album titled SHUT THE FUCK UP, BOTH OF YOU?

c'mon dan you don't want to hear cosby doing a bjork cover?

Only if it's "Ancestors" (or whatever the Gremlin-fucking song on Medulla is called).

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=UfIBAWAneoo

omg flashbacks

ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Oof they've played this a bunch on KPFA recently.

^^^ Sooooo 1998.