On the 15th, mind I got a bunch of messages (thanks Mirateck, Iain and the slew of others) telling me to check youtube’s front page. As soon as I got back to my computer, I was greeted with an officially HP-sponsored ad:
(Fake) Camron – HP Hands commercial
What you must understand, though, is that this was up on the front page of youtube, with an HP banner. HP was officially endorsing this. It’s confusing, because the Killa Cam (killa!) is essentially lamenting his (killa!) being forced to shill for HP (killa!) to pay his bills (killa!). Which one would think casts HP in a negative light. Regardless of the fact that this actually sounds like something (killa!) Cam would say – why sponsor something like this? Why not actually have the real Cam’ron do an HP commercial? Why go with a parody, when you could get something serious?
I’ll tell you why – because somewhere, some young advertising intern had an epiphany. And that epiphany is:
There is nothing serious about hip-hop*. It is a parody of itself.
I remember when I first got Soulja Boy’s “I Got Me Some Bathing Apes”. I thought it was the most hilarious thing ever. And I’ve always found something inherently amusing about Dipset, to be honest. Rap at this stage is so cooned out that nearly everything is a ready-made caricature of itself.
*I shortened this phrase to make it cuter. By “hip-hop”, I mean “90% of today’s mainstream hip-hop”. Obviously not the stuff that I play on this show, though some of that is also funny to me.
Let’s see some evidence, shall we?
Exhibit A:
Kanye West and Lil Wayne
This cut contains what is currently my favorite Lil Wayne quote. “Sometimes I pick up a magazine / or a tabloid / or a tambourine / Sometimes I wanna go and just smoke a bag of weed / and leave the Earth on a motherfucking trampoline”
So strange! So creative! Clearly the work of a drugged out of his mind tortured genius. A lot of people don’t “get” Lil Wayne’s more esoteric stuff, but I think I do.
One problem – that’s not Lil Wayne, or Kanye. It’s a parody – but it’s damn near as good as anything either of them would put out (possibly better). Listening to this thing, there are some funny lines, but one of the things that was keeping commenters on the Youtube thread confused as to whether or not this is an authentic track is that so many artists – Lil Wayne being a prime example of this – dance the line between “insanity” (genius?) and sanity (mediocrity?) so often and imperceptibly that you’re never really sure why you enjoy a song.
Is because the media pushing it down your throat? Are you just settling for it because nothing better is out there? Or is the song actually good?
And for that matter, does an artist actually need talent to make a song that is “good”?
Exhibit B:
Deadly Adventures – Michael Vick vs 50 Cent
I don’t have any point to make here, I just think this video is hilarious.
Exhibit C:
Lethal B – Pow! (Forward Riddim) (Original Video)
Here, we see that this has even infected the UK’s grime scene. Am I the only one that laughed through this whole video? I mean, dig D Double E – that dude looks like he’s had polio for 22 years and somebody just found the cure but it hasn’t quite worked its way through his body yet. Why is he moving like that? And is he vomiting blood? Then you have Discovery Channel outtakes with Napper, and by the time Forcer comes on with the spinning rims and unnecessary booty, it’s one white boy short of a Weird Al song.
Don’t get me wrong, though, this is an awesome song. The fact that the song itself was banned is also pretty cool, I guess.
So, yeah
I don’t know, kids. I feel like I could make some point here, but I suddenly find myself losing the desire. Rap is funny, in a Kurt-Vonnegut-so-it-goes sort of way, because on one hand it entertains me, but on the other hand I realize that a lot of kids don’t quite understand how to differentiate between reality and fantasy and they actually believe what these men are saying.
Tears me up inside, innit.
I also wonder if I should feel bad that I produce a show about something that I can’t take seriously.
I’m not sure you ever need particularly talented people to make solid popular music. Long may the tradition continue!
I think it used to be the case that you had to have somebody decently talented to ghostwrite or produce your songs – no longer.
Or perhaps Soulja Boy is actually a genius talent and I’m the only one astute enough to realize it.
PS As hard as this is to believe, the Pow video looks positively Polanski compared to most of the grime videos you find on Channel U.
Funniest post so far in 08. (Exhibit B’s crazy)
yeah there is difference when you like mainstream shit because media feeds you or you just find some shit original.
lol, don’t give up hope man. I was watching the Travel channel & they were talking about the history of Blues, which kind of made me want to crossover til BB King said he’s been using the same 3 strings for decades!
Here’s a song by this dude named “Tef Poe” I can’t figure out if its a parody or if he’s really serious. What do you think?
http://www.sendspace.com/file/r507qm
thats some funny shit,i agree with Ci,i like wordsmiths and breakbeat stuff alot more,mostly so i dont have to clean those big ass rims… fuck that,damn kids makin that stuff popular,i always keep a copy of the canibus freestyle with j5 handy so when my nephews come over with some shit i seen on tv,or a key chain at walfart they can get an example of hip hop,whatever,talent is underground.
lol i know the girl in the Lethal B vid there all sister
Iain – I actually like this one. It’s like they got about seven different concepts, filmed totally separate videos, and then let their coke-addled aunt edit the final cut. Perfect for people with short attention spans (me).
Jay-D-Will – Wow, the ones in the first scene? Maybe they can tell you what the hell the concept was for that first part. Why are they all nervous that B’s coming back? Is he going to hit them?
unionb – hell, just burn them some choice selections from the Mixtape Show! I do need to get up on some Canibus though…
Vince – you know, I remember bringing that up about the blues in an argument with some older folks about modern music. Nothing wrong with sticking to a certain formula if you can work magic within that. But yeah, a I, IV, and V chord can get a little old after a while.
this Tef Poe dude seems quite serious to me. The blood diamonds comment is a little weird considering the context of the rest of the song, but I think he’s joint going for the I’m A Bad Ass angle.
and really, this isn’t such a bad song (I’m searching for these niggas / my A&R is Google – haha!)
and to quote him again – I never lost hope. Things just get confusing in this music. But hey, that’s where soultronica comes in.
Ci – yeah. There’s a good amount of people who are quote unquote mainstream that I believe deserve the accolades. Wu, Erykah,
Hurricane Chris, Prodigy (the one with Liam, not the Mobb Deep man), hell, Snoop is kind of a genius for that Sexual Eruption stunt. Nothing wrong with eating the bubblegum candy music sometimes, but you gotta have a balance.Professor Griff “To the Young Black Youth”
http://poli-tainment.podomatic.com/entry/2008-02-20T14_52_58-08_00
P.E. representing for the 21st century– post Regan era (say word!) I don’t know about Flav– but Griff is keeping it all the way real & on this one he’s even name droppin (eg. Souljah Boy, etc)
whats good people..thanx for checking out my music that was actually a freestyle for my next mixtape coming in about a month or so..I appreciate all for checking it out,..I was just going for the emcee angle..trying to spit a few lyrics that give people something to discuss ..remember back in the day you’d hear a guy say a line and run to your boys like “yo you have to hear what this dude just said ..tell me whatchu think”….thats the kinda hip-hop music I represent !!!!
http://www.myspace.com/therealtefpoe
get familiar
i don’t think they were nervous that B’s coming, it was more like they wanted to look right for him, but same way said i think there is a aroma of pimping going on here…. sorry I’m mad late with replying! peace
Tef Poe– That Gossip Freestyle was on rotation (x60) That’s one of the best hooks I’ve heard in a while. I was feeling the ECG sound effects; esp. the transition to asystole.
I see you got a project about to drop this year. I just lab’d the 144 bars:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/urgocb
My favorite lines from that are:
“I knock rappers perpendicular for sideways”
“I make a pregnant woman break water like Moses”
“Nightsticks in the colon’s of our enemies”