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01 August 2007
Sometime during my twenty-first year I was given advice by a passel of mischievous souls on how to chill.
When I was looking for that EPMD video, I also stumbled across this nifty urban BMX guy (starts with a montage of crashes, then goes into the tricks--and, just to take things full circle, the soundtrack is a good example of modern unimaginative crack rap).
You've missed out on some good stuff, then. Timbaland and Elliott's collaborations, Eminem, Nelly to name a few. As a matter of fact, I would posit that rap music has filled the void left while (non-Scandinavian) rock slumbers, pushing forward into new territory (in fits and starts, admittedly). But I agree, most of my favorite rap dates from 1985-1995.
Schoolly School, you may not like it, but you are rock & roll.
I think that, for all of hip-hop's lifespan, there's been good and bad stuff--the early '90s also meant g-funk, No Limit and Puffy. Whether you're talking about the Dr. Dre style or the ATCQ one, though, there are plenty of folks still making that kind of hip-hop.
Also, as hip-hop has, uh, matured, the kind of stuff with mass appeal has become increasingly formulaic and lowest-common-denominator, and the innovation has been driven far afield and underground. And I'd say that this is a pretty standard thing that happens to pop music genres pretty much every time--compare Louis Armstrong to Kenny G, outlaw country to Shania Twain, Mudhoney to Candlebox or X to Sum 41.
Did you see the MTV Unplugged show he did w/The Roots? And then Mary J. Blige came out to sing the hook on 'Can't Knock the Hustle'? Man, that was good. (Here's another Jay/MJB clip)
photo by splunge
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