Bad rap
After my last little reference to hip-hop, one regular commenter recommended a link to a clip on YouTube. It turned out to be Grandmaster Flash's "The Message" , which I remember enjoying when it first came out all those decades ago.
At the time, I was half-willing to believe it might open the door to a wave of creativity. But I've never been particularly thrilled by any rap that I've stumbled across since then. Ta-Nehisi Coates' interesting essay on Bill Cosby, celebrity turned social campaigner, takes him to task for condemning rap, and argues that jazz suffered the same opprobrium a couple of generations ago. Well, there's an element of truth in that. Some critics, for instance, thought commercial swing induced sexual mania. (And they may have been right.) But as Ross Douthat points out, it was the milieu, the drugs and the booze that unsettled the puritans most of all.
Previous
Blogs: Melanie Phillips | Stephen Pollard | Americano | Coffee House | Trading Floor
Actions: Print this article | Email to a friend | Permalink | Comments (2)
Post this entry to: del.icio.us | Digg | Newsvine | NowPublic | Reddit
Advertisement
Search this blog
Latest blog posts
sponsored links
T-Mobile USB Broadband Stick
Mobile broadband for laptops from just £15 a month. Free USB Stick! With Mobile Broadband, you can access the internet on your laptop everywhere you have mobile coverage at broadband speeds.
Business Degree
Flexible foundation degree business & management. Download prospectus enquire here.
Business Start Up Marketing Advice
50 pages of marketing advice for new and young businesses £24.50. Topics covered includes- corporate design, advertising, marketing, public relations and websites. Special summer offer price.
T-Mobile USB Broadband Stick
Mobile broadband for laptops from just £15 a month. Free USB Stick! With Mobile Broadband, you can access the internet...
Business Degree
Flexible foundation degree business & management. Download prospectus enquire here.
ROME CENTRE
PORTA METRONIA, ROME Standing high on the top of one of the seven hills of Rome- the Coelian- this unique
City Breaks. ROME and PARIS
ROME and PARIS: over 350 holiday rentals apartments listed: visit www.romanreference.com and www.parisreference.com or call +39 0648 903612.
Jewellery. RUFFS (Estd. 1904).
Goldsmiths by Design Welcome to Ruffs! You have found a company of Goldsmiths that specialises in the manufacture, amongst other
Spectator Business | Apollo Magazine
Corporate | Advertising | Privacy | Terms
Spectator, 22 Old Queen Street, London, SW1H 9HP
All Articles and Content Copyright ©2008 by The Spectator | All Rights Reserved
THX1138
May 13th, 2008 1:40pmClive- Rap is like any other music at it's best it's an exciting vibrant music with a message and quick off the mark politically.
George Bush never really recovered from Katrina & Kanye's brilliant reworking of his own hit gold digger did more than it's fair share to get the message home to the young
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=rTBM0nEhPQA
At it's worst it's just boring misogynist, bling ranting but I'm not sure its that's much worse than 70's rock. As Led Zep sang "I'll give you every inch of my love"
I just love the excitement of the the best of it the experiment with beats & rhyme just like the best African music just listen to this Kanye song where he so successfully samples French Techno master Daft Punk.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=3jzSh_MLNcY
Who would have thought that could work. Pure music production genius.
As Chuck D said "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back" and it still going strong.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ASjH7X-jAY4&feature=related
After all these years this is still one of the most exciting songs ever written.
Alf Tupper
May 13th, 2008 6:22pmI always struggle when writing the word "rap".
Does it merit a capital "C"?