Barack Obama: Born in the Trap?

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A Critique of Talib Kweli’s 100 Greatest Rap Songs List: Part 5

Final and DONE!   30. “Juicy” by The Notorious B.I.G. “Juicy” The Argument For: Not much.  “Juicy” is just one of the 10 greatest hip-hop songs ever made. Other than that, it doesn’t have much going for it. The Argument Against: Do you get the “Rappin’ Duke” reference?  No, you don’t. I didn’t either, until I finally saw this: “Rappin’... Read More

A Critique of Talib Kweli’s 100 Greatest Rap Songs List: Part 4

50. “Runnin’” by Pharcyde “Runnin’” The Argument For: “Alternative hip-hop” is not my specialty.  By “alternative,” I mean bands like Pharcyde, Hieroglyphics, Juarassic 5, The Roots, and to a lesser extent ones like ATCQ, Brand Nubian, and De La Soul.  Oh, and Del.  Anyway, my point is that it’s not my thing and I don’t really have the ethos... Read More

Will Smith’s Forgotten Homophobia

  by Zack Rearick   As a rapper, Will Smith (aka The Fresh Prince)’s greatest legacy is his squeaky-cleanness. Smith’s mini-beef with Eminem (which “culminated” in his response track, “Mr. Nice Guy”) was indicative of Smith’s perception in the modern rap world. When Em said “Will Smith ain’t gotta cuss in his rap’s to sell records,”... Read More

Justin Bieber’s “Otis” Freestyle

by Zack Rearick   That Canadian pop superstar Justin Bieber has been trying to break into the rap game says a lot about how hip hop works in this newest decade. J-Biebs has kicked flows on legitimate venues like Hot 97′s Morrning Show and Power 106, and the fact that he’s able to do so is a testament to the acceptance of diverse voices in the hip hop world. Could... Read More

Ol’ Dirty Bastard: Still No Son to His Aesthetic

by Zack Rearick     From the beginning, the three pillars of rap-music-subject-material have been the following: getting money, getting women, and keeping it real. Naturally, when talking about an art form which has as diverse a history as rap, one must recognize that three subjects have been approached from a million different angles. When it comes to getting women... Read More

Video Review: Stepped on My J’z by Nelly

by Zack Rearick Sometimes you see something so profoundly disturbing that you have to share it with other people, if only to make sure that they see it too. Such is the case with the video to Nelly’s 2008 not-at-all-hit single “Stepped on My J’z.” The racial implications in this song are so multi-layered-ly disturbing that I felt that we all needed to be privy to... Read More

“Otis” and Its Remixes

by Zack Rearick Here are the three things you need to know before we watch the video for Kanye West/Jay-Z’s single “Otis”: The first single Kanye West and Jay-Z released after they had announced they would be making an album together was “H.A.M.” Though it had a substantial impact on America’s lexicon, the song wasn’t very good and everyone knew it. Being... Read More

Odd Future & Eminem, Part II: Footnotes

by Zack Rearick My first article was, in many ways, unfinished. In its original conception, I intended to a have a good deal of footnotes as is normal for any aspiring English doctoral student. However, it didn’t occur to me that footnotes don’t really work on the Internet (unless we’re talking about grantland.com), so I had to scratch the footnotes. Until now!... Read More

Video Review: She by Tyler the Creator

by Zack Rearick Welcome to the first installment in what will hopefully be a series of short articles making notes and annotations about rap music videos. But not like when little boxes pop up in your Youtube video. Slightly less obnoxious. Hopefully. Our video for today is “She” by Tyler the Creator, featuring Frank Ocean. I promise this will be the last Odd Future post. Here’s... Read More

How Odd Future Is Misinterpreting Eminem’s Use of Cross-Dressing

by Zack Rearick “My signature sound, / when a tube of lipstick’s around / I’m bound to put in on in an instant, wow”   Earl Sweatshirt is a key member of the neo-horrorcore rap group Odd Future Wolfgang Kill Them All.  OFWKTA, in particular Sweatshirt and Tyler the Creator, have blown up recently off the strength of tremendous Internet buzz, a stellar live show, and... Read More