It’s been dead for fifteen years, right? I was chatting with a friend a mine a few weeks back, a record head and beat maker, and he assured me that hip hop is alive and well.
This drooling review of Jay Z’s new book by Michiko Kakutani in the Times did nothing to restore my faith, however.
Wonder if Jay writes about this:
Okay, here’s early Jay that was actually slammin.’
Come on cut him some slack!
Ha!
It's not Jay so much as that blow job of a review. But I'm talking shit cause I haven't even seen the book.
No matter what Jay does, he'll never be able to live down "Hawaiian Sophie," nor will Nas let him :-)
36 in a karate class
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYfKMIdoJL0
no joke
Another thing: Mainstream rap might be dead or close to dead, but there is still a vibrant second tier that I get a lot out of.
[5] or: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFHkNRjSVpA
L really is the best that never was
[2] Can't wait to read it. She usually pretty harsh. Nobody rips a tome like Michiko-chan. Although she gushed about "Life" too. Maybe she's gettin' soft in her old age.