They Sort of Deserved It

Not saying I condone DMX's alleged behavior, but I probably would have freaked out too. Friggin' Germans...

It's Criminals Like These

Maybe some jail time will learn this hardened, sausage-eatin' criminal a lesson. Kudos to the fine folks in New Orleans law enforcement for tracking down this hooligan and making the streets safe for the law-abidin' survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

Ni**a, Please Indeed

I'm sorry, but I think that if my Black brothers and sisters are going to get all up in arms over this cartoon, then there's a whole lot more that we should be rising up in righteous indignation about. We don't like the stereotypes in this cartoon? We find the "symbolisms hurtful and inappropriate"? Have any of these same sensitive Black people watched a rap video lately? Perhaps they might see some hurtful symbolisms there. Have any of them listened to Star and Bucwild in the morning - where from 6am to 10am in several major radio markets (including New York, Connecticut, Augusta and Savannah, GA; Philly and Miami) they can be regularly assailed with the world NIGGA every weekday morning? Surely these same noble Black folks have seen Comedy Central's Chappelle's Show, and perhaps they've heard that same offensive slur being bandied about there.

I'm just sayin' - come on, let's get this revolution crackin', my niggas...

On iTunes, Explicit Lyrics Available, But at a Premium

Hip hop is the music I primarily listen to (but you already knew that), and iTunes is where I primarily get my music from (I'm too old and gainfully employed to even bother with downloading from sources of questionable legitimacy). So today, while browsing some of iTunes' new releases, I came across The Minstrel Show - North Carolina supergroup Little Brother's newest offering. I clicked the link and added it to my cart almost immediately (after all, I've done my homework - The Listening still gets heavy rotation in my iPod, and I got The Chitlin Circuit 1.5 a couple of weeks ago just to freshen up. I'm still missing the original Chitlin Circuit). I then remembered that usually, iTunes usually links to the sanitized version of the album by default - if you want the cussin', you have to dig for it. So I dug - and imagine my surprise when I realized that the explicit version of The Minstrel Show is $3.00 more than the clean one!

I have to be frank and say that in my old age, I think that, rather than becoming de-sensitized to cussin' in rap music, I'm actually losing my tolerance for it, and have even started considering buying the clean versions of CD's nowadays. Plus, my significant other doesn't have much of a stomach for most hip-hop anyway, and I'm kind of tired of constantly editing my playlist down to mostly PG offerings (which are pretty hard to find, between 50 Cent, Eminem, Cam'ron, etc.), or defending hip-hop as a genre when something grossly offensive is uttered. For example:

You couldn't total my amount if you sung I Missed You

Dissed you dismissed you yeah I fixed you

Let your girl suck on the shit that I piss through

- Redman, "It's Like That (My Big Brother)

Fellas, I don't know about you, but women (e.g. my lady) are particularly disgusted and incensed by that bit of misogynistic verse, and I for one have no real defense for it. It's pretty filthy. Anyhow, I digress. The point I'm making is that this Little Brother/iTunes issue has once again made me question whether I actually would consider buying the edited version of the album, especially when in this case it's cheaper than the dirty stuff.

The fact is, despite everything, I can't bring myself to do it. In principle - and in practice - I can't knowingly spend the money on something that has been altered from its original form, as it was intended to be consumed by the artist. So, fuck it - I'll suck up the $3, and hear some extra "niggas" and shit. S'all good, muhfuckah.

The Democratization of Bling

Bling is now available and accessible to the everyman. Thank you, icedoutgear.com.

Def Jam Left

I kind of like this idea... coming out of "left" field I guess... it's like Jay-Z is holding out a juicy, raw steak to those feral, hungry backpackers. The backpackers growl hungrily - they're still skeptical, and remember their old wounds, but all the same, it smells pretty tasty.

Oh - and Jay Hova, you're such a scamp for teasing us with the idea of another studio album like that - shame on you. Well, as long as it shows up on iTunes, you can have my $9.99.

Old Jeruz Style

I found this really nicely written article on the burgeoning hip-hop scene in Israel, and it sounds like the Israelis are doing hip-hop right. Young people of all backgrounds (Arab, Russian, Orthodox, Hassid) are all coming together and rhyming, honing their skills, and sharing a unique experience.

The writer also points out that, out of context, rap lyrics can seem sexist and misogynistic, but that their underlying intent is to raise these issues and make people think about them. Now, I remember in my more youthful and idealistic days, making similar arguments about hip-hop here in the USA - we've all heard the ghetto CNN theory: they're just reporting what they see. And while I still think this is a valid justification for some of what our favorite emcees are putting out on their records, maybe I'm too old and jaded now, but like Chris Rock said, there's no way to intellectualize "till the sweat runs down my balls, skeet skeet skeet skeet."

'S just my thoughts...

Kanye: "Geoge Bush doesn't care about black people"

I'm sure this is all in the news now, but apparently Kanye West wasn't ready to sing and dance for the media like he was supposed to. Good for him - I'm liking this guy more and more these days.

Oh, and "Gone" from Late Registration is off the effin' hook. So is "Roses".