Wednesday, December 7th, 2005

Chins To Reality ’06 To Your Soul

While I’m consumed with launching a new book project, tracking A’s trade rumors, and obsessing over the Meters, James Brown, hip-hop, the breakbeat, and the clavé for a longish, semi-smartish essay I’m working on, here’s some other fun reading…

The list will grow the deeper all of the above gets:

+ The Source is homeless, and rappers are in danger with the new Bible of Hip-Hop blog. These bloggers are scarier than Benzino.

+ For something completely different, check Josh Clover on the genius of The Jaz and some guy he used to work with. They used to call themselves thuggita-the, the originators, word.

+ Our homie Jeff Yang–no relation!–breaks the story on the end of AZN TV. Here’s his piece on the doomed Asian American themed network.

+ Juvie is like the opposite of PE. Remember how, early on, PE rapped about black nationalism and then put dark-lit pictures of their posse on the covers? Juvie always offers up progressive, subversive messages in his images (peep the videos for “Ha” and “Slow Motion” if you don’t believe me) and then keeps it strictly gangsta in the music. I think that’s why a lot of hip-hop progressives don’t get him. How can you be political and gangsta if you’re not Dead Prez? Ask David Banner. Topic for discussion: Folks have been talking about whether there’s a generational rift within the hip-hop generation over this debate around rap images. But is there also a Northern, East Coast bias in the “anti-bling” movement, just as there was after NWA came out?

+ We killed rockists two years ago. But aren’t you tired of highly intelligent critics acting dumber than they really are when they get the Billboard pop charts on Monday? We have new slogans for Oh-Sex: Down with relativism and post-relativism! Down with popists and post-popists! (Me loving “Laffy Taffy” doesn’t count!) Anyway, here’s Hua Hsu on Fergie’s Heffalumps. An Awesomely Great essay (that will probably be excluded from the Da Capo Best of 2006 Music Writing–OK wait…we will not go back there) on a Horrifically Bad pop song. Great commentary from O-Dub and friends here. While you’re there, check out O-dub’s little bumper for the Great Day In Atlanta special coming up on MTV2.

posted by Jeff Chang @ 8:16 am | 1 Comment

One Response to “Chins To Reality ’06 To Your Soul”

Rafi Kam says:

December 8, 2005 at 5:54 pm

Damn that post on Jaz/Jay-Z is one tight piece of writing. Thanks for the link!

Feed Me!

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