Re: Gangsta Gibbs...
It’s taken a minute, but I think I just found the only person that’s arguably a bigger Gangsta Gibbs fan than I am. This is some breathless (and well-deserved) praise. Good shit.
Programming note: Shit will remain sparse around here for a while. Life’s being a bitch outchea…
More on Rawse (and Jeezy)...
My apologies for bringing it up again, but the shit won’t go away, so I’ll keep indulging. I’m a grown man that refuses to watch wrestling anymore, so this will have to do.
Someone on Slate wrote an article attempting to explain why Rawse exists. I read it and didn’t come away with any new theories. Wasn’t particularly impressed by it either. However, one of my old buddies linked to said article this morning and it triggered a bit of a rant. I figured the rant would make for a decent post here:
Read that one yesterday. I’m not sure I understand what that clown was trying to write. Yet another article attempting to rationalize the reasons that fraud’s success. Simply put, authenticity matters less in today’s rap because the guys that write the checks don’t care and neither does this bitchmade generation of 90s babies. That’s all there is to it. The writer took a not so random shot at Young Jeezy, but despite Rawse’s current success, he still hasn’t managed to match Jeezy at his peak (or trough for that matter). Jeezy’s “moment” may have passed (for the record, I only really got on the Jeezy fan bandwagon after the hipster fetishism with him [and the Clipse if I recall] died down a bit), but he went platinum 3 times and Rawse has never matched any of his opening week sales (or gone platinum). At least he acknowledged the fact that Rawse came into the game as a Jeezy clone before eventually finding a slightly dissimilar lane of his own (but they’re still competing for the same ears). If this was the 90s, Rawse would be a nobody. He’d have been dismissed EARLY for being a fraud and a biter. Jeezy could possibly survive in that era, based off his bonafides alone.That said, Rawse is clearly a student of the game and devoted to his art and that shows in his development as an artist. I respect that.I still listen to Jeezy more and think he’s better. I also buy his shit and will never let a dime of mine see Rawse’s pockets if I can control it. But that’s just me.
Maurice Garland On Popular Rappers & The "Black" Press...
Really interesting read.
Sample quote(s):
But, my dude at the firm told me “Kanye ain’t really doing any Black press right now.”
Huh?
“Yeah, we had a meeting, his people are on some other shit right now, they want to take him to another level. Everybody decided and agreed. Yeah, shit is wack, but it is what it is.”
NY Times x Lex Luger
The New York Times does a great profile (4 pages long!) on the current HNIC of the beat making game: Lex Luger.
Don’t be mad. It’s a fact.
Sample Quote:
“it’s like a factory-direct car customized in a way that doesn’t make sense as art to people who can’t perceive the subtle interplay of formula and flourish.”
Click the link to read.
Shouts to my boy Agent Dale Cooper for pointing it out…