To be honest, when rapper NYOil tells fellow rappers "y'all should all get lynched" in a song that has generated I can't be sure quite how offensive he's being. Mainly, this is due to the fact that I'm white, and British, and have no experience of the summary hanging of black men and women for imagined crimes in a practice that held sway in the southern states of the US for over a hundred years and killed as many as 5,000 people. It's also because, when you listen to a lot of rap music, you'll undoubtedly have heard a lot worse.
It's a matter of fact that any time spent cruising in your pimped out whip pumping the latest will clarify that there are few taboos left unbroken in the rap game. In fact, it's almost possible to imagine that some rappers deliberately make their lyrics as offensive and degrading as possible in the hope that it might aid their sales.
It appears that the unsigned NYOil has attracted some opprobrium for his lyrics, some from the kind of rappers he is attacking, others from black liberals who, in the words of one don't see the difference between NYOil's rhymes and last month's by Michael "Kramer" Richards.
These critics may be right, I couldn't say, but whichever way up, his song has proven to be controversial which, for a "progressive" artist is a rare thing indeed.
Let's face it, if it weren't for the lynching, nobody at all (least of all ) would be talking about a tune which, in essence, is calling on black men to be true to the legacy of Martin Luther King. This is especially so because the song itself is hardly likely to catch fire in the clubs, sounding as it does like a track a band called might have made 10 years ago.
Progressive rap, if there was ever such a thing, has withered in the past 10 years. De La Soul's Three Feet High and Rising, an album that occasioned features on the Today programme celebrating its thoughtful nature, was released 18 years ago. The new album by the most renowned of contemporary right-on rappers, Mos Def, is catering to such a small audience that no-one's sure whether it's .
Largely this decline has been for two reasons: a lack of good tunes and an absence of the illicit spice that most rap fans now expect from their music.
But the funny thing is that it's not just more liberal rappers who have a problem getting heard. Ask satirist Al Franken about his radio station, Air America, which was supposed to take on Rush Limbaugh and all his right-wing venom.
It filed for bankruptcy last year. Or, wonder why there's no on our TV screens but lots of . It seems it's a far more popular thing to say the unthinkable than to actually do something about it.
Rap music today is largely complacent rubbish.
For the most part rap "artists" pretend to be controversial by following the simple pop controversy rules - they swear - they play at violence - they use an angry tone - they row with eachother.
Its all a far cry from the early rap scene which hated the gheto life that spawned it - that railed against a society that condemned people to such degredation - and called for or justified action aimed at change.
There is no insight or incitement left - and thanks to the scale of record deals, they all have their eyes on the 'bling' rather than the grime that gave life to their music.
Its the same process that saw the anger and politics of Punk turn into the new romantics of the 80s.
for some reason though - no one thought to give the appathetic "rap" a new name to distinguish it from what went before.
so - whoever NYOil is - I hope he has reminded some one out there that the only real music controversy left is politcs.
Hip Hop is dead. No one has anything interesting to say.
.. in the USA; There is still some good/nasty political rants and social observations that have made what Hip Hop is in Europe.
Quite simple really: No one really cares about righteousness; we live in a society that rewards individualism and success ( money ). Gangsta rappers don't escape the rule..
. In fact they're pretty much in the system even when they are glorifying violence and success through illicit means. They become the sad mules of capitalism because someone's gotta deal crack in the streets for money.
Because money and the sex appeal that money brings you is everything in this world apparently.
It's utterly boring and as far I can remember I haven't seen anything remotely different coming from the US in the past years..
Sadly there is no more Gangstarr, no more Tribe Called Quest, no more Cypress Hill...
these acts were truly original in their days; it's just that there isn't much left to invent or taboo subject to be torn apart.
Bear in mind; it's the same with Rock or Pop; Punk is enjoying a revival but it's only a revival, it has been done before and there is no band now who would match what the Pistols, The Clash or The Damned have done before in terms of creativity.
Bear in mind, it's all pop music and it's pretty obvious that it has nothing to do with music and everything to do with selling records through appealing marketing tactics to get at target audiences.
. I'm pretty sure that NYoil geezer is another puppet of record company having identified a market.
There are loads of interesting artists/ musicians who will never get a backing because of .
.. lack of marketability.
but surely the point is that from time to time one of those bands or 'artists' that don't get picked up by a record label - gets picked up by the public.
The Sex Pistols - who exploded punk as a massive national phenomenon - were not the first punk band (the stooges pre-dated them for example) - but they were also not just the construct of a record company production line.
They were a bunch of guys with something to say - and people - normal everyday people - in pubs - thought they were great because they wanted it said.
Their message was heard - it resonated - and hence their impact.
With Indi there was the Smiths - with grunge there was Nirvana - neither the first of their genre - nor arguably the best - but they struck a chord as it were.
So if Rap has served its time - and become just another variation of pop - what comes next?
Is a music phenomenon about due?
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Iraq has suffered from "years of sanctions" and war, things heaped upon you by the West. Now it's time for us to come in and reap whirlwind profits, so we can get things back in shape.".
.. "Will The Times be so generous the next time a Minster has an affair?
Or buys some shares which double in value, mysteriously, ten minutes later?"..
. "The best aspect of Mr Johnson's approach is that he seems concerned to work with teachers and schools, rather than imposing directives from on high.".
.. "Green policies are helping to re-create problems unseen for decades, in an age when we should be able to live a rat-free life.
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"The truly deranged are so committed to their delusions that your brain actually starts thinking: Hmm, maybe this person really is Napoleon! Maybe that woman really is a fried egg! Maybe the surge really will lead to victory in Iraq!
"...
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