Hip-Hop-Hooray!
Hey! Remember the 80s? Successful black comedians like the Wayans brothers and Arsenio Hall made a place on their respective shows for hip-hop acts which in those days got no play on The Tonight Show or Saturday Night Live. This was an admirable display of solidarity and a great boost to the success of the medium.
Flash forward to the 90s and the new millenium. Black comics like Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle still feel the need to give up 1/3 of their hilarious comedy programs to showcase their favorite rap artists.
Is this really necessary in a world where hip-hop has become the most pervasive marketing phenom in American history? I hear it in McDonald's commercials on country music stations! It made up the greatest part of SpikeTV's Video Game Awards! It even invaded the Comedy Central Roast of Jeff 'Effing' Foxworthy!
Please, OGs and wannabes alike, give it a rest. Is it any wonder I'm a sucker for any black artist that chooses a musical genre other than rap/hip-hop. It took me years to realize that Hootie and the Blowfish were over-rated due to this reverse racism.
Okay, I take that back. Afro-America, make whatever music you wish. Middle-class white-boys, continue to believe that DMX is speaking to you.
The blame belongs on the new blaxploitation that the media wants us to swallow. The same media that thought the 70s needed to see a black remake of "Dracula" that's giving us Afrocentric versions of "Airplane" and "Vacation". Hell, they even remade "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?". When will the madness end?!
Attention: Prince, Grandmaster Flash, Public Enemy, NWA, Run-DMC, De La Soul, Jungle Brothers, PM Dawn, Arrested Development, and OutKast ignore this post as the ravings of a lapsed white liberal and keep doing what you do.
Flash forward to the 90s and the new millenium. Black comics like Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle still feel the need to give up 1/3 of their hilarious comedy programs to showcase their favorite rap artists.
Is this really necessary in a world where hip-hop has become the most pervasive marketing phenom in American history? I hear it in McDonald's commercials on country music stations! It made up the greatest part of SpikeTV's Video Game Awards! It even invaded the Comedy Central Roast of Jeff 'Effing' Foxworthy!
Please, OGs and wannabes alike, give it a rest. Is it any wonder I'm a sucker for any black artist that chooses a musical genre other than rap/hip-hop. It took me years to realize that Hootie and the Blowfish were over-rated due to this reverse racism.
Okay, I take that back. Afro-America, make whatever music you wish. Middle-class white-boys, continue to believe that DMX is speaking to you.
The blame belongs on the new blaxploitation that the media wants us to swallow. The same media that thought the 70s needed to see a black remake of "Dracula" that's giving us Afrocentric versions of "Airplane" and "Vacation". Hell, they even remade "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?". When will the madness end?!
Attention: Prince, Grandmaster Flash, Public Enemy, NWA, Run-DMC, De La Soul, Jungle Brothers, PM Dawn, Arrested Development, and OutKast ignore this post as the ravings of a lapsed white liberal and keep doing what you do.
posted by OGRastamon at 8:56 PM
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