On June 30th, Apple Music’s Beats 1 radio will launch with a start-studded line up. Former BBC Radio 1 host Zane Lowe is touted to have his own show on Beats 1, with Eminem as his very special first guest.
Eminem has previously given Lowe one of the most cringe-worthy interviews I have ever seen. It was in 2014, after the release of the Marshal Mathers LP 2. So the thought of reliving this makes me grind my teeth and sweat profusely. It’s a fundamental law of the universe that old people are lame and now that Eminem is old he is no exception.
As per usual, Lowe is a journalist unafraid to ask the soft-hitting questions and completely kiss ass. With nary an insightful or critical thought, Lowe phrases every question as a compliment “it must have been nice actually to just sit down and carve it up, and have that end result in mind?” Or the completely asinine, haven’t you ever wanted to know if Eminem enjoys making music? This is one to avoid.
By the way, Zane has done really really great interviews with Rick Rubin and Kanye West which really are worth checking out, so lt’s hope that they’ll be featuring on the new radio show when it launches.
The Game is a rapper who has managed to stay both gangster and relevant while the hip-hop goal posts have been completely and utterly moved on him. There might have been a time where an actual real-life Blood would have been appalled at the idea of collaborating with Drake, but The Game has always recognised and respected talent where it’s appeared.
On 100, The Game shows respect for October’s Very Own, “I got a vest for every nigga with an owl on his chest.” The Game spits consistent bars over a G-Funk yet modern beat, with some Yeezus-y samples and some rolling drums. Drake is of course, as he often is, the real story on this track – giving a golden chorus and some big punch lines. Plus Drake is a natural choice on the song 100 given his ability to achieve that top speed quite quickly. At 5:45 it’s anything but lazy. This is a very solid effort and promising first single for The Game’s 10th studio album, The Documentary 2, the sequel to his acclaimed debut album.
https://youtu.be/zwRR9v4Jejk
The Documentary 2 is due for release August 7, 2015.
Chance The Rapper has just commenced the second stage of his transition into an actor. The acid rapper has signed on to star in another short film, Slice, which tells the story of the murder of a pizza delivery boy. Given that director Austin Vesely is also a Chicago native, I’m going to speculate wildly here and say that the film will be largely inspired by real events that occurred in Dalton, Chicago where a pizza delivery boy was robbed and murdered in October 2014. The event is regularly cited as the most extreme case of black-on-black violence in Chiraq. It even inspired a Lupe Fiasco song, Deliver. The projects’ Instagram account shows some pizza-inspired pop art, as well as a blood-spattered Chance on an edgy Japanese moped. Chance made his acting debut in another short film, Mr. Happy. The more Chancellor Bennett, the better. Slice is due out next year.
Chance recently dropped Surf, his album with band The Social Experiment. More recently, he also curated a free festival for teenagers, at which Kendrick Lamar made a special cameo appearance.
Action Bronson has found himself at the centre of a veritable shit-storm when a bunch of angry Canadians trawled through his back catalogue to unearth the appallingly titled B-side Consensual Rape. Because of the existence of the song (which has never been performed live) Bronson’s NXNE performance on public property was cancelled. Whilst the title is undeniably crap, the songs actual lyrics are relatively tame for a rap song. Consensual Rape begins with the muttered words “fucking drug shit, do the drugs…” which subtly hints that a) this is probably not a person to be taken too seriously, and b) if you’re offended by drug use, Bronson is probably not going to be your cup of decaffeinated tea. Rap is a genre known for being controversial, for being shocking, and for being inextricably bound up with crime. But even still, some lines still manage to offend more than others. We count down the top 8 most controversial rap lyrics of all time.
1. “Tire marks, tire marks, finish line with the fire marks/When the relay starts I’m a runaway slave…master” – Iggy Azalea, D.R.U.G.S
If there’s an institution in the universe that white people generally take great pains to distance themselves from; it’s slavery. By the same token, there’s an unwritten rule of Public Relations that you should never invite your audience to draw comparisons between yourself and slave owners. This probably goes double if your whole career is dogged by accusations of cultural appropriation. So when Iggy Azalea referred to herself as the “runaway slave master,” Mayor Rob Ford’s spin team shook their heads with pity.
But this was a freestyle rap yeah? A gifted freestyle rapper can’t control the Pentecostal words that come out of their mouth. At it’s worst it’s just a very twisted Freudian slip. Wrong. The song samples a Kendrick Lamar B-Side, Looking for Detox in which K-Dot raps “tire marks, tire marks, finish line with the fire marks, when the relay starts I’m a runaway slave.” In a touching piece of “homage” Azalea samples the song and re-uses the same opening line from Kendrick. Except she alters it very, very slightly by changing it to “SLAVE-MASTER.” So what Iggy has done here is stolen the work of a black man, put a tasty racist twist on it, and then presented it as her own. It’s like a racist aptronym. The dictionary definition of “cultural appropriation” should just be the YouTube URL to this song.
Azalea manages to make a song titled D.R.U.G.S controversial for a slavery reference.
2. “If you don’t judge my gold chains/I’ll forget the iron chains” – LL Cool J, Accidental Racist
Where to begin with this sonic abortion? In an extremely misguided attempt to repair race relations, Nashville singer Brad Paisley seeks forgiveness for his “accidental racism” – a sentiment shared by my grandfather. Paisley is acutely aware of how offensive his Confederate flag t-shirt might appear. But he doesn’t wear it to honour the Confederate legacy of driving a nation into Civil War to preserve the right to hold black people in bondage. No. He wears it because he’s a Lynyrd Skynyrd fan. A band that very occasionally uses the Confederate colours and motifs in some of their artwork. Fair enough. And I suppose he wears that white hood with the two eyeholes cut out simply because he’s a man that appreciates privacy and the feeling of fine bed linen against his face. Paisley is sick of the bigotry. He’s wrongfully judged by his appearance, and not by his “progressive” sentiments that echo the absolute pointlessness of trying to make amends such as: “it ain’t like you and me can re-write history, our generation didn’t start this nation” and “it ain’t like I can walk a mile in someone else’s skin.”
Sadly, whilst Brad Paisley is the real villain here he’s not (yet) a rapper, and is outside of our crosshairs. In 11 bars of absolute dribble, LL Cool J manages to make The Klumps look like Dr. Cornel West. LL laments the bigotry black people have to suffer: “just because my pants are sagging doesn’t mean I’m up to no good.” But yet he who is without sin cast the first stone, because LL isn’t innocent either – “so when I see that white cowboy hat, I’m thinking it’s not good.” However, he reaches a compromise, and he won’t judge Brad for his symbol of a separatist nation that would rather be literally dead than without slaves, if Brad doesn’t “judge my do rag.” Fair.
It’s done even less to repair race relations than this famous interracial duet in which a black man was also a puppet.
3. “‘Bout to put rims on my skateboard wheels/ Beat the pussy up like Emmett Till” – Lil Wayne, Karate Chop (Remix)
Good taste is maybe not something you’d expect from a man with diamonds permanently affixed to his teeth and the ‘ESPN’ logo tattooed to his arm – but Lil Wayne’s line in the ‘Karate Chop’ remix still managed to be fish-market odious. In this poetic gem Wayne Carter graciously lets the degradation of women take a backseat to the brutal murder of a civil rights icon, and still manages to throw in a mention of his skateboard as well for good measure.
Emmett Till was of course the teenage boy who was murdered in Mississippi after allegedly flirting with a white woman, and who helped galvanize the Civil Rights Movement. The Till family sent Weezy a letter showing their disgust for his lyrics “Not only are you destroying the preservation and legacy of Emmett Till’s memory and name, but the impact of his murder in black history.” They also took umbrage with Wayne’s insensitive zeal with the female sex organ “… along with degradation of women,”
Of course the reason why Wayne’s lyric is so offensive is because if it weren’t for the death of Emmett Till, Weezy would have probably been unable to purchase his 16-year-old daughter Reginae a Ferrari. Oh, and he said “beat up the pussy”!??
Reginae’s actual Ferrari.
4. “Fuckk the F.B.I. and fuck all the Army troops/Fighting for what, bitch? Be your own man” – Soulja Boy, Let’s Be Real
Soulja Boy is the artist who perpetually pushes boundaries, causes us to question what we often take for granted, asks the tough questions and is prepared to tackle the controversial issues of the day did Crank Dat.
Soulja Boy is not known for his politics, and as such people were decidedly pissed when a guy with controlling interest in the Bathing Ape Company thought he would throw in his two cents on the Iraq War.
And if you’re part of the select group of impressionable US servicemen who find themselves regularly swayed by the content of rap lyrics, chances are you’re still not going to be convinced by a guy who’s actual Wikipedia page describes his music as “vacuous and insipid.”
5.“I really think the war on terror is a bunch of bullshit/Just a poor excuse for you to use up all your bullets/How much money does it take to really make a full clip?/9/11, building 7, did they really pull it?” – Lupe Fiasco, Words I Never Said
If you want a surefire way to look like a dumbass, publicly declare your support for a conspiracy theory.
Words I Never Said was Lupe’s middle finger to Atlantic Records, which touched on controversial political topics like September 11, government fiscal policy and the occupation of Gaza. It was considered so ‘edgy’ and ‘subversive’ that it was adopted as a pseudo-theme song by hacker group Anonymous.
For a singer to simply name-check the issues on pages 1-5 of today’s newspaper doesn’t make you Bob Dylan. This is more We Didn’t Start The Fire than Imagine. It’s got a lot of this about it –
https://youtu.be/TLEK0UZH4cs
Lupe has long walked a tight rope between genius and idiot. And this one firmly falls in the latter category. “Obama didn’t say shit” says Lupe “that’s why I ain’t vote for him, next one either.” Encouraging voter apathy amongst black populations isn’t generally regarded as a social good….
6. “Little gay-looking boy / So gay I can barely say it with a straight face-looking boy / You witnessing massacre like you watching a church gathering taking place-looking boy”– Eminem, Rap God
Eminem made a name for himself with shocking homophobic lyrics, but managed to throw off the suggestion that these were genuinely held sentiments when he performed with Elton John at the 2001 Grammys. Further, Eminem has always maintained that he has never used the word “faggot” to refer to a person’s sexuality, but was rather a word used in the Detroit rap-battle scene to mean a “punk or a bitch or an asshole.” That may be so. But this line on Rap God delivered at age 40 is fairly unequivocal. The Gay vs. Straight thing sort of makes that fairly clear. C’mon man.
7. “I swear that bitch Rita Ora got a big mouth/ Next time I see her might curse the bitch out/ Kicked the bitch out once cause she bitched out/ Spit my kids out, jizzed up all in her mouth and made the bitch bounce.” – A$AP Rocky, Better Things
Oh man. Did he really just say “spit my kids out”? What’s more insulting is Rocky’s painful backtracking in interviews, in which he sort of half-qualifies his comments, and then ends up saying something even worse. “She got me into a lot of trouble but I just want to clarify, this isn’t me saying ‘don’t go listen to Rita Ora‘ or that she’s a terrible person… I didn’t say the pussy was whack,” he said. Yeah guys, it’s not as if he said “the pussy was whack”, which is obviously the absolutely worst thing he could have said, and which would have entitled Rita to be offended.
At one point he tries to pass off the lyric as the dying wish of mentor A$AP Yams, saying, “that was one of the joints that I feel like a I recorded before Yams passed that I knew he really loved.” I’m sure wherever Yams is now, he’s touched that he’s been remembered through a moving anecdote of one person’s inability to ingest A$AP Rocky’s genetic material. “To Rita Ora and her fans – keep going, you’re still beautiful baby girl, just next time keep your mouth shut and I’ll do the same.” Yuck. Of course Rocky has taken the high road here, where Rita Ora had no discretion. Rocky is a man of intense privacy, not one to put his relationships in the public sphere.
8. “Put Molly all in her champagne she aint’ even know it/ I took her home and I enjoyed that she ain’t even know it” – Rick Ross, U.O.E.N.2O
For those who don’t know, Rick Ross was an actual former state prison guard, before becoming a rapper and taking the name of an actual living drug king pin. It’s the kind of 180 that would make Tony Hawk blush. Given that Rozay ranks just behind the Talented Mr. Ripley for people who have built success on a foundation of pure lies, you sort of have to take everything he says with a pinch of his finest fictional blow. He’s not exactly credible; if you ain’t even know it. So when Ross said on that same song, “I’m bout to get you fucked niggas whacked,” there weren’t riots in the street. Because it was yet another example of the kind of fake boasting that even Brian Williams would think pathetic.
But the date-rape line was more offensive than copping an up close glimpse of Ross’s inked-up man-mammary – because, like, what if he’s not joking? Obviously there’s a fine line between humour, braggadocio and real life. So the general rule of thumb is that if you want to keep your Rebook deals, and keep peoples food from retching up their oesophagus, axe the date-rape lines – this could have been very easily achieved given that absolutely nothing in Ross’s verse rhymed, meaning it could have literally been replaced with ANYTHING. Abysmal.
Outside the Staples Center in Los Angeles at 3pm on February 21 members of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and other social activist groups gathered to protest the Grammy Awards and the “hate-filled lyrics” of Eminem. They warned of his “dangerous message to impressionable youth.” Helen Grieco of the California Common Cause called The Marshall Mathers LP “capitalism at its worst.” It wasn’t art, “It was hate speech.” Even the United States Congress found itself embroiled in the controversy of the white rapper. Lynne Cheney, the wife of the Republican Vice Presidential Candidate, appealed to the Federal Trade Commission to stop the record labels distribution of The Marshall Mathers LP. Violence in the entertainment industry was having a profound effect on the nations youth, she said. It was no “coincidence” that the masterminds of the Columbine massacre were fans of shock rocker Marilyn Manson.
Whilst Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine might have entertained private hopes that MMLP would be lucrative, it’s impossible that they could have begun to imagine the extent of its success. This violent piece of comic misanthropy went on to dominate the charts. It sold more than 1.76 million copies in its first week, becoming the fastest-selling studio album by a solo artist in American music history. Eminem had made a name for himself dissing pop stars; now, he was one of them. The alluring Pandora’s Box quality of the album helped it sell more than 3.5 million copies in the first month. What did it say about the state of the American conscious when the warped worldview of Eminem was gobbled up by the masses? Was there a Slim Shady lurking in all of us?
The urban legend goes that the album was very nearly titled Amsterdam – on account of Eminem’s two-month drug and recording bender in the Dutch city famous for its “coffee shops,” red light district and so on. But the title is significant. On The Marshall Mathers LP Eminem shakes off the goofy Slim Shady persona and offers a portrait of the artist. For the album’s cover art, Eminem chose to be photographed at his childhood home. The address was the setting for Eminem’s turbulent adolescence, particularly his fractious relationship with an abusive and drug-addled mother. It was also his beginning. On his Anger Management tour, Eminem included a life-size replica of the family home as a set piece, literally inviting the audience into his world.
Label boss Jimmy Iovine noted the “Stephen King” quality of Eminem’s sophomore. While Em still shows the quick wit that made him famous, the Marshall Mathers LP is imbued with a newly toxic quality. It’s insidious. Songs like Remember Me and Amityville don’t push the album forward artistically; they seem deliberately included for the sole purpose of inspiring white-hot rage in adolescents. Murder muzak. On MMLP Eminem completely surpasses the genre of ‘gangsta rap,’ offering something infinitely more hardcore. While ‘gangsta rap’ is concerned with murder, drugs and misogyny, it’s still tied up with ideas of honour, respect and a ‘street code of ethics.’ On MMLP Eminem goes so much further – he gives us the image of a serial killer unhinged. “Get rid of that nine, it ain’t gonna help, what good’s it gonna do against a man who strangles himself?” He warns on I’m Back. How can a thug compete with a psychopath? They’re bad, but this is truly evil. Eminem blurs the distinction between fantasy and fiction. Does his real-life behaviour correlate to his lyrics? ‘97 Bonnie and Clyde might be brushed off as Looney Tunes cartoon violence, but Kim seems raw and real. Kim Mathers herself was tragically unable to make the distinction. She slit her wrists after Eminem played the song live at a concert she attended.
The idea of fame is central to The Marshall Mathers LP. Eminem came from poverty and obscurity, but money and fame have not brought him relief. Instead, the spotlight has placed more pressure on his already fragile psyche. “What do I think of success – it sucks,” he spits on I’m Back. This is an artist that scorns fame. Superstardom has made Eminem distrustful. He can’t tell whether people are genuine friends or are only interested in his celebrity and wealth. “Now everybody wants to come around like I owe ‘em something,” he says on Marshall Mathers. Record execs pressured Eminem to make the album more accessible – it needed another infectious smash to follow My Name Is. In repose, he did the exact opposite. The Way I Am is the ultimate anti-industry anthem. He refuses to bow to label pressure, and be “pigeon-holed into some poppy sensation.” He blasts the cult of celebrity and expresses abject disgust for his own zealous fan base. But for Eminem, the greatest curse of fame is responsibility.
In the wake of Columbine, everyone from journalists to psychoanalysts were quick to put the interests of Eric Harris and Dylan Kiebold under the microscope. What had worked to warp and poison the minds of these young boys? In the year 2000, commentators placed additional pressure on artists to use their influence for the betterment of society. This issue of responsibility dogged Eminem’s career. While a copy of the Slim Shady LP was not discovered among the killers’ possessions, Eminem plays with the idea of his effect on the youth. Eminem parodies the absurd fears of the extent of his influence by taking direct ownership for the massacre. “Someone musta broke in the back window and stole two loaded machine guns and both of my trenchcoats,” he says on Remember Me. “I take each individual degenerate’s head and reach into it… and [he] becomes a puppet on the string of tennis shoe,” he boasts on I’m Back. But this is a joke. Eminem knows that in reality the influence of a pop star is limited. Em lists the real culprits for corrupting the youth on Who Knew: violent movies, the sexualisation of children, and even the indiscretions of the most powerful man in America – “you want me to fix up lyrics while our President gets his dick sucked?” He takes the idea of influence to a horrifying conclusion on Stan. A delusional fan acts out the fictional murder in ‘97 Bonnie and Clyde.
It’s a beautifully crafted album. At the height of his powers, Dr. Dre creates something sparse, stripped back, and yet still totally hypnotic and memorable. Ever the tactician, Dre puts Eminem and his mind-boggling talents front and centre. Eminem’s vocals are more dexterous than ever before on MMLP. His voice is a living instrument, shifting effortlessly between cheek and rage. In Criminal he drops 6 remarkable impressions within 10 seconds. His talent has always been in putting words to work, creating rhyme structures you wouldn’t think possible. For me, Eminem will always be the G.O.A.T on account of his technical skill alone. And when it comes to rap as a sport, Eminem has actually improved with age.
In the year 2000 Eminem boasted that he was invincible on Drug Ballad, “If I could take it all back now I wouldn’t – I woulda did more shit that people said that I shouldn’t.” In 2009 a methadone overdose almost claimed his life. In 2015 he is 6 years sober. A lot can change in 15 years. Is The Marshall Mathers LP still potent 15 years on? Is it still subversive and shocking? Chief Keef and the trap movement cannot compare to the nightmarish vision of young Eminem. Odd Future is sometimes identified as Eminem’s successor, “reincarnation of ’98 Eminem” says Earl Sweatshirt on AssMilk. But they’re only funsize. Then there’s a few novelty acts like Necro or Jedi Mind Tricks, who are easily dismissed as just that – a novelty. No, the title is still held by Eminem. It’s a natural rule of the universe that any music your parents play will sound lame, but Eminem might be the exception. The Marshall Mathers LP might still be harder and more brutal than the music of your grandkids. It’s remarkable for its craftsmanship, its vitality, energy and its bile. Dark, witty and culturally significant; it’s the greatest album of the greatest living rapper.
Earlier this year, a Los Angeles jury awarded the children of Marvin Gaye nearly $US7.4 million after determining that Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams copied the music of their father to create Blurred Lines. Thicke and Williams plan to appeal the verdict. We look back on everything we’ve learned from the bloody litigation.
1. Robin Thicke is an innocent man
You can call Robin Thicke many things, but a man with a modicum of self-respect is not one of them. Thicke’s deposition might be described as brutally honest. He said that he “didn’t give a fuck” about the litigation, and then proceeded to thoroughly detail his own failings as an artist and as a human being.
A prouder man might have kept the lie going. Yes you would expose yourself to huge damages, but at least you would be remembered as the creator of an iconic song. Robin Thicke is not so proud. He would much rather escape all liability and have people think he was either a fraud or grossly incompetent.
This man is not an intellectual property thief! He is however, by his own admission, a fraud and an idiot.
Did Thicke actually contribute to the creation of Blurred Lines?
“I was high on Vicodin and alcohol when I showed up at the studio. So my recollection is when we made the song, I thought I wanted – I – I wanted to be more involved than I actually was by the time, nine months later, it became a huge hit and I wanted credit. So I started kind of convincing myself that I was a little more part of it than I was and I –because I didn’t want him – I wanted some credit for this big hit. But the reality is that Pharrell had the beat and he wrote almost every single part of the song.”
Thicke is a man painfully aware of his own ineptitude and the giant cosmic chop out the universe keeps strangely giving him. Did he contribute anything to the song? Did he even earn his spot on that unholy triumvirate? No, he “was just lucky enough to be in the room.”
But at the very least his artistic output was half-decent though yeah?
“It’s so hard to listen to. It’s like nails on a fucking chalkboard. This is like Stanley Kubrick’s movie Clockwork Orange. Where he has to sit there and watch… Mozart would be rolling his grave right now”
That’s all well and good, but how does he explain his comments to GQ magazine when he said that he had told Pharell that Got To Give It Up was “one of his favourite songs of all time” and that “we should do a song with that kind of groove.” Or when he told Oprah Winfrey that it was strange being in a legal battle with a personal hero who “inspires almost half of my music”?
Now a prouder man might have hid a drug habit to preserve their reputation. Thicke is not so proud. He concedes that he “didn’t give a sober interview” all of 2013. Thicke very specifically attributes these comments to “Norco” which is “like two Vicodin in one pill.”
Norco gets glowing endorsement from celebrity, Robin Thicke.
2. Pharrell Williams is a secret puppet master who can’t read sheet music
Now that we know Robin Thicke gave absolutely no contribution to Blurred Lines we have to ask: why was he given top-billing on the writing credits, even above Pharell Williams? Why would anyone on this earth consciously seek to give any kind of undue credit to Robin Thicke? Unless of course they knew that the song was stolen, and they were setting them up for a copyright clusterfuck. Yes, it’s pretty clear Pharell Williams is the brains of the operation. Robin Thicke? Just the fall guy. A patsy. A slimy scapegoat. Aside from some pending indecent assault charges – Thicke is completely innocent!
But the conspiracy goes deeper. Pharell Williams says he can read sheet music. But when pressed in cross-examination to identify notes and duration in a transcription of the song, Pharrell responds 8 times “I’m not comfortable.”
And if you didn’t think this was bizarre enough, Pharell expresses a deep concern for the discrimination white people suffer in the entertainment industry. “It’s the white man singing soulfully, and we unfortunately in this country don’t get…get to hear that as often. But there’s a lot of incredibly talented white folk with really soulful vocals, so when we’re able to given them a shot…you hear all these masterful voices that have just been given…an opportunity to be heard.” Well, what more proof could you possibly need that the world is run by an ancient cabal of middle-aged rappers? Pharell may as well have brought out Jay-Z for a guest verse and a Quickening. Oh, and there’s a cosmic connection between Pharell Williams and Marvin Gaye. When asked whether Gaye influenced him, Pharell responded, “he’s an Aries. I respect him”.
Illuminati Confirmed.
3. Blurred Lines does kind of sound like that Marvin Gaye song – but all songs sound the same
So you’ve had a listen and you’ve quickly worked out that Blurred Lines sounds pretty similar to Got To Give It Up and maybe also Stuck In the Middle With You. But is the song an outright copy? Sure the bass lines and the rhythm track are similar. But you might say that most funk songs have a similar structure. Given the simple nature of pop songs isn’t there huge potential for similarity? Aren’t all pop songs pretty much the same?
Are we supposed to believe that the Gaye family own the rights to a bass line and a cowbell? Will I never hear another song with a high-pitched “whoop” in the background?? What about clanking bottles? Are you telling me my bottle-clanking days are over as well?
How are artists supposed to come up with new ideas if they’re not influenced by those who came before them? Didn’t Bono once concede that every U2 song “ever written was a rip-off of a Lou Reed song”? Your honour, if you take away our right to steal ideas, where are they gonna come from, her?
How about…Ghost Mutt?
Besides Blurred Lines and Got To Give It Up are far from identical. I hope counsel for Williams and Thicke directed the jury to the one distinguishing feature of Blurred Lines, namely it’s completely original date-rape subtext. How can any song be said to be similar to Blurred Lines if it isn’t thematically preoccupied with non-consensual sex?
4. The Gaye family is litigious
When the verdict was read out, Marvin Gaye’s daughter wept actual physical tears. “Right now, I feel free,” she said. “ Free from… Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke’s chains.” Now don’t get me wrong – I can appreciate anyone’s desires to be free from Robin Thicke’s chains. Just the thought of it is reducing me to tears right now. But is this a reasonable reaction?
Marvin Gaye’s family owns the copyright in all their fathers’ songs. They stand to make about $7.4 million US from the verdict. They also want to enter into negotiations for ongoing royalties.
And if you weren’t already convinced they were money-grubbing bastards, in an act of pure mean-spiritedness, they asked for a declaration that T.I be made liable too, despite a jury verdict that T.I was not guilty of infringement.
Have you no heart? Leave T.I out of this – what has he done to you?
5. Marvin Gaye and Robin Thicke make similar music
While the Gaye family have secured themselves a sizeable payout, they’ve also unintentionally caused the name ‘Marvin Gaye’ to be uttered, repeatedly, in the same breath as ‘Robin Thicke.’ The whole litigation has caused us to think long and hard on similarities between the two artists. I had never heard Got To Give It Up before this litigation, but rest assured I hate it now. The whole litigation has retroactively painted Marvin Gaye as a horny frat boy in my mind. I’m even fairly sure I can remember seeing Marvin Gaye in the video clip wearing a beanie; chasing a terrified Emily Ratajowski around a chair.
When humanity leaves earth and future generations of Ape children are schooled inside a grounded Boeing 747 from a salvaged iPhone 3; it’s fair to assume that they will learn about human history from the wisdom of Jaden Smith tweets. Precocious young Apes will scratch their furry heads trying to decipher his unique philosophy; always expressed in 140 characters or less.
So to learn that Jaden Smith has now quit Twitter, and essentially deprived future Ape generations of its greatest existential philosopher – is nothing less than saddening. To commemorate the loss of this tremendous intellect, we count down his 10 most profound tweets.
Idealistic young Apes take ‘Jaden Smith 101′ in first year uni, before transferring to Economics in their second.
10/10 2013 – You Would Have To Eat 5 Apples Today To Get The Same Nutritional Value As An Apple from 1950 #Fallow
Jaden dropping pure science as per. A study by Donald Davis et al (2004) published in American College of Nutrition examined the nutritional data from fruit from 1950 and 1999. Davis noted “reliance declines” in the amount of protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, riboflavin and vitamin C.. Does Donald Davis have a Twitter account. If people don’t use their celebrity as a platform to bring forward the issue of declining fruit quality, who do you suppose will? Also, “fallow” means “plowed and left unseeded, uncultivated” – which I didn’t know, but Jaden Smith did.
This is basically cardboard now.
09/13/2013 – If Everybody In The World Dropped Out Of School We Would Have A Much More Intelligent Society
Let me tell you a story about a small boy who grew up in rural Kentucky. From age 7 to age 21, that little boy toiled away, helping out on the family farm. He didn’t need a fancy college education. 3 years later in 1834 he was elected to the Illinois Legislature. And that little boy grew up to be ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Lincoln isn’t the only famous fool without formal education. Mark Zuckerburg, Brad Bitt, Ted Turner, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates all dropped out of college to devote their lives to far greater things than the meager pursuit of knowledge. Literally ten’s of people have gone on to do incredible things without the need for school.
The intergalactic jester proclaims this conformity factory… closed!
05/10/14 – You Can Discover Everything You Need To Know About Everything By Looking At Your Hands
Palmistry, or as the Greeks called it chiromancy is the art of fortelling the future through the study of the palm. A learned chiromancer studies the various “lines” and “mounts” of the human hand to make conclusions about; love, attraction, intellectualism, vitality and vigor. Further, through detailed analysis of the ‘simian crease,’ conclusions can be drawn regarding an individuals life path, career choices, success and obstacles. Whilst there is a general perception amongst academics that palmistry is a pseudoscience that lacks an empirical basis, as to this date, there has been no conclusive peer-reviewed report that comprehensively disproves it.
Not a quackery.
08/07/2013 – If A Book Store Runs Out Of A Certain Book, Dose That Mean That Nobody Reads It, Or Everybody Reads It
Here Jaden raises a philosophical thought experiment that raises questions regarding observation and knowledge of reality. Can something exist without it being perceived? Do we assume that the unobserved world functions in the same way as the observed world? What is the difference between what something is, and how it appears? What kind of book are we talking about here? Because, if it’s like a Dan Brown novel, or a paperback or something, then it’s probably fair to assume that they’ve run out of it because it’s selling heaps. You kind of need to know what sort of book it is.
Is ‘dose’ a typo, or is that how Jaden really thinks the word is spelled?
09/12/2013 – If Newborn Babies Could Speak They Would Be The Most Intelligent Beings On The Planet Earth
I’ll only raise one slight criticism of this theory. Whilst I agree that if babies had the capacity to speak they would exhibit intelligence, the Look Who’s Talking Movies demonstrate conclusively that a baby’s intellect would be roughly equivalent to that of John Travolta or Kristie Alley.
I.e. still well below that of the average population
05/01/2014 – When You Live Your Whole Life In Prison Freedom Can Be So Dull
Accurate. In 2012 Rodney Dwayne Valentine spent two months in jail on a charge of damage to personal property. When Rodney was freed from jail on May 22nd he refused to leave the premises. He was arrested for trespassing and subsequently incarcerated. This is just one of presumably thousands of tales of institutionalized people who loathe freedom.
Freedom = Overrated
09/09/2013 – All The Rules In The World Were Made By Someone No Smarter Than You So Make Your Own
Given that Benjamin Franklin framed the constitution and had an IQ of 160, and given that this is assumedly addressed exclusively to Microsoft founder Paul Allen (IQ of 160) theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking (IQ of 160) and chess grand master Gary Kasparaov (IQ of 170) then this comment completely holds water. Otherwise it’s nonsensical.
Just a regular guy. No different from you or me.
08/12/14 – When The First Animal Went Extinct That Should’ve Bin A Sign.
According to the Center for Biological Diversity 99% of currently threatened species are at risk from human activity. It’s thanks to our douchey forefathers that we’re now deprived of such hilarious animals as the dodo and the quagga. Even after selfishly gorging themselves on so much plump dodo – they never thought to warn us.
We’ll never know the sweet taste of this noble bird.
12/23/14 – The Head Of The Sphinx Will Fall Off In The Near Future.
In 1990 the Getty Conservation Institute installed a solar-powered monitoring station on the back of the Great Sphinx of Giza to monitor its deterioration. The date has shown that a strong sandy north-west wind is the major source of erosion. Studies have also shown issues regarding structural instability. More generally, the second law of thermodynamics shows a universal rule of decay, where everything disintegrates over time.
He’s right. It will.
09/19/2013 – Trees are never sad look at them every once in a while they’re quite beautiful
WRONG.
.
It’s maybe surprising that it has taken Australian hip hop producers so long to crack the international market. Even though Australian rapping has always been regarded as perennially uncool globally, there’s no reason this discrimination should apply to Aussie beats. It’s not like Australian producers are fixated on didgeridoo and co’eeee samples.
Australian producer and living legend M-Phazes recently left his mark on global hip-hop history, when Eminem handpicked his beat for the Stan sequel Bad Guy. It seems Australian producers are finally getting the international recognition they deserve.
Melbourne-based producer Dizz1 is known locally, with radio play from Dom Alessio on Triple J. But don’t expect a 360 clone. It’s clear his appeal is international. He’s signed to independent label Tru Thoughts, operating out of Brighton, UK. Dizz1 has been acknowledged by the gatekeeper of cool hip hop production, Flying Lotus, with a spin on his BBC 1 Radio residency. “From Detroit to Australia” says rapper Frank Knitt on opening track Get ‘Em Up.
This is a progressive hip hop piece very much in the Flume vein. Call it trip hop, electronic, wonky, glitch hop or crunk. There’s synths and irregular time signatures. It’s snappy trap with a deep engagement with modern dance elements. And it’s very much the order of the day. Get ‘Em Up is a mellow trap piece with 80’s synths and an awesomely composed chorus. Higher is deep and distorted with a dancehall/grime vibe. What You Want is pure electronica, with vocals from UK duo Killbot Kindergarten. The EP is really only a taste tester. The LP promises a wider variety of sounds and some rapping from household names, so keep an eye out for In Sickness and In Health, set to drop later this month.
Dizz1 is a home grown producer making a thinking man’s hip hop. Definitely one to watch.
Rapper Iggy Azalea has put the controversial issue of cultural appropriation back on the agenda. The issue is raw in the wake of a wave of race riots in Ferguson and Baltimore, following police killings of unarmed black men. The debate is particularly contentious because it involves a discussion of two competing rights, that most regard as fundamental. A right to free expression versus a right to cultural integrity. The idea that people should be free to express themselves without limit, while at the same time acknowledging that we shouldn’t rob others of their culture. It’s sometimes not easy to see where the line has to be drawn.
It’s fairly easy to accept that there’s something inherently vomit-inducing about cultural appropriation. The example that comes most easily to mind is hipsters sporting Native American headdresses at Burning Man or Glastonbury. It’s easy to understand what’s twisted about a group of rich white people on horse tranquilizers, taking the image and identity of a proud and vanquished race for the purpose of looking briefly spiritual. It’s not right that someone’s ancient and sacred culture can be used to lend temporary chic to your Instagram upload. It’s also obvious that this is doubly offensive when this is done by a colonial culture to one that was cruelly conquered. I don’t think anyone would begrudge a Native American if he wanted to wear a pork-pie hat to Coachella. The exact same thing happens with black culture. You can see that there’s something awful about acknowledging the ‘cool’ value of black dress, appearance and lifestyle, without understanding that black people themselves are valuable. 16-year-old actor Amandla Stenberg said it best in her high school history video: “what would America be like if it loved black people as much as it loves black culture?”
Harry took some peyote to honour the country’s indigenous. But the ketamine was purely for himself.
Then there’s the flip side of the coin. People have a right to express themselves in any way they think fit. There shouldn’t be any limitations placed on the subject of a person’s art. It’s clear an individual shouldn’t be limited to the artistic styles of their racial forbears. It’s not possible to localise a musical genre in one ethnic group, and restrict its use to its original proponents. Of course the originators of hip hop were African Americans. And hip hop has its origin in jazz, which is also a distinctly black genre. But jazz has its origin in classical music, which is white as hell. And if you’re being pedantic, Africa is the cradle of civilization, and all music can be traced back to a mammoth tusk whacked against a taut piece of saber-toothed-tiger fur. Art can only be furthered, enhanced and improved through interaction between cultures.
These people are white.
So where do you draw the line? When is something cultural appropriation, and when is it merely using the culture of another to influence and enhance your art? It might be useful to draw a distinction between image and art.
There’s nothing wrong with a Korean man playing the bagpipes. The bagpipes are an awful instrument played almost exclusively by the Scottish. But that Korean man shouldn’t be limited in pursuit of his art to the instrument or sounds of his native country, or anywhere for that matter. If he picks up those bagpipes, his unique perspective could lead him to become the greatest bagpipe player of all time. But the minute he puts on a tartan kilt, dyes his hair red, and starts saying “ach” every 30 seconds, that’s not okay. Because this time he has taken another culture’s image. And when you take someone’s image you’ve explicitly taken their identity. Because this is what you visually put out to the world as the manifestation of yourself. It’s the most direct and constant expression of your culture.
It’s 2015 people. This is the new normal.
So there’s nothing wrong with Iggy Azalea rapping. Rap is a genre of music. It doesn’t belong to anyone. Of course its creators were black and most of its practitioners are black, but there shouldn’t be any limit on what art a person can practice and what can influence and inspire them. However, there IS something wrong about Iggy Azalea presenting herself AS black. I think the criticism that’s frequently leveled at Iggy for rapping in a voice that is different to her real speaking voice is probably fair. While many rappers adopt a persona or accent when they rap, Iggy’s style sounds like very, very bad ‘blackface’. There’s a southern drawl that borders on parody, and the frequent use of what can only be described, for lack of a better word, as “ebonics.” It sounds like a 4 minute minstrel show. “Shoot nigga with the swag dock holiday / I’m steady blowin loud, broke nigga’s ain’t allowed” says Iggy on Murda Bizness. Now, let’s just ignore the fact that a) she has explicitly used the word “nigga” here which is controversial and b) that all rap music involves bragging about criminal activity that likely never occurred. This line still seems particularly preposterous, because she is not only communicating as if she physically were African American, but a violent criminal African American. She is writing from the perspective of, using the lingo of, and about the interests of a section of black rappers, people and culture. That strikes me as not okay.
This is offensive.
I think Eminem’s career is a fair baseline for comparison. When Eminem became famous, there was of course a conversation about cultural appropriation. But it never sparked the same level of debate as Iggy Azalea. Maybe that’s because society wasn’t as culturally sensitive in the 90’s, or maybe it’s because Iggy is unfairly targeted as a woman. But whilst Slim did indeed “use black music so selfishly” he never tried to be black. His voice, appearance, expression were always all his own. In fact, he only ever used the genre to offer the world his own unique perspective, as opposed to adopting the persona, language and mannerisms of a vastly different culture. What it was like to be him, what it was like to be white. Even Macklemore (who very controversially beat out Kendrick Lamar for a Grammy in 2014) at least sounds like a white guy from Seattle. And Macklemore raps from his own perspective, too – Thrift Shop is a song about the very hipster, very white habit of shopping for second hand clothing.
Cultural appropriation is a hugely controversial issue. Whilst people should be allowed to express themselves freely, image might be seen as an appropriate limitation. In the mean time, It might genuinely be interesting to hear Iggy Azalea rap with a voice that is her own and from a perspective that is her own. And I don’t necessarily mean 16 bars on the Sydney Swans win in 2012.
Earl Sweatshirt has made the transition from buoyant boy to brooding artist. Solace is ‘arty’. It takes all the trendy hip- hop things: minimalism and irregular time signatures and takes it to the nth degree. It’s quite clearly what I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside would have been if he had everything his way; if there was no pressure to sell a single copy. It’s slow and barely musical, the raps are intentionally lazy – that seems to be his thing now. There’s also some more serious concern for his mental health. That River Phoenix reference surely has to raise some legit alarm bells about child prodigys dying young. Hip hop is a genre tied up with excess, energy and braggadocio. In stark contrast, Earl’s new solemn sounds offers a particularly saddening perspective.