I hate “rap.” First, liking “rap” is like being into rock or blues and saying “I like singing.” More importantly, “rap” has taken on a separate meaning, in day-to-day conversation, from its wellspring: hip-hop.
I’m not going to launch into a pretentious genealogy of the art form and the commercial and mass cultural pressures with which it is confronted. Yeah, it’s terrible that “urban entrepreneurship” has become colloquially confused with its artistic origins and that overproduction is ruining the emotional and discursive power of hip-hop. I, however, just hate going to the dining hall and listening to tripe, then hearing someone say, “Yeah, I’m a big rap fan.”
I don’t like the overproduction, the commodification, the lack of instrumentation, the tacky cover art, the contrived rhyming (artificial suffixes?see Juvenile, who adds “Cheh” or “Ha” to words that don’t rhyme in order to complete a phrase) and the looped hoochie vocals. I really hate the people who claim to love “rap” but don’t dig jazz, blues, R & B, rock or have narrow listening tastes in general.
If you really like hip-hop, you like all of the aforementioned styles too. Those Tribe loops, or the melody in that DJ Premier track and even those P-Diddy opuses are constructed upon a well-informed and diverse musical foundation.
Solution and Exhibit A: The Roots. If you’re wondering what the point of this rant is, I’ll clarify: Buy tickets to see The Roots and Blackalicious this Friday?you’ll be kicking yourself for the next 20 years if you don’t.
Four albums, a live session and a solo record from frontman Black Thought are all achievements to make any act proud, particularly one that has remained accessible and economically viable for over a decade without losing its authenticity, nor its unique voice. Top that off with perhaps the best live tour on the road?you’ll be exposed to some of the finest MCing around. You will also have the pleasure of live music from a jazz-worthy ensemble, anchored by drummer ?uestlove’s beats and some live beatboxing action from Rahzel if you’re lucky.
In addition to giving one of the most dynamic, energetic and organic sets around, you will be spared the massive arena antics, canned, album version of overly-engineered, radio-friendly cuts and the played-out shout outs, grunts and lyrical fumbles that have characterized most major label “rap” shows this year.
Hey, you even get Blackalicious?a group that deserves its own page. But $15? That’s a winner y’all. GPB presents it at McDonough on the 29th. Tickets go on sale this week. I can’t promise any Dirty South drunk-speak, but I guarantee you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better show this year.
