A couple of times murmanskdays and I argued about hip-hop in the comments. He prefers mainstream. And I prefer - the underground, if you can call it that. I mean labels like Anticon, Def Jux and Lex - the first ones that come to mind.
the whole point of hip-hop is in parties, flexing, gold, whores, and flirting. Real hip-hop - it's black, you need the MC to spit fire, to have his own personality, to be an entertainer. And the dudes from all those Anticons don't get that. Well, and of course, mainstream hip-hop has much cooler producers. Madlib, for example, has already realized this, which is why he's tearing into the mainstream from his cozy underground - his collaboration with De La Soul is proof of that
So he recommends "real" guys, singing "about life" - the equivalent of our Russian chanson. White guys are out of luck - they didn't know a harsh childhood in the ghetto and being called a dirty nigger. The main concern of real niggas is to kick a white guy's ass, fuck a white chick, screw a white guy out of his money, and get famous among the homies with a tough look, waving a piece around and making holes in the competition.
The funny thing is that Goblin later mentioned almost the exact same thing on his site. Is he really reading us? :-)
And here's something even funnier: my dad kicked me off the computer once and I accidentally saw the TV. And Muz-TV or MTV was on, who the hell can tell them apart. And (the matrix glitching again) I stumbled upon Diskoteka Avariya's music video for "Tough Rap". Which mocks that exact same real nigga hip-hop and music videos with chicks in a totally brilliant, idiotic way.
For some reason, a quote from the excellent Russian postmodern-IDM-rap crew 2H Company also comes to mind, which proudly takes its place alongside the best creators of underground hip-hop.
"I lived peacefully, was a fan of hardcore video manga,
Gamed on the Sony Playstation to the simple melodies of Wu-Tang."
I have nothing against Playstation and manga, but the mainstream hip-hop audience is pretty clearly traceable, and has nothing in common with music lovers.
So these real niggas of yours are shit.
Where does true Hip-hop live?
2005-10-01