Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Finally, A Black Man Analyzes the Kanye/50 Day.

TwitThis

This cover is so zzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Or.
Is it an example of the hype machine doing its job?
When I first saw it, I was like this shit is sooooo Vibe '94.
"Black male Violence/Anger/" as magazine cover fodder. LAME.


I tried reading Everything But the Burden. But it was just so f*cking academic.
One of the reasons why I like my blog is that it forces to me convey my point in a way that I would find accessible as a casual reader, no matter how convoluted, academic or rhetorical it may be.
That being said, imagine HOW DELIGHTED I was to see that
Greg Tate got something bubbling
at the VOICE on Kanye/50 '07.

Old boy is an academic, a veteran writer, a rocker and a BLACK man.

That makes for interesting perspective on music and American culture.

Sidebar. In an reading this piece, I realized how INFLUENCED I AM
by his writing.

The blending of analysis black masculinity, capitalism and election
year politics. Delish.

Sky's the limit right.

Here are the highlights.
50/Kanye Fill a Black Male Vacuum
Hiphop, still the voice of Young Black America, is only going to get louder and prouder as it goes along, if only because that demographic's voice is so hushed elsewhere. Barack Obama's campaign manager claims his candidate's currently muted campaign voice is the product of his belief that America isn't ready for a fire-breathing Black man, and our nation's prisons and graveyards are full of the proof. But nature abhorring a vacuum, Kanye and 50 have rushed in to fill the void in that last safe space left for such characters.
The Difference Between 50/Kanye
Mr. West and Mr. Cent share in being two of the most unrepentantly obnoxious figures to arrive in American pop culture since Cheney and Rumsfeld. The difference between them being, Mr. West is loud, bratty, obnoxious, but seemingly harmless, while Mr. Cent is laconic, bratty, obnoxious, but genuinely sinister.
Music is the Only Industry that N*ggas Got?
African-American entertainment is our De Beers, our Nokia, our Lockheed—the only bloodsucking industry we (sorta) (symbolically, at least) got, and likely the only nation-state (figuratively, at least) we'll ever have as well. Meaning that in some perverse Black Nationalist way, you have to admire the loot Mr. Cent, Mr. Combs, Mr. Simmons, and Mr. Carter have hustled out of corporate America by wearing little more than their well-hyped shadows. Meanwhile, back in the real jungle, real Africans—Rwandans, no less—are slaughtering one another to corner the market on the colombite-tantalite-laced mud (known as coltan) that keeps your cell phone ringing.
THIS N*GGA MENTIONED COLTAN AND PUFFY IN THE
SAME PARAGRAPH. I HAVE BEEEEEEEEEN MEANING TO WRITE
ABOUT coltan. ***Beings to hyperventilate a little and day dreams un poquito
about Greg.

Yeye Begs for Sympathy Coochie
What he lacks in ferocious flow, he makes up for in plaintive verbal harassment—he's kinda like the guy who will beg his way into your panties if he has to, the one who will simply not shut up or back off until your ears give him the equivalent of sympathy punnani.
**DEAD**.

Dude. Them sympathy coochie n*ggas are annoying as sh*t.

Jay Has the One Thing That Can't Be Bought, Unaldultered Hood Love.
...if there's anything Kanye and 50 both want and will never, ever have, it's the genuine Vito Corleone–Muhammad Ali love and respect Mr. Shawn Carter has out here on these streets, a love I never truly appreciated until around December 4 of last year, when I was on Harlem's 145th Street A-train platform and overheard a young sister, about 17 or so, tell her homegirl she was on her way home to bake a birthday cake, like she always did for her "big brother" Jayhova. Both these guys could give away every dime they make from now until perdition to homeless orphans and not get that kind of unabashed 'hood love in return. Of all the things Mr. Carter has that other high-rolling hiphop brothers might covet, the thing they covet the most can't be bought or sold: his "big man on campus" affability. In recognition of this lack, Mr. West and Mr. Cent take an opposite tack, seeing how far they can push straight-faced arrogance as an icebreaker, if not a virtue.

Um. 50 gets love in the hood. BUT there is something to be said for the nature and extent of the BESOS that Jay gets from Dudes and Ladies alike. Isn't that the swag that had dudes and ladies feeling Pac & Big as well?

Oh.

And Breihan gets Graduation right:
And what comes out is a disconnected parade of images, delivered in an awe-choked hush: "A idol in my eyes, god of the game / Heart of the city, Roc-A-Fella chain / Never be the same, never be another / Number-one Young Hov, also my big brother." It's the lyrical equivalent of Kanye cutting out magazine pictures of Jay and glue-sticking them to the front of his Trapper Keeper. "Big Brother" is my favorite song on Graduation by far; by taking the focus off Kanye and putting it on someone who Kanye wants to emulate but knows he can never equal, it humanizes all the shit-talking that came before it. And this one moment near the end where Kanye just lets loose with this iconic stuff humanizes all the shit-talk that came before it on this song.

Instincts. I trust. mine.

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I like it when the Voice reminds me why I have been
reading it every since
I discovered in Delauers....along with The Source.

Read anything good lateley?

You thing Greg is on point?



Have you heard the 50 album yet?<<<<===dates self by calling it
an album.

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13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm in school practically 12 hours out of the day. The majority of what I read are textbooks. My good reading for the day IS this, lol.

Greg was right. I was missing his main point throughout it all though. He was covering a lot in such a short piece. That being said, it could also be because I read the excerpts instead of the entire thing.

50 Cent's album. No, I haven't. I'm kind of over the whole aggressive, "I'll shoot you up, and then shoot your moms" kind of shit. It only works with certain artists. It worked for TuPac because while he had that persona, he also had humility and a side of compassion for humanity. 50 Cent aint got that shit. He's an AK 47 with no aim. Big boom. No purpose.

Anonymous said...

This has nothing to do with anything, but 50 needs a shave... I mean, they didn't have a stylist on set?

Ye Ye looking all polished... 50 looking all... well, unpolished... maybe I'm too old and don't have a clue... maybe gruffy mcgruff is what the streets are looking for... lol

Anonymous said...

For once in my life, i'll decline to take on the armchair psychiatrist role and speculate on what 50 and Kanye may or may not have in mind when it comes to Jay...

I do agree with a point made in the "Music is the only money that niggas got" section..

I think 50 has gotten progressively worse since his debut album, but as a black man.. I'm DAMNED proud to see him raking in money hand over fist. I may not agree 100% with his tactics, but I'm not gonna hold him to any higher of a standard than your run of the mill white rich businessman. Very few people in this world make it to the top acting like mother theresa.

As far as Kanye goes, under all of the ego, shit talking, and materialism, is someone that really cares about the music he's making. I think it's pretty clear he puts more thought into making timeless music than 50 does.

At the end of the day, some old rich white guy who's running Universal Music Group will profit off this more than anyone else does, so most of this hype is just fodder for the masses.

Like Kanye once famously said "and the white man get paid 'offa all of that"....

M.Dot. said...

My good reading for the day IS this, lol.
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NICE.

He's an AK 47 with no aim.
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I find him quite convincing & menacing.

M.Dot. said...

but 50 needs a shave... I mean, they didn't have a stylist on set?

========

Fucking metrosexual.

M.Dot. said...

I may not agree 100% with his tactics, but I'm not gonna hold him to any higher of a standard than your run of the mill white rich businessman.
========
Really? Why?

Your mother Theresa explanation lets it off too easy. Based on the rest of your comment I know your mind is quick. Further rationale requested, por favor.

I think it's pretty clear he puts more thought into making timeless music than 50 does
==============
Thats that gem.

He cain't help it.

Anonymous said...

Why should we hold a black man who comes from nothing to a higher business standard than legions of white men who employ the very same tactics (in different mediums and venues). Generally speaking, big businessmen in America will do anything for money. Look at the billionaires who work for phillip morris, those fuckers will put a cigarette in a 6 year olds mouth to make a buck, and won't think twice about it.

I'm supposed to let that ride, and then turn around and get mad at 50 Cent for walking around in a bulletproof vest to sell an image?

Whats good for the goose is good for the gander.

How many black men in america are worth 3-400 million dollars like 50 is? I just can't find it in my heart to be mad at him.

M.Dot. said...

Look at the billionaires who work for phillip morris, those fuckers will put a cigarette in a 6 year olds mouth to make a buck, and won't think twice about it.
======


Aye blood. You see the Avi.
i gotchu. I am just trying to peep your rationale.

But don't you think you are letting them off a little easy.

Please believe me, the cream is addictive.

Having access to what you want, AND HAVE PEOPLE BEND over just to be on your team, is some sh*t to observe.<<===will write more about that later.

Some say cake for cake sake.

Other say GREASY CAPTILISM as a means to an ends. ((hi Ill)

N*ggas who get on like to think that they did it all by themselves.

But Hammer, as much as catslike to hate, was the prototype for all this. Hiphop-advertising-clusterfucking.

AND.

I don't do "whats good for them is good for us." Its irresponsible.

If n*ggas gonna get cake.
Cool.

Does that mean IMMA suspend my standard when we have
10 percent of young PEOPLE IN BK NOT IN SCHOOL OR WORKING (NY TIMES ARTICLE LAST NIGHT)....thats a whole lotta young bucks running around not doing shit.

~ your serve.
(i AM enjoying this by the way).

Anonymous said...

Theres nothing wrong with your way of thinking, I think its great.

It IS a little "fairy tale-ish" however. Your way of going about things won't bring any progress.

You can't let white people rape, pillage, steal and claw to get this MASSIVE economic advantage, and then turn around and try to reach their level of success being Mr.100%-morally-pure. This is like trying to win a NASCAR race riding a huffy bicycle.

As a wise man once said, this shit here is bigger than Nino Brown. It's bigger than hip hop.

"Letting 50 off" may be irresponsible, but its the American way. Thats how successful people have remained successful for many years.

You think of those 10% of young people in BK started getting money the same way 50 did I'm gonna fault them for it? ... Nah.... I won't let that ride.

M.Dot. said...

Me fairy tale.

Negatory.

I come from a line of Cut and Shoot Women.

"Cut you if you standing, shoot you if you running."

I make the above statement to illustrate that I believe in the power of violence. Ie...50's appeal.

That being said, you need to understand that I am attracted to the M&A game because it reminds me of the Crack game.

Word to '89.

"Letting 50 off" may be irresponsible, but its the American way. Thats how successful people have remained successful for many years.
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So your guiding principle is the American way and not your OWN code.

Touche.

As a wise man once said, this shit here is bigger than Nino Brown. It's bigger than hip hop
=========
I get it.

I am a hedge fund, private equity, businessweek reading fiend.

I gotchu on that.

You can't let white people rape, pillage, steal and claw to get this MASSIVE economic advantage, and then turn around and try to reach their level of success being Mr.100%-morally-pure
=========
Never said that. I just advocate a view that requires calling a spade a spade.

Some have a code.
Some peoples code involves NOT having one.
Others think that getting cake for cake sake IS the means to an ends.
Others wanna take what the learn from 55 Broad street, and flip it into some shit that will make them feel like all those Iraq related contracts they worked on isn't gonna be the gas on them drawls that send them straight to hades.

I also have a code. A code that I understand that to operate in that aforementioned world is going to require me to give of parts of my self that I may never be able to get back.

That sound Alice and Wonderlandish to you dear gentleman?

BeautyinBaltimore said...

Yeye Begs for Sympathy Coochie

What he lacks in ferocious flow, he makes up for in plaintive verbal harassment—he's kinda like the guy who will beg his way into your panties if he has to, the one who will simply not shut up or back off until your ears give him the equivalent of sympathy punnani.
**DEAD**.
I'm DEAD too.

Somebody bring out a second casket.

I think he did a very good job of suming up the two.

Anonymous said...

Other say GREASY CAPTILISM as a means to an ends. ((hi Ill)

****

Just know that once you sell it, it ain't never coming back.

M.Dot. said...

Somebody bring out a second casket
=====

What UP ma?

How is school?

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