They Say Rap's Changed, They Wanna Know How I Feel About It

One look at me is enough for most people to assume that I'm a wealth of knowledge about the "rap game." After all, I'm white, I dress like an upstanding citizen, and I drive a van. Now if I don't belong in a rap video, I don't know who does.

Alright fine, I'm no expert when it comes to hip-hop (when did they start calling it hip-hop instead of rap, anyway?), but since I enjoy a variety of musical styles in my leisure time, I am occasionally involved in the pastime of listening to rap music. It just so happens that I've been listening to quite a bit of it lately, and I've got some random thoughts to write about. Maybe they will form some sort of cohesive blog post in the end? Let's find out.

Item 1: Dr. Dre has released a single off of his long-awaited new record, Detox. Outside of a few featuring credits in songs, this is the first new Dr. Dre song that I've heard since his 1999 LP, 2001. Eleven years! Dr. Dre has always been my favourite rap artist, and I consider 2001 his best work, so I've literally been waiting almost half my life for a follow-up to it. Can it possibly appease his fans after that long a time? The closest comparison I can think of is when George Lucas brought out the new Star Wars trilogy-- and we all know how those were received. If the single is any indication though, it seems like Dre hasn't lost the magic. "I Need a Doctor" is a solid track to be sure, featuring a catchy beat and inspired lyrics by Eminem, that culminates in a grand return by Dre wherein he calls out "fairweather" friends and professes his love to Eminem. It gets borderline bromantic between the two of them, and it's not the best song Dre's ever produced, but it's not a bad start; I can't wait to hear more. Supposedly Detox is finally coming in February, but I've been citing release dates for it since grade nine, so we'll see.


Writing about Dr. Dre reminds me of the old days of rap. It's interesting to see old artists change with the times-- two years ago, Ice Cube released Raw Footage, and this year we had Eminem's stellar return-to-form, Recovery. These are albums that aren't about flaunting toughness through stories about gang warfare, and there are no interludes about having sex with bitches; they are more introspective, and focus more on personal struggles. Hip-hop as a genre has changed. A large part of this is due to new the new faces of rap.

Which brings me to Kanye West's new album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. It was impossible to not be bombarded by reviews of this disc over the past week, the vast majority of which continued the time-honoured tradition of overtly fellating Kanye with ridiculously high scores. I had a chance to sit down and listen to it today, and I have to disagree with the hype; there are a few solid tracks on the record, but overall it is nothing special at all. For some reason, Kanye is treated like the second coming of Christ in the media... I mean, he is certainly capable of producing solid tracks, that much is certain, but he is far from perfect. This record clearly illustrates that fact-- off the top of my head, Eminem, Kid Cudi, and Das Racist all put out superior hip-hop albums this year. To top it all off, I find Kanye extremely unlikeable as a person. We all remember his infamous on-stage encounter with Taylor Swift, but that's hardly the only instance of him being a jackass. Was it the Grammy Awards a few years ago where he was receiving an award, that they played the music to signal him to wrap up his speech? Instead of complying with societal norms, he instead questioned that they were playing the music on him (on him?!) like he was God's gift to Earth. To my chagrin, they stopped the music and let him finish his speech. I suppose you can argue that the drama he causes is a part of his appeal, but to me, he just needs a lesson in humility.

To "wrap" up this discussion (pun intended, because I am witty like that), I want to touch on a record that I've been giving a lot of play recently. Gil Scott-Heron isn't really a rap artist, but his spoken-word style of the 1970s and '80s could be considered a sort of proto-rap that inspired the genre. After a 16 year hiatus, Scott-Heron came back with a new album this year smartly titled I'm New Here. The record is brisk at 29 minutes, but it certainly accomplishes all it should. The tracks almost alternate back and forth between spoken-word and singing styles by Scott-Heron, and the storytelling becomes mesmerizing thanks to his soulful voice, only made better by age. The production also features unexpectedly wet beats and electronic sounds at times, which compliment Scott-Heron's vocals. But don't take my word for it, listen to the stunning track "Me and the Devil" to hear for yourself:



Anyway, as I said, I'm no expert when it comes to hip-hop, but these were just some thoughts I had on my mind lately. I'm going to start the process of writing a 2010 favourite record list for the blog shortly, so expect to hear more about the music I like in coming posts. Thanks for reading folks!