Noam Chomsky

Brookline this morning with Hog and Bromka. My hip felxor was hurting pretty badly, but I think it will be fine. I got a new pair of DS trainers today and have been on Advil... should be fine tomorrow.

And now, for a review of some rap music. I was going to review Canibus' "Rip the Jacker", but after listening to a bunch of the songs again, I realized it just wasn't that good. Or at least not good enough to dedicate an entire review. When I first heard some of the songs I was blown away. Canibus has a really raspy, aggresive voice, and a similar "flow". (By flow, I mean style, cadence and delivery of his rhymes). Perhaps what I was immediately drawn to was Canibus' references. These are much stronger than his actual raps. Some highlights of the album include "Genibus" and "Levitibus". For example...

"I read through syntactic structure like Noam Chomsky".
"If you can find a better flow, then I can find a dinosaur on the Galapagos Archipelago"

Canibus talks about science, philosophy, and uses big words on a consistent basis on "Rip the Jacker". This is a pleasant change from rappers who only talk about cars and money. It seems pretty unenlightened. (Or, as Canibus would say, "I was created by intelligent design, you are merely a descendant of the unmodified, you diss me out of pride, but when you're finished talkin' bout money and bitches youre simply out of rhymes"). The problem with Canibus it seems that he talks about all this "smart" stuff simply for the sake of sounding smart. Now, some of the stuff I really dig, but after a while it just gets old. Especially after reading some his lyrics, I realized that a lot of it doesn't make sense. The songs aren't cohesive, and there's almost never a story or theme to them. Please don't get me wrong, I really enjoy listening to him, and I think he put out a good rap album. It's just too repetitive and contrived to be a great album.

Speaking of what makes a great rap album, or song, or rapper, I think there are 3 basic elements that define how good a rap song is. These elements are the beat, the flow, and the content.

All of these elements play off each other. A rapper's flow can be complimented by the song's beat, just as the content can be more powerful if it's delivered with a good flow.

To start, the beat provides the foundation on which a rapper stands. It makes a song danceable, or catchy, or angry, or fun. A good beat can go a long way to save a song that would otherwise suck (think Kelis' "Milkshake"). I have a lot of respect for the people who are behind the scenes making beats for rap and hip-hop songs. Timbaland, Pharrell, Kanye (at least back in the day), and Swiss Beats are damn good at what they do, and should be given credit for their craft.

The second element of rap/hip-hop is a rapper's flow. Basically, a rapper's flow is the way they deliver their raps. Their cadence, accent, delivery, and attitude go into creating their flow. A rapper's flow may be their most defining feature. Each one is distinct. Snoop Dogg is fundamentally different from Busta Rhymes (think smooth and calculated versus frenetic and spastic). Jay-Z's flow is cocky and confident, Eminem is angry and irreverent (at least on the Marshall Mather's LP), Dre is steady, Tupac was frantic and syncopated, Biggie was smooth., Kanye is peppy and Ludacris has a Soutern swagger. A rapper's flow is sort of like their footprint... after listening to them, their words and rhymes may fade, but their flow leaves a lasting impression. (Sometimes it's interesting to listen to someone try to impersonate someone else's flow. For a great example of this, listen to Eminem's "Soldier" from The Eminem Show. You'd swear it was Tupac reincarnated....) Flow may be the best example or a rapper's talent too. Anyone can write rhymes (or almost anyone), but it takes a certain amount of talent to deliver these rhymes in a way that people will enjoy.

The last element of rap/hip-hop is content. Assuming that rappers write their own stuff (which may be a totally incorrect assumption) content explains what they're feeling, or what message they want people to hear. I think content is what I enjoy most about rap. Citing all my favorite lines would take much too long, but I'd have to say Eminem and Jay-Z are my two favorite "content" rappers. Eminem is the most vindictive, angry, and intense rapper I've ever heard... or at least he was on his first 3 albums. Some examples.... in "I'm back" the whoel stanza about Jennifer Lopez? Wow. Listening to Eminem rip on people is equally enjoyable. (Now, I realize that women and gays bear the brunt of many of his jokes, and I don't really like this.... oh well.) "White America", "Criminal" "Kill You" and "Run Rabbit Run" are just unbelievable. Jay-Z is perhaps even better at content rap. Some of his metaphors require a double take. You wonder if he really just strung as complex a sentence as you just heard. "Girls, Girls, Girls" is basically metaphor after metaphor. Awesome. Listening to Jay-Z dis people is pretty sweet too. He tears up Nas on "Takeover" from the Blueprint. Almost every song on "The Black Album" is nearly perfect in terms of content as well.

("Four albums in ten years nigga? I can divide
That's one every let's say two, two of them shits was due
One was - NAHHH, the other was "Illmatic"
That's a one hot album every ten year average")

Anyway... yeah, I guess that's it. I really like rap and hip-hop and think it's silly when people don't give this music legitimacy. Just because it's new or mean or has beats that people aren't used to doesn't mean that it isn't creative, or worth listening to. If you have any questions or want any recommendations for good rap music, please ask. Likewise, if you have anything to recommend, please let me know, I'm always looking for music I like.