I don’t want to reblog it because it’s in the “chat” format which would make my commentary look all weird, but before I begin:
Led Zeppelin:
Shake for me girl, I wanna be your backdoor man.
Nicki Minaj:
And every time I write, I’m precise in my skill.
It’s more out of life then just ice in your grill
You wanna fuck me, blame me?
Fuck you, pay me!
This is what you made me.
Say you want to drape me, turn around and rape me,
Naw, you ain’t mistake me *gunshot*[…] I had this argument with my father recently, because he was saying that rap lyrics this and rap lyrics that. And I said, “Look, listen to this Beatles song. Listen to ‘Love Me Do,’ what is deep or thoughtful about those lyrics at all?” Nothing. But they’re sung by non-threatening white British dudes. And hip hop and rap is every bit as thought-provoking and insightful as the classical or indie shit constantly lauded by white people; it just often speaks of experiences that are not understandable or accessible to a white audience. And increasingly it is white people who take the reigns at hip hop labels and push into the mainstream music that does not threaten other white people, music that suburban high school boys can feel badass listening to and hipsters can feel ironic quoting. […]
Snipped for length, but this is all really good commentary.
I wonder how “hipster hop” fits in. We have a grassroots artform by marginalized people, and on one side we have commercialization by labels, and on the other side gentrification by artists who speak to middle class and/or white values.
It reminds me of what happened to rock in the ’50s — a bunch of great black artists start a genre, but it’s shunned by white people until white musicians find out about it. None of the artists have bad intentions but audience reactions are totally shaped by unnoticed prejudice.
With hip-hop, I think the class divide makes a big difference, too. Artists like Nicki Minaj or Kanye West are really conscious of wealth and class, but they don’t get considered visionary for that because they’re not namedropping Georges Bataille or doing an album about WWII or w/e.
(Source: svetlana-del-rey)
9:30 am • 13 February 2012 • 71 notes • #Nicki Minaj #hip-hop
