MEDIA SPINS

OG-metrosexuals are
running this rap shit

Russell Simmons recently spoke to the American Magazine Conference. Points for discussion:

• "Mr. Simmons told an audience of more than 500 of the nation’s top magazine executives that they had failed to acknowledge the overwhelming influence that hip-hop has had on youth culture."
  
  Damn straight. Hip-hop (and by extension race in general) is the (black) elephant in the room that even after all this time, mainstream media is loathe to acknowledge except when the bottomline is on the line. I was talking this over with a friend who works at a mainstream music mag (i.e. not a Vibe or XXL) who painted his work environment as a bunch of white folks clinging to rock (read: whiteness) as a refuge away from hip-hop (read: blackness). I wonder if publishers are just hoping hip-hop finally blows over, just like they've been doing for 25+ years now.
  
  
• "Mr. Simmons drew some negative criticism himself. Diane Weathers, editor in chief of Essence magazine, asked the entrepreneur about what could be done to combat negative stereotyping in some rap lyrics and videos. Mr. Simmons agreed there was a problem, but insisted that current artists were less sexist than those in the previous generation."
  
  Bullshit. For one thing, videos are far more explicitly sexist than in previous generations and song lyrics are little changed too. I think the main difference is that the younger generation has been desensitized to these images and imagery and therefore, it doesn't quite seem as shocking but "less sexist"? Please.

(credit: Diff. Kitchen)

While I'm all for Marley Marl remixing Nas' "Bridging the Gap", dude's reusing the same horn line and drum claps from the 1993 Lords of the Underground album. Maybe that's some nod to the song title, but I dunno...
(credit: Pickin Boogers)

"Ann Coulter is a pie dodger." Will Al Pieda put Malkin in their crosshairs next? We hope so.
(credit: AwwDamn)

Pnut does his own Bush meets Usher mash-up: "Oppressions Pt. 2. I'm speechless.

Forget Jay-Z: R.Kelly and Michael Jackson need to tour together. It'd be like an R&B Spinal Tap minus the parody.
(credit: Funkdigi)