“Rap the new rock ‘n’ roll. We the rockstars”
Rap singer. Chain Blinger. A God. Arrogant. A k**b?
I was listening to good old Kanye West being interviewed on Zane Lowe’s Radio One show again, because quite frankly, that comment about Lady Gaga and camera’s kills me. I listened to how he went from talking so eloquently about how he is projecting an experience, how he can project perfection such as My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy album (my favourite of his solo albums by the way) and how he is a self proclaimed God.
Now, call him what you want, but I think it’s fair to say that Kanye is as true to his sample of Will Ferrell from Blades of Glory, in that he is as provocative as he is delusional. But he has a point.
Rap singer. Chain Blinger. A God. Arrogant. A k**b?
I was listening to good old Kanye West being interviewed on Zane Lowe’s Radio One show again, because quite frankly, that comment about Lady Gaga and camera’s kills me. I listened to how he went from talking so eloquently about how he is projecting an experience, how he can project perfection such as My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy album (my favourite of his solo albums by the way) and how he is a self proclaimed God.
Now, call him what you want, but I think it’s fair to say that Kanye is as true to his sample of Will Ferrell from Blades of Glory, in that he is as provocative as he is delusional. But he has a point.
Rock ‘n’ Roll has been around longer than that one dinner lady at school, who looked like she was not to be messed with. You know, she was all big and aggressive? With the voice like she went through about 20 a minute let alone a day.
And it was like she was always judging you for choosing a sausage roll and a pack of crisps over the fruit salad that looked about 3 years old.
I JUST FANCIED THE SAUSAGE ROLL, DEBORAH. LEAVE IT.
Yeah, well, her.
And it was like she was always judging you for choosing a sausage roll and a pack of crisps over the fruit salad that looked about 3 years old.
I JUST FANCIED THE SAUSAGE ROLL, DEBORAH. LEAVE IT.
Yeah, well, her.
It started off clean.
For example The Beatles in the 60s with their sharp
suits, bowl haircuts swooning young women into a frenzy with talk of holding hands, before slowly digressing into a LSD laced 70’s and 80’s where the Rockstars were a law unto themselves.
Stories of pesticide laced dope, numerous women, tele’s out the window and trashing hotel rooms, even exploding the toilets were not uncommon, and if I’m being honest, things sound like they got pretty out of hand.
The 90’s brought forward the chaos of Oasis at Maine Road and the spat with Blur, beef if you will, and even now, you’ve still got your Arctic Monkeys who drop microphones at award ceremonies, and your Biffy Clyro’s who take their t-shirts off.
I’m not saying Rock 'n' Roll is dead, but I think its safe to say the antics have been turned down a bit.
Cue the antics being TURNT UP elsewhere, then.
The 90’s brought forward the chaos of Oasis at Maine Road and the spat with Blur, beef if you will, and even now, you’ve still got your Arctic Monkeys who drop microphones at award ceremonies, and your Biffy Clyro’s who take their t-shirts off.
I’m not saying Rock 'n' Roll is dead, but I think its safe to say the antics have been turned down a bit.
Cue the antics being TURNT UP elsewhere, then.
Where once we’d have a long-haired bloke in spandex gracing a stage, screaming into microphone to get a crowd going, we now have eye-blinding crystals swinging around while we are not so politely informed to acquire currency and disregard females.
And we about it everyday.
You can still find your spandex Rapunzel’s, but more so at the Royal Rumble or Wrestlemania.
I think Kanye had a point. The last Grammy Award ceremony saw Kendrick Lamar team up with Imagine Dragon’s where he threw down MAAD City mixed with heavy guitar and drums, a bit of a rock n roll twist, which had the crowd whipped up into a frenzy. Even Taylor Swift was doing her best to ‘buss a move’.
Which, quite frankly just looked weird.
But let’s face it, if Rap is the new Rock 'n' Roll, then there’s bound to be a swarm of new fans.
I heard a story of someone being called a ‘new school fool’ at a Childish Gambino gig recently after being unable to give a response to the question ‘Who started Rap?’. That’s a bit harsh.
Unfortunately, they hadn’t read Seen. and were blissfully unaware that it was Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch.
I can’t imagine the hip hop and rap of the 90’s had middle class white children proclaiming they were ‘Straight Outta Compton’ or that they’re once friends were now ‘sittin’ in court, turned snitches, now they petrified bitches’. Now you’ve got Uni nights dedicated to hip-hop and rap that pull in a wide range of people, who’s musical tastes may not have always been placed in rap.
And we about it everyday.
You can still find your spandex Rapunzel’s, but more so at the Royal Rumble or Wrestlemania.
I think Kanye had a point. The last Grammy Award ceremony saw Kendrick Lamar team up with Imagine Dragon’s where he threw down MAAD City mixed with heavy guitar and drums, a bit of a rock n roll twist, which had the crowd whipped up into a frenzy. Even Taylor Swift was doing her best to ‘buss a move’.
Which, quite frankly just looked weird.
But let’s face it, if Rap is the new Rock 'n' Roll, then there’s bound to be a swarm of new fans.
I heard a story of someone being called a ‘new school fool’ at a Childish Gambino gig recently after being unable to give a response to the question ‘Who started Rap?’. That’s a bit harsh.
Unfortunately, they hadn’t read Seen. and were blissfully unaware that it was Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch.
I can’t imagine the hip hop and rap of the 90’s had middle class white children proclaiming they were ‘Straight Outta Compton’ or that they’re once friends were now ‘sittin’ in court, turned snitches, now they petrified bitches’. Now you’ve got Uni nights dedicated to hip-hop and rap that pull in a wide range of people, who’s musical tastes may not have always been placed in rap.
Times change. Tastes change.
Top of the Pops is over. Justin Timberlake ft. T.I (Dead and Gone).
At the time of writing this, Eminem has just sold out Wembley Stadium, a venue renowned for hosting the big names of rock such as Bruce Springstein, Queen, Guns n Roses to name a few.
Remember the furore that surround Jay Z's performance at Glastonbury? The argument went something along the lines of Glastonbury is a Rock festival and does not cater to the Hip-Hop/Rap genre.
But guess what. You couldn't move in and around the main stage when he proclaimed his famous words,"If you don't like my lyrics you can press fast-forward".
Snoop Dogg, A$AP Rocky, Pusha T are headlining at Parklife Festival. Oasis & Blur are gone. The Stones are barely alive. Coldplay are out saving trees (probably). But McFly and Busted are back.
Nice one.
Top of the Pops is over. Justin Timberlake ft. T.I (Dead and Gone).
At the time of writing this, Eminem has just sold out Wembley Stadium, a venue renowned for hosting the big names of rock such as Bruce Springstein, Queen, Guns n Roses to name a few.
Remember the furore that surround Jay Z's performance at Glastonbury? The argument went something along the lines of Glastonbury is a Rock festival and does not cater to the Hip-Hop/Rap genre.
But guess what. You couldn't move in and around the main stage when he proclaimed his famous words,"If you don't like my lyrics you can press fast-forward".
Snoop Dogg, A$AP Rocky, Pusha T are headlining at Parklife Festival. Oasis & Blur are gone. The Stones are barely alive. Coldplay are out saving trees (probably). But McFly and Busted are back.
Nice one.
If you type in ‘Front Covers of the Rolling Stone Magazine’ into Google, the search returns more images of rap artists than Rock 'n' Rollers.
Images of bands such as the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, The Doors have been replaced with images of Jay Z, Kanye West and 50 Cent, and even iconic images such as Notorious B.I.G in its run down of the greatest 50 hip hop songs of all time.
Where British media was once so dedicated to rivalries such as Blur and Oasis, or Robbie Williams and Oasis, or anyone and Oasis (the angry Mancunians) you’ll now be reading about a nightclub spat between Rihanna’s ex flame Chris Brown and current flame Drake.
Yeah, man reads Heat. What.
No, but seriously. The whole Roc-a-fella/Young Money arguement. Kendrick Lamar calling everyone and anyone out. Drake dissing Yeezus. Jigga vs. Nas. Even Lil Kim and Nicki Minaj.
It's cray out there, folks.
And then there's style and fashion. Rock 'n' Roll defined style and fashion for years and still does. The Beatles, Elvis, The Stones, The Jam defined a culture's style for years.
But now we have Kanye starting his own APC fashion line and signing a deal with Adidas (as has Pharrell), Big Sean’s got his own clothing line (Aura Gold), the A$AP Mob too, BEEN TRILL etc.
In fact, Jian Deleon at GQ summed it up in his analysis of BEEN TRILL perfectly - "an art collective and DJ crew whose image and sound is defined by the frenzy of new youth culture found on the pages of the deep web and on the blocks of big cities."
Rap/Hip-Hop is moving Rock 'n' Roll aside in its impact on the culture and style of today.
You know how every other hipster loves wearing snapbacks left, right and centre.
But don't judge it all on those crazy kids. The point is that style icons have changed.
Images of bands such as the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, The Doors have been replaced with images of Jay Z, Kanye West and 50 Cent, and even iconic images such as Notorious B.I.G in its run down of the greatest 50 hip hop songs of all time.
Where British media was once so dedicated to rivalries such as Blur and Oasis, or Robbie Williams and Oasis, or anyone and Oasis (the angry Mancunians) you’ll now be reading about a nightclub spat between Rihanna’s ex flame Chris Brown and current flame Drake.
Yeah, man reads Heat. What.
No, but seriously. The whole Roc-a-fella/Young Money arguement. Kendrick Lamar calling everyone and anyone out. Drake dissing Yeezus. Jigga vs. Nas. Even Lil Kim and Nicki Minaj.
It's cray out there, folks.
And then there's style and fashion. Rock 'n' Roll defined style and fashion for years and still does. The Beatles, Elvis, The Stones, The Jam defined a culture's style for years.
But now we have Kanye starting his own APC fashion line and signing a deal with Adidas (as has Pharrell), Big Sean’s got his own clothing line (Aura Gold), the A$AP Mob too, BEEN TRILL etc.
In fact, Jian Deleon at GQ summed it up in his analysis of BEEN TRILL perfectly - "an art collective and DJ crew whose image and sound is defined by the frenzy of new youth culture found on the pages of the deep web and on the blocks of big cities."
Rap/Hip-Hop is moving Rock 'n' Roll aside in its impact on the culture and style of today.
You know how every other hipster loves wearing snapbacks left, right and centre.
But don't judge it all on those crazy kids. The point is that style icons have changed.
If Rock 'n' Roll was the wild, illicit lifestyle that often got out control, then rap and its lyrics open our eyes to a pistol wheeling, drug dealing, money making lifestyle filled with a constant stream of women, cars and watches.
So maybe in the midst of Kanye telling Zane Lowe, ‘They will play this interview in five years. They will play this interview in ten years and say, “He called that, he called that, he called that…”, I’m not sure they will say that for everything.
I'm not sure he will have made music 3D. I don't even know how that would work.
But I reckon he has already called something. Rap artists are the new Rock Stars.
So maybe in the midst of Kanye telling Zane Lowe, ‘They will play this interview in five years. They will play this interview in ten years and say, “He called that, he called that, he called that…”, I’m not sure they will say that for everything.
I'm not sure he will have made music 3D. I don't even know how that would work.
But I reckon he has already called something. Rap artists are the new Rock Stars.
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