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You know what phrase I hate? “Bridging the gap between rap and rock.” UGGGGHHHHHHH.
That phrase right there represents everything that’s been fundamentally wrong in the music world for the past decade and a half. I remember when Limp Bizkit first emerged, the term was beaten to DEATH like a shoplifter in Singapore, and what makes me shit bricks is the fact that music critics at the time embraced the rap/rock genre as something “progressive.”*
In fact, I remember watching Aerosmith’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame around 199something, and whoever was speaking cited Walk this Way (their duet with Run DMC) as a phenomenol moment in music history. The funny thing about all this is that Walk this Way isn’t even Aerosmith’s most memorable track, but it IS the song that Run DMC is and will be most remembered by.
And that’s not really fair, is it? I like Run DMC, and I think they’re infinitely cooler than any and all things Aerosmith (I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing is another story altogether <3 <3 <3). It boils down to this: Walk this Way kind of sucks. And by kind of, I mean fucking.
I guess I’m just a bit agitated by the widely accepted notion that the FUSING of rap and rock is an actual form of musical progression. I’ll go ahead and say it– mash-ups were invented by music industry big whigs to make suburban kids feel less racist *gasp!* Mash-ups make middle-class privilegites feel accessibly “hood”, but you’ll hardly ever see someone from the hood have access to middle-class privelege. It’s unfair, and it cashes in on the compartmentalized racism prevalent in pop-culture’s infrastructure.
That being said, Jim Jones of Dipset (BALLLIIIIIIIIIIIIIN! *arm goes up, hand goes limp*) remixed indie-electro-pop duo MGMT‘s Electric Feel. Annnnnnnd, I really gotta say, it’s about 150 degrees of progressive AWESOMEEEEEEEE!!!! I absolutely love it. Download it HERE and watch institutionalized racism disappear forever. YES. WE. CAN.
Afterwards, you and I can hang out on the playground near the basketball courts, swig some Gatorade, and listen to P.O.D., cuz quite honestly I… FEEL SOOOOO ALIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE… FOR THE VERY FIRST TIIIIIIME.
BTW, Significant Other was a dope album. And Linkin Park is still (and always will be) the poster boys for ”pro-choice.” Songs about killing yourself don’t really work unless you follow through, nawmean????!?
// Fox Mulder
* N2gether Now. Limewire that shit.
agreed. i hate mash ups and they should be shunned. people should clear dance floors and change radio stations when they are played.