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Pop Rock Nation

Category: News

music-news-from-breakups-to-the-lastest-buzz

  • The T.I.P, Of, um…Not So Smart

    First of all, congrats Red Sox. As much as it pains me as a Yankee fan to do so…
    Now, on to T.I.. Former drug dealer. Platinum-selling, Grammy-winning rapper. Budding thespian. IDIOT.
    See, T.I.’s done some jail time. Actually, he is a convicted felon. As such, he is not allowed to own or purchase firearms. So, what does he allegedly do? He allegedly gets his bodyguard to attempt to broker the purchase on his behalf.
    (In Charlie Murphy voice) WRONG!!!
    I guess the bodyguard squealed to the Feds, T.I. got busted and he spent two weeks in jail before being released last Friday.
    Now, I don’t particularly care for the guy’s music. I think all those people who call him a great MC are smoking some extra-powerful stuff, since the guy sounds like Mushmouth from Fat Albert half the time and really hasn’t shown a lot of lyrical versatility. Take away the braggadocio, threats and the songs about the ladies and you pretty much have nothing. So if he gets sent up the river, it won’t break my heart too much.
    I’m a bit flummoxed, however, as to why someone who is at a peak in his career would do something so stupid. Man, if you have enough money to post 3 million dollars bail, surely you MUST be able to afford proper security, right?
    Granted, we know how the mainstream media likes to shit on young black men and paint them all into a criminal corner, but damn, T.I., you ain’t helping the cause too much. I’m sure that once your lawyers clear you to talk, you’ll mention something about being set up and blame it on the “hip-hop police”. And granted, I’m sure there is a section of the police department out there designated to go after rappers. But why hurt your own cause? No one’s gonna go after you if your nose is clean. Are they arresting Kanye? Jay-Z? Nas? Common? Shit, they didn’t lock Ice-T’s ass up yet, and he made “Cop Killer”! If there was a task force designed to go after MCs, don’t you think they’d have gone after Ice with a fine-toothed comb, not to mention everyone in his family?
    Ultimately, people like T.I. give the critics against young urban culture more fuel for their fire and serve to add to the public’s negative stereotypes when it comes to black youth. Folks now would be wise to forget about this loser and stop buying his records.

  • N****, Please!!!!

    So, Nas has incurred the wrath of Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and…uh, no one else, honestly, by proposing to name the title of his new album “N****r” (for those who are blissfully unaware, it’s the infamous “N-word”). Now, it’s not like I don’t have a problem with it (because I am apparently one of the few young black men who is bothered by the prevalence and overall acceptance of a word whose usage could once be compared to getting spit in the face), but what bothers me more than the proposed album title are the people who act like this is some sort of revolutionary, artistic act and NOT a publicity stunt:
    First of all, Nas is far from the first album to use the “N” word in it’s title. Old Dirty Bastard’s last studio album was called “N*gga Please”, and damn near every Richard Pryor album in the Seventies used the “N” word in it’s title. If we go back and watch Sanford & Son and Jeffersons reruns, the word is used with some regularity, and I don’t think the attention was paid as much then (back when the word was much more of a fireball) than it is now. Considering all these albums sold relatively well, I can’t imagine that this would even become a censorship issue. No one is going to refuse to stock Nas because of his album’s title.
    Which brings me to my second point, it’s just an album title. No one decides whether to buy or not buy an album strictly based on it’s title. What will ultimately decide the album’s fate is the music included within. Nas bounced back last year with the excellent “Hip-Hop Is Dead”, it would be a shame to see him succumb to a silly gimmick when he is undergoing a creative renaissance.
    Check out Nas’s official website at Def Jam here (although it doesn’t look like it’s been updated in a minute)

  • Those Hash Browns Just Make A Man Wanna Fight!!!

    Come on, Kid Rock. Or Bob Ritchie. Whatever you call yourself.

    You’re pushing 40. You’re a multi-millionaire.

    Why has the past month of your album set up (which probably would be doing just as fine without all the extraneous hullaballoo) seemed like a desperate attempt to live up to the “outlaw” status of your idols?

    First there was the altercation with Tommy Lee at the VMAs, and now you’re getting into altercations at Waffle Houses?

    Come on, dude. You can do better than that. I think. It remains to be seen whether you can actually make good music, though.