I hate writing articles that make me sound like I’m not a fan of hip-hop. Because I am. 20 years ago, I was one of those kids with a fresh blank tape, sitting in front of the radio on Friday and Saturday nights to tape the hip-hop shows that played on my local radio station. Hip-hop is as much-maybe even more of-a part of me as any other musical genre in existence.
That said, I’m pretty disgusted with the state of current hip-hop. It’s too profane, too fixated on material items, and the emcees just aren’t talented. There’s no wit involved anymore, no love for wordplay. It’s just some bozo chanting idiotically over a beat, which is what some people think rap was from the get-go. Aside from a handful of artists pushing the genre forward (or keeping it afloat) like Kanye, The Roots, Ghostface, etc., I can take or leave most modern-day hip-hop.
Which brings us to the travesty that is Young Jeezy’s “My President”. I’d managed to successfully avoid this song until inauguration day. I was flipping through channels and saw this video pop up on (of course) BET (amazing that Black Entertainment Television serves up the most degrading and insulting images of black Americans of any television network). First off, I have no time for Young Jeezy as a rapper. He sounds like a crackhead with emphysema. Secondly, what should be a celebratory (or at least pointedly political) song is ruined by the fact that Jeezy seems to have no worldview beyond his little box. “My president’s black/My Lambo’s blue”. Really? And you’re a fucking idiot. Not even a cameo from the usually fairly reliable Nas can save this song from severe hot messitude.
