In a single post, G.D. goes on Spike Lee, Tyler Perry, and Nas all at the same time over black representation in their respective canons--making an important point about class in the process. Nas in particular has a nasty habit of attacking not just his rivals' music or ability but accusing them of employing black stereotypes for personal profit (as he did in this recent "PSA"). Of course, this is part of Nas' hustle--he can talk about ice, money and cars all he wants--and then turn around and accuse everyone else of selling out. Which probably has something to do with resentment over his inability to write a decent pop song of any kind. G.D. writes:
First, let's note the delicious irony of a millionaire rapper who has been on a major label since his teenage years — and whose hits include “You Owe Me” and “Oochie Wally“— criticizing big corporations for ruining hip-hop by putting out idiotic, insulting music. If you already believe Nas's and Nick Cannon’s (!) bizarre assertion that hip-hop — the dominant culture of youth expression on the planet — is dangerously imperiled, then it doesn’t much matter who or what exactly they’re criticizing. Those minstrels could be stand-ins for any rapper you wanted them to be, which makes this a pretty useless critique. Sort of like Bamboozled.
A lot of this is fogeying on the part of Nas, who is creeping into middle age and clearly frustrated with a musical form that's changed dramatically since he first became a practitioner/listener. But he's just doing what a lot of oldheads do, installing themselves as sage arbiters and policing their realms for affronts to purity/authenticity.
On Nas this is so right--let's not even go into those "nigger" t-shirts he and his entourage were sporting last year. But it's part of the brilliance of Nas that he's already written a rhyme that poignantly addresses his own hypocritical behavior without realizing it. Take Let Their Be Light off Hip-hop Is Dead:
Old hustlers reminiscing on better days
They home, doing nothing might as well be in a cage
Hating on young brothers one foot in the grave
They used to love us until we found our own way through the maze
That's why Nas remains my favorite emcee, because even when he's wack he's already told you why.
-- A. Serwer
