Top 5 Alive - Rappers

A list of hip-hop's current scions.

1- Jay-Z

There is so little that still needs to be said about Jay-Z.  He has demonstrated throughout his career that he can literally do, both musically and otherwise, whatever he wants.  Singles?  Check.  Upstage the greats?  Check.  Slaughter MC's on diss tracks and win beef outright?  Check.  Oscillate between radio-friendly hip-pop and displays of flow and lyricism that put BIG to shame?  Check.  He's done it all while getting the hottest chick in the game to wear his chain.  Through your diamond signs up.

2 - NaS

His magnum opus, Illmatic, is the greatest hip-hop album of all time which, by itself, secures him a spot in the top two.  He loses to Jigga because he has dropped too much weak shit over the course of his career.  A large part of this is beat selection and aligning himself with unworthy partners in rhyme.  Having said all that, his late career work has been better than Jay's, making up for inflammatory album titles with solid tracks.  Without Illmatic he's barely on this list but that album was so integral, so defining, that his position amongst rap's greats has been secure since 18.

3 - Saigon

At some point in the middle of this decade, Q-Tip went on New York radio and proclaimed an effectively unknown Saigon one the 5 greatest living rappers under the weight of a few mixtapes.  The host thought he was crazy but it turns out he was right.  After dropping a modern classic and a slew of brilliant mixtapes I am willing to anoint Saigon as the NEXT ONE.  His ability to brag about street activities in one breath and tell the youth to avoid these pitfalls in the next is astonishing insofar as he doesn't come across like a preachy jerk-off.

4 - Pusha T

Pusha single-handedly reestablished coke rap as a viable and legitimate hip-hop subgenre while overcoming a disgusting amount of label drama.  He isn't the greatest in any single area of hip-hop but he does it all well and, like Clipse, there is something about this dude that is irrefutable.  He floated through Fear of God and still dropped what will probably be the mixtape of the year.  Having this follow his being the driving force behind one the best hip-hop albums and one of the best mixtapes of the last decade secure his position amongst rap's elite.

5 - Phonte

As a member of the best hip-hop group of the last decade and a half (two classics), he proved himself a more than capable MC.  Phonte followed Little Brother with some crossover work and a slew of excellent guest appearances.  He retains his credibility (at least in my eyes) in spite of (or because of) singing on a DJ Shadow track and working as Foreign Exchange.  Also there is no one better with homonyms which are an endlessly entertaining device in hip-hop.

Honourable Mentions:
- MF Doom (disappeared for too long)
- Pharoahe Monch (too inconsistent)
- Raekwon (same as DOOM)
- Ghostface Killah (hasn't been the same since Bulletproof Wallets)
- Papoose (drop a fucking album already)
- Andre 3000 (if the next Outkast album sees him spitting like he did on Art of Storytellin' 4 he's moving right to the third spot)
- Redman (has sucked for too long)
- Slug (his recent work has been sub par at best)

Unpopular Sentiments

Psychologists have done innumerable studies identifying the average person as terribly prejudiced but, because no one wants to see themselves as prejudiced, these feelings are relegated to sub-conscious levels of awareness.  In other words, you're racist but your brain knows that you shouldn't be so you remain blissfully unaware of your racism.  I'm kind of wary of anything going on that I'm not conscious of and so I'll readily admit the following: I prefer attractive people to unattractive people, I am disdainful of overweight, homeless, poor and/or addicted people and I think I am better than anyone wearing crocs and/or jogging pants as well as people with mullets.  This is mostly because I am afraid of becoming a member of any of these groups.  I view my generation (18-25) as predominantly pathetic, a group whose obsession with drinking is the logical consequence of how much they hate their lives and fear the future.  This is mostly because I have existed on the margins for quite some time and am jealous of their ability to merge seamlessly into normal (re. absurd) life.  I'm also convinced that anyone who is against porn is sexless and ugly.  Finally, because I am cognitively lazy I rely almost exclusively on stereotypes and am certain that most (re. all) are true.

What is the purpose of family programming?

Like most people I loved cartoons when I was young but they stuck with me through adolescence.  shows like Pepper Ann, Recess, Kim Possible, etc. were far more interesting than most sitcoms.  Consequently, I developed an affinity for family oriented TV channels and have kept that attachment as cartoons have slowly been removed from daily programming.  I find myself, now, watching Hannah Montana, Wizards of Waverly Place, Victorious and the like.  Now many people have discussed the sexualization of teenage girls and have pointed to some of these shows as evidence but that is not my goal here.

What is strange about these shows, and the networks that carry them, is that they seem unable to decide who their target audience is.  If you watch daytime TV you'll see an astonishingly coherent relationship between subject matter, dialogue and advertisements.  Everything is aimed at unemployed or underemployed people slightly below average intelligence.  Similarly for evening shows.  Every show on every network has a stated audience and everything about that show aims for that audience.

On the other hand, family channel programming seems to have no unified purpose.  The show is clearly aimed at preteen and early teen girls, as are the associated advertisements (though some for boys often come up).  Clearly, these girls care nothing for overtly sexualized main characters (at one point Selena Gomez has pigtails and a cheerleader outfit on and if you haven't seen the Ariana Grande scene from Victorious where she gets sprayed with water you haven't fully experienced televised jailbait) because such sexualization means nothing to them.  In addition, episodes consistently use references to things and events preteens know nothing about (Miley references both the Godfather and Goodfellas in one scene).  Is it possible that these references and the overt sexualization are aimed at the fathers of these girls in the hopes that the parent will actively want to watch the show, ensuring both an audience and someone close by to ask for stuff when the commercials come on? 

RIP Post-Modern Pornography

Does anyone remember Joanna Angel?  No?  Well a few years ago she was to be the saviour of modern pornography.  As the self-proclaimed messiah of "alt-porn" she proclaimed silicon and blonde hair dead, asserting that what the modern generation really wanted was to watch people just like them have sex.  Her fame was short lived (though I'm sure she's still screwing on-camera in some capacity) and I, for one, thought that the shadow of Jenna Jameson would cast darkness over the adult industry for time immemorial.

Sasha Grey materialized around this time bringing, dare I say, intelligence to the industry.  Her scenes were disgusting, invasive and altogether exhilarating while her business sense and self-direction created the illusion that a porn star might actually have a goal beyond piles of coke and money.  Her appearance on the Tyra Banks show (look it up) was hilarious.  For once someone was acting like being a porn star wasn't the modern equivalent of slavery.  By getting drilled on camera better than anyone else she brought a male-centric industry to its knees.

It may sound as if I am dramatically overstating the importance of a porn star but the ability of a woman in her late-teens and early twenties to accomplish any legitimate progression in business is astonishing.  For her to do so within the confines of an industry that is more male-dominated than Augusta National and is typically the realm of exploited and broken women, is legendary.  Her retirement is meaningful nor only insofar as she won't be making porn anymore (which is sad) but because she is leaving on her own terms.  After a life-changing one-night stand she's leaving with our wallets, car keys and credit cards.  I, for one, am willing to let her take whatever she wants.

http://filmdrunk.uproxx.com/2011/04/sasha-grey-retires-from-porn-still-squinting-full-time

tUnE-yArDs: W H O K I L L Review

Typically, these reviews will be longer and more involved.  This album, however, warrants neither.  It is little more than an example of the kind of trite shit that gets labelled inspired in the modern musical landscape.  There are plenty of independent artists doing something worth your time; Merrill Garbus is not one of them.

3/10

http://www.mediafire.com/?vqtww45g9nxu4gj