The other day at work, some friends and I had a fun discussion about rap music. Having recently been listening to A Tribe Called Quest, we began pondering who the Tribe's rock 'n' roll analog might be.
My friends disagreed with me, and I admit it's not a perfect fit, but I like The Beatles. No group has influenced rap as much as ATCQ did; virtually every underground rapper from coast to coast owes his success to the Tribe. Their lyrics were totally unpretentious but their music was often complex. It's hard to imagine what rap would sound like without them.
Of course, you can compare The Beatles to just about anyone. Outkast often gets the nod (what with the Speakerboxx/The Love Below double album-- with each songwriter responsible for one disc-- resembling The Beatles' white album). Or maybe Jay-Z is The Beatles, because at the end of the day, he's #1 on everybody's list. Perhaps Eminem; white teenage girls love him, he sold 999,999,999,999,999 records, and he has a shitty haircut.
As unsatisfying as the Tribe/Beatles comparison is, we had a hell of a lot of fun thinking of other rap/rock analogies. Here's a short list:
Ice Cube: Elvis Presley. Parents didn't want you listening to these guys. They were the ones who brought their genres into the public eye with some much needed controversy. Plus they got rich, got fat, and eventually grew into sad parodies of themselves.
Wu-Tang Clan:Led Zeppelin. Still the awesomest rap group of all time, even if they weren't the best. Pretty much everyone goes through a Wu-Tang phase. And you can bet Wu Tang fucked up some hotel rooms in their day.
Nas:Bob Dylan. Both geniuses. Both were looked upon by their fans as some kind of savior, then disappointed everyone by deviating from the formula of their early success and moving into more introspective territory. Both are now curmudgeons.
The Roots:The Grateful Dead. Whatever.
Del Tha Funky Homosapien:Elvis Costello. Critically acclaimed. Dorky wordsmiths. Concept albums. Deserve to be more popular.
Of course, if I were any kind of blogger, I'd post some songs here.
But I'm not. Instead, I thought I'd open up some questions to the peanut gallery: what to do with Biggie and Tupac? And what about The Rolling Stones, for crying out loud? Has rap found its Radiohead yet? Why is Everybody Loves Raymond so popular??? Help!
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Possibilities for Biggie and Tupac:
ReplyDelete-Oasis and Blur: Mainstream and fucking hated each other (who's who, I dunno). Also both bands have albums or tracks that randomly pop up, leaving you to think, "Shit, they're still making music?"
did you write this for the magazine edition of Certain Blogs?
ReplyDeleteTupac is Jim Morrison and B.I.G.is Jimmy Hendrix, not just for their untimely deaths, but because Tupac was a big deal at the time, but didn't generate downstream progress, like the Doors, while Notorious is a genius that influences def-jux and modern rap, just like rock wouldn't be where it is w/o Jimmy. Who is the pop joke? Are the Monkee's = Vanilla Ice? Most importantly, who is KRS-ONE?
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