Skulking around dusty covered vinyl’s in a gravel dunged record store whilst my best friend seeks out abstract indie bands isn’t an exciting pursuit of mine. If I were to employ Hugh Grant's time consumption methodology as seen in About A Boy, the two units I expend when partaking in such an activity would be better spent sitting on my john staring into space. Nonetheless, I go along for the ride because I’m a nice guy and on occasions my congeniality coins are reimbursed when I’m led to experimental musicianship that might otherwise escape my ears through other mediums.
Recently, my trips have yielded a plethora of sub-genre delights such as the Anticon-esque weirdness of Busdriver’s Fear Of A Black Tangent, the well-groomed surrealism of cLOUDDEAD and some nonconformist spoken word musings from Castleboy. Whilst I admire the envelope pushing of the aforementioned artists, none of them are excitable enough to convince me to part ways with my hard earned nicker.
Accordingly, I usually wait for my friend to conclude his bottom shelf exploration before reassuming my trustworthy position in the dependable sanctuary of [enter mainstream record outlet here] to ponder the large array of mainstream hip hop conventionalism before me. Upon surveying the wide selection of well known artists, I come to the same prior realisation that nothing in front of me is excitable enough to warrant expenditure. Herein lies my problem.
I’m not a tight fisted bastard and I like spending payola on dope music but hip hop as a genre isn’t working hard enough to assault my monthly pay check. It’s not even working hard enough to persuade me into using my once well exercised fingers to scour file sharing clients for downloads.
As the year 2006 concludes in the midst of a forth quarter corporate driven debate about whether hip is dead, the more discerning hip hop head will be aware that the grounds for posing such a ridiculous question exists only inside the minds of Def Jam marketing executives. One need only look at the quality releases over the course of this year to render such a suggestion laughable.
My assertion that 2006 has seen some fuego joints might seem at odds with my sentiment that hip hop isn’t doing enough to necessitate my interest. On the contrary, whilst I have no problems extolling the virtues of the high quality 06' offerings, in terms of dopeness alone, few joints compare to those of yesteryear and consequently my wallet is becoming fatter.
Maybe my standards have become too high or maybe 2006 hasn’t provided yours truly with enough certified classics to stop me voicing my discontent. Don’t get it twisted…Hip hop always falls into a slump every now and then....this is why I’m not on some “we need a revolution quick” shit.
I just hope 2007 won't disappoint me as much. My time units are valuable.
Recently, my trips have yielded a plethora of sub-genre delights such as the Anticon-esque weirdness of Busdriver’s Fear Of A Black Tangent, the well-groomed surrealism of cLOUDDEAD and some nonconformist spoken word musings from Castleboy. Whilst I admire the envelope pushing of the aforementioned artists, none of them are excitable enough to convince me to part ways with my hard earned nicker.
Accordingly, I usually wait for my friend to conclude his bottom shelf exploration before reassuming my trustworthy position in the dependable sanctuary of [enter mainstream record outlet here] to ponder the large array of mainstream hip hop conventionalism before me. Upon surveying the wide selection of well known artists, I come to the same prior realisation that nothing in front of me is excitable enough to warrant expenditure. Herein lies my problem.
I’m not a tight fisted bastard and I like spending payola on dope music but hip hop as a genre isn’t working hard enough to assault my monthly pay check. It’s not even working hard enough to persuade me into using my once well exercised fingers to scour file sharing clients for downloads.
As the year 2006 concludes in the midst of a forth quarter corporate driven debate about whether hip is dead, the more discerning hip hop head will be aware that the grounds for posing such a ridiculous question exists only inside the minds of Def Jam marketing executives. One need only look at the quality releases over the course of this year to render such a suggestion laughable.
My assertion that 2006 has seen some fuego joints might seem at odds with my sentiment that hip hop isn’t doing enough to necessitate my interest. On the contrary, whilst I have no problems extolling the virtues of the high quality 06' offerings, in terms of dopeness alone, few joints compare to those of yesteryear and consequently my wallet is becoming fatter.
Maybe my standards have become too high or maybe 2006 hasn’t provided yours truly with enough certified classics to stop me voicing my discontent. Don’t get it twisted…Hip hop always falls into a slump every now and then....this is why I’m not on some “we need a revolution quick” shit.
I just hope 2007 won't disappoint me as much. My time units are valuable.
