NYTimes write-up of Kanye West’s “Ego-Fueled Hip-Hop Sci-Fi Space Odyssey”:
“The rhymes, the beats and the narcissism were there; the block-party spirit and sense of community were not.”
Might we assume that hip hop is dead? The style grew up in spite of the ego and because of the community. As one of the kids in Style Wars memorably points out, he’s not tagging for the fame, he’s doing it for the taggers.
KANYE REMEMBER: HIP HOP ≠ DISCO!
On a lighter note:
“In the opening set the rapper Lupe Fiasco showed his own ambitions, verbal and musical. He rapped not only about stardom but also about skateboarding, child soldiers and a worldwide plague.”
now that’s versitilitie!
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/15/arts/music/15kanye.html?hp
