On Thu, 23 Nov 1995, Moran wrote:
quoted 4 lines A Tribe> > A Tribe
> > Called Quest took a step backwards on their last release.
>
> Dead wrong my brother..
Please read on...
quoted 2 lines I think Tribe have done the Miles scene better> I think Tribe have done the Miles scene better
> than anyone else.
I agree. Their first two albums are innovative and great. However, I
thought that on _Midnight Marauders_ they traded in part of their sound
for something more conventional and less distinctive.
quoted 2 lines I have not heard any> I have not heard any
> body rip off tribe yet..
I guess you must have missed Digable Planets...
quoted 3 lines Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dogg, sorry to say, are in business to sell> > Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dogg, sorry to say, are in business to sell
> > themselves to a wide (white) audience as some kind of gun-totin'
> > bitch-slappin' n***as, which frankly insults my intelligence.
[...]
quoted 5 lines As well, "gun totin niggas" is just what it is pegged within the context> As well, "gun totin niggas" is just what it is pegged within the context
> of white discourse over music.. Words in one context are obviously
> different in another.. Judging "gun tottin" must be judged in its own
> context.. And unless I've been asleep for the last 15 yrs, rap has
> definitely developed its own language..
To expand on what I said -- or was trying to say: What offends me about
Dr. Dre, Snoop Doggy Dogg and post-Ice-Cube NWA, is that from what I can
see they take the ignorant, pervasive stereotypes about African-
Americans, turn them into a big cartoon and sell them back to white
America. Face it--you don't get those kinds of sales figures unless you
reach a market outside the hip-hop scene.
_EFIL4ZAGGIN_, for example, is deeply offensive to me because it may
-appear- that the sales reflect white America embracing black culture, but
I think it actually reinforces prejudice and stereotypes. Dre may be
making some money, and even making some decent music, but at what cost?
On the other hand I see no such problem with Public Enemy, Cypress Hill
and others who have reached a mass audience.
--Mark Kolmar