2008 Woodie Awards
Will asks, why not "drop it like it's cold?"
Will Maddox
Issue date: 2/29/08 Section: Opinion
I was once asked, "I-N-D-E-P-E-N-D-E-N-T, do you know what that means?"
"Yes." I answered, "Yes I do. Oh yeah, fourth grade called, and he wants his vocabulary question back."
Such is the state of hip hop music today. It literally took me about four seconds to be completely annoyed by this song, which is by artists of equally annoying names, Webbie, Lil' Phat and Lil' Boosie.
Honestly, are people enter-tained by being treated like elementary students attempting to broaden their vocabulary? I can only imagine what is next, perhaps a song asking, "If you know addition, what's 2+2? / This is a new edition so stay in school."
This Elementary Hip Hop, as I have dubbed it, is rampant in today's popular hip hop and is not limited to definition quizzes from Webbie. The most popular form of this musically and intellectually insulting hip hop, are these "songs" that sound like "how to" videos.
How many hip hop songs can we stand that tell us how to dance to them? Personally, I find this insulting. Don't tell me how to dance to your song! If I choose to tune out your overproduced lyrics and dance to the song, I will do whatever I please.
We have all heard "Crank dat" by Soulja Boy, which is literally an instructional video on how to do easy, overly repetitive movements. The song literally describes the dance at the beginning saying "You gotta punch den crank back three times from right to left," and then spends the rest of the song going on about how to do his less than creative dance, which involves some sort of mimicked Superman move.
The plethora of songs that have infiltrated radio over the past several years are enough to make the independent-minded music listener feel like they are doing some cruel paint-by-numbers worksheet, where certain songs are always equal to certain dance moves.
What if I don't want to walk it out to "Walk it Out," or what if I am sick of leaning with it and rocking with it every time "Lean with it, Rock with it" comes on. And what if I want to rearrange the order of "Breathe, Stretch, Shake?"
"Yes." I answered, "Yes I do. Oh yeah, fourth grade called, and he wants his vocabulary question back."
Such is the state of hip hop music today. It literally took me about four seconds to be completely annoyed by this song, which is by artists of equally annoying names, Webbie, Lil' Phat and Lil' Boosie.
Honestly, are people enter-tained by being treated like elementary students attempting to broaden their vocabulary? I can only imagine what is next, perhaps a song asking, "If you know addition, what's 2+2? / This is a new edition so stay in school."
This Elementary Hip Hop, as I have dubbed it, is rampant in today's popular hip hop and is not limited to definition quizzes from Webbie. The most popular form of this musically and intellectually insulting hip hop, are these "songs" that sound like "how to" videos.
How many hip hop songs can we stand that tell us how to dance to them? Personally, I find this insulting. Don't tell me how to dance to your song! If I choose to tune out your overproduced lyrics and dance to the song, I will do whatever I please.
We have all heard "Crank dat" by Soulja Boy, which is literally an instructional video on how to do easy, overly repetitive movements. The song literally describes the dance at the beginning saying "You gotta punch den crank back three times from right to left," and then spends the rest of the song going on about how to do his less than creative dance, which involves some sort of mimicked Superman move.
The plethora of songs that have infiltrated radio over the past several years are enough to make the independent-minded music listener feel like they are doing some cruel paint-by-numbers worksheet, where certain songs are always equal to certain dance moves.
What if I don't want to walk it out to "Walk it Out," or what if I am sick of leaning with it and rocking with it every time "Lean with it, Rock with it" comes on. And what if I want to rearrange the order of "Breathe, Stretch, Shake?"
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