Keep the Jeep Ridin’
It says something about the state of rap music when the most consistently entertaining, comedic, and incisive lyrics come from rap parodies. Aside from Kanye West’s schizophrenic introspection, Eminem’s mellifluous intensity, and Nicki Minaj’ all-encompassing insanity, there are no imaginative lyricists in today’s rap game.
It’s been about 15 years since gangsta rap degraded into the bland mash of braggadocio, materialism, and promiscuity that we call rap, and yet, 15 years on, audiences still aren’t tired of it. It seems as long as money, jewelry, and loose women exist, we will have unimaginative rap music.
That is why I support any attempt to satirize this genre, or really any genre of music. By laying bare the overused tropes and tiresome themes of their targets, these parodies, at their best, force artists to innovate or be reduced to a punch line. Weird Al Yankovic and The Lonely Island are the most successful examples of this kind of satire, but they are far from alone.
Just a few days ago, a friend sent me a link to this video (thanks Sid!):
It’s so pitch-perfect I couldn’t tell if it was a joke or not. Turns out, these guys have an entire album of satires based on 90s R&B entitled Keep the Jeep Ridin’. The songs are not terribly well-produced but their comedy timing is unimpeachable. What’s more, most of the songs have a hilarious music video. (View them all here.) From the canted angles, retro dance moves, and frantic green screen zooming, you’ll be having MTV Jamz flashbacks.
Some of the most outrageous and brilliant lyrics are featured in “Lemme Smang It,” “Fried or Fertilized,” and, off their upcoming album, “Why I Gotta Wait??”
There’s not a lot of info on these guys but here’s an interview with my new favorite rapper, Flynt Flossy.
Where would you place the Beastie Boys in this equation?
I think Jay-Z (pronounced Jay-Zed, according to some Irish teenagers) could be counted among the thoughtful rappers, though he doesn’t really deviate from typical rap themes – I wouldn’t call him a creative lyricist, per se, but I think he’s pretty content-heavy. Of course, my knowledge of Jay-Z is mostly limited to Danger Mouse’s Grey Album.
Black Star (the new Talib Kweli and Yasiin Bey, aka Mos Def project) is interesting, but doesn’t deliver much in terms of musical/lyrical hooks – the kind of thing I’d want to listen to with liner notes in hand rather than driving down 95.
But, yeah, the stuff on the radio is pretty vacant.
Ooh, thanks for the comment Caitlin.
I haven’t heard the Beastie Boys’ latest release but they haven’t been relevant for nearly a decade, no?
Jay-Z has ideas but is a consistently terrible rapper. The fact that he has actually penned good verses is proof of the infinite monkey theorem.
I like Black Star and both of their solo work but I would consider that hip hop and not exactly mainstream.
The Beastie Boys are an interesting case… Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 is interesting (and enjoyable) in terms of music/sampling. Their rapping is business as usual for the Beastie Boys. But where would you place them in the legit/parody spectrum?
And yeah, I guess Black Star isn’t mainstream… despite appearing on the Colbert Report! Which I guess is not exactly mainstream either. How does one distinguish hip hop and rap? Isn’t rap under the hip hop umbrella?
I think the Beastie Boys are genuine about their rapping, it’s just their subject matter is not your typical fare. They are tongue-in-cheek but I wouldn’t say they are parodying the genre.
As for the distinction between hip-hop and rap, mine is non-academic. Rap, in my mind, is pop hip-hop. If Taylor Swift is pop country, then Black Star is whatever the hell real country is.