Friday Fun Link: The Least Hard-Core Thing A Rapper Has Ever Said. Ever.

David Weigel | June 27, 2008

Surely it's Kanye West blogging about his already-infamous performance at Bonaroo, where he showed up two hours late and was heckled offstage.

"I'm typing so fucking hard I might break my fucking Mac book Air!!!!!!!!"

This, I think, gets at a flaw in Mickey Kaus's hope that "Obama's election will kill off much of hip-hop, at least the gangsta-inspired parts." Gangsta is pretty much dead already; mainstream hip-hop is aspirational, in a sort of silly way—all about nice clothes, palatial homes, and lording it over people who have less than you. I can't remember the last hit I heard that could be reasonably classified as gangsta, or that was even as political as mid-70s Isley Brothers tracks, much less early-90s Ice Cube. The primoridial inspiration for modern hip-hop—the stuff that sells, at least—is not N.W.A, but New Edition. Soft, slightly ridiculous party music. Take the example of Lil' Wayne, one of the worst MCs on the planet, whose new album is the best-selling disc of the year. How does he thank his fans? By going on an extended analogy about the joy of elementary school book drives.

(Via Amanda Mattos.)