It’s been nearly three months since I’ve spoken with you and, unfortunately, I’m still too busy to speak with you at length. However, I have a few things I want to briefly share.
First, I’ve removed all the subscription “locks” on past updates. I also disabled the Stripe payment system that Substack uses to process subscriptions. It wasn’t very effective and, frankly, I always felt uncomfortable about my halfhearted attempts to generate paid subs. For now, I’m ending that charade.
If you enjoy my work and would like to compensate me for it, visit my Ko-fi page and leave a tip.
Here are a few articles I’ve written since my last update:
Schoolboy Q, Blue Lips: “Give the former Hoover Street Crip credit: Back in the early 2010s, he fused the open-eared, genre-less sensibility of Tumblr rap with vintage L.A. gangsta flows in classic moments like “Hands on the Wheel” and “Druggys Wit Hoes Again.” Along with Vince Staples, Boogie and others, Q marked a clear break from the city’s G-funk identity, even as he paid homage in collaborations with the likes of Tha Dogg Pound and Suga Free. Still, he’s an enigma.” (Rolling Stone)
Metro Boomin & Future, We Don’t Trust You: “The ripple effects of Lamar’s “Like That” verse have galvanized rap fans, inspired too many social-media explainers on his references — the shoutout to E-40 and The Click, Melle Mel, and Prince (“Nigga, Prince outlived Mike Jack[son]”) — the 6 God’s beleaguered fan base to rally around him, and led Drake himself to make a defensive, albeit vague remark during a concert in Sunrise, Florida. Suddenly, it’s 2013 again, with Lamar kicking over the Round Table just as he once did on Big Sean’s “Control.” But in 2024, the stakes seem much lower. Both Lamar and Drake are in the mid-thirties, with their aesthetic contrasts firmly well established. A decade ago, the two seemed representative of different paths mainstream rap could take; now, they’re just maintaining empires. Any ensuing lyrical dispute, whether it’s more of the “sneak dissin’” the two have engaged in for years or a full-on rap battle, will feel more akin to Lebron vs. Curry in the play-in tournament, not the championship.” (Rolling Stone)
The 60 Best Rap Singles of 1984: “Yet despite the success of the Fresh Fest stars, the music industry continued to believe that hip-hop was a fad. The perception was fueled by breakdancing’s growth into a mainstream phenomenon, inspiring instructional books, records, and Hollywood fare like Beat Street, Breakin’, and Breakin’ II: Electric Boogaloo. Newspapers published stories of children learning how to breakdance in schools. Teenagers battled each other in ad-hoc as well as professional competitions. It was a marvelous flowering of an urban dance culture nurtured by Black and Brown youth. It also seemed very much a trend likely to pass.” (Humthrush.com)
I hope everyone is doing as best they can.