Smack That

A brief note on current music: I’ve been hearing a lot of nugatory rants on the uselessness of modern rap music. If you recall my older Blogger blog (which I would link to if it hadn’t been mysteriously deleted) I also mentioned my hatred for the simple and pointless lyrics of new-age hip-hop. But I digress…

Lyrics are made for the simplicity and complexity of one’s mind. I suppose writing lyrics is just like writing in general; the writer must keep his/her audience in mind. Well, for what it’s worth, I believe that rappers have done a good job at this. While I, and some of my other friends, would not necessarily buy into the “pointlessness” of the lines in the new Jay-Z lyrics (as Dave points out) this doesn’t mean that they are going unnoticed or even unloved.

Actually, I was watching the girls varsity basketball game last night at Wallkill High School, and I actually heard one of the college-aged guys in the stands sing this lyric: “smack that… all on the floor” (or whatever the real lyric may be) and follow this outburst with a statement that I found to be irritating and profound; he said, and I quote, “this guy is a fuckin’ genius.”

Pissed. I was irritated—what the hell was this guy talking about!? He just sang one of the most meaningless and unfledged songs that I have ever heard. But, alas, I was wrong—at least too callous.

Just because there is no underlying meaning and juxtaposition doesn’t mean that the song doesn’t fulfill its purpose, right? Music to me is something very sacred; music to most people is very personal. Who am I to judge what good lyrics are or not. Maybe a person would enjoy music without imagery, metaphor, allusions, and substance. I suppose the “smack that” guy is right—maybe that rapper is a genius. He seems to have done something right. Who’s to say what the quota of a true genius is.

Life is filled with opinions, right? Well, I, personally, could never get into this new-age jargon that is hip-hop. But, that doesn’t mean that I don’t appreciate and recognize what these entrepreneurs are doing. I could even mention that I used to be a big fan of rap music, and that a current hypothesis of mine combines immaturity with the artlessness of these lyrics (there’s another time and place for that discussion).

There’s only one sentence that I can write to end this post:

I’m with Dave—in my opinion, he’s right—but, I won’t let my outlook fog true verity. Cheers.