Dave has returned from Macau…
I woke up and Jay-Z has been banned from doing a show
in Shanghai, says the BBC, due to “vulgar” lyrics. CCP bein’ supa ugly. They just addicted to the game, but they can’t knock the hustle.
The irony that “Big Pimpin'” is not allowed in a country with an estimated 20 million prostitutes (economist Yang Fan), well, I was just in Zhuhai and Macau, and all I can say is “Jigga what? Jigga who?”
Meanwhile in Taiwan, Cecilia Cheung and Chow Yun-Fat are gonna be feelin’it. At least someone knows what girls like. Streets is watchin’ Hu. Can I get a…
Bonus: Check out the illegal but downloadable Grey Album, Jay-Z’s a capella album set to beats from the Beatles White album. None less than Robert Christgau has given it the holy blessing of “phat”.
1
By nausicaa
Aahh, Dave, DJ Danger Mouse made the Grey Album! Get yer facts straight! 😉
October 14, 2006 @ 1:00 pm | Comment
2
By OtherLisa
I still need a translation of “Jigga what?”
October 14, 2006 @ 2:17 pm | Comment
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By Ivan
This is one instance in which I totally agree with what China’s government has done.
China has backslid into savagery enough as it is, without mindless American monkeys like Jay-Z making it even worse.
Oh yeah, that’s just what China needs: For their youths to think of mumbling ape-men like Jay-Z as representatives of what Blacks are like. (sacrasm) Yeah, it’s really cool for Jay-Z to “coon it up”, to reinforce every racial stereotype in the book. America’s spoiled little White boys and girls just LOOOOVE to watch dem niggas actin like niggas. And what, now you want the Chinese to get in on the fun too?
Good God.
October 14, 2006 @ 2:24 pm | Comment
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By Ivan
Sorry to be so cranky, but this is a pet peeve of mine. There’s a whole industry devoted to promoting an image of Black American culture as brutal, vulgar and inarticulate – just like “Step-n-Fetchit” of old – and there’s nothing f—ing “enlightened” about pretending that this kind of brutal crap is actually some kind of sophisticated “culture.” It is NOT “culture”, it’s MARKETING, and it is NOT representative of how Black Americans behave or speak or think or what their general values are.
But that’s what a lot of people still want to see.
Yes including many Blacks, because they’ve been conned into it.
Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King would turn over in their graves.
October 14, 2006 @ 2:47 pm | Comment
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By davesgonechina
Wow, Ivan, have you ever seen Jay-Z outside of a music video or read anything about his business? Try New York Mag:
http://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/music/pop/10869/index.html
How about leaving the monkey and ape-man comparisons out of it? You may not like his music, but millions of people of all shades do and he’s been smart enough to manage it all – unlike, say, MC Hammer. And step-n-fetchit is not a valid comparison – this is a black man choosing how a to represent himself for his own benefit, not a black man being told to act stupid for some white director. Jay-Z does not work that way.
If you wanna criticize Jay-Z, do it for the reasons to criticize other celebrities, black or white: too many f**kin diamonds, shallow materialism, an ecological footprint the size of Texas, glorification of bling bling – but that ain’t a racial thing.
BTW, it’s called hip hop culture, it’s not the same as black culture, and it’s multi-racial. Keep those straight.
Nausicaa: What do you mean get your facts straight? The Grey Album IS Jay-Z’s Black Album a cappella (which he released precisely for remixes like this) crossed with the Beatles White Album. I never said who it was made by because I figured that most people won’t go “Oh, Danger Mouse? He had a few good tracks with the Danger Doom collaboration and I’ve liked what I’ve heard of Gnarls Barkley”.
October 14, 2006 @ 4:32 pm | Comment
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By LaoNei
Ha.
I got 99 problems but a Hu ain’t one….
Richard, Lisa, next time you’re in beijing (if it’s before the end of december – cutting it close I know….) email me at the other email – or call me – I’ve got a killer tea house to bring you to. It’s just great, people are lovely, and the tea here is very high quality. They’ve recently been treating me to their personal favorites because I’ve been dropping so much money here.
LaoNei (Soon to be NiuYueNu2Li4)
October 14, 2006 @ 4:53 pm | Comment
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By OtherLisa
Dang, I doubt that I’ll make it back to Beijing before December. Maybe Richard will. But I’ll keep it in mind. It’s not like I haven’t experience Beijing winters…oh…a bunch of times. I’d love to see the tea house!
October 15, 2006 @ 2:02 am | Comment
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By nausicaa
Whups, sorry dave. That’s what happens when you don’t read carefully enough. Don’t get all gangsta on my ass now. 😉
(And yes, I agree, let’s not racialize this. It’s supposed to be a fun thread, let’s keep it that way.)
October 15, 2006 @ 8:59 am | Comment
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By Sonagi
Richard and Ivan,
The Washington Post published an interesting opinion piece on hip-hop written by a black woman:
Why I Gave Up On Hip-Hop:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/13/AR2006101301426.html
October 15, 2006 @ 10:09 pm | Comment
10
By Sonagi
Let me try again with that link:
Why I gave up on hip hop.
October 15, 2006 @ 10:17 pm | Comment
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By OtherLisa
I’m not big on hip-hop for the most part. I like melody and don’t like repetition (I have the same problem with a lot of trance and dance-type music. Just bores the pants off me).
And yeah, a lot of lyrics, problematic.
Also hate a lot of metal like Korn and such, but love Nirvana and like Soundgarten. I listened to tons of music in the 80s, Talking Heads (the group that got me into playing music), the Pretenders, X, stuff like that.
I’m completely out of it in terms of recent music (I mostly listen to world music). Recommends?
October 16, 2006 @ 3:05 am | Comment
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By OtherLisa
Sonagi, your original pasted link works, but not the html version.
Interesting article. I sympathize. There was a guy living down the street who used to listen to really loud hip-hop. One day he listened to this one tune, over and over, and I swear the lyrics were “b**ch,” “ho” and “motherf***” and that was pretty much it. He stopped at just the point I was going to call the cops (I mean, the same tune! Over and over!), and he seems to have moved away, thankfully.
For a former rock musician, my tolerance for loud music I don’t want to be listening to is VERY low…
October 16, 2006 @ 3:21 am | Comment
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By nausicaa
Hm…you like world music and don’t like most hip-hop. How about something like Irie Revoltes then, Other Lisa? They’re a German-French indie band (so you might have a hard time finding their stuff in your local Tower Records), but their songs (which are a blend of reggae and hiphop) are fun and catchy. The lyrics are pretty tame, but hey, even if you don’t like them you can just tune them out. 😉
October 16, 2006 @ 3:53 pm | Comment
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By OtherLisa
All things are findable through those internets. Thanks for the recommend!
Did you hear that Tower went bankrupt and is going out of busienss? Unbelievable. Another icon of my childhood bites the dust.
October 17, 2006 @ 1:09 am | Comment