From the Quaternions Sent Thu, May 27th 1999, 07:01
From the Quaternions Sent Thu, May 27th 1999, 07:01
> as far as i can tell, it's over in england that the hiphop sounds the > freshest (by both definitions). as for their neighbours the french, > unfortuantely i can't get past how silly rapping sounds en fran=E7ais. >=20 I'm really curious about something. How prevalent is hip-hop, American or otherwise, in England's various pop music outlets (MTV, radio, concerts, etc)? In America it's become the pop music that dominates all others, except among a certain cross-section of teenagers who like their teenybopper pop. But it's certainly more popular than most crappy alt-rock. IMO that's a great thing, because no matter how bad pop hip-hop gets, at least you can dance to it, whereas with 3rd Eye Blind, there's no recourse except hiding in a corner. I ask because it seems like British hip-hop will never get to be amazing unless it acquires a mass popularity there. I mean, an artist here or there, sure. But the reason for US hip-hop's continual self- renewal is that it has so many fans, and thus so many creators. Same way with techno in the UK--our scene will never be great until techno becomes the music of choice from cradle to grave for a large percentage of Americans. It's a matter of exposure, I'd think. Submersion in a certain genre leads to a deeper understanding of the genre's possibilities, and a greater mastery of its vocabulary. =20 So what Brit rappers are genuinely good, and not just novelty items? Lewis parker... Who else? Sam PS--if I sent you a copy of my paper, I'd appreciate any response/comments. Criticize the fuck out of it if you want, but I'd like to know what youi thought, even if only briefly.