A Village Voice blog recently published “How Not to Write About Female Musicians: A Handy Guide“. Using some recent, unfortunate examples of misogynistic so-called critical writing about female musicians, they listed four questions any writer should ask themselves prior to submitting a piece on female musicians. They were as follows:

1. Go through your piece and flip the gender of your descriptive phrases’ subjects. Are there any that sound ludicrous as a result?
2. Are you essentially making shit up about the artist in order to sexualise her?
3. Are you comparing the artist you’re writing about to other female artists only? If so, why?
4. Are you writing about a moment where your subject flirts with you and you respond in kind?

Looking for an article discussing female emcees to try these questions out on, I came across a Complex profile on Iggy Azalea, an up-and-coming underground (what is underground in the Youtube era? Another question for another time.) female emcee. It failed fairly quickly.

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An interesting phenomena I’ve noticed when Odd Future, their music and its popularity are being discussed is the comparison drawn between them and the Gravediggaz. Comparisons between contemporary and past musicians is neither new or unique. When attempting to digest a newly popular form of music the listener will attempt to liken it to something familiar to help them understand and categorize it. What is notable about the Odd Future-Gravediggaz parallel is that it is typically used pejoratively by fans of the Gravediggaz, waving off the popularity of Odd Future by linking it stylistically to a group they enjoy. Writing off a current trend by tracing back its stylistic origins to a group considered pioneers of said sub-genre is a non-argument at best, at worst it betrays an ignorance of the very group of which they are purported fans.

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If late 80′s and early 90′s gangster rap is to be viewed in the context Reaganomics and the plague of crack cocaine, mid 00′s conspiracy rap in the context of the paranoia and hysterics of our so-called post-9/11 world, then the 10′s stoner swag rap should be viewed in the context of the pessimism which followed the 2008 economic crisis. The near-implosion of free market economics had a profound impact on a culture obsessed with consumption and the music known for glorifying it. With the current economic outlook murky and the future uncertain, people would rather get high and not think about it. That being said, I am simply not high enough on (insert drug here) to truly appreciate the the majority of buzz-generating stoner swag rappers and their music. They exist on a frequency of zoned-out that I rarely-if-ever get, so there is a chance that I may never be able to determine their value or merit. I don’t know if I’ve ever been “on one” and maybe I never will. And maybe that’s sad, but I’ve got responsibilities and bills to be paid.

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How does one “blog” about anything? This is a question (when I was writing this, I accidentally wrote “questino” and for a brief, fleeting moment, considered keeping it, with a note to Sam instructing him to keep it as is) which has been posited since time immemorial, or at least as long as web logs have existed.

Since that is a question which is so broad and all-encompassing, how about we narrow it down to “How does one “blog” about “hip hop”? Is the Internet not already so flooded with worthless, opinions by certified non-geniuses that it really necessitates me throwing my hat into that proverbial garbage pile? Well, I’m sitting here writing this thing, and you’re sitting here reading it, so the answer is apparently “sure”.

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