Open Mic Night: 80s White Australian Rap Edition
Steppin' aside again to give you an iPod tune that comes up once in a while and rarely gets skipped over.Rick Rubin is credited with making rap music accessible (read:"Safe") to the white suburban masses with his Run-D.M.C./Aerosmith collaboration on "Walk this Way" in 1986. Personally, I think Mr. Rubin is a little overrated, and I'm probaby the last white man to wonder why everything he touches is somehow instantly regarded as gold/platinum. I heard one of the members of Run-D.M.C speak of that song in a very unflattering way, regarding the lyrics as nonsensical (he's right), but the money was good and the rest is history. Aerosmith got their careers back and the door to the dollars of white suburbia for rap acts (as well as the door to white rap) opened wider than the one left ajar by the Beastie Boys, who debuted with License to Ill the same year. (It can be argued that Blondie's "Rapture" beat them all by five years.)
Disregard the snap, crackle and pop of the high drum track on this tune and just listen to the voice and the industrial ambiance. Of course rap is about lyrics, so listen to those as well. Some find them sub-adolescent; I find them clever. Draw your own conclusions there, but I'll argue that rhyming every line in one song to "ate" is a nice trick. I personally think this song marked the mainstream crossover of rap to white audiences the world over, eclipsing the "Walk This Way" novelty of Rubin's. The Aussies of INXS pulled it off nicely in 1987. They're gone now, despite a
Terrence Trent D'Arby also did a stint with INXS as their lead singer after Hutchence masturbated himself to death, but it went nowhere. D'Arby, he of the very impressive debut album, has since disappeared into relative obscurity in Munich, Germany and now goes by the name of some New Age Messiah.
The music of INXS is up in the top of the sidebar until next week's Open Mic Night music replaces it.
Archived Open Mic Night music is here.
Labels: Aerosmith, INXS, rap, Rick Rubin, Run DMC, Terrence Trent D'Arby, white rap
Sent into orbit at
9:37 AM
3 Comments:
TTD's site. Verrrrry interesting.
By
JT Taylor, at September 6, 2007 at 10:55 AM
Rick Rubin is overrated? INXS is pathetic? WTF have you ever done? What an ass you are.
By
Anonymous, at September 6, 2007 at 1:45 PM
Dear Anonymous Ass:
I said "personally, I think Mr. Rubin is a little overrated." I love what he did for the Chili Peppers, but I disagree that simply having the Rubin name on something guarantees that it's automatically good.
I also said the INXS comeback attempt was pathetic. INXS music would not be featured here if I thought they were pathetic. This post is dedicated to how great I think INXS was at one time. But since that offended you, I will go back to the post and strike through the word "pathetic."
Learn to read instead of just trying to pick out imagined slights to your heroes. Then learn to comment with some relevancy. Also, if you're going to be a name-calling, flaming idiot, grow some balls and leave a name with a URL linked to it so we can all view what sort of awesome stuff you do.
And if you come back to comment in your previously retarded, uninformed, speed-reading fashion, expect your comments to be deleted.
By
RFB, at September 6, 2007 at 2:19 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home