Word: music
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...group is planning to hold a rally at Harvard in February, when they will also hold a three-day conference featuring live music by the Roots at Boston University...
These Next Wavers fill a void; while rappers and rap-influenced rock groups have been taking hold of the top of the charts as of late, there's a numbing sameness to a lot of the hip-hop that's being pushed on radio and MTV. The music, rather than "keeping it real," seems more interested in catering to suburban stereotypes of urban life: Look kids, isn't DMX scary?!? Certainly there are great hip-hoppers out there--Lauryn Hill and Nas to name two--but as record labels jump on the rap bandwagon, the disposable acts are piling...
...said, when most people listen to rap, it's the music that makes the initial impact, not the meaning. Unless you've got more bite than DMX, unless you've got more bounce than Juvenile, people don't want to hear it. Nobody wants to listen to rap just 'cause its supposed to be good for you--this ain't broccoli. The Philadelphia-based group the Roots is worth listening to not just because of the message--the members are fierce champions of artistic expression--but precisely because of the music. This is not just the best band...
...Musical and lyrical honesty has always been a core hip-hop value--then again, so has exaggeration. On one hand, rappers want to keep their music true to life. On the other, boasting and roasting are also part of the tradition. Lately, exaggeration has ruled. It's often hard to find real experience in the cartoonish raps of many gangsta rappers. Q-Tip, on his new album, Amplified (Arista), brings back the honesty--but doesn't cut back on the fun. This is a party album about picking up chicks (Vivrant Thing), cruising the streets (Let's Ride) and dancing...
...firmly to the couch; the former vouchsafes to deliver a stream of car chases and oh-no-they-locked-themselves-in-the-walk-in-freezer episodes. This arrangement has seen us through the cold war, presidential scandals, even the final season of Roseanne. But this week a new interactive music-trivia show on MTV aims to upset that tradition by introducing a third party: the keyboard...