The Times is so good at rap reporting

Originally Posted on The Yale Herald via UWIRE

We all know that the New York Times is the best source on all things rap–where else could you find a sentence describing Drake like this: “He was an interloper effecting seismic change in hip-hop, thanks to his dismantling of the usual facades of acquisitiveness and fearlessness.” Clearly they just, like, get it, you know? I wish I were smart enough to use the word “interloper” when reviewing a Drake album. Maybe one day.

And this morning the Times really stepped it up. In a front page Arts section article, which was titled “Shades of Oedipus for Hip-Hop Titans” (again, I just wish I were smart enough to write something that profound), they wrote: “On ‘New Slaves,’ Mr. West unleashed one guttural scream after the next.” Wow, here I was, sitting there eating Frosted Flakes like an idiot thinking that the song in which Kanye screams repeatedly is “Black Skinhead,” but the Times would never make a stupid fuckup like that! After all, in an article this January they described ASAP Rocky as “stylistic admixture supreme.” I literally don’t even know what that means, but they talk about rap with such big words that it must be right.

So, Kanye, the point is that you clearly mislabeled your songs. “New Slaves” is the one where you unleash guttural screams. “Black Skinhead” is the one where you say, “So go and grab the reporters / So I can smash their recorders / So they’ll confuse us with some bullshit / Like the New World Order.” Why so antagonistic, Mr. West? The Times gets you.

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