Editor’s Note: This column contains a racial slur.
Music is changing.
This could have been uttered dozens of times, from when Mozart started mixing things up to Buddy Holly and The Beatles changing rock ‘n’ roll. Then came jam bands, disco, punk, post-punk, pop, rap, hip-hop and so on.
Through time, different types of music have become mainstream, and this constantly changes. Lately, it seems the critical trend involves production – in both rock and rap.
Some of the most critically acclaimed artists as of late have been Spoon, Kanye West and Radiohead.
Spoon makes meticulously produced rock music. Every single sound feels thought out and purposefully used, down to a simple tambourine shake, and this has made the band’s fifth album, “Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga,” a hit.
Kanye is a rapper who was never the strongest MC. His rhymes are a bit silly, and his flow can be pretty clunky. But he is one of the best producers in the field, and his new album, “Graduation,” features production over rapping, something that took critics by storm.
Radiohead has always been known for its production (as well as musical ability), and its new album, “In Rainbows,” features a new, stripped-down version of the band. Many critics have been claiming this is the band’s best since 2000’s “Kid A.”
As music changes, its artists tend to change with it, but some find themselves caught in the shadow of their former selves. In other words, some try to follow the trends but, in failing, end up trying to emulate what made them great in the first place (before the trends).
At the moment, that person is (and has been since 1994) Nas. Pitchfork Media reviewer Peter Macia said about 2006’s “Hip Hop Is Dead,” “the standard Nas disclaimer: Hip Hop Is Dead is not Illmatic. Nothing ever will be. Nas and I are roughly the same age, so when his debut came out in 1994, it was a humbling experience for me.”
Since then, most critics claim Nas has not reached an album as strong as his debut, one he wrote at 17-years-old. He is very aware of this fact, rapping to himself in Kanye’s song “We Major” that “Nas, what the fans want is Illmatic still.”
He has continued pushing his social advocacy through his albums, creating a stir in the rap community with his album, “Hip Hop is Dead,” and the claim he makes through its title. This seems to be the only way Nas, who has always been hit hard for having poor production, can try to keep up with the changes music is experiencing.
And now, in one of the most controversial moments rap as a genre has seen, Nas has taken a racial slur commonly used in rap and made it the title of his next album.
Originally titled “Nigga,” he changed it to “Nigger.” Of course, this never would have passed when he debuted in 1994, and though it has come under attack by Jesse Jackson, among others, Nas has continued to defend himself.
According to MTV, Nas said, “‘If [Princeton University professor] Cornel West was making an album called ‘Nigger,’ they would know he’s got something intellectual to say. To think I’m gonna say something that’s not intellectual is calling me a nigger, and to be called a nigger by Jesse Jackson and the NAACP is counterproductive, counter-revolutionary.”
His claim is that he wants to make the word “nigger” less negative than the word “cracker” is to whites.
Regardless of what happens, he is taking on the world, something he actually said himself, and he will be shaking up the world of rap.
The word is continuously used throughout many rap songs, but to make it a title has a different effect. When it is in print on the front of an album, it remains there. Songs can be skipped, words can be overlooked, but giant letters adorning the front of a CD cannot be ignored.
According to The Associated Press, rap has been declining in popularity, especially among whites. Having one of the most important artists in the field release an album that many whites will either be too embarrassed or feel too guilty to buy might continue that trend.
So what’s next?
The answer lies in production. Electronica continues to impress critics – Pitchfork Media chose Swedish electronica band The Knife as having the best album of this past year – and it seems like it might be the next big genre.
But, to be honest, no one can really predict anymore.
Lester Bangs is gone.
We only have artists like Nas making those choices for us.
—–Contact Travis Andrews at tandrews@lsureveille.com