Adventures In Elysian Fields 11.28.07: Curse Free
Posted by MSD on 11.28.2007
The power of profanity and deficiency of class.
Fuck Oprah, fuck opera, fuck a soap opera
Fuck a pop locker and a cock blocker
Fuck your girlfriend, I probably did her already
Fuck Kyle and his brother Tom Petty, Jump Steady
My homie, fuck him, what are you gonna do?
(Fuck that bitch, fuck you!) Yeah well fuck you too!
Don't bother tryin to analyze these rhymes
In this song I say FUCK ninety three times…
* Insane Clown Posse - "Fuck The World"
Hey yo kick it over here, baby pop!
And let all the fly skimmers feel the beat…
mmm…
DROP!
Coolin out in Brockton on a chilly winter day. Just me with my keyboard and a ball of yay. Some tequila, some bitches and a lot of cursin. Quarter bag of hydro bud on my person.
Beamin live and direct from Elysian Fields, another shot straight from the barrel. East coast winters may burn, but I got enough freeze to leave you all shook. So I'm bi-dack once more to let everybody know how we put it down here on 411HipHop. I'm feeling blessed now. Call me Paul Peezy, cuz I stay repping the green – and now I got my KG, E House and Jesus holdin me down. We have a lot to be thankful for.
A few years ago, the hot cultural topic was snitching – primarily the "stop snitching" campaign (which was born here out of Boston courtrooms). Soon the biggest non-issue in Hip Hop became the most consuming. How this came to be or why it blossomed is completely irrelevant, the fact is this – we beat it to death under the weight of over-analysis. Years later a new topic grips Hip hop, despite being completely extraneous to the culture. Curse words in rap. Can anything be more redundant and analogous?
I can't resist the urge to give one last stab at the corpse, and you know I just love to connect the culture to the music. So I'm here to share a tale of my own experience with the "curse free" moral clash, a classic anecdote in the "us versus them" saga. This is just a small example of how something seemingly small and unconnected to your life can grow to be a large-scale debate – with repercussions felt solely by those who partake. This should also show you how we can host a Hip Hop column without even talking about the music. Cuz rap is something you do, while Hip Hop is something we live.
CURSE FREE When the bristles of anti-culture clash with Rockwell-ian moral fibers
This may surprise some people, but swearing is nothing new at all. Especially in music. In 1977 there may have been some exasperation and rebelliousness in the act, but it's 2007 and that trick is old hat. I'm from the Class of '98, an 80s baby raised in the 90s. I've never known rap music without curses. To say this underground music influenced our parents (who influenced us) is almost mathematically impossible. So when old girl Nana called out string of profanity in her Alzheimers haze, is it safe to say Too $hort taught her that? The truth is - vodka bottles, prescription pills and casual profanity are commonplace in Any Ghetto USA.
1998 senior year, Brockton high. Where all the guys were corny but the girls were madd fly. Young MSD on the solo grind, churning out homemade autobiographical comic books to go with the bags of bud (funnies go hand in hand with marijuana – actually, everything does!) I been doodling cartoon characters since I could draw, Junior High only exacerbated the diversion. By the time I figured personal caricatures were the most marketable, I had about 5 years of experience under my belt. I was never Jerry Lawler-level brilliance, but far from a Beavis and Butthead scrawling. The sketchings had style and charm with lots of inside jokes and juvenile antics. It was art imitating life, a virtual documentary of our formative years. A brilliant sense of realism in an otherwise fictional forum. Chief amongst those attributes was the language of my peers, littered with slight profanities.
Senior Year was the culmination of my all-engrossing pastime. Going out with a bang or in a blaze of glory (like Ric Flair said on RAW), was paramount to me at the time. So I drew up a comprehensive cartoon timeline of our adventures throughout the years. Deciding I would take it mainstream to an extent, I kept most of the really sordid stuff out. Midway through the creation process, I had a slight altercation with a cantankerous old art teacher. Truth be told, our relationship actually went back 6 years when he was one of the South Junior High art teachers. We had a slight disagreement during class one time (IE: a shoving and screaming match) and it led to a suspension. The old fart had it out for me ever since. Just my luck, he came back into the cipher during my Senior year when he got a job teaching at the High School level. He was just one of those guys that rubs you the wrong way, arrogant and on a power trip. He caught me doodling one time in art class (sounds like a punch line but it's not) and threatened to bust me if I took my profane comics on the road any further. I shrugged it off and went on my merry way.
It took me all year (and every block of classes) to finish the colossal project, but the ink was dry on the last page by Final Exams. I used the print shop copiers to print and bind 100 copies at an exact cost of zero cents to me. I'm then proud to say I went ghetto platinum by selling all hundred copies at $3 bucks a pop (roughly the price of a Pizza Hut-brand cafeteria lunch). I even launched a second (albeit much shorter) printing due to popular demand. I had a few teachers on the guest list, enamored by the kids spunk and charisma. One of them was a flighty female art teacher who believed in supporting grass roots movements. She couldn't wait to buy a copy. She rushed to the classroom next door to make change, and wouldn't you know it – it's the classroom of my art teacher enemy. Before I could stop her she was gone, and I knew the drill. I slowly started packing up the rest of my copies and BOOM. Dude flies in the classroom beet red and frothing at the mouth. "I told you about this! You're in big trouble, mister! Big trouble!" Off to the office I go, with a small bow for my fans. Hey, I figure – the publicity is priceless! Kinda like when the Brockton cops got involved with my Junior Year History class video project! (events covered in the comic book)
But little did I know how far-reaching that publicity would become (in my own little world at least). Instead of dragging me down to the main principals office – where my virtual anonymity in such a huge place as Brockton High would guarantee my freedom – he brought me down to my Red Housemaster. The meanest old witch in the world. Brockton High is broken down into four different "houses", which is huge building of classes separated by color. The main principal oversees the entire school, then 4 Housemasters (and 4 assistant Housemasters) govern the individual houses. I was in the Red House, and the housemaster was a legendary force in Brockton High since the 1800s. She was old as dirt, and about 4 feet tall. But she was evil and angry (and rumor has it, a judo black-belt). He purposely brought me to her cuz he knew she would be the harshest. And she was.
Appalled and outraged by the rampant and brutal profanity, she petitioned to have this young aspiring artist EXPELLED from school permanently! One week before my Senior Year graduation ceremony! Even though she's a Housemaster, with governing authority, she still had to take it all the way to the top (the main principal) to pull the trigger on a move like that. Fortunately, he was a mellow enough dude to know this wasn't a grossly serious offense and balked at the demand. But to please both sides of the fence he had to take some kind of action, so I got out of school suspension of the ENTIRE LAST WEEK of my Senior Year. No finals, no nothing. Walked out onto the field and got my diploma from the smiling (and frostily fake) Red Housemaster one week later. But the story doesn't end there.
Somehow the brouhaha at Brockton High over profanity in free art reached the levels of the local Brockton Enterprise newspaper, and to my surprise (and utter elation) they decided to cover the issue for publication! The fat newspaper writer interviewed me, and some other experts for an article he wrote questioning society's take on profanity in art. He used my story as an example of how this culture clash of youth versus establishment was still being waged on a miniscule level. Because of my choice use of language, the institution deemed it necessary to squash my artistic ambitions. I was satisfied with that glimpse of glory, but the storyline only grew from there. ANOTHER newspaper guy (in the local dept) caught wind of the tale, and asked to see a (edited) sample of my work. One thing led to another and I got paid weekly syndication in the local newspaper! Fresh out of High School following in the footsteps of legends like Bill Watterson and Charles Schultz! Sadly the story ended a few months later, when my youthful arrogance forced me to pull the plug on the collaboration instead of ceding artistic control (he was looking for something less edgy, I was looking to tell our life stories as real as I saw fit). I made a few mean-spirited parodies on the situation (like the old "ECW versus The Network" storyline, or VKM Jrs "Right to Censor)" before killing my old creation with apathy. So ends the saga.
The point is – profanity don't mean jack shit. It ain't nothing to say a few cuss words in front of your momma, then punch your brother and tell him to fuck off. It don't mean shit to hear a rapper spit a scheme rhyming the word "fuck" a million times. So what if your mother calls you "a worthless piece of shit"? We all bleed and die for the art regardless if the perception outside our sphere of reality finds our craft despicable. It also goes to show how the man hates it when you make a buck off of cheap talk (unless his hand is in the mix). So does rap music make people swear? Quite frankly, I don't even give a fuck. This is the muthaphuckkin MadStepDad reminding you that brownies are the gooiest when the oven is at its hottest. But fuck all that, bring on the rap.
MYSPACE RAPPERS
Miami rapper Pitbull has taken the #1 spot as the Top Independent Artist on MySpace.com. The rapper's new album The Boatlift is available via his popular Myspace.com/pitbull page, where over 400,000 fans have visited in the past 24 hours to get a copy of the album, which was in stores November 27. The Boatlift features guest appearances from rappers like Jim Jones, Lloyd, Don Omar and Trina, while Play-N-Skillz, Lil Jon & Mr. Collipark handled production on the album. The first single from The Boatlift is the single "Secret Admirer" featuring R&B crooner, Lloyd.
SYMMETRY AND HARMONY
More issues plague the Wu-Tang Clan, as the group has canceled two high profile concerts, promotion company Live Nation announced yesterday. The group canceled a show at the Fillmore in Denver Colorado on December 20 and another concert at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia on January 10. Live Nation did not offer an explanation for the cancellation of the concerts, which were meant to support their album 8 Diagrams. Wu-Tang Clan member Raekwon sent shockwaves through the Hip-Hop community when he told Miss Info that he was not happy with the musical direction of 8 Diagrams. He also claimed RZA was robbing him and other members of the Wu-Tang Clan. RZA addressed the comments on Tim Westwood's BBC Radio 1 program and said that there was a simple "disagreement" between the two that has since been resolved. If I remember correctly, Rae did the same shit during Iron Flag when he chastised the crew in front of a BLENDER magazine writer.
THE N-WORD… as if it couldn't get any worse
Nas has pushed his controversial album N****r back to February and will be released during Black History Month. The rapper is still finalizing the album's track listing. Over the weekend a track titled "What It Is" hit the Internet, but Nas told MTV News that "What It Is" would not make the album and that the vocals were leaked and added to a random beat. According to reports, the album will feature production by Salaam Remi, Diddy, DJ Toomp and others.
THE OZ SAGA CONTINUES
Foxy Brown has been removed from solitary confinement at the Rose M. Singer Center for Women on Rikers Island. According to reports, Brown served 40 of her 76 days in the hole and was released for good behavior. Brown was originally ordered into solitary confinement due to instances of insubordination or altercations with other inmates and guards. Foxy Brown is serving a year in prison for violating her probation for assaulting another woman with a Blackberry in her Brooklyn Heights neighborhood.
MONEY TALKS
Hip-Hop star Kanye West and legendary stuntman Craig "Evel" Knievel have amicably resolved and dismissed a lawsuit over West's hit video "Touch The Sky". Knievel took offense to the "Touch The Sky" video, which featured West as a fictional stuntman named "Evel Kanyevel" and sued the rapper in December of 2006. The single was featured on West's Grammy Award winning 2005 album Late Registration. The "Touch the Sky" video featured a reenactment of Evel Knievel's legendary failed jump over the Snake River Canyon in Wyoming in 1974. Knievel filed a multimillion dollar lawsuit, which claimed West tarnished his image by using "vulgar, sexual and racially questionable content" by reenacting the video, which also starred Pamela Anderson Lee. The pair entered into mediation in July of 2007 and recently met at Knievel's home in Tampa, Florida, where they put the lawsuit to rest. The case, Knievel and K and K Promotions, Inc. v. West, Roc-A-Fella Records, LLC, Chris Milk and AOL LLC, has been completely dismissed.
PARANOID CONSPIRACY THEORIES This is the part of the show where I mix Basketball & Ravenloft (along with copious amounts of high-grade marijuana) to formulate some off-the-wall conspiracy theories concerning the industry. Remember, in no way are these stories factual, news-worthy or even particularly sane. It just gives me an excuse to puff more weed and wonder "What If?"...
Celtics pride is back in Bean town. For the last 10 years, the green team has been an afterthought in Boston. But with renewed vigor comes startling realizations. Recently, NBA referee Tim Donoghy has been indicted on gambling charges and it has cast a new light on modern era fixed outcomes. Aside from Barry Bonds and Mark McGuire, the last time we've had something this big was the 1919 World Series. Donoghy's scheme was discovered by an unrelated investigation into organized crime, and his inside presence to gamblers and illegal bettors paid dividends. This isn't the 1950s, when NBA rooke Jack Molinas was banned from the league like Pete Rose. This is 2007, and even with award-winning shows like THE SOPRANOS America still thinks this stuff only happens in the movies.
Now fans are going back years, pouring over videotape to find evidence of further officiating chicanery. Donoghy reffed games during last years brutal Western Conference showdown between San Antonio and Phoenix, which has Suns fans crying "foul" even louder. Fans are pouring their hearts out on the internet, lamenting the loss of innocence and purity in our great round ball sport. The truth is, these activities continue to exist within the league. Nay, they flourish.
For further evidence, look no further than the November 16th game between the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics. Hoping to keep their famed winning streak in tact while moving closer to the all time Celtics record, the Celtics were up by 15 in the 4th quarter. Suddenly, the entire momentum of the game shifted. Referees started calling phantom fouls on the Cs, while ignoring body checks made by Heat players. Celtics were getting cross body-blocked under the hoop and the refs weren't calling it. They gave Miami the game on a silver platter, all the way up to Dwayne Wade's last minute buzzer beating miss. The C's squeaked by with a victory due to Celtic luck (and maybe a little bit of Red's spirit, himself an infamous opponent to league officials). It was blatantly obvious that somebody didn't want the C's streak to continue any further, and are acting to achieve these means. So is it really surprising then to see the C's streak finally broken during their very next game? (on the road none the less, where the ghosts of Celtic pride don't haunt) While this doesn't come as an especially notable twist, it does get deeper like a Team 3-D promo against the X-division. "There is a traitor in your ranks".
I nominate Ray Allen. Champion of the over/under, capable of extending a bookers margin into the deep green. A voracious gambler himself, Silky Smooth uses his status as the 3rd man on the totem pole to adjust game temperatures as his handlers see fit. A usually "clutch" shooter who has never actually made the big time, Allen does just enough to maintain his status while always making sure the right numbers come up on the board. This season especially he has been infamous for key turnovers – botched dribbles, a bobbling pass here, missing a wide open lay-up there. Going flawless for the night on free throws, but missing the last two that matter most. Yet he continues to do just enough to warrant his reputation as a "clutch" player. The final dramatic shot against the Charlotte Bobcats that lights up every Celtics ad and commercial replay. But behind that carefully-crafted media image, this point shaving continues. Most recently, the free throws that could have killed Cleveland in regulation. All conveniently missed. Remember, sometimes it doesn't even matter who wins as long as the point totals add up right. Some players play for the pride, others play for the passion. But when money becomes an option, it's safe to say that at least one out of every three people in the world would do whatever it takes to get that green. Especially if all you have to do is fudge a few plays during a little game of ball. Maybe there's merit – maybe it's the marijuana. Either way, I'll never look at the #20 jersey the same way again.
