The 37th Chamber 11.05.08: No One On The Corner...

Posted by Patrick Robinson on 11.05.2008

Are you a swagger jacker, or merely engaging in the sincerest form of flattery? Better stop Jockin' Jay-Z or else.

Yesterday, (November 4) was the Melbourne Cup racing day in Australia, where basically every office has a sweep to see who's going to win. It's a pretty big event, and all activity basically stops around 3:00 to watch the race (it goes for less than five minutes) and see whose horse has won.

Anyway, my cousin, who usually isn't a betting person but always places a bit of money on this race each year, made his way down to the bookkeeper and called me at lunch to say that you could actually place a bet on the outcome of the US Presidential Election!

On another note, November is upon us well and truly once again, which sadly means I'm going to be putting at least $2000 down for the car in terms of insurance and maintenance. I've been driving with a broken taillight for about three months and every time somebody's mentioned it, I've acted extremely outraged and shocked as "I only had my car serviced two days ago!" Heaven forbid I come across a police officer with a freakish memory.

There's also three or four releases coming out before the end of the year that I'll probably pick up too so come January, I'm going to be buying myself a very frugal present. Possibly a stash of chocolate.

Also, is it just me, or does the word "incumbent" sound like it's describing somebody with an IQ of 45? Or a lazy person.

Reader Feedback
(May be edited for spelling or grammar etc.)

"Good column. Glad to have it back. I'm looking forward to Jigga's new album and prob Jada as well. Kanye's I don't know what to think. I LOVED his first, I can never get enough of it. Second one didn't catch me as much. Hated "Golddigger" and the over exposure of it all. Graduation, at first i didn't like it, sorta got on my nerves, but over time I have really started to love it, I find I'll put on one song on the album and end up playing the whole thing through. He sure does have me going crazy. His new album, I haven't listened to any songs yet, holding off until I can hear the whole album together.

I brought tickets to his Glow in the Dark tour, it's mostly for Nas, who never came to the big top earlier in the year. Had to send my ticket back, he better come this time. Wish Lupe was coming, still the best concert I have ever seen. Snoop, Ice Cube and Bone Thugs on Halloween, Going to be huge. Can't wait.

Keep up the good work and I would love your thoughts on Kanye." - damo

Hahaha, "Golddigger" is a song that nobody I know can stand, apart from me as I have developed a high tolerance for annoying things, having been the source of my parents severe annoyance for more than my childhood years.

I'm kind of the opposite when it comes to his albums in that I enjoy College Dropout, but I like Late Registration better. "The New Workout Plan" got on my nerves REALLY quickly as did the production on "Breathe In Breathe Out", although Luda for once, put me off that track a bit too. Having said that though, I do like every other track on the album, Late Registration however, I like everything. "Drive Slow" and "Gone" are I think, the only two songs in existence where I enjoy the presence of Paul Wall and Cam'Ron respectively. The production also I feel, despite being a bit glossier than on College Dropout, gave the release a ‘big time' aura as well.

Graduation I also like more than most people, although the songs didn't have the memorability (is that a word?) factor that tracks such as "Jesus Walks", "Never Let Me Down", "Touch The Sky" and "Diamonds" do. In other words, ask your average Kanye fan to hum or rap off a couple of bars from those tracks, and they'll probably be able to. Not so much with Graduation, except for "Stronger", simply because that song was everywhere, and "Homecoming", mainly for Chris Martin's hook.

I didn't manage to get to Snoop, Cube and BTNH, despite my comments earlier in the year, as with everything going on at home, I completely forgot to buy tickets. I figure I'm going to have to make a pilgrimage of sorts once I'm financially stable to a Rock The Bells concert or an Up In Smoke equivalent tour in the US.

I'd love to see Nas and Lupe, heck Lupe might even branch out to an Australia show given he's meant to be retiring after his next album. Although, I did hear that it's going to be a three-disc release, so we're hardly being screwed for tracks on his way out.

With his new album, I'm still tossing up as to whether I like "Love Lockdown". I do like the production, that's grown on me significantly, and the vocals do have an eerie appeal to them, but it's not something I can see myself listening to for an entire album. THAT'S the main problem I'm seeing with 808s & Heartbreak. If he was using it sparingly, it might not be so bad, but since the album looks like it's going the Illmatic, ‘less is more' route, you don't have much room for error at all. I'll always make time for Kanye's music, because I've found his first three albums so enjoyable, and even if he throws us a complete curveball with this next release, I won't lose faith in his abilities, I'll probably just check for the album after that one even more.

"For some reason, I'm hyped for 50 too, it'll get a download, all I know is I'll be very broke by the end of '08. I read somewhere that Eminem AND Jay-Z both got pushed back to '09…" - Joe

My theory behind this is that it's because we haven't heard many of the singles from the album. So far, there's only been one released, and even that was via YouTube (I didn't actually know ANYTHING had been released until I Wiki'd it just a moment ago), whereas by this point last year for Curtis, there had been four official singles released, and a couple that had been leaked onto mixtapes. It's also probably because it's his last contractual album for Interscope (the fifth album is a Greatest Hits album) and you'd expect him to go out with a bang, no pun intended.

He's also hinted that it may be his last. In an interview with DJ Semtex he said that he's "about three songs away from completing my music career", in terms of recording material for Before I Self Destruct. He hasn't really played that angle up much, possibly as he humbled himself against Kanye last year in relation to it.

If Em and Jay both got pushed back, I'll be kind of relieved as it means there's two less albums to try and listen to before a "Best Of 2008" list is compiled. I'll be honest that they're two releases I can somewhat wait for, so long as it doesn't turn into a Detox wait. I should probably stop using Detox in that manner, less it actually does become regulated to jokes within the hip-hop community. Though I will say that I thought Detox would always come out before Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy would.

" "My Medicine" is one of my favorite tracks from Ego Trippin, Snoop really showed his innovativeness with this track. And being a huge country music and hip-hop fan I am excited to see a hip hop/country connection from some other the ridiculous wack Cowboy Troy. PR do you any other info on when the Johnny Cash mash-up will be available?" - Stormin Norman

I was a big fan of the more experimental stuff he did on Ego Trippin', and I think Snoop does actually have a good voice for a certain type of country music. I can't find any more info unfortunately on when it's due to be released but I'll be sure to post it up when I can.

"I've got that MOP album ''Warriorz'' and I don't hear that ''BRRR Abado'' thing on ''Ante Up'' either, Funk Flex ruins that song for me" - Mo Metham Mo Problems

"It is actually on the "Ante Up" Remix with Busta Rhymes, Remy Ma, & Tephlon. And I've heard another remix of the song that appeared on the Midnight Club: Dub Edition game." - Galen H.

Now all I need to do is remember where I had the "Ante Up" remix on the PC. Thanks for confirming that too, I was going a little crazy last week playing the original repeatedly seeing if I'd missed something. You can only listen to Funkmaster Flex shout about nothing so many times before you start wishing someone would staple his mouth shut. I know I have the remix somewhere, because I played it in the car once and my sister (who has a very good ear for music) recognized it from having heard it on "The Time Is Now" whilst I was watching RAW one day.

The lawsuit seems kind of convoluted and I'm surprised that someone in the WWE offices didn't pick up on the confused situation and say something. Usually the WWE is very lawsuit conscious, given people's tendency to sue them for their children doing something dangerous to each other, or what not.

"Hey that Wayne story about him no-showing 2 concerts that isn't the first time that happened this year for the exact same reason huh?

Sucks for Luda of course I wouldn't mind more Luda or Jay personally.

And the whole Cena/MOP lawsuit is kind of funny for some reason. I guess because rap and wrestling never really sat well with me." - Dab

Yeah Wayne missed a concert earlier in the year due to someone saying "dental plan problems" but then rumors began circulating that he simply wasn't happy with the venue. I'd be extremely disappointed if someone no-showed for a reason like that. I know the entertainers want to put on the best show possible, and if there's a problem with the sound system, in that it's not working at all, then you can understand someone being unhappy with that situation. The way this particular situation comes off though is that he didn't want anything to do with the concert once he learned of the venue security regulations. Sounds completely, 100% non-suspect doesn't it?

Wrestling and rap seem to have an awkward, ‘first-date' awkward, relation with each other. Master P and his association with WCW probably hasn't helped things in retrospect either. Rappers do have a tendency to drop wrestling terminology or even names for no apparent reason:

"Busta Rhymes is like Hacksaw Jim Duggan
Been thuggin, lovin the way we flood jewels for nothin' "
Busta Rhymes – Simon Says Remix

"What you call it sneakin up
Tha man Jake The Snake…

Ill put the vertebrate
Push a DDT"
Lil Scrappy – South Side (The Game)

Well, unless they're an obscure reference to something I haven't heard of (I won't claim to be a long time wrestling fan, having only gotten into it over the last four years or so), the name-dropping seems pretty random, mostly for rhyming sake.

The Rant

There's an old saying "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery", or something along those lines. Personally, I don't always believe that, given satire can sometimes be considered cruel or attacking but for the most part, in order to imitate something WELL, a degree of respect or knowledge of the original is required.

For example, and I'm bringing the wrestling scene in again briefly, when DX ran the skit parodying Vince and Shane McMahon, a lot of people praised them for nailing the mannerisms, the ‘little touches' in order to bring more humor to the scene. No doubt it was because the four of them have been around each other for so long, and having developed respect out of that, such a skit would have been almost as fun to write as it was to perform.

In the hip-hop world, imitation in the flattering sense is often confused with ‘swagger jacking' or some such variation on the term, particularly when it comes to up and coming rappers.

If you think back to your childhood, at one point or another, even if you weren't into music that much, you had dreams of being a rock star. To generalize things, I mean in the sense of rocking out on stage, blasting lyrics into the mic, possibly jamming on a guitar etc. It's all good fun, and is probably what's allowed games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band to be so successful – they've tapped into that dream we had as kids.

Of course, once you become a little more selective with what music you listen to, you ultimately begin to refine that dream. You may see yourself creating a Euro-dance hit, becoming the lead singer for a country music band, donning dark attire and immersing yourself in the world of gothic music, or rocking the mic alongside Jay-Z. Whatever your musical taste, there's ultimately an artist or group that you'd love the chance to join one day on stage, even if you have no inherent musical talent like myself.

So as I was listening to "Jockin' Jay-Z" on the way home from work yesterday, I thought "who wouldn't want to be like Jay-Z if you were a hip-hop fan?" You'd be the husband of one of the hottest R&B singers on the planet, the premier artist for both Def Jam and Roc-A-Fella labels, not to mention the clothing line, nightclubs and $150 million deal with Live Nation.

"You ain't gotta jock Jay-Z, jock fly shit
You ain't gotta jock me, homie jock my chick
Jock her Zanotti's, she body you wit the fit
No that's not pilates, her body's just thick
You ain't gotta jock her, nigga jock my clique
Jock the dope boys cuz we all tossed bricks"
"Jockin' Jay-Z"

"You can learn how to dress just by jocking my fresh
Jockin' jockin' my fresh
Jockin' jockin' my fresh
Follow my steps, it's the road to success
Where the niggas know you thorough
And the girls say "Yes"
But I can't teach you my swag
You can pay for school but you can't buy class
School of hard knocks I'm a grad"
"Swagga Like Us"

I think when a rapper from the late 90s, early 00s (I won't say Golden Era, simply because there's not many still around that are active unfortunately) sees a young up and comer emulating their style in rap or in real life fashion or cars, it sets off warning lights. A person's first instinct when you see someone essentially ‘copying' you is to go on the defensive. We ask ourselves "why are they copying me?", "ARE they copying me, or am I paranoid?" and "I wonder when they started copying me?" Once rational thought returns though, anybody with enough brains can usually tell when someone is copying them as a manner of flattery, or outright cockiness.

Sadly though, hip-hop isn't exactly known for it's rational thinkers and with the invention and widespread acceptance of outlets such as MySpace and YouTube becoming the new radio diss record it's even easier for a rapper to blast the up and comer before they've had a chance to explain themselves. In the business world, we were often taught that the invention of email has increased the number of angry messages being sent when time would have healed the wound. Why? Well in my grandfather's day at the office, if you had a problem with an employee, or even someone higher up the ladder and wanted to send a letter or note, you'd dictate the note to an assistant first. The note would then be taken to a typing pool where somebody would type up the note properly for you. The message is then returned to the you for proofreading, by which time, you've blown off steam and don't feel so angry anymore. Hence, the letter is shredded and never sent. These days however, many people are jumping onto the office intranet, and firing off an angry message in less than five minutes due to the wonders of the Internet and spell-check. Do you think Saigon would have caused such a ruckus last year if he hadn't been able to blog about his grievances on MySpace?

The problem I see these days is that strangely, the up and comers seem blissfully ignorant of the rappers of yesteryear, so when they begin doing things similar to their peers, they become accused of swagger jacking. You can't honestly expect ANYONE to make it in the hip-hop world or, to cross over again, make it in the wrestling world, without a sense of who came before you. Don't worry, this isn't my usual ‘respect the founders' rant I go on.

I can't see any rapper making it big if they hadn't listened to rap when they were younger at some point in their lives. By listening to their music, you can often feel their influences and when they actually list their influences in interviews, some choices make immediate sense, others not so much, but are interesting nonetheless. For example, when 50 Cent says that he listened to 2Pac and Biggie growing up, I can understand that because I can see shades of their influence in his music. If he only ever mentioned say, De La Soul or a complete left-field, such as the Beastie Boys, you'd be puzzled as to why the man only ever seems to rap about money and street tales. The difference between someone such as 50 Cent and the younger breed of rappers, is that 50 has always readily admitted his style was similar to Pac and Biggie's.

The new generation comes out rapping about Maybach's and claims they've never heard of Jay-Z or decides to wear pink and claim that Cam'Ron wasn't one of their influences. THAT'S swagger jacking, because they hate to admit that they might actually owe one to the old folks of rap.

It seems sad almost, as they can't admit for fear of being seen as weak or too reliant. Maybe it's a fear that they'll be called swagger jackers either way, so why not try and claim it for yourself before that starts? You as a person are defined by your influences in life, you as a person ultimately become a reflection of your younger years – the music you listened to, your relationship with your parents, your work / study ethic etc. You want to be seen as a future star or taken seriously for that matter? Admit you listened to the greats, those that came from virtually nothing and have made an empire for themselves, and stop thinking that nobody's made a song about a dance before. You'll never top the Macarena anyway.

Song Of The Week

Flo Rida – Guarantee Ft. Akon



Hey all. Question. WHY DO I LIKE THIS? I swear Akon is some kind of evil psycho genius wrapped in an ex-con's skin because that's probably the catchiest hook I've heard all year. Singing the damn thing all day at work today…

Before We Go…

Well, it's 11:55 here in Sydney and I've got work tomorrow…don't really want to go. I just want to…first there's money, second there's me in the V I P…