It’s not news, but I couldn’t resist posting this review of a Mac Miller concert from a couple of months ago.  Funny stuff.  In it, Chris Richards (the astute music critic at the Washington Post) proclaims Miller’s Silver Spring concert the worst of the year.  I wrote to Richards thanking him for the review the day it came out.

Now it’s true that Mac Miller is only 19, so perhaps I should give him a break, but think about what other rappers have managed to do at that age.  Richards points to Outkast’s Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, and I would add Mobb Deep, particularly “Shook Ones.”  Mac Miller isn’t in the same league–I’d put him in Kris Kross territory, maybe.

It’s not as if we should have ultra-high expectations for a Too Short advice column in XXL, but his comments are shocking even for people who are familiar with his lyrics.  Check this out.

That’s right.  Now Snoop has joined Speech in endorsing, or at least supporting, Ron Paul (click picture to follow link).  He’s made it no secret that Paul’s support for legalizing marijuana is what’s motivating the endorsement.

Again, no problems with Paul’s blatantly racist newsletters?  And it’s not like Snoop has trouble getting his hands on weed anyway…

Touré has an excellent piece in Time about the life of a contemporary musician.  Using Whitney Houston’s death as his point of departure, he looks at how the physical demands of fame are taking their toll on performers.  Rick Ross and Questlove are his central examples, but their grueling routines (and the health consequences) are becoming the norm for artists throughout the music industry.  As Questlove puts it, “I’m not worried about bullets, I’m worried about strokes. Strokes are the new bullets.”

This is the side of the industry that people don’t fully appreciate. The Teflon Don might make it look easy, but it definitely isn’t.

Many people, especially those familiar with hip hop, would be surprised to learn how common it is for prosecutors to introduce rap lyrics as evidence in criminal trials in order to establish a defendant’s proclivities toward illegal behavior.  Although people who listen to rap understand full well that the lyrics are intentionally hyperbolic and often purely fictitious, that’s not how they are presented to juries.

Last year, a Maryland appeals court ruled that Justin Hannah, who had been convicted of attempted murder, was entitled to a new trial because prosecutors incorrectly used some of his rap lyrics against him (Hannah v. State of Maryland).  However, it is far more common for lyrics to be allowed at trial, and attempts to appeal their use are usually unsuccessful. According to Andrea Dennis in “Poetic (In)Justice? Rap Music Lyrics as Art, Life, and Criminal Evidence,” the result is that defendants may face a prejudiced jury.  When courts permit prosecutors to admit rap music lyrics as criminal evidence, says Dennis, “they allow the government to obtain a stranglehold on the case,” at least in part because “[t]he admission of defendant-composed lyrical evidence plays on the biases of jurors against rap music and those who listen to or associate themselves with rap music.”  (See also Stuart Fischoff’s 1999 article “Gangsta’ Rap and a Murder in Bakersfield.”)

In April, Lil Boosie (already in jail on a drug conviction) will stand trial for murder in Louisiana, and it appears as if prosecutors will use his lyrics against against him.  The stakes here are particularly high, and so this is a case that hip hop fans, performers, and scholars alike should be paying close attention to for the obvious issues it raises about free speech, not to mention our ideas about what role art should have in our society.

Here’s a question:  Are there any circumstances in which rap lyrics should be admitted as evidence?

Speech from Arrested Development:

Honestly, I’m disillusioned with, generally, politics. And I feel disillusioned with some things that Obama has done, especially with the wars. At the same time, I like him. I’ve met him and I like him as a person.

….

I’ve really been refreshed by Ron Paul. That’s probably been my favorite candidate lately.

Really, Ron Paul? I wonder if Speech has had a chance to read any of Paul’s old newsletters…

Here’s a track by Blue Scholars, a Seattle-based group that doesn’t get a lot of mainstream attention but definitely should.  While many rappers have embraced President Obama, others have questioned his ability (or willingness) to effect real change.  “Hussein” gives voice to the frustration among some rappers that just a few people in the U.S. seem to be getting ahead–at the expense of many others who are “scrapin’ resin out a pipe dream.”

And just to establish the credibility of Blue Scholars, I am including a link to one of my favorite songs of theirs, “Bruise Brothers,” off their 2004 album Blue Scholars.  Here’s where exceptional lyricism and a good beat come together to make what rap should be.  (Song starts 7 seconds in)

The mixed bag of Obama’s campaign song playlist

The Presidential playlist is conspicuously light on hip hop.  What’s the deal?  Is the campaign skittish after the controversy over Common’s visit?