Before we begin with the goodness that is The Bootleg, I wanted to wish everyone out there who has friends and/or family serving in the Armed Forces all the best to you and yours. Whether you’re for this war or agin’ it, let’s just hope that the men and women doing battle in the Middle East come home safely and quickly.
It might be something of a cliché, but war really does bring out the worst in some people. For example, there’s a clown in New York (no, not Jason Giambi) who penned a column for the infamous New York Post tabloid. He basically (black)lists a handful of celebrities who have publicly come out against the War in Iraq and urges his readers to boycott their work.
This whole “you’re either with us or for them” stance that many have taken is laughable. I’ve read articles that call those opposed to war as “Saddam Lovers”. Now, these peaceniks may be a lot of things: unwashed, tree-huggers and generally unemployed, but is wanting peace really all that bad? Are all those who criticized Bill Clinton during his entire 8-year Presidency guilty of traitorous behavior? They might be hypocritical and narrow-minded, but traitors? Hell, no.
Dixie Chicks Versus W, Round II-Electric Boogaloo
If you needed more evidence that image and sales are more important to an entertainer than opinions and beliefs, I offer to you Ms. Natalie Maines of The Dixie Chicks. A few Bootlegs ago I touched on their jab at President Bush. Well, the spin doctoring continues. In the days and weeks that followed, The Dixie Chicks stood by Maines’ comment (I’m paraphrasing, but it was something like “We’re ashamed to be from the same state as our President.”).
Then, they slightly altered their stance to pro-soldier, indifferent to Bush and anti-war. Amid radio station boycotts and fan backlash, the other two Chicks have distanced themselves from their sister in song, while Maines was forced to offer up a half-hearted mea culpa through a press release.
That’s apparently not good enough. America’s Heartland is demanding a public apology. Wait, it gets better. Country music superstars Travis Tritt and Toby Keith are even taking shots at Maines’. They’ve called her comments “cowardly”, “a cheap shot” and “big-mouthed”. You know when Travis Tritt is taking shots at you, there’s not much lower to go.
Jay-Z This and Jay-Z That
Answering critics who slammed his last album for being too bloated with filler, Jay-Z is planning to drop The Blueprint 2.1 in April. It will feature some of The Blueprint 2’s best material along with some unreleased tracks. C’mon, Jigga, you ain’t foolin’ nobody. Why not just call this what it is. A shameless attempt to make a few more bucks at the expense of your listeners. Unfortunately, this is a growing trend in R&B and hip hop as acts like B2K and LL Cool J have “re-released” albums that had only been in circulation for a few months so that they could include an extra song or two. Also in April, Jay-Z will release The S. Carter Collection mix tape in conjunction with the release of his new line of shoes by RBK (the artist formerly known as Reebok). Cash Rules Everything Around Me, dolla dolla bill, y’all.
The Roots Go Overseas (MLB Doesn’t)
The poster children for high-minded rap groups everywhere are expected to proceed with plans for an international tour starting this weekend. The Roots, whose current album Phrenology was reviewed in this space, are slated to begin their tour through Sweden, Denmark and Germany, with the journey coming to an end in Japan.
Speaking of Japan, I’m glad that old Uncle Bud Selig called off the opening two games of the baseball season in Japan. It was pure, uncut stupidity to send two teams across the International Date Line to play in front of fans who are already rabid supporters of the product thanks to cats like Ichiro, Sasaki, Matsui and Nomo. The Japanese get a two-week tour of MLB players every offseason and sending the A’s and M’s over for games that count in the standings borders on exploitation of Bud’s own talent.
Bono and Paul and Oscar
This is still subject to change, but as of press time, both U2 and Paul Simon were scheduled to perform at the Oscars this Sunday. U2 is slated to perform The Hands That Built America from Gangs of New York. Mr. Simon and his group will sing Father and Daughter from some cartoon.
The “big” news regarding the Oscars and music is Eminem’s refusal to perform his hit single Lose Yourself. Em and his people claim that the rapper is going to be on vacation and unavailable. The Bootleg thinks that Slim Shady doesn’t want the circus that will follow his every move at the awards show, while performing a song that has no chance to win with the stuffed shirts that nominated him in a transparent attempt to get Eminem’s demographic of fans to tune in for four hours until he’s on. I got’cher run-on sentence right here.
Rob Zombie and Lionel Richie?
Music has given us some odd pairings over the years. Elton John and Eminem come to mind. Ditto for Deion Sanders and Hammer (and I know I wasn’t the only one who had the Street Fighter soundtrack). I think we have a new winner. Rob Zombie has teamed up with 1980s superstar, Lionel Richie and 2000s hip hop diva, Trina on the soundtrack to Zombie’s new movie House of 1000 Corpses.
Zombie and Richie are doing a cover of the funk classic Brickhouse. Meanwhile, Trina pops up to talk dirty on an “interlude”. If you’ve never heard of Trina, well, you’re probably lucky. Think Lil’ Kim with her chest deflated and her face hit with a brick. As for Lionel Richie, ask your parents.
Marilyn Manson=Wholesome American
I’m still not convinced this guy isn’t Paul from The Wonder Years. Anyways, to help promote his latest album, The Golden Age of Grotesque, the scariest white man in America has scheduled a series of “Grotesque Burlesque” events to be held across the country. Manson describes these events as part-music, part-art and totally unpredictable. His new album will drop on May 13 and he begins a European tour (look out, Milan!) in late May. I’m just glad there’s one non-rapper out there that Middle America can hate.
Deana Carter Steps into the Ring
After spending the last few years missing in action from the country music industry, Deana Carter has a new single climbing the charts. There’s No Limit, which sadly does not feature Silkk the Shocker, Mia X, Master P or The Ghetto Commission, has crossover hit written all over it. In even better news, Ms. Carter’s film career is set to take off with a role in Shadow Boxer. Carter plays a prizefighter and I hope she’s better and more believable than Muhammad Ali’s fraud of a daughter. Laila has parlayed her old man’s name into some lucrative endorsements, TV guest spots and millions of dollars. Think Tori Spelling with a jab.
Paul McCartney Eats Haggis
The country that gave us Willie the Groundskeeper is looking towards their biggest concert ever. The delightfully non-threatening Paul McCartney is slated to play Glasgow’s Celtic Park. No word if hometown boy Roddy Piper will be in attendance. However, Paulie is expected to bring 60,000 fans into the stadium in his first concert appearance there in over 10 years. The concert is scheduled for May 30, so tickets should start popping up on ebay very soon.
They’re Rich and We’re Not
For those of you feeling completely inadequate in your day-to-day job as a cart attendant, ice cream server or (my favorite) “student”, here’s something to make your day. Paul McCartney made $72.1 million last year. He was declared the “richest in rock” by some website with just a tad too much time on its hands. The Rolling Stones, Dave Matthews Band, Celine Dion and Eminem round out the top five. Other notables included Jay-Z (9), The Osbournes (10), Nirvana (25), Jennifer Lopez (26) and Britney Spears (33).
Nate Dogg’s Big Break
America’s favorite hip hop crooner is set to make his big screen debut in the new Chris Rock vehicle Head of State. Nate not only has the title track on the soundtrack, but he’s scored an on-camera role, as well. He’ll apparently be singing over the various fades, breaks and transitions during the movie. DJ Quik composed the score for the movie, which should be an interesting listen given the outstanding results he’s had with his Quik’s Groove series. Head of State opens March 28 and Nate’s new album drops in April.
General Haberdashery
Cocozza continues to be slowly phased out by Evocator.
Modzelewski is a week old, but a fresh loaf will be pulled from the oven tomorrow.
Cody has a very low opinion of himself and really needs a hug.
Junk Mail
I’ve accumulated a fair amount of mail during my tenure as your friendly neighborhood reviewer of rap music and distributor of Bootlegs, so why not embarrass a few of my readers publicly by featuring them here?
In my review of Stillmatic, I called Ether one of the five best diss tracks ever. John Rearick succinctly asks:
So what are the other four?
Yep, it’s more hip hop, so if you’ve had your fill of bling-bling and bytches, I’ll see you next week. For those of you who wanna keep reading, here’s my top five.
1.) Hit ‘Em Up, 2Pac & Outlawz – Quite simply, the most vile, venomous, hate-filled five minutes of rage and retribution ever put on wax. Biggie Smalls, Puff Daddy, Lil Kim, Mobb Deep and others are laid to rest with this one.
2.) Ether, Nas – Nas took a lot of shots from Jay-Z before finally responding with this one. It’s funny, it’s condescending and it’s tight as hell. The JJ Evans line still cracks me up.
3.) No Vaseline, Ice Cube – This one is from Cube’s Death Certificate and is a high-octane rebuttal to his former NWA crew. The Jerry Heller shots are little much, but he parodies Dre, Ren, Yella and Eazy pretty well.
4.) Callin’ Out Names, Kurupt – This is from one of the more slept-on albums of the last few years, The Streetz is a Mutha. The former Dogg Pound member slays DMX, among others, over one of Fred Wreck’s nicest beats.
5.) Real Compton City G’s, Eazy-E – In 1993, Death Row Records had all the major labels running scared. Eric Wright came right at Snoop and Dre, while the beat is very reminiscent of the G-Funk sound that Dre was producing at the same time.
