Admission Time
(I guess you should probably read this so that you can put this next bit in perspective.)
So I finally got Showtime and I caught Tupac: Resurrection. And I’ll say that my appreciation for him as a person has grown a bit. It was nice to see him in more candid moments, cracking jokes with Tabitha Soren, reflecting on youthful indiscretions.
Using Tupac to tell his own story was a very clever narrative device. It truly added some depth to hear him speak on life and trials. It was actually quite powerful and had a very dramatic effect.
However, that’s also where I find fault with the documentary. It really amounts to a puff piece. To have the subject narrate their own story kind of denies the objectivity that many documentaries offer. It wasn’t so much an exploration of Tupac or even a look at his life, as much as it was tool to propagate his mythic status.
I must have missed the part where Tupac’s beef with Dr. Dre was showcased. I guess I also missed out on when they dug into whether Tupac did indeed shag Faith or not. And did Tupac apologize to Quincy Jones before or after he began shagging Q’s daughter?
Basically Tupac: Resurrection is an expertly crafted documentary that tells me nothing that I didn’t already know about Tupac. It’s comforting and makes you feel happy, until you realize that there’s really nothing “new” in it.
Wall of Voodoo
So, sometimes at work I’ll go in the back they’ll have it on the Mexican radio station. Now I really want to enjoy it. In fact I kind of actually like it. My Spanish is rudimentary at best, but I can catch the occasional phrase and piece together a chorus.
My problem is that my ear isn’t trained for the music. I can’t place it in any sort of context. I don’t know of a song is old or new or a new song that’s trying to sound old. I don’t know if I’m listening to a Latino “Jack” station or a station that only plays the hottest hits.
I suppose the language barrier is present as well. It’d be cool to know exactly what was being sung about (is it a song lamenting lost love or triumphing newfound love?) I’ve toyed with actually studying the language (I’ve still got my notebooks from college) but I think it’d be too ironic to study up for free when I paid and didn’t study in college. Eh maybe one day I will.
End of the Year Stuff
I’m really torn about my Album of the Year selection. I can’t decide if I should go for the album that I listened to the most this year or the album that I really think is the best. There were two albums that I listened to a lot this year. I mean heavy rotation. But there are two other albums that I really do think could have been the “best” of the year.
I’m really torn. Read the column in a couple weeks to see where I ended up.
Pete Rock
First off, InsidePulse has put together some Essential Hip Hop albums and made a feature out of it. Here’s the intro, followed by Michaelangelo, Greg Wind, Mike Eagle and Aaron Cameron! Plus more to come.
Aaron gives an example of DDP’s insanity and he and Nick rundown some of the best guest spots of all time.
KDP riffs about Erin, Diaspora and High Fidelity.
Gloomchen talks about Christmas music.
C.L. Smooth
Ian has news about a new award (the nominees sound pretty promising) and shows his respects to Richard Pryor.
Five Albums I’d Like To Have Before The Year is Over
1. The Mouse and the Mask
2. Let It Die
3. 29
4. The Weight is a Gift
5. Illinois
