The fine folks over at the Guardian Comment is Free site asked me to write up a short piece based on my two posts on hip hop and the Middle East. So I did: "How Eminem Can save the Middle East." Hopefully readers over at the Guardian will recognize the somewhat tongue in cheek, just for fun nature of the original posts. I certainly had fun writing it. Plus, I got to publish a piece about Eminem... happy birthday to me!
Funny: the piece originally went out with Snoop Dogg in the title, but I can't stand Snoop Doggy and had asked to change it to Eminem. The editor got to it almost right away, but not before one wit commented:
Could Eminem save the Middle East?
Well it seems Snoop Dogg never had much of a chance, so why not?
;-)
Ha!
POSTSCRIPT: one of my students who spent last year in Syria read this piece. He told me that early in his time in Damascus he was snagged by a couple of local guys who needed his help... decoding 50 Cent lyrics. Later, they took him to a rap battle which evidently ended in a break dancing competition and a rousing performance of Tupac's California Love. None of which surprises me, but makes for a great story!
Mos Def was and is a mediocre rapper who parlayed his intellectually serious schtick and an attempt at rock crossover: "Black Jack Johnson", into an acting career. As an actor he's somewhat popular. As a rapper, not much.
And for the Outkast reference, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and not ask for a thank you.
Posted by: G. Cheddar | February 23, 2007 at 06:11 PM
Hey, you can have thank yous if you want! I learned a ton from all the comments.
Re Outkast, from Eminem: I got a list...
Mos Def, it's the Muslim thing.
Posted by: aardvark | February 23, 2007 at 06:20 PM
Daddy get that floosh
Posted by: G. Floosh | February 23, 2007 at 08:58 PM
Dear AA,
did/does your student have a blog on his Damascus experience?
Cheers,
--MSK
www.aqoul.com
Posted by: MSK | February 24, 2007 at 08:06 AM
No, he just told me face to face, in person. Can you believe that? What is this world coming to...
Posted by: aardvark | February 24, 2007 at 09:04 AM
As a non-academic who thought I was reading in a cloudy ivory-tower world, I'm saying, what?
Posted by: tribalecho | February 24, 2007 at 03:21 PM
You mean Syrians are break-dancing? I guess that mid-80s exchange I programmed just took a little longer to sink in than we'd foreseen!
PD's a long-term effort....
Posted by: John | February 24, 2007 at 05:51 PM
I just returned from a short trip to Morocco, where the local brand of hip hop is very popular (and trans-Atlantic-ly flavored, perhaps appropriately, by US East Coast rap). Eminem t-shirts also were everywhere. Check out Bigg for a taste - http://donbigg.skyblog.com/ and
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=78406764
Posted by: Chris | February 26, 2007 at 11:22 AM
thanks! Why Eminem specifically is so popular is an interesting question...
Posted by: aardvark | February 26, 2007 at 11:58 AM
Mos Def was and is a mediocre rapper...
That's ridiculous. Black on Both Sides is top notch. Black Star's record, same. Actually, those two records are some of the best to come out in the past ten years or so.
I like Outkast too, but your take on Mos is overheated.
Posted by: Eric Martin | March 01, 2007 at 05:52 PM