Fade to Black

Far from fading to black... more like black is back. The film is about Jay Z's concert at Madison Square Garden last year which came about two weeks after the release of his final album, The Black Album. What stunned me is that this is the first hip hop concert at the Garden since '81. Hip hop has dominated the pop charts for quite a while now and has made serious inroads into pop culture, so, again, it was very surprising that huge selling recording artists can't sell out, or even book stadiums. I assume if they have trouble with the Garden, it's worse elsewhere, and I'm not aware of any rappers playing stadiums.

I guess hip hop fans buy records and tons of clothes & other merchandise but still the acts, all black except for Eminem, can't get cred from Clear Channel. I wish they'd done more to explain this or his album, and, frankly this wasn't the best film I've ever seen, but, it did make me a bit more curious about Jay Z and just how much racism is at work here. Because, my impression thus far is that corporate America is definitely noticing some buying power here, though, as I've speculated before, that may only extend to McBugers. It's fine to get them fat and fighting over sneakers, just don't put 30k of em on our streets, right? It's like the mob, when they went into drugs, went into the ghettos...didn't want their own kids on drugs.. it's us and them and after all we're only ordinary men.

Jay Z is like the Ray Charles of the day... a black man who not only has a genius for music but business as well... a very rare combination for anyone. I guess at this point, he feels the non-artistic talents are more lucrative... what a newsflash. I'm coming around to rap but his is hardcore, very little actual music, lots of dope beats and rap. He's a rapper through and through though, makes them up wholecloth in his head, on the spot. It is an artform for sure, spontaneous, improvisational... comes straight from the heart. Like scratching, it doesn't have enough "music" for me. I guess I need to expand my understanding of, or definition of, music and Jay Z, as well as Eminem, who did a phenomenal job with Eight Mile, have helped me to do that.

For some reason, and I really don't think it's racism, Eminem comes across to me and Jay Z still seems a bit too gansta, at least in tone. I couldn't make out any of his lyrics during the whole two hour film, at least half of which was the Garden show itself. Music is one thing, drive-bys, come on. Promoting guns and violence... no. Eminem is now much more introspective and most of his raps are about getting above the white trash mentality and the anger... dealing with his mother, ex-wife and the other low-lifes he's risen above.

So, as proven by Danger Mouse, all is not black or white... but it all derives from those.