Black GOPs
Sasha Frere-Jones went to see Nas at the Rock the Bells Fest at Jones Beach last week and wrote this for his New Yorker blog. In an intro, Jones establishes this post as “service journalism,” but this is one the best paragraphs he’s ever written:
Nas: this rapper currently has the #1 album in the country. He said he loves Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson but they are “out of here.” Nas is, according to Nas, the new voice of the young people. “I talk your talk, I dress your dress,” he said. I didn’t see anyone in the audience wearing a white shirt, white jeans, designer sunglasses and a blingy crucifix, so maybe what he meant is that he’s the new voice of Russian real-estate developers. People always talk about what a great lyricist Nas is, and he certainly was when “Illmatic” came out fourteen years ago. Which is maybe why he did more songs from that album than any other album from his catalogue during his set. It was nice of Jay-Z to come out for the “Black Republicans” cameo. Do you know how much people like Jay-Z? More than they like anyone else. I’ve see Jay-Z pop up at three shows, and every time it happens, you remember what it’s like to be at a genuinely exciting event. And then Jay-Z leaves. Bad idea, the Jay-Z cameo, for anyone who is not named Jay-Z.
No two artists have been awesome longer than Nas and Jigga. Both are still relevant after 15 years. What white pop artists can say the same? NIN? Pearl Jam? RHCP? Nyet. Even The Boss turned corny after 1982. (Btw, The Boss was at The Box last night with the Sting.)
TAGS: GOP, Jay, Jesse Jackson, New York, Republicans, russia, The Box, youtube
SUBSCRIBE TO RSS
August 8th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
hey ray, i’m a friend of sean dorsey’s. headed to the a.c. tonight, last minute road trip, and a friend directed me to your site re: the chelsea. good stuff. will tune in from now on. can’t say i’m a huge nas fan, but if jay-z popped up at any show i was at, i’d probably lose my s—.