The Art of Rap

The holidays are meant for catching up on movies. It is freezing in Manhattan this week, so Netflix and I have gotten to know each other well.

Today I came across Ice-T's documentary about hip hop called "The Art of Rap." It came out back in April, it's new to me.

There are a lot of parallels between writing and hip hop: both industries are tough, everyone seems to know each other and the rate of rejection is high. Anger, frustration and money management are common themes. For someone like me, who likes words and music -- specifically jazz -- hip hop has been a natural obsession since I was quite young.

It's an inspiring movie about how hip hop artists create, their process, their fascination with words. There is a great scene where one rapper carefully chooses his pen before writing.

You can watch the whole thing here. It mutes at times, so you may just want to stream it on Netflix.

New Huffington Post Piece: The Beastie Boys Were The Original Hipsters

Source: google.com via Michael on Pinterest

We've all just been copying them for a long time. Check out the piece here.

JJ Fad Were Ahead Of Their Time

My affinity for late 80s and early 90s hip hop is well documented. One of the most underrated groups of that time was JJ Fad. Essentially they were one hit wonders, but they came from the same school of thought as Salt n' Pepa, who are legends. Aesthetically, they even look the same with the oversized jackets, tight pants and bamboo earrings.

If I were more of an academic (read: had more time) I would happily write a paper about feminist figures in the early years of hip-hop. JJ Fad would certainly be included. They were assertive without being aggressive and lyrical without being crude.

Larger issue: why are there no JJ Fads and Salt n' Pepas today? The bizarre Girl Power fad of the late 90s which spawned the Spice Girls was certainly not what I had in mind in terms of positive female role models in music.

Because I like wine as much as I do, I was recently turned on to Gary Vaynerchuck's Wine Library video blog.

Today I found this video of Gary comparing the web 2.0 craze that is going on now with the rise of hip hop in 1985. I think he's spot on. Also, he looks a lot like my brother Robert.