What Are YOU Doing, Yo?

in my post this week, i've been highlightin fresh wears from the 90s. it made me stop n think like, it's funny, i can wear the same shit these days, n still look fresh n crispy. and it still looks appropriate for my age. i doubt these bright cartoon shirts, tight jeans, silver and pink sneakers, tight v-neck t-shirts and high tops wit the tongue out will really b a good look for these dudes in they 30s. shit, some of it don't look right in they 20s.

i mean, i dont wanna be the dude that keeps brow beating this generation, but god damn, got DAMN! i know the old heads looked at us wit the baggy jeans and thought we was buggin too. i know when the rap shit hit, the oldheads was like, 'what the fuck r they doin?' too. i mean, i saw an old episode of Soul Train where Don Cornelius invites Kurtis Blow on to Soul TRain JUST TO DIS RAPPIN'. told him to his face and in front of the nation, "I don't get it." Kurt looked crushed. like he was gonna cry like the Fat Boys in Krush Groove. so i get it. history repeats itself.

but will it?

it seems in the midst of the ridicule from our oldtimers, we had no choice but to win their respect. we did shit like "The Message", took the culture responsibly to the masses wit RunDMC, made what every music critic has labeled one of the most important records EVER (right along with 'Thriller' and 'Sgt. Pepper') with Public Enemy's 'It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back'. LL told the ladies we needed them, in a not so sappy, sucker filled, 'i'll buy you anything to be with me' way and advanced new musical disciplines such as djing and made sonic collages with sampling. they had no choice but to respect us.

honestly what will stand the test of time out of this batch of music over the past couple of years? is it me, or is it all interchangeable? i mean, who can honestly point out for me what has ANY classic potential out of ANY music in the last couple of years? i mean, rap, r&b, rock, ANY music. can you do it? like honestly?

the only thing that i think will stand the test of time from the crop of the last few years is "The Carter III" and Radiohead's "In Rainbow's". i can think of no other music that has any impact, or meaningful incursion into the popular consciousness. it seems to me that after The Neptunes cooled off, so did any really creative, impactful, music. just about all of the classic records of the 2000 decade were crafted by them, from Usher's "You Don't Have To Call" to Ludicris's "Southern Hospitality", to Justin Timberlake's "Like I love You". all records that if they dropped now would rattle any car, club or crib. "Teach Me How To Dougie" is no "The Show", even tho the same dance is being done in both! i've seen 40+ yr olds doing 'the wop' n look fly. i've seen 40+yr olds doing 'the dougie' and just look plain ridiculous, yo.

what is it with this curious degradation of quality? even the material some of this shit is being made out of lacks the same quality that was in a lot of the goods of yesteryear. sneaker leather, metal eyeglass frames, even some of the shit Ralphie makin b lookin real questionable to me. i know cotton is costly these days, but isnt that what makes a premium brand?

it's all like disco. yeah, i remember 'Funky Town'. great groove. but it's no musical milestone. Chic is arguably the greatest talent produced from the disco era (keeping Donna Summer in mind, but never forgetting that they made the track that introduced hip hop to the world, as well as having the dude who produced Madonna, Nile Rogers). people like Chris Brown will be remembered as a leader in this era, but he has NO credit to rival the impact of "Good Times". who does? i can't see em.

unless you know somethin i don't...

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