Ten years ago, McDonald’s introduced the McVeggie. An attempt at drawing in the increasingly popular vegetarian clientele, the idea was novel. The appeal was congruous to when McDonald’s retooled their salad menu post-Fast Food Nation. People wanted to try them–No really, they are good. But like new Coke before it, consumer have proven that change isn’t always what they want. A marketing failure. America’s fast food chain can pretend to be veggie-friendly, but McDonald’s is for meat*.
And much was the same with Nu Metal. Championed by KoRn, the sub-genre exploded in the late 1990s alongside the Latin invasion and a hearty revitalization of bubblegum pop. How these musical styling co-existed is a mystery. An even greater mystery? How 16 million people thought Fred Durst, armed with a DJ and a creepy-eyed guitarist, shouting that he “did it all for the nookie (c’mon) the nookie (c’mon)/so you can take the cookie/and stick it up your (yeah)/stick it up your (yeah)” was worth $12.99 at Tower Records.
“Nookie” epitomizes the paradoxical nature of Nu Metal, a seemingly brilliant idea of combining punk, rock and rap, and is perhaps the sub-genre’s most anthemic tune. Like a bar band on steroids, Durst belts out the lyrics; the song is strangely catchy–you hate to love it it’s so plainly horrific. It represents a great idea gone wrong. But after too many listens, it’s clear that Nu Metal is a bad idea with grave consequences (see: Woodstock ‘99). Run DMC and Aerosmith? Great. Rap and rock? Not great. Fred Durst and singing?Almost as bad as a McVeggie.
The Song: I think this song ushered in a whole new genre of music, which I am going to call “Diss Pop.” T-Boz, Left-Eye and Chili spend a tad over 4 minutes creating the blueprint on how to sell records while humiliating the opposite sex. Before Destiny’s Child complained about their bills, before Justin Timberlake told a certain someone to cry a river and before Katy Perry sacrificed any shot of legitimacy, TLC used the one-two punch of “No Scrubs” and “Unpretty” to sell a whopping 11 million copies of Fanmail (remember people, this was pre-Napster).
The Hype Williams-directed video is cool in that pseudo-futuristic way. If anything, it definitely proves that Chilli is the most attractive member of the group. Left Eye, of course, looks crazy. But not in that “street cred” way she was probably going for. More like an actual insane person. Her rhyming is not very good and she dates herself terribly with the line “you as clear as DVD on digital TV screens.” All in all, this song passes the Decade Test, because I still know about 75% of the words. (more…)
Eminem’s has always been one of hip-hop, even America’s, liveliest personas. The “Steve Berman” skit from 2000’s The Marshall Mathers LP highlighted the rapper’s depth: he was topical and controversial for reasons other than drugs, sex and money. Slim Shady defied his unmarketability and became a smash hit. And on “Mosh,” Mathers proved a political backbone that made for one of his most interesting tracks.
In the five years since Encore (and in the years before), Mathers experienced drug addictions and recoveries. So Relapse, Mathers’ first album since 2004, presents the rapper the opportunity to tackle a hard subject and present his best work to date. And on tracks like “Deja Vu,” Slim does. His personal demons become the victim of his lyrical assaults, replacing the Backstreet Boys and his mother. “Underground,” despite a built-in skit/coda to “We Made You,” lets Mathers rudely announce his comeback. He is sharp, ruthless and uncompromising. The track possesses all the characteristics that earned Mathers a place in our hearts; it’s brilliantly homophobic, misogynistic and self-celebratory. Mathers hold a middle finger up to all the listeners and critics, but the song embeds an attack on his days of drug abuse, showing new depth and life to his music. This isn’t rehash.
Unfortunately, much of the album is. ”We Made You” is another one of Em’s arrogant send-up of celebrities. But unlike the likes of “Without Me” and “The Real Slim Shady,” “We Made You” falls flat. The moment is wrong, and his targets (Jessica Simpson, Jessica Alba, etc.) seem arbitrary. This might be the kind of track that he built his career on, but it’s not what he needs to be doing now. ”My Mom” too has its relapse references, but it doesn’t feel any better than any of his other tracks about his mom. It seems like somewhere between sharing the stage with Elton John and winning a plagiarist’s Maureen Dowd’s approval, Eminem went from being “the most evil rapper alive” to the most predictable.
I don’t doubt that Eminem is one of the better rappers to grace us with his lyrical abilities (after all, he did deliver one of the decade’s best albums). But Relapse feels unfocused, and Mathers a bit dated. When Relapse 2 drops later this year, this album might have new meaning. We can hope that will be a better album and companion. But on its own, Relapse isn’t as razor-sharp as the rapper’s glory days.
In addition to the rest of this Third Friday goings-on, May 15 marks the opening of LabourLove Gallery at Golden Belt. The opening promises to be quite the affair:
Three talented, young artists—Kelly Dew, Kevin McGoff, and Luke Miller Buchanan—are lined up for the first show with over forty original pieces plus limited edition prints, clothing and furniture. The first fifty guests will receive a free, limited-edition Giclée art print and for $30, patrons can create eco-friendly, custom t-shirts featuring works by the opening artists. The renowned Only Burger and Sabor taco trucks and the lauded Daisy Cakes (think scrumptous cupcakes, pies and cakes) will delight the hungry; and home brew master Jason Salemme will treat the crowds to a sampling of his award-winning Scottish Ale and Stout beers. Enjoy a beautiful evening with great art to stimulate your eyes and wallet, food and bluegrass music from the Cadillac Stepbacks.
New York-based blog The Music Slut just debuted a new track from Trekky Records‘ the Physics of Meanings. The local band covered “The Boy With the Thorn In His Side” from the Smiths’ 1986 classic The Queen Is Dead. The cover is part of a month-long tribute, entitled TMS Hearts Moz, the music blog has curated to honor the former Smiths frontman, who released his latest album in February.
You can download Physics’ contribution here, and see the rest of the offerings (which includes Pattern Is Movement) here.
