Idolator
So on Sept. 9 there's a concert at Virginia Tech as a way to rally the community after last April's shooting spree that killed 33 people, and the lineup is scheduled to include the Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer, and Nas. The only problem: Family members of the victims aren't happy with one of the acts on the bill, thanks to violent lyrics cherry-picked from said artist's catalog over the years. (Hint: The artist in question isn't Dave Matthews or John Mayer, despite their violence to listeners' ears.)
Vincent J. Bove, who said he is a spokesman for seven of the victims' families, said yesterday that the parents are outraged that the Sept. 6 concert at the university would include the rapper Nas, who in one 1999 track chants, "Shoot 'em up, just shoot 'em up, what?" followed by whispers of "Kill, kill, kill, murder, murder, murder."
The lyrics "are indicative of the moral decay in our society that contributes to acts of violence," said Bove, a New Jersey security expert who has volunteered to speak for the families. "For a university official to condone it or to be clueless of what this person's track record is, it's unconscionable beyond belief."
"Clueless of what this person's track record is"? Pot, meet grammatically challenged kettle. The fact that the first lyrics cited by the anti-Nas faction are from a 1999 album makes me wonder if they were looking for lyrical trouble of some sort—the thinking being, of course, that all hip-hop is "violent," and getting Google results with mentions of killing and guns must be incontrovertible evidence that all of Nas' music is, too.
Later in the article, another relative speaks out about a song on Nas' Hip Hop Is Dead:
"My issue is not with Nas or his lyrics in any other place, but this is an opportunity for healing in the community," [brother of Virginia Tech victim Alicia] Farrell, 26, said from her home in Richmond. "It's the most inappropriate thing I could imagine hearing at such an event."
Of course, it's completely understandable that Farrell is still grieving, but it's hard to think that Nas would bust his way into an event and purposely perform songs with images that trigger traumatic memories in the minds of people who lived through the tragedy at Virginia Tech—in this case, the concert's entire audience. He has a wide-ranging catalog with a lot of anti-violence statements, and for people to assume that he'll pick the most aggressive songs from it is a troubling statement on how hip-hop is perceived in the post-Imus-controversy world.
Comments
Argh, this makes me so uneasy. Like he'd actually show up and go into some violent song? The man is donating his time to perform for a good cause and this is how he's repaid... Sometimes I hate people.
This is bullshit. Nas is one of the most talented and intelligent artists out there in hip hop. Maybe if they did any research beyond looking at his skin color before making their opinion, they would realize this. I wonder what other inoffensive white-bread musical acts they would rather have? James Blunt? I know that would offend me much more than Nas ever could.
This really pisses me off.
If I die in some horrific public tragedy and somebody organizes a Dave Matthews show in tribute, I will haunt the fuck out of them. Pans flying through the air, creaky doors, cold spots, all that shit.
Hey, didn't hip-hop kill Jesus, fuel the Holocaust, and cause the spread of AIDS? Enough already with hip-hop as the all-purpose bogeyman. Frankly, I feel like doing damage every time I happen to hear John Mayer warbling, but I don't see anyone fighting to keep that hump off the stage.
. . . and going after Nas, one of hip-hop's good guys, is especially repugnant.
They should maybe have our wonderful president, George W. Bush speak, you know, as a proponent of peace and non-violence.
Hello? Helllooooo?
You know how when you're getting married, if it were up to you, you'd have the DJ play you and your spouse's three favorite, slightly raunchy hip-hop songs, but your parents or your grandma would freak, so just to save everybody the hassle, you relent and play nothing raunchier than Hot Chocolate's "You Sexy Thing"?
Substitute the mourning Virginia Tech parents for your grandma, and this event for a wedding, and that's what this is. Clearly, the parents are boneheads who think anything with a beat behind it is "that awful rap stuff" and would find a way to complain about it.
But they're also too old to get it, and they're mourning their dead kids. I feel bad for Nas and think this is total BS, but if I were VT/the organizers, I'd just relent. I know, I'm a pussy.
No matter what you do, somebody is going to be up in arms about it. Nas is one of the most socially conscious hip-hop artists performing today. Even so, some ignorant fools are going to cry foul. It's how it is.
@PengIn: And it's the DMB people who apparently organized it or prompted it to be:
The program was assembled by members of the Dave Matthews Band, who are from Charlottesville and wanted to demonstrate their support for Virginia Tech by organizing the show, which would be free for students, faculty and recent graduates, said Chris Clough, a spokesman for the university.
It all just feels like a big session of "I'm OK, You're OK" that apparently didn't involve the families, unless I'm missing something in the article. I actually find that the most troubling of all!
oh, I was hoping for something to make me feel like it was 1993 again. Tubular!
@The Van Buren Boys: It's WHITE-BRED goddammit. As in, bred with a 'white' culture. I am not a goddamm PIECE OF LEAVENED YEAST. FUCK.
@bambino: Actually, no -- Van Buren Boys had it right. The phrase is "white-bread," as in Wonder bread, as in middle-American and soft. It's a metaphorical phrase.
Your assuming that the phrase is "white-bred" is actualy linguistically very clever/creative, but it's folk etymology on your part (and you're not the first to use this spelling). Seriously, check it out.
@dennisobell: I agree with you. If they're going to freak out and/or feel uncomfortable, they have the right to try to get it cancelled, because it's been set up for them, to make them feel all right. They don't need to confront their prejudices every step of the way.
Outside of that context, I don't support people being clueless.
I wonder if he'll play "Got Yourself a Gun"?
(I'm a VT alum and a Nas fan - well, when Nas is good, i.e. on three albums and "The Lost Tapes" and that's about it.)
im a student at tech and a listener to all music genre's. For these parents who are expressing there emotional concern that Nas' lyrical talent is too violent. I advise them to read the lyrics to his latest song "cant forget about you"...and then comment. I would seriously doubt that Nas would come to a memorial concert and preach about shooting people up. Being a rapper doesnt not mean your insensitive or ignorant
[www.azlyrics.com]
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