This year my guilty pleasure has been what I lovingly (no, really) refer to as "unconscious hip hop". I find a complete lack of a message or any point whatsoever in a song refreshing. I mean, Seinfeld built a whole career on a show about nothing, right? For an artist or track to be classified under the genre of Unconscious Hip Hop they must fulfill at least two of the following criteria:
1. Artist is completely disconnected from reality, in a way that could only be described as "unconscious" (See Hurricane Chris)
2. Song must consist only of completely idiotic, nonsensical lyrics. May or may not be inside jokes (See "Crank that")
3. Poor production values (See video for "Lean Like a Cholo" or the beat for "Laffy Taffy")
Bonus points for a completely unoriginal video premise (See "Pop, Lock and Drop It")
Here's a track listing for the Unconscious mix CD that's in the works. Am I missing anything? How about the criteria? Up to snuff? Next stop, Urban Dictionary.com!
Do Not Resuscitate Vol. 1:
Unconscious Hip Hop of 2006-2007
1. Hurricane Chris- A Bay Bay
2. D4L- Laffy Taffy
3. Soulja Boy- Crank That
4. Down AKA Kilo- Lean Like a Cholo
5. Plies feat. T-Pain - Shawty
6. Young Jeezy- Go Getta (This one might be eliminated. It's semi-conscious.)
7. Chamillionaire- Ridin' Dirty
8. T-Pain- Buy You A Drink (Also might be eliminated.)
9. Huey- Pop, Lock and Drop It
10. Dem Franchize Boyz - Lean Wit It, Rock Wit It or I Think They Like Me
(I can't find the more unconscious, non-remixed version)
11. Jibbs- Chain Hang Low (A song Jasonic succinctly called "a chilling take on modern slavery")
12. R Kelly- Chapter 22 or Real Talk*
*Kel really doesn't belong here but I feel compelled to put him on here anyway. In fact, many argue that R. Kelly's lyrics describing woman named Bridget with midget lovers are quite calculated. Kelefa Sanneh from the New York Times thinks he knows exactly what he's doing.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment