Another unplanned month away from my favourite passtime, reading a couple of hundred blog posts a day. Still, it’s all good cos coming back to the source and spending a whole day gorging myself is some kind of paradise. I’ll forgoe the detailed guided tour for a few edited highlights.

Such as this stonking piece of satire which hits particularly close to home. I figure my three year old daughter is too young to follow the lyrics but she loves dancing to crunk, grime and hyphy beats. Old school hip hop doesn’t seem to move her. On the other hand my eight year old son most definitely does get the gist of what I play so I try to keep it clean while he’s around, though occasionally he bursts in unannounced while I’m playing, say, Too $hort and tells me ‘daddy, I don’t think you should let me hear this’. Thing is, he knows a few rude words but he also knows he’s not allowed to say them until he’s older and has a better grip on what’s appropriate and where. He knows the difference between what he sees on TV, what he hears in music, and what’s allowed at home. He learned early on when we explained that no matter how much he saw the Power Rangers blowing people up it wasn’t good practice for him to try and do it.

Some people still don’t get that, though, and this piece addresses them. I’ll quote the first paragraph to give you a taste, but the whole thing is worth reading, right down to the priceless comments, almost more funny than the piece itself.

Hip-hop lyrics are ruining our country’s youth.

Others have been arguing that for years, with the debate really heating up lately. But it wasn’t until earlier this week while reading my toddler son the lyrics to Young Jeezy’s song “Bury Me a G” as a bedtime story that I realized how true it is.

LOL.

On the other hand, variety is always a good thing and even the most dedicated fans of obscenity in music (like me) will have to admit there’s times when we need to chill and listen to something icky and fun, like when the kids are about. If this interview is to be believed it’s a realisation the god Ghostface Killah has come round to over the last few years, to the point where he’s promising his next album will be profanity free and child friendly. Scroll down to the bottom of this link and listen to the whole interview, most definitely worth 22 minutes of anyones time, the kind of articulate reflective interview I’d been led to believe big rap stars just didn’t give.

The tantilising talk of new Ghostface music is countered by the sobering reality that it’ll probably be at least another year before it’s ready to bootleg. If you’re in need of some good clean fun in the meantime you could do way worse than Pharoahe Monch’s new direction…as an Elvis impersonator. Here’s hoping it’ll get my daughter dancing. Sure, hyphy’s great but I reckon every toddler needs a little hip hop in their lives.

Posted on Monday, May 28th, 2007by Ringo