SPIN

May 30, 2012 – For those keeping score at home, the list of rappers who are ostensibly in favor of same-sex marriage now includes Ice Cube, T.I., 50 Cent, and Kendrick Lamar. I don't know this because they made bold, formal statements like Jay-Z. I know this because they were asked by Ad Age, MTV, Vibe, and DJ Drama's Streetz Is Watchin' Sirius/XM radio show, and then their answers were turned into blog fodder and disseminated across the Internet. The impulse to ask rappers what they think about same-sex marriage contributes little to the discussion of this important issue, though it is a page-view win-win: If a rapper is cool with it, well, there's a story; If you ask them and they disagree, well, you've got an even bigger news story. Hopefully, they might slip up and say something homophobic! As you might expect, all four rappers answered with fairly hedged responses.

May 30, 2012 – The highlight of Brooklyn-via-Pittsburgh producer/DJ Skinny Friedman's 2011 Trap Rave EP is "Nine Piece (Blowin' Moombahton Fast Pt. 2)," a sea of Rick Ross barks, handguns being cocked, and clacking, snapping percussion, all set to the mid-tempo, Jimmy Buffet-on-Ecstasy shuffle of moombahton. Though don't sleep on Trap Rave's seven-plus-minute moombah remix of Juicy J and Lex Luger's "Who Da Neighbors," either. Hammering radio and Internet-rap favorites into the confines of global dance music's bleeding edge isn't all that impressive in and of itself. It might even be mad corny, but Trap Rave felt like both an oh-no-he-didn't acknowledgement of all those opportunistic bottle-service remixers, as well as a rap-sensitive producer showing a bunch of clowns how to do it right.

May 29, 2012 – "I'm not a star, somebody lied / I ride the subway as a car, I'm getting by." That's Oddisee on "Do It All," the collaborative track with his DC supergroup Diamond District, from his new album, People Hear What They See. The producer/rapper just kind of throws that line out there, subtly grounding Rick Ross' hammy modesty with a gentlemanly dose of honesty. This is but one of People Hear What They See's many thoughtful takes on rap's rote subjects. If there's a concept to the album, it would be approaching the entry-level boasts and well, bullshit of rap, and turning them into true, lived-in representations of everyday life. "American Greed" is the "get money" song with a widescreen worldview of risk and reward, and "You Know Who You Are," is a track for "the haters" twisted into a celebration of those who've supported you, and a request for introspection.

May 25, 2012 – I've been meaning to talk about RJ Smith's The One: The Life and Music Of James Brown for a few months now. I guess it's a biography of James Brown, though it's more like a very long essay about J.B. that moves through his life chronologically but doesn't feel the need to touch on every moment, assumes that you know some things about the legend, and will jump into these poignant asides about, like, shamans, and the wrestler Gorgeous George, or give you a quick history of the Cracker political party, and then dive right back into the R&B/soul/funk icon's life. I want to call it a "post-biography," but that's the worst thing I've ever typed. Have you, by any chance, read David Thomson's The Whole Equation: A History of Hollywood?

May 25, 2012 – "Stay humble," "keep it real," etc. are core values tha tevery rapper has internalized. For Pepper Boy, however, they're the only ones that seem to matter. On his new EP Days of Grace, the Little Rock, Arkansas, rapper is exceedingly humble and nobly sincere, lacing his street tales with an inviting kindness that always take care to steer clear of cynicism and cruelty. Opening track "Change Gonna Come" is Pepper Boy as world-weary moralist, espousing all-American ideals like the importance of family and respect for the military. Yet, there's something hesitant in his voice that makes sure to communicate that sometimes, even that shit isn't enough to make things work out.

May 23, 2012 – Detroit producer Skywlkr, best known for his contributions to Danny Brown's XXX, has been releasing beat-tapes — actual cassette tapes — before every blissed-out beatmaker jumped on the post-Clams Casino instrumental mixtape bandwagon. In 2010, Skywlkr released Strawberry Cough and following the success of XXX, he pressed-up a sequel, Blueberry Cough. His new free download, Impressions, though, is the first chance — outside of cassette-only runs of 100 — to hear some rap-free Skywlkr beats. If you watched Pitchfork's Danny Brown documentary, Detroit State of Mind, you may have noticed Skywlkr hovering in the background, smoking weed and sporting a quite rakish Gucci sweatshirt.

May 18, 2012 – One of my favorite songs by the late Chuck Brown is 1988's "That'll Work (2001)," a go-go version of Richard Strauss' "Also Sprach Zarathustra." The credits on the 12-inch read like this: Written by Richard Strauss, arrangement by Deodato, additional arrangement by Chuck Brown. So specifically, "That’ll Work" references Eumir Deodato’s take on "Also Sprach Zarathustra" from 1972’s Prelude. Deodato’s "Also Sprach Zarathustra" is used to hilarious, deadpan effect in Hal Ashby’s 1979 movie Being There. It plays when Peter Sellers’ character, Chance the Gardener (or Chauncey Gardiner), leaves his caretaker’s home for the very first time and sees the outside world. In Being There, that outside world is Washington, DC, the birthplace of go-go. You can watch that scene from Being There here.

May 18, 2012 – Twenty years after the Pharcyde's debut, Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde, it seems like that pack of self-deprecating MCs are finally getting the credit they've always deserved. You can spot their logo on T-shirts in stores like Urban Outfitters right next to Biggie and Tribe apparel, Booty Brown dropped a verse on Geoff Barrow's Quakers project, and last month, for Record Store Day, the ornate Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde: The Single Collection Music Box was released, complete with liner notes written by J-Sw!ft, the producer behind the Pharcyde's 1992 classic.

May 18, 2012 – LoveRance's "UP!” is currently number four on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop chart, with a rather curious "featuring" credit: "LoveRance featuring Iamsu! & Skipper or 50 Cent." "UP!" was a minor hit last summer and began sneaking onto radio playlists in the fall. It seemed of a piece with Chris Brown's similarly spare "Strip.” Then, Tyga's "Rack City" arrived and brought with it a sudden, nationwide demand for minimalist hip-hop. DJs began mixing "UP!" with "Rack City," "Strip," Drake's "The Motto,” and anything else that was the opposite of maximalist Lex Luger's once-vital, now tedious slam-bam-glitch bangers. In December, a 50 Cent remix of "UP!" arrived, giving the song the final push it needed to be absorbed by the mainstream.

May 17, 2012 – A French presidential candidate — now president — using a viral political advertisement featuring a song from Watch the Throne, Jay-Z co-signing president Barack Obama's pro-same-sex marriage sentiments, and the president shouting out Young Jeezy and slow jamming the news, are all reasons to rejoice in the cultural and political exchange that hip-hop has enabled. Back in April, then socialist party candidate Francois Hollande embraced an ad that celebrated/enforced his cross-cultural appeal using Jay-Z and Kanye West's "Niggas In Paris." Given its title and the ad's message (a celebration of minority voting power in France), "Niggas In Paris" is literally the worst rap song that could be chosen, but it seems like it was there for its zeitgeist — as the rap song of 2011 — more than any literal meaning.