Turn on, tune in, hip-hop
Try these two podcasts, but add a Bizarro World twist
I came across two new podcasts that are worth listening to, but I’d suggest you apply the Bizarro World treatment: Listen first to the one that doesn’t sound like it’s made for you. You’ll be surprised.
“No Skips With Jinx and Shea” examines hip-hop culture one album at a time, with favorites from rappers like 50 Cent, Kendrick Lamar and Lil’ Kim, and “70 Over 70” has interviews with people who fit into one age group, like Sister Helen Prejean, actor André De Shields and singer Dionne Warwick.
If you’re, say, 30, you might roll your eyes at “70 Over 70,” figuring it will be full of rambling stories and recipes for stewed prunes. But the people Max Linsky interviews aren’t preoccupied with growing old — just growing.
When he won a Tony Award at age 73 for “Hadestown,” De Shields offered some timeless advice, including this: “Slowly is the fastest way to get to where you want to be.” He said on the podcast that people rush around so much because they’re under the misconception that life is short.
“I don’t buy into that. Life is long. It appears short because we are in a hurry to accumulate things. That is not the meaning of life. Life is for you to realize your purpose.”
And lots of times that involves overcoming insecurities, even if you hit it big, said De Shields, who had the title role in “The Wiz” before he was 30. “Every time you get up in the morning, your ego is standing at your bed like this: ‘Why are you thinking of getting out of bed? Ain’t nothing for you to do. You think you deserve something in this world? Go on back to sleep.’”
Prejean, a strong opponent of the death penalty and author of “Dead Man Walking,” described how her fellow sisters of St. Joseph had helped keep her youthful exuberance in check. “I had all these half-baked ideas like you would not believe, and their little saying about me was, ‘There goes Helen again with one of her harebrained schemes, her feet firmly planted in mid-air.’”
Warwick talked about how Twitter helped her connect with much-younger fans. Now the 80-year-old is working on recordings with Chance the Rapper and The Weeknd.
I get the feeling that a Venn diagram of “white AARP members” and “rap music fans” wouldn’t exactly have a huge overlap. That’s a shame, because some of the best writing you’ll ever see is in rap lyrics, even if it makes you clutch your pearls.
Check out the responses to this tweet from author Shea Serrano, who co-hosts “No Skips” with Brandon “Jinx” Jenkins:
Serrano said that powerful lyrics are crucial for any album to make it on the podcast. “There have to be parts in it where the person says things and it automatically just forces an image into your head — without even like trying to do it. You don’t even have to sit there and focus and listen. They’re just saying it and then it’s playing like in your cerebellum somewhere, just reflexively.”
In the case of her first solo album, 1996’s “Hard Core,” Lil’ Kim brought up images before she even sang a word. Her 2-minute intro has a man going into an adult theater to see her. Let’s just say he ordered popcorn — with lots of butter.
Toto, I have a feeling we’re not hearing Tony Bennett anymore.
Serrano and Jenkins go over some of the standout songs, like “Queen Bitch” and “Crush on You” in Lil’ Kim’s case, as well as things like best lyric, best guest vocal and least favorite song.
Their podcasts tend to be about 100 minutes — about 70 over “70 Over 70” — but Spotify has transcripts, so you can find what interests you. As they discussed 50 Cent’s “Get Rich or Die Tryin’,” the two talked about everything from the rapper getting shot nine times to his (musical) feud with Ja Rule to how producer Dr. Dre tailored one song, “Heat,” to 50 Cent’s connection with guns.
“And on this one he was like, ‘Oh, 50 Cent. I’ll use some guns for the actual song,’” Serrano said. “Not like we’re gonna play them in the background. He’s using them like instruments in here, like the way someone would use an 808 or a snare.”
If you want to expand your horizons, but the albums from the podcast seem too intense, here’s a playlist from me of 30 songs, starting with a few that could be labeled R&B or pop, then escalating into bolder stuff.
Murphy Slaw
Something old: Not all news on the internet is created equal — some is just created. For lots of newbies, though, it’s hard to tell who to trust, and older people can be particularly gullible. This short course from the Poynter Institute’s Media Wise for Seniors (free the last time I checked) might help.
Something new: When she received best lead actress honors at the BAFTA TV awards, Michaela Coel of HBO’s “I May Destroy You” took an unusual step: She dedicated the award to the show’s director of intimacy, Ita O’Brien. Jobs like O’Brien’s have become more common to help actors feel less exploited during sexually graphic — and sometimes disturbing — scenes.
Something borrowed: This is a great Twitter thread if you want to unleash your inner Cliff Clavin:
Something blue: An American Express commercial shows a guy getting a text at 4:10 a.m. “Who goes right back to sleep after getting an alert of an unusual charge on their credit card? You do,” the ad says, touting AmEx’s round the clock fraud protection.
If most people get a text at 4:10 a.m., they probably expect that someone is (a) dead, (b) seriously hurt or (c) incredibly horny.
If that text came from my credit card company, my reply would consist of two words, the second of which is “you.”