The pioneers of space nerd rap, Def Jux is done. So sad, just when this weird rap shit was starting to catch on too. I guess when Lil Wayne is making stream of consciousness raps about how he’s a Martian, Kanye is rapping over Can samples and Kid Cudi drops an album with faux Vangelis instrumentals and a cover by Bill Sienkiewicz there’s really no more room for the likes of EL-P rapping about Disney characters, Cannibal Ox sounding like rap from the ghettos of A Clockwork Orange and Aesop Rock being the best rapper alive (with a BFA). No one today is making that weird transition from appreciation pop rap to “keepin’ it real” with Okayplayer type shit to the polysyllabic concept rap that Def Jux peddled in. Shoutout to Def Jux though, for making it ok to reference Phillip K. Dick, Emerson Lake & Palmer and Galactus and still kinda be hard about it. Also, EL-P was kinda one of the nicest dudes with an MPC ever when he was on his shit.
However, just like like cellphones made watches obsolete by telling the time as well as making calls, so have the newer class of rappers who pull from myriad sources made dudes that were popular with a small niche not that necessary. We all remember John Henry fondly but I’m pretty sure we’re all happy with machines laying train tracks. Maybe in like 15 years there’ll be a VH1 Hip Hop Honors for Def Jux and some new version of Soulja Boy will be talking about how much he loved listening to his dad’s copy of Fantastic Damage.
Maybe.
Well pour one out for EL-P and them boys and maybe throw on the The Cold Vein, while they move their shit into the retirement home for rap dudes. Tell the Lost Boys we still singing Renee out here.
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EL-P – Dead Disnee
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Cannibal Ox – Atom
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Company Flow – End To End Burner (remix)
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Comments ( 1 Comment )
krewl added these pithy words on Feb 09 10 at 1:41 pmOh snap… I predicted this like six months ago and people got mad at me. Told ya so.
