Wave ya hands in the air…

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not the biggest rap fan in the world, but I’d like to thing I get it to a certain extent. That said, I was stunned to see The Grey Album show up on so many music critics’ Top Ten of 2004 lists. Am I the only one who thought the album was gimmicky crap? I’m convinced that most of the album’s appeal is due to DJ Dangermouse’s ability to market himself as some sort of martyr for the cause of artists’ rights (all the while ignoring the wishes of the artists who he sampled).

For those of you who fell under DM’s spell, you should check out The Kleptones’ brilliant A Night At The Hip-Hopera. The whole album is built around Queen backing-tracks, but unlike its more popular cousin, Hip-Hopera contains samples from a bunch of different rappers including De La Soul, Eminem, Vanilla Ice, and the Beastie Boys (all of whom I prefer to Jay-Z). The tracks “Stop” and “See” are better than anything on “The Grey Album”

Another key difference is that The Kleptones, unlike DM, didn’t rush their album into record stores (seriously, who sells 3000 copies of a “promo”?). They gave it away for free. Keep that in mind next time you hear a “Grey Album” supporter use cliches like “Information wants to be free”. That may be true, but that doesn’t mean DJ Dangermouse felt the same way. For “The Grey Album”, online distribution was an afterthought at best.


posted by greg on January 21, 2005 @ 1:07 pm

7 comments

  1. Vanilla Ice over Jay-Z … ouch.

    Comment by oyster — January 21, 2005 @ 3:17 pm

  2. I totally just downloaded this, and am really enjoying it. Thanks for the tip!

    Comment by Liz Miller — January 21, 2005 @ 5:27 pm

  3. “I’m convinced that most of the album’s appeal is due to DJ Dangermouse’s ability to market himself as some sort of martyr for the cause of artists’ rights.”

    As someone who found the album appealing enough to put on my own Top 10 List, I can say that I did it for no other reason than the songs being, y’know, good. Your mileage may vary, of course.

    Comment by Kyle — January 21, 2005 @ 6:03 pm

  4. you had me ’til vanilla ice.

    Comment by screw — January 21, 2005 @ 9:25 pm

  5. Personally, I thought “The Grey Album” was pretty clever. DM improved Eminem’s moody, boring beat on “Moment Of Clarity” and while the Helter Skeleter/99 Problems mash didn’t overtake the original beat, it came pretty close. And let’s be serious here - like what you like, of course - but when it comes to actual skills, Jay-Z murders De La and The Beastie Boys. Eminem is vastly overrated, but at least he can hold his own next to Jay (even if he’s not as nice.) In my opinion, Em was better back when he was actually fun (see “Any Man” from Soundbombing 2) rather than now, in his current dreary, goth-lite incarnation.

    Comment by things fall apart — January 22, 2005 @ 5:07 am

  6. i’ve been trying to get people to listen to hip-hopera, cause i am totally in love with it. most of the work is pretty seamless, being both a fan of queen and an admirer of the hip-hop acts that the kleptones included. I thought that the inclusion of V.Ice samples was hilarious, considering he stole the bass-line from ‘under pressure’ to make his biggest hit… poetic justice, thy name is mash-up music

    Comment by r.cynic — January 22, 2005 @ 7:51 am

  7. Actually, I think The Kleptones’ Flaming Lips mash-up Yoshimi Battles the Hip Hop Robots is even better than A Night at the Hip Hopera. Check it out if you haven’t already. (Torrent file available at www.kleptones.com.

    Comment by wildsoda — January 22, 2005 @ 11:37 am

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