an entertainer ain't tryin' cause he already is

some essential hip-hop readings:

• hip hop culture. without the beat, there is no groove, without the groove, there is no music.


• hip hop fashion. no one can tell that i'm a hip hop fan by the way i dress - which is good. i wanted a kangol tropic ventair so bad in college. i didn't. the only piece of hip hop fashion i have is a baggy pair of pants. but hip hop is not all about fashion. it's the attitude, yo.


• youth gangs and assumptions about culture. an essay about gang culture and hip hop. come to think of it, what are the roots of hip hop in malaysia? take for example too phat (respect to the eastside!), how do they come about being a hip hop act? or kru (kumpulan rap unggul?). is it poverty? oppression? gansterism? urban culture?


• blogs: can't stop won't stop, poplicks, hip hop music

and finally, a true story involving yours truly: back in college, there was a time when i went party hopping with a some friends (and their friends). only problem was, there weren't any happening parties around (i think it was close to midterm exams so parties were scarce). anyways, we ended up at a house, there was no liquor. so i went out with two white guys (friends of a friend) to get liquor. there was this guy, dressed in white pants, white shirt and white sweater, young and boyish looking with short blonde hair, whom was introduced to me as marshall. the other guy looked like some kind of a jockey, with adidas hat and adidas sweaters. for college guys - they were hip in the way they dress. dig this - the moment we were in the car, they were blasting gangsta rap. and not only that - they were rapping along as well! i could not remember who it was - it could be kool g rap - but i was amazed. two white guys - and they were rapping along, word for word, to some kick-ass gangsta rap shit.

that was the last time i hung out with them - they were from detroit or something. anyways, the last i heard, marshall changed his name to slim shady aka eminem, and went to become, well, you know who.

listening to: lyrics born - send them

p/s: okay i made up the last paragraph, but i swear, eminem wasn't even around that time (ninetyeight)

pp/s: where can i get kangol gear in .my? (yeah i'm old skool)