Hip-Hop Is Really Old

By Ta-Nehisi Coates

I was just thinking back on this Skinny Boys joint, "Jock Box." This was back in the days of dinosaurs when you couldn't have a rap group, without having a beatbox. Jock Box was The Skinny Boys entry. This joint came out twenty five years ago, and the reasons I liked it as a ten year old are not the same reasons I liked early Boogie Down Productions and I don't think those are the same reasons I liked Nas.

I do a lot of talking here about lyrics. But that's mostly because I don't know enough to discuss hip-hop, musically. Still it's worth noting that very often--especially with the Skinny Boys--I just liked the sound. It's also why I shy away from hardcore judgments about today's scene. Aesthetics in art change. There's no reason to expect them not to.

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http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/04/hip-hop-is-really-old/237130/