Post #4

For this installment of "I Wish I Written That" I have found the holy grail of all blog posts. The king of all blog posts. If there was a blog post equivalent of Daniel Day Lewis' acting skills, this would be the blog post. Okay, maybe that's an outrageous statement to make, but I really love what Christopher R. Weingarten of Rolling Stone Magazine wrote recently on the Rolling Stone website. He connected my two favorite loves, Bob Dylan and hip-hop music. The blog post is called: "Is Bob Dylan Hip-Hop’s Godfather? His Ties to Beasties, Roots, More."

Not only does it contain my all-time favorite musician and my favorite genre of music, but it goes more in-depth into something I had touched on before. Just the title alone is going to catch a reader's attention. It'll attract the so-called Dylanologists and the hip hoppas to spark some kind of debate, therefore generating user comments.

Excerpt #1

Is this the very first rap song ever? Dylan’s rollicking “Subterranean Homesick Blues” predates hip-hop’s labyrinthine rhyme schemes, anti-authority philosophy, pop-culture obsessions and street-level turns-of-slang; distilling bohemian counterculture, war paranoia and the ongoing civil rights struggle into a two-minute barrage of fascinating wordplay. At once political and pop, “Subterranean Homesick Blues” was Dylan’s first Top 40 single.

Excerpt one is the first supporting point in Weingarten's thesis. I'm sure we all know when throwing down an agrument, your first point has to be super strong and Weingarten accomplishes that by going straight to 1965's Subterranean Homesick Blues. If one is to study the uprising of hip hop in the 1980s (I know hip-hop culture started way back in the 70s, but I'm talking about that burst into the mainstream), it contained all the elements Weingarten mentioned in that excerpt. Then for bonus he throws in the factoid about the song being Dylan's first Top 40 hit. Weingarten manages in his first point to present a strong argument, prove he knows his Dylan, and shows that he understands hip-hop music as well. Bravo!

Excerpt # 2

Three years later, the boys would sample Dylan’s “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues” for their “Finger Lickin’ Good” — a clearance that would ultimately cost them $700. Mike D told Boston Rock, “He asked for $2,000. I thought it was kind of fly that he asked for $2,000 and I bartered Bob Dylan down. That’s my proudest sampling deal.” Their upcoming Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 2 is set to feature another sample of Dylan, a spoken word bit where he talked about the Boys on his satellite radio show.

Another connection of two of my favorite artists in this post - Dylan and the Beastie Boys! Awesome. I always knew about the Dylan references in the Beastie Boys songs Weingarten brought up, but what I didn't know was the story he added on at the end of the point. Obviously it'll be interesting to me since I'm both a fan of Dylan and the Boys, however that kind of story can appeal to any music lover. Why? The fact that they not only managed to clear a sample, but cleared it for only $700. Now, this all took place back in the early 90s, and today clearing samples is a lot harder and way more expensive. I'm surprised someone like Dylan even cleared a sample of his since. But maybe he feels guilty about the fact he stole a ton of people's songs in the early 60s.

Excerpt #3

In the second episode of his Sirius Satellite Radio program, Theme Time Radio Hour, Dylan dropped a gravelly rendition of the LL Cool J classic. Naturally, LL Cool J was totally honored, and told TMZ, “That blows me away… What he needs to do is call me and let’s do it together. I encourage everyone to get out there and buy Bob Dylan’s records”

This, I love. If you've yet to hear Dylan's take on Mama Said Knock You Out, then you're really missing out. Of course containing this in an argument about Dylan's connection to hip-hop music is a good move even though it really doesn't prove anything besides Dylan liking a song because it will make a lot of readers laugh. And if you can get the reader to laugh, they'll have a better memory about your blog post. I also loved that Weingarten included LL Cool J's quote about Dylan, because I never heard that before. I always thought Dylan needed to do another collaboration with a rapper, so if those two can hook up and actually make it happen, that would be awesome.

Well that's all I got for you this week. Scatter off now and go listen to Bob Dylan, Yo!