About Those SNL Raps

March 13, 2006

About Those SNL Raps

Do we need another newspaper article for every skit these guys do?

'Thug' Natalie rocks hip-hop world

...The shock value of the lyrics, which Portman co-wrote, is fueling the buzz over her "Gangsta Rap," which has become an internet sensation - just in time for next week’s opening of her new movie, “V for Vendetta..."

"...They’re basically saying, 'I'm a white girl doing this and that’s funny, even though if I was a black male it wouldn’t be’,” said Cambridge rapper Elemental Zazen. As repugnant as some hip-hop artists find the comedy world’s attempt to co-opt rap music, Zazen says the phenomenon makes a larger point. "Lyrically, it’s (expletive)," he said. "But rap is so lame these days that you could package Natalie Portman like that and she would probably sell records."

A couple of points:

1. Poplicks pegged my reaction to the short itself: pretty funny, but compared to to "Lazy Sunday" it comes off, for lack of a better word, lazy. "Sunday" had lots of other cleverness packed inside it beyond the basic premise, while this one basically runs on the one joke, and borrows lines wholesale to fill space. I hope the Lonely Island kids realize this well has run dry, and figure out some new tricks.

2. Gotta disagree with Elemental Zazen's suggestion that this rap wouldn't be funny if Black people were delivering it, because all the original tracks this skit references were also totally funny. The lines Portman cribs directly from Eazy E and Sir Mixalot, for example, were funny in the original songs just as they are here. Not for all the same reasons, but funny nonetheless, and intentionally so. To assume there was no wit or self-awareness in their gangsta (and no appreciation of this in their audience) is a major mistake.

But this does raise other questions: contrary to Zazen's quote you really couldn't put Natalie's rap on the market now, because it doesn't sounds like current hip-hop at all. Instead draws entirely from the styles of 15-20 years ago, and it's intriguing to consider why that choice might be necessary.. how differently it might come across if they really did ape the style of current gun/snow/street/trap raps. Would it fall flat because today's versions lack that sort of self-awareness?

I mean of course the 50s and Jeezys have their own sort of wit going on, but the basic posture they assume is meant to be taken seriously and at face value in a different way than the old stuff. Their gun-toting or hustling isn't really about shock value.. what might once be delivered as knowingly outlandish and over-the-top (if only just that tiny bit) is now offered as a straightforward, almost mundane/perfunctory verification of their authenticity in the role.. they don't expect us to be shocked by it, they just want us to buy into it.

Maybe that's what makes some of us uncomfortable about these skits, that they bring home how today's rappers have lost track of the joke?

Posted by jsmooth995 at March 13, 2006 12:57 PM

Comments

I have so much to say about this.

Ever since the Chronic of Narnia. And the notion that this shit is better than hip-hop. as well the creation of eminem (a white dude) as the great lyricist and the clowns like 50 (black) being totally highly publicized while being totally unpoetic.

Something has been afoot with this shit for a very long time.

But I can't comment now as I am totally spent from the KRS war.

If smooth keeps this relevant I'll tie everything together in a couple of days.

-Black People

Posted by: Black People at March 13, 2006 03:57 PM

All I know is I feel like I'm missing a humor chip or something because I'm the only person on earth that didn't find either of them *that* hilarious. Chronic of Narnia was sort of quietly amusing the first time, and I couldn't even finish watching the Natalie one because, the humor of "hi I'm adorable and brilliant and a movie star and a princess but I want to get drunk and fight" just wore thin after a minute.

Nine out of ten film stars make me bored. :-/

Posted by: jette at March 13, 2006 05:42 PM

Part of the humor of this latest one is that Portman agreed to do it AT ALL, not to mention the fact that she kept herself on meter.

The common perception is that actresses of her stature are too good to stoop to this low level of humor. Can you imagine Portman lookalike Kiera Knightly pulling this off convincingly?

Chris Parnell has been mining the "white dudes can rap" vein for several years now, but only with these little SNL videos has he hit any sort of stride. Obviously he has a love of NWA-era gangsta rap, which (as Jay Smooth pointed out) was funny to begin with.

btw: Strange comments about Em and 50, BP. Can you elaborate? I mean, Em signed 50 and made him a star-- is that what bothers you, that it took a white rapper to help a black rapper shine? What if 50's joint after Jam Master Jay signed him had gone through the roof? Would it be an issue then?

Posted by: James at March 13, 2006 07:05 PM

Damn, let it go already.

I agree with Jette, but I want to add that I'm surprised this even warrants a post on hiphopmusic.com. This is news? People who you wouldn't expect to be rapping actually rapping as a gimmick? What exactly is the larger issue here? So Samberg and co. are a bunch of frustrated musicians who want to prove that in addition to their (non) comedy chops, they have some skills on the mic. Who cares? SNL was dead & stinking a long time ago, I didn't even know about these videos until you directed me to You Tube. Now everyone's fussing about the greater meaning behind these stupid skits, the only reason they're so popular is because compared to the rest of the garbage SNL regularly churns out, this actually took a modicum of thought, work, and attention to production values.

Jesus, next you'll be analyzing the Geico commercials with that asinine lizard...

Posted by: kami at March 14, 2006 10:11 AM

James,
I'll get to you in a minute. For now and in the future, don't throw out bait like "is that what bothers you, that it took a white rapper to help a black rapper shine?" I won't bite.

In the meantime, maybe you can predict where I'm going. Presently, (to some) the best rapper is white. And the worst music (presumably) is being put out black people (50 & down south artists). It would seem that anyone can rap at these levels, right? And these skits make rhyming seem effortless, right?

I'll be back shorty. Sorry for the fragments.

-Black People

Posted by: Black People at March 14, 2006 03:53 PM

The cow is already out of the barn, folks. How can you co-opt hip hop? The music hasn't been a secret in a while. As a matter of fact, if you're going to measure by ubiquity, sales, etc. Hip Hop is the dominant music form in this country. I'm not arguing that hip hop has sold out, but the tension has always been there. Jeff Chang did a great job describing it in his book: commercial versus (for lack of a better word) authentic.

Anyways, I'm using a lot of words to simply say this: Given Hip Hop's place in popular culture, wouldn't playing off of any other genre make SNL more culturally irrelevant? Pop hasn't been on top like that since the 80's. Rock hasn't been on top since the 70s.

Posted by: janine at March 14, 2006 04:34 PM

Moreover, why should any of that surprise people or be a problem? Producers are out there, working like NASA engineers to make the most pleasurable sounding beats that have ever existed, combining the complete catalog of over a hundred years of recorded music. You can't honestly expect it to be ignored.

I'm sure there's tons of White kids my age (and an even larger chunk of kids younger than me) feel that Hip Hop is the sound they grew up on, just like UTFO's "Split Personality" was the first radio song I learned all the words to.

Posted by: janine at March 14, 2006 04:52 PM

This is cool, you have to try it. I guessed 26782, and this game guessed it! See it here - http://www.funbrain.com/guess/

Posted by: Allison Trump at May 23, 2006 11:54 PM

Saturday Night Live is a comedy show. Comedy depends on the absurd. A little white chick rapping in your face is absurd and, therefore, funny. Explaining why a joke is funny kills the joke. *sigh*

Posted by: Bunny at June 3, 2006 11:57 AM


March 13, 2006 About Those SNL Raps Do we need another newspaper article for every skit these guys do? 'Thug' Natalie rocks hip-hop world ...The shock value of the lyrics, which Portman co-wrote, is fueling the buzz over her "Gangsta Rap," which has become an internet sensation - just in time for next week’s opening of her new movie, “V for Vendetta..." "...They’re basically saying, 'I'm a white girl doing this and that’s funny, even though if I was a black male it wouldn’t be’,” said Cambridge rapper Elemental Zazen. As repugnant as some hip-hop artists find the comedy world’s attempt to co-opt rap music, Zazen says the phenomenon makes a larger point. "Lyrically, it’s (expletive)," he said. "But rap is so lame these days that you could package Natalie Portman like that and she would probably sell records." A couple of points: 1. Poplicks pegged my reaction to the short itself: pretty funny, but compared to to "Lazy Sunday" it comes off, for lack of a better word, lazy. "Sunday" had lots of other cleverness packed inside it beyond the basic premise, while this one basically runs on the one joke, and borrows lines wholesale to fill space. I hope the Lonely Island kids realize this well has run dry, and figure out some new tricks. 2. Gotta disagree with Elemental Zazen's suggestion that this rap wouldn't be funny if Black people were delivering it, because all the original tracks this skit references were also totally funny. The lines Portman cribs directly from Eazy E and Sir Mixalot, for example, were funny in the original songs just as they are here. Not for all the same reasons, but funny nonetheless, and intentionally so. To assume there was no wit or self-awareness in their gangsta (and no appreciation of this in their audience) is a major mistake. But this does raise other questions: contrary to Zazen's quote you really couldn't put Natalie's rap on the market now, because it doesn't sounds like current hip-hop at all. Instead draws entirely from the styles of 15-20 years ago, and it's intriguing to consider why that choice might be necessary.. how differently it might come across if they really did ape the style of current gun/snow/street/trap raps. Would it fall flat because today's versions lack that sort of self-awareness? I mean of course the 50s and Jeezys have their own sort of wit going on, but the basic posture they assume is meant to be taken seriously and at face value in a different way than the old stuff. Their gun-toting or hustling isn't really about shock value.. what might once be delivered as knowingly outlandish and over-the-top (if only just that tiny bit) is now offered as a straightforward, almost mundane/perfunctory verification of their authenticity in the role.. they don't expect us to be shocked by it, they just want us to buy into it. Maybe that's what makes some of us uncomfortable about these skits, that they bring home how today's rappers have lost track of the joke? Posted by jsmooth995 at March 13, 2006 12:57 PM Comments I have so much to say about this. Ever since the Chronic of Narnia. And the notion that this shit is better than hip-hop. as well the creation of eminem (a white dude) as the great lyricist and the clowns like 50 (black) being totally highly publicized while being totally unpoetic. Something has been afoot with this shit for a very long time. But I can't comment now as I am totally spent from the KRS war. If smooth keeps this relevant I'll tie everything together in a couple of days. -Black People Posted by: Black People at March 13, 2006 03:57 PM All I know is I feel like I'm missing a humor chip or something because I'm the only person on earth that didn't find either of them that hilarious. Chronic of Narnia was sort of quietly amusing the first time, and I couldn't even finish watching the Natalie one because, the humor of "hi I'm adorable and brilliant and a movie star and a princess but I want to get drunk and fight" just wore thin after a minute. Nine out of ten film stars make me bored. :-/ Posted by: jette at March 13, 2006 05:42 PM Part of the humor of this latest one is that Portman agreed to do it AT ALL, not to mention the fact that she kept herself on meter. The common perception is that actresses of her stature are too good to stoop to this low level of humor. Can you imagine Portman lookalike Kiera Knightly pulling this off convincingly? Chris Parnell has been mining the "white dudes can rap" vein for several years now, but only with these little SNL videos has he hit any sort of stride. Obviously he has a love of NWA-era gangsta rap, which (as Jay Smooth pointed out) was funny to begin with. btw: Strange comments about Em and 50, BP. Can you elaborate? I mean, Em signed 50 and made him a star-- is that what bothers you, that it took a white rapper to help a black rapper shine? What if 50's joint after Jam Master Jay signed him had gone through the roof? Would it be an issue then? Posted by: James at March 13, 2006 07:05 PM Damn, let it go already. I agree with Jette, but I want to add that I'm surprised this even warrants a post on hiphopmusic.com. This is news? People who you wouldn't expect to be rapping actually rapping as a gimmick? What exactly is the larger issue here? So Samberg and co. are a bunch of frustrated musicians who want to prove that in addition to their (non) comedy chops, they have some skills on the mic. Who cares? SNL was dead & stinking a long time ago, I didn't even know about these videos until you directed me to You Tube. Now everyone's fussing about the greater meaning behind these stupid skits, the only reason they're so popular is because compared to the rest of the garbage SNL regularly churns out, this actually took a modicum of thought, work, and attention to production values. Jesus, next you'll be analyzing the Geico commercials with that asinine lizard... Posted by: kami at March 14, 2006 10:11 AM James, I'll get to you in a minute. For now and in the future, don't throw out bait like "is that what bothers you, that it took a white rapper to help a black rapper shine?" I won't bite. In the meantime, maybe you can predict where I'm going. Presently, (to some) the best rapper is white. And the worst music (presumably) is being put out black people (50 & down south artists). It would seem that anyone can rap at these levels, right? And these skits make rhyming seem effortless, right? I'll be back shorty. Sorry for the fragments. -Black People Posted by: Black People at March 14, 2006 03:53 PM The cow is already out of the barn, folks. How can you co-opt hip hop? The music hasn't been a secret in a while. As a matter of fact, if you're going to measure by ubiquity, sales, etc. Hip Hop is the dominant music form in this country. I'm not arguing that hip hop has sold out, but the tension has always been there. Jeff Chang did a great job describing it in his book: commercial versus (for lack of a better word) authentic. Anyways, I'm using a lot of words to simply say this: Given Hip Hop's place in popular culture, wouldn't playing off of any other genre make SNL more culturally irrelevant? Pop hasn't been on top like that since the 80's. Rock hasn't been on top since the 70s. Posted by: janine at March 14, 2006 04:34 PM Moreover, why should any of that surprise people or be a problem? Producers are out there, working like NASA engineers to make the most pleasurable sounding beats that have ever existed, combining the complete catalog of over a hundred years of recorded music. You can't honestly expect it to be ignored. I'm sure there's tons of White kids my age (and an even larger chunk of kids younger than me) feel that Hip Hop is the sound they grew up on, just like UTFO's "Split Personality" was the first radio song I learned all the words to. Posted by: janine at March 14, 2006 04:52 PM This is cool, you have to try it. I guessed 26782, and this game guessed it! See it here - http://www.funbrain.com/guess/ Posted by: Allison Trump at May 23, 2006 11:54 PM Saturday Night Live is a comedy show. Comedy depends on the absurd. A little white chick rapping in your face is absurd and, therefore, funny. Explaining why a joke is funny kills the joke. sigh Posted by: Bunny at June 3, 2006 11:57 AM			Content mixshow archive freestyle archive interviews photo gallery movie reviews inane asylum t-shirt Recent Entries Join Us on the Radio Tonight Papoose "50 Shots" AUDIO: Defining Hip-Hop's Golden Age, Part Two Paul Mooney Renounces the "N Word" Melle Mel Now Grandmaster of Children's Books and Professional Wrestling Chino XL and Tupac The Definitive "Racist Kramer" Post (Updated) AUDIO: Teemoney's "All Ways" Access of Evil AUDIO: The Definitive Ced Gee Mix Inane Asylum Kimbo Fights Again Bill Gates for President? The Simpsons Movie KFC's logo first to be seen from space Samsung’s $200,000 Machine Gun Sentry Robot (VIDEO) Is Bush an "Idiot"? How to get a free cheeseburger and fries! Visual To Limbaugh’s Attack On Michael J. Fox (VIDEO) Search for a rapist may be solved... 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