Evolution of Media: Hip-Hop Narrative - Entry #3

A new leaked track popped up in the blogosphere a couple of days ago, one presumably pulled off of Dr. Dre's fabled and comically delayed Detox. I'm personally beyond any inkling of excitement or curiosity about a Dre record right before the dawn of a new decade, especially since his presence and relevance in the previous 10 years was questionable at best. Dr. Dre's sound, like a slew of other high profile hip-hop producers, haven't aged as gracefully as I would have hoped, and Dre couldn't have picked a worse lead single than "Kush" to reaffirm my suspicions about where his quality of work currently hovers around.

This track, on the other hand, made me do a slight double-take. "Syllables" was curiously labeled as an Eminem track featuring Jay-Z, Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, Stat Quo, and Cashis. It's a track that showcases some entertaining social commentary regarding the shallow and vapid state of rap music, mostly on the parts of Eminem and Jay-Z. Em's fluid internal rhyming and proclivity for channeling that into making his raps more conversational naturally makes his bars the best; Jigga, although pretty sharp and compelling in his own right, comes up a somewhat distant second (as it usually goes when these two get on the same track together). The commentary lamenting the deterioration of I guess what these guys consider "good rapping" drops off significantly with everyone else, and the rest of the verses turn out to be pretty forgettable fares comparatively.

The actual production on the track itself isn't noteworthy and sounds somewhat anonymous. Dr. Dre's ability to compel as a rapper depends entirely on whether or not Eminem's ghostwriting is on point on a particular day, so that's not really something I look out for in a Dre solo record...but the string of leaks that have been making the rounds on the web definitely don't do Dre's knob-turning any favors, either. These tracks are some of the most boring, dated, or outright terrible beats I have heard, and that's saying a lot. I forced myself to sit through garbage featuring Timbaland shitting on his own legacy a thousand times over with Shock Value II; not to mention having to deal with Pharrell wanting to live out his fantasies as the lead singer to faceless, garbage alternative band in the latest N*E*R*D train wreck, Nothing.

If the rest of the trend plays itself out, Dr. Dre would simply be completing the trifecta of once phenomenal and innovative late 1990s/early 2000s hip-hop producers who have now swan-dived into mediocrity. I'd love for any of these guys to prove me wrong, but so far, they have all demonstrated that ego and brilliance inevitably leads to a sad state of irreversible creative stagnation.

Eminem - Syllables (feat. Jay-Z, Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, Stat Quo & Ca$his)