Imitation is the highest form of flattery, but damn originality should count for much more, no? culturebully.com asked me to participate in something that had me retrospecting with amusement on the many "hot" trends that came and disappeared quicker than vanilla ice's career. remember crunk? remember hyphy? remember the sped-up chip-munk soul sound? remember rims? platinum jewelry? autotune is damn near on its deathbed. the featuring-lil-wayne trend is still booming thanks to dwyane's prolific output and intriguing personality.
the irony in all of it is that, a lot of these trends are intrinsically original, and the locals/natives that organically came up with it deserve mucho kudos. But immediately an idea gets a glimpse of the spotlight and catches fire, a zillion imitators and another zillion so-called devout followers emerge out of the blue. monkey see monkey do.
i can't wait till the "get-an-african-doing-tribal-raps-on-your-tracks" becomes the in-thing. we'll milk that cow for every penny the short-sighted music business folks will offer. amen.
sincererly yours,
africa-man-original - mr tribal raps
