Watching the talented and confident Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino, get pushed off balance in an interview with upcoming Chicago rapper Chief Keef is irresistibly uncomfortable. There are awkward pauses. One-word answers. Non-answers. And sincere attempts by Glover to make a connection fell flat each time. The entire ordeal offers the same queazy appeal asthat clip from CNN’s Crossfire, in which Jon Stewart appeared to wreck the show from the guest’s chair.
As one who has spent a considerable amount of time with interview subjects that have been uninterested or hostile (or both), I feel his pain. So, I reached out to some music journalists who have some experience in the matter to offer their interview secrets for hostile subjects. Mr. Gambino, you are welcome.
Blame excellence, blame perfection and aggression. Blame one of hip-hop’s most beautiful moments for the prison that traps Nasir Jones today-blame Illmatic. (“Still Matter,” The Source, Dec. ’01)
That’s how I began the Source cover story on Nas that was published more than a decade ago when hip-hop was in the throes of the Jay-Z/Nas saga. Aside from the hand-wringing that comes with all major post-Pac/Biggie beefs, it was an exciting time for rap fans who appreciate the sport of rhyme.
More on that later. For now there’s this matter of the new accusations that Nas used ghost writers for his Untitled album which dropped in 2008. What gives this rumor legs is that it is being purported by writer Dream Hampton, who has punctured the circles of celebrity and benefited by being washed in a wealth of inside information.
“Most of the time they asked me to use the power of my art to service some specific need.” -Harry Belafonte
Bill Cosby, the crotchety comedian who has gone on a jihad against saggy-pants-wearing young people, has earned the right to be a finger wag. His groundbreaking sitcom reimagined the black familiy as affluent. And in 1988, the Cos donated $20 Million to Spelman college.
The Fat Albert creator is not alone as the monied savior for black causes. Harry Belafonte helped bankroll the civil rights movement, giving valuable funds to the SNCC. Oprah and Bill Gates have made an impact as global do-gooders.
Today, at age 75, Don Cornelius was found dead as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound authorities are calling a suicide. The tragic news jump-started Black History month. It was the end of the warm voice, the smooth cat-daddy composure, and the effortless swagger that was on full display for decades as the conductor of the Soul Train, the black community’s weekly TV party. For allowing us to ride on “the hippest trip in America,” Mr. Cornelius will always be remembered as the Afro-ed hero of a culture. Or will he?
“You will no longer hear the buzz of African belly flies / There will not be a weekend wrap-up of the continuing Sudanese Genocide / There are far too many characters for every fallen hero to be eulogized / But the photo of your junk, it will be publicized…”
It’s true, a cappella rap battles ruined spoken word, mocking poetry slams’ finger-snapping pretension with WorldStar worthy debates about who “styled on” whom. But the message of Ronnie Butler, Jr.’s latest satirical poem Photographs of Your Junk (Will be Publicized) added a few extra layers to some important, if obvious, truisms. That is, the internet has ended privacy as we know it; and the nets can be a brain-draining wasteland, where social responsibility and intellectual curiosity
If you haven’t read this T.I. interview yet, do so. As for the backstory, some questions will remain unanswered until time sorts things out. What’s left is after the jump…
