boston progress radio

When I was a little nerd kid (as opposed to big nerd adult) the first thing I really loved about hip hop was its swagger. I know that term has been jacked in 2009, but it was not like that in the late 80s. Cockiness has always appealed to me, from David Bowie to Prince to Usher to Brandon Flowers, I just love performers who think they’re better than you. In hip hop though, what got me about it was the vulnerability embedded in the cockiness. When Special Ed said he “got it made,” he was just a poor teenager from Brooklyn – it was fantasy. When Milk D said he stole your girl while “you were in prison…for MC assault” – as if anyone ever went to prison for assaulting a rapper! My favorite emcees talk plenty shit, but for no grander reason than to show they can.

So, I’m gonna expose myself here and admit my favorite track off Bambu’s last album (read our review here) was “Quit” – not any of the other much more explicitly political songs. The standout track to me was the one where Bam shits all over rival emcees, in case you forgot he could.

So now that his last video for “Crooks and Rooks” is on rotation on MTV (Weird, right?), it makes sense for homie to drop his next video. And which joint did he choose? Yeah you guessed it.

Every other line is Twitter-worthy.

Last 5 posts by giles

• Review: I Love Yous Are for White People - October 23rd, 2009
• Youth Media Blog-a-thon: Health Care - October 1st, 2009
• Video: MRSHMLO - Rocky Rivera - September 3rd, 2009
• ...while the old folks dance at your family reunion... - August 17th, 2009
• Two Americans Walk Into North Korea... - August 7th, 2009

Tags: Video.