First and foremost, I am not a B-boy or deeply enthralled with the rap game, but it doesn't take someone with a self proclaimed degree in Rapology or Hip-Hopenomics to know that the state of both genres of music has been in a sad state as of late. Tonight's episode of The Boondocks tackled this somber fact by firing all cylinders to what I came up to have been three different aspects of the current state of hip-hop and rap music: The Fads (Soulja Boy = Sgt. Gutta), The Veterans ('Place a Veteran Rapper Here' = Thugnificent), and The Attempted 'Comeback'. I list these aspects in an order that can be seen as a "rapper's life cycle" of sorts, because while "Sgt. Gudda" might be on top now, he is destined to become either irrelevant (a Fad) or a "Thugnificent", and if he's lucky to stay in the game that long, then he will enter a rapper's retirement home in the guise of a reality TV show or comeback tour. It is as inevitable as the life cycle of cockroach…

But in general, all three phases were ridiculed and didn't really get any type of leeway in the ribbing they got by McGruder and crew. You have the young rappers who created a silly song with a dance that sweeps the nation, forgetting that other dances like "The Running Man" and "The Tootsie Roll" were just as dated when they quickly appeared on the scene in their day. In other words, they will be played out and replaced by a new dance phase in no time. Then you have your seasoned rapper, who resorts to stunts such as "auto-tune" or creating rap battles and beefs to sell records; not knowing when to throw in the towel or step their game up. And finally, the comeback attempts, which in this generation has evolved into the reality show genre that people have The Surreal Life, The Osbournes, and Flavor of Love to blame for the current saturation of rappers and R&B artists lives being splattered all over TV. The sad thing is that no one does, or attempts to make, a comeback album anymore (well, Whitney Houston did, but…). They only flock to VH1, MTV or BET to retain some relevance, when the truth of the matter is that most of America has moved on and could care less what 'Lil Mane Mane did this week that got his rapper father upset. It's also painful to see these top acts practically grovel for attention, which brings me to ask question if they would rather be remembered as a star who gracefully faded away or a fool by embarrassing themselves and family to maintain some sort of stardom? In my opinion, Thugnificent did the latter (to an extent) by trying to create his own reality show in the end of the episode. He threw the towel in, but he kept a hold of it just in case fame grabbed the other end of it and tugged him back into the spotlight. At least he got a job in the meantime.

Another aspect that the episode touched on was the excess that rappers live in today. I remember seeing interviews with N.W.A. as a kid and them driving around South Central L.A. and not the Beverly Hills area. They didn't surround themselves with swag or excess luxury that dominated their talents, or at least I don't remember them doing so. Most rappers today rely on their image more than they do their actual talent, which is the state the "Sgt. Gutta" is in now. A product of record companies, "Sgt. Gutta's" music will finally grow out of style, like the pants that are half an inch from the ground. Teen girls will soon grow up and they will (hopefully) become wiser and leave childish things behind. As for the "Thugnificents" they need to just to take a page out of Jay-Z or OutKast's book and reinvent themselves, but stay true to their image and, most importantly, their talent at the same time.

McGruder also knows how to intertwine real events with satire, but doesn't try to mask who the hell he is talking about, which is genius to an extent. The scene with "Sgt. Gutta vs. Thugnificent" was almost a word for word reenactment of the infamous Ice-T vs. Soulja Boy exchange that appeared on YouTube in 2008. Here's a clip of that beef:

 

Wow….

Also, Thugnificent's rant about the sales of his CDs can mirror the Chris Brown Twitter meltdown that he had over the sales of his CDs after the Rihanna incident. The parallels are blatant and I wonder if the rappers who McGruder satired will stop and take a look at themselves and make a change, or will they continue to make constant asses of themselves?

One last thing I would like to mention is the whole drug dealing aspect of the episode. This can represent that dark period between the Veteran and The Comeback phases. You got to hit low before you rise again it seems, because most of the recent entertainers, who are now reality stars, went rock bottom before they signed their name for cameras to follow their every move. The dark periods can be band break-ups, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, etc, but those dark periods serve as great springboards for a comeback tour or the latest show on VH1's Celebriality lineup.

So another fine episode of The Boondocks tonight that hopefully opened the eyes of not only the audience, but the rappers that the episode targeted for satire, as well.

What did you guys think? Was this another look into the complex, contradictory life of African-American society? Or was it a complete miss? Did you learn anything?

 

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First off, this is the sole opinion of Mark O. Estes, aka The Anti-Critic.

Last week, there were a lot of entertainment reports conveying surprise that DVR playbacks added to the live-plus-7 data, which Nielsen initiated a while ago to add the ratings of DVR playbacks with those of the live airings of programs. Dollhouse, Melrose Place, and Fringe (all considered “low-rated” by critics) all saw rating boosts from DVR playbacks that were lacking in their live performances. The reports also displayed ratings bumps in other high profiled shows like: The Office, Grey’s Anatomy, NCIS, and Desperate Housewives to name a few. Plus, online episode streaming from sites like Hulu.com and network websites have seen a nice sized growth from last year.

All I have to say are two things:

1)    Du- Du- Duh!

2)    The only thing that amazes me is that people are just catching on to this now. Especially after articles were written about this almost four years ago.

DVR has been on the market for how long? Almost a decade, perhaps? The TiVo’s and satellite/cable DVRs have been revolutionizing the way we watch TV for a good time now, so why haven’t Nielsen nor TV critics, who report ratings data, caught on to this earlier instead of rushing to sound the death knell on low rated shows?

Maybe it’s because people love to see the demise of a low rated show, even if they themselves don’t watch said show. Maybe it’s because the TV critics and other web bloggers report more on a show’s low ratings than the actual show itself. While reading comments on certain websites, I can’t help but balk at some of the stuff I saw posted from people who treat nightly ratings as the Gods of TV that shouldn’t be ignored. To some people, The Vampire Diaries, Glee, Gossip Girl, Dollhouse and Fringe are considered failures. Yes, failures, people. Forget all of the sales on iTunes, magazine covers, and whatnot. Those things don’t count when it comes to the national ratings that are released every day.

The reasoning the so-called “experts” give  (and they try to sound as if they read ratings for a living, it’s so sickening) is that shows like the ones listed above are not pulling in LOST or Grey’s Anatomy-like numbers, which is the dumbest thing I have ever heard when it comes to the ratings game. Keep in mind, these people are blog posters saying this and not blog writers who know their field from the back of their hand.

First of all, networks like The CW and FOX are not on the same scale as the big three giants of CBS, ABC, and NBC, which is basic common knowledge to the average person, let alone a wannabe TV critic. Secondly, The CW is not available in all areas, something that might come as a shock to some people. Gossip Girl got a full season order and was renewed off it’s performance on iTunes, which insinuates that it was a hit with viewers and they got to the show any way they could. The same can be said about Glee, which is bringing in tons of money from iTunes downloads from not only episodes, but music downloads as well. The cast of Glee has also been tagged to sing the National Anthem at the World Series and if that doesn’t scream ‘successful runaway hit’ then I don’t know what does.

But besides iTunes downloads, the DVR could be another huge (if not the hugest) factor into the staying power of television shows. I personally thought that it already was, but boy was I wrong. DVRs don’t just record the television programs; they also record the commercials as well, which is what matters right? The commercials? But according to Variety, networks still want shows viewed on a DVR to be viewed within three days of it’s airing, because of the C3 metric, which is how networks sell ad space. So if that’s the case then do the live-plus-7 data even matter?

See, it’s always something.

Another inconsistency that concerns me about the Nielsen report is what about the shows that people don’t watch during the time period slotted for live-plus-7 data? I have two episodes of Private Practice on my DVR that I have yet to watch. Will those be counted as well? There are so many loopholes in the way Nielsen reads ratings today that it’s a travesty and I think someone should call attention to it.

So, I think the TV networks and media companies need to adapt to the new technology and to do it whole-heartedly and not in a half-ass way. What do you guys think?

 

This is a good article from my big homie Mark O. Estes aka The Anti-Critic. He's the resident TV expert lol. Be looking out for more posts from him.