Dziewiętnastoletni stażysta NPR o pierwszym przesłuchaniu „It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back” Public Enemy:

Chuck D.’s unvarnished vocals sit front and center in the mix, accompanied only by percussion that, to me, sounds thin and funk guitar samples that, frankly, I find cartoonish.

To me, Chuck D.’s legendary flow also comes across like a caricature. His syncopation strikes me as strange, foreign — and when he does reach for melody, like in the opening verses of „Night of the Living Baseheads,” it ascends harshly like the bark of a drill sergeant. It’s rough, rugged, built like a tank — and I’m coming at it expecting a Bentley.

(…)

I’ll gladly say thank-you, but given the choice, I’m going to blast Drake’s infectiously triumphant mp3s every time.

Questlove w komentarzach:

Austin. (…)

i too had a hard time swallowing records that were deemed „classic” just because some adult told me so. i find its best to take in music when you have the proper context. i too found Epitaph, On The Corner, Blood On The Tracks, Exile On Main Street, & Horses „boring” and „not as good as…..(name something that was banging when i was a kid)—but hopefully you will realize it is your duty to discover the beauty of acclaimed art and why it was so.

take Springsteen’s „Nebraska” for instance an acclaimed record that was hard for an inner city hip hop fan to swallow without a backstory. so i spent an entire weekend reading every story about this album so that i could have a better grasp on what the times were like and that helped me understand (and eventually agree) why this is Springsteen’s magnum opus.

i mean no one here is expecting you to be the next Lester Bangs or Rob Christgau but i do expect this generation (born some 20 years after me) with its advantages in technology to put real effort into the information it processes. there is no question Nation is one of THE greatest recordings ever. ur job is to find out why

Takie rzeczy tylko w internecie.

Inna sprawa, że średnio co drugi Wielki Klasyk poznawany kilka dekad po fakcie przy pierwszych zetknięciach wzbudza co najwyżej chłodny szacunek, a zdarzają się i skojarzenia z kreskówkami. I sam nie wiem, czy – pomijając  opiniodawców – należy leczyć to weekendami spędzonymi w bibliotece. Może jednak lepiej pójść za przykładem Austina i posłuchać jakichś zaraźliwie triumfalnych empetrójek. Dla niego wczesne Public Enemy musi brzmieć tak, jak dla Chucka D. brzmieli The Shadows, w najlepszym wypadku środkowi Beatlesi.

.