boom

What’s worse is how [Glover] uses heavy topics like race, masculinity, relationships, street cred, and ‘real hip-hop’ as props to construct a false outsider persona. On record, he paints himself as a misunderstood victim of cultural preconceptions who is obviously smarter and funnier than his primetime material suggests. Unfortunately, it’s a position that holds up to absolutely no scrutiny whatsoever. …

The most insidious aspect of Camp is how Glover operates from a pre-Kanye inferiority complex where he senses that any dismissal of his music stems from gangsta rap still being the predominant aesthetic version of hip-hop (never mind that the most commercially relevant guy who can be feasibly be called “gangsta rap” right now is Rick Ross, and even he’s widely beloved on account of being an acknowledged pathological liar). …

Sub-major hip-hop isn’t a post-cred, post-racial utopia by any means, but I can’t think of another time when there were more options for listeners of just about any race or background seeking to identify with rappers on a non-allegorical level. I just have to assume Glover has completely ignored the success of Lil B, Main Attrakionz, Curren$y, Kendrick Lamar, Odd Future, Danny Brown, and especially Das Racist when he meekly moans, “Is there room in the game for a lame that rhymes/ And wears short shorts and tells jokes sometimes?” It’s the perfect summation of Camp: preposterously self-obsessed, but not the least bit self-aware.

Religious faith didn’t make America strong; genocide made America strong. Slavery made America strong. Imperialism made America strong. Destroying the labor movement made America strong. Setting up puppet dictatorships throughout the world made America strong. Destabilizing foreign governments made America strong. Assassinating democratically elected officials made America strong. Why can’t we have a candidate who will just come out and say that?

Never mind. If we did have a candidate like that, they would get elected.