Don’t Believe the Hype — and Everything’s Hype

I’m not sure I believe everything’s hype, but it sounded catchy and there sure is a lot of hype around.

Which is why many of the conclusions reached by our hosts in this week’s episode of “Let It Roll” digging “Hip-Hop Evolution” seem inevitable in this fickle business we call show. 

That moment comes in every artist’s life: I gotta eat, the prog stuff was a gas but who knows how long this is gonna last, and the latest group of 15-year-olds are hollerin’ for the hits.

The Who tried it in 1973 with Quadrophenia, Springsteen tried it in ‘06 with The Seeger Sessions and Neil Young has tried it innumerable times and at least got away with it — but Neil is the exception that proves the rule.

If you want to keep making art and keep making dollars, it ain’t gonna be easy and Eugene already pointed out what happened to the flow of NEA money starting in the Reagan years.

Put another way, Hammer ended up on the Atlanta Falcons sideline, Tupac got gunned down and, damn, that Too $hort song at the break sounds excellent on my truck’s 2006-era stereo.

That’s a 15-year-old with my kinda taste.