<<<-- Originally posted by John Hudson : I like the aussie take better (In not giving a toss). Hip Hop music is not my thing but the videos just plain suck. Look at me, I'm a gansta!

Whateva' -->>>

Damn dawg, don't be hatin'!


;)

LOL

I'm not hatin' I swear. My opinion is that they just lack creativity and vision. It's like if you've seen one, you've seen them all. I swear I'm not hatin'

:(

i seem to recall a 'sir mixalot' music video i really enjoyed. :P


Zac

I'm not getting down on American hip hop here just the Japanese trend to directly copy the American style. Many American rappers came from the ghettos and that style has always been about girls, cars and cash. John's original question was about suggestions for a Japanese video and I'd really like to see a Japanese hip hop video that shows the problems of Japanese kids, not Japanese kids emulating a lifstyle they have never experienced or no nothing about. Japan doesn't have ghettos like the States, they don't have the social problems bought on by poverty. Japan's problems stem more from social/peer pressure, teenage prostitution and corporate greed. Lets see some of that.

Noble thought, Adrian, but good luck. You already laid out what will sell.

Zac, you are such a booty-hound! :-) I seem to recall that they intermixed shots of large round objects like tomatoes, cantaloupes etc. amongst the booty shots.

"I like big butts and I can not lie
You other brothers can't deny
That when a girl walks in with an itty bitty waist
And a round thing in your face
You get sprung..."

It's still one of the ultimate party songs (as a DJ I know no better way to get all the bridesmaids out on the dancefloor, plus all the other drunk chicks).

The best hip hop video this year was a throwback to the 1960s.

Yeah Mike I know it's wishful thinking but it's really what Japan needs, a little originality and a big wake up call.

May I suggest the viewing of all the Beastie Boys videos if possible.These are probably the most popular commercial non cliche real hip-hop videos produced. Also 90% of what is commercially broadcast on tv is RAP. Hip-Hop is a worldwide culture and really none of the commercial artists respect, study or have any knowledge of this culture.DJing,MCing,Graffiti and Breakdancing are 4 main components of the Hip-Hop culture. I would first listen to the lyrical content. If the lyrics dont call for a pimp and his ho's then dont go that route.

Matt's on when he recommends the Beastie Boys, them, Run DMC, and Ice T bought rapping into the mainstream and are now the grand-daddies of it all.

Russell Simmons was an incredible visionary to have put these guys on Def Jam, and I believe that early work like the Beasties plus Run-DMC's collaboration with Aerosmith made it possible for Eminem years later to become so huge, and for hip-hop and rap to become so successful with a largely white audience.

I actually met Russell a few years ago in NYC, and his fascinating comments about megatrends in entertainment and consumer goods marketing proved to be uncannily prophetic.

More recently, I had the pleasure of meeting DMC last month, and it was fun reminiscing about his group's tour with Aerosmith and Kid Rock (when Jam Master Jay was still alive).

Without these guys, today's artists wouldn't exist. Which would be too bad, cuz look at all the fun and energy being injected into the music stream by non-pimp'n'ho acts like Black-Eyed Peas (speaking of breakdancing) and Outkast.

As for "what Japan needs, a little originality and a big wake up call," well, aren't they the masters of distilling American culture and feeding it back? But you knew that better than I.