I like backpacks?
Has anyone seen the Target back-to-school commercial with none other than Sir Mix-A-Lot rapping about how much he likes the new line of backpacks? I realize that the old school hip-hop artists (one would now scarcely call any of it rap) have fallen on hard times ever since 1992, but show some self-respect. The man made a contribution to Americana, and now he’s peddling tripe for a slightly upscale Wal-Mart.
When a musician ceases to be popular, he has several options to keep his dignity. The most virtuous is for the musician to sit back, satisfied with his fifteen minutes of fame and go back to his life. I don’t recall Billy Ray Cyrus dragging on his career too long after it ended (I could be wrong, I haven’t paid much attention to the mulleted one). The next option is to take some time off and come back. The artist can continue touring despite the fact that no one likes them. See, e.g. Mötley Crüe; Lynard Skinnard. The artist can descend into political activism like Harry Belafonte (whom, apropos, even Slate.com said “[r]eal liberals should condemn” as a racist).
Shunning all of the options, Sir Mix-A-Lot went down the path of David Cassidy; he became a two-bit hack, shilling for some overpriced, POS consumer product.
It’s a shame to lose such a talented, visionary musician as Sir Mix-A-Lot (p/k/a Anthony Ray).
I know that I've misspelled various things, so have fun with it.
posted by Sam @ 8:14 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
Big props for including the umlauts. Almost cancelled out the butchering of Lynyrd Skynyrd. And yeah, I totally had to google that to get the correct spelling. According to the website, they're on tour & we just missed their Woodlands show. But you can always skip class and follow them to state fairs all over the Midwest.
And thanks for getting that Baby Got Back song stuck in my head. Hey, I wonder what would have happened if Read had played that song instead of La Bamba? Would you have danced, Mr. Very Liberal Judge?
Lynyrd Skynyrd is artistic license on the name Leonard Skinner, a principal at the high school the band members attended, and the person who suspended some of the band members for having long hippie hair.
They cancelled their Woodlands show for personal reasons; that was in the news a couple weeks ago.
Baby Got Back was quite an anthem in the Puget Sound region when it first came out; and Mack Daddy (the album on which it was featured) was a local number one for pretty much the entire year. Incidentally, Mix-A-Lot claims on the album to be from Yesler, a high crime area of Seattle, and also the location of the world's first Skid Row - this is the source of the term.
He's actually from a middle class neighborhood in Auburn Washington, which is some distance from Seattle, and was home to the top-ranked girls basketball team of 1992, which only lost to my alma mater, Lakes High School, home of Stanford great Kate Starbird, who flourished with the Cardinal and then accomplished little more than a backup role in the WNBA.
Thanks, Norm! You're in rare form today. I mean, that's a crazy amount of Sir Mix-a-Lot trivia. Was there some sort of VH1 Behind the Music on him or something?
Umm, RHM,
I lived in Tacoma at the time. There were two things teens in the Puget Sound region followed then in the pop-culture scene: Grunge and Mix-a-lot. We actually went cruising at SeaTac
harsh words, man.
"he became a two-bit hack, shilling for some overpriced, POS consumer product."
when did you become music critic?
also, i've seen the Skynyrd twice. Once at the (then) Summit and once at ahhhhh i can't remember where.
I'm sorry to butt in. But this discussion has yet to open the can of worms labeled "What happens when a major US retalier uses a song glorfying phat female backsides to sell back-to-school items to 3rd graders?"
I like big backpacks??? Is anyone else disturbed at all?
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