"okayplayer has a show (kinda) - hip hop: the songs that shook america"
executive produced by ?uesto, black thought, and shawn gee along with alex gibney among others, on AMC as part of its visionaries series. if you have fond memories of the musical jewels and hip-hop tales shared on thissite, this one's for you.
the first episode has been available at the above link and elsewhere for a few weeks now, and it's on "jesus walks." i put off watching it, somehow unable to muster the enthusiasm, but i needn't have. as might be expected from the pedigree listed above, it's brilliant. i used to be such a fan, and i still learned a lot. the well-known but still enjoyable vintage footage was put to great use alongside new talking head interviews and location shoots. it's a nostalgia trip that is more importantly well done and informative. i thought it might be stretching my interest to focus an entire episode on one song, but by the end i could have easily watched more.
honestly, AMC visionaries is some of my favorite programming on tv right now, and i devour every series. this looks to be no exception. i've seen a little preview of the season but am avoiding looking ahead to exactly what's coming up. i just know it will be good. it starts officially on the 13th.
3. "RE: did Jesus Walks really shake America? I always skip that track" In response to Reply # 2
>& Never Let Me Down. Not even trying to be TOKPR but why that >song...why not Through The Wire?
watch the show! but i know what you mean, i was thinking the same. yes, it was a single, but it's not my favorite either. i liked it, but now i appreciate it even more. i think "through the wire" could have been interesting for a few minutes, delving into the sample and the backstory behind the song, but to fit the runtime of the episode it'd have to be a de facto early kanye bio. this episode covered that but kept it in context of the song, which has enough layers to easily fill the hour. so if you are interested in that era of kanye and the roc then this episode is worth watching regardless of its exact focus. that said, the song sounded fresh to me after not listening for a few years, and it kind of has an edge to it.
>Anyway....I'll watch the Elevators and Alright episodes for >sure.
"elevators" should be good and i hope a nice complement to the organized noize doc of a few years back.
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