I would say that for the most part, I have no particular opinion on a person who would, as Ian said, buy this in a “non-ironic” way and get joy from listening to it. I take it as a give that these people exist. I suppose I maintain the hope that they’re not beyond redemption, some of them anyway. And I’ve realized that some of them, on some level, are still worth having around. They can still be useful for humorous purposes at times. But I would never really count on them for anything of import.

As a man who once made an argument in his AP English class that denigrating pro wrestling was needlessly elitist, I suppose I have to let these people have their crap. Even if this crap pales in comparison to the social gravitas of Rowdy Roddy Piper or Stone Cold Steve Austin.

This is completely off topic. I’m bored as HELL at work and I’m trying to kill 20 minutes on the clock. I just looked over your old posts and saw the one you did on Camp Lo and “Black Nostaljack.”

I don’t know if you buy XXL Mag, but the last one with Jay-Z on the cover was dope–they broke down the making of “Reasonable Doubt.”

Very interesting fact: Ski, producer of Camp Lo and “Dead Presidents,” was working on both “Reasonable Doubt” and “Uptown Saturday Night” at the exact same time. He said how Jay would hear Camp Lo beats and want to trade beats. Jay apparently went nuts over “Lucchini” but Ski already gave it to Camp Lo, even after Jay and Dame started offering him serious money for it.

THE ‘96 JAY-Z ON “LUCCHINI”!!?! That would’ve been ill. If you listen to both records, you can get a feel for which beats could’ve traded albums. “Feelin’ It” and “Cashmere Thoughts” would’ve been right at home with Camp Lo’s fly slang. “Swing” and “Sparkle” almost beg to have Jay’s clever wordplay and smooth metaphors dropped on them.

Has there ever been another point in time when a producer was working on 2 great debut albums at the exact same time?

“Yo Joe/Jada, what up with that jawn you did with f*ckin’ Paris Hilton, B? That sh*t was WACK, son!?!”

“Aight, whatever man, whatever man. That rich-ass cracka paid me like $30,000 for 16 bars, son. You wouldn’t take it? You broke ass, hatin’ muthaf*cka!”

Here we are in 2006. If you call someone out for selling their soul or making a terrible product, you are deemed a “hater.” No one is being held responsible in the court of public opinion for making greedy, awful “business” moves.

Why? Because somewhere between the time when MC Hammer lost all credibility for doing Taco Bell and British Knight ads and appearing in the Addam’s Family Movie and Paul Wall appearing on “Hogan Knows Best” with customized grills for Brooke Hogan in their Scott Storch session, the idea of integrity vanished like Aresino.

Joe and Jada would have been stoned and killed in 1991 along with Hammer and Vanilla Ice for doing this ragweed of a song. But in the 15 years since “II The Extreme,” we’ve accepted heartless, calculated greed backed by high-priced beats and Pro Tooled vocals. We’ve got a long way to go.

As to your post, there is one thing money can’t buy you Jeff. It’s, as this little band from the 60’s sang, “love.” Money can’t buy you love. Unless of course you’re in Vegas…than it’s much more than just love.

I’m just wondering why hasn’t anybody put out ads that link Paris Hilton to Al Qaeda. There has to be a connection. If the vice preisdent is going to shoot his mouth off about Ned Lamont being Al Qaeda’s dude, then the people who desire a return to quality music, tv and film should start spreading vicious rumors implying that Hilton supports Al Qaeda and what not.