Georgetown Prof Teaches Jay-Z Course

From condoms and KFC to Cuban cigars and Hennessy

(NEWSER) - Drawing on the Smoking Gun ’s collection of concert riders, Sam Greenspan of 11points.com offers a list of the 11 craziest demands made by rappers:

• DMX: Three boxes of condoms and a gallon of Hennessy—that’s anywhere from $300 to $800 worth of cognac.
• Public Enemy: Kosher food—odd, because “Public Enemy is famously associated with anti-Semitism”—and a bucket of KFC.

Rap and right-wing talk radio are more similar than you might think

(NEWSER) - After listening to hours of Michael Savage, Rush Limbaugh, and Mark Levin on the radio while driving the Nebraska countryside, a peculiar thought occurred to David Segal: conservative talk-show hosts are surprisingly similar to gangsta rappers, he writes for the New York Times. Consider the parallels:

• Huge egos. Both groups praise themselves relentlessly—both Jay-Z and Rush Limbaugh have referred to themselves as “living legends.”
• Denouncing haters. Despite their enormous popularity, both rappers and talk-show firebrands commonly portray themselves as underdogs, beset by critics.

Rap's up-and-coming name follows in the footsteps of Kanye West, Andre 3000

(NEWSER) - The premise of Kanye West protégé Kid Cudi’s Man on the Moon: The End of the Day is that he’s “not on the same planet as other rappers. The truth is that he’s not in the same genre,” writes Julian Benbow for the Boston Globe. The debut album “is a lot of things. It’s spacey, adventurous, and ridiculously intriguing if only because it’s so different. But it’s not rap”—more like “experimental and emotional hip-hop.” Elsewhere: More»

(NEWSER) - Jay-Z's new Blueprint 3 seems to have critics divided. Some see flashes of brilliance showing the rap veteran at his best, while others see a mediocre effort that relies too much on celebrity.

• Jay-Z sounds "hungrier than he has in years on about half the tracks, while sharing time with guest stars or grappling with undercooked production on the rest," writes Greg Kot for the Los Angeles Times. "Yet even at three-quarters speed, Jay-Z can still be formidable."

Says it will be his most eclectic

(NEWSER) - Jay-Z's new album, Blueprint 3, doesn't drop until next week, but he's already looking ahead to the next one. The rapper, also known as Shawn Carter, tells MTV he's working on his most eclectic album yet. "It's not gonna be a No. 1 album," he says. "That's where I'm at right now. I wanna make the most experimental album I ever made." More»