Rupert Murdoch vs. Kool Keith

Would it surprise you to know that the Wall Street Journal thinks the Anthology of Rap is silly?

More problematic, however, are many of the "poems" Messrs. Bradley and DuBois hold up as entries in the new canon. The truth is, lousy song lyrics often make for great songs. But when the music stops, and the lyrics are robbed of their delivery vehicle and forced to stand out in the light of day by their lonesome, they just look like bad poetry. Way too many rappers are no Bob Dylans. (But then, Mr. Dylan was no Bob Dylan, if you've ever forced yourself to read the lyrics to "Lay Lady Lay.") The actual words are only a small portion of what gets good hip-hop artists over, alongside their dynamism, their beats, their intonation and phrasing and delivery. Segregating the artist's words from the additional tools is a bit like judging a film by the screenplay. Thus you're left feeling sorry for even pioneering artists such as Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. When they rap "You say, sex is good, sex is on / If it wasn't for sex you wouldn't be born / Think about it," it doesn't exactly scream "The Waste Land." Not for nothing did Voltaire sniff: "Anything too stupid to be said is sung."

More sniffing and tittering here. More Original Black Elvis below: