63. #HipHopIsDead

Driven to Drink

In this episode, we falsely claim that Troeg’s Brewing was acquired by one of the brewing world’s big guns, but this is not true. Not at all Here’s the story. This makes me incredibly happy, even though I wasn’t initially super stoked by the label-art redesigns. They are beautiful, though. (If you’re ever in/near Hershey, it’s absolutely worth your time to stop at the brewery, eat at the exceptional and amazing “snack bar,” which is an understatement of epic proportions, and take the tour.) Sometimes I’m a crotchety old traditionalist, though…particularly when it comes to big things that I used to know and love when they were considerably smaller. So, Troeg’s. We had Nugget Nectar tonight (7.5 ABV, 93ish IBU). We did this post Lagunitas Hop Stoopid and Imperial Pils, which is becoming a bit of a tradition for us. Get buzzed on the Lagunitas, hit record, and bring that buzz to a drunk with a new brew.

So, what is the topic today?

We talk about absurd Twitter battles (…I know, the word “absurd” is entirely unnecessary and is implied by the following two words…) and misinformed bro-beefs.

First, B.o.B. versus Neil deGrasse Tyson regarding the following question: Is the world flat?

Really. It wasn’t a joke. I mean, it’s a fucking joke…but it wasn’t to B.o.B. (His Twitter profile leads me to believe that he also believes the moon landing was faked. Perhaps by Stanley Kubrick. Yikes.)

This is a real thing that just happened. A fairly popular hip hop and pop music artist, that being B.o.B., claims that there is NOT irrefutable evidence that the earth is round; that, in fact, there is much conspiracy-theorist-nut-job-driven data pointing in the direction of human beliefs circa 300 BC. An actual scientist and also popular culture icon, that being deGrasse Tyson, argued with him. And the fall out includes several songs. Here’s B.o.B.’s. Here’sTyson’s. I don’t know, maybe we should prepare for the Armageddon.

Next, we try to interpret the Wiz Khalifa/Kanye West Twitter battle. Think about that. A friggin’ Twitter battle. Not a physical fight. Not a drive-by shooting. Not even a verbal confrontation. Just two dudes, presumably of average intelligence, arguing with each other over a social media platform. About…really, it’s entirely unclear; or at least not worth any additional cognitive energy to explain here. Is this what we’ve become? When hip-hop hatred needs to be modified and telegraphed to fit the character constraints of an application? I guess.

And through this entire thing, Jen ends up becoming a fan of B.o.B.’s flow and the producers with whom he works.

Here we go…presenting to you, “#HipHopisDead.”

Oh, the music! At the beginning, “Blues Music” by G Love and Special Sauce. At the end, “Hip Hop is Dead,” by Nas. And just below, the iconic image of the iconic Notorious B.I.G.

B-I-G…P-O…P…P-A