The title of this post is not something I ever thought I'd say. But when Daniel Radcliffe went on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Fallon brought up Radcliffe's love for hip-hop music and in particular lyrically challenging songs and then had Radcliffe perform. Now I thought Radcliffe would pick something more commercially accessible such as Twista's verse from "Slow Jams" or Busta's verse on "Look At Me Now" or even part of Eminem's verse on "Rap God," but Radcliffe's choice surprised me.
Given the mic to perform in front of the live audience, and of course the millions watching at home, Radcliffe chose Blackalicious' "Alphabet Aerobics" and delivered with precision. It was a true nod to what great lyricism and MCing is (Radcliffe held his own, but I'm speaking here of Blackalicious' Gift of Gab) and it was refreshing to see him pick a song that came out 14 years ago that the masses know nothing about.
I did a presentation on Blackalicous in my Music Appreciation class for college some 12 years ago. After talking about the group, I wrapped up the presentation by playing "Alphabet Aerobics" to a room of people who were presenting Mozart and Janis Joplin and the likes. But as a hip-hop nerd, it was too important to me not to present hip-hop as a true artform. It's so much more than rhyming words over a beat, it's a craft and there's no better example than Gift of Gab on "Aerobics." When the song ended people asked, what was that called again? It may've been a room of 20 people, but I was happy to share.
Back to Radcliffe. In a time when the biggest names being played on the radio all day, every day are Iggy Azalea and Bobby Shmurda (seriously, what's wrong with people!) Harry Potter himself opted to educate and give shine to a hip-hop classic and a group that is more than deserving of recognition. And that made me smile.
As for Fallon, he has six (don't quote me on that) installments of his "History of Rap" series alongside Justin Timberlake. And while I love the ode to the classics past and present (and that they're backed by the legendary Roots Crew), I'm hoping Radcliffe inspired Fallon to reach out to the legends of the genre to perform the next chapter. Maybe Big Daddy Kane or Rakim, or hell Nas was a guest recently, let him do it. Let Fallon and Timberlake be spectators, while the legends that grew this artform give a history lesson. I'm not saying Fallon and Timberlake aren't entertaining during these segments and any positive nod to hip-hop is good in my book, but let's give some shine to those that have molded hip-hop into one of the greatest forms of music there is today.
Or maybe have Blackalicious on as the musical guest. Now there's an idea.
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