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© St. Petersburg Times, published August 29, 2002
The rap world, once pumped up in vitriol and gangsta thuggery, softened up after Sept. 11. It's not just doting daddy Eminem who has shown a more domestic side as he cares for daughter Hailey Jade and uses therapy jargon to discuss his "closure" with the difficult women in his life.
Remember when the rap world offered prickly albums such as N.W.A.'s Straight Outta Compton, containing the bristling underground hit F-- Tha Police? Or Notorious B.I.G.'s Ready To Die?
In 2002's changed climate, one bestseller is the Nappy Roots' debut Watermelon, Chicken & Gritz, celebrating all things culinary. But, the sentiment, says Scales, the domestic-minded Nappy Roots leader, isn't just a food jones, it's about unity. "Food's what we all have in common."
Yes, folks, the domestication of rap has begun. More evidence:
-- In the ongoing feud with thug rapper Jay-Z, Nas practices armchair psychoanalysis on the song Ether, in which he does the unthinkable -- in the rap world -- by calling Jay-Z to task for his bad attitude toward women.
"You seem to be only concerned with dissin' women," Nas rhymes, "were you abused as a child? Scared to smile?"
-- Jay-Z responded with the song Super Ugly, alleging his own affair with Nas' girlfriend (who is the mother of Nas' child). When Jay-Z's own mother heard it, she called him on his cell phone to berate him. The same day, during a live radio broadcast, Jay-Z apologized to the lady and her family.
-- Puff Daddy a.k.a. P. Diddy, who two years ago was battling both the law and the media over a New York nightclub shootout, is a softy at heart, running Daddy's House, a charity that helps underprivilegeed kids.
-- Hip-hop bad girl Missy "Misdemeanor" Eliot works with national projects to end domestic violence.
-- Master P, known for his gangsta rap that chronicles a life of drug-dealing and ghetto violence, donated $250,000 to St. Monica's Catholic Elementary School, his alma mater.
-- OutKast, the hip-hop duo known for edginess and political songs such as Bombs Over Bagdhad, appeared this year in a video with Scooby-Doo.