by SCOTT C

Some of you may disagree, but I believe that Outkast has successfully flipped the bird to the mainstream music establishment and its self-destructive hip hop counterpart. Whaaa? Think of last weekend's Shammys as one big industry jackoff and you're on the right track. This awards-show spectacle has its finger on the pulse of a dying industry standard that favours sales, major-label coddling and red-carpet foolishness over the musical vanguard. Sound like I'm ranting? If you ever watched the Shammy Awards growing up, you know this was some exciting shit back in the day. But as you get older, and realize that this is an exclusive club that increasingly loses touch with music with every agonizing year, you start to get angry. Where is this shit going? How many more years do we have to put up with it?

Anyways, back to Outkast. Album of the year. Best rap album. Best urban/alternative performance? What the hell does that mean? It's like saying "best black guy doing white music." I'd like to think that André 3000 and Big Boi decided that they'd use whatever momentum they had from previous albums, not only to play the mainstream industry for the shallow hangers-on that they are but to show mainstream hip hop that there's ample room for creativity. Hopefully we won't see Outkast copycats this year, but maybe we will see a willingness to reach beyond the vacuous closed loop that commercial hip hop seems to be stuck in. When André kept his acceptance speech to a simple "thank-you" followed by a beeline back to his seat, I could taste his disdain for all the pomp and circumstance. That, of course, was followed by outlandish performances by Big Boi and André himself, taking full advantage of the world stage provided by the Shammys.

On a lighter note, it appears that ?uestlove of the Roots is appealing to hip hop artists who make over $10-million (U.S.) net a year to contribute to some sort of monetary award for Bronx native DJ Kool Herc, credited with inventing hip hop. Herc has never seen a cent of the now-multibillion-dollar hip hop machine, and presently holds down a modest position at Fed-Ex. What's wrong with this picture?

Quickly: Afrodizz is back from the U.K., and plays a show at Bobards this Saturday, Feb. 14. Get your ass down there and feel the love! Only $5. Kobal plays host to tall-boy Moonstarr, also just back from the U.K., at Blizzarts this Friday, Feb. 13. Expect broken beats and import treats! Four bucks. Don't forget, Ursula Rucker comes to town Monday, Feb. 16, for Festival Voix d'Amériques. There's a free roundtable discussion on spoken word at 5 p.m. at Casa del Popolo, followed by the $8 show at la Sala Rossa at 8:30 p.m.

The excellent slice of Montreal hip hop Chronique Urbaine is being screened at Rendez-Vous du cinéma québécois 2004 on Friday, Feb. 20, at 7 p.m. The film will be followed by a panel discussion featuring SP & Manspino, James Disalvio, Ralph Boncy, Keithy Antoine and the filmmakers.

Happy belated b-day, Abdominal! fathead@videotron.ca

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