2008 Pop Conference Bios/Abstracts

Charles Aaron

Charles Aaron is the music editor of Spin.Panel(s):
He Pop/She Pop
Saturday, April 12, 2008, 11:00 - 12:45Abstract:

"Words Like a Dagger: Labi Siffre vs. Eminem, Kanye, and the Pop Politics of Manning Up"
In 1998, when Eminem and Dr. Dre's lawyers tried to clear the samples for Em's debut album—specifically the keyboard used in the lead single "My Name Is," on which the nihilistic "Slim Shady" character was introduced—they hit a snag. Labi Siffre, an openly gay singer/songwriter/poet/activist who wrote the song ("I Got the…") from which the riff was taken, objected to the lyric "My English teacher wanted to have sex in junior high / The only problem was my English teacher was a guy," and said that he would only clear the sample if Eminem agreed to change it, which he did, to: "My English teacher wanted to flunk me in junior high / Thanks a lot, next semester I'll be 35."

In 2007, another Siffre sample (from his "My Song") was the basis for "I Wonder," one of the most moving tracks on Kanye West's Graduation album. West, of course, has been the target throughout the year (and his entire career, for that matter) of homophobic slurs charging that he's not a real black man because A) He's gay, B) His clothes are gay, C) His songs are gay (i.e., not thuggish enough), etc. Whether West was aware or not that Siffre was a gay man, the prominent use of "My Song" on "I Wonder" gives the track a defiant edge (especially since West has spoken out against gay-bashing), and once again is introducing Siffre's music into the hip-hop dialogue (he's also been sampled on Jay-Z and Wu-Tang songs over the years)

I'd like to approach this paper in a few ways: 1) Look at Siffre's career as an openly gay musician and activist—his 1987 song "(Something Inside) So Strong" was explicitly written as an anti-apartheid anthem and became an international hit—and discuss how his work has intentionally, and perhaps more interestingly, unintentionally, had a political impact on popular culture; and 2) Use Siffre as an entry point for discussing hip-hop's debate about (black) masculinity, how far can you stray from thug stereotypes and remain commercially successful, and how West has become basically the only rapper ever to navigate that territory in a non-homophobic way; and 3) Discuss how sampling, which is now fairly rare due to financial concerns, has played such a strong part in hip-hop as a positive creative/social force, giving the music a depth it often now lacks.