Best Ta-Nehisi Coates ILX post

1. Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote this on thread Village Voice/DC C. Paper writer on "vocal complexity" in rap & Prefuse 73 vs. Kogan, Frere-Jones take on production on board I Love Music on May 21, 2003

Some clarification. That phrase "vocal complexity" was mistated, as it focuses on, well, the vocal aspects of MCing. As was noted, I'm a big lyrics guy. Obviously Rakim wasn't very notable for emotional color, and neither was the latter, and my favorite, incarnation of Biggie. But poetically, in terms of his usage of rhyme, alliteration and, yes, lyrics, I think Rakim and Big were fairly dynamic.
Also on my praise for Prefuse--beware of boxing off critics. Obviously I like the guy's album a lot, but that doesn't mean I hate Timbaland, Just Blaze or Kanye West. This isn't a private notion either--I've written fairly glowingly of Kanye West, especially.

Ta-Nehisi

2. Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote this on thread Village Voice/DC C. Paper writer on "vocal complexity" in rap & Prefuse 73 vs. Kogan, Frere-Jones take on production on board I Love Music on May 22, 2003

It's a big question, and a leading one. Saying that Biggie and Rakim were "fairly dynamic" doesn't mean that I think Eminem and Andre--in particular--aren't. In all honesty, I can't say I've given Freeway a complete listen--I've only heard a few tracks off the album. I sometimes like Ludacris--he's actually a fairly impressive freestyler--but his subject matter doesn't hold my attention span.
As to a larger question that I think you're alluding too, the point I was making in my Prefuse peice: why do I seem to believe that great MCing isn't essential to selling records? I think Puffy, Baby, and even Styles have made it clear that you don't have to be a superior lyricist or any sort of visionary to make a hit. It's cool if you are--as say Andre 3000 often is--but its not neccessary. And it probably never was.

But I do believe that before world turned its eye to rap, and it became a big money-moving business, that MCs did care more about thier skills. This isn't about some mythical distinction between fun and intellect. You would throw on "Eric B Is President," "I Ain't No Joke," "I Know You Got Soul," "Microphone Feind," any of that at a party, and peeps would loose thier minds. But then the next morning, you'd be getting dressed listening to those same cuts thinking, "Damn, the God came the fuck off."

The same goes for Biggie. "Hypnotize," "One More Chance," these were kick-ass party songs. And maybe you'd try to hate on them as a "underground head," but you really couldn't because the dude was stringing words together in ways that you'd never heard.

I'm aware that that's a somewhat incomplete answere--but my point is that those two were really dynamic because, for me, they worked on several levels. Forgive me for not feeling that way about, oh I don't know, Cam'Ron. But that doesn't mean that there aren't people out today working on those same--or more--sorts of levels. But I do think, that there are less artists doing it.

3. Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote this on thread Village Voice/DC C. Paper writer on "vocal complexity" in rap & Prefuse 73 vs. Kogan, Frere-Jones take on production on board I Love Music on May 22, 2003

On the Nas point--his decline as an MC has been percipitous. I've heard the "more mature" argument several times, and I don't by it. Becoming more didactic--which Nas currently--is not the same as becoming a more mature artists. In his prime, Nas was a master of setting the scene--he simply painted a picture of his corner of the ghetto and allowed you to pick out the insanity for yourself. Think the first verse of NY State of Mind where he runs into a project building lobby for safety and is shocked to find it filled with juvie drug dealers. Or "Life's a Bitch" where he demonstrates the mental shackles of poverty by declaring "That buck that bought the bottle/Coulda struck the Lotto." Or even the original "Project Window," where the imagry is just stunning: "Crippled dope fiends in wheelchairs stare/Vision blurry, buried deep in they mind, I hear the story/That he's a mirror image of that 70's era/He's finished for the rest of his life, till he fades out/The liquor store workers miss him but then it plays out/So many ways out the hood but no signs say out"
Forgive me for quoting at length, but my point is that at his height Nas was the master of the perverse detail. He knew exactly what shot to get that would communicate the insanity of hood-life. Today's Nas fashions himself a teacher--but he isn't a very good one. He is patently more misogynistic, and nationalistic. A lot of people refer to "I Can" as an example of his maturity. But from a lyrics perspective, it's a terrible song. Didactic, hypocritical and fueled by a quasi-afrocentric view of history, "I Can" may seem "positive," but it isn't a very good song.

Sorry, doing one for the kids isn't an excuse. I have 3 year old boy, and I would play him Illamtic in full, before I would ever play "I Know." That's because at the end of the day, I will take an artist who gives you something to think about, over one who tells you what to think. I'll take "immature" Kane, Biggie, Kool G Rap over "mature" Nas any day.

4. Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote this on thread Village Voice/DC C. Paper writer on "vocal complexity" in rap & Prefuse 73 vs. Kogan, Frere-Jones take on production on board I Love Music on May 22, 2003

Yeah, you know I actually really really really like that song, if only for its honesty in talking about the relationship between Big/Nas/Raekwon. I think Nas occassionaly gets back in touch with what makes him special, but by and large, he's doing this preacher imitation shit--almost a Tupac-lite sorta thing, but not quite. I don't think he's very special when he's trying to school me on black history and politics. I'd rather hear Mos Def on song like, say, "Mathematics" do that. I think Nas is special when he takes a corner in Anytown, Ebonica, and just tells you everything he sees there--who passes by, what they're wearing, what they're joking about, how they talk, who thier parents are--the details that so many other rappers miss.

5. Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote this on thread Village Voice/DC C. Paper writer on "vocal complexity" in rap & Prefuse 73 vs. Kogan, Frere-Jones take on production on board I Love Music on May 22, 2003

I wish that frickin review as posted online. The comparison between Premier and Prefuse was made because of the latter's penchant for chopping samples--his retooling of "Player's Anthem" into "Ya Playin Yaself" for instance, which I cited. Prefuse, in many instances, does the same thing, starts with a sample and then chops into a new groove--but he does repeatedly on the same track, which Premier never did. In that sense, I saw him as advancing Premier's technique. It was never so much as them having the same musical sensibility, in terms of what they sampled.
As for Nas, I see your point--about the Lost Tapes especially. The trouble with that though is that we don't when he actually made most of that. I heard "Fetus" and "Papa Was A Playa" circa-99, I think. I don't think that it's a matter of Nas lacking ability, when he wants to be, I think he's special. But I will always believe that that year at the Source Awards, where Biggie trounced him, really took something out of him. I've read where he (and ?estlove who was sitting a few rows back) referred to that as a changing point for him.

And, I will hang around. I'm always willing to debate, and at least attempt to defend something I've written. I may not be that successful at it, but I can give it a go. Besides, sometimes you need to get called out. Can't be right all the time. At the end of the day it only makes me better.

6. Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote this on thread Village Voice/DC C. Paper writer on "vocal complexity" in rap & Prefuse 73 vs. Kogan, Frere-Jones take on production on board I Love Music on May 22, 2003

No, I don't think I'm being called out. I wanted to make it clear that I don't have a problem with discussing or debating something I wrote. In other words, I'm not taking any of it personal.
As for the advancement angle, hmmm, good follow-up. I guess I see it as an advance because there's more to listen to, and I think the strategy has a lot of potential. I love Premier to death, but I so often feel like if I heard the first 20 seconds of one of his beats--I heard the whole song :/ Whereas, Prefuse reworks the loops a few times. Maybe I'm not listening closely enough to Premier's beats, or not taking certain factors into account. I'd love to hear you guys opinion. Does rap's reliance on loops ever bore you guys?

As for Nas, here is the version I know. This isn't gospel, and maybe some of the astute cats posting here can clear it up some. Either way, apparently in 94, Biggie and Nas were nominated for all the same catagories at the Source Awards. At that point, I don't Illmatic had gone gold, but Ready To Die was doing well off the strength of "Juicy," "One More Chance," remix etc. I don't think Nas had a single that even matched "Juicy" hit-wise.

Anyway the story goes, from Nas perspective, that he was pretty much broke and was forced to sport Guess to the Awards Show (Oh the humanity!). According to ?love, and I will search for that link, he was hanging with Wu-Tang that night, and they all were assuring him that he was gonna clean up. Biggie one every single catagory, including Lyricists of the Year--which Nas thought was his.

Nas, says that incident convinced him to hook up with Steve Stoute and the Trackmasters and leave Faith something-or-other (I can't remember her last name) who was his manager and apparently, in part, responsible for how Illmatic was put together. I read this in a Vibe with Nas, Eve and Sisqo on the cover. It came out around the Nastradamus hit--arguably the worst Nas outing ever. Anyway, they interviewed this Faith woman, and Pete Rock about him. Both were massively dissappointed in the direction his career took. But the story filled in a lot of gaps for me--it always boggled my mind that he went from a dream team (Tip, Primo, Pete Rock, Large Pro) to the guys who ruined Chubb Rock's career (OK, maybe that's not fair).

At any rate, the bling-factor in his lyrics shot up after that, as far as I could tell. It isn't like Illmatic is some sort of moralistic, positive record. But post-Illmatic he seemed way more infatuated with the glamour of street-life.

That peice by ?uestlove was posted at Okayplayer. I'll dig around and find a link. It's slightly self-absorbed, but it's an illuminating bit of history

7. Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote this on thread Village Voice/DC C. Paper writer on "vocal complexity" in rap & Prefuse 73 vs. Kogan, Frere-Jones take on production on board I Love Music on May 22, 2003

Yeah, back to this loop issue. I can't argue too strongly because I am a big Premier fan. "Come Clean" is an obvious classic. I think the stuff he did on the two Jeru albums, and the Group Home debut album (where the MCs tried to kill him) is brilliant. "Suspended In Time," and "Me or the Papes" are favorites.
But I can't ditch this notion that he might be a bit more interesting if he was willing to shake you up a bit, and throw in another chop. "Ya Playin Yaself" is brilliant to me because it isn't just a critique of commercial rap, it's a reinterpretation of a commercial rap track. It's like two people looking at an orange, but somehow Premier sees more than an orange when he looks. I guess I'd like to hear him flesh out different perspectives of the same sample, on the same track sometimes.

When I get home I'll cue up the Prefuse album and give you specifics where I think he does that. It maybe too much to say he's somehow better than Premier. But I do think he's advanced that paticular element of his technique.

8. Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote this on thread Village Voice/DC C. Paper writer on "vocal complexity" in rap & Prefuse 73 vs. Kogan, Frere-Jones take on production on board I Love Music on May 22, 2003

One quick note: Clearly I would take Wrath of the Math over One Word Extinguisher any day. My point is that I like how Prefuse offers more than one chop in a song. And I actually would love to see Premier try that out.

9. Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote this on thread Village Voice/DC C. Paper writer on "vocal complexity" in rap & Prefuse 73 vs. Kogan, Frere-Jones take on production on board I Love Music on May 22, 2003

Yeah I feel the Rza angle. He got lost once he got hipped to keyboards. But I think Neil's essential point is valid. He is not saying that more knowledge, NECCESSARILY, makes for better music. But that in the hands of the right producer it could. To me, that's not that radical of a point. It's like saying Randy Moss would be a better reciever if learned to throw a block on running plays. Now if Randy Moss decides he wants to throw blocks on obvious passing downs, he's mis-using his knowledge. But you don't blame the knowledge, you blame him for not effectively using the knowledge. Same with producers. Premier didn't always specialize in the art of the chop--but learning the technique certainly helped him.

10. Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote this on thread Village Voice/DC C. Paper writer on "vocal complexity" in rap & Prefuse 73 vs. Kogan, Frere-Jones take on production on board I Love Music on May 22, 2003

Ditto on "Storm Returns." It's a really sweet track.
I can relate to that deal about talk of "real instruments" making you groan. When I was in D.C., the Roots would come there almost monthly. And the college kids used to really push this idea that the group was dope because of thier band. I would just wonder whether they had ever been to a fucking go-go. The Roots band, and maybe I shouldn't say this, is unimpressive to me live. ?uestlove is a dope drummer, Black Thought is awesome when he wants to be, but the rest don't move me live one bit--replaying "Hyponotize" with instruments, is only hot when your band is hot. I dunno maybe other people feel those guys, but I always felt like I could have went over to SouthEast and seen a better band for half the price, if that's why I was there.

Also on the go-go tip, one of the most sickest combos of live instruments and hip-hop I ever saw was Junkyard Band extending Tupac's "I Get Around" into a 20 minute set. Impressive.

But all that said, I don't think we should be knee-jerk about "live instrumentation." We shouldn't let people who suck become the standard for whether instruments can help or not.

P.S. Ugh, I felt a cold cold shiver run down my spine at the mere mention of Swizz Beats. Shudder.

P.P.S. No, I think Dre has musicians replay samples. As opposed to Prefuse sampling the actual instrument and then chopping it.

11. Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote this on thread Village Voice/DC C. Paper writer on "vocal complexity" in rap & Prefuse 73 vs. Kogan, Frere-Jones take on production on board I Love Music on May 23, 2003

"Now , if only he could link up with a rapper who could rise to the challenge."
I'd actually love to see this attempted. I listened to the album again yesterday, and no disrespect, but one of my favorite moments is that short by Mr. Lif. I wouldn't mind seeing him trying to tackle a whole Prefuse track. One warning about brining in rappers on primarily instrumental semi-hip-hop albums: The weakest moments of RJD2's album, to me, are the ones where he employs MCs. I don't know if he gave them his worse tracks, or if they just drag the songs down. Still, there's no reason it shouldn't be attempted.

12. Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote this on thread Village Voice/DC C. Paper writer on "vocal complexity" in rap & Prefuse 73 vs. Kogan, Frere-Jones take on production on board I Love Music on May 23, 2003

"All I know is that 50's PIMP has a great melody and if I want one that lasts a whole song I'll go listen to Dave Hollister or something"
That still doesn't adress the central point--that maybe hip-hop could be better if it expanded its sonic borders a bit. That you aren't looking for hip-hop to do that, is cool, that's your preference.

But it's a little shocking to see people argue that there is virtually nothing to be gained by hip-hop artists stretching out a bit. That goes against the very idea of how art--not just music--advances. John Coltrane was nasty on the tenor sax. But what would our world be if someone had said, "Hey John, you know people don't really come to jazz to hear the soprano sax." Or if some idiot told Marvin Gaye, "Hey man, fuck that peace shit. I wanna hear some more of that "All I Need" shit" Actually, Barry Gordy did almost exactly that--and the world is a better place, for Marvin (and then Stevie Wonder) ignoring him

People try new things, sometimes it sucks, and every once in a while it's an advance. I find it particularly interesting that when it comes to hip-hop, some of us apparently don't want to see that rule applied.

13. Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote this on thread Village Voice/DC C. Paper writer on "vocal complexity" in rap & Prefuse 73 vs. Kogan, Frere-Jones take on production on board I Love Music on May 24, 2003

Quite frankly Sterling, I fail at that all the time, simply because I don't know enough. I often evaluate MCs as writers, because from a hip-hop perspective, lyrics are half of an MC. In all honesty though, my analysis of an MCs "flow" is much much weaker, if only because musically, I only halfway understand what I am listening too. On a general level I can tell you why I think Jay-Z is more dynamic than Beenie Siegel, but I can' tell you on a specific level.
That's actually part of the reason why, among other things, I'm talking to you guys--in the hopes of acquiring those skills. I can argue why Nas, as painter of a world, is more simple than he once was. But even on that level, I am somtimes surprised by the stuff I miss--someone quoted that line from "Made You Look," and it wasn't till I read it that I had to say, damn, that's a fucking amazing line.

But I don't think that failure is mine alone--I have yet to have anyone explain the appeal of 50 Cent as an MC to me. I know what I think makes him work--but that actually is only tangentially related to MCing.

Ta-Nehisi

P.S. I love talking to you guys--very informative.

14. Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote this on thread Am I the only person on earth that thinks Tupac is a boring, overrated hack? on board I Love Music on May 27, 2003

"Now I clown around, when I hang around with the underground/Girls that say I'm down used to frown when I came around/Gas me and when they pass me, they used to dis me/Harrass me but now they ask me, if they can kiss me...."
That was like 91, I was summarily blown away....and then summarily unimpressed. "Keep Your Head Up" is an amazingly progressive song--arguably the most feminist record ever recorded by a male rapper. But Pac is unfortunately very similar to 50 Cent in many respects. His promotion is more about mystique, image, legend and myth.

He really illustrates an unfortunate junction between black power, black leftism and gangsterism--i.e. the idea that criminals are the blackest among us because they are the ones white folks fear most. That is a powerful powerful--if fallacious--notion in the black community. It's equally as powerful in the white community, but for different--yet equally disturbing--reasons.

White racial paranoia is perhaps the only power black people percieve themselves as having. Pac wedded that idea to racial essentialism, and his Black Panther lineage was cited as his license to do so.

That marketing genius is often confused with actual skills. But hey, hip-hop isn't the only arena where people confuse hype with acumen.

"but it was clearly meaningful to many many people..."

Same could be said about Puff Daddy. Doesn't make him a great MC.

Ta-Nehisi

15. Ta-Nehisi Coates (Ta-Nehisi Coates) wrote this on thread What was the first tune you ever heard with rapping in it? on board I Love Music on May 27, 2003

"Double Dutch Bus," if that qualifies. Hip-hop is the first music I remember

16. Ta-Nehisi Coates (Ta-Nehisi Coates) wrote this on thread Am I the only person on earth that thinks Tupac is a boring, overrated hack? on board I Love Music on May 28, 2003

Yeah Sterling I can see that. I wasn't saying he was just peddling white race fear, as much as he was marrying this idea of a thug with black power traditions. What I mean is that there was this message that a "enlightened thug"--which Pac's lineage sorta qualified him as--was the most dangerous weapon against the status quo (read-white) power structure. I always think about in Menace II Society when Kane calls O-Dog, "white America's worst nightmare--young, black and don't give a fuck." Now obviously there is some dubious logic here, but it's something that young black folks, especially, buy into.
I don't know that I buy the part about being confused and thus being the first to add complication gangsta rap--at the very least Ice Cube beat him to the punch. Think "Color Blind," "The Product," or--for my money of the best gangsta songs ever--"Bird In Hand." You could even make an argument for "A Good Day"--though I think by then Pac was on the scene. Ice T's cannon also boasts a bit of complication.

At any rate, from an image perspective, I don't mean to take anything away from him. I think your right in that he nailed in idea that resonated with a lot of people. Seeming conflicted is certainly part of that. But somehow, I think he brought something more.

17. Ta-Nehisi Coates (Ta-Nehisi Coates) wrote this on thread Am I the only person on earth that thinks Tupac is a boring, overrated hack? on board I Love Music on May 28, 2003

Yeah, the Panthers did popularize that idea (thug+black power=fall of america). But Tupac was one of the first--and prolly the most successful--person to apply it on wax and for this generation. His direct lineage lent more power to that equation.
You dismiss the pro-choice stand of "Keep Ya head up." But that isn't a minor detail, if anything it's emblematic of how the song gives agency to black women, the sort of agency that people like the NOI deny. It's not sexist to say that women can use the help of the father. It is sexist to somehow seek to blame women for the lack of fathers ("black women run men out the house") or to ask them to somehow cede head of the household to a man ("black women need to be submissive"). "Keep Ya Head Up" endorses neither of those points of view. It simply--and sometimes eloquently--says, "Yo, I know it's hard raising solo. I wish these fucking black men would get thier act together and help out." That sentiment is deep because it touches on larger, but often unexpressed, idea in the black community--that the men are really holding us back. The NOI will often subtly blame women for the condition of the people, or they'll endorse an idea of patriarchy that I don't really find in that song.

As for my original point, I was saying that I don't know if Tupac's significance is in the arena of what we, admittidly vaugely, define as skills. I prefer Biggie as an MC. But Tupac may ultimately mean more. I think it's in what he offered himself up as, and subsequently was promoted as. Certainly it was significant, but ultimately I think this gangsta/revoloutionary paradigm is pretty regressive. Some will argue that it was Huey Newton's notion of the "lumpenization" of the Party that really hurt it, more than any FBI informant could.

18. Ta-Nehisi Coates (Ta-Nehisi Coates) wrote this on thread Is Rolling Stone racist? on board I Love Music on Jun 27, 2003

"Or fuck it lets go one better -- how is it that nearly every artist accused historically of "ripping off black music" has proven to be vital important and ultimately the birth of something DIFFT!!!"
Oh you must mean, like, Vanilla Ice? Please. I'm not one of these extremist cats who disses the Beattles, the Rolling Stones or even Elvis for being influenced by black cats. The way I see it, these guys always--like Eminem--gave credit where credit was due.

Of course that doesn't mean that racism isn't at work--just that the artists aren't the sources of it--which is exactly the point this thread was trying to discuss. No one said Clay was racist--they asked was Rolling Stone racist. The problem is us--namely the critics and the white music buying public. White critics--by and large--given a choice between a black dude and a white dude performing black music capably, are prone to christen the white dude the genius.

But even critics aren't the source of the problem. Most big music publications, fuck it, most entertaiment publications are subtle outgrowths of the industry. They are moved by threats from publicists, and people who purchase large swaths of space for ads. It doesn't take genius to know that if they have to listen to black-influenced musice, white people--for a lot of reasons, some fucked up, some perfectly natural--would generally rather see someone who looks like them doing it.

The idea that black people haven't been ripped off musicly, is fairly easy to shout from the other side of the street. On a basic logical level, the music industry rips everyone off. But from the perspective of race, at the very least black people have watched thier music become semi-accepted and a viable commercial product, even as the society has consistently proven unwilling to accept the people who made it all possible. You can call that whatever you want. On my side of the street, it's called a rip-off.

P.S. As for the original question, I prefer to consider context. This is a country that has never willingly grappled with issues of race and racism in good faith. Rolling Stone is a magazine that serves people live in this country. They are pretty much doing what the societal imperative demands.

19. Ta-Nehisi Coates (Ta-Nehisi Coates) wrote this on thread Is Rolling Stone racist? on board I Love Music on Jun 30, 2003

"Also vanilla ice i think gave credit where it was due too. but nobody particularly WANTED his credit "
Hehe, good point. And yeah your right, I think the idea of "giving credit" is a bit disturbing. But I'm not sure that that's even the problem. The racism and music issue has never really been about the artists. I mean a lot of these 60s bands would bring old blues cats on stage and introduce them to crowds that weren't really into what they were doing. There is a really good case to be made that without Eminem, 50 Cent would not have a career right now. Of course this becomes even murkier in today's context, given that there may have never been an Eminem without a Dre.

Might point is that I don't think the problem is--as it's often stated by royally pissed-off black people--that artists are ripping off black culture and acting like it's thier own. And you have a case that most people who borrow from black aren't borrowing from some pure well of culture.

The problem is actually very simple--this country is racist. More aptly put, black people are this country's great untouchable. African-Americans have one of the longest tenures in this country of any ethnic group, are, with some competition from our Latino brothers, the least wealthy, least educated and most segregated. Talk to people abroad, and they look at black folks like this country lazy beggar class. This includes other black people, who immigrate here and promptly find thier children integrated into that lazy beggar class. I see it everyday on Flatbush.

What the hell does that have to do with Rolling Stone? As long as racism exists, the magazine will sell better if Clay is on the cover. It's that simple. As long as we are the untouchables, as long as we are the great American insouluble, expect an art like rap to only be considered "high art" when it has an Eminem in its midst.

We aren't mad that we don't get credit--although it may sound like we are. Fuck credit. We're mad that people love hearing our music, but hate hearing us. It's like a whore complex, almost. Damn we love what black folks do for us in the bedroom, but don't ever bring em home to mama.

20. Ta-Nehisi Coates (Ta-Nehisi Coates) wrote this on thread Is Rolling Stone racist? on board I Love Music on Jul 1, 2003

"Forget this racism jibber jabber"
Heh that's my new signature.

It's a shame dude didn't stick around for the negative dickhole zing crew days, he would have been amazing

just won a macarthur btw

geir wuz robbed

just won a macarthur btw

six words into the first post was too far for 'nebb to bother reading

hehe, i love how he signed some of his posts like it was a freakin email

this is really neat, though! i had no idea he was ever on ilx.

this feels a bit creepy

xp Yeah, me neither! Or at least I didn't remember that he was around. This was right around the time when I was first posting on ILM, and there were a lot of really heady and engaging threads that drew me in. (Sadly, I still remember when SFJ declared that a particular thread was "full of killer stuff, esp. nabisco, o. nate, jaymc and Momus.") I was a big Prefuse 73 fan at the time, so I can't imagine I wouldn't have read that thread about TNC's Prefuse article.

this feels a bit creepy

― Meta Forksclove-Liebeskind (forksclovetofu), Tuesday, September 29, 2015 12:37 PM (37 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

why? it's public... he was a good poster

forgot to tweet this earlier, so I'll throw it out here: are there any previous Macarthur Grant recipients who have worked in comics?

Alison Bechdel got one, obv a bit different than writing marvel superhero comics though

wow i remember those threads but my memories of a Wash City Paper writer posting on them had totally faded from my memory well before he became a big deal

if spiegelman was ten years younger...

Um, I am pretty sure I sent the thread to he and City Paper writer Neil Drumming who both posted.

I was writing for W. City Paper then too and tried to alert various people whom I had some sort of contact with to certain threads

Bechdel was last year, Katchor won in 2000

this feels a bit creepy

yup!

this is not creepy it is cool

creepysexycool

why is it creepy?

yancey was way more of a regular and you could argue the most successful (certainly $$ wise i would imagine) and impactful

john d, too

uh pretty sure karl malone is the most successful ilxor guys

yep 94 mil + bennies

nba vs nba

don't forget to ask for the ILX discount at

http://i.imgur.com/k3OyGjv.jpg

i wish that were an acura dealership

"Hey was hoping you could knock that Tacoma 4WD down to 24K"....

"sorry sir, price is not negotiable"

"You. Never. Her."

"Let me get the manager, wait right here"

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

brb, gonna win a grant of my own for a conceptual poem which consists of me reciting these poll results

here's what I have so far https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzQXoTlQlvc5ZWUxQWtQd0owd1E/view?usp=sharing