Wynton Marsalis hates hip-hop. The world asks, 'Who in the hell is Wynton Marsalis?'

Wynton needs to stop worrying about hiphop and maybe worry about his own inabilty to create any unique and original. It's great that's he's really helped popularize jazz again, especially in the schools, but honestly his music is of zero important itself to the world of jazz. His music has given jazz nothing new, nothing noteworthy. He should work on that instead of attacking a genre which has offered the world of music a great deal of "new" for quite some time.

Really good points Adrian.

Obvious joke: he's the dude that was on the Tonight Show, right?

It's a lot more resource-intensive/risky to find an emcee with something to say AND the talent to say it well, because there's more substance to criticize or turn people off, and the labels don't have the inclination to worry about it when they can push a cookie-cutter image they've already crafted for MTV.

i agree with you phil. its sad that he consciously objects to avant-garde music and the progression of jazz into other forms. he could do some really cool stuff musically if he wanted to.

CNN's getting a piece of the action too: http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Music/03/05/music.rapbacklash.ap/index.html

his critiques of mainstream rap music on the whole are accurate, but applying this judgment to all rap is where he goes wrong. though, i never will agree with the notion of the helpless rapper being shaped into thug image by some unscrupulous label exec. rappers are complicit in their image the same way a douche like young love is in his, as crafted as it may be.

Branford Marsalis was on the tonight show. They are Brothers. He comes from a family of Jazz Musicians. Well known New Orleans pianist Ellis Marsalis and his sons, trumpeter Wynton, saxophonist Branford, trombonist Delfeayo, and drummer Jason. I'd like to know what the other family members think of Hip Hop.

i don't think adrian's saying that the emcees are being changed, so much as they're simply not noticed unless they sport a propensity to fit that mold, and the labels do everything they can to perpetuate it.

I think you're on the money Andrew. Rap shouldn't be exempt from criticism and rappers shouldn't be beyond reproach. Wyton is a 40-something year old Black man who, unlike many rap artists has some sense of social responsibilty. I bring up social responsibility not because I think it's inseperable from all artistry but in the case of Black people--who have got a raw ****** deal in America and around the world-- it is. I'm a Black man who loves hip-hop but guess what? I love my people more. For real, for real there's a A LOT of ignorant/stupid sterotypical **** in hip-hop, non-Black writers and fans often ignore this and even glorify it because in a perverse way it fits their notion of what being Black is, hence all the hipsters that profess their undying love of, thug rap, trap rap "ghetto booty" music etc. I definitely don't think all rap should be positive, or conscious or what have you, but I do think things are grossly imbalanced these days erring on the "niggerish" side of things and I question why so many people (esp. non-Blacks) revel in it. Sounds like minstrelsy to me.As far as Marsalis being an opportunist, well maybe he is. But also take into consideration that fact that most people do interviews around the time their projects drop because thats when their publicist start setting up interviews--anyone who's worked in the media should know that. Will he be talkin about this in six years? If it doesn't get better, yes. I don't wholeheartedly agree with Wnton but I see his point and I respect him for it.

Timmhotep, I agree and disagree with you. For, what its worth, I'm black too, and race and stereotypes are something I give alot of thought. I was never trying to argue that rap was beyond reproach or that mainstream rap didnt have reprehensible aspects to it. I figured that was a given and I felt that Marsalis had settled for stating the obvious. I was trying to say that if youre going to criticize it, you better make sure that you're not being hypocritical and you have an understanding of what you're criticizing. Marsalis strikes me as unfamiliar with rap outside of the MTV demographic, and unaware of the social impact that hip hop has had as a whole. Read the Guardian article...it drips with Marsalis' hypocrisy. I really appreciate people that do call out hip hop on its bullshit, but this isn't half as effective as Aaron McGruder's criticisms or that NYOIL video that hit YouTube at the end of last year.And of course I understand that Marsalis has his interviews now because of album promotion, but I also understand that artists say alot of off the wall shit to make people pay attention to their upcoming release (i.e. now).As for Andrew, you can't tell me that the music industry of the early 90's didnt have an effect on the current generation of music. For example, say a water supply is being poisoned, who (or what)are you going to blame the most...the water, the people that put the poison in the water, or the people that came up with the idea to put the poison in the water? Of course the people actually doing the damage deserve some of the blame, but many times they are in a difficult spot. Would the people putting the poison in the water do it if they didnt have to? My guess is no. This happens in politics and other business industries all the time. What is so hard to believe about the same thing happening in the entertainment industry? Its hard to bite the hand that feeds when they can blackball you from the entire industry in a second. And for many mainstream rappers, being poor isn't some romantic notion for all of us educated middle class social critics, its a reality. I'd be "complicit" too if I was scared of going to back to where I began. They didn't come from the same situations as De La Soul, or Talib, or Chuck D. Alot of these kids are socialized to prioritizing money above all without understanding why having money is important to begin with. Its impossible to say what any of us would do in that situation because I'm guessing most of us didnt grow up in that situation. Up until a few years ago, alot of rappers didnt have the means to put out their own music either, which meant that they had to play along with the label or not have their shit put out. I don't agree with what they do, and I believe that change is in order. But just calling hip hop a culture of excessive morons doesnt change anything. understanding the reason why this is happening instead of just pointing out the problem will change things. Now that I just wrote another essay on the matter, I'll shut up.

Phil, You don't know what you're taking about when it comes to Wynton's contribution to jazz. He has done completely original things in jazz. Listen to "Black Codes From the Underground," "Live at Blues Alley" the "Soul Jestures in Southern Blue" (all 3 volumes), "On this House on this Morning," Blood on the Fields," and "From the Plantation to the Penitentiary" to name a few. If you know the history of jazz and have some decent ears, you will notice that he has done unique things with 4, 5, 6 and 7 member groups and big band. Don't say things without backing them up. He has done some things that are in a certain styles that came before and he's made plenty of original sounds not previosly heard in jazz.On the hip-hop front from an artistic standpoint, even Nas is talking about hip-hip being dead. Man, I used to love hip-hop. Now you have to practically kill yourself to find some creative and positive music that will make you think too. The idiom is not musically interesting for me to search that hard for something good. Good jazz is easier to find (both new ond old) and is more musically stimulating. To me rap is about phat beats, lyrical skills and lyrical content. If a music depends so heavily on lyrics and there's no content, I don't want to hear it. The musical aspects are redundant. If I am going to listen to a damn one or two measure repetetive beat for 3 to 5 minutes, you better say something worth hearing. I'm a 32 year old man. I don't have time for the bullshit out there now.On the cultural front, look above at my last sentence. Wynton's right, the black youth and poor are being exploited by rich people who care little about black people. What really bothers me about the last arguement because now you have these very wealthy rappers who made their money and they have not grown in their message. Snoop, Jay-Z, Puffy have been in the game a long time and they have not evolved positively in their messages. They have been out of the ghetto for a decade and they are not saying anything worth hearing. That let's you know that they are about money and don't care about anything else. I question their manhood and blackness because you have to stop that minstrel shit after doing it for so long. When you're in your 30s creeping on 40 and you're still putting ignorant and degrading shit out there, that makes me think that they are immature and greedy. If you are a multi millionaire, why would you care about album sales? Because it's not about art but money and bullshit. Do a search about Wyntion's March 2007 interviews and listen to them. Don't defend buffoonery. I don't mind that Wynton is trying to sell something. He's trying to sell a deep concept and some good music. Better than what rappers and the executives of those record labels are doing.

Actually, I should not have even responded to this dumb article because the world knows who Wynton is. Whoever wrote the article should listen to the many interviews Wynton has given on the subject, listen to his music and the sad state of rap music.

i tend not to know many jazz artists unless their cd can be found in my local starbucks.and you raise a good point about jay-z and diddy, but a man who openly criticizes the concept of materialism when he stands to benefit from the same concept isnt selling something deep.

Point blank Marsalis' music is boring as hell. Talented? Mmmm... He comes off as angry and bitter because his ish doesn't sell. I'm an avid jazz musician and listener of all music and he has never produced anything that I would consider inspiring. What's ignorant is scapegoating a genre as the evil empire against one's own inadequacies, or insecurities. The "children" that he claims need to be protected from rap are the demographical group that buy the lionshare of it. The only kids that listen to his stuff are the unfortunate middleschool band members that have it thrust upon them. He just promotes narrow-mindedness and
bigotry. He's not inspiring like Miles, Dizzy, Sandoval, etc. There's good and bad in everything, let's be real.
If he wants to live in the 1940s fine. But just because you can play the Jazz Standards doesn't mean that you own the music world. Because if we are going to start eliminating any genre, I suspect his will be the first to go bye bye.

WYNTON MARSALIS IS DEAD ON.
I've been a fan of hip hop and (gansta) rap for years. Everything from Mr.Lif to Jay Z and Young Jeezy. I just don't see rap going anywhere. Not to mention its no where near the level of musicianship black people have already contributed to this country. Its not a rap jazz thing. Its just encouraging people to listen to our cultures best. Sorry but even though I own all the drough mix tapes lil wayne has put out, could our generation really...really..really...compare him to someone like Miles Davis or Charlie Parker? Ha.