That's Entertainment

Star Tribune music critic and translucent white guy Chris Riemenschneider reports from a show at the Myth in Maplewood:

Nas showed the precision and know-how of a surgeon at Sunday's lively show -- easily one of the Twin Cities' most fulfilling hip-hop concerts of the past few years.

Most fulfilling hip hop concert in the Twin Cities? I'm guessing there's not a lot of competition for that recognition. It's kind of like a show getting reviewed as the most technically proficient Mahler Symphony currently being played in Hopkins.

I do like Riemenschneider's use of the language. though. Kind of a cluelessly pompous Frasier Crane quality to it:

I was listening to a rock 'n' roll station on my way over here, you know to put me in the mood. There was a passage in one of those trifle songs, that I feel, well, is the keynote of this evening: "Everybody have fun tonight. Everybody Wang Chung tonight.

I can see him at the show, bobbing his head to the bass, waving his hands in the air like he just don't care, then leaning over to the guy standing next to him and saying 'Pardon me old sport, I dare say this is the most fulfilling hip hop concert I've seen in the Twin Cities in the past few years.' As there were no reports of shootings in Maplewood last night, it looks like he kept his observations to himself.

So what was at this concert to fill him up so much?

[Nas] updated "If I Ruled the World" with a line about getting "George Bush's head on a silver platter

Yes, there's nothing like a reference to killing the President to perk a reporter up. Then there was this highlight:

The standout among the new tunes was "Black Republican," with the crowd filling in the duet parts by Jay-Z

For those of you yet to be fulfilled by this song, a sampling of the lyrics:

I feel like a black republican, money keep comin' in
Can't turn my back on the hood, I got love for them
Can't clean my act up for good, too much thug in 'em
Probably in the back in the hood, I f*ck it then

Trust me, that's one of the cleaner excerpts I could grab. It's all there in the song though, obscenity, glorification of the criminal life, AND political partisanship. Other hip hop acts seeking approval take note, you can't utilize only the first two dimensions and be fulfilling to Star Tribune music reviewers. It takes all three.