SugarHiccup~Hiccup

So, first off, I gotta give props to my homey,
SOCE, THE ELEMENTAL WIZARD

Thass right... I'm usin' da "Language of YO" (as I call it). Yo.

Anyway, he's my Jewish, Gay, White Boy, YALE-grad, Wall Street, New Hampshire-raised RAPPER pal! It will never matter if he becomes mainstream with his work because he is truly an historic event, a legend, in and of himself. I went to see him perform among many other Hip-Hop artists the other night at Soce's CD Release party. It was SO FUN!!!!

One thing I learned that night beyond a shadow of a doubt is how much I truly cannot stand HIP HOP. Yeah, I said it. Yo, what up wit DAT!?? you say? Well, it stands about as equally creative a musical genre as Hair Metal and Reggae. After one or two songs, you feel like you are hearing THE SAME SHIT OVER AND OVER AGAIN! My god, it just would not end! Now, Reggae is, at least, very pleasant and warm to the listener, even if redundantly repetitive beyond belief. Hip Hop, you don't get no warmth. All you get in hip hop is a lot of angry grunting and spitting, mostly as a self-celebration of how much money, sex, or pride the rapper has.

HOWEVER, I discovered at Soce's party just how much I DO like hip hop, when it's done more as an art, instead of as a commercial formula. Most of the performers I will never listen to again, but a couple of them were truly smart and smooth and meaningful and original! All of them were cute, however... damn hottie thugs!

So here is Soce, standing among some of the toughest, hetero rappers in the area, celebrating his cd release, with every one of them cheering him on and hailing him, and he bursts forth with his own performance. Bridging the gap between bitch-slappin' rappers and angry political rappers, Soce comes in with songs that cover the EXACT same territory, but with a vastly different spin:

They are ALL GAY. And not just gay- oriented , or gay- themed , but seriously, TOTALLY, GAY . I mean, in YO FACE gay! The only thing that Soce does not do that so many rappers do, is that he does not make you feel BAD. Not a single song is angry, but all CELEBRATORY and inspiring, somehow! He managed to have even the most hetero thug singin' and head-bobbin' to songs such as "I AM (SO GAY)" and "SD" (Suckin' Dick). Songs with deep beats over violins (played by Soce, himself!), catchy choruses that had the audiences singing along immediately, joining in with his huge, underground following, and even nasty, fun remixes of traditional Jewish songs, such as the "WORK/PLAY bar mitsvah remix." His music is ORIGINAL, smart, and manages to make everyone happy, laughing, smiling, and proud to be gay or even WANTING to be gay! LOL!

Soce, is unabashadly, unapologetically GAY. It was beautiful to see such freedom, which is probably why rap (aka hip hop) rose to popularity in the first place, becoming a tough genre contributing to the lift of oppression, obvious or unseen. Well, at least, it used to be. Now it's just a bunch of noise, which is why Soce is SO REFRESHING, even among his peers!

Excellent job, SOCE! In addition to your list of descriptions that are already suprising, contradictory, and even oxymoronic, you can add "pioneer."

LINKS:

SOCE on MySpace

GREATHIPHOP.COM

BUY HIS ALBUMS!