Archive for November, 2005

$90,000 to stay at home and write rap

Nope, it’s not a get-rich-quick scheme. $90,000 is the amount that a school in Pennsylvania will have to pay an eight-grader for expelling him for posting violent rap lyrics on the web! The Accidental Lyricist says: “We should be so lucky”. Joking aside, this is another in the longish list of cases where people are [...]

Arise, sir Perry!

I know a knight! My long-time writing partner, Perry Rose, just received a knighthood. I speak not in jest. He was given the honour by Minister Fadila Laanan in Brussels last week. So he is now enrolled in the Order of Leopold II – a distinction that was created after the First World War. Perry [...]

Belgian songwriter wins plagiarism suit against Madonna

It has just been announced that the Belgian composer Salvatore Acquaviva has won a long-standing fight claiming that Madonna’s 1998 hit "Frozen" from the "Ray of Light" album plagiarised one of his songs. The court in the Belgian town of Mons has ordered that the record company remove all copies of the song within 15 [...]

French rap: “they should have listened”

The ongoing trouble in France was foreseen.That is the feeling amongst many rappers in the country. Already ten years ago, bands such as IAM and MC Solaar were sending out warning signals. More radical groups such as NTM were even brought to court for their confrontational style.And now, when it’s too late, the media are [...]

Kate Bush on lyrics and diarrhoea

Image via Wikipedia Little boy reviewers worldwide are quivering: a new Kate Bush album has been released. Why quiver? This article on OHM is a good summary of the Bush phenomenon – or rather the relationship of little boys to the mystery woman. Yet this image is misleading at best, as she demonstrates when talking [...]

Patti Labelle: “lyrics aren’t there anymore”

Patti has been turning out hits since the early sixties, and is still touring today. “Lady Marmelade (Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?)” was her steam-rolling hit from 1975. In an article in The Washington Post, Labelle had this to say about today’s scene: “The music has started to suck. No, maybe it doesn’t suck, it’s just [...]

Former Salt’n Pepa star speaks out against misogynist lyrics

Echoing a sentiment that has already been voiced many times across Africa, Cheryl “Salt” James is joining other Hip-Hop celebrities in encouraging people to speak out against misogynist lyrics. Speaking at a college debate on Hip-Hop, she is reported by Associated Press as saying, “The microphone is very effective. Life and death is in the [...]