Cowboy Troy
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I just saw this Cowboy Troy guy on Jay Leno. Some WACK country group called "Big & Rich" was backing him up. Jay Leno introduced him as a "Country Rapper." What the hell is a country rapper? This Troy guy was TERRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He was wearing some tight jeans, a weird green shirt and a cowboy hat. I only HOPE this is not a new trend because it was SO bad that I never want to see or hear anything like this again. Does this get airplay on country radio? Will white country music fans buy this guys records? Where is this guy from? WTF?
Someone should let this Troy guy know that Charlie Pride is the only Black "Country" artist that white people will spend money to see or buy his records.
Cowboy Troy
You're wrong. White people will definitely buy this.
Yo, that shit is huge right now. Cowboy Troy had his "album party" (??) at the my work last month and there were a grip of these country/frat-boy/meat head types starting fights outside trying to get in.
alot of this shit:
alot of this shit:
I hope it doesnt become a trend, but it might.
I work in an office full of racist young and old women. They all love country, I mean, contemporary, horrible country, like that Big and Rich shit. Just awful music. Anyway, they occasionally over hear me listening to soul, and rap, and whatever else. They made "racist" comments, not outright racist, but you know......
They all love this Cowboy troy dude. I dont fuckin get it. They hate blacks, hate rap, but LOVE this dude. LOVE this dude. I cant express that enough. LOVE IT. Like this dude is CHrist or something. Scary.
Back in the early 90's Pete Rock came up with I think Showbiz right after the Soul Clap 12" dropped and some Coyboy rapper opened. It was either Showboz or DITC...anthow it was pretty crazy as nobody expected to see a guy in a cowboy outfit spitting. I think it was at Spectrum. Anyhow the guy took some bottles to the head. It was the first time I was at a concert where bottles were thrown at the stage
And so the 21st century's most confounding musical development
is revealed.
Actually, there is a long history of rap artists messing with country
and country artists messing with rap. For the most part these album-filler
songs were hokey jokes from Muscogee, mere novelties that allowed one
camp to poke fun at the style of the other camp across a wide, polluted
river.
In the 21st century, persistent parties have made bold attempts to
build a bridge. Witness the recent (phoned in at gunpoint?) appearance
of Tim McGraw on a hit Nelly song. Listen to the talented white
Southern rap artists Tow Down and Bubba Sparxxx. And, as mentioned,
mad musical mescegenation on commercials. I could give examples all day, but
don't watch me, watch TV.
To ask "what the hell is a country rapper?" or "what the fuck is this
country rappin' shit?" is to imply one's deep-seated belief in a permanent
state of cultural segregation.
I would argue that the inevitable marriage of country and rap styles
could be one important key to a new populist expansion of power, a power
that would be nearly unstoppable due to its every element's decentralization.
On the other hand, if "country rap" sounds like a good idea to beer and
soda ad agencies, imagine what it could do for the likes of Karl Rove and
company.
Now, having said all that, allow me to stress that I too saw the Jay Leno
performance you're talking about, and I seriously think that Cowboy Troy
may be the worst rapper ever to disgrace a microphone on national television.
His diction and rhythmic skills are below rudimentary, and the writing
is nothing short of a travesty. I believe that Troy is where he is today
because he is the one who happened to be there with the right hat, willing
and able to play the exhausting and seedy game of the music business.
If you'll allow me, I'd suggest that Troy may be Country Rap's Sugarhill
Gang...now just imagine, that somewhere down there sits Country Rap's
Rakim, busy scribbling rhymes between farm chores and bedtime.
Will you be ready?
To address Doc Beezy's observations of the women in his office:
Two ways of looking at this.
1. Troy is a novelty. He's non-threatening, relatively non-violent, and he
opts to pursue content that is much more in line with country than current hip-hop. According to early 20th century paradigms, Troy would be the shuffling, grinning self-deprecating black man acting to temporarily entertain frightened, ignorant and neurotic white women.
2. The white women in your office might hate rap, but, despite their trash talking may not really hate black guys...in fact they might really really like them a whole lot deep down, if you catch my drift. But they don't like rap.
And they don't like all the baggy pants and nightgown white t-shirts.
Cowboy Troy is the first big black man to get up on TV and dance around in very very tight jeans in about 2 decades, and it's pretty fuckin' exciting.
Figuratively speaking, he could walk end-to-end through any mall in America on a fresh carpet of white poontang.
To ask "what the hell is a country rapper?" or "what the fuck is this
country rappin' shit?" is to imply one's deep-seated belief in a permanent
state of cultural segregation.
No, I've just never heard of such a thing and it sucked. That doesn't mean it can't happen, but this was the first example I've sene and it was shit. Country music already has enough really bad lyrics with tourtured rhymes, so rapping them just makes them worse. But thanks for the essay. This is the kind of thing that doesn't need to be over anylized, cuz it just sucks.
And so the 21st century's most confounding musical development
is revealed.
Actually, there is a long history of rap artists messing with country
and country artists messing with rap. For the most part these album-filler
songs were hokey jokes from Muscogee, mere novelties that allowed one
camp to poke fun at the style of the other camp across a wide, polluted
river.
In the 21st century, persistent parties have made bold attempts to
build a bridge. Witness the recent (phoned in at gunpoint?) appearance
of Tim McGraw on a hit Nelly song. Listen to the talented white
Southern rap artists Tow Down and Bubba Sparxxx. And, as mentioned,
mad musical mescegenation on commercials. I could give examples all day, but
don't watch me, watch TV.
To ask "what the hell is a country rapper?" or "what the fuck is this
country rappin' shit?" is to imply one's deep-seated belief in a permanent
state of cultural segregation.
I would argue that the inevitable marriage of country and rap styles
could be one important key to a new populist expansion of power, a power
that would be nearly unstoppable due to its every element's decentralization.
On the other hand, if "country rap" sounds like a good idea to beer and
soda ad agencies, imagine what it could do for the likes of Karl Rove and
company.
Now, having said all that, allow me to stress that I too saw the Jay Leno
performance you're talking about, and I seriously think that Cowboy Troy
may be the worst rapper ever to disgrace a microphone on national television.
His diction and rhythmic skills are below rudimentary, and the writing
is nothing short of a travesty. I believe that Troy is where he is today
because he is the one who happened to be there with the right hat, willing
and able to play the exhausting and seedy game of the music business.
If you'll allow me, I'd suggest that Troy may be Country Rap's Sugarhill
Gang...now just imagine, that somewhere down there sits Country Rap's
Rakim, busy scribbling rhymes between farm chores and bedtime.
Will you be ready?
To address Doc Beezy's observations of the women in his office:
Two ways of looking at this.
1. Troy is a novelty. He's non-threatening, relatively non-violent, and he
opts to pursue content that is much more in line with country than current hip-hop. According to early 20th century paradigms, Troy would be the shuffling, grinning self-deprecating black man acting to temporarily entertain frightened, ignorant and neurotic white women.
2. The white women in your office might hate rap, but, despite their trash talking may not really hate black guys...in fact they might really really like them a whole lot deep down, if you catch my drift. But they don't like rap.
And they don't like all the baggy pants and nightgown white t-shirts.
Cowboy Troy is the first big black man to get up on TV and dance around in very very tight jeans in about 2 decades, and it's pretty fuckin' exciting.
Figuratively speaking, he could walk end-to-end through any mall in America on a fresh carpet of white poontang.
wow. Im scared of the country rap rakim.
I heard him on NPR. "Rappers talk about there rides, and country singers sing about their rides. Not much difference." He also pointed out how recitation was an old country tradition. Think "Deck Of Cards".
It sounded like a bad concept, but I was ready to give the guy a listen. I couldn't belive how bad he was. Bad country. Bad (as in bad) rap. It sounded like a parody of a paraody of a country rap paradoy. Being radio I did not get to see the guy, but I assumed he was made for music video and that must be his appeal.
I have a Cajun Rap record from the 80s that is better than him.
Maybe Jamie Foxx will be the great country rapper. You know, like the way Ray broke through to country.
On a related note, many great country singers cover R&B songs out of love. Some like Charlie Rich and Ronnie Milsap are good at it even if their bands aren't always up to the task.
Dan
It sounded like a bad concept, but I was ready to give the guy a listen. I couldn't belive how bad he was. Bad country. Bad (as in bad) rap. It sounded like a parody of a paraody of a country rap paradoy. Being radio I did not get to see the guy, but I assumed he was made for music video and that must be his appeal.
I have a Cajun Rap record from the 80s that is better than him.
Maybe Jamie Foxx will be the great country rapper. You know, like the way Ray broke through to country.
On a related note, many great country singers cover R&B songs out of love. Some like Charlie Rich and Ronnie Milsap are good at it even if their bands aren't always up to the task.
Dan
Well, here I am, a couple days late:
I've seen the hype, but figured the "black hayseed" act was just that. Yeah, he wears Western gear, but then so did the Gap Band. However, yesterday I'm reading some article on the new new-country explosion in Entertainment Weekly, and there was Troy's pic, right next to Dierks Bentley and that fine-ass Gretchen woman. Going by you guys' reactions, my original hunch was right. If he's still in the business five years from now, but the "chocolate cowboy" schtick has dried up, I'll bet you dollars to donuts he'll have moved on to something else.
And to the guy who said that the only black performer that country fans will give the time of day to is Charley Pride, well:
(1) Charley is old, probably doing matinees in Branson, MO now and hasn't had a hit in eons (not that he needs one);
(2) I gotta say, most of what I heard by Charley was pretty corny and poppish, but then again his producers HAD to take the edge off so racist white audiences in the sixties would accept him;
(3) Not that I'm trying to outdo the next guy with my fave obscurities or whatever, but the late great O.B. McClinton really was a better performer in the black country division. His best album, IMO, was Obie From Senatobie. And he recorded for a Stax sub-label, too!!!
Goddamn right!
Didn't somebody compile a CD box set of the work of black country artists a few years back?
