Who Is Generation X's Greatest Black Musician? Here's My Vote

My Xer neighbor and former babysitter clued me in to gangsta rap when I was a teenager and I've loved it ever since. Here's the John Lennon of the genre and may be the generation's greatest overall.

Dear my buddy & business partner

Mike Kilgore

,

I really appreciated your music post yesterday! What fun!

What's in your wallet... er... music library?

You asked the question:

So. Here’s the question, dear reader. What do you listen to? What tickles your eardrums? Genre, performer, song…. Drop some faves in the comments.

I noticed in your list of favorite music one genre in particular seemed absent. So I may as well ask for your thoughts on it and praise both my favorite artist in the genre and who I regard as one of your generation’s very greatest musicians period.

What’s your take on rap? Have any favorites there?

I’ll also challenge you with some other very difficult music questions too.

Since this is black history month and we’re especially exploring and praising black historical and cultural contributions, I thought I’d challenge you with a pair of tough questions, particularly to consider back-to-back:

Who is Generation X’s greatest black musician?

Who are Generation X’s greatest musicians of all time?

So as you’re weighing the contenders for the first question, then you have the challenge of figuring out where to rank them alongside great artists of other ethnicities. Further enhancing the challenge is having to weigh artists of different genres against each other. It’s easier to rank just rock artists, just alternative bands, just hip-hop artists. And of course, you’re limited to artists born from 1965 to 1980 - your generation.

See, I think one of the reasons you and I get along so well is that we’re particularly generationally compatible. Being born at the start of 1984 - just turning 39 last month, GASP - I very much prefer to identify as an “Xennial” rather than just a straight-up Millennial. In my view, the only authentic “Millennials” who genuinely live up to that generation’s peer personality and cultural stereotypes are those born from 1990-1994 - of which my own siblings are a pair. Those born earlier tend to blend a bit with Generation X, and those born in the last years of the generation - where exactly to make the cut-off still seems a bit subjective to me - blend with the Gen-Zers.

(Personally, I think we should make the Millennial/Gen-Z cut-off as some time before 9/11 and generally involving that key event in America history. Wikipedia at the moment says 1996 but that seems a bit too early, though, maybe it’s correct. I think the defining characteristic of Gen-Z is that they were either born after 9/11 or were too young to really remember and be impacted by it.)

Anyway, back to your generation — which I tend to hold with much affection. Being a teenager in the mid-to-late ‘90s meant looking up to and generally admiring the art, culture-making, and general attitude of Xers, most of whom were then in their early 20s to early 30s. That’s when you guys were at your coolest, your most badass, and began to dethrone decades of baby boomer culture. So growing up in this period meant absorbing much Gen-X culture and thus some of you all’s persona. I feel very much like an “Xennial” because I regard the early ‘80s babies, those of us born 1981-1984 as more a blend of the two generations.

It was sometime around that period of 1995-2000 that the Xer next door, starting college then, who had been my babysitter just a few years prior when I was a kid, and who I just regarded as so cool, turned me on to who I regard as your generation’s greatest black musician, and by extension the greatest rapper, period: Tupac Shakur (1971-1996). Thanks Andrea! Really owe you for that one!

During those early teen years after his death, I collected most of Tupac’s albums, read several books analyzing them, and came to deeply respect his evolution as an artist from 1991’s 2pacalypse Now, through his final album released during his life, 1996’s All Eyez on Me, which most - including myself - would probably regard as his greatest. I’ve embedded my favorite track from it at the top of this post. Such a badass song.

So why is gangsta rap as a genre worth celebrating and Tupac as its greatest exemplar? I think it’s generally best to see it in gendered terms. Great early rap music (And the 90s still very much counts as when the genre was still young) has its power for a similar reason as when early rock first emerged and even one could argue early jazz too. I suppose heavy metal qualifies also. These songs are all about depicting tough, masculine power. One listens to rap music like Tupac to get pumped up, energized, and ready to fight, to make war on other males.

However, Tupac didn’t just project the raw gangsta power. He’s a serious artist when one starts digging into his lyrics and the themes he explored. He wasn’t just putting out thuggish beats or party tracks - though there are plenty of those there - he was exploring deeper themes and hitting powerful emotions while still maintaining his masculinity. A few examples:

Now, who in your cohort most competes with Tupac for the title of greatest musical artist of the generation? I’d really have to research more and meditate deeply on the question.

Kurt Cobain is generally considered perhaps the most iconic and emblematic Xer musician, and while he put out some great albums and wrote some excellent songs, I’m just not sure musically Nirvana holds up as much as other Xer bands and artists. Having listened to Nirvana just so much over the years I’m not as impressed by them as much anymore, while other bands and artists seem to maintain my appreciation. I can just go back to them over and over.

Off the top of my head, I can really only think of three other contenders from your generation who would compete with Tupac for the crown:

Billy Corgan (1967-)

While Nirvana is stereotypically recognized as the most iconic Gen-X band, I take the position that the Smashing Pumpkins really is your generation’s greatest band, and that the primary creative force behind it, Billy Corgan, has in the years since its initial break-up more than proven his consistent musical genius. Did you ever hear his short-lived “super group” Zwan? Oh man was I ever bummed when they broke up after such a mind-blowing fist album:

Beck (1970-)

Beck is another great musician of your generation who has consistently put out one satisfying album after another, continuing to evolve his sound and stay fresh. Like Corgan and Shakur, he really exemplifies the Xer generation’s ability to adapt and evolve.

Jack White (1975-)

So, of the various musicians and bands I’m strongly considering for this list, Jack White is the only one I’ve seen live. My brother and I went and saw the White Stripes during their “Get Behind Me Satan” tour. And oh dear Lord, can he ever put on a fucking show. The six White Stripes studio albums are one of the most astounding runs of a band ever, but Jack White live is just an absolute machine of a performer, hypnotic in his powerful intensity and astonishing in his artistry. And in his post-Stripes career he’s only continued to demonstrate his greatness:

A part of me wants to throw in Trent Reznor (1965), but he’d probably more be on the lesser half of any best Xer musician list for me rather than the top half. (I’ve seen him live too, during the 2009 NINJA tour which featured him with Jane’s Addiction and the opening act of Street Sweeper Social Club, which featured a mind-blowing Tom Morello performance.) Maybe if Reznor had evolved more over the years like Beck and Corgan he’d be a clear cut inclusion. I don’t know - maybe I’m being too critical. What do you think? Is NIN in or out?

I’m half-tempted to throw Eminem into the mix but he seems to have sort of gone downhill over the last 15 years or so. Same too with Marilyn Manson who had such a powerful early career but also seems to have fizzled over the last 15 years too — and so sad that we now know too that his stage persona of ultimate evil monster wasn’t an act. He really is just a tremendously evil person in real life too as so many of his former bandmates and girlfriends have attested. And he’s an antisemite too. So fuck him. (Note to self: do a post in the “Antisemitism and Culture” series smacking that Nazi-obsessed, abusive son of a bitch around a bit.)

I suppose another rapper who could potentially make the list is Dr. Dre. I only hesitate with him because you’d really need to include his producing work for him to qualify. He’s a great rapper and put out some quality albums but I’m not sure if he makes it just on his merits as a musician and a rapper. 50 Cent might also qualify, but I’d have to take a closer listen to his more recent albums to see if their quality is comparable to his initial work or better. I feel similar also about DMX - tremendous talent and artistry but I’d have to dig in a bit more to his discography to really make a judgment call.

UPDATE: How could I have forgotten Jay-Z? He may also potentially qualify as at least within the top 10. As with DMX and 50 Cent I’d need to dig a bit deeper into his overall discography to make the judgment call.

I found his 2003 The Black Album particularly impressive and especially loved the Beatles-infused, unofficial remix from Danger Mouse, The Grey Album, which mixed it with The White Album:

Now, if we’re going to consider whole bands too as opposed to specific individuals - and why not? that makes the question even more challenging - then I suppose I’d also throw in:

Belle and Sebastian

Rage Against The Machine

Tool

Radiohead

What do you think? Do Foo Fighters, Beastie Boys, Modest Mouse, Wu-Tang Clan, and Red Hot Chili Peppers deserve a spot on the list too? I’m not sure. I recognize their skills, influence, and quality, and enjoy plenty of their hit songs, but never really deeply fell head over heels for them overall such that I especially studied them.

I feel like Gnarls Barkley could potentially make the list. With only two albums from them I’m not sure that amounts to enough, though. And while CeeLo Green and Danger Mouse are both impressive individually, are they good enough to stand on their own as one of X’s greatest musicians? Hmm… I’m not so sure either. See why I need your help figuring this out?

Now, I admit that a particular musical blind spot for me here is female artists. What can I say? I guess I just tend to drift more toward macho, aggressive, high-energy stuff when it comes to contemporary popular music. But there is one female artist of your generation who certainly comes to mind as deserving of a spot on the greats list:

Bjork

While I certainly was moved by Bjork’s powerful performance in Dancer in the Dark and the music accompanying it, her 2004 Medulla album, which came out when I was in college, was the one which most cemented my respect for her.

So what do you think, Mike? Do you accept my challenge to name your generation’s greats and to fill in the blanks on my list? To rank them across genres?

At this point, after considering the competition, I think I’m going to stand by Tupac Shakur as the greatest overall for Generation X, but perhaps you can change my mind.

warmest regards and appreciations always,

David