I should suggest at the outset that there is no genre of contemporary music that merits a Smithsonian installation. But having to read one’s way through the following in today’s Washington Post item — twice pained by the awkwardness of its residually painful cultural sense — calls up in the gorge something particularly galling:
“I would love to see more jewelry, more bling-bling, more clothes, more graffiti,” said Marvette Perez, the Smithsonian curator leading the project. “I’d love to get Queen Latifah’s hat from the ‘Ladies First’ video, some of Missy Elliott’s sneakers. We’re just getting warmed up.”
“I’m so happy right now,” [Ice-T] said as he finished his speech,” because when somebody comes and asks me about my music and about hip-hop, I can say, ‘Take your [flipping hindquarters] to the museum, all right?”
This summer, take your flipping hindquarters to the Smithsonian. It’s got a pretty ring to it, doesn’t it?
