Bad Rap at the Trib
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In December 1992, during police protests over an Ice-T appearance at the Vic, the Tribune printed a page-one photo caption stating that the song “Cop Killer” “advocate[d] the slaying of police”–a sexy claim undermined only by its inaccuracy. Last week in a report datelined Washington on Carol Moseley-Braun’s gangsta rap hearings, Trib staffer Linda Harrington wrote about the “menacing words” of sometime rapper Sister Souljah, who had told “blacks to stop killing each other and kill white people.” Actually, Souljah, in a now-infamous spring 1992 Washington Post interview, was merely making a pained and sarcastic commentary on the Rodney King riots. (As I wrote at the time, her words were comparable to Mayor Daley’s sardonic remarks about the Bulls championship-night looting: “You have to understand–when you’re celebrating in America, what you do is break a window and grab something.”) Is it just me, or are such casual and prominent falsehoods beginning to constitute a pattern of racial demonization in the pages of what is supposed to be a sophisticated and enlightened big-city daily?
Connoisseurs of the mass media’s attempts to plug into youth culture love Amy Scott, Fox 32’s flannel-shirted spelunker in the twisted caverns of the Generation X sensibility. The following is a transcript of a recent “What’s the Buzz?” segment.
[Cut to studio. Scott chats with anchor Robin Robinson]
Robinson: Not like “slasher,” but “slacker.”
[Exeunt, pursued by a bear]
Seven, nine, and ten months after their respective releases, the Smashing Pumpkins’ Siamese Dream, Urge Overkill’s Saturation, and Liz Phair’s Exile in Guyville haven’t yet topped out in sales. Virgin Records says Siamese Dream will reach the double platinum mark, for two million copies sold, next week. The record debuted at number 9 on the Billboard 200 album chart last August, dropped to number 20 the next week, and has stayed within a couple of numbers of that ever since. With “Disarm” getting heavy support from MTV and radio across the country, the band’s short college tour this spring, and their coheadlining status (with Nirvana) on Lollapalooza this summer, the Pumpkins may soon boast one of the largest selling records ever by a Chicago rock band.
