While Anya and I were driving home tonight, we listened to a cd of rap's greatest hits. It's a cd of broadstrokes and is by no means a comprehensive measure of the history of hip-hop, but there were some pretty popular songs on there.

The final song on the cd is "Aint Nuthin But a G Thang" by Dr. Dre. Listening to that song, I asked Anya if she could imagine Luke and I listening to that type of music as a normal thing. She said that it was virtually impossible to imagine either one of us jamming out to Dr. Dre or Snoop Dogg.

If I did have a time machine, I think it'd be funny to go back in time and look at myself while I was in that phase of liking that type of music. It's kind of bizarre to think that your basic, middle class kid from the suburbs could get sucked into a type of music that wears its violence on its sleeve.

Gangsta rap really hasn't aged well. Most gangsta rap sounds just as dated as any disco song. Whereas good hip hop from that era sounds timeless. Great music will always sound timeless I think. Compare a U2 to a say, Frankie Goes to Hollywood.

Thank god I grew out of that phase quickly. I think that my rapid ascent from liking hard core music goes in this order.

Dr. Dre-->Metallica-->****RAPID JUMP****-->Pink Floyd--> Beck-->where I'm at now.

Bands like The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix Experience were a couple of the constants that I've liked since the first time I heard them.

matt out