TI: The racial provocation is now the footnote in a book
2009 is turning out to be a big year for me, as far as being mentioned in books. The other day, there was that Reggaeton book, in which they may or may not have misspelled my name (and yet, we're supposed to pronounce Sotomayor as if we're the Taco Bell chihuahua), and today I've been informed that I've been mentioned in a book about racial stereotypes in black music. Bonus! I wonder how many books Michael Eric "Cornholio" Dyson has been mentioned in, in the past couple of weeks.
Here's the part where I'm mentioned.
In 2006, African-American blogger Byron Crawford noted what he called an "insidious new trend: Minstrel show rap. Flush with revenue … record labels are rushing out to sign the most coon-like Negros they can find. Granted, it can be argued that hip-hop became a minstrel show of sorts the first time some jig put on a gold chain and began pacing back and forth gripping his unit. … But that was unintentional." More bothersome, to Crawford at least, was the "outright and purposeful embrace of minstrelsy," as exemplified by the crossover hit single "Chain Hang Low" (2006) from 16-year-old St. Louis rapper Jibbs. "You have to wonder if the minstrel show connotations," frets Crawford, "are purely a matter of coincidence." Given that the melody was lifted from the children's song "Do Your Ears Hang Low?"—which shared said melody with the ignominious early 19th-century minstrel favorite "Zip Coon" (as well as the traditional American fiddle song "Turkey in the Straw")—Crawford concludes: "If Jibbs wasn't aware of this, you have to assume the TIs at Geffen [Jibbs's record label] were. Indeed, I doubt this was a coincidence at all." Citation: Byron Crawford, "Minstrel Show Rap," XXLmag.com (September 22, 2006); http://www.xxlmag.com/online/?p=4869.
And here's the footnote in which the term TI is explained.
TI is an acronym for Tall Israeli, a term originated in Brooklyn rapper Mos Def's "The Rape Over," a song from his album The New Danger (2004). Although neither the song nor its album was a crossover hit, the lyrics sparked controversy by alleging that "some Tall Israeli is runnin' this rap shit," which was taken to be a veiled reference to powerful record company executive Lyor Cohen, who by then had capped a long and successful career in hip hop by accepting a leadership position at Warner Music Group, lately acquired from Time Warner by wealthy New York investor Edgar Bronfman, Jr. and associates. Lyor Cohen was born in New York City, raised in Los Angeles, and graduated from the University of Miami. His parents were Israeli immigrants, which may technically confer upon him dual Israeli-American citizenship. But calling him an Israeli, tall or otherwise, instead of an American, certainly opened Mos Def to accusations of anti-Semitism. And Byron Crawford's allusion to unnamed "TIs at Geffen," an organization that has never employed Lyor Cohen, opens Mr. Crawford to similar accusations.
The author, Alan "Col" Kurtz, sent me these in an email, to see if I found them unfair or inaccurate - presumably, so I can't turn around and sue him for calling me an antisemite. Doesn't he know? That's not what I do, that's what TIs do!
