Prof’s King Gampo (Stophouse) is asinine, narcissistic self-indulgence run completely riot, without a shred of redeeming artistry.
The best thing about rap in the dawn of its era was that pioneering firebrands like The Last Poets and Sugar Hill Gang didn’t need to be singers to make records. Being excellent prose-poets and spoken wordsmiths was enough to put them on the market. Even N.W.A., with their foul-mouthed, blatantly barbaric sexism, did it with skill. These days, all it takes is somebody with enough money behind you to go in the studio and come out with something for which you can strike a distribution deal.
Hence, this stuff that wouldn’t even have been recorded in the early 70s, let alone met with the success it enjoys today—with Prof garnering praise all over the place, including high-profile radio and print, for profanely epitomizing the inane. Point in case, from “Anamoly”; “And I’m staying lubricated daily/ Slip my dick in whatever it fit in…” and “…I’m a motherfucking hustler/ And I am married to the game, I take her out to eat, then fuck her/ Rollin’ down the block in my bicycle, Steady smoking on my Mom’s white widow.” And “Gampo,” with, “You can find me stiff, like a samurai, on a llama ride, down a waterslide, getting sodomized/ I’m a wallaby, I’m a king of a colony/ By the way I’m Wil’n’out you would think I just won the lottery,” and “…Uncle Prof sit back and get shitty, unlock a big fresh pair of titties.”
There is more, ad nauseam, including, from “Daughter” featuring Brother Ali, “…You’ll die when you see her fly when she’s grown yeah/ Suck my dick get a faceful.” “Gampo” has some racism tossed in for measure, a la “I would like that yellow bone girl in my office.” When this knuckle-dragging Neanderthal isn’t waxing vulgar enough to turn a buzzard’s stomach, he’s breaking an arm patting himself on the back with self-congratulations for being a white man, particularly a white man boldly going where mostly black men have gone before as a ghetto-spawned phenomenon.
If not for the lavishly produced music tracks, there’d be nothing at all worth listening to on this disc. It’s enough to make you wonder just how much worse things can get, how much more rap can degenerate into a base, ruthlessly appropriated ripoff of the legitimate, groundbreaking art form it started out as.
Release show for Prof’s King Gampo: September 9 at First Avenue with Blueprint and Soulcrate Music. 8 p.m., 18+, $12 at the door.
Meh. You’re not listening hard enough.
And I happen to enjoy it. It’s a matter of taste. There’s plenty more examples of artists that go on about similar subjects but are well received. Just because you don’t enjoy it, doesn’t mean others shouldn’t as well.
The same complaint could be made about the rap you’re putting so high on the pedestal. What do you think Robert Beck would think about the Sugar Hill Gang having born witness to the yard poetry that progenated them? You’re complaining about a matter of taste as if it were plain fact.
Wow!! Well to each their own.
I’m sorry you don’t enjoy PROF or his lyrics. I find him amusing as hell! I love his personality and he doesn’t just rap. That man can sing too!! 🙂
With that said… I’m writing this 5 years after you printed this article, so he must be doing something right. Just attended PROF OUTDOORS 3 and it was one of the best concerts I’ve been to!!
Sooooooooo sorry to be catching on this late in the game, but “gampo” in particular is catchy, and has made a name for itself recently here in the rva. You should get over your own narcissistic butt and embrace something other than prince. To all else who like great hip hop, check it out.
I like Prof.
the hate is strong with this one
Lmao
This article brought to you in part by a hipster
Well ya know, he did try staying humble, but it just wasn’t working out. Prof is my hero
Obviously the author doesn’t
understand satire. Prof is awesome and he is hilarious.
Calls him racist then calls him a knuckledragger???
such ignorance just to prove ur points that were unvalid since prof took a mike in his hand for the first time. 😀
Hes different. And tight. So i think thats good. Its crazy to me how much hip hop has changed in my lifetime! I used to go see RuffRyders, Busta Rhymes, The Roots, etc. in concert back in 98 and be THE ONLY WHITE PERSON there…and im PUERTO RICAN!! Back then they wouldnt have let white dudes like “Prof” in he door of the venue. Now the whole market is white kids.
Im not saying its bad or good…just a shocking shift over the past 30 years.
I would love to see this re-written today based on the emergence of mumble rap and soundcloud. Not to mention the longevity of Prof.
Rewrite. Rewrite.
I don’t need permission to smile, it’s mine for the rest of my life
I’m me till death do us part, don’t tell me what’s right
This is what I do best, ain’t gunna apologize or watch my steps
They say I got pride, it’s on my breath, well pardon me for thinking there’s not much left
Nailed it.
I know I’m late to the party, but welcome to the 21st century Dwight Hobbes. This isn’t the 70s or 90s anymore. While you recognized many influential pioneers in Rap, you failed to mention one of the most influential who continued to evolve the genre, Eminem. Prof and Eminem are very different of course, but also similar in the same type of lyrics you criticized. Yet both are successful as professionals and clearly there’s an audience.
You seem to have anger over the way Rap evolves, but all music does. And just because there was a foundation of rap in the 70s you subjectively appreciate more, that doesn’t mean every artist is a rip-off.
Prof is still writing….. are you?
Haha…burn. Fuck this dude. Nothin but a hater. He should really bring some towels and Gatorade for Prof next time he wants to be sweatin him so much.
Long live Pookie Baby
Your opinion is a lonley one. Even if you don’t like his style, the amount of work he puts into his music and concerts shows how hard he actually works. His enthusiasm for being an entertainer is 2nd to very few. I hate jazz, maybe I should write an article about it.