There was a time when hip hop was the only music with any credibility. It was during the honeymoon period of the Hip hop culture, like the one punk went through in the seventies, when it sprung out of the ghetto like a flower through a crack in the sidewalk. It was un-contrived, real, authentic, existing for no rational reason, it just happened, inexplicably and with great force. It’s like when a super-hero is created by a chance accident at a nuclear reactor or from a spider bite. Hip hop was created by a chance accident involving urban youths, rhythm, spoken word, boredom, an urgent need to create music without the means or know-how to learn an instrument, and, of course, two turntables and a microphone.

Like all revolutionary musical genres, it was dismissed as a fad and completely misunderstood by old people. The rock establishment were shocked when rap music got its very own category at the Grammies in the early nineties. Today, rock music is lucky to get a mention.

In the early days of hip hop; the thought of a white boy trying to be a rapper was as far fetched as a black guy becoming President. Vanilla Ice may have thought it was safe to jump in, but he was sadly mistaken. This made rap even more irresistible to scores of suburban white kids. It was playing hard to get, which made it the coolest thing out there. The more removed from the white picket fenced, leafy suburbs, the better. Heavy Metal? Forget it kids, it’s over. Get a haircut and some baggy clothes and crank up the beats. Sure you’re gonna look like a wannabe, but what are the alternatives?

Today, shit has changed big time. One of the top ten rappers of all time is a skinny white boy and the President is a black dude. Rap is not the pure urban art form it once was, and has been bastardised and blinged up to within an inch of its life, but there’s clearly some awesome music out there and hip hop culture is alive and well. The white kids have been aloud to come out and play too. Which brings us to Travis Barker, whose more than just another white kid with hip hop aspirations; he is in fact the drummer from goofy pop punk rockers, Blink-182.

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The hip hop community has obviously welcomed Travis with open arms because his new album, Give The Drummer Some, reads like a laundry list of Rap royalty. Tracks feature artists like Lil Wayne, Pharrell, Snoop Dogg, RZA, Raekwon, Busta Rhymes and Cypress Hill to name a few. The album also features guitar gods Slash and Tom Morello. Travis takes care of all the beats on this album, playing both live drums and programming. It’s pretty clear he’s a brilliant drummer and is truly passionate about hip hop, because the beats on this album are very tasty indeed. The best thing is that they don’t dominate the album, a trap you may expect an attention-starved drummer to fall into. He lets this talented gang of MCs do what they do best.

Honestly, I didn’t expect much from this album. Ever since I saw Barker’s reality show, Meet the Barkers, I kind of dismissed him as a bit of a knob. But let’s overlook this for now, his sins pale in comparison to the once respected rockers on Rock Star Wives. What we have here is a top little hip hop album featuring some of the most respected artists. With the pressure lifted, all these MCs are doing some of their best work. You know the way Kanye West sometimes sounds like he’s trying a little too hard to be the best rapper? Ja, well this is the opposite of that. There’s a looseness and spontaneity that you don’t hear too often. Right now I’m listening to the sixth track, Devil’s Got A Hold, featuring Slaughterhouse and it’s sick! And Busta Rhymes kills it on Let’s Go, along with some other dudes who can also rap incredibly fast. The whole album plays well from beginning to end and I’m constantly checking the album sleeve to see whose rapping on a track.

If you haven’t listened to hip hop for a while, and you’re all indie rocked out, this is a great way of introducing yourself to what’s out there in 2011. And a big shout out to Travis Barker for putting this album together and nailing it with all the beats. This is G-Man, comin’ atcha from the mean streets of Sea Point. Livin’ in fear of a drive-by every day y’all. Peace.

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