A ESPN special about Muhammad Ali.
Air
date:
Repeats
Info here on ESPN's site.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=alirap1
(See story below)
Reason
for the Rhyme
By Chuck
Klosterman
Special to ESPN.com
The
ESPN documentary "Ali Rap" (airing Saturday at 9 p.m. ET on
ESPN) is built loosely on the premise that Muhammad Ali
unknowingly invented rap music, simply by being himself in
public. If true, this would mean that rap did not originate
(as commonly believed) in the South Bronx during the '70s;
it would mean rap was invented in Kentucky during the '60s.
This is hard to accept, as there are very few memorable rap
songs about competitive horse racing and/or Rex Chapman.
But it's still an interesting (albeit specious) hypothesis,
and it permeates the framework of "Ali Rap," even in the
moments when the show itself seems bizarre.
Public Enemy front man Chuck D, the host of "Ali Rap," is a
man who has always understood the relationship between rap
and sports. Chuck claimed to have adopted his rapping style
from Marv Albert (listen to the opening 15 seconds of
"Rebel Without a Pause" if you need proof). Half of the
documentary features an undefined collection of modern-day
celebrities (James Earl Jones, Diane Sawyer, Al Sharpton,
Adam Corolla, Ludacris, Bill Maher, etc.) reciting famous
Ali quotations as spoken-word poetry. This almost never
works; almost all of the stand-in participants sound
ridiculous, particularly the ones who are Caucasian and
named Charlie Gibson. However, the actual archive footage
of Ali talking is amazingly watchable and mildly shocking,
even if you've seen most of it before. Ali is arguably the
greatest boxer of the 20th century, but he also might be
one of the most charismatic conversationalists ever
1
(which — all
things considered — is a far more rarified
achievement).
While it's difficult2 to prove Ali invented rap
music, it's almost indisputable that he spawned what is now
referred to as "the modern athlete," a term that's
generally used as coded, pejorative language. When someone
complains about "the modern athlete," he or she is usually
just saying, "This particular black athlete behaves like a
rap star, even though I've never actually listened to rap
music in my entire life." These perceived traits include
overt self-promotion, indifference toward authority, and
confidence that hemorrhages into arrogance. As such, the
relationship among Ali, sport, and rap is latently
omnipresent, and examples of that three-pronged
relationship are everywhere: 50 Cent buys Mike Tyson's
house, Master P tries out for the Toronto Raptors, Ron
Artest releases "My World," dead-end kids in Houston drink
cough syrup and wear McGrady jerseys, and Fort Minor's
"Remember the Name" is used as bumper music for 90 percent
of televised college football games that don't involve
Notre Dame. You can see these connections without even
looking for them. But the deeper (and more meaningful)
correlation between hip-hop culture and sports is more
opaque; it has less to do with what they tangibly offer and
more to do with how they're similarly covered by the media.
More
on Ali
Want
to read more about the relationship between Ali and Rap?
The new book, Ali Rap: Muhammad Ali, The
First Heavyweight Champion of Rap, edited and designed by George
Lois and published by Taschen/ESPN Books, is available in
bookstores now.