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.