The time has come to finally reveal my secret…I’m a closet Rap and R&B fan. Every summer it slowly starts to seep out of me, but I usually keep it hidden away on my iPod or only listen to it when I am home alone and am sure the neighbors have gone out. The reason I am finally able to admit to it publicly was brought on by the announcement of Snoop Dogg’s West Fest with guests Warren G, Tha Dogg Pound, Westurn Union, Warzone, Mistah FAB.
I brought it up casually to a friend the other day who is a huge indie rock fan. I expected to be berated for even mentioning it…but to my utter astonishment and delight – she screamed in excitement! I ran to my bedroom and dug out the Warren G CD I keep hidden in a box under my bed, alongside a few other CD’s I’m not yet prepared to admit to. We sung (rapped I suppose is the correct term) to the CD and laughed hysterically at the fact that we both new every line and had never once admitted it to each other.
The most ridiculous part of it all is that this is a friend that knows everything about me. A friend I tell my dreams and crazy schemes too, who knows all the highs and lows from my past, yet doesn’t know that below my bed lies a box of CD’s I’m too ashamed to put out on the shelf.
Based solely on the fact that I judge people based on their musical tastes, I have never let on to my guilty pleasures, unless I feel I have a case to defend them to my fellow rock snobs. I can get away with artists like Elton John (usually singing a line or two from Tiny Dancer does the trick), or Phil Collins (the man is an amazing drummer and no one can deny that In the Air Tonight gives them chills), but when it comes to popular modern music I can’t find any viable defence.
So it is with that that I declare, I can sing along to 90% of whatever is on the Top 40 Charts at any given time and I am no longer hiding my Warren G CD in a box under my bed (there will, however, still remain a few secrets left in that box…but I will now have to find a new hiding spot for it).
Join me, Snoop Dogg, Warren G et al, June 19th at the Commodore Ballroom. General Admission tickets on sale Thursday, May 29th at 4:20PM (rolls-eyes) for $45+service fees.
Snoop Dogg’s West Fest
w/ Warren G, Tha Dogg Pound, Westurn Union, Warzone, Mistah FAB
June 14, 2008 – Ventura Theater – Ventura, CA
June 15, 2008 – The Fillmore – San Francisco, CA
June 16, 2008 – Senator Theater – Chico, CA
June 17, 2008 – Lithia Motors Amphitheater – Central Point, OR
June 18, 2008 – Showbox Sodo – Seattle, WA
June 19, 2008 – Commodore Ballroom – Vancouver, BC
June 20, 2008 – Roseland Theater – Portland, OR
June 21, 2008 – The Big Easy Concert House – Spokane, WA
June 24, 2008 – Dodge Theater – Phoenix, AZ
June 25, 2008 – Star of the Desert Arena – Las Vegas, NV
June 26, 2008 – Santa Barbara Bowl – Santa Barbara, CA
June 27, 2008 – Cricket Wireless Amphitheater – Chula Vista, CA