on the mic

I've long said that if I were ever going to karaoke, it would have to be a hip-hop song. [Or something by Sublime. For every rule there is that exception.] Why? Because it's less singing and more akin to fast-paced, badass spoken word. Sort of. This disclaimer has gotten me off the hook among my karaoke-ing friends, because how often are songbooks updated? Never. Who sings anything newer than 1995? No one.
Enter hip-hop karaoke. It's a monthly gig at the Knitting Factory downtown, that's been turning over the mic to hip-hop fans of all stripes for a couple of years now. It's a fantastic scene, entertaining and open-minded, as in, you don't have to ooze hip-hop flava or attitude to be embraced by the audience. Your heart has to be in it, and the rest is what it is. Let me put it this way, the highlight of the night was three 17-year-old boys, super nerdy and gawky in that mid-adolescent way—the cherub-faced Asian kid wearing the Abercrombie hoodie was at least a foot shorter than his two friends—belting out Biz Markie's "Just a Friend." The song came out in 1989, meaning that these boys were, at best, conceived. I relate—I am anything but the picture of a hip-hop fan, and yet there I was, growing up in a small swath of land between suburbia and a military base and I was constantly adjusting the tuner on my boombox to try and get reception of Power 106 FM, an L.A. based hip-hop radio station based almost 100 miles away. It was occasionally interrupted by the local police scanner, but otherwise, the signal was strong, if you could get the dial just... so.
So, what song would I do/might be doing under the courage of a couple of drinks? It would have to be Salt n' Peppa's "Shoop." But I need a Salt. Or Peppa. Any volunteers?