What has happened to rap? It started off as the explosive sound of the black ghetto, but now it's just the toothless ranting of the nouveau riche. Coolio originally came from East LA, but his music may as well have been written by the poolside in Hollywood, so detached has it become from real life.
At the Point on Saturday, Coolio had all the cliches down pat, and he rapped on about his homeys and other authentic topics with all the conviction of someone who's been there, seen that and is now selling you the tee-shirt. The set was designed to look like "da 'hood" and Coolio popped out from an automobile trunk and led his three backing rappers, The 40 Thevz, through a shouty set which said nothing about social issues but spoke volumes about marketing.
Coolio rolled out some stock raps like "everybody in the house say yo!" and other such profound messages for the kids. When his rhetoric faltered, he could always fall back on the odd "muthafucka" to get him out of an intellectual tight spot; when his singing ability fell short, he relied on the audience to carry the tune. Thus, his two biggest hits, Gangsta's Paradise and C U When U Get There, were sung almost entirely by the crowd, who had happily paid for the privilege.
Don't believe the hype - Coolio may have had some street cred back in his cracksmoking days; but now he's just another big beat bigshot, selling secondhand hip-hop and movie soundtrack hits to kids who don't realise they're being rapped off.
