Black Lips' Cole Alexander weighs in re: A.V. Club's HateSong remarks

• Mick Rock
• Cole Alexander (second from left).

Controversy is nothing new for the members of Black Lips. The band has built a reputation on its shocking antics, both on stage and off, though the bad boy rep has been eclipsed by the music as of late.

While singer and bass player Jared Swilley has been called out for his insensitive remarks in the past, this week it's singer and guitarist Cole Alexander who's catching flak for an interview he gave to The A.V. Club's HateSong regarding his dislike for Lorde's "Royals."

In the interview he states: "Personally, I like more melodramatic, ignorant rap where they're talking about violence and anger and it's just evil. I don't like when it's too conscious, I don't like it when it's too smart." Though Alexander is quick to point out his own biases as a suburban native, he proceeds to throw around words like "ratchet," "ghetto," and "ignorant." These words aren't being used as pejoratives, mind you, and the insinuation is not that music produced out of poverty, particularly by black hip-hop artists, is by its very nature not intelligent, or is somehow not self-aware. These are sincere compliments coming from him. But perception is king when it comes to the media, and it's naive not to realize how many negative Southern stereotypes he's potentially evoking. It's also ironic that he does this in the same conversation in which he calls out Lorde for being naive. Regardless, Flavorwire's bit about the blackface era and the "perceived lack of intelligence" on the part of the performer is not where Alexander was going with his remarks.

I'm not a fan of Macklemore or Drake's music either, and a lot of what he says about Lorde's lyrics about popular hip-hop is on point. Look at the environment: When it comes to mainstream hip-hop, there isn't a lot of room for anything but folks like Drake presenting themselves as though they are more than what they really are, and that's a real problem. However, to dismiss these artists, while at the same time, couching "conscious," "smart" or intellectually minded hip-hop as though it has no value is like the snake eating its own tail. I caught up with Alexander to clarify:

"I didn't realize my detractors held the stereotype that rap is simply a black thing. That ignorance is just a black thing. I never got that memo. There are plenty of white rappers on the scene singing dumb shit and I love it. Really, trap is just my preference in hip-hop. I don't completely dislike conscious rap. We had the GZA from the Wu-Tang lay a verse on one of our tracks [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y75rYcZO_ZE|"Drop I Hold"]]. He is, in my book, one of the greatest lyrically conscious rappers of our time. I don't think he would fuck with us if he felt I was racist. Also, those interviews aren't verbatim, but I was trying to explain that I come from an upper middle class neighborhood. So I'm not some artist claiming I have had some crazy struggle. Having said that, from Kindergarten through high school, my public school had the M-to-M program which shipped in inner city black kids, so my school was roughly 50/50 black-white. I used to get my ass kicked by kids from tougher neighborhoods than mine. So I, by no means, was raised up in some sheltered white environment. I also like my rock dumb and evil as well. Just my opinion."

Black Lips' Underneath the Rainbow is out now.