Fri 5 Oct 2012
Jay-Z and Pharrell Discuss Nirvana’s Impact on Music
Posted by Mikey Fresh under Interviews[6] Comments
To this day Nirvana remains as one of most popular modern rock bands amongst rappers. Their “Smells Like Teen” spirit single in particular seems to resonate the most in hip-hop. In Pharrell’s upcoming book The Places and Spaces I’ve Been, he talks to a number of his celeb friends about topics of interest. Spin was blessed with a passage about Hov’s admiration for Kurt Cobain and Nirvana.
“It was weird because hip-hop was becoming this force, then grunge music stopped it for one second, ya know?” he says. “Those ‘hair bands’ were too easy for us to take out; when Kurt Cobain came with that statement it was like, ‘We got to wait awhile.'”
Read the full passage after the jump…
So, where were you mentally and physically when grunge music hit?” Pharrell asks Jay-Z. “Like where were you when you first heard, ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit?'”
Coincidentally, Hova was in Pharrell’s home state of Virgina when he heard the generation-defining song for the first time. But he’s more interested in discussing why the song hit so hard than where he was when it got going. “First we got to go back to before grunge and why grunge happened,” reasons Jay. “‘Hair bands’ dominated the airwaves and rock became more about looks than about actual substance and what it stood for—the rebellious spirit of youth….That’s why ‘Teen Spirit’ rang so loud because it was right on point with how everyone felt, you know what I’m saying?”
Jay-Z then goes on to say that grunge actually stalled the rise of hip-hop in popular culture. “It was weird because hip-hop was becoming this force, then grunge music stopped it for one second, ya know?” he says. “Those ‘hair bands’ were too easy for us to take out; when Kurt Cobain came with that statement it was like, ‘We got to wait awhile.'”
Next, Pharrell mentions that he used to see Jay-Z in his old Virginia stomping ground of Newport News, but Jay-Z is still focused on the Kurt tip. “I have always been a person who was curious about the music and when those forces come on the scene, they are inescapable,” Jay says. “Can’t take your eyes off them, can’t stop listening to them. [Cobain] was one of those figures. I knew we had to wait for a second before we became that dominant force in music.” From there, the conversation moves on to ’90s hip-hop, the death of the Notorious B.I.G., and what makes a great record. It’s not a bad attention-grabber for an opening chapter.
(via Spin)
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October 5th, 2012 at 2:15 pm
Mikey fresh you need to post Jynx mixtape up serious accident 9 bomb the world damn you would think i was a A&r for this dude but no I’m just a fan of super dope music we the readers did’nt forget when you said you was gonna post 2 new artist up you can’t post 2 new artist up but you post a story about meek mills biker life ….come on g
October 5th, 2012 at 2:26 pm
Horrible,
I can’t bring myself to read this and I’m the biggest Jay fan.
October 5th, 2012 at 3:32 pm
If Kurt Cobain was still alive he would probably say “All these rappers bitting my style” LOL.
Hip Hop lost our individual style. We look like everybody else now. I was just on Fulton Street in BK, all these kids with lip rings, mow hawks, Doc Marten boots, I wont even comment on the skinny jeans.
Look at Pharrel in the pic. Besides the chain we aint street anymore.
October 5th, 2012 at 10:54 pm
these rappers still sucking that crossover d*ck.
I’m not gonna deny Nirvana’s influence on music period. That track in particular was and still is incredible.
but where’s the major white artist talking about how influential some rapper was on music? And not just ‘they were influential because they sold a ton’, but ‘this guy/girl really made something worth respecting and changed the landscape’.
It reminds me of how certain cats like DJ Premier/Raekwon cosign Justin Bieber and Drake yet Justin Bieber and Drake aren’t talking about Premo and Rae anywhere!
ah well
October 6th, 2012 at 8:40 am
I remember people in my high school talking that ‘so influential’ shit after Kurt died. Very few people cared prior to that.
Wonder how many nirvana songs jay could name…
October 7th, 2012 at 9:35 pm
Nirvana didn’t “stop” hip-hop. The West Coast was selling tons of records when Nevermind came out. Jay was banging on doors begging for a record deal back then, his perspective is probably skewed.