"Et tu, Mr. Enright?" Listeners react to hearing rap music on The Sunday Edition
Kendrick Lamar's Pulitzer Prize-winning album Damn is the first time in the history of the illustrious award that popular music has been so honoured. It's a validation from the establishment that rap music is powerful, relevant, and here to stay.
Last week's episode of The Sunday Edition featured the track Duckworth from Lamar's latest album. It tells a true story about Kendrick Lamar's father, and his encounter with a violent gangland figure who later signed Lamar to a lucrative record deal.
However, listeners had strong opinions about hearing the song on our program. Below are some samples of emails from listeners about how they felt hearing rap music on The Sunday Edition.
This came from Glenn Baglo in North Vancouver:
"For the first time, I have had to turn off my radio during the Sunday Edition. CBC may attempt to attract young listeners with hip hop like Kendrick Lamar, but you're losing me. Is it safe to turn my radio back on?"
From Stan Marrow in Cookshire-Eaton, Quebec:
"I look forward all week to Sunday morning, when I know I will be introduced to new topics and stimulating intellectual challenge by your program. THEN YOU PUT ON RAP MUSIC. Please have mercy on your older listeners. A novel art form it may be, but to many of us, it is a torrent of noise consisting of totally incomprehensible words unleavened by a total lack of melody. Forgive this rant. I do understand you must try to cater to your entire audience. I just felt obliged to express my thoughts. I promise to continue to listen to The Sunday Edition, and where necessary ... to endure."
This is from Tanya Ambrose from north of Mallorytown, Ontario:
"Et tu, Mr. Enright? Playing rap! Is there no escape on CBC? Is CBC conducting a mind-control experiment to convince sentient beings that yelling song lyrics is actually music? I usually immediately switch stations once rap is assaulting my ears. Only because of my appreciation of your normal programming, did I stay put by drowning out the rap noise with lalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalala. OK. You've done your duty. So stick with the real music you usually play."
But not all the comments were negative. Irene Van de Lagemaat in Ottawa, sent this:
"I was so happy that you gave Kendrick Lamar's Pulitzer Prize the attention I think it deserves. What you may not have known is that there is a little bit of Canadian input on that album. The Toronto-based eclectic jazz group BADBADNOTGOOD contributed instrumentation to the track LUST, (found on the Damn album), with the Montreal-based Kaytranada, helping out with the vocals on that track. It made me proud to find that out."
Rap music was a first for the Pulitzers, but not, in fact, a first for The Sunday Edition.
Back in 2009, as part of our series 20 Pieces of Music That Changed the World, Robert Harris employed his considerable skills, in an attempt to explain rap music to host Michael Enright, as a true cultural phenomenon.
Listen to the full clip at the top of the page to revisit Enright's conversation with Robert Harris.