From what I understand, his popularity comes from allegedly delicious punning, but I’m sorry if confusing “rapper” and “wrapper” with salacious results doesn’t strike me as a particularly high minded lyrical achievement.

And let’s not even get started on the whole Prom Queen debacle.

This being said, here are three current hip hop artists putting out wicked material — all of them more worthy of accolade than Lil Wayne and his vocoder riddled trash.

k-os - Yes (2009)

1.  k-os
One of the least traditionally hip hop artists on this list, k-os is also one of my favourites.  He’s got an infectiously melodic style, more akin to singing than rapping.  He probably falls under that broad umbrella of “R&B” rather than the substantially narrower category of “hip hop.”  His first album, Exit, was critically acclaimed and moderately successful, but he didn’t reach mainstream superstardom until Joyful Rebellion in 2004.

Why he’s interesting
k-os is notable for his atypically cerebral lyrics and generally positive message, often criticizing the overly commercial, violent and misogynistic nature of mainstream hip hop.

Listen to…
Heaven Only Knows [Exit 2002]
The Love Song [Joyful Rebellion 2004]
Flypaper [Atlantis 2006]
Burning Bridges [Yes! 2009]

2.  K’naan

K'naan - Troubadour (2009)

K’naan is a Somali-Canadian rapper, only recently gaining popularity.  His first album, The Dusty Foot Philosopher, is a combination of hip hop and spoken word poetry, often emphasizing the degree to which the two forms often overlap.

His most recent album, Troubadour is a more typically hip hop album with plenty of big-name feature credits (like Chubb Rock, Adam Levine, Kirk Hammett and Mos Def).

Why he’s interesting
He fuses African rhythms with North American style hip hop, rails against “gangsterism,” raps about global politics and incorporates a generous amount of horns, guitars and drums.

Listen to…
I Was Stabbed By Satan [The Dusty Foot Philosopher 2005]
Wavin’ Flag [Troubadour 2009]
ABC’s (feat. Chubb Rock) [Troubadour 2009]

3.  N.A.S.A.

N.A.S.A. - The Spirit of Apollo (2009)

The only collaboration on this list, N.A.S.A., is more of a DJ collective than a hip hop group, but the music they produce is undeniably rap.  Led by Squeak E. Clean and DJ Zegon, N.A.S.A. has produced possibly the most feature credit heavy album ever made.

Why they’re interesting
Everybody is on this record.  And I mean everybody.  From contemporary rappers like Kanye, to indie rock darlings like Karen O, to classic alternative artists like David Byrne and Tom Waits, to iconic hip hop pioneers like Chuck D and Del tha Funkee Homosapien.  They’re all here. The sheer logistics of such a feat boggles the mind.

Listen to…
Gifted (feat. Kanye West, Santogold, Lykke Li) [The Spirit of Apollo 2009]
Strange Enough (feat. Karen O, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Fatlip) [The Spirit of Apollo 2009]
Money (feat. David Byrne, Chuck D, Ras Congo, Seu Jorge, Z-Trip) [The Spirit of Apollo 2009]

Honourable Mention: Classified
Everybody’s favourite Halifax rapper earns an honourable mention in this list.  The primary reason to love Classified is his mastery of the fine art of sampling.  His otherwise unremarkable lyrics are excused away by fantastic production and brilliant sample selection.  2005’s Boy-Cott-In the Industry had some of the catchiest beats since N.W.A. sampled Charles Wright.  And this year’s single, “Anybody Listening,” puts Genesis to fine use.

I know that the host cut the debate short, but I think Hewitt skirted the final issue by simply telling Harris his ideas weren’t new.  This may be true, but doesn’t address the actual point Harris was making.

For a moment, let’s put aside the issue of whether or not file sharing is right or wrong.

Whether or not file sharing is morally permissible, it’s here and it’s not going any where. If the rest of the world learns nothing else from the internet, they should at least take home the following truism: The internet will always do whatever the internet wants.

Remember how alcohol prohibition failed? And how marijuana prohibition is currently failing?

When there’s no clear consensus on the morality of something, the legislation of it doesn’t seem to make much of a difference. You have a whole generation of people that perhaps believe artists should be paid for their art, but don’t necessarily believe that every song on an ipod is worth $17 for the album it came on.

Even worse for the opponents of file sharing, that generation now has a platform that makes it easy for them to act on their belief.

So what’s the solution to file sharing? Give the people what they want and figure out how to monetize on that, instead of how to make people want what you’ve already monetized.

Give me an easy to use, DRM-free way to purchase music with some value-added services (like a recommendation engine, or high quality liner notes in PDF, or music that is tagged consistently and correctly) and I’d be happy to use it. In fact, since iTunes removed DRM from 80% of its library, I use it nearly every day. Before then, I used the eMusic store religiously.

Don’t think of piracy as a loss, think of it as an incentive to make a better product. Because no matter how you think of it, it’s always going to be there.

Perhaps we can forgive and forget?

I’d like to start updating a bit more regularly now, and on some topics a little more diverse. There are really only so many ways one can say there is no god before it gets repetitive.

I don’t watch a lot of television, but whenever I catch the beginning of Law & Order, even if I’m in the other room, I can’t help but finish the episode.

The one I caught today, Episode 406 from Season 18 (“Angelgrove”) reminded me an awful lot of Jesus Camp. In the episode, a young man kills his mother for committing adultery with a Muslim. In fact, he literally stones her to death.

Regardless of whether you feel that Law & Order or Jesus Camp fairly represented the issues, an interesting question is raised.

If a pastor tells someone to follow the literal word of the Bible, and in doing so that someone commits a crime… Did the pastor solicit a crime?

Things are sticky when it comes to judgment in the Bible. That whole bit where Jesus says, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her,” comes to mind. But that doesn’t seem to stop some pastors from advocating hateful, criminal acts.

Should Fred Phelps, Becky Fischer and their ilk be held criminally responsible for the acts of their congregations? When abortion clinics are firebombed, or gay marriages are crashed?

If we think about the white supremecist “leader” in American History X, I don’t think many people would disagree that he holds moral responsibility for the crimes perpetrated by his adherents.

In the case of religious hatemongers, I’d say yes, they are absolutely guilty of the crimes they incite. But I’m willing to listen. Would anyone else care to weigh in?

There’s been some heavy stuff on this blog in the last little while, so here’s a video to make you smile — theist and atheist alike.

Blogger Doug from dougsploitation premiered a video by ska praise-band Sonseed called “Jesus is a Friend of Mine” a few weeks ago. Ever since then, it’s been a source of online controversy. Real? Or a goofy jab at praise music?

The general feeling on the interwebs is that it’s legit. But really, who cares? The song is catchy, and the words are good for a chuckle.

Choice lyrics (1:40):

Once I tried to run,
I tried to run and hide.
But Jesus came and found me,
And he touched me down inside.

He is like a mountie,
He always gets his man,
And he’ll zap you any way he can…
Zap!

Often enough, I get visitors that read a post or two of mine and then leave a comment that they think is going to change my mind about all this atheism business. Sitting in my comments list, I routinely find nicely formatted arguments that invariably end with “Therefore, God must exist.”

Now let’s think about this for a moment. I run a website dedicated (mostly) to atheism and secular humanism. It stands to reason that I’ve done a fair bit of research about the things that I believe. I’m not just some “Sunday Atheist,” passively not believing in God. And I have no reason to cling to my ideas if I change my mind about their validity. In fact, a little over a year ago, I stopped eating meat. Previously an avid omnivore, I chronicled my decision and the reasons for my new-found vegetarianism on this blog. Clearly, I’m capable of admitting when I’m wrong about something when new information presents itself.

But therein lies the catch.

The ubiquitous little three-premise God Proofs that I mentioned earlier aren’t new.

Nearly every argument I’ve heard for the existence of God has been around for a long, long, long time. Ebon Musings has an unparallelled description of every argument ever publicly advanced for the existence of God. I recommend reading it, but please be aware that it’s a doozy of an article.

Faced with this information, there are really only three paths that an Evangelist can take.

1. Refuse to research prior metaphysical arguments, and continue using half-formed Teleological arguments to campaign for God’s existence. This is clearly a bad idea. Surprisingly, however, it’s an extremely popular one.
2. Find holes in the refutations offered. Oddly enough, many theists have tried this in the past without much luck. In fact, they’ve been trying it for centuries. It’s harder than you might think… But if you’re up to the challenge, I applaud your chutzpah.
3. Invent an entirely new argument for the existence of God. This is actually what most theists or Pop Philosophers think they’ve done. The reality is that every argument I’ve heard on my blog, and in general, has been around for quite some time. If someone comes up with a new, irrefutable argument for the existence of God, I should hope they’re doing something more to publicize it than posting on my modest blog. But if he or she chooses to unveil it here, I’ll be happy to host the party.

But wait, I can anticipate your response: If the arguments for the non-existence of God are so old and so strong, why aren’t atheists the majority? Why do most social groups believe in some type of God figure?

Well first off, most people don’t examine their belief structures especially hard. As you’ll see when you research, theology is a complex and sometimes confusing matter. People are also heavily invested in belief. But regardless of all that, popular ideas aren’t necessarily good ideas. I mean, we used to think that women shouldn’t be allowed to vote.

And besides, you’ve just made an argument that’s been addressed many times before: The argument from popularity.

As I’ve mentioned in the past, I never censor comments, so I don’t anticipate an end to those tidy little “proofs” I keep seeing pop up. And I will continue to address them as best I can. But even though I do make earnest attempts to engage in discussion despite my busy schedule, I can’t be everywhere all the time. Who do you think I am, God?

I simply hope that this blog post inspires some of the online Evangelists that happen upon it to read more and examine their own arguments. If someone comes up with a genuinely new argument, I’m as excited as you are to hear about it.