I don't know if anyone caught this article about Jim Jones' off-Broadway play in the NY Times recently, but it is worth reading. I have never really followed Jim Jones, but "We Fly High" was a tremendous song whose monotone hook sounded like the later hours of a drug binge. Interestingly, a different and much shorter version of this article ran around the same time this was released and it almost exclusively addressed how Jones was doing this play solely for the money, a notion supported by a deluge of forceful quotes about the need to stay hungry, keep hustling, etc. It depressed the fuck out of me. Clearly a play, while good promotion for his new album, is a risky move for an tatted up rapper and the economics of it aren't so obvious that a person looking to hustle up some currency would immediately pounce on the idea. Further, the opportunity costs of rehearsal and oversight must be tremendous and, obviously, take him away from doing other forms of promotion. So comments about how he just keeps on grinding came across as transparent.

The idea for a hip hop play is probably a bit overdue, but was surely, in no small way, hindered by a lack of cooperation from rebuttable collaborators. It's not especially street to address the nuts and bolts that come along with theater and the genre is typically associated with the comfort and complacency of the middle class. Certainly race relations play a role. But so much hip hop is centered around the narratives of the stars' lives and their trials and tribulations leading up to their launch into stardom. To the extent these accounts are credible, they present remarkable stories worth telling. So I applaud Jones for this risk and I hope it turns out well.


We Fly High (dirty) - Jim Jones