I don’t want to say I’m ignorant of rap; I mean, I listen to quite a bit, probably not as much as I could, but regardless; I feel like I don’t connect to it so purely just because I don’t really give a shit about lyrics. Does this seem like a valid reason? I just listened to “99 Problems,” and I really loved it, but I can’t for the life of me repeat one line from it, except for the chorus and that I remember loving Jay’s cadence earlier on in the song. But that Rick Rubin beat sure is awesome!

I dun get it. Do I just not love hip-hop ’cause I’m white? I dunno. I mean, I loved Blazing Arrow and Aquemini and So … How’s Your Girl way more than, say … shit, I dunno, albums where the lyrics are top-shelf and the beats are MOR. Is this a common problem among people like yourselves — I only really like rap if it’s got a great fucking beat?