Who’s the Ego Trip posse’s favorite MC to skewer? “God,” said veteran scribe
Gabriel Alvarez. “His Rhyme of the Month is a doozie. He seems to have
fallen off a bit, but he still ships diamond every time. G######.”
The overtly satirical journalist helps comprise the Ego Trip clique with
Chairman Jefferson Mao, Brent Rollins, Sacha Jenkins and Elliot Wilson, also the cynical Editor-in-Chief of XXL magazine. The
crew first gained recognition with Ego Trip, one of history’s revered hip-hop
mags that took a witty look at rap, rock and beyond. After the mag’s
demise, the collective dropped “Ego Trip’s Book Of Rap Lists” and a side-splittingly humorous take on hip-hop. Now the crew returns
with a topic that doesn’t generally tickle a funny bone–racism.
Sample subject from their current “Ego Trip’s Big Book Of Racism” includes which
album is the dopest, The Beatles’ White or Prince’s Black? For the record,
John, Paul, Ringo & George snag the top spot. The Ego Trippers also take the
Rolling Stones to task in “The True Race Adventures of the Rolling Stones”
where they remind readers how the legendary rockers made a career out of
jacking black music. “The Rolling Stones (like a lot of hip white folks, and
a lot of other non-black hip folks) have always wanted to be black,”
explained Chairman Jefferson Mao. “We love their music, but as long as they
own up to it, it’s all bueno [good].”
Over 300 pages deep, there’s a lot to be learned from these pages. But what
exactly should be gained from the collection? “Try to get along, people”
advised Alvarez. “Cuz you’re all gonna be seeing each other again…”
“In hell,” added Mao.