What always bothers me when people dismiss rappers as mindless gangsters glorifying drug dealing, pimping, etc. is that there's a racial double standard hidden in there. Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard both did jail time, the Stones and Ray Charles were busted for drug possession, Led Zeppelin's antics with groupies are too disgusting to relate. Should I burn my Dylan CDs because he was a misogynist? Should I turn off Layla because the guy who plays piano on the outro killed a man? These guys all get a free pass because they're old and white, accepted icons in the pop canon--and based on their music, deservedly so. And don't tell me they didn't sing about their crimes and even express a bit of ambivalence about them -- Cash's most famous line from his most famous song is "I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die." Pretty bleak.

I don't expect non-rap fans to like Biggie's music, and will grant that hip-hop may not be to everyone's tastes, but such condescending dismissal is deeply troubling. Even a cursory listen to Life After Death reveals a very complex and troubled mind, one that was just coming to terms with his mistakes and was translating those misgivings into dark, deeply conflicted, highly compelling hip-hop. I can only imagine what his follow-up would have sounded like. Too bad he never got to make it.

My recommendation for another music tidbits: Love. The Doors' favorite band, and makers of probably the best album of the 60s, Forever Changes.