Friday, August 17, 2007

This Week in Non-Sports News: Pacman Goes Hip-Hop

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Serving a season-long suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy for being arrested six times, Titans cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones continues to look for ways to stay busy. Last month, there was his pro-wrestling career. This month: hip-hop. According to the AP article on Foxsports.com:

[Pacman’s] National Street League Records, based in Atlanta, announced Wednesday that Jones will team with producer Spoaty in a duo called Posterboyz with their first single "Let it Shine" being released Aug. 27. The song talks about big money, cars and jewelry.

The hip-hop community responded with understandable outrage. “How dare Pacman attempt to sabotage our industry by writing songs about the three subjects we have yet to cover,” an industry rep told Vibe. “We feel that we have done everything possible to diversify our subject matter to the point where no two hip-hop songs are about the same thing. Clearly, to achieve this diversified goal, we had to cover a lot of subjects. Nearly all of them, in fact. We only had three left: big money, cars and jewelry.”

“It’s true,” fellow rapper Lil’ Embryo echoed. “Just the other day Nas released a new track. It was about, quote unquote, ‘livin’ it up gangsta style.’” He said, using “bunny ears” to emphasize the quotes. “It was the first hip-hop song of its kind. Revolutionary.”

The industry is unsure how it will bounce back from such a devastating blow, which it is viewing as a proverbial slap in the face. “We always attempt to cover new ground in hip-hop, but Pacman? How dare he,” the industry rep said. “He’s got a lot of nerve covering our last three subjects—and to do it all in the same song? That’s just criminal.”

The industry is hoping that the NFL steps in to stop Pacman’s musical ambitions by filing a lawsuit alleging that the name of the former first round draft pick’s record label, National Street League Records, infringes on the league’s trademark. Otherwise, there might be no hope for the struggling industry.

“Honestly,” Lil’ Embryo said, “Who’s gonna buy a hip-hop record that’s about the same subject matter as one that came before? That’s not what hip-hip is about.”

It is still unclear where Pacman’s wrestling league, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, stands on the athlete’s musical career.

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