To E or Not to E: Greg Tate in the Village Voice, with a rambunctious Missy review which lauds her (& Timbaland) for the music and lays into her for the Ecstasy proselytising. An original take to say the least: Tate compares the consequences of hip-hop’s E-fetish with previously ruinous black-community drug fads.
Now, I don’t know much about Ecstasy use in the US. In the UK and Europe – the model adopted by other “B-Boys on E” commentators – it’s had a colossal cultural effect, obviously. It’s accelerated a trend towards more widespread drug use and the criminalisation of the clubber/E-head lifestyle has probably added to a lot of people’s feelings of disconnection from society. These general effects aren’t directly comparable to the impact of crack cocaine on black communities, obviously. But Tate’s piece is still a thought-provoking intervention in the rap-and-rave minidebate.