EDDIE, DUDE, MASTER BLASTER. DIG IT.

Dear Eddie Murphy,

I gotta say, you're a funny guy. I thoroughly enjoyed your work on Saturday Night Live, and other comedic work I've seen over the years. You have a knack, but I'm sure you know that and have been told as much for years. But that's not what this is about. I'm taking time out of my day to address your recent foray into reggae.

As you may not know, particularly since I'm just an asshat with a blog, is that I share your fondness for reggae. It's one of my favorite types of music, and I, maybe you too, have been listening to it for years, in all it's variations. (By the way, ain't that dub some wild stuff? It's crazy!) Anyway, you'll never guess what I heard today. I actually happened upon a video of you singing a reggae song! Okay, you probably could have guessed that, because you're Eddie Murphy and there are probably lots of people who have watched it. (Whoa! I just noticed that it was just posted today and you already have almost five thousand views! Your Facebook page must be blowin' up!). To my surprise it's actually pretty faithful to classic era reggae. Nice phrasing to boot! Whoda thunk? Fist bump to that my man!

That all said, I have to add that I'm a little distressed to see a quote of yours regarding the song. Over at Rolling Stone's website they quote you as saying "I'm not a Rasta. I'm doing a reggae track, reggae artists they say Jah, so I said Jah. I can call God Jah and not be a Rasta. The lyrics lent itself to this whole reggae feel." Eddie, dude, you don't need to act out a part. Reggae isn't a movie, it's a type of music. You don't have to use any particular lingo, or follow someone else's script. If it's not something you'd say in everyday conversation, don't put it in a song. That confuses things, and if you stand back and look at it, seems kind of disingenuous. We don't want that Eddie. We want Eddie Eddie. Eddie doing reggae Eddie, less that Eddie.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Stevie Wonder - Master Blaster mp3 at Passion of the Weiss