L.L. Cool J and T.I. Rap The Music Man at the Tonys, For Some Reason
In a very, er, interesting take on hip hop history, Tony Awards host and human-wolverine hybrid Hugh Jackman credited The Music Man songwriter Meredith Willson with creating "one of the very first rap songs ever," and then brought out T.I. and L.L. Cool J in an attempt to prove it.
Although Tip and Uncle L definitely "brought The Music Man into the 21st Century" (sorry, Matthew Broderick), it took Questlove's beat to convert "Rock Island" into Rap Island.
Let's just stipulate that circa-1957 white guys talking rhythmically over the sound of a locomotive did not invent rap (although they certainly may have pioneered whatever Jackman was doing up there).
When the man dances, certainly boys, the piper pays him. But when it comes to hip hop, he doesn't know the territory.
