Thanks, Josh. While still being inside baseball, this is really funny. My Ambien has turned to Adderall.

I have to admit, I thought the article was pretty dumb, but it was certainly nothing to get your panties in a bunch about.

Speaking of icey rap artists and humor, if you ain't ever seen Leprechaun in the Hood, you best see it right quick, ya herr?

is "amply" a word?

cube is one of the most influential rappers of our time and his work as both a member of NWA and as a solo artist stands as some of the finest produced in the last 20 years.

what could have been a really interesting piece that explored these facts was, instead, a bullshit waste of space.

while i certainly understand the lazy writing that associates a modern day cube with the comedic films he has starred in, the man is in town to perform a concert. he is not here as an actor.

cube will take the stage at the showbox and hopefully remind those in attendance of the fact that he was, at one time, one of the Angriest Black Men to have a hit record, despite lack of radio friendly songs (straight outta compton, 1988). this, at a time when sunset strip hair metal was gasping for air and grunge was beginning, is a remarkable feat.

side note: my former boss and longtime friend jonathan poneman, head of sub pop records, will tell you that the first time he heard straight outta compton was while riding in the back of nirvana's beat up van. that anecdote speaks volumes with regard to cube's influence.

i know i've already gone on long enough here but i gotta say, it's really distasteful to see a former stranger staffer dissed online by the current editor. airing dirty laundry about why someone was "canned" is incredibly rude.

lastly, the stranger can't find a local yokel to write about a local show? no mention of the fact that cube's showbox performance will take place on the anniversary of the 1992 l.a. riots? nary a reference point directed at cube's memorable rckcndy show, which took place not long after easy-e left this mortal coil?

at the very least, the undeniable power of NWA should have been acknowledged. they were pioneers and there are few modern day rappers that come close to achieving what they did.

Harrop, knocking it out of the paaaaark.

Gotta agree, reading the employed bash the unemployed was pretty sick.

There's almost always a high road available and it's almost always best to take it.

since people are being so very put on blast over here, lemme put up what i wrote dave not long ago:

i'd like to note that, although i don't share sam's hostility, i thought that Cube article was a piece of shit. but im sure you could guess my feelings on it. im no purist, and there's plenty to mock cube for- but even as a spoof that was incredibly lame, and revealed the writer's utter paucity of knowledge on dude's work, and hiphop in general (the premise that droves of kids were exchanging their gangsta rap cd's for conscious stuff in the late 90's is laughably untrue- just not laughably funny). if you want someone to spoof a hiphop icon, i think it would read better if someone who actually knew the cards to pull had done it. that piece just gives credence to everybody's sick feeling that the tourists are taking this hiphop shit over (beyond the corporate level they always have controlled).

no need to deify the dude if you don't want to. shit, i could clown cube harder than anyone- because i have more than a glancing knowledge of his work. just seemed like a waste.

I'm an Ice Cube fan (more so an NWA fan) and I thought that article was the best piece of humor in The Stranger in a long goddamn time. I was actually going to write to editor@thestranger.com and say that, but I can just do it here instead. You guys all take yourself and your "artform" way too seriously.

Look, I gave Larry Mizell carte blanche to lionize Ice Cube. He could've spent all 500 of his words detailing the MC's fantastic qualities, and still some of you would find fault with our treatment.

Whether Chesneau's unemployed (which I have no way of knowing) is beside the point. He took a vicious stab at me; I'm not just going to let it go unnoticed, as I doubt you would if you were attacked, Harrop.

It's not like he's a local columnist or other media personality who wrote to you, it's some guy that used to work for your paper. Your post was extremely tacky, Dave.

is "amply" a word?

From freedictionary.com:

am·ple (mpl)
adj. am·pler, am·plest
1. Of large or great size, amount, extent, or capacity: an ample living room. See Synonyms at spacious.
2.
a. Large in degree, kind, or quantity: an ample reward.
b. More than enough: ample evidence.
3. Fully sufficient to meet a need or purpose: had ample food for the party. See Synonyms at plentiful.
[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin amplus.]
ample·ness n.
amply (-pl) adv.

Samuel Chesneau:
Since Jennifer [Maerz] left the music department is a fucking joke, please stop unqualified writers from thinking because they snorted a few lines with a dealer that rocks a pair of Bapes sneakers and a Goods hoody that they actually know something about our culture that the Stranger continues to exploit and sugar coat for the Capitol Hill audience.

Now that's classy, eh, Denise?

Wow.

(Moving on. Will walk 1/2 a block before looking back to make sure I'm not being followed.)

rich, i'm going to join you on that walk.

proof that letting bygones be bygones can happen.

Whatever, Kleenex-Boxers.

Samuel L. Chesneau -- a name with a ring who lasted long enough to get canned from a job? Two years ago? You just get a computer?

Tear-jerkers: If I had a coworker like that, I'm glad he's gone. Not pleased about something? I'll go there with you. No class about it? No dice. Go home already, Petey Postal, um, you're getting 86'd. And, oops, I think you pipped a little. You should get a more qualified bladder, weents.

Right on, Dave. Here's to not taking clown-shit. Grow up, you little rascal, and edit the vendetta out of your first draft next time you post.

well, i tried to walk away but, like a scab that i can't stop picking at, i had to go and search for sam's letter.

after a look through the ghost town that is line out, as well as a stroll through the stranger forum, i find no evidence that the letter appears anywhere other than as an excerpt in this slog entry.

if i am incorrect, please forgive my poor searching skills now. however, if my assumption that this letter was penned to the editor, in response to the cube piece that appeared in print, i have a question that begs an answer.

dave, when did a letter to the editor become an excuse to publicly talk shit about a former employee's work ethic and skill? i agree that sam's words were harsh, but to call them a "vicious stab at (you)" is a stretch.

you are correct in saying that if i were attacked, i would defend myself. i am not, however, an editor at a newspaper.

i work for a beer company. if you were to openly criticize the beer i represent, i would try to defend it in a manner that was suitably factual. i would not attack your beer drinking skills, taste buds, or ability to hold your liquor.

if you don't like my product, you don't like it. i ain't mad at ya.

sam's criticisms, while not the most eloquent, were directed at your product, not at you personally. to take a letter to the editor (of which i see no public evidence of, other than your post) and turn it into a public attack on the writer is indefensible.

furthermore, stating that larry could have "spent all 500 of his words" to do a job that had already been assigned to another writer is a weak excuse when trying to justify the fact that the ball got dropped on what could have been a great piece about cube.

rich, i'm gonna join you on that walk now. we've got a lot of catching up to do.

"The first sentence amply demonstrates Chesneau’s dubious grasp of the English language".
Nasty comment....you write for a free paper in Seattle Wa. and your saying what? The Ice Cube article was simple-minded at best....or as you prefer, a joke. In the late nineties people were switching from NWA to Talib Kwali and Common.....where was this?

Is there anything more entertaining than an intra-Stranger catfight? Rock on.

Once again, thes so-called reverant fans of hip-hop are completely failing to see the point. Ice Cube is undoubtedly a pioneer. His music confronted a number of social and racial issues in a way that literally did break new ground. The respect he has earned as a musician is incredibly well deserved. But if those posting who deify Cube actually watched Anaconda, they would realize that the man himself doesnt take himself 100% seriously. Inter-Stranger fighting aside, I think that Cube realizes that the audience of rap music has changed, and the old NWA attitude, though powerful and important, may not be the best way to get his important messages to broader audiences. If he did, do you think he'd starring in comedies? I think the Cube himself would laugh at Mr. Bruce's article. Haters among the Stranger readership should lighten up, recognize humor writing for what it is, and go to the video store and rent Anaconda. Seriously.

One thing that is not debatable, is that I gave the paper credibility that it lacked before it was there in the hiphop community. I never tried to be interesting or be a talented writer like our boy Charles, I just tried to report what was going on in the scene at the time because I was involved in it. I never claimed to be the greatest writer, in fact I told Jennifer many times I wasn't, but I knew what was going on where you obviously have no clue. I just wanted to let you know how irrelevant that article was when you had a great opportunity to have someone write something beneficial for reasons stated above in previous posts on this topic. Its been 12 years since that shooting at the RCKNDY, and while Cube has gone the hollywood route, he has provided several opportunities for up & coming artists & actors/actresses. Cube's been apart of a handful of classic hiphop albums and more classic records than you will ever have articles written. You're insecurity shows "editor". You made a private letter go public. Keep trying to plead for acceptance. We don't even know each other, I might have met you once and have no recollection of what you look like, nor do I care. So stop trying to pretend like we were on the Stranger team.

I wrote my column for $75 a week for 15 months and you got the nerve to question my charity to your paper? The only person with the right to say anything is Jennifer, as she was my editor, so you really have no grounds to stand on. You can say I got canned but you really have no clue why I left the Stranger so get your facts right before attempting to put somebody on blast like I did with the Coke/Bapes/Goods line. Only difference was I sent it to you as a joke, where you felt the need to cry for acceptance from the Stranger community, you played yourself man. Even though you try to take and make this more personal than it is, you are nothing more than a Stan, so like Ice Cube said, GET OFF MY DICK AND TELL YA BITCH TO COME HERE.

To put a private, personal letter out in the public like that, definately shows somebody's insecurities. The coke has definately gotten to your tastebuds, straaaight up tasteless. Insecurities? We all have 'em, but if you represent a local "service" such as The Stranger, you gotta handle shit properly. Don't let 'em shine like that man. Did you go take any type of business classes? Or did the madre teach you how to handle Biz?Segal's blast definately lost a Stranger reader...

Aren't Stranger readers supposedly the same audience who laughs freely at The Onion? Isn't Shaun Bruce's column much like the satire represented in that "newspaper"? Clearly, Bruce meant this article to be ironic and humorous, not an in-depth review of Ice Cube's impressive history as a rapper and actor. Whether or not you are a fan of Ice Cube is irrelevant. Bruce's article should appeal to you if you are a fan of comedy. This debate proves, without a doubt, that the majority of people living in this city don't know jokes. Have fun at Giggles, assholes.



p.s., Dave Segal, I fully support your decision to call out Chesneau. He's a moron who obviously doesn't know how to read.

Chesneau's letter was sent to editor@thestranger.com. That is by definition NOT personal and private.