Pages tagged “bill cosby”

Bill Cosby has joined the ranks of comedians featured in a documentary entitled Why We Laugh: Black Comedians on Black Comedy. The film is based on Darryl Littleton’s book that was released late in 2006 with a similar title. Robert Townsend will direct, and Littleton also has a hand in production.

A stand-up comedian under the stage name D'Militant, Littleton’s lens is both first-hand and historical.

“I feel like maybe in the last decade it has become a little bit more buffoonish than it was,” Littleton said to NPR. “My role models were people like Dick Gregory, Richard Pryor and Lenny Bruce—people of that nature where when they said something they were actually saying something.”

The film includes Cosby, Harvey and Williams, plus Chris Rock, George Wallace, Paul Mooney, D. L. Hughley. Codeblack will be helping with production, with a release date still in the works.

Related links:
Robert Townsend on IMDb
CodeblackEntertainment.com
News: Bill Cosby’s hip-hop Emergency to hit stores soon

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Despite reports back in January that America's favorite TV dad Bill Cosby would be joining the ranks of Tupac, Biggie, Jay-Z and Rakim as the newest (and perhaps strangest) MC to take the mic, it appears that newsies may have jumped the gun with their reports.

Today, it's been reported that, while the album does in fact exist, Cosby himself will not rap on it (news that likely disappointed music bloggers nationwide). The album, entitled Cosby Narratives Vol. 1: State of Emergency, has Cosby taking the reins as executive producer and co-writer, and is described as an "unflinching look at life in the 21st century, but without the profanity, misogyny, violence and braggadocio." The ever-controversial comic and talking head collaborated with Bill "Spaceman" Patterson and Ced-Gee (Ultramagnetic MCs) to produce the album, which features guest MCs SupaNova Slom, Jace the Great and Brother Hahz, all hip-hop newcomers.

Apparently the tracklist of the album, which will hit stores sometime in the next several weeks, includes songs entitled "Dads Behind the Glass" and "Get on Your Job." It seems likely from those song titles that the album sadly won't do much to bridge the chasm that's been slowly widening between the man once known as Ghost Dad and the hip-hop community at large.

Related links:
BillCosby.com
YouTube: Bill Cosby - Dentists
NPR: Is Bill Cosby Right or Is the Black Middle Class Out of Touch?

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Since the dearly departed Cosby Show went off the air in 1992, actor, comedian, and Jell-O pudding pusher Bill Cosby has become a popular talking head, appearing most recently on MSNBC's Meet the Press to discuss the state of African-American culture in the 21st century:

The much-loved television comedian (and one of the finest positive fatherly role models on any channel, now or then) has been subjected to a plethora of backlash in response to his very public criticism of young African-American males, and in particular to the statements he has made about gangsta rap.

Cosby has been the subject of heavy Internet ridicule as well, and multitudes of videos have been posted on YouTube that depict Photoshopped images of the actor rapping.

But now, Cosby is responding.

The Internet exploded yesterday with the news that a rap album is in the works from the former Ghost Dad himself. The album, entitled State of Emergency according to AllHipHop.com, will focus on social issues like drug abuse, high school dropouts and teenage pregnancy.

Response so far has been unquestionably unpleasant, and it seems that poor Bill is on his way to becoming an Internet joke. Here's to hoping that love for Dr. Huxtable runs deep enough to quash at least some of those critical voices.

Related links:
Paste: Review of The Cosby Show - Season 1 (DVD)
YouTube: 1980's Bill Cosby Jello Pudding Commercial
BillCosby.com

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