Friday, June 17, 2011

Ahoy and Avast!

Dating back to the Viking raiders of the early Middle Ages and their Muslim counterparts in the Mediterranean, pirates have long been renowned for their unparalleled seamanship, their savage ferocity and their propensity to bust the occasional rhyme. Sadly, while the Somali pirates of the modern era have forgotten their hip-hop roots – I blame Gilbert and Sullivan – one privateer and his motley crew are keeping the art form alive. Witness as Captain Dan and the Scurvy Crew lock lyrical cutlasses with Admirality of His Majesty's Royal Navy. Surely it's the fiercest round of lyrical pirate warfare since Calico Jack battle rapped Blackbeard on the windswept beaches of Jamaica in July of 1716.

6 comments:

Jimi said...

Woo, straight outta Greenwich! (I live next to Greenwich)

This video really appeals to the 11-year-old me who went around with an eyepatch I cut out of a pair of black jeans after reading some comic about pirates

Z. said...

Being a fan of pirates "back in the day" was a bit of a chore, Jimi. I remember squirreling away old Halloween costumes as a child so I could play pirate year round.

funky49 said...

It's frustrating seeing the pirates versus British drama play out so much in hip-hop and pirate displays in Las Vegas.

I want to hear prequel pirate raps when Spain was the big pimp on the seas and then the Dutch and English sponsored pirates to bring them down a notch.

And also how the Dutch had a lot of shine after Spain and before England. The Netherlands gets little respect.

I'm also full of Mexican food right now. Forgiveness please.

-steve

captain dan said...

Arrr we be planning to do a multilingual battle rap on the next cd between French, Spanish, pirates And England. I would do dutch too but I don't know anyone who can rap in dutch.

funky49 said...

NOW THAT IS AWESOME!

What about a song about John Paul Jones? He was considered a pirate... by the British!

funky49 said...

Don't let any Dutch people hear but... German and Dutch are really close. :)