technically-sweet

Live from nowhere

November 1, 2026

This is the ironic technically-sweet.com. The other one, which seems playful and sincere, forgoes the dash 1. That makes sense to me.

Seems to be a fine jump-off point for discussing this topic. Seeing as I need some content to launch (Nintendo circa 1996 I’m looking at you) I’m going to ramble on.

The Oppenheimer quote 2 we’re referencing is also hip hop.

I think DOOM says it best 3 - he’s trying to score points. There’s no greater purpose in hip hop. Ever listen to a “conscious” emcee who sucks? They’re the worst kind. It’s about lyrical points and about the beats (not about the streets or what food you ‘bout to eat). Teachings are fine but it’s always going to come back to technical performance. You rope the knowledge in as a bonus to add to your total.

When I was younger, I convinced myself that rap should “mean more”, and sometimes some very deep meaning or structure to a song can make it much more. (Common’s I used to love HER, requisite listening). But it doesn’t guarantee it. And what is always guaranteed to work in hip hop is an emcee racking up the score over a very nice beat4.

The alternative hypothesis is that, no, it’s not just about the beats and tricky rhymes. Canibus: “Since it became a lucrative profession there’s the misconception that a movement in any direction is progression.” And that’s where I’d truly like to sit with this for a bit.

Footnotes

  1. I was going to link to the “other one” but its SSL certificate has expired. ↩

  2. “When you see something that is technically sweet, you go ahead and do it and you argue about what to do about it only after you have had your technical success. That is the way it was with the atomic bomb.” - Bobby Oppenheimer ↩

  3. “I only do this for the simple fact of points-per-rhyme, the point game. It seems to be a profitable thing these days, and nobody else is really paying attention to it. You can be about your points, and if nobody else can do it, you can get some change off that joint, because you’re the only one doing it like that” - MF DOOM 2019 interview in Ambrosia For Heads ↩

  4. DOOM again: “Enough about me. It’s about the beats. Not about the streets and who food he ‘bout to eat.” - MM FOOD ↩