Bill Cosby to Release Hip-Hop Album

Well, kinda. He's not actually rapping (thank God), but the album is of Cosby's conceptual design, with guest rappers providing rhymes and themes focusing on, according to Cosby, "the value of an education. [and] the value of respecting one's self." Basically, the album, entitled Cosby Narratives Vol. 1: State of Emergency is an answer to the profanity/violence/misogyny-driven hip-hop that has become quite popular. While this album may be ignored or ridiculed by many, I've always appreciated Cosby's outspokeness on social issues and I think it could be legitimately interesting if not outright entertaining. For me personally, listening to rap music can be somewhat of a tug-of-war between conscious and musical objectivity, with albums like, let's say, Cam'ron's Purple Haze showcasing jaw-dropping rhyme schemes and vibrant soul samples while also offering lyrics like, "The game and the chick/Like Kobe ima rape the bitch." Not to mention the criminal background of nearly every meaningful rapper on the planet...but anyway, Cosby's got a rap album...well, a Cosby-curated rap album, to my understanding, so we'll see what happens.