.	Bring Me the Head of Puff Daddy The combination of death and music used to mean Goth kids moping around the mall wearing black lipstick. These days, only one image comes to mind: Puffy Combs doing the White Man's Overbite on the grave of Biggie Smalls. The Notorious B.I.G. was the Princess Diana of music this year. Pre-death, Di was an interesting sidebar and the subject of many letters to People, which is a good indicator of the pointlessness of a person's celebrity. Post-death, she's a populist heroine, a veritable Florence Nightengale in Armani. Similarly, the B.I.G. guy went from a marginally talented rapper with a "distinctive" voice (which is to say, he sounded like he was having a hernia) to a "lyrical genius dope superstar," to quote one deranged fan. Spin even named him Artist of the Year, snapping the last thread of their credibility. But Di and Smalls differ in the loathsomeness of the musical aftermath of their deaths. "Candle in the Wind 97" was atrocious, yes, but it was just one song. Deceased Biggie has a lot to answer for, most notably...Puff Daddy. None of us would even know this cretin's name were it not for his limitless willingness to plunder the recording archives of a dead man. Puff Daddy's crimes: "I'll Be Missin' You," which is the backing track from "Every Breath You Take" lifted note for note. "Mo' Money Mo' Problems," which is the backing track from "I'm Coming Out," again, lifted note for note. His newest protégé, rapper Mase, whose "Feel So Good" intro lifts Kool & The Gang's "Hollywood Swingin'" note for...you get the point. Remixes of at least two Mariah Carey songs, which means that there are two more Mariah Carey songs in circulation, and that's just evil. Samples in hip-hop provide building blocks for the overall song; they supposedly mean something new when mixed together. Each sample should be a small reference, as well as a unit of rhythm or melody. Puff Daddy's music isn't hip-hop, it's karaoke. The terrifying thing is, the public is eating it up like donuts dipped in dopamine. You can't turn on mainstream radio without hearing that utterly listless voice chanting something---"spend no dough on the booty"?---over a song you used to like. Puffy's crept into every corner of pop culture. The man's like kudzu, only not as useful. In many cultures, when a loved one passes away, a period of mourning is expected. In fin de seicle America, we squeeze every last dime out of the deceased's marketable name. No wonder Goth is on the way out. We've all become ghouls. .Gadgetgirl	Eewww! What's that stank? Find out over at the MusicHole Golden Hole Awards!         MusicHole's Quote Of The Week:   " It's funny the way most people love the death. Once you are dead you are made for live. You have to die before they think you are worth anything...". --Jimi Hendrix OR --Janis Joplin You make the call!
Selling Ideas to Death Anyone remember the term "riot grrrl"? Now that Courtney Love is wearing Armani on the cover of Vogue, it's hard to remember why we cared. Here, a brief history of the life, and embarrassing death, of angry women rock: 1993: Liz Phair, Exile in Guyville America's introduction to girls-with-guitars. This was the album we'd been waiting for, without even knowing it. "Fuck and Run" was the manifesto of a generation. Well, of a few drunken nights, anyway. 1994: Hole, Live Through This No, THIS was the album we were waiting for. Courtney Love wasn't skinny, wasn't quiet, wasn't nice. In other words, she was just like us,except that she screamed it into a microphone. 1995: Alannis Morrisette, Jagged Little Pill We liked "You Oughta Know", we really did, especially that line about the blow job in the movie theater. Four pointless singles later, we wanted Alannis to blow US. 1996: Spice Girls, Spice The invention of Girl Power. Whatever the fuck that is. 1997: Fiona Apple, Tidal The inevitable. A pale, scrawny 19-year old taking off cheap underwear in someone else's rec room, singing about how she done her fella wrong; this is the video that invented battered-woman chic. Please, somebody, pull the plug. .mc annie c