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Lil' Kim is the least talented person in the music industry since the days of Fabian Forte. She can't sing, she can't rap, she can't dance. She's aesthetically hot, but so are near-talentless folk like young Britney Spears (at least she can dance while lip-syncing). Kim, Ashlee Simpson and Lil Jon (no relation) have lowered the bar on how much talent one must display before being signed to a recording contract.

I stumbled across VH1 Classic yesterday. I grinned ear-to-ear looking at concert performances of really talented people like the Eagles, Squeeze, Neil Young, and the classic video "Mickey" by Toni Basil.

That's right, I said Toni Basil, who is perhaps just as diminutive as Lil' Kim but infinitely more talented. Basil only had one real hit, but by that time she was already an actress (Easy Rider, Mother, Jugs & Speed) a dancer, and a choreographer. In fact, it was Basil's mid-70s street-dance group called The Lockers -- including Fred "Rerun" Berry -- that laid the groundwork for the breakdancing craze in the early '80s. The dancing done in the hip-hop videos these days look more like they are based in aerobics, and not authentic dance.

BTW, while I'm on the subject of talent: I will be shocked if Taylor Hicks' second CD goes platinum. I know his first one will, but I just don't think he's got the chops to conquer radio. Blue-eyed soul doesn't have a good track record nowadays, with the rap crap like the aforementioned Lil Jon topping the charts. And when you get right down to it, does Hicks deserve to cover "Taking It To The Streets" as if he's the next Michael McDonald? Is he even the next Joe Cocker? Leon Russell? Daryl Hall? Huey Lewis? Heck, Paul Young? I don't think so.