’99 Problems’ on ‘Today in New York’

Nothing marries annoying and entertaining better than news anchor banter gone bad. On NBC’s Today in New York this morning, anchor Darlene Rodriguez cut to CNBC’s Bianna Golodryga for a look at business news. Golodryga finished with a story on the new Microsoft non-iPod, the Zune, and how the tech giant worked out a deal to make music from Universal available for the player. Kicking it back to Rodriguez, Golodryga said that included tunes from U2 and “our favorite big pimp, Jay-Z.” (For the record, Jay-Z had a hit with “Big Pimpin’” some years ago.)

Back at the set, Rodriquez acted as if an actual pimp had snuck past security. “You mean big rapper, Bianna,” she responded nervously. As the awkwardness hung over the set like a stubborn San Fran fog, Rodriquez added, with comparable stiffness, “Jay-Z is very successful these days, apparently.”

It felt like my dad talking about Green Day.

By Michael Malone