So, roaches, do you like the state hiphop is in right now? jus wondering? Im not one of those "hiphop is in trouble people" but a lotta people are, and its cool 2 hear a diff view, So yea, whats your view on it right now?
Right now, in my iTunes, I have a playlist that's about 14 hours long, full of nothing but hip-hop songs that I really really like. None of them came out before the year 2004.
If you read the lil booklet in Inspectah Deck's Movement cd i think he says something that brings up some good points that hip hop is dead.
I don't buy wack albums, so I haven't read the booklet. Maybe if you spent your money on something better you'd feel differently. If you like the Wu, Masta Killa's album last year was pretty good. Ghostface had a lot of quality shit distributed over his three major releases - his Def Jam album,
The Pretty Toney B-Sides Mixtape, and Theodore Unit's
718. He also has a single out with El-P, "Hide Ya Face". It's actually a Prefuse 73 single, but El-P's remix is bonkers. I don't know a single Wu head who doesn't like it. Did you hear the live album the Wu releases last year? That was pretty dope, too.
roaches, if you like rap as a genre that focuses more on production and image rather than lyrical ability, then more power to ya. but me, i prefer the pre-2000 hip hop
If hip-hop cares more about production and image than lyrical ability, why did New York heads vote Nas as better than Jay-Z? Why did Jadakiss's jiggy "Time's Up" flop, and his more content-heavy "Why?" blow up? Why did songs about Jesus and railing against materialism become more popular than songs about working it out?
And if the only value you derive from hip-hop is what a rapper is saying, go buy a book of poetry. This is MUSIC. You know what Kool Herc did at his first party? He looped instrumentals. Coke La Rock came later.
in the last year, I haven't baught one cd and actually felt like it was worth the money.
It's not hip-hop's fault that you're bad at spending your money. Go down to the mom and pop store or the barbershop and buy some dope mixtapes instead of some glossy industy albums. DJ Drama has yet to let me down, personally.
It's an embarrassment to me. The CNN article on the 50 Cent shooting ended by pointing out how Lil' Kim was envolved in the same thing. It's turned back to being a punchline on every late night show. How do I even try to support something like this? Everything is beats and hooks now. To me it's a slap in the face to the true fans that enjoy the music for the music.
You're embarrassed at what outsiders think of you and your favorite music? Fuck that self-conscious bullshit. You want to talk about embarrassing?
Grandmaster Melle Mel, after being responsible for classics like "The Message", became a male stripper. That was a long time ago. Big Daddy Kane posed in Playgirl. "Rapper's Delight", which created hip-hop as we know it today, was the result of some bitch coming in and paying some outsiders to create a rap song so she could capitalize on the underground trend in New York. The guys she paid to do it stole their lyrics from some other rapper. Kool Herc, the creator of hip-hop, got stabbed at his own party. There's plenty of things to be embarrassed about in hip-hop, but they didn't start just now. Don't act like hip-hop just started getting embarrassing.
And really, is it any more embarrassing than the various shit performers in other genres do? I don't think anyone in hip-hop is as embarrassing as Courtney Love.
As for your favorite rappers.
1. 2Pac - dead.
But his music lives on. Raphael Saadiq's remix of "A Crooked Nigga Too" last year was dope. And it's not like he was even the best on the west coast, or the end all be all of it.
2. Eminem - last album was poor and made me evaluate his past albums and made me realize I may have over rated him.
That sounds like a personal problem.
The Marshall Mathers LP was great, no one take that away from Eminem. Do you like rappers similar to how Eminem used to be? Check out Cage. Check the Leak Bros's album,
Waterworld, which dropped last year.
3. Jay-Z - retired.
*Bumps collaborative albums with Linkin Park, R Kelly*
4. Kurupt - Signed to a label that will never release an album.
Daz's new shit is good. And weren't you guys going apeshit over Roscoe's album a while back?
5. DMX - who the fuck knows what's going on with him.
If you liked DMX after his second album, that's a personal problem that you and a therapist will have to deal with on your own time.
6. Beanie Sigel - Has a case hanging over his head, album advance was poor.
Are you kidding? That advance was great. "One Shot Deal", "Purple Rain", "Wanted", "Feel it in the Air"... all fire. And if you don't like Sigel, there's the rest of State Prop. Freeway's album is just as incredible to me today as it was when it came out. Young Chris is still criminally slept-on.
7. Crooked I - Struggling to put out a debut.
He left Death Row, has put out mixtapes, and signed a deal with Universal Records. It looks like he's making moves that will lead to an official debut. That's hardly struggling.
8. Mac Dre - dead.
Yes, and he was the only good rapper in NoCal.
9. Kanye West - Arrogant as fuck, embarrassing to hear talk. Talented though.
Guess what. Rappers are supposed to be arrogant. Kanye West is arrogant to keep himself in the spotlight. It works, doesn't it? And if his music is good, why should you care about what he does outside of the wax? By that logic, you should hate 2Pac.
And if Kanye West is one of your top ten rappers.... no comment.
10. 50 Cent - Complete head case.
If 50 Cent ever was one of your top tenr appers... no comment.
