The State of Hip-Hop Today

Before I start out, I wanted to quote a line from Canibus from the song called "Poet Laureate II" off of the Rip the Jacker Album:

"From an extroverted point of view I think its too late
Hip Hop has never been the same since '88
Since it became a lucrative profession there's a misconception that a movement in any
direction is progression."

That quote right there pretty much sums up my feelings of what is being called Hip-Hop nowadays, & it also brings to mind a quote from the song "Hater Players" off of Mos Def & Talib Kweli's classic Blackstar Album:

"Reverse psychology got em scared to say when shit is whack
Out of fear of being called a hater, imagine that!"

I say that to say that there's a lot of stuff that I can't stand in the Hip-Hop industry today, and I know a lot of people feel the same way, but don't want to speak up about it out of the fear of being called a hater. Let me set the records straight from Jump Street:

***Anyone rapper that I mention in this blog post probably has more money than I do. They might even get more girls than I do. I'm not hating on these MC's as people, or hating on the success that they are having...I'm speaking from a standpoint of strickly looking at Hip-Hop as an artform. I'm critiquing them solely as MCs.***

Ok, with that disclaimer out of the way, I'll be real with you:

There is a lot of bullshit out there that's claiming to be hip-hop, but is pretty much the furthest thing away from what I think Hip-Hop is as an art form.

I think it is seriously damaging to the listeners...especially to the urban community. My other problem is that I think that there are a ton of artists out there who are extremely dope, and the music that they make is extremely under-appreciated & swept under the carpet. Now what I say next might be unpopular with a ton of people...and I may receive some criticism for it, but keep in mind that I'm speaking from the heart:

In the 90's, there came along two extremely talented MC's that changed the Hip-Hop game forever. Their names, of course, were Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls. Tupac was, no doubt, a poet & a visionary. In so many songs, such as "Changes", "I Ain't Mad Atcha" & "Dear Mama" for example, he spoke from his soul about his pain and hardships, and they were amazing songs. The same thing can be said about songs like "Juicy" by Biggie Smalls. His story-telling & delivery in that song was amazing, and it was very very relatable. I know as an urban youth, I could completely relate to everything that was being said in that song. Both MC's were extremely charismatic, and many many people looked up to them...but here comes the problem:
The problem is that although some of the music that they were producing was amazing & poetic, other music that they were putting out gratuitously promoted Gangsta Rap & Lifestyles...& they became martyrs to the cause.

I know I know. Biggie & Tupac were like Hip-Hop Gods, and saying anything less than praising about them is bound to bring criticism & name-calling. That's fine...as long as you hear what I'm saying. For one, I'm not saying that they were the only MC's pushing Gangsta Rap out there. Of course they weren't...they were just the 2 most prominent Mc's doing it...they are arguably the two most influential MC's of all time. Secondly, I'm not against MC's describing the type of stuff that they went through while growing up or living life...not at all. Styles P does it all the time & it's dope. I'm against promoting the Gangsta lifestyle like it's the thing to do...like shooting people up, selling drugs, objectifying women, etc is the "Bees Knees" LOL .

For Example, some quotes from Tupac & the Outlawz Diss against Biggie in "Hit 'Em Up":

"Grab your glocks when you see 2pac...Call the cops when you see 2pac"
"This ain't no freestyle battle...All you niggas getting killed...With your mouths open..."
"I'm a self made Millionaire...Thug livin', out of prison...Pistols in the Air {Air} (Ha Ha)..."
"Five shots couldn't drop me...I took it and smiled...Now I'm back to set the record straight
With my A-K I'm still the thug that you love to hate....Mother-fucker I'll Hit 'Em Up..."

Now just look at lyrics like that, and look at the influence that people like Tupac & Biggie had. There were grown ass men crying when they heard Tupac & Biggie died. I saw it with my own two eyes. They were idolized...they were people's heroes...and lastly, they were imitated. It seemed to be like after Tupac & Biggie, every single young man growing up in the urban communities wanted to be a gangsta rapper, and wanted specifically to be just like Biggie & Tupac. Why not? They were charming, they were tough, they were amazingly talented MC's, and they were rich. Tupac & Biggie came from situations similar to their own, & made it through to be world famous & rich. They had money, women, clothes...you name it. When you're in a desperate situation like many people living in urban communities are, people that have made it out of that situation become like a beacon of light.

I'm speaking from experience because I saw it everyday. I didn't want to be a gangsta rapper myself, but I'm a special case. I was luckier than most. Even though I grew up in the heart of North Philly, my grandparents had been to college, so they sacrificed to send my mom to college, who, in turn, sacrificed to send me to Private School to get a better education, and then to college. My parents kept me out of trouble. Not everyone's that lucky...the majority of people aren't. A lot of the people I grew up with idolized Biggie & Tupac, & got stuck in a lifestyle that now, it seems impossible for them to escape from it. It was almost like you had to go to jail or get shot or be on some crooked shit to be accepted. That whole mindset became more & more prevelant in the community, & more prevelant in the music industry, until we get to where we are today. The more prevelant that the Gangsta Mindset got in the community, the more it was reflected in the music.

Now, let's take a look at a couple of the artists who are out right now. This is where I'm going to call some of the artists today out on their bullshit. Again, I'm not hating on you personally, so if you happen to read this, don't start a rap beef or anything lol. I'm just a real person...even with my close friends, if I feel like there's something that I need to call you on because I think you're doing something wrong, I'm going to call you on it. I'd be more than willing to set down and discuss topics like this with anyone in a hip-hop forum or panel, or whatever even if it's a one on one thing.:

Cam'Ron:
Cam'Ron was recently was on CNN...with Dame Dash...and they were saying how they're positive roll models. All I could do was shake my head, because the last CD that Cam'Ron put out was called "Crime Pays". Yes, you're a successful business man...you're rich and your famous & you have your own business, but you're putting out music like "Crime Pays", and I'll give you some songs off of the Track Listing: -"Homicide" -"Cookin up" -"Crime Pays"

And let's forget "Get Ya Gun" off of the Album "Killa Season". The other point that Dame & Cam were trying to make was that it's just "Entertainment" & movies like "Terminator". Ok, one, even an eleven year old kid is going to be able to tell the difference between Mercury/Metal Robots from the future, & a guy that you know really exists saying that he sells drugs & shoots people. I'm sorry. Besides that, outside of the movie Scarface, Hip-Hop music is far far far far more influential to urban youth than movies are, one reason being, you can take music with you wherever you go...and if you drill stuff into your head repeatedly, it starts to change your mindset or influence you in some way. Now you might say that it's not your job to be a role model, and it's the parents job to monitor what their children are listening to. Fair enough. But think about it this way: A lot of youth don't have that. A lot of parents don't see anything wrong with it. My former Uncle-In-Law gave me Dre Dre's "The Chronic" Album, and didn't see anything wrong with it until he got yelled at by my mom lol. I was excited as hell to get that album, and I couldn't understand for the life of me why my mom wouldn't let me listen to it. All of the other kids had it....I wanted to fit in with them. As a 27 year old adult, I finally understand what the problem was. Since you know that (despite what you say) people look up to you, you could be more mindful of what your saying....parents or not. Don't take the easy way out...there's plenty of things outside of the subjects of money, hustling, "Bitches", gangsta shit, etc. to talk about. Don't get stuck inside of the box...try thinking outside of it. Lupe Fiasco does it, and he's very successful.

Soulja Boy:
"YAHHH BITCH YAHHH"...Nuff said LOL that's just the most ignorant shit I've ever heard I'm
sorry hahaha. There's nothing wrong with making snappy dance songs. Whatever...make stuff that's fun to dance to. Everyone likes to dance, and as anyone who's being honest with themselves will admit, a lot of the time, the beat sells itself. I'm not even saying that the music has to be profound, but I shouldn't lose brain cells because I'm listening to it.

50 Cent:
You are a successful business man, who have your own clothing line, your own Vitamin Water, and you're 1 of the biggest names in the industry period. Do you really need to keep up the gangsta thing? There's nothing else to talk about? Outside of the fact that there are thousands of different things to talk about, you keep recycling yourself via your 1st Album, "Get Rich or Die Trying". There's no progression as an artist...it's just the same shit, different laxative.

I could literally talk about this subject forever, but this post is long enough as it is...I'll save the rest of what I think for the responses to this post, but in closing, I feel like Hip-Hop nowadays has gotten caught into a pattern where every MC just talking about the same Ignorant stuff repeatedly, and it's really hurting the community as a whole. The bright spot in this is that There are Many Many MCs out there that are creating more intelligent Hip-Hop...I just don't think that they get the recognition that they deserve. I'll end this post by listing some MC's and songs that I think people should check out if they feel the same way I do, and think that Hip-Hop seems to be regressing instead of moving forward:

Harbinger of Light - Canibus
Layered Prayers - Canibus
Indibisible - Canibus
Shadow Business - Jedi Mind Tricks
Enough Beef - Chino XL, Royce Da 5'9", & Common
Basket Case - MF Doom
Deep Fried Frenz - MF Doom
Kookies - MF Doom
Shining Down - Lupe Fiasco
Rising Down - The Roots, Mos Def, & Styles P
Right Now - Fort Minor ft. Black Thought
Love Thirst - Jean Grae
Sunshine - Mos Def
Respiration - Blackstar ft. Common
Thieves in the Night - Blackstar
The 3rd World - Immortal Technique
Changes - Common ft. Muhsinah
Superstarr Pt. 0 - K-Os
Joy - Talib Kweli ft. Mos Def
None Shall Pass - Aesop Rock
Zodiaccupuncture - Aesop Rock
Daylight - Aesop Rock

Those are just a few off the top of my head...To quote a cut from Aesop Rock's "None Shall Pass":
-"I'm not trying to trick you...I'm trying *mixes* to-to-to-Help"

I welcome any and all discussion on this topic...it's the only way things get any better.
Peace

Alloyius McIlwaine
Cultures Clothing Co.

Top MC's in Hip-Hop

Ok, so MTV has this list coming out of the Top 10 Hottest Rappers in the Game. The only problem is, I don't think a lot of people in their top 10 would be in my top 100. SO...here's my list...It's 100+ MC's in no particular order whatsoever:

Again in no Particular order Whatsoever. To do that would be completely & utterly impossible! Everyone on here is pretty dope. This is just how people are popping in my head as I type...probably based on what I've listened to lately. I'm just noticing that some of my faves are further down like Q-Tip for example.

Also this is just out of the people that are still making music, or else, of course, you'd have to list Tupac, Biggie, Big Pun, Big L, Run DMC, Chuck D, Slick Rick,etc. etc.:

Top 100+ This is who I came up with off the Top of my head:

1) Canibus
2) Chino XL
3) Ras Kass
4) Killah Priest
5) Pharoahe Monch
6) Vinnie Paz of Jedi Mind Tricks
7) Immortal Technique
8) Slug of Atmosphere
9) Common
10) Jean Grae
11) Talib Kweli
12) Mos Def
13) Cage
14) Copywrite
15) Mr. Eon
16) Black Thought
17) Celph Titled
18) Tech N9ne
19) Lupe Fiasco
20) Eminem
21) Royce the 5'9
22) Crooked I
23) Joell Ortiz
24) Apathy
25) MF Doom
26) Ghostface Killah
27) Raekwon
28) Aesop Rock
29) Mr. Lif
30) EL-P
31) Ill Bill
32) Rhymefest
33) Method Man
34) Redman
35) Phonte
36) Kool G Rap
37) Styles P
38) Jadakiss
39) Nas
40) GZA
41) RZA
42) Kanye West
43) Andre 3000
44) Big Boi
45) Evidence
46) Q-Tip
47) Busta Rhymes
48) Jay-Z
49) Lauryn Hill
50) Keith Murray
51) KRS-One
52) Buckshot
53) Esoteric
54) Outerspace
55) Planet Asia
56) Del the Funky Homosapien
57) Gift of Gab
58) Guru
59) Posdnous/ De La Soul
60) AZ
61) Masta Ace
62) Bahamadia
63) Fatlip/ Pharcyde
64) Big Pooh
65) Diabolic
66) Dead Prez
67) Prodigy
68) Jakki the Motamouth
69) Saigon
70) Rock from Heltah Skeltah
71) Inspectah Deck
73) T.I.
74) Brother Sun
75) Phoenix Orion
76) Wale
77) Ludacris
78) Fabolous
79) Cee-Lo
80) Rakim
81) Bun B
82) Supernatural
83) Brother J
84) Sean P
85) Black Milk
86) Papoose
87) Kurupt
88) RA the Rugged Man
89) Jeru the Damaja
90) Mike Shinoda
91) Rah Digga
92) Jus Allah
93) Joe Budden
94) Kool Keith (is he still putting out new stuff?)
95) Thirsten Howl III
96) Louis Logic
97) MC Juice
98) Sage Francis
99) Eyedea
100) Blu & Exile
101) Mr. Hyde
102) Benefit (Is he still doing stuff?)
103) Vakill
104) Last Emperor
105) Mad Child
106) Goretex
107) MC Shan
108) Termanology
109) Cassidy
110) Cormega
111) Wordsmith
112) Ryu
113) Open Mic
114) Mad Skillz
115) Chip FU


Ok I'm posting this now...but you guys help me with the rest, and I'll post those right below after this statement...

116) ?