What if Mos Def, Talib Kweli, and Common were (well deservingly) on top of the rap game like P. Diddy, Jay-Z, Nelly currently are ruling the charts? Do you think that we would be saying that Jay-Z is an underdog or an underappreciated artist? If P Diddy wasn't as rich as he is, would we look at him like we look at Master P nowadays??

Would the hip hop world be returning to its roots if Mos Def finally would receive a grammy? Or does it even matter?
[Edited 9/16/04 8:07am]

(why is social commentary and relevance less important than "gangsta" posing?)

huh?

missfee said:

The rap game would totally suck because all of them sound alike.

okaypimpn said:

As it is, it sucks only 99%, then.

okaypimpn said:

You think they sound alike, Pimpn? I still would take them over anything in rap today.

TheOrgerFormerlyKnownAs said:

Yeah, I respect them because their doing their thing and contributing to the rap game, but I don't personally like their delivery 'cause they all sound alike. Hip-hop needs variety like OutKast, Jay-Z and Snoop IMO.

I'd rather have variety....I like watchin' diddy dance around like an idiot and I like to listen to common preach and be all sensitive....the game is missing variety


Remember when we could hear Kid n Play and Public Enemy back to back....

missfee said:

Well, those artists would sound different if they were commercially successful.

And I think the PD, Jay-Z, Nelly crowd would be underground successful.

Look back if you would to the late 80's/early 90's. Sure, you had your MC Hammers and Young MCs, along with the NWAs, PEs and Snoops (who sold well without much radio play), and the Jungle Bros., ATCQs, BDPs, Cypress Hills, etc. (who sold modestly but got a lot of underground/video play). There was much more variety. The problem is that, not only has the quality of the product declined, but sales are dictating styles, rather than vice-versa, and it's killing the diversity of the genre.

0V3RF13ND said:

allow a brother to clarify: hip hop (hit pop) seems to be less about your merit as an artist, what you have to say, than how long your arrest record is in your bio...

mos def, common, kweli (even kanye) are the exceptions that prove the rule

(chuck d, where are you? help!!!!)

missfee said:

If Mos Def and the like were on top instead of Jay-Z and the "playa, playa" stuff that would still suck because there would be less versatility. Mos is purportedly "more conscious," yet still, hip hop doesn't need to be an homogenious wasteland of same-sounding artists. I agree with the consensus of this thread -- move towards variety. Give us the party jams with the conscious stuff and the eclectic selections.

namepeace said:

ri ri...Hammer had much underground success....hell.....I loved hammer videos they played on BET before hammer was "big"...
[Edited 9/16/04 10:33am]

okaypimpn said:

Unlike Nelly and P. Diddy? It's really the charts that need diversity!
[Edited 9/16/04 10:41am]

namepeace said:

Agreed. I think it also kills diversity in the way the younger generation views their world. Most of the shit hop that kids are force-fed today deals with materialism, fighting in "tha club", getting head, throwing up "your set", or some girls ass. Wheres the alternative view point? It exist, but unless you seek it out you'll never hear it. Viacom( BET MTV and numerous record labels) sure as hell arent giving it to you. To address the topic of this post, if those cats( Mos, Talib, Common) were at the top of the heap you'd have a lot more kids who are hip to Nina Simone, Fanon, Achebe, Asata Shakur, the list goes on. All that crunk, bling, applebottom shit has its place, but I think its fucking us up as well.

Rhondab said:

Yeah. folk want to deny they ever knew of Hammer. But when he dropped "Let's Get It Started" his music and videos got folks AMPED. Much like Crunk does now.

I hated Hammer post-"Please Hammer Don't Hurt'em," but I fail to see any difference between what Puffy, Ja Rule, or any of those other cats charting now are doing and what Hammer did.

We'd have better black male role modles for young african american children.

missfee said:

than i wouldnt have had a chance to hear juveniles "slow motion" in the summer of 2004

JANFAN4L said:

Ya damn right.

The problem is that their record companies pay the radio big money so that main radio could stay one dimentional. Look at how many damn girls are having children and men / teen fathers purposley leaving them. The music that consists of that lifestyle and being a "playa" and all that stuff does nothing but influence that even more.

The Death of music is upon us...

and it will begin with the fall of hip hop...

missfee said:

they'd call it 'hop hip' ?

Everyone is concerned with the bad image that hip hop has and the lyrics. I see this as a definate problem also but it is secondary with me. My number one problem with today's hip hop is the way it "sounds". It sounds horrible. All it consists of is a slow, cheap, weak ass beat, structured around an old song that has been mixed in, covered up with a bunch of "talk".

Hip hop did not sound like this in the beginning. Some of my favorite hip hop artists back in the day were The Egyptian Lover, Soul Sonic Force, The Jonzun Crew, Newcleus, Pretty Tony, and Freestyle. Compare those to hip hop today.....there is no comparison! Those were songs that made your ass subconsciously want to shake. The only thing you can shake off today's hip hop is your head going "Hell no!"

I would love hip hop if it went back to being for the dance floor, like it originally was. Each year, the music keeps getting more stripped down and the "talking" takes center stage. Back in the day, you could throw on the instrumental of these jams and no one would complain because the music took center stage and not the "talk". I used to enjoy The 2 Live Crew also (which has the worst image) but the music was kicking. I don't listen to them anymore either because how many times do you want to hear "Planet Rock" mixed in before you get tired of it.

It's not going to get better, it is only going to get worse, so I would rather see the whole genre die and move on to something better.

FUCK these wack ass corny as fuck industry cats who are killin the authenticity of hip hop.....


"Glittery knuckles never made me buckle....."
- Jean Grae