Najee said:

Now that's the Najee I remember . . .

Good points, you hit the nail on the head, but you can't blame a man who's been dead for 10 years for the fact that the genre, and black music, hasn't really progressed since then. Kurt Cobain shouldn't be held responsible for the soundalikes he spawned. John Coltrane and Miles Davis shouldn't be held responsible for their imitators. Same goes (on a different level) for Biggie.

Najee said:

Now there you go. Can you stoop any lower today?

Here's what I said about that.



See, I take his dirt as a given. I factor it into my analysis and I did from the very beginning. Now you're telling me I'm trying to make his crimes "sound good"?

You lost it, brother. Who's getting "personal" again?

I.

KNOW.

You.

Are.

Better.

Than.

This.



Get yourself.
[Edited 9/11/07 16:07pm]

BlaqueKnight said:

Thank you for redesignating the focus on the on the flow instead of the drama that was result of fueled propaganda by the media.

Najee said:

Wow, LOL, LOL....

Ok dude, we get it, U don't like rap....this thread probably isn't for you then.

goat2004 said:

That's a dumb allegation based on nothing. I was listening to rap music when it first came out in the late 1970s. Evidently, you didn't read anything I did say (or read very well), which was explained the scope in which The Egpytian Lover operated.

And I'll still take songs like "Egypt, Egpyt" and "My Beat Goes Boom" over some crap like Soulja Boy and all those Master P. clowns any day.

P.S.: Don't cherry-pick posts and give a drive-by answer -- it simply makes you also look like a clown.
[Edited 9/11/07 17:55pm]

namepeace said:

I don't blame The Notorious B.I.G. solely for the declining state of rap music -- he's part of the second generation that came from those artists (and fans) who embraced the gangsta style made famous by the likes of NWA plus the explict, dumbed-down nature of acts like The 2 Live Crew.

I have no problems giving Biggie Smalls his due in terms of what skill he brought to the table, however my opinion of him is lowered because of the nature of his songs were little more than hedonistic forays into violence, degrading women and "the game." No matter how skilled he was, he never brought anything more to the table -- and it's also how I look at others of his ilk (including his predecessors).

You can't separate that from Biggie Smalls, because that is a major part of the package. It seems to me that you're asking me to overlook certain elements of the man's character and lifestyle, which he bled into his music purposely.
[Edited 9/11/07 23:43pm]

Not really. I could easily go to the record store and pick up some uptempo rap from the last four or five years such as "I Like The Way You Move" by Outkast and could halfway get into it. However, I heard enough uptempo rap in the clubs in the 1990s such as Quad City DJs, Luke, 2 Live Crew, Tag Team, etc. to last me a lifetime. I still like uptempo rap but I'm absolutely tired and burnt out on it because uptempo rap and house music (which I'm tired of also) was all there was in the 1990s if you wanted something to dance to.

I've heard "Planet Rock" and "Egypt, Egypt" sampled in every shape, form, and fashion imaginable. Fast rap served it's purpose for a while, but just like midtempo shit hop, it's time to move on from uptempo rap also. It's been over 15 years. I'm just ready to move on to the next phase of dance music, whether it's a modern reincarnation of funk, or maybe some new form of dance music that hasn't been invented yet. Whatever the case, I'm ready, and have been ready, for a complete change in modern music altogether.




Not really. I simply said that I didn't see the difference in him or any of these other artists of today. Whether or not they are good MCs does not concern me in the least. I want music, and musicwise, I hear the same thing coming from the new rappers that I heard coming from him.
.
.
[Edited 9/11/07 21:48pm]

Don't like rap? Yeah, you're right. Egyptian Lover was a hell of a singer. Don't you just love the way he used to hit those high notes like Prince? Philip Bailey ain't got shit on Egyptian Lover.

Najee said:

I understand and respect your opinion. But you're not accurately representing mine, which is contained in my first few posts. I'm not asking you to overlook anything. As Calhoun and Blaque have put it, his storytelling ability, flow, vocal stylings (which you cited) and ability to craft a lyric made him a great MC. I also said that he was not a revolutionary MC in the vein of Chuck D, KRS-ONE, or Rakim. All of the things you mentioned are factored into my analysis, which I've said ad nauseam and you've overlooked repeatedly. I just happen to think that he was a cut above the portrait you paint of him, from a stylistic and substantive standpoint.

And, to the extent that his sins detracted from his legacy, I'd say he's paid for them sufficiently, which should factor into the equation. Now, had he lived, there's a chance would have trod the same ground to eke out more dollars and he would have simply been imitating his past self. Like, say, Ice Cube has done.

Reasonable minds can disagree.

[Edited 9/12/07 8:09am]
[Edited 9/12/07 10:37am]

Well to me, he was just a repulsive looking rapper who couldn't enunciate or articulate himself properly. End of story.

Mong said:

Yes, because that's what a good rapper is really supposed to be about - how he or she looks & whether or not the enunciate/articulate properly

What the fuck are you even stating this shit for?? It's clear you have zero understanding of what's good about rap.

And for the overwhelmingly bad response rap gets in general (I'm not into it anymore, only a select few rappers interest me) I gotta say - I still can recognize that there are/were SOME very gifted artists in the genre. He was one of them

vainandy said:

Well, these things come and go in cycles. As I've said to you before, hip-hop has been exploited to its breaking point. I think Hip-Hop As We Know It will die like disco and regain its legitimacy as an underground art form.




Music will always change. Disco dominated the scene in some form or fashion for a decade-plus. Hip-hop has done the same. I have the same desire you have: to see it removed from the radio.






IMHO there is a discernible difference between Biggie and his subsequent imitators. In his death, he has been elevated from great MC to elite status, which I don't know he should enjoy, as I said in my very first post.

But, to quote Jadakiss, "you know dead rappers get better promotion."

BTW . . . my new thread: http://prince.org/msg/8/244311