I try...
Not to rant too often, but this has gotten out of hand. Control, rap is out of. Never before have I agreed so much with Nasir Jones' sentiment: "Im here to get my paper and bounce. Hip-Hop is dead. F*@# Hip-Hop."
My frustration isnt unprovoked. I love Hip-Hop, but listening to the radio recently makes me wanna stab myself in the ear with a sharp object. The same thing, over and over, and over. The new T-Pain song was the last straw. It is a compilation of all the recent "hip-hop killing", dime-a-dozen, cookie cutter club bangers to the run of the mill "snap your fingers" beat. With such memorable, reference lyrics like "you can do it all by yo self"(Lil Jon), "..buy you a drank...I got money in the bank"(Lil Scrappy), "we in the bed like: boom, boom..."(Lil Bootsy), and "walk it out"(DJ Unc)- this song goes beyond simply regurgitating the latest hit, to actually biting all the latest hits at the same time. But the demise of the music is not pinned to T-Pain; he is just the McDonalds to my Supersize Me. The fall of the industry came when it changed from a passion shared by few, to a commercialized beast fed to the masses. Commercialization is like watering down Kool-aid to stretch it out. It takes something good and dillutes it until its a shell of the original product. And as time passes, the music travels farther and farther from its roots, because its history isnt taught. Nobody will realize that the new DJ Lil Knuck Knuck(not a real artist, I hope) beat was actually a sample from J-Dilla. I see it already. Gwen Stefani had another hit. The beat is what sold it, but nobody who actually listens to Gwen Stefani knows that it was a Biggie Smalls classic, and originally, Earth Wind and Fire. People forget, and now what was a passion, is just a punchline(See: The white rapper show, Malibu gansta, "Im from the streets!", etc).
I guess I just want people to remember what real Hip-Hop is. Theres nothing wrong with liking the hacks: I myself have leaned wit it, snapped my fingers, and chicken noodle souped. There is something wrong, though, when people forget what it used to be like. Ten years ago today, Christopher Wallace was shot and killed. I wonder when the radio will stop giving tributes to him. Whens the last time you heard a tribute to Eazy E? J Dilla? Hell, Aaliyah didnt even get recognized in 2006, just five years after her death. Just recognize, is all I ask. And maybe stop requesting that damn T-Pain song so much... -j



As an added bonus, here is GQs list of future Tupac albums to look forward to:

1. The Very Best of Tupac from the last three weeks
2. Tupac: Sneezes and Coughs
3. The Ghost of Tupac Versus R. Kelly
4. Walt Disney Presents Tupac: Frozen in Time
5. Tupac Live from Argentina
6. Tupac Dead but still from Argentina
7. The Ghost of Tupac Versus R. Kelly and Bow Wow
8. Tupac: If I did it
9. Tupac and Gerald Ford: At last
10. Tupac Cuddles Hanna Montana
11. Tupacs Ramones Reunion
12. The Ghost of Tupac Versus R. Kelly, Bow Wow, and Michael Tilson Thomas and The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
13. Future Sex/ GraveyardSounds