NO... NO....... NO!!!!! (Vol. 1)

One of the beautiful aspects I love about Hip-Hop is its possibility of being extremely creative. There has been many a moment where we all could recall our mouths dropping in disbelief because of what we are listening to (or watching when a music video is creative). Many old heads will argue that many of these moments came in the early years of Hip-Hop. This era is referred to as "The Golden Era," (1984 to around 1997. The years have been debatable).







Many have openly criticized (including myself) many Hip-Hop artists for not being creative enough and starting new trends. That's right old timers. The age old rule of "no biting other artist's or crew's styles" does not exist anymore. I believe that is one the main problems in Hip-Hop today and why so many listeners are turned off. There is NO DIVERSITY OR BALANCE. Back around 15 years ago, this existed. For example, if you were not feeling the "gangsta rap" of Death Row, you could "kick it" with the Native Tongues Posse. In a conversation I had with a friend of mine a couple of months of ago, she said she could not "identify" with today's Hip-Hop "superstars." She had yet to hear of artist such as Lupe Fiasco, The Roots, Talib Kweli, Little Brother, and Common. After a brief "listening session," she changed her opinion.



Now while I just said diversity and balance does not exist in Hip-Hop today, I meant it does not exist in the mainstream. Hince why my friend did not know about these certain artists. For good Hip-Hop (or good music in general), you have to dig for it. Unfortunately, the average music listerner only sees music as recreational, and won't dig for the freshest sounds; as a music head would.



Now the point of all this, while I love to see artists try something abstract and making it bang, there are just certain samples they just need to be left "un-flipped." Exhibit A: D4L's "Laffy Taffy" (sampled the theme from Pippy Longstocking). Exhibit B: Jibbs' "Chain Hang Low" (He jacked "Do You're Ears Hang Low). Exhibit C: Tha Backwoodz' "I Don't Like The Look Of It" (sampled the Umpa Lumpa theme from Willy Wonka) Exhibit D: Some new song where some little kids sample "The Meow Mix" commercial jingle (I don't know the artist. I only heard about 10 Seconds of it on XM Radio. Plus my homegirl's boyfriend worked on the video). You can add this joint below as Exhibit E (Disney is going to be pissed. Anyone remember the lawsuit they filed against the Ying Yang Twins for sampling "Whistle While You Work?").







Quote Of The Day: "You have people that are extremely book smart that lack common sense so they don’t know what’s going to affect their audience. They have more information than me based on reading...For instance, Nas is a really smart guy. He reads books constantly. We were around him on the Nastradamus tour. He was almost weirder than me ’cause we would go to breakfast and he’d be there reading a book. Conceptually, I think that’s what made him drift away from what his initial audience enjoys from him and why he’s not hot right now."

- 50 Cent On Nas







This is what I'm bumpin' right now. If you don't have have, COP IT! ASCAP! I'm out.