Real Hip Hop

I feel like its time for a State of the Hip Hop Union address or something! I am so frustrated with bubblegum rappers claiming to be Hip-Hop. Hip-Hop is a lifestyle, it's music, dress, attitude (long before 'swag'). And its very much alive. On a street corner near you, somebody is dropping some HOT lines, complete with REAL wordplay, sick flow, and killer punchlines. Said lyricist has most likely been doing the same thing, for many years. So why is it that these artists, with though provoking and inspiring flows, are never on your Hot 97s, WGCIs, and Power 92s? There is a huge market for these artists, the same market that jumped on Eminem when he came on the scene. The same market that loves itself some Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Busta Rhymes, Nas, Rakim, KRS-One and Wu-Tang. The same crowds that pack the Rock the Bells tour every summer. 


I had the pleasure of attending Rock the Bells this summer, and although it was an 12-hour (yes 12) long day, I was still rocking hard IN THE RAIN to Nas and Damien Marley, after having had a wonderful day full of music from so many REAL Hip-Hop artists, its hard to name them all. I even had the pleasure of hearing K'naan perform live, along with seeing The Roots again. Their live instrumentation is phenomenal. So forgive me if I'm frustrated by people dancing around chanting "Gucci you dont love me" or if I'm not up on the latest 106th and Park videos. Thats not my kind of music. I want to go back to the good old days. The late 80s-early to late 90s, when I could bump my 36 Chambers and get hyped. There are so many underground emcess who have managed to keep their name in the streets like Jean Grae, that it saddens me that these people have not seen mainstream success. Guess spitting knowledge scares people, so they'd rather us spit garbage.