“OUT HERE GRINDIN.COM” – The #1 Source for Hip Hop

Today I realized something about myself & hip hop. I havent listened to majority of the songs that are currently out. When I go to the clubs, I have no idea what is playing. I had no idea what a “Birthday Sex” was. When my little cousins are dancing to whatever new dumb ass dance is out, I have no idea what they are doing. I dont even have an ipod. Im still rocking the walkman. I barely even knew who Drake was until a few weeks ago. Let alone, Wale & Kid Cudi. I realized I am stuck in the 90s.

The past few weeks, the only thing Ive been listening to was “Reasonable Doubt”, “Illmatic”, “Pac” & other music from the 90s. This period of music just speaks to me in a way todays artist doesnt. I WAS BORN IN ‘88. I was only 6-8 years old when these artists were doing there thing. That shouldnt be the case. Music is supposed to change, I understand that but, I thought it was supposed to change for the better.

Not to discredit any artist of today because there are SOME artists who are extremely talented. The problem is they come too few & far between. For every Kanye West there’s a million “Stanky Legs”. For every Young Jeezy (who Im still not sold on yet) there’s a million “Gucci Manes or OJ the Juicemans”. Then you have brilliant rappers who will never see the break of dawn or a penny for there artform such as Saigon, Jean Grae, Kweli, Mos Def, Royce, Crooked I & Lupe (He deserves way more attention then what he gets). Then also, you have these “NEW” rappers who SO desperately want to get on & sell records i.e. (Get Rich Quick), they forget the main reason for this business in the first place; good music. They dont even have originality. Im not gonna say these rappers names. But, instead of being themselves, they just copied Jay-Z, Snoop, Ja, Big, Pac & other legends. Itz nothing wrong with paying homage but, most of these new niggas just bite completely. Like honestly, why would I buy a record from Jay-Z Mini Me when I have all the records from the real “Shawn Carter”.

I am excited by Drake, Kid Cudi & Wale but, that aint enough. If hip hop wants to breathe life back into itself. It needs a complete “Renaissance”. It needs a “WoodStock”. It needs everybody thatz coming in, to have a geniune love for this s@!t. WE ALL TRYNA GET MONEY. But, how the fuck you think hip hop even had a chance to grow to the large conglomerate it became; through good music.

Itz too many Rappers, Not enough Artists. Becoming a rapper in 2009 is the equivalent of niggas with Basketball dreams back in the 90s. Its mad easy, all you need is a Microphone Stand, Pro Tools, Computer & a Myspace Page & all of sudden, you a rapper. Im not knocking anybody because I rap. But, ask yourself if you weren’t in the financial position most rappers find themselves prior to fame & fortune, would you STILL BE A RAPPER. If you were inspired by a big budget hip hop video with Bad Bitches everywhere, money flying, cristal pouring, G4 Jets waiting, Yacht Parties instead of say, a Hip Hop song that spoke to you so much it had power to change your emotions…….then get the fuck out of the game. Itz you WHO FUCKING SHIT UP. If you trying to be a boss, start a Fortune 500, create a Youtube, start a Facebook, but, stop fucking rapping. You not going to get anywhere because it will be obvious to the customer when you music lacks passion. Do You Think Hov started off his career like that, nah, Reasonable Doubt was one of hip hop’s most cherished masterpieces. He still raps even though he’s damn near a billionaire. Even Diddy started off as a video dancer. He had a love for dancing & scouting hip hop talent. He’s the one who discovered & cultivated Mary J. Blige, Biggie Smalls, Craig Mack, 112, Carl Thomas & Faith Evans. Diddy is to blame for a lot of GOOD ASS MUSIC in the 90s.

Itz nothing wrong with wanting to be successful. Its just somewhere along the lines, it went from who made the hottest music to “Im getting money, I dont care about being hot”. That way of thinking, is the reasoning for the current state of hip hop music. I guarantee if the money in hip hop was only marginal, hip hop would again be one of the greatest artforms. But, the way its going, Rap Videos will end up being 5 minute Advertisements about clubs, liquor, cell phones & cars with a “Jingle” playing.

Theres just too many Rappers (Niggas who see this shit as a last hope to become successful) & not enough Artists (People who live, breathe & sleep this shit & have the talent to create timeless music).

Sometimes I wish there was no money in hip hop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Life After Death” (10x Plat) – 1997

Jay-Z – “Reasonable Doubt” (Plat) – 1996

“In My Lifetime Vol. 1″ (Plat) – 1997

“Hard Knock Life Vol. 2″ (5x Plat) – 1998

“Life & Times of Shawn Carter” (3x Plat) – 1999

As you can see, Jay put out twice as much material in the same timeframe. While Big sold more records, Jay had more individual songs on the charts. Before Jay, most rappers weren’t dropping records every year. If Jay had so much ambition & hunger for the crown why couldn’t Big been just as focused at defending it. Even Pac had a better work ethic. Big couldve definitely did 2 more records. If he had took the time to make more music…..we would have more to remember him by.

Classic Material

Both Rappers best offering was easily their debut albums. Honestly, after hearing both, I cant decide which one is better; they both are classics. “Ready to Die” is the sole reason for Hip Hop returning to the East Coast. It was so Raw, so Gully. If you ever been thru the struggle, you could feel everything Big was talking about. But, he also made you feel good; like fuck everything else, lets just have a good time & it was dope. “Reasonable Doubt” on the otherhand was one of the most slick, witty, thought provoking albums in which I ever heard. It detailed the street life/drug trade so intricately, that you could play the album today & hear something you missed years ago. They both are classics, I can’t choose.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Impact on the Game

Biggie came during a time when Hip Hop was dominated by “G Funks, Gangstas & Chronic”. Everybody in America was tryna be a Blood, Crip or a Vato, rocking Ice Cube Jerri Curls, Chuck Taylors, Gold Daytons & 64s. Niggaz had forgot about New York. Big brought that shit back. He was our Hero. No disrespect to Nas or Wu-Tang but, without Big, The West Coast wouldve Reigned for atleast the rest of the decade. Biggie gave New York its swag back. Biggie made it cool to be a fat nigga. Biggie made it cool to rock Coogi Sweaters, Cartier Shades, Yankee Fitteds & Moschinos. He had everyone having dreams of fucking a R&B bitch. He was fat, black & ugly as ever but, still pulling more bitches than Denzel. “IT WAS ALL A DREAM” & Big was the walking embodiment.

In the same breath, Jay-Z has been setting every trend in Hip Hop since 1997. Whatever he said to do, Niggas listened. He told Niggas to rock throwback jerseys, throw away jerseys & put on a button up, throw away the button up & put on a suit, to rock cufflinks, to drink Cristal, to not drink Cristal, to drink Ace of Spade, to start Clothing Lines, had everyone Buying RocaWear, to WIFE R&B bitches, to buy Yachts, to buy G4s, to use 2Ways, to Buy NBA Teams, to Rap over Soul-Samples, to Start your own Label, Had one of the best Hip Hop Dynasties in RocaFella. Most will agree, he perfected “The Club Banger”. Because of him, most rappers are tryna rap off the head. Before him, most rappers dropped every 2-3 years not annually. He has influenced a large percentage of all new rappers; Lil Wayne, Kanye & T.I. (Jay-Z of The South, if you remember that). Everything this man said….became law. Jay’s Influence & Impact on the game is definitely equal to Big’s if not greater. If Biggie was “The King of New York”….Jay-Z’s the “God”

Longevity

I know this a touchy subject, but, fuck it. Jay-Z became the most financially & musically successful hip hop artist ever documented & Biggie didnt. Biggie was murdered at 24, robbed of his destiny; but, there is nothing we can do to change that. According to his peers, Biggie was contemplating giving up rap. Whether he did or not, had he lived, is beyond the point. The fact is, for anyone to do what Jay-Z has done would be damn near Impossible. Who is 100% sure Biggie wouldve still been on top, had he lived. Who is even sure, he wouldve stayed on Bad Boy. What I do know is “The Potential” of what Big couldve been has no weight next to what Jay-Z “Accomplished”. Its not fair for people to shortchange Jay’s Success because they cant accept the fact that Biggie died before he could accomplish much. Imagine if Jordan had a teammate on The Tarheels who was more talented & gave Jordan pointers but, died before he could make it in the league. Would that take away from everything Jordan accomplished????

That fact is, 50 years from now, people will not remember why Big died or how Big died or the Potential he had or how Jay was in his shadow. What they will remember is a great rapper passed away & another great rapper took the reigns & took rap farther than anyone could have imagined.

WE’LL ALWAYS LOVE BIG POPPA, WE’LL NEVER FORGET BIG POPPA. BIG WILL LIVE ON…….NOT IN FRONT OF JAY BUT, BESIDE HIM.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Biggie ft. Junior Mafia “Get Money”

Jay-Z “Song Cry”

Jay-Z “Hard Knock Life”

Jay-Z “Dead Presidents”

Biggie “Warning”

Biggie  “Juicy”

 

 Due to the sales climate, lackluster economy & illegal downloading, hip hop is at its first crossroads. What was once regarded as a fad then big business is now setting foot to a future filled with uncertainty. One would say this is the reasoning for the jingle-like music plaguing the radio; since it is shown from reports as the only music actually selling. Gone are the days of Real Hip Hop.

Hip Hop was created first & foremost as party music. In the ghetto streets of New York City; 1520 Sedgwich Avenue, Bronx, New York to be exact. It was a way for inner-city children to escape from the poverty, struggle, violence & racial tension they faced on a daily basis. It was therapy. The Kool Hercs, The Bambataas, The Kurtis Blows…..they all had an impact on the creation of the culture. So one would have a hard time dissing the music of today given that it started in the same place. Only with Grand Master Flash & The Furious Five did something special occur; The birth of our voice. With “The Message” an accurace depiction of inner city struggles were shown on video & wax; a first. This paved the way for conscious hip hop. Without that track, it most likely wouldve never been a KRS-One or a Public Enemy; a key component to the development of the modern emcee. In the 30 years of the genre, there always has been a coexistence of party music & conscious rap; The only difference of today, is the level of balance. One could argue all day about what Hip Hop is or isn’t although, the fact is there’s no denying the impact of either.

The only credit to Hip Hop’s continutiation of existence is it’s ability to reinvent itself. One could easily break the history of the genre into 4 phases; excluding the present, every phase outdid/surpassed the previous. The 1st Phase as we know is the Creation. In these days, lyrics, flow & swag (ugh) weren’t even a thought. Back then, the importance was to move the crowd……by any means. There was no STANDARD in which they followed, because they INSPIRED everything. The 2nd phase as we know is the Birth of our Voice. We learned Hip Hop was more than just a big party & we actually had something to say. This is when Emcee’s began to hold importance in creativity, lyrics, concepts & metaphors. Due to this, not many argued over what phase was superior. The next phase also known as “The Golden Years” spanned from the late 80’s to the mid 90’s. This phase is highly regarded as “The Blueprint” of Hip Hop. There was so much quality music being created during this time, from Biggie, Jay-Z, Nas, Rakim, Wu-Tang Clan, 2pac, Ice Cube, NWA, Snoop, Outkast. As much as the previous generations helped spawn “The Golden Years”, you would be pressed to find anyone who’s TOP 5 isn’t filled with musicians from THIS era. As it should, like it was stated above, Hip Hop NEEDS to reinvent itself. One era can only carry the torch for so long, it NEEDS a breath of fresh air every now & then.

One word to describe the present phase: stagnant. Gone are the days of new & fresh ways of musical expression. Gone are the days of rappers having a voice. Gone are the days of musical creativity, importance of lyrics & overall love of the culture. Gone are the days of any BIT of indication of classic material.

Ask anybody in 2009 who their favorite Emcee is & I guarantee they will say a musician from the 90’s. “How Can Hip Hop Move Forward” if that is the case; Hip Hop needs new blood in order to function & move forward. You look at any musician of today & they mostly are nothing but, a regurgitation of an older rapper. Their is no originality, no sense of passion displayed in their music. Their is no creativity, re-invention of any kind or setting of any new, long lasting trends.

This is the main reason for our current state.

Hip Hop needs to re-invent itself or it will become a genre of the past.

The same way in which inner-city kids were intrigued by the Furious Five, They were later swept off their feet by Public Enemy. The same way they were swept off their feet by KRS-One they were later amazed by 2pac & Biggie. Until this generation does something to outmatch the prior, Hip Hop will NEVER move forward because we all will never forget how great it once was.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is an editorial that is a long time coming, something that honestly I wanted for a long time to say, hopefully people will read this in its entirety and then leave their oh so educated opinions. If not then hey it comes with the territory of writing. Now after stating all of that let me begin with the statement that should rock this website to its foundations… Lil Wayne is over rated.

Lil Wayne is currently leading the new school when it comes to artist who have the image, the fan base, the record sales and the respect. He is the artist that everyone else seems to base their skill level at, his name on a track is considered gold, him as the headliner for a concert usually means that it will sell out, and fans of all corners can be heard all over quoting some of his most outrageous lines. If Jay Z can best be compared to Jordan (not saying that he is) fans have built Lil Wayne to be the LeBron/Kobe of the new era of hip hop. His last three albums have sold so many copies and received so much critical acclaim that some fans will go as far as to say that he is best to ever do it dead or alive.

To Wayne’s credit he has produced music at a pace that I or anyone in this world has never seen, in his time active as a mainstream force he has produced five albums and over ten mix tapes (Mixtapes that are fully developed and averaging 15 songs per mixtape). Along with these mixtapes he has been featured on countless tracks and remixed even more songs than anyone that I can think of. Wayne has literally lived in the studio and birth’s bar after bar and track after track.

So now that we have finished giving him his due justice lets take a look at why I think he’s over rated. Most Wayne fans will tell you that lyrically he is a beast that his metaphors are amazing and his punch lines will leave you hanging in amazement. So I listened to a couple of Wayne albums in order to give a proper and fair synopsis those albums were Tha Carter, Tha Carter II, 500 Degreez and Lights out.

After listening to these four albums here are two things that I noticed right off the top on 500 Degreez and Lights out, Wayne’s flow is choppy, his lyrics on many of the songs are elementary and although he does show plenty of promise it is clear that he has yet to harness that. From Tha Carter to the Carter III you can hear a drastic improvement in lyrical skills, song content and flow. But even with this vast improvement he still continues to be eons below what the cream of the crop offer.

Lyrically- Wayne offers a highly animated delivery that is built with one part drugs other part bravado he sounds convincing so even when he’s talking about absolutely nothing in particular an UN attentive fan will be convinced that he has just said the hardest line of the year. As one Defsounds.com Exec said, Wayne’s flow is a collage of over exaggerated ER sounds, and a barrage of syllables. Break down some of his tracks and it’s obvious that what he’s saying isn’t as impressive as it comes off to be in the beginning. Heavy on Similes, with a sprinkle of a metaphor here and there, Wayne can make your head spin at times with the amount of words that he can put together as well as the internal rhymes that he incorporates into almost every verse. But when looking at overall complexity, wordplay, consistency in punch lines, vocabulary, and then being able to put all of that together Wayne is good, actually he is above average but he is still a step or three away from the elite.

Songwriting/Making ability.

Every elite rapper, at least in my regards, has had the ability to consistently put out good songs. Wayne has the uncanny ability of murdering tracks that he is featured on taking the song from a 5 to a 7 with his simple sixteen. When it comes to his music, he definitely has his fair share of hits, but nothing timeless. Ten years from now no one will remember Lollipop, Dick Pleaser, or Go DJ. Its not that there bad songs, but do you honestly see yourself listening to lollipop when your 30 years old, if so then your one of the many few.

Wayne also seems to have a problem staying on topic with his tracks and is known to wander off straying away from the original thought; this also takes away from the consistency of his music. How can you ever put out a classic album if you can’t even stay on the same subject for more than two bars, and no matter what some fans may think Lil Wayne does not have a classic album, not even one that can be considered a near miss; If you want to talk about quality albums, Wayne did not have one until 500 Degreez. Tha Carter was his coming out party, Tha Carter II was his “This was not a fluke album” and Tha Carter III was a disappointment if you consider the amount of time he had to perfect the album, and the amount of hype that was behind it. All of the best rappers have at least one Classic album to stake claim for, Wayne has none. One of the things that both help him and hurt him is his song writing style. Yes it’s cool to have the ability to make songs without writing them down, but not everyone should do that. That’s like writing a thesis paper and not having it proof read. Wayne will hop into the studio spit a quick sixteen and that will be the end of it. Imagine if he wrote his rhymes down and took out the time to really dissect what he was saying, allowing himself time to go back and edit, then he really would be a beast, but instead he just goes in spits the rhymes does not seem to put much attention to it after wards, and flies high with all of the inflated critical acclaim.

What It All Boils Down To

Wayne is a one of the best in the game, this can not be denied but he is the Joe Johnson of Hip Hop, Immensely talented, but still having many holes in his game that have yet to be addressed. He at times slurs his words which can take away from his live performances, he is not as versatile on topics as many would like to lead you to think (but neither is Jay-Z, and nor was Biggie or Pac), and to be honest some times he just makes absolutely no sense, and will waste a good beat with horrible bars. When you put him up against other artist in the game old and new, there are just way too many who in a one on one battle could easily beat or even destroy him. He is in the top 25 alive easy but top ten or top five I beg to differ. Lil Wayne has plenty of time to change my opinion, but until he starts writing his lyrics, lays off the drugs, adds a couple of more things to his lyrical handbag of tricks, stays on topic, and broadens his subject matter he will always be that great player who you would love to have on your team, but would trade away for a Kobe, Lebron, Wade, or Chris Paul in a heartbeat. There are no Kobe’s or Lebron’s in the rap game, we might have a Dwayne Wade but it’s definitely not Mr. Carter He’s still got a ways to go.