where were you the day hip hop died?

looks like our man skillz is back with two new installments of his now infamous “hip-hop confessions”. from start, i have to admit that neither of these vids are nearly as compelling as the first one. in fact, i almost didn’t even want to post one of them. to say the least, hhc 2.0 is a little….what’s the word(?)…sad (pathetic? scary?) however, i think the views shared in the video speak to a greater issue that’s seems to be plaguing our beloved hip hop as of late. so, it’s definitely worth exploring.

i’m going to stop right here because i don’t want to spoil any of it for you.

check it out and we’ll catch up afterward. enjoy:

aiight…so does anyone else feel me on this? here you have three individuals who’ve each been given the opportunity privilege of carrying on the traditions of Hiphop Kulture and yet none of them seem to have a clue about it’s (very recent) past. i mean, c’mon…these are suppose to be the taste-makers of both today and tomorrow. but you’re going to sit there and tell me that ol’ gurl doesn’t know that dr. dre and eazy-e were in nwa together? really? true story? and we wont even discuss the young lady (who happens to be a dj) who thought “we tryin’ to stay alive” was a new record. nope. we’re going to act like that didn’t even happen.

nevertheless, i do give them all credit for being brave enough, and honest enough, to confess such things. skillz is right. hip hop needs more honesty. but i also think that hip hop needs it’s representatives/devotees on both sides of this ginormous generational gap to sit down at the table and try to work towards learning from (as well as understanding) each other. that’s my 2 cents.

moving on:

i dug this video a little more. skillz’ top 5 is pretty impressive and the whole “who would NEVER make your top 5” thing was a nice change. love it.

in fact, i loved it so much, i comprised a little list of my own. first, let me say that the number of rappers that would never make my top 5 is infinite. so i’ll just stick to 5 and i’ll try to stay away from the blatantly obvious choices (young mc, master p, etc.) and maybe surprise a few people.

so here they are, in no particular order…

rappers who would NEVER be in my top 5:

• lil wayne (i STILL don’t get it. in fact, i aint even trying anymore. “that’s y’all’s punk a** friend.” - (c) kirby in dead presidents)
• kanye west (love him as a producer but ye’s just aiight as an emcee.)
• joe budden (royce, joell, & crooked must all owe this dude some money or something.)
• 50 Cent (i was rooting for him in the beginning (i love a good underdog story). but let’s face it, curtis hasn’t evolved much at all since GRODT. yawn.)
• 2pac (and a hush falls over the crowd. i like pac. in fact, i love pac.(<—you have to say this after you’ve made such a bold statement) his spirit. his passion. he was almost a force of nature. but as an emcee? eh. it just isn’t there for me. i have a post about this very topic coming soon. stay tuned.)