where were you the day hip hop died?

Skillz ↘↖

confess and be hanged…

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.)

25 September 2009 • hip hop confessions skillz 2pac joe budden

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Hiphop Confessions

lol @ my man re: his humpty/shock g revelation. hilarious.

aiight….so here are a few of my own:

  • i think lil’ wayne is HORRIBLE. i know. i know. listen…i’ve tried…repeatedly. at some point i even became obsessed with wanting to understand how he somehow convinced the entire world that he was (uuugh…) the “best rapper alive”. so i listened (more like studied). and yet…i still walked away with the same conclusion EVERY time. he sux.1
  • i’ve always thought that both kool moe dee and canibus kinda ethered l.l. cool j. in their respective battles with him. 2
  • speaking of…i never thought that nas’ “ether” was that great of a diss record (i always thought the song was “beneath him” “out of character” for him as an artist..3
  • while i am an absolute fan of them as a unit, i can’t stand to hear most of the wu tang clan rhyme as solo artists. in fact, out of the 9 original members, i only rock with 2 (eh…maybe 3) of them. tops.4
  • (cringes…) again…i’m a fan. however…i’ve always thought that 2pac was just an average emcee [read: lyricist] at best. 5

i’ll stop right here (before i get internet jumped by a bunch of cyber-thugs). i’ll add more as they come to me.

footnotes:

1. coincidentally, i feel the same way about pretty much every rapper/emcee with the word lil’ in their name (except lil’ fame. EM DOT OH DOT PEE…OOOOOH!)

2. if my homeboy don p. is reading this: ok. i FINALLY admitted it. 22 years later. what can i say? i was young then. couldn’t get past the corny shades and tight leather suits.

3. “[i] don’t believe you, you need more people.”(?)

4. why does that feel almost blasphemous to type out loud?

5. see previous footnote.


19 June 2009 • Hip Hop Confessions Skillz

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