guerilla tactics

having given this situation much thought, i must give rappers like 50 cent much more credit and respect. for instance, he has found the ultimate hustle and it's completely legit. the man has found his niche in this business. in fact, he's so business savvy i actually wonder how much of a kingpin 50 could have been in the drug world had he not flipped the script.

50 cent created a new breed of gangster: the music hustler. much like the man who stands on the corner flippin his product, 50 now has the ability to do just the same except he stands behind a mic in a booth. just as the drug dealer knows he must have the best product to have the best turnover/success rate, 50 understands that his song has to be the best product on the street in order for him to have a successful turnover rate. of course, that bit of economic knowledge is understood by even the most simple man on the come up. however, 50 has mastered this formula. and just as the kingpin's potent pollutant brings him riches, 50 cent's does the same.

i am in no way trying to play 50. though some of my previous posts may exude some hint of disgust with 50, i do not have any qualms with his music. he actually makes pretty damn good music! however, 50's strong arm tactics are a little primitive.

realistically, there is no such thing as "the top" in hip hop. the sky is literally the limit, however someone must have told these rappers that that wasn't the case. if your music is hot, it is bought. who's to say that when i walk into a music story that i won't buy every new piece of music that's hot. on the corner, there might only be 1 great weed man; 1 great cocaina hombre; 1 great crack dealer (assuming they're all not the same person), and though that is not necessarily the case in hip hop, these rappin fools act like it is. i hope they understood that the way the act truly resonates through society. they claim to understand they affect the way people act, however they claim it is also not their problem.

uuuh...yes, yes it is!

what rappers fail to realize is that their words and actions are what a lot of young people live through. a rapper's word, regardless of how much of their lyrics are for show, is like gold because it is THEIR word. hip hop is the only genre i can think of where the artists credibility rests on his own words. r&b, rock, and country artists could have anyone write their lyrics and still be considered a credible artist where as a rapper has to write/create/brainchild his own lyrics in order to be credible and successful. if we found out that joe blow from des moines, iowa had been writing hov's lyrics then we would be ready to take the crown away from jay-z. when joe blow from des moines, iowa writes the lyrics to a garth brooks song, nobody gives a shit. garth brooks is going to go out on stage, sing his song, and walk off with the adulation of his unwavering fans.

the powers that be in hip hop need to have the artists be more accountable for their lyrics if we are to ever advance the agenda of hip hop. hip hop should be a powerful, guiding force that would help to enlighten us as a whole. hip hop should unite, not divide. after all our government has done a nice enough job of doing that.

in conclusion, the music hustler has hip hop by the balls. as long as we allow him to strong arm us for OUR music, and allow him to dictate to US what is top-notch product and what isn't, our young society will forever follow him. it's an unfortunate and sad state to think of my music going in that direction, but the music hustler has the masses hooked on his potent product and he seems to be turning more customers with every new song. and regardless of how noxious the hustler's product may be, at least he is doing something right...he's got me talking about him (and this is probably 3 or 4 posts and counting). i'm not hating, i'm just saying...these are just my thoughts ladies and gentlemen.

quick thought: you wanna see my what?!

in reading a comment posted by a fellow blogger, i have begun to realize how glossy and gaudy people, not just rappers, are today. certain things will always be a staple to hip hop fashion: baggy clothes, timbs/jordans/air force 1s, and fitteds. however hip hop, from time to time, will accept something that is just blatently grotesque, and this year it's the gold or platinum grillz.

the grillz's longevity in 2days hip hop culture will be about as durable as cross colours, dookie chains, and daper dan jumpsuits of the earlier eras; however, i don't think their significance will be nearly as imperative. it's a regional thing and even if some rappers outside of the south sport them, it'll NEVER catch on it places where it matters (NY/LA). at the end of the day, you could spend just as much money on a nice watch (and it's easier to look at 10G+ on your wrist as opposed to in your mouth) and be more respected.

not once have i ever met a young lady who said,"oh damn, look at his grill! i'm tryin to holla at him." most of the females i know will say it's a watch or suit that they notice in determining success.

and as paul wall said, "his mouth piece simply symbolize success?" that's nice, and i'm sure most a lot of rappers would agree, but what is their investment portfolio looking like? if you want to symbolize success, take those damn grillz out, and act like you've been successful for more than 30 seconds, because it takes hard work to be a successful rapper. gettin a grill is some shit that a dude that just hit the lotto would go and buy; it doesn't take hard work to come up threw the lottery. it's a troubling picture to see people making songs about some grillz (not even girlz, but grillz), but these are just my thoughts ladies and gentlemen.

hip hop = h2o

hip hop is like water. yeah i said it! it makes perfect sense too! hip hop has evolved over the last 30 years the same way our water has. i'd like to consider myself a purist and i want my hip hop the same way i drink my water. follow me...

20 to 30 years ago, it was hardly out of the ordinary for someone to grab a glass from the cabinet, turn on the faucet and drink water. thirsty = drink from the faucet. end of discussion. on a hot summer day, you'd throw ice cubes in your glass and treat your faucet water like it was the second coming of coke. you could have company over and have nothing in the refrigerator to offer to drink, but add a glass, some ice, and a faucet and you were ready to serve the hood! it was never considered a problem to drink water from the tap. before pollution became a major problem, drinking from a regular water tap was easy and expected; it was the way to drink your water.

in the beginning of hip hop, it came straight from the "tap." unfiltered and clean, it was absorbed by those who drank it. hip hop didn't need any filtering because of: (a)the people who; and, (b) the way it was delivered to us. it provided all the proper mental nourishment for us to grow and build. it was the sound of the people, for the people. in essence it only made us stronger.

before corporations and commercialism became a major problem, hip hop was unpolluted. the radio was the faucet while all you had to do was turn it on to quench your thirst for hip hop. today, 8 out of 10 songs on the radio are easily forgetable. now i listen to my music the same way the same way i drink my water: bottled. purists drink clean water; i want clean, unfiltered HIP HOP. unfortunately, we live in an age where everything has to be filtered/censored/bottled in order to keep us satisfied. water purists get their aquafina and perrier. what is the future for hip hop purists?

i never thought i'd see the day when up-and-coming hip hop generations would be so "blahzay" about jay-z and nas squashing their beef to unite into one hip hop force. those two living legends can do more for the genre by themselves than a group of any other rappers combined could. apparently hip hop in the old sense doesn't taste as good as this new school hip hop. that's why today i need to listen to my "bottled water" music. but as usual, what do i know, these are just my thoughts ladies and gentlemen.

when will our music stop?

after getting my computer up and running again, i'm back. YEEEEEES!!!

i'm sure you have heard the old adage that things become finer with age. well hip hop, in the commercial sense, has been around for nearly 30 years, and i have been blessed to have been around for the last 24 of them. it's been like an older sibling that i've watched grow, as well as something that i've grown with. of course as the times change, so must the factors that determine it.

considering that i am only 24 years old, no one would argue with me in saying that i'm still young and have a lot of life ahead of me. however, when it comes to the hip hop scene i feel like i might as well be grandpa. i never thought i'd hear myself say, "they don't make music like they used to." yet, time and time again i find myself saying just that, and more and more i find myself pumpin classic (at least to me) cds, such as "the low end theory" and "life after death" and other cds from the early 90's (remember i was born in 1981) just to drown out the shit that's making my ears bleed today (who told those pretty ricky clowns, d4l, or gucci mane to step in the booth?!).

now with hip hop aging and going in a new direction, and with the people from the original generation moving in the direction of collecting AARP checks, and the 2nd generation (anyone born b/w 1975-1984) joining the working world or wrapping up college degrees, i beg to ask: when will our music stop?

my dad, whom i credit with bestoying all my old-school funk/r&B savvy, sparingly listens to any contemporary r&b from new artist because, as he and many of his generation say, "they don't make music like they used to." my dad is more likely to pick up charlie wilson's or the isley brothers' newest release than say an omarion, mario, or 112 album. that's not to say my dad wouldn't appreciate an india.irie or john legend cd, but let's face it, members of the old-school, the original r&b smooth group, are more likely to want to listen to the original r&b smooth artists that take them back to THEIR youthful memories than listen to artists that they consider youths themselves.

this brings me back to my question. i have been buying hip hop albums since i was at least 9 years old, and anything i listened to before that was a result of older family members (the original generation). however, what happens when hip hop reaches the same plateau that old-school r&b reached? is my love for hip hop so deep and true that i will i find myself at the record store when i'm 45 reaching for the latest release by some kid that's probably not even born yet? or will i have turned my back on the genre that i grew up with? that's a sad thought to ponder, but look at what hip hop has become in the last 15 years, and some will argue that hip hop has been damaged much longer than that.

i recently reminded one of my boys thats we are the hip hop generation and as we change so will the music. things that we appreciate and love today, are insignificant tomorrow, however, true MCs have been able to adapt over time, thus sustaining their relevance and the importance of their lyrics, even though the things they rhyme about weren't always issues to them. my boy and i agreed on most points until he said that a lot of rappers lose their relevance BECAUSE what they might say is not currently relevant in the ever changing landscape of hip hop. i asked him if jay-z or nas were still making records when we were 50, would you still buy them? he thought about the question and without answering turned back to me and said, "well would you?" "HELL YEAH!" was my automatic reply

i realized that without a doubt i would still buy albums from quality artists at any given point in time in my life. if jay-z or nas made albums every 5 years between now and 2040, i'd buy them. it's just like our parents who still appreciate the isley brothers and the gap band or our grandparents who still listen to the newest renditions of art tatum, duke ellington, and nat king cole by the marselis brothers or dave brubeck. they support the artists who were staples of their generation, as will i. those true to the music will never turn their back on it. hopefully, even if i no longer actively listen to the future of hip hop music, i will still be able to appreciate it for what it is, even though i know OUR music will end. we all understand that hip hop will never be what it was when it was still so funky fresh and new, however it is up to us, the original and 2nd generation, to make sure that the history of it is not lost between the 3rd and coming generatons. another adage for you to consider: in order to know where you're going, you must know where you've been. maybe it's time to go back to the basics. once again tho folks, these are just my thoughts ladies and gentlemen.

what happened to the DJ?

having just recently visited our nation's capital (washington, dc for the slow) to party it up with some of my friends from college i was moved to write about the state of the DJ. the club i visited had almost everything you needed to have a great time: ladies, liquor, and music ('almost' being the operative word in this sentence). the ladies, they were fly (what up philly!); the liquor, it was flowin (champagne campaign 2005); and the music...well let's just say it was something to be desired.

now it's true that i can't remember most of the music played at the club, after all the champimple was flowin and the ladies were on fire (he-he alriiight), but i know i walked out of the club KNOWING, that with the exception of the one rakim song i was vibin to and a few throwback snoop/dr. dre tracks, the DJ was officially gabage (that's beyond garbage for those who don't know)! what i realized is that ANYONE can pass as a DJ nowadays. to sum it up, the DJ was whack. no ifs, ands, or buts about it, he flat out sucked.

in hip hop’s earliest days in the 1970s, DJs were the most important component of the culture, front and center keeping the party going. DJs were the men and women who brought the culture to the masses. in essence, it is the DJ who instigated the rap revolution. the responsibility of the DJ was to create the sounds to which MCs and b-boys (and where are they nowadays?) would rhyme and dance to. the importance of the DJ has become over looked in the last decade-and-a-half with the MC reaping much of the reward and public exposure, and producers creating the sound that MCs rhyme over.

from hip hop's inception the party couldn't and wouldn't start without the DJ. in 1981, had a DJ demanded that people get up and party while mixing the sounds equivalent to techno-reggaeton and nelly-esque hip hop (that's what it sounded like) he would have been dragged out of the building and beaten like a dog (this is a hip hop club people). in fact, i would have treated my dog nicer than the DJ. the sad part is, he is not the first DJ to play whack music at a party i've been to, he's just the most recent. today the DJ, for all intents and purposes, has been relegated to the back corner of clubs hidden behind a thick fog of smoke or the bar. in this particular case, the DJ belonged there. hell, he wasn't even a vinyl DJ, he used CDs. call me old fashioned but you can't even mix and scratch a record the way it needs to be with CDs.

it is obvious times have changed. CDs are replacing vinyl and producers have replaced DJs as the creative force behind the music. we can blame technology and commericalism, but these are the sign of the times. maybe i should just roll along with the punches. HELL NO! then i wouldn't be me. but i suppose it really doesn't matter, after all these are only my thoughts ladies and gentlemen.

what moves the masses?

that is the question i beg of you. by now, we should all understand that hip hop has not only provided the disenfranchised with an outlet against social prejudices, it has affected middle-america and those spared of violent lifestyles in which hip hop was birthed. in little more than thirty years, hip hop has grown into a forceful and unavoidable voice which has taken over the world. anyone who suggests that hip hop is a voice of violence and disrespect fails to realize that though its origins were birthed in a time of violence and despair, it has successfully transformed into an art form that transcends all races, regions, religions, and generational gaps.


hip hop music has been an influential form of expression for over thirty years, but let's face it, in the last decade, hip-hop has lost some of its validity. commercialism has transformed it into a commodity rather than a platform for political expression. some rappers, though their initial intention is to stay true to hip hop’s classic form, are too willing to conform to industry standards, standards that are not in keeping with traditional hip hop. therefore, they compromise the art form or genre in order to ‘make it’ in the music business. significantly, commercialization has marginalized, or completely excluded, hip hop’s political platform.

in the time leading up to hip hop's explosion in the fall of 1975, new york city was a sad mega-city consumed in government corruption, crime, and poverty, and drugs and gangs were found on almost every block in the ghettos of every nyc borough. however, for every thorn there is a rose, and from the streets that spewed grime and immorality, came the foundations of hip hop, which spread by way of block parties and gym/park jams.

the idea of hip hop, as it is known today, is dominated by the dream of big houses, fancy cars, women, and money, all components necessary to making it ‘big’ in the business. however, hip hop IS a culture, a way of life, not a measure of material goods. the culture of hip hop is now becoming absorbed in the commercialization of the art form that started as a means of communication, not profit. what was once a voice of political advocacy and social change is now used for personal gain at the expense of the ‘little people’ that made hip-hop a lifestyle.

so where did we go wrong? when did the MCs stop MC-ing? rapping and MC-ing are, in fact, different. the past decade has shown that anyone can rap. not everyone is an MC. MC-ing consists of being able to convey a feeling to your audience. if your audience feels your pain or your joy, then the artist has MC-ed his rhymes to you. jay-z, nas, wu-tang, scarface, black moon, mos def & talib kweli, tupac, and biggie are just a few of the handful of rappers who could, in fact, MC, unfortunately many of the best MCs will not get their time to shine because they are not ‘commercial enough for big labels to market, like say...50 cent (i'm tryin hard not to be a hater, but he makes it so easy).

the cultural movement has not fallen to the wayside. it is in fact strong and the movement is going to come back stronger than ever. as poet-griot-author gil scott-heron said, “the revolution will not be televised. the revolution will be live.” but maybe i'm buggin in thinking we can go back to good ole days, but as always these are just my thoughts ladies and gentlemen.

october shine

in this day in age it's difficult to find an emcee who's style and flow doesn't sound like the next man's, however, this month i've found the perfect candidate for my monthly shine post. that man is "mr. whacktose intolerant" himself, rhymefest.

this cat hails from the midwest, another chi-town born, but indianapolis-raised, kanye west protege/artist. you may have heard his single "brand new," blowin up across the airways, but this dude is no novice in the game. he already has a grammy for co-writing kanye's "jesus walk's" in 2004, and that was before he even released any single of his own. it is also reputed that he battle eminem before he blew up and lyrically destroyed hip hops illest white boy (that's just what i heard).

his album "blue collar" will be released later this year (winter) and with his dope production and savvy flow, we can expect this cat to make an impact in hip hop in the years to come.

more information can be found at www.rhymefest.com.

Hip hop: the answer to all questions

recently, my boy cease and i were talkin about how often we incorporate somebody's lyrics into our everyday use. now most of the time we quote the likes of jay-z and/or biggie (seemingly interchangeable), with various other lyrics from other rappers thrown in as we see fit and we came to a conclusion: there is a rap lyric to answer any question or describe any thought or feeling one might be experiencing. "come on, follow me" as I share with you some basic lyrics that can be used on any given day.

for example, a female friend of mine frequently asks me why i'm out here wildin and not cakin chicks. she proceeded to tell me that i wasn't gonna get a girlfriend with my antics (as if, at 24, i want one) and that i need to calm down. the first thing out of my mouth was "you want r&b smooth/i ain't a r&b dude." her first reaction was to smile, and she responded by saying, "true." thanks to jigga, i had a quick response, and that wasn't the first time hov has allowed me to respond quickly. when my friend told me he went to a "million weed man march" back in may, i simply responded with, "i don't believe you/you need more people." hov's simple, yet elegant, statement allowed me to respond and dispel a bullshit topic quickly, and without much thought. after all, who has ever heard of a "million weed man march," and if anybody has, why the hell weren't my boys and i notified?

another cat who has provided cease and i with the ability to respond to people quickly has been juelz santana. the cat, oh so ruthless in the booth, has given us countless 1-liners that we use on a regular basis. for instance, "u can either compliment or comprehend/it's all authentic," has been a favorite response of ours for the better part of a summer. you can use that line to address any female you come across, or any clown in the street who might have you fucked up, thinking you're some type of punk ass nigga; it doesn't matter, they get the point.

in the case of cease, who lives in harlem, juelz has given perhaps the most 1-liners.
example:
--hey cease, i'm lookin for a new fitted and some exclusive air force 1s, and i can't find any out here in brooklyn. do you know where i can find some?
--come uptown to harlem, tell em that i sent ya.
that just further illustrates how the most basic rap lyrics can apply in everyday life.

freeway is also the king of 1-liners, however a favorite of ours is, "who him/he hot?" it's four words long but goes a long way when we spit that at a female, and for some odd reason, they find it humorous and it seems to become enthralled with "the dons" (no joke). it's the cocky attitude and swag that got em hooked. like lil wayne said, "my hoes need me, i'm like test answers."

cam'ron has provided the MOST lyrics that can be used on anybody at any given time. his cocky bars makes it easy to walk up to a female and say, "they say beauty is in the eye of the beholder/that's why i look in the mirror and realize how fly i am...GET YA CAKE UP!"

in conclusion, we could spend countless hours and much space on this blog writing 1-liners that we could use at any point in any conversation. i just wanted to get the conversation rolling. hip hop is a global force and truly everything from the way we walk AND talk is influenced by something that was supposed to be a fad. but i suppose that's neither here, nor there. after all, these are "just my thoughts, ladies and gentlemen."

*written in conjunction with jason "cease" cecil*
*this particular post is not to be taken too seriously. it was just a joke.*

the art of geniuses

today anyone can make music, but it takes a real genius to make art. visualize my point: i have a blank canvas, a brush, and some paint. i can paint a picture of a stick person or a house or some shit, and just because i can paint a nice picture of a house, doesn't mean that my work is ART. it'll probably be a nice lil something to throw over the toiletseat but it won't go down in the annuls of time, nor the louvre. i believe the same theory applies to music, and people release thousands of songs everyday, however only the true stars will shine.

even though there are hundreds of artists getting airplay every year, i believe that there are only a small handful of musical geniuses. everyone else pretends to be one, they have the backing of one, or both (ie: 50 cent, memphis bleek, diddy <--hurts me to say that). allow me to elaborate on my examples: 50 cent made decent songs before he linked up with dr. dre and eminem. he pretends to be a genius now, claiming to have the secret formula to music success (see "who does g-unit remind us of" post from aug. 31). he was fortunate to become a part of a great music making machine; he is the ultimate combo of pretend genius having the backing of not one, but TWO musical geniuses. 50's a star tho, but his shit will burn out, just like ja-rule did unless his sing-songy ass gets back to his natural ways.

memphis bleek doesn't pretend to be anything other than what he is, a sidekick, and i don't hate on him for that. in fact, i respect bleek for falling back and not saying much at all. he let's his musical genius do all the talking for him. jay-z said, "bleek could be one hit away from his whole career/as long as i'm alive he's a millionaire/and even if i die he's in my will somewhere/so he can get just kick back and chill somewhere/oh yeah, he won't even have to write rhymes/cuz the dynasty, like my money, last 3 lifetimes." though hov shows his support for bleek, he obviously recognizes that bleek, with only decent flow, is not a reckoning force in the rap game.

as for diddy, it goes without saying that he is one of the greatest businessmen in hip hop in the last 15 yrs. his production in the early 90's for mary j and jodeci are classic, as was his music catalog during the mid-90's with the rise of bad boy music. however, it's now evident that he has allowed music to fall to the wayside in order for his other business ventures to grow. however, i think it's obvious to many that diddy's music credibility would have been stripped away from him by now had he not discovered the late, great notorious b.i.g. his recent ventures with "making the band" on mtv shows that his musical side of his brain may have become damaged. perhaps it was a mix of too much dancing and showboating. no true music man, regardless of the amount of business savvy present, would have and could have thought that those niggas (and females on the 2nd go round) would form any type of respectable group. though chopper and 'em made for FANTASTIC tv, who is honestly going to remember the niggas from "the band" in five years? i will give diddy a lot of credit and say that he has done a lot for hip hop as a businessman, especially being such a visible person. however, at some point people are going to look at him as one big publicity stunt, instead of the business genius that he is. when it comes to overexposure, diddy definitely can't stop, won't stop.

it's an understood notion that most geniuses are slightly off in one way or another. this brings me to two of my favorite musical geniuses: kanye west and eminem. i am in no way saying that they are the only two, but they're two artists that seem to always have some type of controversy following them.

i don't know how many times i've had a conversation with someone about musical genius and they'll said to me, "kanye is such is dick! he's so arrogant and i can't stand him." my favorite was my boy, dorian, saying, "you think kanye is a genius? you're a damn fool. his beats are tight, but his lyrics are lunch table." but as soon as one of his songs comes on the radio or tv, they'll sing along word for word. usually people as arrogant as kanye will completely turn you off, in EVERY aspect, however, 'ye is one of the few who can say the most off the wall shit (like he got snubbed for an AMA award <--nigga please) and still have a following, because he let's his music do his true talking for him. and fortunately for kanye, he has stepped his flow up in between his first and sophomore album, making his thoughts that much clearer. my boy, pat, put it this way in describing kanye's second album and some unreleased kanye tracks he had: "u have to hear this niggas flow! its been stepped up like a motherfucker. hes on a pac, jigga and dre level with the consciousness, the cleverness, and the beats." that may sound outlandish, but if you knew pat, you'd know you could take him at his word; shit, my boy knows his music.

eminem is just an enigma. he's the only person who will call his mom or wife a "crack, whore bitch" and keep it moving. everything about him is exceptionally unique: his lyrical style, flow, and word play. however, he has the innate ability to push all the wrong buttons, though it's obvious that one of those buttons is "play" because that what most of us do to his music. he realizes that as long as he says off the wall shit, we are going to continue to criticize, and buy his music to see what he will say next. but besides the crazy antics, his actual lyrical ability is 2nd to none. most will agree that em even shitted on jigga's "renegade" on the blueprint, a classic effort from another lyrical genius. shit, even nas touched on the point in the song "ether" on stillmatic. so with that thought in mind, could anyone deny eminem his credit of being a musical genius? he rhymes as effortlessly as one would breath.

in conclusion, there was no real point in writing this post. i just wanted to state the obvious, and that was certain people's music will go down in hip hop history and be forever remembered, while others, though they make good music, won't even register a blip on the hip hop radar by the end of this decade. music is art, and just like painting and sculpting, only true geniuses will be remembered. but hell, it's just my thoughts ladies and gentlemen.

WHO RUN IT?!...down south rulers

nowadays it seems that almost every rapper in the dirty loves to throw some royal moniker in front of their name in an effort to state their superiority. T.I. is the self-declared "king of the south" and lil scrappy is considered the "prince of crunk" and so forth and so on, but who really runs it? and do these rappers have the right to call themselves the "king/prince/whatever" of anything?

well, we all understand that rappers from the south are of a different breed and held to a different standard. while east coast rappers have edgier beats and darker lyrics, southern rappers have bass-heavy beats and laid back, yet sometimes still gully, lyrics. however, it seems that lyrics aren't emphasized as much in the south as they are in the north. for instance, if a rapper from the up north had subpar lyrics or flow, no matter how dope the beat was, he would be considered whack (ie: memphis bleek or tony yayo). however, a rapper from the south could have subpar lyrics as long as his beats rattle the trunk properly, and still be a favorite of the masses (ie: ying yang twins "haaaaaaaaaa" or "whoooo?!" mike jones). T.I. and lil scrappy are two of the rappers from down south who have decent, if not better then decent, flow. however, is their flow good enough to have them be considered royalty in the game? and how can we forget the other rap monsters of the south? outkast, scarface & the geto boys, bun-b & pimp-c, mjg & 8-ball, just to name a few, are among the LEGENDS in the south more deserving of all the accolades then some of the newer rappers from the south.

VIBE magazine posed the question "is T.I. the jigga of the south?" I asked several individuals (all hailing from NY, NJ, OH, and VA) if they thought T.I. was dope enough to be labeled the "jigga of the south." a look of bewilderment came over the face of my boy, cease. "is T.I. the jigga of the south?" he asked. "niggas should ask 'is T.I. the luda of the south?'!"

it's obvious who my boy believes to be the best rapper in the south, and though his question is geographically inaccurate, he raises a good point. we all know jay-z to be one of the most lyrical rappers in the world. so in comparing T.I. to hov, are they saying that T.I. is the most lyrical rapper in the south? my boys and i have a running joke (even though it's not funny and it's true) that luda has never given us anything whack. even his subpar bars shit on many people's best. now that's not to say that T.I. is whack (which he is far from), but let's face it, he is definitely no luda.

and speaking of people whose worst bars still shit on other people's best, this brings me to my favorite rapper below the mason-dixon line. on a label known for below-average rhymes, yet bangin beats, lil wayne a.k.a. weezy f. baby (please say the baby, baby) shines like the true lyrical star he is. in my opinion, he has single handedly kept rap credibility in cash money records' corner for the last 3-5 yrs. at a label known for stuntin and flossy rhymes, weezy's lyrical content is nothing short of superb. if you need further proof please check any CD or mixtape he has ever released (i recommend dj drama: dedication).

in conclusion, though it is obvious to most true fans of the culture who runs the east (jay-z, nas, dipset <--wishful thinking maybe) and the west (dr. dre, snoop, and pac <--from the grave or galapagos islands), it's harder to determine who runs the south. with young cats like T.I., scrappy, young jeezy, and others on the rise it is nearly impossible to realize who deserves to sit atop the throne. a new rapper from the south sprouts up every week, vying for the top spot. if you ask cease who has the number 1 spot, he'll tell you "the nigga with the song." maybe cats should hold off on labeling themselves anything other than their rap names until they put in the years that the veterans in the south have put in. that's just my thought ladies and gentlemen.

september shine

each month i, brown a.k.a. sebasjion starr, plan on writing a small post to put the spotlight on an artist (niggas with REAL bars) who deserves to shine. so without further ado i present...mr. joell ortiz.

you may be asking, "who the fuck is joell ortiz?" that's a logical question, especially since even HE, being joell ortiz, asks the same question. he's the dude that has the potential to be your favorite rapper's new favorite rapper.

hailing from bkny, ortiz has been putting in years on the grind. some people may have heard him spit on hot 97.1 in nyc. if you've never heard him spit, i highly suggest you check his website at www.joellortiz.com. you'll be able to learn more about him there, as well as listen to the hot fire dude has put on wax thus far.

do record sales equal respect?

earlier this week, a friend of mine and i were debating who are the illest cats in hip hop today. my boy was ardent in stating that g-unit were the dopest cats around. "look at their roster," he said. "and they added mobb deep and MOP! how can you not say that they aren't the most official group in the game right now?!" "easy," i replied. "those niggas added murda ma$e to their circle too, and unless they plan on having him distribute communion and lead them in the Lord's Prayer or kumba-fuckin-ya before every concert, then having 'murda' ma$e on their roster sends them back two spaces. in fact they should go directly to jail and not pass go in the process."

in my opinion, dipset are the most official niggas in the game and perhaps the most relevant GROUP in hip hop today. true their record sales pale in comparison to those of the g-unit gang, but their SWAG is 10x greater than that of ANYBODY in g-unit...and that's sad to say considering i LIKE g-unit, even though i question some of the moves they've made lately. and in today's hip hop world, doesn't swagger mean more than record sales? maybe or maybe not, but in the hip hop culture, most of us would agree that the niggas with swag get the most RESPECT.

50 has repeatedly stated that the reason that joe, jadakiss and nas have no relevance/respect in hip hop is because they don't sell as many records as the g-unit soldiers do. NO RELEVANCE?! now unless 50 thought hip hop started with him, he is, as we said in the 90's, set trippin! plus everybody knows that white kids from middle america are buying up 50's bubblegum raps. 50 should lose respect from TRUE hip hop heads just off the strength of that ridiculous comment. if you took the 20+ tracks off of "get rich..." (which even i consider a classic) as well as the 20+ tracks off of "the massacre" you STILL wouldn't have the fire that nas' "illmatic" had in just 10 tracks!

at the recent mtv video music awards, where fat joe slipped in a smart-ass, but probably true, comment about extra security via g-unit is another example of who gets the most respect in hip hop. after joe's comment, i received 3 phone calls within 5 minutes from my niggas asking if i saw what joe did. i told all of them that i would call them back after 50 performed in order to see how he would retaliate.

in relation to the ongoing beef between the two, joe has previously stated that he doesn't roll with dumb numbers of bodyguards and that 50 could find him on the block at anytime. 50 on the other hand always has shitloads of people guarding him, making him the most difficult person to reach next to the president and the pope. i believe it's easy to talk shit when you know that after you say what you have to say, you can retreat to the comfy confines of police protection or what have you. joe on the other hand said what he to say with no protection, other than that of the terror squad crew he was with. it was a true testament to joe's mentality: he just doesn't give a fuck. in my opinion, joe's swagger gave him the right (and respect) to talk whatever shit is on his mind.

in terms of jada, even my friends who believe that g-unit can do no wrong agree that jada is responsible for perhaps one of the greatest bars of the new millennium on "put ya hands up" in which he said, "ya'll niggas are scared i can tell/cuz imma make bucks like milwaukee/cuz like sam i cassell." jada's has put in years in the game and he comes with hungry bars, unlike some of those who are comfortable being on top with songs that sound like every other song they put out.

in conclusion, this brings me back to dipset. of all the cats in the biz right now, dipset's cult following is perhaps the largest. they are reminiscent of wu-tang in the early to mid 90's. you might not know what the hell they're talking about all the time, but their flow, and most importantly, their SWAGGER will draw you in. i am going on record as saying that there are few cats in the hip hop that are as ruthless in the booth as dipset. and if you can find a group today that has lyricists with the overall quality of killa cam, juelz santana, jim "capo" jones, hell rell, and jr writer, then i will humbly retract this post. in all actuality, i probably won't. i say what i mean and mean what i say. but these are just my thoughts ladies and gentlemen.

who does g-unit remind us of?

it has been said that history, if not studied, is doomed to repeat itself. with that being said let's look at the current state of g-unit records. i will be the first to admit that g-unit had some type of control over me a year or two ago. their mixtapes were the shit and so were the commercial albums they were releasing. when 50 burst onto the scene nearly 3 years ago, under the direction of eminem and dr. dre, he was an unstoppable force. he had the world eating out of his hand.

case in point: he single handledly destroyed ja-rule and his croonin' ways. no one thought ja-rule was whacker (yeah it's a word) then i did, with the exception of 50. he called ja out on his saucy steez for singing on damn near every track he had, while claiming that he (50) had the perfect formula for making songs. what was the perfect formula? to sing on every damn track that HE had.

now let's rewind: 50's first album, a banger. banks' first album, a banger. buck's first album, pretty damn close to a banger. g-unit radio mixtapes: all bangers. shit, even the game had a bangin ass album earlier this year courtesy of g-unit and their connections.

cut to "the massacre" and it appears that 50 has taken the ja-rule approach to making music. i have never been so disappointed in a sophomore album then i had been with 50's. good thing i didn't actually buy it, then i really would have been pissed off. that album stopped a string of 4 consecutive g-unit purchases from not only me, but also a shitload of people i know, and i'm not one to buy records at all!

now as executive producer of tony yayo's album, he has allowed this man to play the role of "clown" of g-unit. i understand that the type of music they're making now sells in the stores and will get much play on radio and tv, but at what costs? if g-unit feels that alienating the ORIGINAL hip hop demographic (blacks/hispanics) in order to sell music to the new members of the hip hop demographic (anyone that's not a minority) is the way to increase his riches more power to him. i'm not knocking a nigga for trying to get bread, i just want 50 to acknowledge that he is a hypocrite. just remember, what goes up MUST come down. i hope banks, mobb deep and m.o.p. take heed and bounce before they are lost in 50's broke ass scheme to take over the hip hop world. 50 might not have lost everyone in the original demographic YET, but he will at this rate.