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.