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.