See that witty ass title I just gave ya!? Lol
Now first and foremost (again) music reviews and my feeling towards Hip-Hop are not necessarily what I do here on my blog, however, my blog is just that. My Blog! My own personal journal that I choose to share with you, my reader. So please bare with me as I rant and vent for the next couple of minutes.
Just the other day I was driving home from who knows where when I thought to myself: "Thank God for my iPod cause I damn sure don't wanna hear anything on this radio!"
Raise your hand if you've felt like me on this one.
Doesn't it seem like its the same 7 songs playing on the radio all day every day? Granted, there's more than just 2 stations on the dial, but damn, seems like if I don't wanna listen to Drake I have to settle for Katy Perry! No disrespect to Katy Perry. And correct me if I'm wrong, during the golden years of Hip-Hop, all you'd hear on New York radio is New York rappers, from Wu-Tang to Mobb Deep, Jay-Z to LL Cool J, Busta, to DMX and etc. etc. etc. But today it seems like down south artist and people from anywhere get more play! Now I know this topic went out with Lil Jon and snap music in 2007, but it's still relevant. Especially with kendrick Lamar stating he's the king of New York (which I loved) and we all know that he's from Compton, LA.
But now, this morning on 'The Breakfast Club' I heard Trinidad James saying something along the lines of
"New York Used to be the Mecca of Hip-Hop, we used to look up to ya and think, 'well damn' and just do our own thing. But these days, any rapper who's from New York, you might as well say he's from Atlanta. That's how I feel. And if anybody wanna do something about it, then we can do something about it."
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllright! That's enough, somebody cut his mic! Again those might not have been his exact words but that was the message he was sending, and he's not important enough to me or the Hip-Hop community for me to actually go and research his exact words.
Now, here's my problem. I'm more mad at New York for it's complacent ways than I am at Trinidad James for his blasphemy!
Here me out here. It all starts with the fans! It's ya fault. Hip-Hop fans are so fickle that they allow any and everything to fly. Trends come and go and New Yorkers get on any and everyones surf boards to ride the waves! When snap music was out, every DJ in New York was bumping' D4L and Ying Yang Twins and any other fuckin gimmick rapper that was out at the time and you would see any and all niggas in the party, snapping they fingers, bending their knees and doing whatever the fuck Soulja Boy would tell em to do! Hip-Hop might as well have been a segment on Barney or Sesame St. with all it's sing and dance along songs. If I'm lying tell me I'm lying! It was disgusting and anyone who knows me, knows that I hated it and in no way shape or form supported it. In fact I would literally cringe and my blood would boil when I would ride in the car and someone else would be playing it. Til this day I hate that music and feel that it should not be accepted in the Boom-Cap genre that we call Hip-Hop. Glad to say most of it is gone. But that's not to say that there still isn't any trash left.
Trinidad James arrived on the scene sometime last year, I think. He had a single called "All Gold Everything" The ghetto, ignorant anthem of the world! I thought Soulja Boy was bad, but man this nigga sucks! I hated, hate and always will hate the song, but it seemed as if I was alone on that one. Seemed like everyone around me, loved it, had it as their ringtone, and went crazy when it went off in the club.
Have you ever felt like you're standing in the middle of a crowded room, and you're the only one who doesn't understand what's going on? You're the only one who's not in on the joke, the only one who feels "This is stupid, why is everyone so jolly and happy-go-lucky about this" whatever "this" may be. Well that's how I feel about Hip-Hop today! Thank God for Kendrick Lamar and Thank God for Pusha T and all the other rappers who are still doing it and sticking true to the craft. Because without them we'd be left with trash and it doesn't seem like sanitation is coming by any time soon!
But back to the fans and New York. I'm more mad at ya than I am mad of this clown boy. Because at a Hip-Hop show in New York, this man dissed New York and got away with it. Lol, really? Had this been the early to mid 90's I swear the news on the radio would have been more like
"Atlanta Rapper, Trinidad James insults New York at a recent Hip-Hop show and is now in critical condition due to various gunshot wounds and stabs to multiple areas of his body!"
Again, if I'm wrong, tell me I'm wrong. Had that beed a Wu-Tang show in 94, or a Public Enemy show in 84, or even a 50 Cent show in 04 there would have been some sort of serious consequences paid by Mr. James. More than just 3 weak ass "Boo's"
Where does this comfort for blasphemy stem from? I'll tell you where. It comes from NY rappers in recent years going down south and elsewhere in the country to find fame and success (which is perfectly okay) but then forget where they came from and rep any and every other place harder than they do their own home.
I'm from the Bronx, nothin made me prouder as a fan of Hip-Hop in my earlier years than listening to Big Pun slaughter any and everyone by way of dope, fast, hard hitin lyrics whenever he got on the Mic. Who didn't love The Notorious B.I.G. given us stories of robbin trains, shooting daughter in their calf muscle and slapping babies at their christening!? Who didn't love Big L, and envisioned themselves in a dice game gone wrong when he gave us these vivid images that he rapped about. Who didn't love Jay-Z then and still loves him now?
However it seems like all of that is out the window for the exception of a few names. These guys didnt move to Miami like Fat Joe did to find success. And had they done it they would have still repped NY. They didn't go become popular in Atlanta and come back to NY as Novelty acts.
So yeah, why wouldn't someone on the outside looking in feel that New York's prime years are behind it? If I were from Atlanta and I were making my own music and saw how many NY Niggas were movin into my city to pursue their music careers I would think that New York fell off too. Rather than thinking "If I wanna make it, I gotta go to New York or LA because that's where stars are born," Like every other struggling artist feels; I would think "Shit New York aint pippin no more. Might as well stay my ass here and grind to make it!" So let's dig just a little deeper. Why does a New York Rapper leave New York to go rap somewhere else? Good question. How many of you who are into Hip-Hop have left New York? I have, I've been to Atlanta, I've been to Ohio and I've seen the difference. Here in New York, the radio does not support "Underground" artist or any up and coming artist. In fact they only play commercial records and artists who are signed. Whereas in Atlanta all you'll here is Atlanta artist, signed unsigned, hyped or underground. In Ohio, the Hip-Hop movement is strong. In both you see the family aspect. Artist tend to support each other, when one makes it, they all make it. Whereas here in New York, every nigga rappin bout the same shit want the spotlight for his or herself and is not willing to bring up anyone else with them to the top.
It's like fighting a nigga on your team, while you're losing a game by a large margin. The lack of unity is a problem. I hate cliches but if nothing else it shows you that indeed "United we stand Divided we fall!"So why is there no unity amongst New York Artist? Now that I don't know, but I do know that if it continues this way it won't be long before NYC is just another city tryna get on. If the DJ's at the major stations don't start going against the PD (Program Directors) we're gonna lose a battle in a war that shouldn't be going on in the first place.
The only battle should be on wax! Let's go back to the essence of it all. Stop worrying about who's dating who, who's fuckin who, who bought the new Bugatti and who wore the best sneakers to La Marina.... Ya making Hip-Hop sound like the gossip section of a High School newspaper. I'm waiting to hear about a rapper taking a random bitch to prom making big news headlines. Let's take it back to that real, hard beat, head bopping, meaningful lyrics that make you wanna rob the corner store (not saying you would or should do it but it makes you feel that way) Let's take it back to a time where if a man from LA said he was king of New York he wouldn't be able to come to New York. Back to a time when a man Dissed New York IN New York he wouldn't make it out of New York! Can we do that New York?
I guess that's all I have to say. I din't even have a good way to close this off. I just know that New York got me feel in glad I'm not a rapper. cause I wouldn't find where to hide my face from the shame of the state of the rap game!
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