@madnis- let me go download those albums (not giving that hack a cent) then ill get back to you.
Also some of the others you mentioned i liked a lot but it would be impossible to list everyone who was good (or i liked) during the golden age. Loved LL but his new stuff was pretty damn terrible. Eric B/Rakim i missed. Dilapated peoples didnt get them over in my country though i have heard a few songs. Mobb Deep sucks balls since they joined with 50. Their old stuff, yeah was fantastic. The roots we didnt get either. I forgot about Easy E but his lyrical content was never the best and he used ghost writers. His delivery, flow etc however were top notch so i shouldve included him as well. I wouldve included southern rappers like Nelly, Luda, outkast as well. But hey i missed em. I loved Coolio cause he actually did have a couple of good CDs back when he was popular. He had great flow and his style was crazy. And gangster's paradise is one of the best songs of all time so yeah...
Don't forget, im going back in time for a lot of these songs and rappers. I didnt have the luxury of turning on the radio and listening to the songs when they were new. Also most of the songs which reached my country were butchered and mutilated by censorship before they even got on the air. Also when trying to listen to imported uncensored CDs, you had to pay 50-80 dollars for one. I remember buying my first copy of Doggystyle and it cost like 60 bucks (40 USD) back in 2000. So i missed out on the Roots, Dilated peoples etc etc.
But yeah if you prefer wayne over wu tang, i think we're going to agree to disagree.
Hip-hop is dead. The times where it was something intellectual, witty, fun, crazy or even chill are over. No more talking about life and its problems. Now its bitches, money, hoes, G6s, making it rain and other material crap. Yeah Biggie did talk about the previously mentioned things, but hey, it was witty and clever. Now its rinse and repeat. Perfect for the idiot generation. Technically Justin Bieber is part of hip-hop now (God help us).
Im embarrassed when i tell to music lovers that I love hip-hop.. Their common reaction is "What?!" before guffawing. I would (and i should) stand up for hip-hop, but its very hard nowadays. Very very hard when Lil Wayne and friends are the headliners.
Edit- All im hearing from 6 foot 7 foot is an irritating self-centered little man with an utterly irritating little voice. Its got some witty lyrics and is better than the other stuff from him ive listened to but where is the rhyme? Where is the technique? What's his theme? I didn't get it on the first listen...
His delivery is terrible, sounds like hes got a speech impediment. Don't get me wrong, im wanting to like it cause if thats the case then i can go buy my first new album in 3 years. But now its ended and there's nothing i really remember of it.
engared you remind me of a friend of mine. we get into this same debate about the state of hip hop. now just to give you some back story on this cat, he's a guy who loves hip hop and worked as a producer in the industry.. he's very analytical when it comes to it and we talk about this subject matter a lot. and one thing we agree on.. is that hip hop is far from dead. the paradigm shifted. it evolved.
one thing that hasn't shifted is that hip hop is about the party. don't say it wasn't because it was. not completely no. it was about self expression. seeing that in today's artists.. that hasn't changed at all.
to give it in an analogy, you're looking at soul calibur... but hip hop is on soul calibur 4 moving up to 5.
don't believe me?
i'll list three motha fuckas for you to go find and listen to.
Lupe fiasco. talib kweli. J. Cole.
hell listen to kanye's new album. that entire album is about one person. we should all know who. and in that album you really see kanye's growth as a musician. things he learned from college dropout to the 808's he applies in this album. and in my opinion it is fantastic. All of the lights, Gorgeous, blame game, and the list goes on.. it's music.
speaking of... if you don't know G.O.O.D ass music... we really shouldn't be having this discussion about hip hop.. go listen to the G.O.O.D ass friday mixtape. come back and thank me later.
moving onto weezy. his voice is annoying isn't it? I find that most people who can't stand weezy hates his voice... but I can see that from you said you're not really listening. I understand that it's harder for you because you're going in with a bias. but it's easy to see it (weezy).. his rhymes and patterns are there. his technique is in his metaphors. his punch lines are very subtle. and his theme.. well isnt' that obvious? it's himself. now you heard 6foot 7 foot. i'm going to take you back.. listen to beat without base. and scarface's forgot about me. then move up and listen to him on Miss me with Drake. see the style shift? he's a fucking monster. there's a reason why people want(ed) him on their tracks.. which brings me to what lobo was saying. and that's a reasonable arguement.. but hey.. if you're blowin up, I'd expect you to be out there doing the same thing. Oversaturating the market cause hey, in the end.. it's a business. the need to eat is great. But I see what he's saying. however when weezy wasn't high, and spitten crazy nonsense that only he and the criminally insane could understand *cough* carter 3 *cough* and he's actually conscious.. his metaphors aren't to be fucked with. even then, he can spit some hilarious shit. listen to freakin turn my swag on remix with jeezy and wayne. fast forward through soujah boy's part and end it after jeezy.. no disrespect to fabo... he's a great artist.. but you can tell he was just there to cash a check on that album.. wayne and jeezy actually put that work in. to give you another perspective... weezy made an entire song.. with just one sentence, "did it before".. that one sentence is used differently throughout that song. if you can't see the brilliance in that... then you really just don't understand him. AGAIN! i can't stress this enough. I'm not saying you have to like the nigga.. and you can say weezy is a lot of things.. but a terrible rapper? he's not. he's far from it. and the fact that he can change his style and delivery... that in and of itself is talent. because it's not done arbitrarily.. it's done to fit the song.. that equates to skill.
and if you haven't heard Jeezy's trap or die yet.... its okay you just gave up on hip hop.
also lobo.. LL ended careers with one song after he battled mcs.. and not just little bitches either... these people had futures in the industry.. and LL ended them. that's why he's recognized as the greatest. if not one of the greatest battle rappers of all time. R.I.P canibus (no he's not really dead... but his career did.)...
also.. people say mainstream.. i say commercial. because in the end, those artists are in to make money first. which brings me to Lupe and his tragic tale... why lAsers is so craptastic? is because of us. the downloaders who think we're not harming the industry... well.. fuck with the money... people don't like it and changes will be made so that people get money.. and the invention of the 360 deal is definitely correlated to us illegally downloading shit.
to those that don't know what a 360 deal is.. if you're thinking of going into the music industry, you need to know so you can avoid it as best you can.. Lupe, I think tried to compromise... but anyway.. a 360 deal is when you sign with a record label they get a portion of your profits. that's normal and understandable.. but here's where it gets unreasonable, say you met with some success and now you want to go into acting.. or write a book.. guess what.. even though it has absolutely nothing to do with music.. the record company still gets a portion of your paycheck. and why does this stand? because record companies need to recoup the losses made through illegal downloads.
and this is why lAsers was delayed, not heavily promoted by the record company, and ultimately changed so that it would be more commercial. and you can hear his bitterness when you listen to interviews or even as he talks about his issues in public.
also since we're talkin about battles.. i thought it would be fun to post this one i thought was freaking MAJESTIC!
