...I won't lie, hip hop's been getting a real beating in the press lately...maybe it's the over-commodification of the genre by the taste makers and scantily clad celebrity succubi who initially snubbed the genre and now embrace it as if they were card-carrying members of Cool Herc's Herculoids or the handkerchief-heads who played themselves with blingitty bombast while sippin' Cristal poolside with the titties-on-the-glass that have finally managed to suck every scintilla of credibility out of the music that I once championed way back when...
...it's finger lickin', fingerlickin' good, y'all: I know things change and I fully embrace that truth, still, I can't grasp what's being said anymore beyond "get paid" , "get laid" or vice-versa or simultaneously when possible...clearly, the newer shite doesn't jibe with my 30-something sensibilities but somebody's gettin' with it because "c-rappers" are legion on the air/ videowaves as even those once considered "conscious" rappers are doin the old soft shoe for trendy clothing outlets...whatever's clever...that's life in the big city...ho's gotta eat too...it's show "business" and all that...such wasn't always the case at least it didn't feel like it--nowadays I can't escape the feeling that I'm being sold air or is it just airspace? ( ! )...here are a few cuts from some albums I've circled back to and have been checking on the regs lately...
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have you heard djBC's mash up of the beasties + beatles = beastles? they're pretty good. he also mixed an album with the wu tang clan and some new orleans jazz which is worth checking out.
but the best is biggie's mash up with 'ol blue eyes himself - that's right. it's straight dope.
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Thanks for the reminder of what drew us to rap in the first place. Snoop looks so young!
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wasn't snoop 17 or something like that when he was 'drafted' by dre?
yeah, this was good shit. if you go back another 8 years or so, there was a ton of influencial stuff. but it's all a part of why i got into hip hop...
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I have to agree... the horse is beat to death in the media, and so much of what is recent seems to be elevating towards pop-rap (repeatable, formula-based rap).
Don't get me wrong, much good is being written today, it's just very different...
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Such good shite.....
Might I recommend something from another album out around that time, that is a little less hardcore but no less amazing.
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good stuff, Chris!
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...I was gonna throw that up too Kino...but I didn't want to over do it...thanks, yo!
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well said and so true. dre, nas, de la soul... they still feels so good.
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Funny that this post came up. About a week ago I was riffing on Ice T - My lethal weapon is my mind...I'm going to go down to the library and get some fresh ammunition. Dropping science. Dre, T, Nas, de la soul (and we're just skimming the surface here)...They all have great flows and insight,
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Have you checked out Lupe Fiasco? I just got the album and am listening to it as a whole, but I loved the single "Kick, Push".