Wale Doing his Thang...once again

THe New Wave...Check out the next fresh kicks

Native Fitzsimmons....Red = fresh.

Lil Wayne's Public Service Announcement

So remember folks, own up to what you do, know why you do it and believe in it. Don't be a fronter, they deserve no respect.

HipHop supports the movement.

The Making Of a Good Show

I went to two pretty bad HipHop shows recently which made me realize what is necessary for a successful performance. The first Show I went to was Akua Naru, a female MC with a live band. She has a Erykah Badu meets the Roots meets Lauryn Hill type feel. She was excellent, and her band was extremely talented. Unfortunately the show had a number of problems. For starters, it was hosted at Fordham University in a big basement room. Having a live band in a small room led to the instruments overpowering Akua's voice because the sound was bouncing off the walls and low ceiling. Then they had all the lights on so that the audience couldn't loose themselves in the music because they were just as bright as the performer. Lastly, the worst part about the show....there were seats. No one can jam sitting down. Essentially the atmosphere killed the show.

The second show I went to was a SlickRick show in the Boogie Down. This show had immense potential as well. The venue was unbelievable, and the crowd was full of true HipHop fans. The problem was SlickRick indulged a little to heavily in whatever vice he prefers before going on stage.  Needless to say he didn't talk or connect to the audience at all. He flew through his set and was very hard to understand. If a performer can't connect to the audience, the energy is only one way, and can only last for so long.



Moral of the story, a good show requires a good atmosphere created by the venue, and a performer that stays live and connected.

Three Biggest HipHop Albums of 2011

Watch The Throne, the Jay-z and Kanye album lived up to the expectations of having one of the arguably best beat maker, Ye, coupled with the best mc, Hov of this generation. The album alternates between tough beats with raw raps that disregards a commercial appeal to optimistic, radio bound tracks. One of the hottest tracks on the album, "New Day" expresses both Kanye and Jay's ideology on raising a son. The track makes references to Bush's reaction to the disaster of Hurricane Katrina, West says he'll raise his son "republican so they know he like white people"while Jay reflects on his own childhood "My dad left me, and I promised never to repeat him".

Tha Carter IV, Lil Wayne's highly anticipated album dropped disappointingly. It seems as though Weezy got to comfortable in claiming to be king of the game. His ninth album is filled with sloppy lines like "Tote tools like mechanics, Mechanisms" (President Carter) and "I'm shooting for the stars/ Astronauts dodge bullets" (Abortion). Its not an album that you can sit down and listen to the whole thing through and through again. It's an album you jump around, the flow of the track list is insignificant. Granted the album isn't trash, it simply doesn't live up to the potential Weezy has.

Cole World: The Sideline Story , J. Coles first album is incredible. He is technically excellent and he raps from the heart. Cole is able to pack together slick, clever lines over beats that eloquently emphasize each punch. He says "I've got the nerds rapping hard shit/dummies rapping smart shit", and couldn't be a truer statement. Cole doesn't boast about being the best rapper, having the biggest chains or fucking the most girls, but he doesn't shy away from making it known that he is one of the smartest mc's out there.

A Run in With Rev Run

On my way home from Texas I had the pleasure of sharing a flight with the notorious Run-DMC. After getting over the pure shock and excitement of being in the mere presence of such a figure in the evolution of hip-hop I conjured up the confidence to ask him one question. I asked him, "how would you define a sell-out rapper"? I brought up a Gap ad Common did a few years back as an example of a rapper "selling out". When that commercial aired my fellow HipHop friends were disappointed to see Common, an MC who has paved his way by sticking to the roots of HipHop, essentially always Keepin' it real, using the image of HipHop to promote Gap to make a few bucks (although I admit I don't consider common a sell-out, I figured it was a good example that wasn't so typical). Run's response..."There are none, poetry is poetry". A response I had no time to rebut as I was quickly kicked out of first class.

I was disappointed in such an answer because quite frankly it sounded like a cop-out.  How can he consider lyrics such as "Superman that Hoe" poetry? Furthermore, how can he consider terrible rap that strays so far from the roots yet is able to be sold because the artist calls it HipHop, not a sell-out? How can he consider rappers that create a fake persona to sell records not a sell-out? Unsatisfied with such an answer I searched elsewhere and heres the best thing I came up with....

The answer to what makes a rapper a sell-out artist....ONLY THE ARTIST REALLY KNOWS