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Speech Is My Hammer...

Viewing Posts Tagged "Jay-Z" View All

Speech Is My Hammer: TransDX Express Edition

April 03, 2008 | Tags: The Roots, 50 cent, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Guilty Simpson, Black Milk, Elzhi, jay electronica, Michigan

What’s good people?

With the homie Shake hyperlinking me from his side hustle, I figure I should at least give y’all an update today. Just because I haven’t been posting for the past few weeks, that doesn’t mean that I haven’t been paying attention. So here are my condensed thoughts on a few things that have happened since my last post. Look at it as a “Several blogs for the price of one” type deal. And I purposely avoided the topic of everybody in hip-hop going to prison; shit really gets me down.

The Roots:
This Roots’ song with Patrick Stump joint wasn’t as bad as some of my homies have said it was, because Black Thought still ripped, and with an album that’s obviously going to be album of the year (or at least Top 5) with songs that have leaked - “75 Bars (Black’s Reconstruction),” “Get Busy" (feat. Dice Raw, Peedi Crakk and DJ Jazzy Jeff) and the title track with Mos Def and Styles P - one commercial pander isn’t bad. Just as a point of comparison, every dope Eminem album had at least one mainstream blunder, but the rest of the disc was always high quality hip-hop. That said, I’m not mad at them axing “Birthday Girl” from the final cut and making it an iTunes-only selection, and this “Rising Up” joint with Wale and Chrissette Michele (which they’re apparently using as the single, now?) is perfection. See Jay's post for more, I agree with what he said (which makes sense, 'cause he has the only opinion that matters anyway).

50 Cent/G-Unit:
I really respect the fact that G-Unit’s flooding the market with mixtapes again. Even though 500,000 in the first week isn’t something to balk at, I’m glad to see that 50’s not complacent: Return of the Bodysnatchers v1 and Elephant In The Sand were both fire, and the G-Unit: Gangsta Grillz Edition with DJ Drama is sure to continue the winning streak. Fif’s mixtape game—especially last year’s G-Unit Radio 25: Sabrina’s Baby Boy—has always been on point. BTW, “The Mechanic” > The Massacre + Curtis. But get shit right with Buck, man; he's the best artist y'all have right now.

E-Beef/Blogging:
Like the homie Meka said, this ATL blogger beef shit is pretty disappointing. We’ve had our share of disagreements, but that resulted in biting accusations, name-calling and old-fashioned roasting. But gay rumors? Word? I’m not going to scold the two in question, both because it’s not my place and I don’t know what fueled it, but I’d encourage both parties to just settle their issues (sort of like me and the aforementioned Soul Brotha have) and keep on keeping on.

Speaking of blogging, I’m going to get my plug on real quick: fellow DX bloggers, go over and join TheUrbanBlogger. My homie Necole Bitchie, who’s site was recently pegged in two Top 40 lists of urban blogs on the Net, started the site as a networking opportunity for black bloggers. I love the idea, and I might even join the squad soon, but I wanted to big up the idea first.

Weezy:
I’m as much of a Lil Wayne supporter as the next man, but homie’s fuckin’ up. He's got what's possibly the most disappointing single I’ve heard in a minute (why not use "Comfortable," featuring Babyface and prod. by Kanye West?) and this Drought Is Over 5 was equally underwhelming. I’m seeing dude live this Sunday though (and Common on Thursday, great week for me), so we’ll see if I change my mind. Shout out to his latest artist, Nicki Minaj (link not safe for work, BTW) Either way, The Wam > "Lollipop."

Jay Electronica:
What do you guys think of Jay Electronica? This kid’s Internet buzz has been incredible with cosigns from the likes of Just Blaze and label head/alleged wifey Erykah Badu, and while I like what I’ve heard, I’m not ready to crown him as “The Next” and shit. Maybe I need to give it another listen, cuz my man Alias is hailing him as that dude, and he hates on everyone. Act I was pretty crazy though, esp. the “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” shit. As for the much-chastized show with Erykah and Mos the other day, hopefully he just learns from it and moves on.

Hov:
Jay’s got a $150 million deal with Live Nation? Shit! If he’s not a hustla, what you call that?

The Mitten:
My state is taking over this hip-hop shit. Black Milk & Fat Ray’s The Set Up is one of my favorite albums of ’08 so far (see “Take Control” for all the evidence you need), and Guilty Simpson’s Ode To The Ghetto was every bit as dope as the hype around it implied. And the list of projects that are in the works is overwhelming, frankly: Elzhi’s solo is on the way, Slum Village’s next LP, Buff1’s next album, Invincible’s long-awaited LP, Royce’s solo projects, Random Axe (Guilty Simpson + Sean Price + Black Milk), Cold Steel (Elzhi + Phat Kat), the Royce + Elzhi + Black Milk album (they’ve even performed tracks together!). And Eminem’s working with Primo? And he’s cool with Royce again? And I’ve got my own site about Michigan hip-hop coming soon? Oh, wait…

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the writer and not necessarily those of HipHopDX.com or Cheri Media Group.

Hip-Hop's The New Pop? Sike!

April 27, 2007 | Tags: imus, oprah, Cam'ron, Jay-Z, 60 minutes, Snitching, Russell Simmons, Hip-Hop

*Also available on http://ketchums.blogspot.com*

Remember a few years ago (or was it that long?), when the latest media frenzy was, "Hip-hop is the new pop?" People were raving about how companies were targeting the "urban" audience with "hip-hop-friendly" campaigns, and about how rappers were getting enlisted to market mainstream products. How rap is a multimillion dollar industry, and about how so many MCs are showing entrepreneurial spirit with their successful business ventures. How hip-hop is expanding to an international market, and about how hip-hop is universal now.

Scratch that.

All of what has been going on lately tells me that this "Hip-hop is the new pop" bullshit was just another ploy to make us think that they[1] really cared about what we had to say. Bigotry and money run America, and the only time that hip-hop runs things is when the powers that be can conveniently tie it into one of the two.

Not to beat a dead horse, but glaring examples of this are the controversies surrounding Michael "Kramer" Richards and Don Imus. Each of them said offensive comments in a public forum, and were rightfully chastised/penalized. Still, in both situations, the real issue - the fact that these people can say such blatantly racist, sexist comments in public, and actually expect to get away with it - is diluted by a random association with hip-hop. When Michael Richards drops the N-bomb, reporters begin to ask rappers what they think about the use of the word. When Imus fronts like he learned "nappy-headed hoes" from rappers, media outlets actually take his word for it; the next thing that we know, there's a nationwide assault on hip-hop, from both the oppressive system and from minorities, questioning the offensive material in lyrics and videos. And Russell Simmons is calling for a ban of rappers' use of the words "nigger," "bitch" and "ho" on the public airwaves, like record labels weren't already issuing radio stations edited CDs that strike "nigger," "bitch" and "ho" from the songs for public radio.

Another example is this media's spotlight on the "Stop Snitching" creedo. CBS' "60 Minutes" was the one to set this whole thing off recently, when questioning Cam'ron, Harlem Children's Zone President/CEO Geoffrey Canada, and police officers about the issue. Let's set aside the fact that the entire 60 Minutes segment was bullshit, with the focus so much on people who were against the "Stop Snitching" code that they didn't even mention why the code is held so closely in the first place until the last four minutes of the segment.[2] Nevermind the fact that Cooper didn't mention any specific victims like Sean Bell, Armadou Diallo, or other recent name-specific instances where police have given black people reason to look at them skeptically. Hell, I'll even disregard the fact that they pinpointed Cam'ron, an artist known for blatantly silly, ignorant comments and lyrics, to represent the hip-hop community as a whole.[3]

Where were these assaults on the character and direction of hip-hop when media outlets were nut-snuggling (word to Phonte) Jay-Z during his comeback campaign? It was only a few months ago, and it could be argued that Jay represents the same aforementioned negative aspects in hip-hop, be it through his own music or through his cosign of artists as Def Jam president. Oh, my bad, Jay sells records - and advertising dollars. Where were these accusations when hip-hop was becoming the new pop? Have rap lyrics and videos really changed that much since those reports were coming out?

It hasn't been a secret that rap sales have plummeted drastically within the past couple of years. So, now that it's not making them as much money anymore, major corporations are tapping into another way: if people are so tired of the direction that rap is going - the same rap that we were milking off of years ago - let's further capitalize off of it by criticizing it ourselves. It's actually an ingenious strategy, and the hustle they've enacted is incredible. But just know that these media outlets aren't leaders, but followers.[4]

Am I saying that hip-hop is perfect? Hell no! Hip-hop's got issues, just like the African American race does. But don't let these mainstream outlets dictate how you view hip-hop. We all wanted hip-hop to get the respect and validation that it deserves, but maybe it's time we took this back for ourselves.
--
[1] Who's they? Why The Man, of course!
[2] Sorry, Anderson Cooper. A follow-up interview with Geoffrey Canada where you actually ask him other questions doesn't count; you're a veteran, knock things out the first time.
[3] I mean, I know Busta's not gonna come talk about the shooting of Israel Ramirez, but still.
[4] I'm a journalist - a member of the media - myself, so this is also self-critique, to a degree.
[5]* I really wanted to title this, "Hip-Hop's The New Pop...Not!" after the movie "Borat," but I wasn't sure who'd get it.