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- » Name: J. Burnett
- » Location: Atlanta, GA
- » Member Since: 05/25/07
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hip hop • rap • t.i. • the dirty south
Why Think Let Me Do That...Jesus Approved Commentary
The Spook Who Sat by the Door
Today, I was supposed to pen a blog about how I thought only poor people could make good Hip Hop which was inspired by my listening to Blu & Exile's Below the Heavens as well as various butt crack albums by artists who are caked the eff up, but I think this supersedes that. Not to long ago, I scribed a blog about Jena 6 urging others to enlighten themselves about the modern day lynching of 6 black, young men in Jena, Louisiana. The blog did a couple of things for me. I shook me out of the stupor that day to day life puts you in, woke up my inner conscientious voice and made me feel empowered to be apart of a movement. And like most people, at the time I wrote the blog I was ready to set some shit ablaze but shortly after, the passion that had been incensed inside me had cooled until the whole situation really became an afterthought. It just became the issue du jour to get behind for myself and others...Last Friday, the court overturned Mychal Bell's decision because he was erroneously tried as an adult. And although this seems like a victory; Mychal Bell is still behind bars awaiting his fate. What the media did not mention is that Mychal could still be tried as a juvenile and that the DA is still trying to pursue more serious charges. So, it's not over for Mychal Bell. Bell is fighting for his life and to be frank, Bell and the other young men of the Jena 6 need me. They need you. So I'm going to take the 8 and half hour drive down to bumfuck Louisiana and make my voice heard. It's time for the 18-25 demographic to stand up and be (wo)men. I'm not condemning anyone for their inaction. This is the choice I've made for myself. Now, obviously if you live in Canada or NYC or Cali, a drive down to Jena is just not feasible (unless you're really on that revolution tip) but there's ways to do your part, if you feel the need be. Here's the info for the rally in Jena. The link also provides alternative ways of doing your part. From this day until I come back from Jena, I'll be posting daily to chronicle the events and my thoughts up to and after the rally. It's time to tear some shit down in the name of liberty. Cue up the Public Enemy Fear of a Black Planet.
J. Burnett
The Spook Who Sat by the Door
Today, I was supposed to pen a blog about how I thought only poor people could make good Hip Hop which was inspired by my listening to Blu & Exile's Below the Heavens as well as various butt crack albums by artists who are caked the eff up, but I think this supersedes that. Not to long ago, I scribed a blog about Jena 6 urging others to enlighten themselves about the modern day lynching of 6 black, young men in Jena, Louisiana. The blog did a couple of things for me. I shook me out of the stupor that day to day life puts you in, woke up my inner conscientious voice and made me feel empowered to be apart of a movement. And like most people, at the time I wrote the blog I was ready to set some shit ablaze but shortly after, the passion that had been incensed inside me had cooled until the whole situation really became an afterthought. It just became the issue du jour to get behind for myself and others...Last Friday, the court overturned Mychal Bell's decision because he was erroneously tried as an adult. And although this seems like a victory; Mychal Bell is still behind bars awaiting his fate. What the media did not mention is that Mychal could still be tried as a juvenile and that the DA is still trying to pursue more serious charges. So, it's not over for Mychal Bell. Bell is fighting for his life and to be frank, Bell and the other young men of the Jena 6 need me. They need you. So I'm going to take the 8 and half hour drive down to bumfuck Louisiana and make my voice heard. It's time for the 18-25 demographic to stand up and be (wo)men. I'm not condemning anyone for their inaction. This is the choice I've made for myself. Now, obviously if you live in Canada or NYC or Cali, a drive down to Jena is just not feasible (unless you're really on that revolution tip) but there's ways to do your part, if you feel the need be. Here's the info for the rally in Jena. The link also provides alternative ways of doing your part. From this day until I come back from Jena, I'll be posting daily to chronicle the events and my thoughts up to and after the rally. It's time to tear some shit down in the name of liberty. Cue up the Public Enemy Fear of a Black Planet.
J. Burnett
The Spook Who Sat by the Door
Today, I was supposed to pen a blog about how I thought only poor people could make good Hip Hop which was inspired by my listening to Blu & Exile's Below the Heavens as well as various butt crack albums by artists who are caked the eff up, but I think this supersedes that. Not to long ago, I scribed a blog about Jena 6 urging others to enlighten themselves about the modern day lynching of 6 black, young men in Jena, Louisiana. The blog did a couple of things for me. I shook me out of the stupor that day to day life puts you in, woke up my inner conscientious voice and made me feel empowered to be apart of a movement. And like most people, at the time I wrote the blog I was ready to set some shit ablaze but shortly after, the passion that had been incensed inside me had cooled until the whole situation really became an afterthought. It just became the issue du jour to get behind for myself and others...Last Friday, the court overturned Mychal Bell's decision because he was erroneously tried as an adult. And although this seems like a victory; Mychal Bell is still behind bars awaiting his fate. What the media did not mention is that Mychal could still be tried as a juvenile and that the DA is still trying to pursue more serious charges. So, it's not over for Mychal Bell. Bell is fighting for his life and to be frank, Bell and the other young men of the Jena 6 need me. They need you. So I'm going to take the 8 and half hour drive down to bumfuck Louisiana and make my voice heard. It's time for the 18-25 demographic to stand up and be (wo)men. I'm not condemning anyone for their inaction. This is the choice I've made for myself. Now, obviously if you live in Canada or NYC or Cali, a drive down to Jena is just not feasible (unless you're really on that revolution tip) but there's ways to do your part, if you feel the need be. Here's the info for the rally in Jena. The link also provides alternative ways of doing your part. From this day until I come back from Jena, I'll be posting daily to chronicle the events and my thoughts up to and after the rally. It's time to tear some shit down in the name of liberty. Cue up the Public Enemy Fear of a Black Planet.
J. Burnett
We Got Played
“Put a quarter in ya ass cuz you played yourself”
So, I’m sitting playing Madden 08 on my PS2 (yea, i got one. i’m broke, sue me) like I usually do after I get home from the plantation (read: job) and something materialized in my mind about this whole ballyhoo over the Kanye Jackson albums. Initially, I stated on HipHopDX that if Kanye outsold 50 it would be a great thing for Hip Hop and would surely open up mad opportunities for talented artists. Boy, was I wrong. I had a Keyser Soze moment right then and figured out that the whole world had just been hoodwinked especially those of us who like music that doesn’t blow ass. Check out this vid by Jay Smooth, renowned Hip Hop guy and one of my favorite Hip Hop journalists.
Basically, the video echoes what’s kind of common sense. By supporting Kanye or 50, like it or not, you’re actually supporting the resuscitation of what many of us complain early and often about which is crappy rap music put out by major record labels. Not to say, either album is crap. But, there’s a reason why most rap albums aren’t selling anymore. Most of them suck!!! And if execs, TIs or whatever you call them understand anything, it’s the bottom line. And if you didn’t know most majors were tanking, lately, especially with rap music. Before, September 11th, we were sending record labels a resounding message which was “we ain’t buying that bullshit you selling us no more. ” But, after Ye and 50 post somewhere between 1 million to 1.5 million albums those same execs are gonna say “hey, rap’s okay. Nothing needs to change.” Before I thought Kanye ousting 50 in sells would actually help the game, but it’s actually gonna hurt the game. And instead of looking for the next Ye, these A&Rs will probably be looking for the next vocoder champion; someone like T-Paykon (hence a guy a like Sean Kingston), because in the fickle world of rap music it’s about what’s hot and not who’s good. Don’t believe me. Consider this, Nas has always sold relatively well even with his latest output, Hip Hop is Dead. But, despite his success you don’t see more A&Rs picking up emcees kicking knowledge do you??? Yea, exactly. I’m glad I didn’t cop either CD. If you did, act accordingly, and return it promptly. Then, you can support Hip Hop for real by going to my site and visting the various sponsors because a player needs to upgrade to a 360 or PS3 soon.
We Got Played
“Put a quarter in ya ass cuz you played yourself”
So, I’m sitting playing Madden 08 on my PS2 (yea, i got one. i’m broke, sue me) like I usually do after I get home from the plantation (read: job) and something materialized in my mind about this whole ballyhoo over the Kanye Jackson albums. Initially, I stated on HipHopDX that if Kanye outsold 50 it would be a great thing for Hip Hop and would surely open up mad opportunities for talented artists. Boy, was I wrong. I had a Keyser Soze moment right then and figured out that the whole world had just been hoodwinked especially those of us who like music that doesn’t blow ass. Check out this vid by Jay Smooth, renowned Hip Hop guy and one of my favorite Hip Hop journalists.
Basically, the video echoes what’s kind of common sense. By supporting Kanye or 50, like it or not, you’re actually supporting the resuscitation of what many of us complain early and often about which is crappy rap music put out by major record labels. Not to say, either album is crap. But, there’s a reason why most rap albums aren’t selling anymore. Most of them suck!!! And if execs, TIs or whatever you call them understand anything, it’s the bottom line. And if you didn’t know most majors were tanking, lately, especially with rap music. Before, September 11th, we were sending record labels a resounding message which was “we ain’t buying that bullshit you selling us no more. ” But, after Ye and 50 post somewhere between 1 million to 1.5 million albums those same execs are gonna say “hey, rap’s okay. Nothing needs to change.” Before I thought Kanye ousting 50 in sells would actually help the game, but it’s actually gonna hurt the game. And instead of looking for the next Ye, these A&Rs will probably be looking for the next vocoder champion; someone like T-Paykon (hence a guy a like Sean Kingston), because in the fickle world of rap music it’s about what’s hot and not who’s good. Don’t believe me. Consider this, Nas has always sold relatively well even with his latest output, Hip Hop is Dead. But, despite his success you don’t see more A&Rs picking up emcees kicking knowledge do you??? Yea, exactly. I’m glad I didn’t cop either CD. If you did, act accordingly, and return it promptly. Then, you can support Hip Hop for real by going to my site and visting the various sponsors because a player needs to upgrade to a 360 or PS3 soon.
Diddy Commercial Too Racy...Pssshhh, I'm Not Buying It MTV
As many of you know or may not know, Diddy's commercial for Unforgivable was deemed as "too racy" by MTV execs and they're refusing to play the unedited version of the commercial on their channel. If you haven't seen the commercial, click here to view it. Now, I must say that the commercial is a bit risque but I think I'm going to have to call bullshit on this one.
MTV is known for pushing the envelope with their programming and at any given moment you can tune into MTV and get a make-shift lesson on performing coitus and/or fellatio depending on the show you watch. Not to mention if you watch closely, as I'm sure most of you perverts do, you'll notice that you can see alot more junk-shaking on MTV as opposed to BET who since the Nelly Uncut fiasco has been a bit tighter as far as showing tatties and rotund speaker butts. That's not all though. At primetime, you can tune into MTV and see two pink panthers wrestling tongues or the much more exponentially pleasing lesbian make-out session and that's not "too racy." In fact, it's no longer taboo on MTV, it's the norm. What could be more racy than that shit seeing as how homosexuality is a hot button topic in most households. But wait, there's more. This is the same channel that aired the Real World Denver episode where rainbow solider Davis (read: gay guy) called roided out negro, Tyrese, a nigger; not a nigga but a nigger and they didn't bleep it out the first time it ran. So, I'm not buying this bullshit they're feeding the public about this Diddy commercial being too racy.
MTV should call a spade a spade and keep it 100, like me. The commercial has interactions between Diddy, a white chick and a latin chick that build up to what seems like a menage and although there's some scenes that are borderline late night Cinemax softcore porn, there's no nudity. It's just mad suggestive. So, all this leads me to believe that the execs of MTV are not bothered by the sexuality in commercial but they're more so bothered by the interacial aspect of the commercial and if that's the case this is some real bullshit. I mean I've already ranted on their bullshit once already this week. What's good MTV? If Britney Spears and Nicole Scherin (whatever the fuck it is and thank god for both) can flaunt their poons all over a stage and mo-mo's can kiss in primetime, why can't Diddy air a commercial that insinuates that he's going to skeez out some snowflakes???
Diddy Commercial Too Racy...Pssshhh, I'm Not Buying It MTV
As many of you know or may not know, Diddy's commercial for Unforgivable was deemed as "too racy" by MTV execs and they're refusing to play the unedited version of the commercial on their channel. If you haven't seen the commercial, click here to view it. Now, I must say that the commercial is a bit risque but I think I'm going to have to call bullshit on this one.
MTV is known for pushing the envelope with their programming and at any given moment you can tune into MTV and get a make-shift lesson on performing coitus and/or fellatio depending on the show you watch. Not to mention if you watch closely, as I'm sure most of you perverts do, you'll notice that you can see alot more junk-shaking on MTV as opposed to BET who since the Nelly Uncut fiasco has been a bit tighter as far as showing tatties and rotund speaker butts. That's not all though. At primetime, you can tune into MTV and see two pink panthers wrestling tongues or the much more exponentially pleasing lesbian make-out session and that's not "too racy." In fact, it's no longer taboo on MTV, it's the norm. What could be more racy than that shit seeing as how homosexuality is a hot button topic in most households. But wait, there's more. This is the same channel that aired the Real World Denver episode where rainbow solider Davis (read: gay guy) called roided out negro, Tyrese, a nigger; not a nigga but a nigger and they didn't bleep it out the first time it ran. So, I'm not buying this bullshit they're feeding the public about this Diddy commercial being too racy.
MTV should call a spade a spade and keep it 100, like me. The commercial has interactions between Diddy, a white chick and a latin chick that build up to what seems like a menage and although there's some scenes that are borderline late night Cinemax softcore porn, there's no nudity. It's just mad suggestive. So, all this leads me to believe that the execs of MTV are not bothered by the sexuality in commercial but they're more so bothered by the interacial aspect of the commercial and if that's the case this is some real bullshit. I mean I've already ranted on their bullshit once already this week. What's good MTV? If Britney Spears and Nicole Scherin (whatever the fuck it is and thank god for both) can flaunt their poons all over a stage and mo-mo's can kiss in primetime, why can't Diddy air a commercial that insinuates that he's going to skeez out some snowflakes???
MTV Can Kiss My Ass
I think during the Pre-Show John Norris who was dressed in some odd Gothic/S&M momo get-up was interviewing Kanye and during the brief interview Kanye said something along the lines of "I feel great. I'm feeling invincible right now; like I can do anything." I guess Ye didn't get the memo. Dude, you're still black and MTV (read Viacom) don't give two shits about you homie. Do remember, before the mainstream latched onto Hip Hop, this is the same channel that refused to deal with Hip Hop back in the day...Now, I normally don't support Kanye's bitchfits as they're usually nothing more then well...bitchfits where he cries about how grand something he did was and how under appreciated his genius is but this time it's justified. Viacom played him like a 2 dolla (no r) hoe except he didn't get paid.
Viacom totally pimped Kanye out and here's how. If you watched the VMAs, you'll recall that Kanye performed damn near the whole show in his own suite; the show was somewhere around 2-3 hours. So here's what MTV was saying by giving him that suite. You're the man, at least right now; people want to watch you for however long the show was going on; and you're popularity at least for the time being is comparable to Justin Timberlake who also held a suite. Sounds like simple logic right and you'd think that Ye would get a least one award...Cue the horns womp, womp. At the end of the night JT copped about 5 of those moonman joints and Ye was left with a sweaty Emanuel Lewis costume and basically a 30 minute commercial for his album; talk about pimping the juice out of a hoe. Let's look at the categories though. Anyone could have won that quadruple threat award. Male artist of the year: how does a man who released an album his album in 06 cop the award for 07??? I mean don't get me wrong it's a hot album but in 07 all duke has done is toured. Even still a case could be made for JT winning (something like 7 million albums worldwide for Future.Sex.Love Sounds). But the fuckery that went on with Video of the Year & Best Direction is inexplicable. Not only are they shitting on Ye with that one, but they're dookeying on my man Hype. "Umbrella" looks like what Hype used to do in the early 90s. You got to be kidding me and "What Goes Around Comes Around" over "Stronger..." I'm speechless.
Those lames at MTV are a bunch of hoes for this one. After watching that Milli Vanilli song and dance karaoke, there's no wonder MTV is in the shithole. I hope someone gets fired for that lame ass award show. One good thing did come about from the VMAs. Did any of y'all peep when JT won that award and said "MTV, start playing videos again and get rid of all those reality shows" as the stars of the Hill, a reality show, stood right behind him. Talk about owned. Besides that, fuck a MTV.
Check out my reviews of Curtis and Graduation on my site, StuntinonProse.com. Peace
Nazz Will Prevail
"Having a rapper who trades in violence perform at Virginia Tech insults the victims, the university and the entire commonwealth," O'Reilly declared.
This is what Bill O'Reilly had to say about Nas in reference to the Hip Hop legend performing at a free concert for Virginia Tech students. I'm sure I don't have to delve into O'Reilly's background which is mired in hypocrisy, malevolent slander, conspicuous bigotry and just about every type of out and out fuckery possible including that seldom discussed settled sexual harassment he had awhile back. Most of us with a walnut's worth of sense know that Rupert Murdoch's station is nothing more than a Neo-Conservative propoganda peddler and hosts like O'Reilly are only puppets who bring shame to the profession of journalism.
Despite the obvious, O'Reilly has enough sway and influence to cause enough of a public outcry to often end up succeeding in his intentions; case and point, the Pepsi sponsorship he got snatched from Ludacris 4 or 5 years ago when he raised hell about Luda's lyrics. And, personally, after I saw a few pull-outs on Nas concerts here and there, I thought this event would conclude with the cancellation of this concert, but it didn't. Not this time though, Billy boy. After all the ballyhoo O'Reilly put into the public arena about Nas being a violent "gangsta rapper" and the such (yea, right), the administration at Virginia Tech saw through the transparent rhetoric and allowed the truth to be told by one of our finest poets. Yesterday, September 6th, emcee laureate, Nas performed at Virginia Tech. Minute as it may seem, when's the last time you seen a rapper prevail over the forces that be??? It's usually the opposite; some prick raises hell about how a rapper's some thugged out, gun totin hood or a misoygnistic pimp or both and in most cases, the crackers that made mad money sacks off the same person start jumping ship like it's the Titanic. But, in this case Hip Hop came out triumphant. Hold that Billy boy!!! [J. Burnett grabs his joint--hits pause--and gives Bill the finger]
Don't forget about September 20th and Jena 6 y'all. Peace
Stuntinonprose.comor Stuntingonprose.com(Support ya boy)
Nazz Will Prevail
"Having a rapper who trades in violence perform at Virginia Tech insults the victims, the university and the entire commonwealth," O'Reilly declared.
This is what Bill O'Reilly had to say about Nas in reference to the Hip Hop legend performing at a free concert for Virginia Tech students. I'm sure I don't have to delve into O'Reilly's background which is mired in hypocrisy, malevolent slander, conspicuous bigotry and just about every type of out and out fuckery possible including that seldom discussed settled sexual harassment he had awhile back. Most of us with a walnut's worth of sense know that Rupert Murdoch's station is nothing more than a Neo-Conservative propoganda peddler and hosts like O'Reilly are only puppets who bring shame to the profession of journalism.
Despite the obvious, O'Reilly has enough sway and influence to cause enough of a public outcry to often end up succeeding in his intentions; case and point, the Pepsi sponsorship he got snatched from Ludacris 4 or 5 years ago when he raised hell about Luda's lyrics. And, personally, after I saw a few pull-outs on Nas concerts here and there, I thought this event would conclude with the cancellation of this concert, but it didn't. Not this time though, Billy boy. After all the ballyhoo O'Reilly put into the public arena about Nas being a violent "gangsta rapper" and the such (yea, right), the administration at Virginia Tech saw through the transparent rhetoric and allowed the truth to be told by one of our finest poets. Yesterday, September 6th, emcee laureate, Nas performed at Virginia Tech. Minute as it may seem, when's the last time you seen a rapper prevail over the forces that be??? It's usually the opposite; some prick raises hell about how a rapper's some thugged out, gun totin hood or a misoygnistic pimp or both and in most cases, the crackers that made mad money sacks off the same person start jumping ship like it's the Titanic. But, in this case Hip Hop came out triumphant. Hold that Billy boy!!! [J. Burnett grabs his joint--hits pause--and gives Bill the finger]
Don't forget about September 20th and Jena 6 y'all. Peace
Stuntinonprose.comor Stuntingonprose.com(Support ya boy)
This Will Change Your World
I got a few posts that I'll drop later when I flesh them out some more but for now watch this movie. It'll change the way you look at things; some more of that truth for y'all busters.
Kanye May Have Passed Big Brother w/Graduation
This is an exciting time in Hip Hop. I can't remember the last time I've actually felt compelled to go buy a CD. If only we can figure out how to get brown people exciting about voting. Oh well. But for now, I guess we'll have to be satisfied with getting Kanye a win on 9/11. Anywho, after several listens to Graduation I've come to a realization and it was a difficult one to come to but I think Kanye West has surpassed the Jigga man as an artist. I know this is virtually blasphemy but peep game and this may be minconstrued as stannery but fuck it...
Think about the impact each has had on the game. Jay's career is largely based upon exaggerated tales of a hustler (maybe they're accurate, maybe they're not). Whether you'd like to admit it or not, Jay got rich by selling that persona to the public; the persona of the cool, intelligent hustler with plenty paper and his choice of woman. Right? Think about the effects that had on the game and the community. For the game, it made it just a hell of a lot harder to get on if you weren't that character or a different shade of that character. For the community, it made a few knuckleheads hit the corner to pitch with dreams of Cristal, foreign cars etc. only to get ethered out of existence or get sent to the pokey. I personally think that's why Kingdom Come didn't do well with alot of Jay fans. They're so used to the persona of Jay-Z that when Sean Carter had a few things to say, they were like get this shit out of here.
Kanye, on the other hand, forged his lane by being who he is. In essence, with this album and past efforts, Kanye is making it okay in Hip Hop and Rap to be yourself again. Think about how powerful that is and the effect it'll have. It's been about being this caricature of gangster or pimp for so long no one, just came and did them. Kanye didn't get guaped up by selling fantasies about triple beam scales, he got paid by actually selling inspiration (Spaceship), faith (Jesus Walks), coping with lose (Roses), self empowerment (Touch the Sky & Champion) and things real people could use. Ye selling an insane amount of albums might actually open up a lane for artists to actually make good music again.
More importantly, I think Ye can connect with fans in a way that Jay could never do. Not everyone can really relate to hustling packs, popping bottles of that Ace of Spade or flying out to St. Trope. This is certainly not all that Jay discusses but alot of what he's discussed throughout his whole career has been related to his affluence, drugs or chicks. The character he's created doesn't allow him to talk about everything. Contrast that to Ye. His message usually revolves around following your dreams, being so passionate about what you believe in that no one can deter you from it, being rejected and how you bounce back from that and many other things but you don't have to be from a certain background to relate to Ye. You just have to have lived. Granted he talks about some unimportant shit and every song he makes isn't life altering but in the three albums he's made I've been able to feel his music on a personal level more than I've been able to relate to Jay's 3 times as many albums.
Lyrically, Jay runs circles around Kanye. This, I know. It's fairly obvious. But as an artist, Kanye is going to take listeners places Jay could never take a them to and he's still at the beginning of his career. He's still growing as a man and an emcee. I think the title Graduation for this album is apt. I'm not sure if he meant for it to happen like this but with Graduation Ye has transcended the Roc and his mentor. He's accepted himself, his faults and showed a level of maturity that's beyond making a track about how cool your age is. He's graduated from being just a rapper to being truly an artist. I mean it's a stretch but what do yall think?
Kanye May Have Passed Big Brother w/Graduation
This is an exciting time in Hip Hop. I can't remember the last time I've actually felt compelled to go buy a CD. If only we can figure out how to get brown people exciting about voting. Oh well. But for now, I guess we'll have to be satisfied with getting Kanye a win on 9/11. Anywho, after several listens to Graduation I've come to a realization and it was a difficult one to come to but I think Kanye West has surpassed the Jigga man as an artist. I know this is virtually blasphemy but peep game and this may be minconstrued as stannery but fuck it...
Think about the impact each has had on the game. Jay's career is largely based upon exaggerated tales of a hustler (maybe they're accurate, maybe they're not). Whether you'd like to admit it or not, Jay got rich by selling that persona to the public; the persona of the cool, intelligent hustler with plenty paper and his choice of woman. Right? Think about the effects that had on the game and the community. For the game, it made it just a hell of a lot harder to get on if you weren't that character or a different shade of that character. For the community, it made a few knuckleheads hit the corner to pitch with dreams of Cristal, foreign cars etc. only to get ethered out of existence or get sent to the pokey. I personally think that's why Kingdom Come didn't do well with alot of Jay fans. They're so used to the persona of Jay-Z that when Sean Carter had a few things to say, they were like get this shit out of here.
Kanye, on the other hand, forged his lane by being who he is. In essence, with this album and past efforts, Kanye is making it okay in Hip Hop and Rap to be yourself again. Think about how powerful that is and the effect it'll have. It's been about being this caricature of gangster or pimp for so long no one, just came and did them. Kanye didn't get guaped up by selling fantasies about triple beam scales, he got paid by actually selling inspiration (Spaceship), faith (Jesus Walks), coping with lose (Roses), self empowerment (Touch the Sky & Champion) and things real people could use. Ye selling an insane amount of albums might actually open up a lane for artists to actually make good music again.
More importantly, I think Ye can connect with fans in a way that Jay could never do. Not everyone can really relate to hustling packs, popping bottles of that Ace of Spade or flying out to St. Trope. This is certainly not all that Jay discusses but alot of what he's discussed throughout his whole career has been related to his affluence, drugs or chicks. The character he's created doesn't allow him to talk about everything. Contrast that to Ye. His message usually revolves around following your dreams, being so passionate about what you believe in that no one can deter you from it, being rejected and how you bounce back from that and many other things but you don't have to be from a certain background to relate to Ye. You just have to have lived. Granted he talks about some unimportant shit and every song he makes isn't life altering but in the three albums he's made I've been able to feel his music on a personal level more than I've been able to relate to Jay's 3 times as many albums.
Lyrically, Jay runs circles around Kanye. This, I know. It's fairly obvious. But as an artist, Kanye is going to take listeners places Jay could never take a them to and he's still at the beginning of his career. He's still growing as a man and an emcee. I think the title Graduation for this album is apt. I'm not sure if he meant for it to happen like this but with Graduation Ye has transcended the Roc and his mentor. He's accepted himself, his faults and showed a level of maturity that's beyond making a track about how cool your age is. He's graduated from being just a rapper to being truly an artist. I mean it's a stretch but what do yall think?
Kanye May Have Passed Big Brother w/Graduation
This is an exciting time in Hip Hop. I can't remember the last time I've actually felt compelled to go buy a CD. If only we can figure out how to get brown people exciting about voting. Oh well. But for now, I guess we'll have to be satisfied with getting Kanye a win on 9/11. Anywho, after several listens to Graduation I've come to a realization and it was a difficult one to come to but I think Kanye West has surpassed the Jigga man as an artist. I know this is virtually blasphemy but peep game and this may be minconstrued as stannery but fuck it...
Think about the impact each has had on the game. Jay's career is largely based upon exaggerated tales of a hustler (maybe they're accurate, maybe they're not). Whether you'd like to admit it or not, Jay got rich by selling that persona to the public; the persona of the cool, intelligent hustler with plenty paper and his choice of woman. Right? Think about the effects that had on the game and the community. For the game, it made it just a hell of a lot harder to get on if you weren't that character or a different shade of that character. For the community, it made a few knuckleheads hit the corner to pitch with dreams of Cristal, foreign cars etc. only to get ethered out of existence or get sent to the pokey. I personally think that's why Kingdom Come didn't do well with alot of Jay fans. They're so used to the persona of Jay-Z that when Sean Carter had a few things to say, they were like get this shit out of here.
Kanye, on the other hand, forged his lane by being who he is. In essence, with this album and past efforts, Kanye is making it okay in Hip Hop and Rap to be yourself again. Think about how powerful that is and the effect it'll have. It's been about being this caricature of gangster or pimp for so long no one, just came and did them. Kanye didn't get guaped up by selling fantasies about triple beam scales, he got paid by actually selling inspiration (Spaceship), faith (Jesus Walks), coping with lose (Roses), self empowerment (Touch the Sky & Champion) and things real people could use. Ye selling an insane amount of albums might actually open up a lane for artists to actually make good music again.
More importantly, I think Ye can connect with fans in a way that Jay could never do. Not everyone can really relate to hustling packs, popping bottles of that Ace of Spade or flying out to St. Trope. This is certainly not all that Jay discusses but alot of what he's discussed throughout his whole career has been related to his affluence, drugs or chicks. The character he's created doesn't allow him to talk about everything. Contrast that to Ye. His message usually revolves around following your dreams, being so passionate about what you believe in that no one can deter you from it, being rejected and how you bounce back from that and many other things but you don't have to be from a certain background to relate to Ye. You just have to have lived. Granted he talks about some unimportant shit and every song he makes isn't life altering but in the three albums he's made I've been able to feel his music on a personal level more than I've been able to relate to Jay's 3 times as many albums.
Lyrically, Jay runs circles around Kanye. This, I know. It's fairly obvious. But as an artist, Kanye is going to take listeners places Jay could never take a them to and he's still at the beginning of his career. He's still growing as a man and an emcee. I think the title Graduation for this album is apt. I'm not sure if he meant for it to happen like this but with Graduation Ye has transcended the Roc and his mentor. He's accepted himself, his faults and showed a level of maturity that's beyond making a track about how cool your age is. He's graduated from being just a rapper to being truly an artist. I mean it's a stretch but what do yall think?
Kanye May Have Passed Big Brother w/Graduation
This is an exciting time in Hip Hop. I can't remember the last time I've actually felt compelled to go buy a CD. If only we can figure out how to get brown people exciting about voting. Oh well. But for now, I guess we'll have to be satisfied with getting Kanye a win on 9/11. Anywho, after several listens to Graduation I've come to a realization and it was a difficult one to come to but I think Kanye West has surpassed the Jigga man as an artist. I know this is virtually blasphemy but peep game and this may be minconstrued as stannery but fuck it...
Think about the impact each has had on the game. Jay's career is largely based upon exaggerated tales of a hustler (maybe they're accurate, maybe they're not). Whether you'd like to admit it or not, Jay got rich by selling that persona to the public; the persona of the cool, intelligent hustler with plenty paper and his choice of woman. Right? Think about the effects that had on the game and the community. For the game, it made it just a hell of a lot harder to get on if you weren't that character or a different shade of that character. For the community, it made a few knuckleheads hit the corner to pitch with dreams of Cristal, foreign cars etc. only to get ethered out of existence or get sent to the pokey. I personally think that's why Kingdom Come didn't do well with alot of Jay fans. They're so used to the persona of Jay-Z that when Sean Carter had a few things to say, they were like get this shit out of here.
Kanye, on the other hand, forged his lane by being who he is. In essence, with this album and past efforts, Kanye is making it okay in Hip Hop and Rap to be yourself again. Think about how powerful that is and the effect it'll have. It's been about being this caricature of gangster or pimp for so long no one, just came and did them. Kanye didn't get guaped up by selling fantasies about triple beam scales, he got paid by actually selling inspiration (Spaceship), faith (Jesus Walks), coping with lose (Roses), self empowerment (Touch the Sky & Champion) and things real people could use. Ye selling an insane amount of albums might actually open up a lane for artists to actually make good music again.
More importantly, I think Ye can connect with fans in a way that Jay could never do. Not everyone can really relate to hustling packs, popping bottles of that Ace of Spade or flying out to St. Trope. This is certainly not all that Jay discusses but alot of what he's discussed throughout his whole career has been related to his affluence, drugs or chicks. The character he's created doesn't allow him to talk about everything. Contrast that to Ye. His message usually revolves around following your dreams, being so passionate about what you believe in that no one can deter you from it, being rejected and how you bounce back from that and many other things but you don't have to be from a certain background to relate to Ye. You just have to have lived. Granted he talks about some unimportant shit and every song he makes isn't life altering but in the three albums he's made I've been able to feel his music on a personal level more than I've been able to relate to Jay's 3 times as many albums.
Lyrically, Jay runs circles around Kanye. This, I know. It's fairly obvious. But as an artist, Kanye is going to take listeners places Jay could never take a them to and he's still at the beginning of his career. He's still growing as a man and an emcee. I think the title Graduation for this album is apt. I'm not sure if he meant for it to happen like this but with Graduation Ye has transcended the Roc and his mentor. He's accepted himself, his faults and showed a level of maturity that's beyond making a track about how cool your age is. He's graduated from being just a rapper to being truly an artist. I mean it's a stretch but what do yall think?