A heated debate me and my friends always have is the comic book-esque war between Jay-Z and Nas that occurred in 2001 (at the time of this writing some 8 years ago). Now I’m sure everyone who knows anything has heard all the arguments, let me just re-cap them below (feel free to add your […]
Review: 4 out of 5
Best Song: N.I.G.G.E.R., Black President
Nasir Jones aka Nas brings hip hop back to life on his 9th album, Untitled. As we all should know by now, Nas originally meant to title this album Nigger. However, due to Def Jam suits sensing a potential backlash from volume retailers such as Walmart and BestBuy, shut down Nas’ creative freedom. This is an important factor to keep in mind while listening to the album as Untitled doesn’t really give the album any personality other than that it is Nas’ way of bucking the system for not allowing him to title his own masterpiece. Imagine if Leonardo Da Vinci was not allowed to name the Mona Lisa because she was the village hoe?
Another thing you should keep in mind is that Nas can’t be compared to any other rappers; he is still the most detailed, most vivid, song writer music has ever heard -the only fair comparisons would be between old Nas and New Nas. But I digress…peep the breakdown. Read more
You have to admit Fifty with the tear drop is the funniest thing that’s ever happened in hip hop. Point blank period. I think it’s right up there with Jigga plastering ballerina P all over the summer jam screen years back. See what people are afraid to admit is Fifty knows how to market. He is the greatest promoter rap has ever seen. How else can you explain how he got everyone in G-Unit platinum plaques (except Yayo, who for the record isn’t that bad)?
I never thought rappers I looked up to would ever become disgruntled like the broke ass old school rappers of yesteryear. I guess when your album’s trash, your street cred annihilated by Jay-Z, and you happen to be 4 feet tall, life sucks. Rapper Prodigy from the oh so infamous Mobb Deep, decides to post another blog today in the hopes of stirring up more controversy on the internetz and sucking every last drop of fame he once had from the masses. Here’s an excerpt from Webster’s diary (note the caps lock held down),
I haven’t done an album review in a hot minute, simply because all the albums that have come out have not been worth writing about and I hate to do forced reviews. I tried to review the Wu album, but only got half way through before I deleted the album. I also got half way through the UGK album, but that only means I made it passed disc 1. But what has their been? Read more
The 50th Grammy’s popped of tonight and what was the talk of the red carpet? The upcoming presidential election? The war in Iraq? Kanye West? Not exactly. Nas’s “nigger” t-shirt promoting his upcoming album was the talk of the carpet as mainstream reporters asked Mr. Jones about the message behind his apparel. I really think […]
**Disclaimer: This article was inspired by the fact that its 2008 and NY rap hasn’t had any prominence since ’98. **
It’s no secret New York’s hip hop scene has taken a backseat to them country boys in the South. The sad thing is it has been almost 10 long years that them boys south of the mason dixon have had a grip on the game. 10 long painful years, I might add. How did we get to this point? Isn’t New York the hip hop mecca? Didn’t we invent hip hop? Sure we had Fifty and those G-Unit guys for a minute, but Fifty was pretty much rappen with a twang when he was hot back in ’03. And as for Jigga, he’s loved so much, because he’s all we got. The purpose of this discussion is to figure out why New York ain’t on top. Check out the 5 reasons NY Rap is dead. Read more
**Disclaimer**: The author makes up a lot of new catch phrases in this article which may or may not enter the hip hop lexicon, pay close attention.
Okay this may come as a huge shock to some of yall, considering I gave Soulja Boy’s album 0 stars (read here), but I think I’m considering “adjusting” my opinion of Soulja Boy as the wackest rapper of all time. Yahh trick, yahh! Now I’m not sure if I’m just being perceptive of an actual change in public opinion and just reporting it, or if I’ve just lost my god damn mind and will have my hip hop pass revoked by the purists. Read more
