Nas said it best, "hip hop is dead". This is the term he spit out a couple of years back that shook up the world. It means a ton of different things , and can stem a great amount of arguments within the rap community. So, 2010 , where have things moved to since that statement? Well lets take a look. As far as mainstream music: still pretty pathetic . As far as underground: stayed doing well and pumping out quality music. But what about that zone right between underground and mainstream? The cats that have strayed away from the limelight and secured themselves a place in hip hop history books, all within the revolution of bringing quality rap back into what should be the mainstream.
It was about late last year, around the time Ghostface dropped his "Wizard of Poetry" album that things started really shaping up for the middleground: Jay Electronica heavy on the shows and dropping a classic every quarter; Cats like Ski-Beatz working on projects that are leaving fans at the edge of their seat, working with artists like Joell Ortiz, Mos Def, Currency, and the list goes on and on; Erykah Badu, with her ground breaking video (that should be getting way more exposure). Much more to talk about than the likes of a drunken Paris Hilton or Lindsey Lohan.
Inspectah Deck's dropping a banger, and the "Wu-Massacre" album was extra incredible. Not just for music, but the anticipation, the classic artwork, just the feel of buying an album in general. These are the things that would've made TV stations like MTV and BET go nuts back in the 90's. But oh well, let's face it, we are not in an era where quality and keeping it real is the fad. We're at the end of times, and the most accesible music is defenitely the music that should be at the bottom of our shelves . But like my man Ghostface says "What's first shall be last and whats last shall be first".
Here's a list of great works that have dropped in this middleground I speak of, sort of like the Boston Celtics of Hip Hop :
Freeway -Philadelphia Freeway 2
J Dilla - J Stay Paid
Guru- Guru 8.0
AZ-Legendary
Mos Def-The Ecstatic
The Alchemist Chemical Warfare
Slaughterhouse-Slaughterhouse
Raekwon -OBCL 2
Ghostface Killah -Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry
Rakim- The Seventh Seal
The Clipse -Till The Casket Drops
Needless to say these hip hop cats are heavy on their grind and do not get the exposure they deserve, and these are big-time names! In my future columns I will look into primetime players in this hip hop game that are one step from making it to the next level. The cats that have the decency and know to stick to the code and not sellout and do pop records like so many others who look to take that shameful path. Looks like hip hop died, but it sure as hell got resurrected, so lets keep it alive yall. Peace.
- Ah-nest Don
It was about late last year, around the time Ghostface dropped his "Wizard of Poetry" album that things started really shaping up for the middleground: Jay Electronica heavy on the shows and dropping a classic every quarter; Cats like Ski-Beatz working on projects that are leaving fans at the edge of their seat, working with artists like Joell Ortiz, Mos Def, Currency, and the list goes on and on; Erykah Badu, with her ground breaking video (that should be getting way more exposure). Much more to talk about than the likes of a drunken Paris Hilton or Lindsey Lohan.
Inspectah Deck's dropping a banger, and the "Wu-Massacre" album was extra incredible. Not just for music, but the anticipation, the classic artwork, just the feel of buying an album in general. These are the things that would've made TV stations like MTV and BET go nuts back in the 90's. But oh well, let's face it, we are not in an era where quality and keeping it real is the fad. We're at the end of times, and the most accesible music is defenitely the music that should be at the bottom of our shelves . But like my man Ghostface says "What's first shall be last and whats last shall be first".
Here's a list of great works that have dropped in this middleground I speak of, sort of like the Boston Celtics of Hip Hop :
Freeway -Philadelphia Freeway 2
J Dilla - J Stay Paid
Guru- Guru 8.0
AZ-Legendary
Mos Def-The Ecstatic
The Alchemist Chemical Warfare
Slaughterhouse-Slaughterhouse
Raekwon -OBCL 2
Ghostface Killah -Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry
Rakim- The Seventh Seal
The Clipse -Till The Casket Drops
Needless to say these hip hop cats are heavy on their grind and do not get the exposure they deserve, and these are big-time names! In my future columns I will look into primetime players in this hip hop game that are one step from making it to the next level. The cats that have the decency and know to stick to the code and not sellout and do pop records like so many others who look to take that shameful path. Looks like hip hop died, but it sure as hell got resurrected, so lets keep it alive yall. Peace.
- Ah-nest Don
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