WAYNE'S WORLD

I’ve been for as long as I can remember a fan of Hip-Hop & Rap. My folks used to be very church going & I can tell as a kid I was forbidden to watch MTV. It is always human nature the more you as a parent tell your child not to do something that there will be an temptation to indulge in the forbidden. I remember secretly watching MTV Raps with hosts such as Bill Bellamy & Ed Lover & (the other) Doctor Dre & the various host they had.

In middle school to my high school years, my fam got a little less church going & I watched MTV Raps & Rap City (classic Hip-Hop TV show staples for our 80’s & 90’s baby generations). I remember seeing Tupac, Biggie, Wu-Tang Clan, & every rapper that was popular in the 80’s & 90’s. Hip-Hop was okay for the early 2000’s but let’s fast forward to our current times in 2013.

So, I’m going to feel like an old man going on soap box & preaching to the neighborhood. Corporate America has ruined Hip-Hop (*cue Dave Chappelle’s “drugs & alcohol have ruinned my life”). In 2013, let’s be honest. It’s a f*cking recession. There is a dumb ass sequester that the Republicans have staged. There is a fiscal cliff. And we have idiots like Trinidad James rapping about all gold everything.

1. Hip-Hop & Rap are not reflecting current times & relating with their listeners. How am I supposed to relate to all gold everything & other than buying some Dole Pineapple snacks (I guess you have your diced pineapples there baby). Maybach Music. B%tch try Honda Civic music. That’s what I drive.

2. The emasculation of men. Sure, Destiny’s Child started talking about they want thugs “Soldiers” (Not our military armed forces). But gradually, the introduction of skinny jeans by Lil Wayne & several other rappers. I like Drake sometimes but one hand him, the Dream & the Weeknd sing on some as Beavis & Butthead would call some wussyness. It didn’t help matters that a lot of black men are having babies with women & not taking care of them. And the prevalent Willie Lynch syndrome have made black women resent Black men & it’s even a damn shame that the few good Black brothas catch attitudes from these same black women & get placed in the friendzone (never to return).

3. Beats have taken a back seat to lyrics. Imagine how dope KRS-One could be if he had the support of Swizz Beatz, Timbaland, & the Neptunes. That might be good. You do have great rappers like him, Kendrick Lamar, J.Cole, & others that do have substance in their raps but you have a proliferation of rappers like Lil Wayne (he could be lyrical if he wanted but dopes his self up on syrup & has chosen the route of ignorance), Trinidad James, Future, Rick Ross (Officer Ricky which goes to show you do not have to KEEP IT REAL in Hip-Hop anymore) & others that talk ignorance.

4. It’s not that drugs, women, money, cars & clothes was not ever mentioned in Hip-Hop but like I said it doesn’t relate to me as a consumer. 2 Chains. Shit, I got some dog tags & rosaries. Good enough for me right now. These things used to mention in rap as things to aspire to gain through working & hustle not used as bragging pieces.

5. American Hip-Hop/Rap is loosing ground to International Hip-Hop. Overseas in Europe & Asia, a lot of old school (as my homie Cool V says we should really call it classic) rap & Hip-Hop artists still have a lot of respect overseas & will sell better there then they will in the states. This even applies to other genres. America wanted to sue Michael Jackson & take him to court for “alleged” child molestation. If you noticed after that MJ went to go live overseas. Overseas love MJ & classic Hip-Hop artists. And then a lot of major signings have been from artist hailing from oversea to Adele, Iggy Azalea, Azalea Banks, PSY, Rita Ora, Teriyaki Boyz, Katy B & a lot. Just do some research on Google & I rest my case.

6. Swag has killed Hip-Hop. As a blogger/writer/upcoming DJ/radio personality (Yes, I gets it in!!!), there is nothing frustrating as dealing with independent artists. Some who think they can still run into Jay-Z, Diddy, T.I., Russel Simmons & anyone record exec of that type & think that the days of giving them their mixtape & getting signed is a sure fire way to get signed. They have no humility.

It is funny that I can see Da Brat & Bill Bellamy at an airport & get a drop from them no problem. But MC Buttascotch think he is so hot that he can just email me his music, hit me up on Facebook, Twitter, & etc & think I will just play his music just like that. They think that radio will take a chance on them. They think radio & television make money from music & videos. No, they make their music off of advertisements. If Disney, Pepsi &/or Coke-A-Cola contact me for sponsorship I’m going to be way more receptive to them then cousin Pookie who thinks just because his neighborhood & home boys love his music that he will go very far in Rap & become the next Jay-Z & Kanye West.

Female singers think they can easily become the next Beyonce not knowing all of Beyonce or Alicia Key’s stories not knowing what they had to truly go through to get to where they are at today. Models think just because they have a pretty face, some nice tits & ass that they can become next Smooth/King Magazine models. They also think by modeling thong pics that they can somehow go from that to Next Top Model status.

7. They say ppl with smartphones do dumb things. There is so much power in being independent that a lot don’t realize that you can do your own mixtapes, you can create your own YouTube channel, you can create your own online radio station to showcase your music. The point is you have so much power on the net to get yourself out there.

8. No one does research on the or their industry. They don’t do research when approaching ppl be it online or in real life. Everyone knows Diddy, Jay-Z, Russel Simmons, Richard Branson, Donald Trump & such. You absolutely would not run on them & talk to them any kind of way. Provided their bodyguards don’t stomp a muddle hole in your monkey ass. So, if you wouldn’t do it to them then don’t do it to me or anyone else like that. Like my homie, Cool V says do your research before you come at somebody. You only get one time to make a good impression. Screw it up & you can’t get that back. It will be tough to redeem yourself.

9.Being a rapper, singer & producer is becoming something as common as you can speak, read & write. It could be that not everyone is meant to be a star. You could be meant to be an excellent A/R, a manager or maybe you are meant to work in another & different industry. God knows that there are too many ppl in the music industry that don’t know what the hell they are doing & are intentionally ruinning music so why not go behind the scenes & help reform that & restore music as it should be. But then again common sense isn’t common & that is too much like right.

10. Everyone wants to be a carbon copy & no one different. Is there really a need for another Lil Wayne, another Nicki, another Ross, another Beyonce or etc. I say no. Being different can be good. You could cross over to other genres. Pitbull sells more doing Pop, House, & Techno then he does rap. Lil Jon has been messing with the same & he is doing well way more than he was doing with rap. Even from dressing in your clothes to everything else, we have unfortunately been programmed to be robots.

In short, I could be sounding like someone’s grandfather on a rant about young whippersnappers but these are things I have noticed. It’s like having a family member or friend that you love but hate some of the shit they do & you still love them but wish they would change & get better. I feel that way about Hip-Hop. I have no contempt for any of the rappers, singers & ppl I have used as examples in my blog. I did that to paint you a picture. I have no hard feelings towards independent artists. There is saying reach one, teach one, each one. And basically, I want anyone who reads this blog to walk away from this like yeah, I understand & you know what I feel the same way.

Top 100 classic hip hop music videos YouTube playist

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cP0wsET8__Y&playnext=1&list=PLD3881CC736B769B4&feature=results_main

CHECK OUT MY BROTHA FROM ANOTHER MOTHER COOL V FEATURED IN SOUL TRAIN AT THIS LINK BELOW

http://soultrain.com/2013/03/08/qa-cool-v-the-dark-knight/