Just what we needed... Actually!!

Initially I was a bit embarrassed by the image Kanye West presented to the public during the awards show. Although this was typical Kanye West we can see how bad timing and the wrong ingredients can destroy a well designed buffet so to speak. I agree that everyone is entitled to their opinion; and freedom of speech is beyond words. I have no quarrel with that by no means, however his actions were as distasteful as the combination of Brussels sprouts and ice cream (again matter of opinion).

Nonetheless there is always a light at the end of the tunnel or a candle burning in the dark for such travesties.


Growing up in NYC the Hip Hop Mecca I can recall spending ample at the school yard Jams in Brooklyn (P.S. 213 on Hegamen ave for example) and even the summertime block parties where a sea of faces mixed in a crowd embellished in a complete culture filled with expression and more importantly filled with love. The Kutis Blows, Melly Mels, KRS Ones and Rakims of yesteryear rocking what seemed to be a 50 bar freestyle that magnified the crowd (or moved the crowd as Rakim would say) have become as ancient as the B.C. era with little to no regard to the craft that they perfected recording them in history as the fore fathers of one of the richest cultures in the world. The rival gangs battled in freestyle lyrics and break dancing while the B Boys lined the circle with Kangol hats and Bally shoes or shell-toed Adidas and Pumas, lead a parade from the DJ booth to the cut open cardboard boxes that plastered any and every slab of concrete in the Big Apple at one time or another. Back then even the Sucker MC’s had their time to shine, even if only momentarily.
Indeed Hip Hop has somehow taken a back seat in the music mainstream picture. As ironic as it seems the promoting of violence and distributing of street-side pharmaceuticals (not to mention the ear piercing grammatical eras demented and intertwined with a southern draw concocted to complete a rhyme verse ) appear to be a much more entertaining and if nothing else more valuable entity to the music industry; but at what price?

Today Hip Hop is shadowed by an unwarranted, unruly and outlawed shuttle we know as Rap. Although it's towering the Earth's stratosphere with no where to go but down the hijackers are portrayed by sickening advocates we call rappers who are no equivalent to MC's. Yes I believe that Rap has Hijacked Hip Hop and embedded its poisonous thorns in the side of all music while it piggy backs the fundamentals of true Hip Hop. The proof of this is what we actually attribute and refer to as talent as far a Rap is concerned. For instance the most degrading name you could have given someone in Hip Hop is a sucker MC. And curse words were like foreign objects both forbidden and unwanted in the core of true Hip Hop. A far cry from the muddle of language that religiously claims a stake in the top 10 billboard charts today.
Oh where O where has my Hip Hop gone. Oh where Oh where could it be?
So where do we go from here? Perhaps we will find a solution that will romanticize our counterparts to believing that their perversity has run its course and finally we play renditions of "The End of the Road" by Boys II Men or even allow them to link arms to New Edition's "Is This The End" as they pull up the trousers and exit stage left with at least some form of dignity. Or maybe we can gather them by the ship load and send them Bon Voyages clear across the oceans to a land far far away. Either way the banquet should serve its purpose by ridding us of the Tale from the Dark Side.

The bottom line is that we have straddled the fence long enough with this foolishness and it is time for everyone to be held accountable. This recent embarrassment and low class level of self respect has played itself right in the direction we needed it to. Be it Kanye's ill-mannered and distasteful version of a microphone fiend or even the average heavy 808 beat covering the lack of MC talent we certainly have a bubbled scar of shame branded on the face of society via Rap music. Needless to say although many people have contributed and gained wealth from this pool of rubbish and debris and the musky aroma from the muck if compared by class would equate to no more than a bowel movement with great discuss and shame. We blame others for our lack of decency while we promote and accept filth as a means of expression.

Well there is no other level for such music to reach. I believe it is at its highest level and thanks to its unsung behavior there is only room for its reign to fall down. Surely it is not any single individuals fault the blame lays on the back of everyone of us who sit back and allow the trash to pile up in the living quarters of our homes and more importantly our minds.

Although I have never excited myself with the majority of this craft I look forward to the return of REAL HIP HOP.
Will the real Hip Hop please Stand Up!!!