5th Letter
New member
5th Letter- What are your thoughts on today's hip hop?
sr_the_freshman- Niggas better get they tape decks and a cup of coffee, cuz this is gonna be a titangraph. If you would have asked me 2 or 3 years ago, my response to this would have been negative because I was unsure how things would unfold. If we're being honest about a timeline, that's kinda when the true fuckshit was coming full circle in my opinion. I don't necessarily like the dawn of this mumble rap wave, but it slaps at a festival and its still the culture being done on African American terms. If niggas have followed my posts on the board, they'd know my main grievances revolves around 3 things today. The overt whitewashing. The lack of influential DJs on the East Coast. And ghostwriting. All three of these things I feel in some capacity have been addressed or there is at least dialog happening in regards to how it can be addressed.
I. The whitewashing got addressed ironically through the whole civil rights, black lives matter wave we've experienced recently because of the police brutality being broadcasted. Overtly obvious caricature acts like Iggy Azaelia and Riff Raff were completely put on hold and the otherwise harmless acts like the G-Eazys and Macklemores were put on notice to be mindful of your place while your in the game. Now we got Macklemore out trying to speak as a sort of white mediator between us, the creators, and the white audience which I find mildly healthy due to the dialog.
II. The whole "ghostwriting is acceptable" wave is being handled through shit like what we're seeing in this Remy vs. Nicki scuffle. J Cole's little PSA as well as Andre's shit last year. Styles P. interviews. Ect. I honestly don't know if Scaff Beezy out here penin' Nicki Minaj's raps like a black Ken doll, but I like how Remy is out here castrating the bitch for it, and how people are ridiculing it. As they should. Niggas are just gonna have to understand, your bullshit trend does not just usurp the natural way of things. Someone not doing their own work in any field is, and always will be met with disapproval. These aren't singers who have to seriously deal with vocal moderation and shit like varying cadences. Singing is a technicality and art in and of itself. This is rap. Any nigga can do it. You bring your voice, no matter how annoying like Freeway. But none of that shit matters if your pen game is on ball point. Niggas these days who like to argue for the ghostwriting shit are getting caught up in the vanity of it all, as if Drake is a special snowflake with a special delivery. You niggas are kinda gay for fawning strictly over another man's voice. People also like to argue that music is a collaborative process. I agree. Everyone has their roll. The producer makes the beat. The engineer masters the sound. And rapper writes his own shit. Ya'll out here blurrin' the lines like Robin Thicke. Chill the fuck out, ock. But I digress. For the niggas who swear up and down I'm a Drake hater of sorts: Go back to the original Drake vs. Meek thread, and find my post from 2015 on page 16. Off the rip, I said if Meek was lien', then he deserves to get his shit incinerated. I'm a fan of the blood sport but I'm also a man of principle first and foremost. That entire situation was wack.
III. Finally, the fuckin useless DJs, specifically on the East Coast. I don't really feel the need to digress on this too much cuz if ya'll peeped Jay's interview the other day with Frank Ocean, you'll see a lot of the shit I've been preaching for years on here was vindicated in that conversation. Also, go peep the NORE interview from a few days ago. But the bottom line is, a lot of shit music that has become mainstream is the fault of the DJs not having the courage to break good shit in their respective region and that has ultimately upset the balance of this whole shit. NYC for the longest has not had a proper platform, so the region has suffered and it breaks my heart because Hot 97 used to be the shit. Southern DJs have always been on point with breaking their own, and that is the reason why the South, no matter how diluted it has gotten, is the most recognized in terms of it's mainstream appeal.
tl;dr: So in all, how do I feel about Hip-Hop today? Because I'm seeing these conversations happening, along with quality lyrics making a proper comeback and ghostwriting being fully rejected, I'm feeling Okay.
5th Letter- I do think the ghostwriting is fine for certain artists.
sr_the_freshman- Yeah, by all means. For the niggas that wanna be artsy (Kanye) and not considered for Top 5, do your thing. If you wanna be revered as the collaborative artist, or the guy that's known as what I like to call as the composer rapper (Diddy), by all means. If you feel the message and delivery far outweighs your bid for the crown (Cube) then do your thing my nigga. You will be remembered for something far more special. But that's not what's happening with certain other artists.
sr_the_freshman- Niggas better get they tape decks and a cup of coffee, cuz this is gonna be a titangraph. If you would have asked me 2 or 3 years ago, my response to this would have been negative because I was unsure how things would unfold. If we're being honest about a timeline, that's kinda when the true fuckshit was coming full circle in my opinion. I don't necessarily like the dawn of this mumble rap wave, but it slaps at a festival and its still the culture being done on African American terms. If niggas have followed my posts on the board, they'd know my main grievances revolves around 3 things today. The overt whitewashing. The lack of influential DJs on the East Coast. And ghostwriting. All three of these things I feel in some capacity have been addressed or there is at least dialog happening in regards to how it can be addressed.
I. The whitewashing got addressed ironically through the whole civil rights, black lives matter wave we've experienced recently because of the police brutality being broadcasted. Overtly obvious caricature acts like Iggy Azaelia and Riff Raff were completely put on hold and the otherwise harmless acts like the G-Eazys and Macklemores were put on notice to be mindful of your place while your in the game. Now we got Macklemore out trying to speak as a sort of white mediator between us, the creators, and the white audience which I find mildly healthy due to the dialog.
II. The whole "ghostwriting is acceptable" wave is being handled through shit like what we're seeing in this Remy vs. Nicki scuffle. J Cole's little PSA as well as Andre's shit last year. Styles P. interviews. Ect. I honestly don't know if Scaff Beezy out here penin' Nicki Minaj's raps like a black Ken doll, but I like how Remy is out here castrating the bitch for it, and how people are ridiculing it. As they should. Niggas are just gonna have to understand, your bullshit trend does not just usurp the natural way of things. Someone not doing their own work in any field is, and always will be met with disapproval. These aren't singers who have to seriously deal with vocal moderation and shit like varying cadences. Singing is a technicality and art in and of itself. This is rap. Any nigga can do it. You bring your voice, no matter how annoying like Freeway. But none of that shit matters if your pen game is on ball point. Niggas these days who like to argue for the ghostwriting shit are getting caught up in the vanity of it all, as if Drake is a special snowflake with a special delivery. You niggas are kinda gay for fawning strictly over another man's voice. People also like to argue that music is a collaborative process. I agree. Everyone has their roll. The producer makes the beat. The engineer masters the sound. And rapper writes his own shit. Ya'll out here blurrin' the lines like Robin Thicke. Chill the fuck out, ock. But I digress. For the niggas who swear up and down I'm a Drake hater of sorts: Go back to the original Drake vs. Meek thread, and find my post from 2015 on page 16. Off the rip, I said if Meek was lien', then he deserves to get his shit incinerated. I'm a fan of the blood sport but I'm also a man of principle first and foremost. That entire situation was wack.
III. Finally, the fuckin useless DJs, specifically on the East Coast. I don't really feel the need to digress on this too much cuz if ya'll peeped Jay's interview the other day with Frank Ocean, you'll see a lot of the shit I've been preaching for years on here was vindicated in that conversation. Also, go peep the NORE interview from a few days ago. But the bottom line is, a lot of shit music that has become mainstream is the fault of the DJs not having the courage to break good shit in their respective region and that has ultimately upset the balance of this whole shit. NYC for the longest has not had a proper platform, so the region has suffered and it breaks my heart because Hot 97 used to be the shit. Southern DJs have always been on point with breaking their own, and that is the reason why the South, no matter how diluted it has gotten, is the most recognized in terms of it's mainstream appeal.
tl;dr: So in all, how do I feel about Hip-Hop today? Because I'm seeing these conversations happening, along with quality lyrics making a proper comeback and ghostwriting being fully rejected, I'm feeling Okay.
5th Letter- I do think the ghostwriting is fine for certain artists.
sr_the_freshman- Yeah, by all means. For the niggas that wanna be artsy (Kanye) and not considered for Top 5, do your thing. If you wanna be revered as the collaborative artist, or the guy that's known as what I like to call as the composer rapper (Diddy), by all means. If you feel the message and delivery far outweighs your bid for the crown (Cube) then do your thing my nigga. You will be remembered for something far more special. But that's not what's happening with certain other artists.
