I’m not one for advocating one side over the other so when Solar responds I’ll be sure to post that too. Until then, sobering words.

Immortal Technique does what hip-hop was created to do. Speak Truth. Bars start at 1:45.

[Eyeballed At The Rap Up]

A man much smarter than I am once told me that Rap minus lies equals hip-hop. I think I liked hearing that.

The purpose of this essay isn’t to convert you to being a fan of hip-hop. Considering this is being published on a website whose readers are entrenched in it already it would make doing so pointless. I’m not trying to preach, I’m not looking to get self-righteous and begin to call out all the wrong I see in the industry – I do that enough. The real purpose of this essay is to explain why I love rap music and why it should be treated as legitimate as any other genre of music. No caveats, no Roger Maris asterisks, no footnotes.

The first thing I want to clarify is the misuse of “rap” and “hip-hop.” Hip-hop denotes a culture that serves as an umbrella in which the musical genre of rap resides under. Break dancing, graffiti, gold rope chains, DJing, and parachute pants are all “hip-hop” because they’ve been assimilated into what’s considered hip-hop culture. Concepts can even be claimed. The concept of “the Hustle” in hip-hop is common to every other culture, but the way that the Hustle is framed, the diction associated with the concept and the generally associated contexts that are used are unique to hip-hop. Rap, however, is a genre of music; you don’t make hip-hop music. Listeners, labels, even bloggers – most people who aren’t intimately involved with rap music and hip-hop culture have made and will continue to make this mistake. If you’re going to be critical of rap or hip-hop culture do yourself a favor and make sure to get this part of your argument right. You only hurt your legitimacy when you confuse the two and prove that your ignorance outweighs your intelligence.

At a basic level, rap is poetry. Rephrase: At a basic level, quality rap is poetry. It is the telling of stories to an audience. Truth be told, any genre of music is poetic – lyrics are penned in order to communicate a message to the listener. Logically, if all lyrics have this “common ancestor” then the argument that modern rap lyrics have less content, complexity or weight to them may be completely true but that’s an observation on the amount of talent in the genre, not on the genre itself. You cannot classify rock, rap or country music as bad because you think the people who are in the genre put out distasteful music; you don’t like the band but you have to respect the form.

The genre’s newfound grand-stage – the radio airwaves, the Billboard charts, the night club circuit and the desire of artists to flourish through these avenues create a barrier for considerable lyrical substance. It’s not that all rappers lack substance, nothing could be further from the truth. It’s that in order to achieve the prominence they’re looking for its virtually impossible for new acts to do without sculpting their image and their music into a form that’s as easy as possible to swallow. The basic tenet stands; the artist had a choice and made it – for better or worse for the genre.

Rap’s bad rap has come from factors like profanity, violence, drug use/association, racial stereotyping, misogyny and a whole host of others over the years. I am not here to disagree – rap is full of these issues and saying so is a matter of fact, not opinion. Media have portrayed rap music as the catalyst for such vices as drugs, alcohol, materialism and more and blames hip-hop culture for spreading its plague-like symptoms to the malleable minds of mainstream American youth. Hip-hop’s divisiveness has created a rift in the mind of America’s collective unconscious where people are treated like polarizing issues instead of individuals. A white kid who listens to rap may be as strange as a black kid who doesn’t. Rappers are black, not white – which explains how artists like Asher Roth can parlay America’s fascination with the “odd” into a career. A white blogger is less legitimate than a black one. And somehow we’ve been able to split hip-hop into two negating parts: the part that bolstered the hope and faith of a people who looked towards who would represent them and run their country and the part that tells young black youth to do whatever it takes to get that Rolls Royce. It’s in the small things that we really see the face of the societal implications of one genre of music. And all of this is true.

It would be naïve and ignorant to think that each genre did not have its own set of negative consequences. Rock in the sixties and seventies portrayed an image of free love and drug use to fans. Women were raped backstage and at after-parties by the very band members they bought a ticket to see. Jazz held a very heavy image of drug use – Serge Chaloff, Charlie Parker and Art Pepper all were exquisite jazz musicians who died due to long-standing issues rooted in substance abuse. Miles Davis himself was victim of a wicked cocaine habit and by the time 1975 rolled around, Davis needed copious amounts of cocaine just to appear to function. The pressures of country music forced Elvis Presley into a dependence on sleeping pills, uppers and other pharmaceuticals that led to his death. One lab report filed after The King’s death listed 14 separate drugs in his system, 10 of which in significant quantity. The pressure of the music machine sometimes leads and sometimes forces artists down a path of self destruction to achieve what is viewed as never enough. Rap is not above this. But what should happen is that we should all acknowledge the negative sides of our respective genres and not focus on whose is worse. Doing so only constructs a continuum of relative goodness in which to size up whose genre is “better” than the other in some attempt to quantify the unquantifiable and smugly hold that over others. Music is power; some individuals tap into that power through a beat; others through a guitar.

By tapping into that power we cut through the fat and getting past the spotlight-hogging, media-obsessed, attention whore face that is mainstream music we find the heart of the genre. It’s with this heart in mind that any discussion of the art of the music should be discussed. Not what is plastered on headlines or what current spin the machinations of the music or public relations industries give it – but what it does to the heart of the art form. This is where true discussion lies. Underground fans, some bloggers and a small contingent of listeners make it their rule to eye their music in such a fashion and discuss issues pertaining to their respective culture accordingly because doing so allows for the discussion of the music to be focused on the artists merits and credits quality work because it uplifts the genre.

Looking at music, or rap for this example’s sake, from this perspective allows us to do a few things. It disallows justifying flaws, omissions, mistakes or weak points due to reasons that we deem fit because we look at music holistically beginning with music having to have a purpose – whether that purpose is simply to make your head bounce in a club or to highlight a social evil it needs to be constructed in such a manner that the song achieves its goal in the most effective way it can. The totem pole lining classifications of music up can and is debated constantly but the general rules are clear – the more thought that goes into a production, the better. This logic allows us to pinpoint strong suits and weaknesses of any song put out for public consumption. Lyrically, Dr. Dre’s Chronic 2001 album is nothing more than entertaining but the album’s real magic comes from the blood, sweat and tears Dre put into the beats he created. The album is historical – there’s no debate and examples from Nas or The Roots or Mos Def show that the flip-side is true as well. Is there an album that’s a perfect 10 lyrically as well as musically? The debate begins.

But as long as there is debate, hip-hop culture and rap music, will never be dead. Let’s not lie and get to the heart of the issue.

So I went over the RS Twitter account and found that we had someone going by the name of VerbalStyles give a tweet-by-tweet review of the RS Mixtape. In seven 140-characters-or-less tweets, VerbalStyles, who is a New York-based DJ and producer, broke down the tape track-by-track and gave his opinion on each track and artist. Oh yeah, take the advice with a grain of salt. He was a little drunk when said review was written.

SomeOne – standard white rap; DK – nice MC but beat was nothing special; Submit – DOPE beat but bad mix, first cat is a Lil Wayne biter…other two MCs have nice flows but need to find a voice; AKA got that Digable vibe but two different choruses?  GodChaserz producer could blow up tomorrow, MCs more bitin’; 810 I dig but vox needs to be louder, def fresh though. D. Julien – interesting, would do well at a hippie fest; Random – listen to Dilla much? E.A.R.T.H. interesting beat, sounds like Del/Living Legends but dude don’t do your own repeats! Ha. Not trying to hate on anyone, just half drunk and bored checkin’ your tape out. Would be more verbose if it weren’t for 140 character thing. All in all lots of talent but low on production value. Nonetheless curious to see what you guys find next. Respect.

Sober or not, we appreciate the feedback. Tweeted on July 2nd, 2009.

Today’s hip-hop landscape looks a lot like the lunchroom at an urban high school. What began as one thing, has grown into another, much bigger, more fractured thing altogether. While the casual observer might look at the rap genre as one thing, the more dedicated listener will note the distinct sub-categories that the music has to offer. Each category, while separate, will contain a bit of overlap for two reasons. First, each artist is influenced by the art of their contemporaries and predecessors. Secondly, what makes the product that each artist creates palatable for large audiences are the cords of similarity within the biographies of the entertainers and their fans. These shared experiences, stories, and viewpoints are the intangible elements that create the culture of hip-hop.

Here are the categories and their most notable figures:

• The “Cool” Kids
• The Gangsters/Soldiers
• The Kingpins
• The Outsiders and Weird Kids
• The Disciples

Click Here to keep reading “The Hip-Hop Lunchroom – Rap’s Five Emcee Categories.” Category explanations after the jump.

The dilemma of Corey Gunz is shared by so many of the young men who enter today’s rap world wanting to achieve the success by the measure of album sales and television air time. Listening to Corey Gunz “On the Spot” Freestyle with DJ Green Lantern and Invasion radio was like watching a man win the lottery and dump the money off of the Brooklyn Bridge. He is one of the most talented lyricists in the game right now, but his mind is focused on the business of rap instead of the movement of hip hop.

On the other hand…

Charles Hamilton is the golden boy of backpackers. He is to intellectual rappers and socially aware rappers, the Barack Obama of the game. He is here to take hold of the vacant reins of the movement left after the Clintonian era of the likes of Talib Kweli and Mos Def. His songs are jam-packed with startlingly honest lyrics, skillfully delivered. His style bridges the gap from confidence to false bravado and presents to us the happy medium quality that can only be described as swagger.

Chuck is confident in his skills and knowledgeable of limitations (money and respect in the biz), which is a refreshing change of pace in the current rap world. For now, at least, (and we hope this continues) he represents the game as it should be in many ways has become the model for an intelligent writer who is hungry to be a part of hip hop.

Unfortunately, this is not the most scathing accusation brought against the Louis Vuitton Don. From attacking paparazzi to dropping a certified platinum “pop album,” truancy on election night is probably the least of the transgressions of Mr. West. That being said, I recognize something in Kanye because I have had the pleasure of being able to watch his career with a critical eye from beginning to end. The truth about the evolution of Kanye West is that the musical metamorphosis is simply a symptom. 808’s and Heartbreak is not the problem, but an outward expression of his personal growth. That, fact, however is second in importance to the relation of his career to your life. He is a prime example of art imitating life, and like a Greek tragedy in which the gods favor a hero for a limited time, the significance of their downfall is in the lesson to be learned. That being said, we will now explore how the career and exploits relate to the life and times of every entertainer and more globally, anyone who cares to pay attention.

College Dropout

Kanye West burst onto the scene as a baby. He was virtually unknown and was limited, even in his own scope of how far he thought that his career would go. We will regard his tenure as a non-rapping producer as an incubation period, because he only learned the basic functions of his future life that would propel him into the future. The early childhood of the junior member of the Roc-a-fella cabinet included production on the Dynasty mixtape and Jay-Z’s Blueprint as well as the release of the College Dropout, his first studio album. This album featured a few of the young artist’s idols-turned-colleagues such as Talib Kweli, Jay-Z, and Common and on those collaborations the listener can almost feel Kanye fighting to maintain his identity while sharing tracks with such greats. This may deliver some insight into the development of his false lyrical bravado and general cockiness. In this period, he learned his craft and took in the sights with wide-eyed wonder. As an underground artist, he considered himself most akin to the “backpackers” and “conscious rappers” but as a mainstream artist he found himself unable to resist some of the wiles of the superstar lifestyle. This is most clearly seen in his frank self-criticism of himself, even on that first album:

“Always said if I rapped, I’d say something significant. But now I’m rapping ’bout money, hoes, and rims again.

-Kanye West, Breathe In, Breathe Out

Late Registration

West’s second album was closer in time as well as being similar in mood to the first one than any of the others. It can be argued that Late Registration was the artists first attempt at a declaration of independence. He attempted to return to the musical production style that was heavy with recognizable soul samples but he also struggled to come to grips with the allure of the new, more elaborate production equipment that he previously had limited access to. On this offering, West featured label-mates almost exclusively and seemed to enjoy the idea of never being outshone. He only risked being outdone on the remix of Diamonds from Sierra Leone by his boss, which is to be expected. Most fans found it refreshing that he maintained the collegiate theme and his previous commercial success combined with the albums singles receiving heavy radio-play caused his fan base to grow exponentially. This period of his life was a lot like a young child who wants so badly to go to school because he sees his older siblings going to school but not knowing at all what it is about. He would later open up to the fans about his emotions during this period in a song on his 3rd studio album, entitled Big Brother:

“On the diamonds remix I swore I spazzed, then Big Brother came through and kicked my ass”

Kanye West, Big Brother

“I guess Beans’ style was more of a slam dunk, and my shit was more like a finger roll”

Kanye West, Big Brother

Graduation

On the third studio album, Graduation, the son of the late Donda West began pop-star puberty and gave us the studio equivalent of a son coming home with his first mohawk, earring, or tattoo: Stronger. This song represented the creative culmination of being exposed to too much, too soon. Stronger was actually celebrated by many critics because it bridged gaps into forms of music that were new to many hip-hoppers. That being said, it reminded a lot of his fans of the story so often retold in their communities; a story of a person who comes into money and starts hanging out with their more well-endowed friends versus bringing their old friends from the neighborhood along to enjoy their successes. Technically, there is no problem with making new friends or deciding to expand one’s circle of connections. The problem that many people have had with the choices of the rapper now known as “Yeezy” is that he conducts himself in a manner that indicates that he has graduated from something OK into something better. The idea that his new friends are better, or that its better to sample Daft Punk than Otis Redding is insulting to the people who enjoyed his music previously. This was the basis of the backlash surrounding his lyrics from the song, Gold Digger, in which he references his view that black males with money are now more eligible to indulge in their preference for white women over black ones. It was during the era of this album and the months that followed until the release of his latest album that Ye exhibited most of his acting out behavior as well as making outlandish statements concerning his own place in history, both in the mainstream media and through his personal blog.

“They gon’ keep calling and trying, but you stay right girl. And when he get on, he’ll leave your ass for a white girl”

Kanye West, Gold Digger

808’s & Heartbreak

The fourth and most recent offering from Kanye West is 808’s & Heartbreaks and it signals the late teen phase and early adulthood of the artist. He now finds himself in wildly idealistic place that says that if recording a full studio album of singing simple melodies with the help of the much popularized auto-tune effect and in the process, forsaking his successful collegiate theme feels like the right thing to do, he has no choice but to do it. That being said, we leave it to history to decide to what extent this platinum album that has received harsh criticism from fans, musicians and journalists alike fits into the expansive category of successful albums.

2007 and 2008 brought a handful of gems, musically speaking. Brother Ali’s Undisputed Truth, Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool and Talib Kweli’s Eardrum are three examples of where hip-hop should be heading. Poetic lyricism and flow based out of concern for where society and hip-hop is going, coupled with soulful and cutting production, magnified the lyrics and gave listeners a true compass by which to measure issues inside and outside of the genre. Social ideals, political motives and moral quandaries were covered with great depth and concern. As with anything, the pendulum did swing in the opposite direction and gave hip-hop the “auto-tune” phenomenon, continued gangster rap and partially mainstreamed the concept of the “backpack rapper.”

In addition to musical hybridizations and the continuation of hip-hop staples, society itself, and its infinitely powerful indirect method of changing everything around it, can’t be overlooked in its relation to hip-hop. As history has a beautiful, and awful, habit of repeating itself we as a society have witnessed the degradation and seemingly devolving nature of today’s populace. Crime seems to be more prevalent, media find themselves bowing to the overwhelming power of the “if it doesn’t bleed it doesn’t lead” motto, moral standards seem to constantly being pushed into an ever-widening grey area as witnessed through media like television, radio, movies, music and what the general population seem to dub as currently acceptable. The divorce rate has never been higher, religion is being increasingly marginalized, the economy has fallen to shambles and education as a whole has taken the back seat to discretionary defense spending and pork-barrel projects that short-sighted congresspeople prioritize over books, pencils and teachers’ salaries.

Picasso painted “Guernica” in 1937 after the bombing of the Guernica, Spain by German bombers. The piece illustrates the pain and suffering that the atrocity caused and encapsulates the ethos therein of the region. In the same vein, our media reflects the general attitudes that we, as a society and as an aggregate, are proponents of. Rap has been on a lyrical decline since its golden age; so without a proper segue in tow I’m just going to get this record spinning – what will 2009 bring to hip-hop? Aside from the scathing critiques every journalism professor I’ve ever had would give me regarding using a question mark in a lead I think they’d agree that hip-hop is c-walking down a path that is mainstreaming the genre into something highly unrecognizable.

Busta Rhymes trying to assert his inner…what, baller? Yes, he is one of the most successful rap artists of the last couple decades with his signature machine gun-flow and maniacally goofy demeanor but Arab Money is a departure from the Trevor Smith Jr. that gave us The Coming or even his later stuff off of The Big Bang. Sure, every rapper acknowledges the hustle, but the man’s career has been successful because he’s played the role of rap’s jester, through lyricism and production, successfully. Busta Rhymes is not a “hustle-focused” artist; he’s way too old to start trying to reshape his image into a thug with cash, even if he is – and that’s assuming it’s a decent idea to try in the first place.

Kanye stole a page from George Lucas’ playbook and brought us a true trilogy with College Dropout, Late Registration and Graduation – but now hardly raps. It may be the “creative direction” that he needed to go in as an artist to stay dynamic but the auto-tune, that it seems he’s used more on 808’s & Heartbreak than T-Pain did on Thr33 Ringz, has killed Ye as a rapper. As a producer and lyricist, he’s been successful; and 808’s commercially was – but regardless of units sold I still can’t see Heartless having staying power over All Falls Down, Diamonds from Sierra Leone or Homecoming.

Common has always been the archetypal intellectual artist. Soulful production coupled with multi-layered lyrics have always been what has made Common so uncommon. That being said, Universal Mind Control was a mixed bag made of ones and zeroes. The few caveats the album yielded were that the title is an obvious social statement aimed at the interplay between the music industry and the American psyche – and a few of the tracks yielded content to support that. The shocking and unsettling part was the juxtaposition of the production with Common’s usual lyricism. Like Water for Chocolate or Finding Forever were albums that showcased Common’s silky flow with melodic production. UMC, produced almost exclusively by The Neptunes, has a dense, electronic sound to it that clashes with Common’s voice like Ja Rule at a 50 Cent concert. Whether it was a label move to sell more units that changed the album’s direction or whether it was Common bowing to the ever-increasing pressure of popularizing your sound to what’s currently hot it was a move that created a true hybrid. But the production and voice of UMC are mutually exclusive and simply don’t complement each other.

All three instances show artists moving themselves, and their music, towards a more club and radio friendly market. The commercial success of Tha Carter III, Paper Trail, Trilla and others favor a more mainstream sound that is leaving the more stripped-down boom-bap style of production for a multi-layered, overproduced, melodic string and synth sound; coupled with an industry that measures success not in the staying power of albums but in how long singles can float them on Billboard’s charts gives us our current hip-hop climate. Musical homophony has been juiced to the nth degree – instead of a classic Dre beat with a bass kick, some snares and piano we now have strings, a synth and guitar providing the meat of the harmony with a bass kick, multiple drum lines and at least one set of vocals for the hooks and chorus – oh, and autotune.

Out of the 10 best selling hip-hop albums of the past year, each and every one of them has a single on them that is a perfect example of this new sound of hip-hop. I am conceding that every album has at least one single ready for mass consumption on it but at least three quarters of the whole album has the same production style to it. The Cool had Superstar, The Recession had Circulate, LAX had My Life and Graduation had Stronger.

With trending going in the direction it is I see 2009 being a year much like the past one – mainstream artists continue to make our heads bob with club-friendly songs and more independent artists slowly and with hesitation but nonetheless bow to industry pressure to align themselves with the more accepted hip-hop sound. When the pendulum will swing the other direction and allow for an exodus for more independent artists to get away from the norm I don’t know. Much like the U.S. economy it could be next year or it could be five away but the longer it takes for that pendulum to swing in the other direction the more retention pop hip-hop will have and the less Forever we as listeners will have to Find.

Nas said hip-hop was dead then brought it back. Ice-T said iSouljaboytellem.com killed it. David Banner said hip-hop lives in the South, Jay said its BK. Whatever you believe about it, whomever you’re a fan of, ranging from Rakim to Colby O’Donis, there is no debate that hip-hop as an institution is growing. Hip-hop has infiltrated the American psyche, Apple commercials, international fashion, advertising, nightlife, grammar, culture and the White House. It unites people of all colors, religions, locations and languages under its banner and despite disagreement over where it’s headed, if that direction is where it should go or how it sounds there can be no debate that what hip-hop has accomplished for itself, and for all of its listeners, is truly great. Nas has never been more wrong, you can’t kill hip-hop. Hip-hop is undefeatable.