After letting me sit and be lazy for about five minutes Kwane snapped me out of my procrastination and suggested we listen to this new tape he got earlier today. There was nothing else to do, and as far as I was concerned, writing this album could wait so I agreed. It was some new rapper, a guy that I had heard about on the radio a couple of times but never really listened to, his name was Biggie Smalls, and the album was “ready to die”.
Sixty minutes of Pure Fire by the end of the first side of the cassette I was so inspired amazed that all I could do was just sit with my boy Kwane and wonder aloud why I had never heard him before. Every song from beginning to end was just so much better than anything that I have ever heard, but there was one song above all others on that tape that was able to shoot me with the cupid arrow that would make hiphop and I musical soul mates, forever connected..
Notorious B.I.G: Juicy
Before you knew it I was engulfed in this thing we call hiphop from 94-99. I must have just engulfed myself in hiphop, Kwane and I would take turns buying the newest albums, if we didn’t have the money to buy the albums we would just record the songs when they played on the radio. Hot 97 and The Source was the end all to be all at the time. Since we couldn’t afford to buy the source all of the time we would go to the library and read whatever issues they had there. It seemed like everyday I learned something new about hiphop, and everyday my connection with it grew stronger. Through some of the hardest times in my life, hip hop was always there for me. There were times when all I really had was hiphop.
I remember the sad day’s when I was a prisoner in my own house, the only escape I had was my music, I lay on my back stare at the ceiling and just let the music flow through me, Too Shorts “back in the day” “2Pacs keep your head up”, and the notorious B.I.G. “suicidal thoughts” were some of the songs that help me through my tough times. When I wanted to hear about the struggle, all I had to do was pop in my N.W.A cassette. Not every story was the same, but I could understand and respect everyone because they all had something unique to say and they all had their own way to say it. Some artist spit fast like Jay-Z (when he first came out) or some spit with a calculating flow, so you would be forced to pay attention (like Rakim), some rhymed with intelligence and Vocabulary, while others kept the profanity and bravado at an excess. I ate slept and breathed hiphop it was all that I ever needed to get through the day’s. For me 94-99 was the golden age, but just like any relationship things began to lag a little bit.
When she first entered my world, her she defined the lives and creativity of so many artist, and now in my eyes at the least she was just a reflection of a good marketing plan and strong singles. There was a time when rappers were judged by their lyrical skill, content, delivery, and flow, but now a rappers skill is based on their record sale’s, you can be a rapper who never wrote your own song, who never spit a hot sixteen, and as long as you could make a catchy hook and sell records you were in there. A love that I once thought was only shared between myself and hiphop was now being whored around for everyone to get a taste of. Lyrical trains of no skill and content were being ran through her and it was ok, my love almost faded.
I still love her, I always will its not something that I can just turn off. Hiphop is my first and last, the alpha and omega, she has changed in ways that I may never respect and understand, she may have lost her way, just like I did at times, but throughout the changes when things seemed grim she always fount a way to reach me. I almost turned my back on hiphop it just seemed like the love that we had before was gone, and that she had changed to much for me to accept, but like other relationships, the promise of improvement kept me here. So now that the relationship is once again on life support, I sit here and have to ask myself, do I still love her?
Erik B. & Rakim: Paid In Full
COMMENTS
Good article but it's just like every other "hip hop is dead" article.
That's was a hott! I feel you on that article. Real talk...
I remember creative cuts like Big's "Me and my bitch" and
Nas's "I gaveyou Power"...
Also heart felt cuts like Ghostface's "all that I got", 2pac's "dear mam" and "keep ya head up"...
It just seems like sadly those days of hip hop are gone and we're stuck with "IMAGES and Wealth status'" now.
But like always... everything comes back around. I just pray that I'm still alive when this current shit gets played out and real hip hop comes back!
In the meantime...
Be Eazy
Say Word, Son! I'm frustrated wit' all da average rap out there. Shit some of these mixtapes out here r better dan deez fucken albums. But I'm hopin 4 better dayz, cuz it's been a drought of quality rap, and we da consumers r makin deez fucken rap posers millions and keepin em paid. It's like if we keep supportin' dis below average shit, dat's all they'll keep servin' us. Some people need 2 fucken awaken themselves from dis fucken trend we got goin'. Or maybe even better educate y'allselves wit' some fucken decent rap(4 example:Rakim, KRS-1, da ol' shit) maybe then will u have a comparison of how fucken amazin' dis rap shit can b. Jah Bless, y'all!
I laughed at your post Ol Skoo. You said this "Some people need 2 fucken awaken themselves from dis fucken trend we got goin'. Or maybe even better educate y'allselves wit' some fucken decent rap." You said all this shit and still type like a retard. I guess your stuck in this "trend."
YYYYYYYYYYYYY QUE TE AVLE A SI OL SKOOL...YYYY NO MAMES GUEY HAHAHA
ok really Julio can you speak english, this isnt Mexico
QUE TYRON?
lol good comeback you got that one
Phatty Kid, alright you BOUGIE, motherfucker, "Retarded", that's how you come back. I'll put a band aid over your left cheek and make you my Nelly. Please if your commenting on how I type shit on the net, that's fucken pathetic "dawg". That's just my chat, but you ain't even really about all that, so why waste my time. But this how I get down, come see me, I'll proof read all your shit if that's what you need, or maybe you want some English lessons. So here goes your first lesson, and take notes dumb ass, "I use2 speak da King's English, but caught a rash on my lip, so now chat jus' like dis". C, lesson 1, ur ass obvioiusly understood my chat, but ur bougie ass is caught up in pleasin' da master, but I can't and will never anybody's bitch, or a House Negro(get yourself educated on some Malcolm X shit). I take pride in my chat, maybe u should take pride in ur culture, or jus' do whatchu use2 doin', CONFORMIN'. The MAN'll letchu in someday, dumb asss muffucka!!! And me and La Fam r from Califas cabron, so best belie' dat we gon talk in 1 our native tongue, and 2 we still c dis as Mexico ova here, and anybody dat wanna differ, come get at us, cuz we itchin' 4 a Revolution in dis muffucka. Cuz out here dat's how muffuckas get down!!! Viva La Raza!
Dude this is a hiphop website, are you serious??
calmala homes...pinche ol skool,calm down foo,this aint da streets ese...is a web site homes...nutin seriouse hahaha im just havin fun wit it haha...but i still got chu though ay..stay up
Latino's run this, nigga!
THE GOLDEN AGE OF HIP-HOPIS 94-99 JUST LIKE YOU SAID. I FEEL THAT THAT JUST LIKE A FEMALE WHAT EVER IS MORE THAN LESS SHE WILL RUN W/ THAT AND IF IT'STRUE IT WILL COME BACK TO YOU THEN IT'S YOURS. BUT JUST LIKE ONE OF THE GREAT ONES SHE WIL ONLY BE AT HER BEST WHEN SHE IS GIVIN' THAT RIGHT PATH . EX, LIKE FOR YOUR FIRST LOVE YOU MAKE SURE YOUR FEELING WON'T GET HURT MEANING TREAT HER LIKE A LADY WHEN YOURHEART GETS BROKEN THAT CAN CHANGE THE WHOLE VEIW ON THE WAY THINGS GET HANDLED.IF SHE WANT TO GO LET HER DON'T FOLLW OR OBSESS OVER THE FACT SHE IS GONE LIKE ALOT OF PEOPL WHO ARE DOING IT LIKE WOMAN WHO GETS SWEPT OF HER FEET.BRING BACK LOVE INTHIS GAME IS BRINGING IT BACK TO THE TIME WHEN WE WERE FIRST INFATUATED W/ IT WEDID WHAT WE COULD DOTO KEEP IT INTERSTING..THINK ABOUT THE TIME WHEN WE THE LOVE OF UOR LIVES WHAT HAPPEND AFTERTHE COMFORTABILTY WAS ESTABLISHED. JUST LIKE THEN GOLDEN AGE OF HIP-HOP
WHEN IT IS ATIT'S BEST IT IS LOVED..
aint nobody tryin to relive those moments everyone wants hiphop to die aperently, even the wakest rappers care more than we do and das redick i swere.
hiphop is on lifesupport.
and it is residing in the sothern bosses 1st general
RESPECT
dont get it twisted tho hip hop was always bout the money, hip hop a career jus like any other brotha BIG would tell u that shit himself no question