Hittman: The TRAGIC Story Of Dr. Dre’s Former Protégé

[thegooddoc]

This guy was able to be part of one of the best hip hop albums of all time.  He wrote some great stuff for Dre, probably should have kept to ghostwriting. 

[Tony Trey]

So I'm listening to Murda Weapon (Thanks to Tha Crip's thread above!) for first time in probably 15 years and my feelings on Hitt remain the same.  He never had the "It" factor.  In fact, he might be the least "It" factor Aftermath signee ever.  I really don't know what Dre saw in him.  This album would have been an absolute bomb if it had come out after 2001 and Dre was right to shelve it.  I just hope for Hitt's sake he still gets some kind of residuals for his writing on 2001.

The only truly tragic Aftermath story, in my opinion, is Bishop Lamont.  He had a ton of underground/internet hype before signing with Dre and then his career never recovered after leaving.

[Sccit]

So I'm listening to Murda Weapon (Thanks to Tha Crip's thread above!) for first time in probably 15 years and my feelings on Hitt remain the same.  He never had the "It" factor.  In fact, he might be the least "It" factor Aftermath signee ever.  I really don't know what Dre saw in him.  This album would have been an absolute bomb if it had come out after 2001 and Dre was right to shelve it.  I just hope for Hitt's sake he still gets some kind of residuals for his writing on 2001.

The only truly tragic Aftermath story, in my opinion, is Bishop Lamont.  He had a ton of underground/internet hype before signing with Dre and then his career never recovered after leaving.

i would argue that bishop lamont had even less of the it factor than hittman

[Tony Trey]

i would argue that bishop lamont had even less of the it factor than hittman

Wow.  That's the first time I've heard anyone say that about Bishop.  I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree.

[Sccit]

Wow.  That's the first time I've heard anyone say that about Bishop.  I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree.

what stands out to u about bishop?

it’s been said here plenty

[h2k4]

i would argue that bishop lamont had even less of the it factor than hittman

100% agree with this. I found nothing appealing in Bishop's music but he's definitely a lyricist. Hittman atleast had great features on 2001 but there is no way I could see him carry an entire album on his own.

[Sccit]

100% agree with this. I found nothing appealing in Bishop's music but he's definitely a lyricist. Hittman atleast had great features on 2001 but there is no way I could see him carry an entire album on his own.

hittman had more of that classic style that’s easy to vibe to

u didn’t like murder weapon??

[dnjp4life]

I would say that Bishop Lamont has more charisma and energy, and therefore more of a mic presence than Hittman. That’s not to take away anything from Hittman as I have liked what I heard from him and he’s an integral part of the Chronic 2001 album.

It is a damn shame that Bishop Lamont never blew up, he deserved to and had all the right ingredients in my opinion. If Detox had dropped when it was supposed to, it would have been a whole different story.

[Detox Is A Myth!!!]

I would say both Hitt and Bishop lack fun factor. Do you actually have fun listening to their music? Having said that, I think Hitt is more fun than Bishop. Bishop is so self-serious. Hitt was the epitome of a guest artist, like Lloyd Banks. I think Bishop could've worked out as a guest artist, too, but I'm unsure if he had the humility to let that happen. Based on 2001, obviously Hitt was comfortable at the start playing a supporting role.

I think the hardest thing for an A&R to find is an rapper/artist who is fun and entertaining. It's not about who has the best lyrics, it's really about who can make the listener enjoy listening to you for three or four minutes straight. You have to have that fun factor to get an audience to listen to you for that long, especially with today's shorter attention spans.

[dnjp4life]

Bishop Lamont most definitely had a fun factor and his sense of humor was/is evident throughout a lot of his output. 

Remember that Team America mixtape he had, that was goofy as hell at times but entertaining, lyrical and with a fun concept, if not veering into the ridiculous at some points.

I won’t accept anyone saying he’s boring or a one-dimensional rapper.  Those mixtapes he put out during 2006-2010 or so had album-level tracks on there (some of which were probably meant to be on his debut but he got
impatient and perhaps realised Dre wasn’t going to release them maybe, in which case, he’s quite clever).

He had tracks like ‘Grow Up’ which were mature and introspective, stuff on the Shawshank Redemption mixtape which dealt with race and other social issues, diss tracks like ‘Missile Testing’, club tracks such as ‘I Dominate’ and a ton of braggadocios raps.  All whilst working with some of the best producers around.

So yeah, Bishop Lamont is a multi-dimensional rapper with tons of charisma and Dr. Dre missed a trick by not going all in with him and releasing his album.

[Gyruss]

Plus Bishop had beter and more futuristic (DJ Khalil produced?) beats then Hittman

[Tony Trey]

Bishop Lamont most definitely had a fun factor and his sense of humor was/is evident throughout a lot of his output. 

Remember that Team America mixtape he had, that was goofy as hell at times but entertaining, lyrical and with a fun concept, if not veering into the ridiculous at some points.

I won’t accept anyone saying he’s boring or a one-dimensional rapper.  Those mixtapes he put out during 2006-2010 or so had album-level tracks on there (some of which were probably meant to be on his debut but he got
impatient and perhaps realised Dre wasn’t going to release them maybe, in which case, he’s quite clever).

He had tracks like ‘Grow Up’ which were mature and introspective, stuff on the Shawshank Redemption mixtape which dealt with race and other social issues, diss tracks like ‘Missile Testing’, club tracks such as ‘I Dominate’ and a ton of braggadocios raps.  All whilst working with some of the best producers around.

So yeah, Bishop Lamont is a multi-dimensional rapper with tons of charisma and Dr. Dre missed a trick by not going all in with him and releasing his album.

Bingo. I'm not understanding how people can accuse Bishop of not having a fun factor or a sense of humor. It's like they never actually listened to his body of work. He was able to bounce back and forth between being funny, gangsta, political, and dirty, all while have top notch lyrics. When I was talking him up to a bunch of my friends back in the day, I described him as a black Eminem.

[WCThang]

Knoc-turn'al was better than both Hittman and Bishop

[Sccit]

I would say both Hitt and Bishop lack fun factor. Do you actually have fun listening to their music? Having said that, I think Hitt is more fun than Bishop. Bishop is so self-serious. Hitt was the epitome of a guest artist, like Lloyd Banks. I think Bishop could've worked out as a guest artist, too, but I'm unsure if he had the humility to let that happen. Based on 2001, obviously Hitt was comfortable at the start playing a supporting role.

I think the hardest thing for an A&R to find is an rapper/artist who is fun and entertaining. It's not about who has the best lyrics, it's really about who can make the listener enjoy listening to you for three or four minutes straight. You have to have that fun factor to get an audience to listen to you for that long, especially with today's shorter attention spans.

murder weapon is a very easy listen and enjoyable in a “fun” way .. i thought bishop was talented, but more of a chore to listen to. neither had the it factor to really blow up as a superstar, but hittman def had the potential to be a king t level underground west coast legend …. that was always his comp to me

[Sccit]

Knoc-turn'al was better than both Hittman and Bishop

knoc-turnal had the it factor, no doubt

he had the character, the voice, the charisma, the originality

the only issue wit knoc was that as an emcee, he wasn’t on that level … it was the one thing holding him back

his biggest hit was bad intentions, which he’s only singing the chorus on

his bread and butter was hooks and he shoulda took more of a nate dogg route imo