Critical Minded

[STILLDRE IS THE GODFATHER]

Critical Minded
Thursday - July 24, 2003
J-23
The time is nearly upon us, the moment of truth, the dawning of a new era...in less than a week HHDX will be launching it’s brand new underground section. Guess who’s runnin’ the mothafuckin’ show? You gotdamn right, me! Tommy may be El Presidente but I’m leading the guerilla army. Expect big things. If you are an up and coming artist with some raw talent, you better holla at me for the opportunity of a lfetime. jeff.ryce@hiphopdx.com

Hey! Who knew that talent equals sales? That is what I have been informed as I found out that underground artists suck...that is why they are not on the radio or MTV. You didn’t know that? I suggest you get caught up. Aiight, all sarcasm aside, some people just don’t get it; talent has nothing to do with selling records. To quote Ras Kass (who knows better than anyone), “skills don’t pay the mothafuckin’ bills, money do/is you stupid?/how nice I represent don’t pay rent.” The average radio listener doesn’t care, or know, how clever Chino XL’s metaphors are. They don’t care that he can spit 100 bars without a breath. They care that they can sing along to Nelly’s choruses. Jay-Z ships platinum plus every time, I’ll be that no more than 50,000 units are bought for his rhymes. How many people gave a fuck about his Cold Crush references in “Izzo”? People cared about singing “h to the izzo, v to the izza.” Em, Jay and Nas don’t sell records because they are incredible emcees, they sell records because they know how to make hit songs. More importantly, the have the means (also known as $$$$$) to have those songs played in heavy rotation. 99% of the rappers out there don’t have those means and therefore never get spins on Hot97, no matter how dope it is. Flex needs new rims so you gotta hit’em in the pockets. The formula is simple; catchy beat + catchy hook + money to get it played in heavy rotation = new rap star. That is why so many of these fucks are so easily replaced. If Fabolous decides to follow his predecessors footsteps and give his life to God, his label A&R could walk outside his office and find one of 10,000 replacements in 30 seconds. Hey I can cat with rat, get me a throwback and a muthafuckin’ 7XL hat. Ha! Somebody give me a gotdamn deal! That shit could get me double platinum! Fuck money and blood, business and music don’t mix like two dicks and no bitch. “Exploit the art and watch hip-hop fall apart.”

With so few dope mainstream artists these days, think about how much better the commercial scene would be if Pac, big, Pun and Big L were still here. Yes, I know L was underground, but you know he was gonna blow. Speaking of which, time has certainly passed D.I.T.C. by hasn’t it? After putting out mad classics in the early to mid 90’s, shit has been stagnant for a minute now. Yo Finesse, can we get an album?

So Rakim and Aftermath split...is anyone surprised at this point? I think most should realize at this point that if Dre pushes an album back more than once, that shit ain’t dropping. I could care less if Hittman gets dropped, but this Rakim shit isn’t fair. I mean, I can’t know there is a Rakim & Dre album out there and not hear it. I’m glad Ra wouldn’t compromise his reputation though and put out some shit he didn’t believe in, just get with Primo and give us some of that raw shit.

It is always good to see The Source striving to keep their credibility, putting Benzino on their list of the top 115 artists. Don’t give that RSO shit, cause they aren’t even a footnote in hip-hop history. For the record, here are the only lists that Benzino deserves to be on:

“Best Artist At Turning A Great, Respectable Magazine Into a Worthless Stack of Papers That Are Better Off In A Fireplace.”

“Best Artist For Performing Hostile Takeover’s of Magazines And Then Using Them For Shameless and Undeserving Self-promotion Under The Guise of Good Journalism”

“Most Unworthy Artist To Ever Appear On The Source’s Cover”

“Best Artist For Pretending To Care About Hip-hop Culture All The While Exploiting It With His Magazine & Picking A Fight With Hip-hop’s Best Emcee In A Sad & Unsuccessful Attempt To Sell Albums”

“Best Exploitation of Their Own Son To Try & Compensate For Their Total Lack of Success As An Artist”

“Artists To Have Had Their Career Ended By Eminem”

“Artist To Take The Worst and Most Embarrassing Verbal Ass-Kicking”

“Rappers Who Should Have Never Picked Up A Mic”

I think that should about cover it. As for The Source though, they have really made astounding efforts to preserve and improve the essence of hip-hop since their big ‘State of Emergency’ haven’t they? Shit, I’m fucking inspired...I’m going to donate some organs.

It has been a while since I have done one of my lists, and that has seemed to make some of you very upset. I don’t like people reading my work with tears in their eyes, so here is my top 10 albums from one of hip-hop’s greatest years...1993

1.Wu-Tang Clan – Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
2.A Tribe Called Quest – Midnight Marauders
3.Snoop Doggy Dogg – Doggystyle
4.KRS-One – Return of the Boom Bap
5.De La Soul – Buhloone Mind State
6.Tha Alkaholiks – 21 & Over
7.Souls Of Mischief – 93 Til Infinity
8.Black Moon – Enta Da Stage
9.The Beatnuts – Intoxicated Demons
10.Masta Ace – Slaughtahouse

Honouralbe mentions go to: King Tee, Scarface, Geto Boys, Ultramagnetic, Onyx, Fat Joe, Del, Akinyele, Too Short and Cypress Hill cause they all made some ill shit.

Love me, hate me, feel free to tell me jeff.ryce@hiphopdx.com


 

[smartass]

With so few dope mainstream artists these days, think about how much better the commercial scene would be if Pac, big, Pun and Big L were still here.

wow notice how it always comes down to the same reason?
woulda, coulda, shoulda.

[OpTiCaL]

Critical Minded
top 10 albums from one of hip-hop’s greatest years...1993

1.Wu-Tang Clan – Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
2.A Tribe Called Quest – Midnight Marauders
3.Snoop Doggy Dogg – Doggystyle
4.KRS-One – Return of the Boom Bap
5.De La Soul – Buhloone Mind State
6.Tha Alkaholiks – 21 & Over
7.Souls Of Mischief – 93 Til Infinity
8.Black Moon – Enta Da Stage
9.The Beatnuts – Intoxicated Demons
10.Masta Ace – Slaughtahouse

Honouralbe mentions go to: King Tee, Scarface, Geto Boys, Ultramagnetic, Onyx, Fat Joe, Del, Akinyele, Too Short and Cypress Hill cause they all made some ill shit.

Love me, hate me, feel free to tell me jeff.ryce@hiphopdx.com


 

agree with that tho 93/94 has to be one of my fav times..a few honourable albums left out there but its been done before...wont add further.