The state of Hip Hop

[jay-d]

This thread makes me feel old..

Beautiful tune!!

I also love Passing Me By!

[JonnyWyshbone]

There are still lots of high quality emcees out there and plenty of quality hip hop made.... Just don't expect to hear it on mainstream radio or see it on TV (as if they even play music videos on TV anymore).

Lots of artists that made an impact are still doing their thing... I mean De La Soul (minus Maseo) just put out another album - First Serve. Common put out an album, The Roots put out an album not long ago, Pete Rock & Smif n Wessun put out an album not long ago. Ghostface is still doing it. Raekwon's got a label and signed Toronto's own JD Era. The list can go on and on. A lot of the producers that painted the beatscape of the 90's are still producing. Guys like Pete Rock, DJ Premier, Diamond D, Large Professor, Pycho LES etc...

You have lots of quality music from J-Live, 9th Wonder, Nottz, MED, Elzhi, Kev Brown, Blu etc etc... Lots of great stuff out there. Even look locally - Did you get that New North album featurng some of Toronto's finest?

I think the problem is not that good hip hop no longer exists, it's just that pop culture is so in your face that maybe its hard to see past it.

To a degree, it is a generational thing... That late 80's, early 90's golden era sound is what I will always go back to but there have been some great artists to come out since then, you just got to look for it and understand that the music has evolved.

All awesome points, I don't know if it's my own ignorance why I never bothered to try and look to see if those artists had done anything lately, or like you said that the mainstream vending machine stuff is flooding my universe. I remember back in the day visiting my uncle in Brooklyn, he would always give me Red Alert mix tapes to come back up with. I got tons of Elzhi's stuff and i still pull out Dilla's stuff on a reg. I would love to get some of the hip hop channels on my box but for what Rogers wants for it they can go **** themselves. Chek out what i found the other day, too bad I don't have anything that plays cassettes! Any one else have any tapes to show?

[dr_sarcasm]

too bad I don't have anything that plays cassettes! Any one else have any tapes to show?

Lol, my winter beater has a cassette player - still listen to old school tunes that way.

[rutakin]

There are still quality hip hop shows on 89.5 and there are a bunch on 105.5. RIP 88.1.

Check G98.7

they are trying to move to 88.1 but you can catch them on line too

original 93.5 founders.

[dr_sarcasm]

original 93.5 founders.

The good ol days, when they weren't a watered down 103.5.

[rutakin]

The good ol days, when they weren't a watered down 103.5.

That's why they got their own station. Mark n Gem in the morning, DR Jay and Specks... etc...


http://g987fm.com/

[killerkeith]

I feel that there's just nothing of substance to rap about these days that hasn't already been perfected other than slapping the latest b*itch or ho. I miss Chuck D.

[AGAVE]

Lol, my winter beater has a cassette player - still listen to old school tunes that way.

My BEST car has a stock cassette player.
Got some good stuff too, Quiet Riot, The Police, Led Zeppelin, The Smiths, U2, i even have some Rap! DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince!

[2live&ride]

i even have some rap! dj jazzy jeff & the fresh prince!

lol...

[toshison]

Chek out what i found the other day, too bad I don't have anything that plays cassettes! Any one else have any tapes to show?

Nice find. Like Water for Chocolate is a 100% bonafied classic. I've always been of the mind that Ressurection was the ultimate Common album but Like Water for Chocolate is right up there and I'd call it a tie. It is a complete masterpiece. Dilla at his finest and Common in deep introspective mode. What is kinda funny though is that's from 2000 so you were still buying tapes in 2000??

I DJ'd and was a diggin in the crates kind of guy so I have lots of hip hop vinyl spanning late 80's up to about 2003/4. After than went digital. Its sort of sad in a way that the days of going to the record store to see whats new is long past. Play De Record use to be jam packed on thursday nights but now I walk into that place and so much has changed.

I still mix a little bit here and there and have been long overdue in making something current. If I do, I will post it up here.

For Cassettes, I still got dual pioneer deck for dubbing tapes and one of those Panasonic Shockwave walkman's that pump so much bass out, your ears sweat.

[kanabis]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...4ftn4PArg#t=0s

The Good ol'days.....

[ep1x]

It is out of style now. That's all. Rap is gone (for now)
Haven't you noticed the "new music" sounds like 80's pop all over again?

something speaks to me that you blast this track in your car with the windows rolled down on the gardiner expressway during rush hour bumper-2-bumper.

[JonnyWyshbone]

I remember when Play D was the only place in town to get real Phillies blunts!! Those were the days, I remember sitting at home with my finger on the VCR record button waiting for Master T and Roxy to come on Extendamix, T. McGee! Or when Electric Circus used to have the break battles? Frig good times

[JonnyWyshbone]

something speaks to me that you blast this track in your car with the windows rolled down on the gardiner expressway during rush hour bumper-2-bumper.

Lol 4 real XD

[oomis]

Hell no! He sucks.

Good. Then I'm in the right thread.

[nfq]

[RockerGuy]

I only use to listen to Rock, when most of my friends were listening to Rap. Hence the name.

But I really liked Gangsta Rap. Loved DMX, enjoyed Fugees, lol. Laryn Hill was one of the few female rappers that I liked.

Liked Bone Thugs when I just want to chill.

[nakkers]

Hip hop was awesome before it became popular and commercial. It's why it became popular. When it busted out, a lot more good stuff came out of it. But, that also was it's demise (in being popular) as we're always searching for something different, the latest, the greatest. If you look for it, you'll find some great hip hop artist out there. It just may not capture the heyday of it's time is all.

[JonnyWyshbone]

Bonita Applebum, ya gotta put me on, Bonita, bonita, bonita! does anyone remember the name of the roller rink we used to have in scarbs? Rooooll bounce!

[awyala]

Puff Daddy was the prophet of the bling movement that killed hip hop, and the irony is that his deciples were the second generation of founders, Nas and Jay Z. It seems their gritty expression of sub culture life gave way to the classic curse of the "nouveau riche". Nas reluctantly joined in after the collapse of the Firm, but he did attempt to ride over the wave with a sad attempt at meaningful self aggrandizement, but then eventually conceded defeat to the Bling movement in the form of Jay Z, and then went back to the basics, the core, the street expression.

Puff, the Trump of hip hop almost single handedly kicked off the ridiculous generation of talentless money chasers, as the copy cat south (excluding of course Goodie Mob and Outcast), but rather the likes of No Limit, and Cash Money went on a hip hop murdering rampage, one of their infoamous captives was the low life bottom porn feeding Snoop. For years, abandoned out in the wild Westside, with no guidance from Dre, or Suge, or Tupac, was found defenseless to maintain his street cred when the pathetic call of "uuuuuggggh na na na na" was heard nation wide! The No Limit golden tank sealed the occupation of the nation of hip hop, leaving real rap a struggling underground resistance movement.

Ironically, it's poetic that rap has returned to its expressive angst driven political and social roots, and fittingly we see hip hop heros like Immortal at the 99% movement speaking in an intellectual and articulate manner!

Rap is where it should be. It is very much alive and back home!

The current crop of hip hop pretenders, the most sinister because they proport to represent hip hop, are not the likes of Soulja Boi or those hacks, but rather: Jay Z (who aside from selling drugs was never street! Instead always posing on a speed boat with champagne from the onset), Kanye (infected by his Roc ego, sadly has now hijacked his freshmen talent), Weezy (what can only be the puss infected remains of the Cash Money pimple), Drake (the industry networking / pr spawn of Weezy; the Eminem to his Dre, if you will. No TO rapper who put years in the game respects Drake, but rather they have been mesmerized with the free ride they thought they could get off Drake and the possible spotlight he could have brought to TO. Sadly for the likes of Saukrates, Maestro, Kardy, and even K-Os...the pillars of TO hiphop with over 15 years to their name, Drake dusted them off for his American, and Forest Hill roots) and finally Snoop (milking his "Dawg Father" status amongst pot heads, he brought the word "pimp" to infamy rather than using his voice to speak about real social issues. Aside from his vestigial ties to Suge, NWA, and Tupac, this clown represents nothing but his own perversions and will cash in, in any manner at his disposal).

And Puffy, what of the prophet of "bling", he became pseudo-corporate, err I mean reality-TV, err I mean a fashionista, err I mean a broke flailing has-been back to his peddling roots ("bad boy and ya don't stop"ing his way over the shoulder of other artists like Craig Mac, Mary J, and Biggie......currently having a real hard time with Dirty Money. Hence my likening him to Trump and his many sleezy smoke and mirrors, baseless comebacks)