All quiet on the Hip Hop Front?

Things have been pretty quiet on the Hip Hop front lately, besides what's been written in some of hip hops popular magazines. In the latest XXL I tripped out about the 50 Cent article, I mean, now he's dissing Jadakiss, saying that he's not a good artist because he can't get past 1,000,000 sales and saying that his artists (G-Unit) are better. I don't know who he's talking about; Lloyd is alright, Young Buck's rhymes are nursery level, and The GAME is cool but he's way overhyped. I'm sorry, but Jada could rip them all, even Lloyd, easy.

Then there is the whole Source/Eminem beef. The Source put out their Power 30 Issue, which I didn't buy. Ever since years ago Master P's house band Beats by the Pound was in there, but now aint nobody ever heard of those cats. I saw that the Power 30 reflected who was doing things at the moment. But the rap industry is like a revolving door; easy come, easy go. But there is the foundation; the industry, which they do cover well. It's cool to see the industry side, but its obvious that recently, the magazine is biased not just against Eminem, but also against people Benzino doesn't like. If Benzino doesn't like them, they don't make the list.

Benzino is wasting record company resources hyping his album, whatever it's called, I don't care, with the full page ads, advertising his latest waste of CD space, with his response to Eminem's equally dreary "Toy Soldiers" song called "Look Into My Eyes". He talks about how, "Oh poor me, I've struggled in the streets, Im mad nice, and nobody will buy my crappy records." Too funny. To me, "Toy Soldiers" sucks, and I couldn't care less about Benzino's response. Of course, the Source is the only magazine that pretends to care about anything Benzino does, and that's why its a joke.

Well, the Grammy's are coming up, Queen Latifah has finally arrived, with fame and all, and she's hosting the thing. That's better than some of the corny comedians who used to host it back in the day. I don't care for these award shows, they always get it wrong. Putting hip hop artists as R&B and gospel artists (not gospel rappers, they haven't gone there yet despite Kanye and Mase)as hip hop artists, and the hip hop vs. rap distinction they at least acknowledge, but they get the two confused. I don't expect much of a change, but according to Reuters, the Grammys Reflect Hip-Hop Culture. Despite this, I probably won't check for them.

I like this article, and this attitude is what I have always been about:Don't go with the trends in hip-hop; go with greatness True dat!

This is funny: But The Game’s advocates might say that he sounds soooo good reliving the past. Who knows? "The Documentary" may just do for gangsta rap what "Happy Days" did for the ‘50s, with The Game as the thug-life answer to The Fonz. Read more in this article dissing The GAME: The Game brings nothing new to hip-hop True enough. I like West Coast as much as any Cali resident, but really, I'd take Kurupt or Crooked I anyday. The Game's appeal comes from his houses getting shot up (a recent bit of gossip I caught on a message board)or that Vibe story where they document his real "thug life". That's cool and all, but to me, GAME just doesn't bring it.

Just a bit of the senseless violence that goes down in DC; this apparently from a neighborhood squabble. I saw this on the news and you had people fighting, doing drive-bys which led to the fighting, just a bunch of nonsense: 2 Teens Wounded In Shooting in SE

In another posting, I want to write my opinion of Bush's words in the State of the Union. I haven't been checking my hip hop sites, so I don't know the reaction:

Now we need to focus on giving young people, especially young men in our cities, better options than apathy, or gangs, or jail. Tonight I propose a three-year initiative to help organizations keep young people out of gangs, and show young men an ideal of manhood that respects women and rejects violence. (Applause.) Taking on gang life will be one part of a broader outreach to at-risk youth, which involves parents and pastors, coaches and community leaders, in programs ranging from literacy to sports. And I am proud that the leader of this nationwide effort will be our First Lady, Laura Bush.

I'll write more later.