Hating...

‘…hate is so familiar to me; I’m slowly embracing it…’ Drake

What’s good peeps?!

Now I know this one is going to have some mixed responses but it’s a pet peeve of mine… At what point did telling wak rappers they were wak become against the HipHop law?!

As HipHop fans we do have some really strange ideas about most things but hey! Follow them through & they generally become trends! My main issue is if you’re not very good at what you’re doing then it’s only fair that you accept criticism for being, well, not very good…

I get the whole swagger thing… HipHop has always been intertwined with bling, fast cars & the cliché champagne lifestyle. I didn’t particularly appreciate that then or now but who in their right mind would disrespect Big Daddy Kane, Slick Rick or Rakim for some of the imagery they put across? Not Me! To me those dudes are legends. This is where I think the old school & the new school draw a line in the proverbial sand…
Most of these emcees & singers in the game these days do not have that talent or skill, but they are able to hide behind the ‘oh, you’re just a hater…’ phrase when pulled up on said lack of ability.  The emcees I mentioned rocked crowds, made genre defining music & showed off like no one’s business! They have earned that standing… but with the exception of a few top businessmen/rappers, there are not many out there that should be allowed to escape!

This hating phenomenon has blurred the lines so much that if you earn money from the music you make, then you are officially a don! A great! If you’re grinding all year promoting your weak material then that’s commendable… go do your thing! Unfortunately, the fact is, it doesn’t make your music good. The Birdie Song made loads of money but no one is saying that The Tweets were musical geniuses! In the same breath, commercial radio music makes a lots of money for most involved but does not mean you’re Quincy Jones.

Let’s look at this practically for a second; whilst in Music College I was given a fact that explained everything I needed to know about the industry. Madonna had a number one single out that sold over 500,000 units when released. That same single was knocked off the number spot the following week but a band called Pulp with a song that sold less than 50,000 units. What this means is that on the initial release of these mainstream records, you have to promote like crazy to get the most sales in that time period. After that, it’s the next hot song that comes down the media machine. Hhmmmm… You have a reality TV program that creates a fan base for the next wanna be pop star by using phone line money to promote & distribute the winner. There’s a readymade fan base for said artist (I use the term loosely) & they can hit the industry ground running… Fact is, how many winners have you seen? Now count how many have actually made successful albums? Forget about whether the album was good…! And this is from a common denominator type of pop music that should appeal to the *general public (*sheep)! Hhhmmmmm…..

Once ‘the critic’ was reduced to being ‘the hater’, all quality control went out of the window. Truth has been replaced by Success. Back in the days if an emcee thought another emcee was wak, he would call him out… write a punchline or sometimes a whole song about the perpetrator & they would battle, accept his criticism & work harder or just stop rapping period. Now rappers are so afraid of being put into the hater bracket that they no longer take these weaklings to task.

Someone like Fiddy (who took Ja Rule to task quite commendably. Thank you!) has epitomised the hater syndrome. Where he (IMO) lacks mic skills, he has a certain business acumen & also a half decent acting career to solidify his status. Jay-Z & ‘Diddy/Sean/Puffy/insert nickname this month’ are also incredibly gifted men & deserve the praise they get for earning what they earn… but it has to stop there. There needs to be a new line drawn because I think way too many people that consider themselves to be fans of real Hip Hop or even just rap music in general are giving way too much love to subpar material.  And before anyone says ‘he/she is alright still…’ fair enough. But how many tracks on their album do you skip? When they came to your city, did you go? Probably not…

My point is this; I’m not knocking business or making money in anyway but one… Do not try to pass yourself off as some kind of musical genius because you figured out a nursery rhyme style hook, went on 106 & convinced a few million kids that you’re the shiznit! (while writing this the Teflon Don keeps jumping into my head!). I despise the ‘get rich or die trying mentality as it subconsciously develops an all or nothing/black or white mentality but the majority of peeps live in the grey area while we are Getting By & Living Fine Doing It…

Keep the quality up people. No artist, no matter how good anyone thinks they are is above criticism or reproach….

Peace / Guidance (& a lil bit o’ Haterade)

1ne
Log!c

‘The One’ Slaughterhouse’

‘Nah Mean’ Damien Marley & Nas

‘Respiration’ BlackStar ft Common