Fashion (De) Evolution, One Big Oops, & Mystery Uncovered

What's going on kiddies?!  Good to have you back with me and all my opinionated-ness (for all of you English majors, I did that on purpose) for another week.  I wonder how everybody liked the first official weekend of the NFL regular season?  Although my people lost (Cowboy Nation always and forever), it was still an exciting time and awesome to have football back in full swing.  This week I'll be examine three different subjects.  The first one will be the somewhat downward spiral of hip-hop fashion.  The second subject will be the huge firestorm involving Grammy Award-winning artist Cee-Lo Green over a very controversial tweet.  The third subject involves the curtain being pulled down into the mystery of the identity of underground sensation Your Old Droog.  Let's start shall we??

I could've done an entire piece on this first one.  Fashion has been as big of a piece of hip-hop culture as anything else.  From the emerging popularity of Adidas due to Run-DMC to Cam'ron bringing the color pink to the overly macho hip-hop audience, fashion and style sense has been very integral in hip-hop.  Although like any other trend, most phases came and went.  In the eighties, we had the previously mentioned popularity Adidas, the gold rope chains that Eric B & Rakim and LL Cool J introduced, and the fisherman hats that LL and EPMD made contagious.  Let's also not forget about the hairstyles such as the notorious lean high-top fade (Kwame, anyone??).  The ladies had the huge bamboo earrings and some of the most regretful hairstyles in our culture, yet still fun and nostalgic to look at and reminisce about.

Once the nineties hit, we became even more innovative.  I was guilty of fads like the proverbial 'Hammer Pants', the afro-centric Cross Colors, and sneakers such as British Knights and the Reebok Pumps.  The culture also got introduced to more Black owned clothing companies such as Karl Kani and the guys behind Fubu.  However, we still got behind popular brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, Polo, and Nike to put hip-hop spins on clothing traditionally designed for White consumers.  For the ladies, names like Gucci, Prada, Louis Vatton, and Versace were made extremely popular by the likes of Lil' Kim and Foxy Brown, a far cry from prior b-girls like MC Lyte, Bahamadia, and Yo-Yo who were more about lyrics rather than promoting clothing and accessory brands that didn't enhance or uplift us as a culture.

However, once the new millennium emerged, we no longer wanted to make statements to make sense, we started, well, started looking stupid for the purpose of wanting to be "different".  It was circa 2003 that Cam'ron introduced pink into hip-hop.  He was literally draped in a pink Range Rover, pink Nikes, pink doo-rags, and just everything pink.  The next time we saw him, he was draped in purple.  Critics were pointing out that it was mainly to promote his Purple Haze album (his last truly dope album), but a lot of cats weren't really up on it too much.

Now we have truly hit our worst moment with Kanye West being in a skirt.  The image of him in a skirt and leggings and sneakers at a Hurricane Katrina concert in December of 2012 still haunts people to this day.  We thought that this period would be over with and never duplicated.  I wish I was right.  There have been pics and images of people in skirts, leggings, and the like and they truthfully think they're doing something big or breaking new ground.  There are fashion trends that make statements, and then there are trends that make us as a culture look very stupid and attention-needy.

We've seemingly started to take from cultures such as Goth and Grunge and tried to put hip-hop spins on them, and for the most part, they fail.  We need to geo back to being trendsetters and innovators that make sense and that defines us as true thinkers instead of spoofs and side shows.  For those that like to dress in skirts, leggings, and anything else overtly feminine, STOP IT!!!  At one time, hip-hop was among the most feared, yet intriguing, cultures and genres in the world, now with hip-hop going commercial and eventually corporate, we're sincerely non-threatening in this current day in age.  Let's not add looking like idiots on purpose for the sake of being "different".

Next up, the most heated backlash of this past week came from Grammy Award winner and Goodie Mob member Cee-Lo.  Cee-Lo went on Twitter and made very insensitive remarks about the subject of rape. This coming on the heels of his no contest plea of being accused of slipping ecstasy into a woman's drink and then waking up in bed with him with no recollection of events.  Here's an excerpt of what he tweeted, before he deleted it.

Is it disgraceful and tasteless?  Completely.  I'm completely about the first amendment and freedom of speech.  However, if you're famous and a celebrity, EVERYTHING you do and say gets scrutinized to the tenth power.  He apologized for his tweet but the fallout started to spread.  His sitcom "The Good Life" got cancelled by TBS and he has been dropped from benefit shows due to his comments.  If I'm Cee-Lo, I would lay low for a while and let the fire settle.  Comments like that will make him lose the majority of his female audience, maybe even all of them.  I'm a fan of ol' Shuga Lo, but this was a big mistake.  Here's to hoping he can recover from this situation and making new music, whether it's with Gnarls Barkley, the Goodie Mo boys, or solo.

Now, we have the unlocked mystery of arguably the most talked about underground artist in the game right now, Your Old Droog.  Earlier this year, this young cat dropped an EP that was quite heralded but one thing stood out more than anything: how much this kid sounded like Nas.  The EP showcased the SUPERB lyricism of this guy but very quickly the Internet was buzzing about the identity of him.  His EP, in fact, is in my top ten or fifteen of hip-hop releases so far this year.  Multiple theories suggested this was really Nas, and many actually made lots of sense.  Some actually claimed they met him and suggested he was a Russian, twenty-something Brooklynite.  Finally, last Wednesday he the curtain dropped, and after spitting some razors for the already hyped up crowd, he finally walks on stage and in comes this tall, lanky, caucasian complexioned young emcee that proceeded to kill the audience with outstanding bars that mirror greats like Rakim, Eminem, Jay, Big, and the aforementioned Nas.  He even performed "Free Turkey", which actually uses the same sample Nas used for the track "One Love".  We haven't had this much hysteria over the identity of an emcee since the early days of MF DOOM, but it sure was fun.  The question is: now that we know the official identity of Your Old Droog, will he still be as checked for as his enigmatic nature beforehand?  Only time will tell but one thing is for sure: this dude is a BEAST.  Here's a freestyle from Your Old Droog that he dropped last week.  You be the judge of the future of this up-and-comer.  In my opinion, he won't be underground for long.




Finally, before I get out of here for today, this is the cut of the week.  This comes from west coast lyrical phenom Ras Kass and he's joined by fellow monster lyricists Pharoahe Monch and Dilated Peoples' Rakaa Iriscience over a RIDICULOUS beat from hip-hop's newest prodigious beatmaker, Apollo Brown.  The track is called "H20" and is from Kass & Brown's upcoming album, Blasphemy, coming in October.  If this track is ANY indication of what's to come, this album will be nothing short of a new benchmark for Kass.  Anywho, peep this track and will get at you guys and gals next week.

Generation Gaps

What's good people!  Hope everyone had a great Labor Day and enjoyed your three-four day weekend.  This piece will concern something that a few of my friends and I often have heavy discussions about, and that's the evolution (or de-evolution) of hip-hop over the years.  As us hip-hop fans get older, we often times criticize generations that come after us.  I ended up doing the same thing as I got older.  I came up in an era where hip-hop was the most brilliant piece of music since Jazz.  During the early eighties, pioneers such as Grandmaster Flash, Kurtis Blow, Run-DMC, and LL Cool J introduced the masses to hip-hop and it was so fresh (not the slang terminology) and artists were hungry to establish longevity and immortal respect.

Let's fast forward to the early nineties, where more legends emerge such as Nas, UGK, Biggie Smalls, Wu-Tang Clan, and Outkast to completely reshape the structure of the game.  There were little rumblings that some of the older cats occasionally frowned on artists that would consistently promote violence and mysogany, however they would still give these same emcees props for remarkable talent.  many would say the besides the eighties, the nineties were the most successful and critically impactful period in all of hip-hop's history.  While the eighties brought us iconic albums like Raising Hell, Strictly Business, Long Live The Kane, and Paid In Full (which was my first forty-five inch record), the nineties presented us with monumental masterpieces such as Illmatic, Ready To Die, Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, and The Chronic.  All these and quite a few more showed the exquisite nature of how talented these artists are.

However, as time passed on, the music became more about the radio and hits rather than talent.  At this point, the game became highly commercialized and watered down.  Talent, longevity, and respect became an afterthought.  We started being exposed to stuff like "My Baby Daddy", "Because I Got High", and other bouts of foolishness that started to make a lot of hip-hop's elders and forefathers cringe.  This was all around the late nineties and early thousands.  Iconic albums and artists started to come few and far between.  For every seminal album like Madvillainy, there were plenty of duds that started coming out around the same time as well.  Seemingly the music only got worse as time went along.  Artists (and I use that term loosely) became fixated with dance crazes and one-hit singles rather than immortality.  From Cali Swag District to Soulja Boy Tell 'Em, rappers wanting to be instant stars started discrediting the art form.  It became more about money and prostituting themselves for labels rather than being innovators and future legends.

Here's a timeless cut from ridiculously underrated emcee, O.C., that sums up what today's generation of radio-friendly, degenerative rappers need to start doing.  Check out the classic, "Time's Up."





 

 In today's climate of hip-hop, more artists are opting for independent routes rather than the pimp-and-ho game of the industry of major labels today.  More artists want more of their own creative visions and their own ways of expressing their art.  When listening to mainstream and commercial radio, people within my age bracket or older don't criticize the youthful enthusiasm and energy to create new movements.  We tend to have alts against some of the stylings of people like Young Thug, K Camp, and Chief Keef, who all represent a youthful period of drugs, mysogany, and violence in ways that aren't breaking any new ground, and in fact play into exactly what these greedy corporate A&R's are banking from.  Before we start accusing the South of all of this stuff, let's not forget the influence of the South with their own legends in the aforementioned UGK, Scarface, Eightball & MJG, Luke, and later icons such as Ludacris, T.I., and Jeezy.

It's imperative that the youth in today's hip-hop climate keep the game going, but please don't forget the roots of the art form.  Coming up, people like Nelly were seen as one-hits and didn't want longevity, however after his debut, Country Grammar, sold diamond units (that's over ten million units), it was clear he had a movement of his own and he wanted to get taken seriously.  In hindsight, purists like KRS-One frowned upon Nelly, but now Nelly has frowned upon this current crop of young up-and-comers that aren't doing anything to revolutionize the industry.

This is not to say that all of these young gunners are not doing anything to help the business.  In fact young artists like Joey Bada$$, Tyga, Kendrick Lamar, Big K.R.I.T., Fashawn, and Bishop Nehru are examples of light in the darkness of bland, uninspiring rap.  Coming up in an era of skills, that developed into hardcore and gangsta, and then into gimmicky rap, I have become that disgruntled hip-hop critic that listeners that were older than me would complain about when it came to the generational sound after theirs.  The one thing, in spite of subject matter and themes, that the older generation would agree upon was the talent.  We seemingly have no future icons like Nas, Jay, Biggie, and Scarface in the current crop of young rappers, and that will ultimately kill the culture and continue to make a cherade and a buffoonery of the culture that Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, and Afrika Bambaata sacrificed for and pioneered.

Gone are the days of the creative (Organized Konfusion), insanely lyrical (Eminem), poetic (Common), and insightful (Scarface), and now we're living in the days of "I'm A Stoner" and "Cut Her Off".  If these are the voices of the new generation, hip-hop as we know it will die a slow death , at least critically speaking.

That's all for now kiddies.  Before I go, I'm going to leave you with two different contrasts: a video of Young Thug and a video of criminally underrated duo The Underachievers.  You be the judge of where our culture needs to go.  Until next time!

Guess Who's Back??? The Beyonce/G-Unit/Jhene Aiko Edition

What's happening cats!  It's a new week and new beginning here on this blog.  Yes, it's been a very good while since the last update, but as has been the case, life tends to happen so I'm back in this blog game and I can say it feels quite liberating.  Between my social commentary blogs and my wrestling blogs, you can easily see that I'm like a real-life Shaft, a complicated man and nobody understands me but my woman (and even then that's a challenge).  In any event, there are a few items to get to, so let's go shall we?

To start off, yes, this is a hip-hop oriented blog so the fact that you're seeing Bey and Jhene Aiko on a hip-hop blog seems out of place.  However, if you know ANYTHING about either of these ladies (for God's sake who doesn't know pretty much everything about Beyonce), you know these ladies are hip-hop all the way, even while being primarily R&B/Pop.  Now with that being said, the talk of the music world centered around last night MTV Video music Awards, but more so Beyonce's OUTSTANDING performance.  Mrs. Beyonce Knowles-Carter showed why the she may be the greatest living entertainer in the world (or at least according to hubby Jay-Z).  The truth is, whether you love her or think she's overrated, after last night's memorable performance, it's really all irrelevant.  I was one of those critics that viewed her as overrated, but I never denied her extraordinary talent.  Beyonce is without question the greatest talent of our generation and is building her status as icon.  Her set included her nearly quadruple-selling, self-titled album, and she brought the ferocity that only she could bring as a dynamic performer.  She ended the set with "XO", which she dedicated to her fans, affectionately known as "The Beyhive".  I do get greatly concerned when there are certain people look to her as almost God-like (remember there was that stupid religion centered around her??).  As she accepted her Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, she was met onstage with Jay and her gorgeous daughter Blue Ivy, who almost on cue muttered "Love you Mommy"!  How neat was that?!  Beyonce, tearfully and humbly, accepted the award and showed that her star power will continue to shine for decades to come.  Here's a look at the riveting performance in full.





Next on the menu, the return of the G-G-G-G-G-G-UNIT!!!!!!  Earlier this year, it was announced, not long after the release of 50's comeback album, Animal Ambition, that the Unit was back together.  After harsh words and members getting kicked out, the news of the reunion caused a ripple in the hip-hop scene.  They haven't recorded a whole album since 2008, which was the very modest T.O.S.  Since the reunion, they've recorded tracks and even put out a video for the track "Nah I'm Talkin' Bout."  Now, with the addition of new member Kidd Kidd, these guys sounds rejuvenated, and ready to cause some of that controversy that they're historically known for.  Although the full-length is slated for the Fall, they pulled a Queen Bey, of sorts, and released a digital EP, with no promotion, marketing, or even an official announcement.  The six-track EP is called The Beauty Of Independence, which is likely a reference to 50 leaving Shady/Aftermath/Interscope not long before Animal Ambition dropped.  The EP isn't one my top ten of 2014, but it still feels good to see the guys back together and the music is overall dope.  Here's to the full-length coming later in 2014 and that it matches the success of their prior mixtapes or even their crazy debut, Beg For Mercy.  Here's a track from the album.




Before I go, I must end with this INCREDIBLE new Jhene Aiko cut, "Spotless Mind".  The guitars and mellow feel to this track makes this song sound very ethereal and beautiful.  This is the third release from her forthcoming full-length debut, Souled Out, which drops September 8 on Def Jam.  While the other two cuts, "To Love & Die" and "The Pressure" are good enough, this track screams  almost masterful.  Her EP, Sail Out (which spawned the excellent "The Worst"), was quite the rotator at the end of 2013.  However, if this cut is any indication as to how the rest of her debut will be, she will have a wonderful future in this game (word is her hip-hop alter ego, J. Hennessey, isn't too bad either).  Here's a listen to the track "Spotless Mind".  Listen and be taken away.  Until next time kiddies, I'm out.  Take it easy!

What's happenin'...

What's the deal folks!  I know it's been a long time since you've heard from me, but trust me, things have been real crazy these past few weeks.  Hell what can I say, life happens right?!  Anyways, there's been a lot going on in the world of hip-hop lately, but none more noteworthy than the whole apparent rivalry between YMCMB's golden boy, Drake and R&B's "prince", Chris Brown.  First of all, when did they ever have a beef?  I thought they were cool with each other.  However, when you share the same the same celeb girl (Pop music lovely, Rihanna), I guess there can be some static, at least on the low.  However, it came to a boiling point last week when there was a big time brawl that broke out at a famous New York club.  brown suffered a deep laceration to his thrown from what has been said was a champaign bottle to the face from Drake (didn't know he had it in him!) Keep in mind, all of this stuff is still accusations and has yet to be played out in court so take it all for what it's worth.  Anyways, this lead to nothing but chaos, in which there have been reportedly several people injured in the ruckus, including NBA star Tony Parker who is said to have suffered eye injuries from the brawl, and he was just there having fun and having nothing to do with the issue between Drake and Brown.  I could go on and on about what i think about this, but personally, these are two GROWN MEN (yes, Brown is over 21 now so he constitutes being so).  Supposedly, this was started over (get this) Rihanna!  Figures when it comes to us fellas doesn't it? SMH.  Anyways, the latest is that Drake is now being charged, although it's not confirmed.  Stay tuned for the latest.  In the meantime, here's some Drake/Chris Brown flava for you.  SN: doesn't it seem like Young Money/Cash Money seem to make news for some sort of beef?  Nicky has had an issue with Lil' Kim and Hot 97, Lil' Wayne had an issue with G.O.O.D. Music/Clipse member Pusha T, and now Drake with Chris Breezy.  Not a good look for the company.  Til next time, which will hopefully be next week.  One.

Beef Rap

What's really good folks!  Been an overall sublime week in the world of Hip-Hop, that is until the new leaked track from Pusha T of the Clipse came out.  Now we have a new (or in some cases continued) rivalry between him and DeWayne Carter, himself (that's Lil' Wayne for those not necessarily in the know of things).  Before I get started on this rivalry, allow me to do a brief history on "beef rap".  In sports, or even in life, competition is the natural order of things.  Someone is out to prove they're the best in anything or everything, or at least better than you (don't act like you don't do it either, even if the battle is with yourself).  Hip-Hop is no different, it's a grown man sport.  Everyone wants to be the best, the champion MC if you will.  Rivalries have been around since the mid-70s when DJs would have some artists spit braggadocio rhymes over a breakbeat and would criticize the last person to have gotten on the mic.  Since then it's gotten progressively more aggressive and in some more notable and infamous cases, fatal.  A few of the earlier noted "beefs" on record were the battles between Queensbridge's first lady Roxanne Shante vs. The "Real" Roxanne/UTFO, which started ironically enough over UTFO's standout hit, "Roxanne, Roxanne" and Bronx's Boogie Down Productions (KRS-One and DJ Scott La Rock *R.I.P.*) vs. Queensbridge's MC Shan/The Juice Crew over Shan's breakout cut, "The Bridge", which then spawned BDP's ridiculous classic "South Bronx".  Although these and several others during that time frame were mainly on wax and didn't get taken out of hand, throughout time cats wanted to flex their muscles and cuts were starting to get more vicious.  Even with rivalries such as Ice Cube vs. NWA, Ice Cube vs. Common, LL Cool J vs. Ice-T/Hammer/Kool Moe Dee, and X-Clan vs. 3rd Bass, things got very ugly with the now saddening rivalry between two of the greatest in most influential emcees of our generation, 2Pac and Notorious B.I.G.  Over what was seemingly a very coincidental situation, 2Pac was robbed and shot in a recording studio that then good friend/new artist Biggie Smalls was also recording in.  Mr. Shakur was thoroughly convinced that Biggie knew who had attacked him.  From that point, the string of events set off the now notorious (no pun intended) "East Coast vs. West Coast" beef, in which rappers from the west had issues from rappers from the east, New York primarily.  The unfortunate conclusion resulted in the two greats being gunned down 6 months apart from each other.  Since then, lessons have been learned in "beef rap", however while most have remained lyrical, there have been some near sweat causers, notably the intense rivalry between known antagonist 50 Cent vs. fellow Queens rapper Ja-Rule.  The beef stemmed from supposedly a member of 50's entourage robbing Ja-Rule, then it became a snowball effect (notably 50's label Shady/Aftermath vs. Ja-Rule's label Murder Inc. alongside Boston rapper Benzino).  Plus 50 gained more enemies in time, including label-mate The Game.  Both issues have since quited, but there very nervous times in both instances. Of course one of the greatest battles kept on wax over the past decade was the phenominal battle between two iconic MCs, Jay-Z and Nas.  The feud ended amicably.  Fast forwarding to present day-rivalries like Lil' Kim vs. Nicky Minaj, Aziala Banks (don't think that's how it's spelled) vs. Iggy, both of whom are relative newcomers to the mainstream.  Which brings me to Pusha vs. Wayne.  There's apparently been a long history off-and-on between Pusha, his twin brother from the duo Clipse Malice (since becoming a born-again Christian late last year he's changed his name to No Malice and embracing the Christian side of life and hip-hop *this will be a topic upcoming soon in terms of Christian/spiritual rap*), and Wayne.  Pusha dropped a single called "Exodus 20:1", which was seen as a diss to Wayne, who recently dropped his retaliatory street single called, "Ghoulish", in which he starts "Fuck Pusha T and anyone that loves him!"  Scathing!!  Let's hope this stays on wax.  Pusha's labelmate Kid Cudi has expressed support to him, while twin brother has backed out of it, stating that "if it doesn't glorify God, he's not with it" (he might as well say he's the new Lecrae and just go the Christian MC route instead of staying secular but that's for another time).  This will be a very intriguing rivalry, but as I stated, let's hope this stays entertainment, and not make it personal. Here are the tracks, judge for yourself as to how this may go.  Until next time people.  one!

New Releases

What's the word kiddies!  It's BK aka Real Hip Hop back at you once again.  Still getting used to this whole blog thing so bear with me.  Nothing too heavy or deep on my mind this time around, so I'll update you on a few of the best hip-hop currently out right now.  First to bat is the new album from the duo of DJ/highly-in-demand producer Statik Selektah and very talent underground emcee Termanology.  Together they're known as 1982, which assumably is the year both cats were born.  They're debut album, the self-titled 1982, was one of the hottest releases to come out in 2010.  Heralded as one of best DJ/MC duos since Gangstarr, their sophomore follow-up was eagerly anticipated, and definitely, their second album, the appropriately entitled 2012, picks up where the debut left off, maybe even goes a little beyond where the debut was at in terms of production value and the lyrical ferocity that Term brings.  Guest spots from the likes of Mac Miller, southern legend Bun B, M.O.P.'s Lil' Fame, Roc Marciano, Mobb Deep's Havoc, and Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men (wow, picture that) all contribute to just how serious this project is.  It's truly hard to pick a favorite cut or two on the album.  That alone lets you know how ridiculous the album is.  Do yourself a favor and cop this crazy new release from one of the most commercially underrated, yet highly regarded, duos in the game.
Another highly touted release comes from south of the Mason-Dixon line in the form of Killer Mike aka Mike Bigga.  This one-time affiliate of Outkast has had a couple of tremendous albums over the last few years.  From his much-talked about I Pledge Allegiance To Da Grind II to last year's crazy Pl3dge, big Mike has crafted outstanding, and at times controversial, music for the masses.  This year's offering serves as a tasty treat before his Grand Hustle debut later this year (hopefully).  He collaborates with famed underground producer/emcee El-P (formerly of Company Flow fame) to present R.A.P. Music.  This is an explosive album filled with social commentaries and sonic jolts of power to equal the combustion spewed by Mr. Bigga.  It's been compared to Ice Cube's unforgettable solo debut masterpiece, AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted, and I can easily see why.  It's not too often that you get up-north producers that so perfectly adapt to southern culture and stylistics, but this is proof that it's more than possible, much less for a whole full-length project.  Guests like Bun B and his Grand Hustle boss, T.I., serves as only a couple of guests on a mostly guest-free project.  Songs like "Untitled", "Reagen", and "Ghetto Gospel" will all have you hanging off of every word he spits just in terms of social climate, religion, and anything else that has huim miffed and pissed off.
While other releases like the sophomore album by those drugged-out alcoholics Gangrene (The Alchemist & Oh No), Vodka & Ayahuasca, the amazing collabo album between Brooklyn most underrated MC, O.C., and buzz-worthy Detroit producer Apollo Brown, Trophies, and the magical musical hip-hop marriage of DJ Premier & Bumpy Knuckles, KoleXXXion, are all superb listens, right now 1982 and Killer Mike/El-P are "killin'" em!  Be on the lookout for releases from Queens icon (and my personal favorite MC of all-time) Nas, Life IS Good, in July, the long-awaited Shady Records debut monstrous hip-hop supergroup Slaughterhouse (Royce Da 5'9, Joe Budden, Crooked I, and Joell Ortiz), welcome 2: Our House, on June 12th, and other releases from Sean Price, southern icon Scarface, T.I., Ludacris, Prodigy of Mobb Deep, and the ambitious collabo project between revered Brooklyn MC Masta Ace and underground champion, the enigmatic MF DOOM (MA DOOM).  I'm gonna leave you with a sample from both Killer Mike and 1982. Until next time, I'm out!

Political Hip-Hop???

What's happening my people?!  It's been a very hectic few weeks off and on, and this past week was no exception, but I'm back and have some more on my mind involving this crazy world of hip-hop.  Remember when Public Enemy and X-Clan were the faces of socio-political hip-hop?  Important issues such as AIDS, crack cocaine, white house blunders and the like?  With the exception of dead prez and Immortal Technique, we don't see it in hip-hop anymore.  At least, not on a regular, consistent basis.  When Public Enemy dropped their seminal album, It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back..., it was a virtual call-to-arms for the Black community and any community/culture that was oppressed, discriminated, violated, or disrespected.  The exact same held true for To The East backwards, the debut by X-Clan.  Their efforts to get further rooted in Africa, while displaying intelligent, yet vivid, stories of corrupt politics and racism in the White House and the government were very needed in a time of light-hearted rap for it's day.  We need more of those attitudes and mindstates on a more consistent basis in hip-hop.  Not just the occasional album track that's a social outlook on the world and America in particular, we need more acts like The Coup, Immortal Technique, and dead prez to step up and educate the youth, especially just in time for Election season.  That's just my opinion.  Until next time, this is Brandon AKA BK AKA Real Hip Hop signing off.  Before we leave you, here are some great examples of the type of educational hip-hop we need in this day and age.  Peace!
 







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