The Hip Hop Purist
-How can you claim to be a true hip-hop head if you aren't willing to listen to everything?!!?
-......
-You damn near a backpacker right now!
-......
-Man you one of them...psuedo...save rap...Hip Hop Purists...
That's the title one of my coworkers gave me in a discussion where he was trying to convince me to listen to a Chamillionaire CD. LMAO! I'll tell you just like I told him...I've never claimed to be a hip-hop head...but I can't be a backpacker if my three favorite rappers of all time are Biggie, Beanie, and Jay-Z...and hip hop purist may be the best explaination for my stance on hip hop.
See, I am all about lyrics. I grew up on the tail end of the era in hiphop where there WERE NOT just as many popular producers as there were rappers. In fact there were only like 5 - 6 producers that we actually knew the name of and most were featured as a part of a group...Dr. Dre, DJ Premiere of Gangstar, The Umma of Tribe Called Quest, Eric B. (with Rakim), Jazzy Jeff (with The Fresh Prince), and Marley Marl. It wasn't until the late 90s where the producers really became popular. I say this to say that this is what being a Purists is to me. I focus on lyrics...lyrical wordplay and lyrical content to be exact. My heart has a weak spot for the content side but to be great you really need to have both along with many other aspects of a hip hop artist (that's another discussion).
Last Wednesday on the 4th two of my cousins (along with one of their friends) gave me a big reality check on just how bad the views of an 18 and 19 year old can be when it comes to hip hop. We talked about the 5 best rappers still doing it right now and these ignorant sumumabitches name 4 rappers that I don't even think should have record deals and Lil Wayne. LOL.(I'm dead ass serious about that one though) But the kicker is that both of them bamas proclaimed that Lil Wayne has been the best rapper in the last 6 years...WTF!!!! Correct me if I'm wrong but that's 2001, right? I can't even begin to name how many rappers have overshadowed Lil Wayne in the last 6 years. That statement scares me...I mean how do you grow listen to rap the last 6-7 years and really believe that. Them lil dudes made me feel really really old...LOL! I like Lil Wayne but I was so mad that day that had he been out there I would have been a notch on some security guards record book. LMAO. And then these two lil shit stains told me that the greatest rap group of all time was the Hot Boys. After I came back to my senses after my blackout I found my two cousin laid out across the driveway and there friend running across the backyard with blood on his shirt screaming...I guess they could tell I was a lil passionate about this topic. LOL.
After that conversation I just had to write a blog talking about what I think a hip hop purist is. I consider it that rap fan that loves to hear a good beat but ONLY as a compliment to good lyrics and not in place of. The hip hop fan that listens to an album to actually see what the artist is talking about and not just to get hype or party. The person that likes creativity in your rhyme scheme and the ability to tell a f*cking story. That guy that actually knows the value of emotion and passion in rhymes and content that gives you all aspects of that persons character. The guy that is praying that more of these lame duck artists will fall off and some of these new guys will get it. I don't care who makes your beat, if you ain't saying sh*t I ain't listening! And if these things are what being a "hip hop purist" is then I embrace it wholeheartedly!!!
Other than that all I really want to do now is name my top 10 favorite albums (don't know why but it just seems like the right thing to do to end it off. LOL.). Again, this is my list of favorites NOT what I would say are the greatest of all time. Luckily for me I have the ability to appreciate what an album means to hip-hop and how good it is even if it's not my fave or the one I relate to the most:
10. Train of Thought - Reflection Eternal (Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek)
-......
-You damn near a backpacker right now!
-......
-Man you one of them...psuedo...save rap...Hip Hop Purists...
That's the title one of my coworkers gave me in a discussion where he was trying to convince me to listen to a Chamillionaire CD. LMAO! I'll tell you just like I told him...I've never claimed to be a hip-hop head...but I can't be a backpacker if my three favorite rappers of all time are Biggie, Beanie, and Jay-Z...and hip hop purist may be the best explaination for my stance on hip hop.
See, I am all about lyrics. I grew up on the tail end of the era in hiphop where there WERE NOT just as many popular producers as there were rappers. In fact there were only like 5 - 6 producers that we actually knew the name of and most were featured as a part of a group...Dr. Dre, DJ Premiere of Gangstar, The Umma of Tribe Called Quest, Eric B. (with Rakim), Jazzy Jeff (with The Fresh Prince), and Marley Marl. It wasn't until the late 90s where the producers really became popular. I say this to say that this is what being a Purists is to me. I focus on lyrics...lyrical wordplay and lyrical content to be exact. My heart has a weak spot for the content side but to be great you really need to have both along with many other aspects of a hip hop artist (that's another discussion).
Last Wednesday on the 4th two of my cousins (along with one of their friends) gave me a big reality check on just how bad the views of an 18 and 19 year old can be when it comes to hip hop. We talked about the 5 best rappers still doing it right now and these ignorant sumumabitches name 4 rappers that I don't even think should have record deals and Lil Wayne. LOL.(I'm dead ass serious about that one though) But the kicker is that both of them bamas proclaimed that Lil Wayne has been the best rapper in the last 6 years...WTF!!!! Correct me if I'm wrong but that's 2001, right? I can't even begin to name how many rappers have overshadowed Lil Wayne in the last 6 years. That statement scares me...I mean how do you grow listen to rap the last 6-7 years and really believe that. Them lil dudes made me feel really really old...LOL! I like Lil Wayne but I was so mad that day that had he been out there I would have been a notch on some security guards record book. LMAO. And then these two lil shit stains told me that the greatest rap group of all time was the Hot Boys. After I came back to my senses after my blackout I found my two cousin laid out across the driveway and there friend running across the backyard with blood on his shirt screaming...I guess they could tell I was a lil passionate about this topic. LOL.
After that conversation I just had to write a blog talking about what I think a hip hop purist is. I consider it that rap fan that loves to hear a good beat but ONLY as a compliment to good lyrics and not in place of. The hip hop fan that listens to an album to actually see what the artist is talking about and not just to get hype or party. The person that likes creativity in your rhyme scheme and the ability to tell a f*cking story. That guy that actually knows the value of emotion and passion in rhymes and content that gives you all aspects of that persons character. The guy that is praying that more of these lame duck artists will fall off and some of these new guys will get it. I don't care who makes your beat, if you ain't saying sh*t I ain't listening! And if these things are what being a "hip hop purist" is then I embrace it wholeheartedly!!!
Other than that all I really want to do now is name my top 10 favorite albums (don't know why but it just seems like the right thing to do to end it off. LOL.). Again, this is my list of favorites NOT what I would say are the greatest of all time. Luckily for me I have the ability to appreciate what an album means to hip-hop and how good it is even if it's not my fave or the one I relate to the most:
10. Train of Thought - Reflection Eternal (Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek)
- Not only did this album get some serious rotation in the playlist (my CD changer...LOL) for over a year but the day I cracked it open I listened to it 4 times straight thru and forgot to go to class. It was love at first listen ;-)
- I honestly think this is one of the best albums ever made although I was personally feeling some others more. It introduced us to the Rah-Digga, Joe Forte (WTF happened to him?) and The Outlawz and it was the perfect mix of lyricism and soul... I'm still waiting for these three to get it together and drop another album.
- This album got a solid 3 years of rotation in the playlist (my playlist normally consists of about 6 CDs I'm listening to at the time and keep rotating...LOL) and it still gets thrown in anytime I get bored with the current state of rap. This album may have the best production of any Sigel album....maybe.
- I consider Jay-Z the greatest rapper of all time. I am a huge fan of lyrcal content (which tends to be more personal rap songs) and this was Jay-Zs most personal album...you put it together. (sidenote: I flip-flopped # 6 & 7 about ten times before I finished this list. LOL)
- The best work from one of hip hops best artists ever. This album gives a more mature, introverted, personal, and spiritual look at the thug/gangsta lifestyle that so many artists fake. Easily the best album of 2002, this joint commands the respect of anyone who has ever slept on Mr. Scarface.
- The best album of 2005 in my opinion, from the first listen I was impressed with the production, lyrical content, lyrical wordplay, flow, emotion and every other aspect of rap that LB provides. This album has been in and out of the rotation since 2005 and caused me to go into a frantic hunt for all of their albums. LOL. This album is so good that me and my boy AB have coined a phrase to certify anything that we tell the other they need to have...It's called "The Mistrel Show garuantee".
- Lyrically, Jay-Z at his peak. Reasonable Doubt is the most all around complete album, The Black Album is the most personal but when it comes to just spitting and flow...Vol. 2 got it! I loved this album from Day 1 and played it so much my roommate stole it and hid it cause he was tired of me playing it. LOL.
- Double albums are hard to get right from beginning to end. I can't think of one track on this album that I haven't bumped at one time or another. I think it's the best Double LP to date and of course it had about a 2.5 year stint in the rotation.
- This album gives you a lot of emotion & passion, content, wordplay, and the tough swagger that B Mac does like no other. The album stayed in regular rotation until the second one comes out but still gets regular play to this day. This album is the reason I can never be considered a backpacker. LOL.
1. Ready To Die - Biggie Smalls
- The best hip-hop album ever.
(I wanted to do a honorable mention and list the next three in line but after all that.....WHY!!! LOL)
posted by Daneger at 4:27 PM
4 Comments:
Hot Boys GTFOOH!!!
Man we need to go beat them like theie daddys never did.
But the list you get a pound and a hug.
hip hop purist-learn something new everyday-I can't even fully or accurately respond to this right now, but I WILL say this...your list is extremely ON POINT! Of course mines would differ in some respects...but you got my man BEANS on there...(oh how I love that fuggly thang) so you already know
Ok. I just learned so much...
I wonder if Rika had read this T.C. - you know she is a true Hip-Hop Head...LMAO
these kids just have never heard the pure hip hop. mix them a cd of your top 10 + tracks from Eric B Rakim, Grandmaster Flash, Run DMC (before your time?)
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