Since when did mediocrity become acceptable for emcees in
hip-hop? I realize that the overall quality of music isn’t what it was 15 or
even 10 years ago, I’m not here to complain or debate about that. But has the
game taken such a dip over the years that our standards have been lowered to
the point that mediocrity is excused, accepted and even celebrated? Apparently.
Here is what I’m talking about. Whenever you criticize one
of today’s “hot” artists about their abilities you’re met with the same excuse
every time. Criticize Game for his
redundant droning on about lowriders, point out Young Jeezy is a terrible rapper blessed with great beats, or say
that Yung Joc is, well, just flat
out wack. The argument will go something like this;
“Fuck that, you’re
just a hater. Not everyone is gonna spit lyrics like Nas or Lupe. He just do
what he do, he ain’t gonna spit some political or conscious raps. He lived his
life and just tells us how it is, its his culture, how you gonna criticize for
that. Fuck you hater.”
Now, I’ll admit this argument does have some validity. Anyone
who listens to a Young Jeezy album
expecting to be enlightened or challenged, and criticizes the album when they
aren’t, is being unrealistic and lacking perspective. Now, does that mean Jeezy is off the hook for his lack of
lyrical ability? Hell no. Jeezy
rhymes about little more than dealing coke, guns, money, and other trappings of
his environment. That’s all fine by me, I’m not listening to him expecting to
hear his take on politics. What is not okay is that he cannot do what he does
well. “Not everyone is as lyrical as Jay-Z.” Yeah, does that mean its ok
to be shitty at what you do? Clipse
and T.I. basically rhyme about the
exact same topics as Jeezy, and they
do it really fucking well. So why can’t I say Jeezy only deserves credit for his beat selection? That’s all he
does worth a shit! Go ahead, call me a hater. Look, I like Jeezy’s album, but I’m not gonna call him a dope emcee or defend
him as one because he can make good music. That may make him a good artist, but
not a good emcee.
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The same goes for Game,
these fools got their panties in a bunch because I criticized Game for talking about the same shit
over and over and over (and over) again on his album. Claiming lowriders, rims,
etc are just part of west coast culture. Yes, they are, I know that. Does that
mean you need to do little other than reference them for an entire album? No. Does
that mean you can do it with no creativity whatsoever and be immune from
criticism? No. I love west coast gangsta rap when it’s done well. I grew up on NWA, Dre, Snoop, Cube, Spice 1, Compton’s
Most Wanted, DJ Quik etc. Game
rarely does it well.
“Blah blah blah Compton,
blah blah blah khakis, blah blah blah 100 spokes, blah blah blah chronic smoke,
blah blah blah I’ll kill you, blah blah blah lowrider, blah blah blah Dr. Dre, blah blah blah blood, blah
blah blah gangbangin”…and so on.
Fill in the blanks and you can create your own verse from The Game. But sometimes he decides to
actually use his talent (which he certainly does have), and he makes songs like
Ol’ English or Doctor’s Advocate. Funny thing is, he still references his usual
topics but he does it with some actual context and meaning rather than just
saying shit cause its part of his gimmick. Again, go ahead, call me a hater
just because I don’t have a homoerotic blind allegiance for him and don’t call
everything he does a classic.
Stop making fucking excuses for mediocrity. “Yo he makes music for the clubs, shit
doesn’t have to be good.” No! That is no excuse for making shitty music.
Lyrics in a song made for the clubs can still be good too, look at the shit Ludacris makes. Southern Hospitality, Move Bitch, Stand Up, etc. are dope ass
rhymes for a club track. Joc’s
rhymes in It’s GoinDown are not. “Oh Joc ain’t lyrical like Luda.” Oh okay, so I’ll just accept
that and call him dope because I realize his shortcomings. Fuck that, he’s wack
because of those shortcomings, he doesn’t get off the hook because I realize he
ain’t no Luda. That is what makes Ludacris a great emcee and Yung Joc a bad one!
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“He do what he do,”
“he does his thing,” or any other
cliché, meaningless statement like that does not excuse someone from criticism.
At least I can still enjoy Game or Jeezy’s music even though I know what
they don’t do well. I could just be what you all like to call “a hater” and
just call everything they do wack because I don’t like something about them.
Bottom line is, I give credit and criticism where its due. But I ain’t gonna
call someone dope just cause they have good production or sell a lot of
records. Shiiit, I’ll flat out call myself a fan of cats who I know aren’t good
rappers, but I like the songs they make. Why the fuck can’t people separate the
two?
When the fuck did selling records automatically makes you a
dope rapper? With the exception of a few rappers who’ve had well deserved
commercial success, most folks who blow up do so because they are marketable
and can make a catchy song, not because they are in fact talented emcees. Like Jay just said “the game’s fucked up/ nigga’s beats is banging/nigga ya hooks did
it/your lyrics didn’t/your gangsta look did it/so I would write it/if y’all
could get it.” And that is fine! I don’t care that there are shitty rappers
that make empty, catchy pop music to shake your ass to in the clubs. Not
everyone has to spit like Big Daddy Kane.
So don’t be so fucking retarded people, if you like someone’s music but they
aren’t gonna take down ciphers, you don’t have to pretend like they will and
defend them like they’re your child. Shit, Vanilla Ice remains one of the bestselling
rappers of all-time, but today’s standards that makes him one of the best
emcees, cause you know, “he’s hot, he make hits” or whatever the fuck you wanna
say.
A lot, or most, of the rappers that are selling records
today are mediocre. Stop lowering the fucking bar by calling these dudes the
fucking messiahs because they sell records and because their shit bumps in your
car. And this ain’t no mainstream vs. underground battle, cause throw Eminem, Jay-Z, Nas, Andre 3000, Ludacris,
Lupe, etc on a street corner against damn near any underground rapper and
you’d witness a slaughter. Just start giving credit and criticism where its
due, cause I ain’t gonna let my kids read one day that fucking Chingy was one of the great emcees of
the 21st century.
