Personally, I hate all this east
vs. south vs. west shit. Read the comments on this site and ten times out of
ten someone will start popping off about ‘fuck the south, that shit is trash’
and ‘New York is bitches who hate the south cause we took over.’ Blah, blah,
blah, it’s the same shit every gotdamn day and it always starts out of nowhere
and proceeds with foolish, unintelligible shit talk. Every coast makes great
music, good music and wack music, no exceptions. Now as much as I hate the
childish bickering, it doesn’t mean I haven’t taken notice of the seismic shift
in the hip-hop landscape. And since y’all love talking about it so much, let’s
talk about it.
The south has taken over hip-hop
at the moment. Hate it or love it, that is a fact. I’m not talking about who is
selling more albums (which they probably are anyway), I’m talking about
influence. How many New York rappers are making songs with a southern style,
using southern producers and featuring southern emcees? You ever hear an emcee
down south making shit that sounds like a New York anthem? Hell no. When an
east coast rapper makes a guest appearance on a southern record the shit still
sounds like a southern record. It’s no different than the mid 90’s when the
west coast had NYC a little shook up and G-funk seeped into their songs. The
difference is that back then New York still had an identity. Now, they do not,
and that is their big problem.
Look no further than two of New
York’s most prominent emcees; Fat Joe
and Jadakiss. In the last two months
both of them spit “now why’s everybody so
mad at the south for?/change ya style up, switch to south paw.” What the
fuck is that? I agree with the first part, why is everybody so mad? If you
don’t like the south running things then start making better music and take the
game back. There is your answer. Jacking the south’s style, that is not the
answer, and the fact that two respected New York veterans (one from the Bronx
no less!) are suggesting that, shows what a sad state New York hip-hop is in. A
line like that just wreaks of defeat. Fat
Joe, whose extended family includes legendary producers like Lord Finesse, Diamond D, Buckwild and
Showbiz, made his return to “real New York hip-hop” with beats from Scott Storch, The Runners, DJ Khaled,
Streetrunner, LV Grind Time…all producers from below the Mason-Dixon, and
it ain’t like they made him New York styled beats.
Which brings me to another issue
of where the south is succeeding and the east is failing; respect for their
legends. Every emcee that has come out of Houston in the last few years has
ensured they do the rites of passage; guest spots from Scarface and Bun B (as
partner Pimp C was locked up for the
most part). When was the last time one an east coast rapper had Rakim, KRS-One, Big Daddy Kane or Kool G Rap on their album? And Primo, once the staple of any east
coast album, rarely ever pops up on a major release anymore. It’s just another example
of division in the east, new school doesn’t get down with old school, new
school doesn’t get down with new school. The ego’s have the City more
segregated than blacks and whites in the 60’s.
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Never in the history of hip hop
has there been such a division among artists. Think about it, 50 Cent, G-Unit, Mobb Deep, Jadakiss,
Styles, Nas, Fat Joe, Jay-Z, Ja Rule, LL Cool J, DMX, Cam’ron, Jim Jones, AZ,
etc. damn near everybody has got issues with the next man! And these are the
cats who have made it acting like crabs in a damn bucket, and most of these
fools are over 30 years old. LL Cool J
taking his little shots at Jay-Z,
what the fuck is that? Dude is almost 40 years old and stinking rich,
squabbling with a man he should be proud of, because his piece of shit album
didn’t sell. LL has been in this
game long enough and seen all the ups and downs to know every record isn’t
gonna be a hit. Instead he’s acting like a petty child, people like him need to
be setting the example. Mobb Deep,
who came up under Nas before a brief
falling out, reconciled a couple years ago. That is until they signed with G-Unit and took 50’s side in their pointless beef. Forget being your own man, just
crawl between 50’s legs and bark at
the man who mentored you.
The point is, New York needs to
get back to doing them. Making real east coast hip-hop and not worrying about
what everyone else is doing. And show some sort of unity for fuck sakes, y’all
don’t have to be best friends but just cause your man doesn’t like someone
doesn’t mean you need to start beefing too. Shit, Rae and Ghost didn’t
like Biggie but Meth and RZA still
worked with him. 50 Cent has beef
with Fat Joe and Jada just cause they worked with his
enemy, wasn’t like they were in the same crew or even friends, he didn’t want
anyone working with Ja Rule. That
shit was so ridiculous, and it’s really come to embody the petty spirit New
York had carried these past few years.
Credit needs to be given where
its due, the royalty in New York, ie. Jay-Z
and Nas, have tried to set the
example. They squashed their beef, which had way more weight than the gripes
these other fools got, and acted like grown men. That shit hasn’t rubbed off on
anyone though, it’s the same as it ever was. Don’t get me wrong, some healthy
beef doesn’t hurt; Jay, Nas, LL,
Canibus, Eminem, Dr. Dre, Eazy E, Ice Cube, MC Eiht, DJ Quik, etc. Some
incredible music has been made out of conflict. Like anything though, there is
a fine line between healthy competition and infecting the game.
NYC can shift the balance of
power right now; look at some of the records in the past two months…AZ, Jay, Ghost, Nas. They need this Raekwon album to hit hard and they need
some fresh blood in Saigon to stake
his claim. The most telling thing though, southern artists starting to talk
some shit. Wayne is pissed at Jay
for coming back, Jeezy is/was pissed
at Nas for saying Hip Hop is dead.
For the first time in a couple years there is some blood in the water and the
south is sounding a bit scared. Don’t be fooled though, they still have plenty
of clawing to do. Look at 2006 and some of the most talked about artists: Dem Franchise Boyz, T.I., Yung Joc, D4L,
Pimp C, Rick Ross, Outkast, Ludacris, Killer Mike, Jibbs, Young Dro, Clipse
and Young Jeezy. Now the quality of
about half those artists is a whole ‘nother story, and a whole ‘nother can of
worms, but that isn’t the point at the moment. Did I mention how much noise Cube, Snoop, Game and hyphy made this year? Oh nevermind…
