Friday, August 26, 2011

For The Love of Hip Hop

Today I strolled by a website a friend had told me about, and as I was skimming through the blog posts and found one regarding Lil' Wayne's new song from The Carter IV titled, "It's Good" ...

I heard this song what I'm assuming is the night it was released after I had seen a link for it on facebook, and as soon as I heard, " Talkin 'bout baby money? I got your baby money, Kidnap your ****, get that how much you love your lady money" I knew that this was in response to Jay-Z's Verse from H.A.M off of Watch the Throne.

Let me tell you first thing is first, its one thing to go head to head, but to bring Beyonce into something that she has no business in other than Jay being her husband is like going to the point where you start talking about someones kids... Way to take a cowards way out Wayne... Bring up B, you're messing with the King love, the money in her pocket possess more power than that fools gold you have stuck to those gums.

I apologize my topic is wondering, People reference Beyonce in a violent way I get a bit protective... Anyway...

So as I was reading this blog post and it stated, that in order for Jay-Z to keep his throne he MUST respond to this or relinquish it, also that he needs to because Hip Hop needs it.

I also read some comments mentioning album sales and YouTube views and how this mattered in Jay-z vs. Lil Wayne.

My opinion is that first and foremost for the two of them to be mentioned in the same sentence as if they were even on the same level is ridiculous. When speaking about hip hop you must know that there IS A DIFFERENCE between Hip Hop and rap. Hip Hop is the art and rap is the profit.
Study the history that surrounds Hip Hop and then study the history of rap, its quite another tale.

To be a Hip Hop artist you must have the knowledge, the struggle, the life. It's one thing to create it, its quite another to have been dealt it. Hip Hop the art is about the lyrics and rap is what the music industry uses to make its money off of Hip Hop.

What Hip Hop needs is for the content of the music to be substantial, the way it was intended, to tell a story and not to be a sell out to what forces it to conform.

The shots between Jay-Z and Lil Wayne were mild, like competitive digs, which is all great and fun but eventually these battles become violent wars. Jay-Z is one of my favorite Hip Hop artists of all time, in the same category with Eminem, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, The Get Fresh Crew, and my soon to be absolute favorite of all time Drake. I would hate to think of losing someone with so much talent to some petty spoiled brat drama. To me the way I see it is these two will be something in their own rights... Jay-z is a Mogul he has made a name for himself outside of the Music world, he has his eye set on something and that's what he's going to do, he's accomplished his music dreams and its on to where his success leads him which seems to have no limit. Lil Wayne will go on to ride the benefits of signing Drake and Nicki Minaj and the temporary success that Young Money will generate until its time to move on to something else.
As Beyonce was recently quoted, "Drive, God given talent is what separates you from everyone else, there's no desire for anyone else's throne."

Hip Hop doesnt need a bunch of egos overtaking the common sense God bestowed on all of us and bringing simple lyrics that can be taken in stride and turn it into violence.
Violence begets violence, for Jay-Z not to respond to the mess does not mean that he's old or not the greatest of all time, or whatever else has been said, it simply means that the man is wise, paid his dues and knows how to let things be, you don't get to meetings in the oval office by not using your mind.

So with that said, should Jay respond to this I would pray that he only makes it clear that this can stay at words and nothing more.

At the end of the day this is about the music, I'm a fan of the art and unfortunately this is one of the reasons it's become a lost one.

Kids today have no idea what substance is unless they're abusing it, no idea that a real music note does not come from a mechanical machine, or that pitch is not just something that involves a batter; All because schools can't afford the Music programs and children are forced to learn from what they now hear on the radio or see on television or YouTube. I have a question for the ones who want to brag about the money they have... Where are you now? Maybe if we focused our time on the important issues that will help your industry grow we wouldn't have to worry about the propaganda and could enjoy the purpose of the art.

Sincerely,
D

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Moving Tides and Falling Slides

I want to first apologize for promising a post and then not showing up,
Lately my life has just been non-stop and when it is idle for a moment its just that... I can't put words on paper, I can't form clearly logical sentences, stories run into each other, it just becomes one big mess. The amount of drafts on this thing might as well be balled up pieces of paper because no matter how long I stare at the thing nothing comes out of it.

In just about a month one of my very dear friends is getting married and by the honor vested in me she and her lovely fiance have asked that I be the one to Marry them... I imagine because of my way with words, and because she trusts me oh so much... Ohh Z I hope there's a curve you base this on, ha I kid I kid...

The amount of effort that goes into this is definitely beyond what I expected because you see, I'm sure nobody ever thinks they would forget how a wedding begins and ends right? I mean we see it every day, its like etched into our brains.... Well let me tell you... This one (this one right here, yea me) did. How do you forget "Dearly Beloved we are gathered here today" or maybe more importantly, I now pronounce you...
Well, I don't know how to explain it but I did and thankfully there is an instruction manual just in case geniuses like me forget, and now all is right with the world.

Would you believe I for some reason thought I had to do this by memory, like reading lines! OH HOLINESS did I freak myself out there for a while, see I don't know how well you may know me but public ANYTHING is not my strong suit... I hate being in front of people speaking or performing anything publicly ... strangers, fine... but friends or people I know... ohh it's worse than a hug to me and for those of you who know me.. well I need not explain that.

Thankfully, I have had this overwhelming calmness and excitement come over me all at the same time. Enough time has passed so that I was able to clear my mind and set all of the other things aside to focus on what's important and that is being the one to allow two of the most loving people in the world to share their love with each other for the rest of their lives.

So preparing a 45 minute ceremony is no easy task, especially when all of the ceremonies now are 15-20 minutes long... But when you have two people like these 2 its almost impossible to keep it under 45 minutes.

I will be posting more about this after the day has come to share my journey on this path and I must say so far it's looking to be a fun and fulfilling one.
Love has always been a driving force in my life, it's nice to have the chance to finally take it for a walk.

I promise I will be back with all of the juicy filled dramatic posts and my trials I faced in the past weeks, trust me I will have enough for weeks on end... But until then, I will be composing a ceremony that only true love can sing...

Until we Meet again...