U.G.K = UK?

Right everyone we can get a lot different point of views on this topic. UK hip hop has come a long way; we have artists like Kano, Wiley and Dizzee Rascal, who have opened up the doors for UK Hip-Hop to get recognised. When Wiley and Dizzee Rascal came out they did certainly open the doors for UK hip hop, because at the time it was mainly about American hip hop, but the more songs the UK artists released the more the media was publicising and American artists started to recognise and give credit for the UK hip hop scene.

There are a lot of new artists who are helping push hip hop further, but are they succeeding? We will elaborate more on that later on.

'You don’t have to be American to be a rap star' as stated by an underground artist named 'Craze 24'. He has a good point here because UK hip hop has not received the deserved amount of credit it should have compared to American Hip-hop. But there are some acts, like the US scene, that are holding the UK side down. So-called artists like N-Dubz who in our opinion are having their 15 minutes of fame at the moment. Acts that are 'manufactured' by the record labels after the money.

For out UK readers in particular, what are your views on all of this?

QoD

New Blood?

Which artists have been blowing up the scene? Papoose was thought to be next best thing after 50Cent, because of his clever rapping style(see the video below to see his talent), put due to the producers and his management he never did make it big. There’s a particular artist that has come across as a talented freestyler if he is directed in the right way to become commercialised yet keep it street like Lupe for instance. His name is Cory Gunz, he’s only a young lad who started free styling and battling other MC’s to get his name out there. He has a unique rapping style compared to other freestylers. The question is can he just freestyle or can he rap too? Will he do the same as 'Jin' and stay as an underground freestyler because he couldn’t make it as a rapper?


He has done freestyle collaboration with other artists but not yet released an official album, but he has released an underground mix tape which I’ve read about and the reviews are encouraging. What’s your views about this rapper everyone?


QoD

Rap Battle

A lot of artists make their way up by underground freestyling and participating in rap battles. There are a lot of rappers out there who have no freestyling talent at all, and still make it big within the hip hop industry because of the songs that have been produced for them. There have been many artists who have come onto the scene slightly but have disappeared temporarily or permanently. Take Papoose for instance he made it real big with free styling, and he did alot of mixtapes working with DJ Kay Slay, but he never did that well getting commercialised. He got featured on many tracks such as Busta Rhymes' "touch it (remix)", Joe's "where you at" and chamillionaire's "ridin' (remix)".

Another good up-and-coming underground rapper is Cory Gunz. Although not well known now, in the underground scene he is known for his complex freestyling skills. These are the kind of rappers that should be making a name for themselves, but aren't getting the recognition they deserve, well in our opinion anyway.


Heres a taste of some good freestyle rappers courtesy of BET. The rappers featured are, Willie Northpole, Blaq Poet, Hime and Cory Gunz, with DJ Premier. Enjoy!

QoD

The Recession

No not the album by Young Jeezy. I'm talking about the recent crisis that the world seems to be in at the moment. I brought this up partly to do with what we were talking about a couple of weeks ago, how rappers are making their money through different ventures.
Then I started to think about the recession and how maybe because of record sales, this may have lead to the cause of so many delays of album releases. Albums such as Busta Rhyme's "B.O.M.B" album and until its eventual release Common's "Universal Mind Control" album. Could this be a reason for the boom of rappers going into other areas of interest?

PEACE

6oD

The Saviours? (part 3 - Lupe Fiasco)

So we have talked about people of the past that people may consider are 'past' it, and people who have left their mark but still haven't done as much as hoped. But what about the ones who are the present and the future of the industry. One name seems to always spring up in most peoples mind, Lupe Fiasco.

The reason we singled this artist out is because we see him as probably the most talented artist to emerge in a long time. For those not so familiar, Lupe is an artist who has been known to keep the meaning of his songs very real and deep in meaning. Whether its in the style of a more mainstream sound or a more traditional sound, Lupe Fiasco always seems to deliver in such a way that it caters for everyone. We see this as the real progression of hip hop today.

We want to know what your thoughts are, and if there are any other artists that are similar that you think should get the recognition that Lupe Fiasco is getting.

PEACE

6oD

Mind on their Money, or Money on their Music?

An interesting thought I've had over the past few days that I thought I would bring up. So I was watching TV and I came across a comedian who was talking about how rappers are becoming the new modern entrepreneurs of this century. And it got me thinking that what he was saying is true. For example we have Jay-Z the CEO of Roc-a-Fella records, but also has a clothing line called Roc-a-Wear as well as a club and even a vodka called 'Armadale'! But Jay's not the only one, we've got Pharrell Williams and his Billionaire Boys Club and Ice-Cream clothing line and 50 Cent with the G-Unit clothing line.

This has got me wondering, with people so determined to make money, are the great rappers of our era trying to concentrate on other ventures rather than concentrate on the music? Is this what is partly killing off the hip hop genre, the fact that rather than focusing on creating new fresh meaningful music, that these 'entrepreneurs' would rather make money? Let us know your views, this should be an interesting topic.

PEACE

6oD

p.s. oh yeah theres a new poll for you guys, check it out :)

Dead & Gone?

Hi everyone, i just wanted to talk about the artists within hip-hop who made a big contribution within hip-hop and have past on. I feel that artists are living of the legacy of former greats. An example being P-diddy makes his money off Notourious B.I.G's legacy. Another example being Tupac who has made it easy for artists such as Eminem, 50 Cent and Dr.Dre to make them and got them to where they are today becuase of his legacy. Also would doors be open as they are now if it weren't for artists such as BIG, Tupac or Big L etc?

Tell me your opinions people...

QoD

The Saviours? (part 2 - Relevance)

Hey everyone, sorry about the delay of the blogs and stuff, as like most of you we have been enjoying our holiday break, and seeing as both myself and QoD are both new to blogging, along with university its hard to keep up with it all. Enough with the excuses lets get back on topic!

I was actually checking out the site 'State of Hip Hop Blog' (a site we are using to aid us in our research) and came across an interesting post about how people are looking at the pioneers of the hip hop industry as irrelevant. From that I started to think, is this what is causing people to forget the 'Golden Age', as they see rappers like LL Cool J, Coolio etc no longer needed for the industry. They are still recording music to this day but not as they usually do, but by trying to relate it to what people want today. But this doesn't seem to be enough. So are these 'forgotten' pioneers doing the right thing by abandoning their successful styles, or should they continue to try and 'fit in' with the rest of the present rappers?

Could we even be seeing today's rappers doing the same in later years? Over on our facebook discussion page somebody posted about the rapper Common heading that way with his latest album 'Universal Mind Control'. Could Common be heading our way?

Let us know your thoughts, we look forward to them...

...PEACE

6oD

The Saviours? (part 1 - 50 Cent)

Is Hip-Hop considered to be dying out or will someone bring hip-hop back? There are a number of names that people consider will bring back the 'Golden Age' of hip hop. People like 50 Cent, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, Talib Kweli, Common, T.I. etc that keep the genre alive.

When 50 Cent first burst onto the scene it was thought that Hip-Hop was dying and 50 Cent would be the one to bring it back, and my opinion is that he did have a strong movement and role in this and a lot of people supported him. But now he has begun to fade into the background and it feels like hip hop is dying again. His style of hip hop catered for those that are wanting the original old school style as well as the people not so familiar with the hip hop history, but just want something good to listen to.

Just like our earlier post about Lil Wayne however, some people will not agree with these statements. As 6oD said to me, he believes that the way that Lil Wayne is being treated as a rapper of legendary status is the same as when 50 Cent was in the spotlight. They all deserve their moments, but with the more popular 'snap music' etc in the mainstream, are the veterans being taken over by the novices?

QoD