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

Change of Plans & So Called "Hip Hop"

Ok first order of business, we've decided to do our blogs every Friday. This is simply because of our schedule at university, and its gonna be hard to fit in our research etc for this project, along with other things we're doing.

Now back onto this weeks blog, the artists and music that claim to be under the hip hop banner. To be more precise, snap music and pop rap. Now most of you can probably guess what artists we're talking about, artists like Soulja Boy, Hurricane Chris, D4L, Dem Franchize Boyz etc.

These artists are useless for hip hop but are still liked by the younger youth as we found out from research that we did,and are aimed specifically to be catchy. These types are loved in night clubs because the videos that are produced have a specific dance and are aimed for the younger generation for a age group around 10-21.

Should this type of so called hip hop music be allowed to be associated with the genre? Its understandable from the business side of things, how they are used as a way of marketing the genre and it is working. But this happening is in our opinion, killing off the real meaning of what hip hop was and should still be, the poetry of the streets.

PEACE...

6oD

A joint production

So what we thought we would do this week as a one off to begin with, is both contribute on a blog together. Normally one of us will do a blog on Monday's and the other on Friday's.

The blog is mainly about contrasts in the 'golden age' of hip hop compared to the modern age hip hop scene. But there is one discussion that has caught our eye, aiming on a particular rapper that goes by the name of Lil' Wayne.
We've found that the majority of blog sites and discussion boards are going back and forth arguing whether he is of 'legendary' status or not, with the majority of people saying he is not. But what of those of the people who say that he is?

The Queen of Diamonds says: Lil' Wayne can have his good moments, but he has mostly bad moments, his rap style can be a little silly and on alot of tracks he mumbles the lyrics which can be annoying becuase you cannot understand him. He recently started the whole T-pain auto-tuner singing style, my personal opinion on it is its unecessary because it sounds awful and why not be unique. Now the question is "Is lil Wayne the future for Hip Hop?"

The six of Diamonds says: I would also like to ask the question, is this the direction Hip Hop should be going?

We look forward to your views on this

PEACE...

6oD & QoD