There has been a lot of talk about hip hop being dead, but I'm here to say it's alive and well. I'm actually going to say that It's not even in a coma like Terri Schiavo, on vacation like George Bush, or Even in hiding like Bin Laden. However I will say that it has moved, just like everything else in the world hip hop has gone full circle back to the hood. Like it's glory years of the 80's and early 90's when going gold meant you were the king of music we all love. Real Hip Hop can now be found in the barber shops, on public access video shows, open mics, block parties and on something called mixtapes.

Why is everybody Mad at the South For?

I need you to open your minds for a few minutes, and think back to the beginning of the Hip Hop era when you had groups like the Fat Boys, and Sugar HIll Gang rapping and just having fun w/ lyrics like:" but we like hot butter on our breakfast toast, rock it up baby bubbah baby bubbah to the boogie da bang bang da boogie." Lyrical genius? No. Fun? Without a Doubt. It's the same thing people like Fabo of D4L is doing right now today just b/c he's not a supreme wordsmith like Nas does not mean that Hip Hop is Dead b/c they play his song 50-11 times on the radio. For every Fabo there are 12 Nas type rappers out there spitting the raw and real hip hop it's just people like you and I don't buy their records. Question? Do you know who Joell Ortiz is? Well Joell is the newest member of Aftermath record and he went through a hell of a lot trying to get a record deal, not b/c he's not fiyah b/c the kid is hotter than a nine you'll find at Columbine. It's an image thing, but just like we can't depend on our government to give us what we want, we also can't depend on our favorite record labels giving us the hot music we deserve. Check out what I'm talking about:

King Of Rock

As we speak hip hop might have lost it's mind, but hey I like it so I can't complain. Rappers are Rockstars. With songs like Party like a Rockstar, and the emergence of Skulls, belt chains, and the return of pants that fit and tight shirts I wonder how the real rockers of the 80's feel about their style being swiped. Not like your avg rocker can beat your avg rapper. Well cept Sticky Fingaz I know y'all all remember when he got Knocked out on MTV by the 7 foot skateboarder which turned out to be the end of his music career. But hey I like it so I can't complain it beats seeing a dudes skid marked stain drawers walking around the hood w/ their pants down to their knees. Hip Hop is a culture and like any culture it's progressing and growing up. One of the problems is that they fail to categorize our music like they do others. Think about how easy it would be to find new music if you walked into FYE and instead of a hip hop & R&B section you see separate sections like: Southern Rap, Trap Music, East Coast Rap, Underground Rap, West Coast Rap, Midwest Rap, Political Rap, and the ever popular Commercial Rap. Instead of walking into the store and seeing a Common album right next to Cold Killi Nigga Crew CD. I mean it worked for Rock b/c there is Punk Rock, Soft Rock, Hard Rock Classic Rock... I can go on but you get my drift.

Hip Hop has Heart

In closing Hip Hop is more than music it's a movement it's the corner stone of urban expression and it's not dead you just have to be willing to go out and find it there are a lot of artist out there who does their thing and spit from the heart, and are trying to bring the music back to the glory days when lyrics mattered. But they are not getting any help when you buy the bootleg. With the expansion of the Internet the numbers are taking a beating. I'm sure that platinum is nice, but when was going gold a failure? It's still a major accomplishment when the artist probably sold 300,000 in downloads and another 200,000 in bootleg and a couple hundred thousand more and hey let me borrow your Lil Wayne CD I'll give it back next week and it's never seen again sales. Music is currency and we are all emcees in a cypher of Life spitting energy into the lungs of Hip Hop.

Is Hip Hop Dead? What do you love about Music and who are you bumping that people aren't up on?