I have on my "HATER" body armor today. Prepared for the darts about to be thrown at my head. In this day and age, it is very rare I still purchase an actual CD. Like go in the store, pick up an actual CD case, proceed to the counter and pay for it. Between satellite radio and Itunes, my car CD player hasn't seen the like of any new music since the release of American Gangster (Jigga's version) in 07. Seriously, I had to clear some cob webs off it the other day.
So I'm in my favorite place on the earth.. TARGET. Just in there trying to buy some paper towels, plug in refills, and stock up on my bottled water. I walked past the music/video section and noticed there were tons of Nas cd's on the shelf. It was on sale, so I figured .. why not. You know how you are searching for something, but not sure what it is.. and then when you discover it.. you can't figure out how you overlooked it. Strangely.. that is how I felt about Nas' new release. I got a little emotional (I'm off my meds). As we all know.. the program directors at these popular radio stations must have the median age of 13 (I'm sure there are labor laws that are being violated). How else could you explain V.I.C's "Get Silly" still being in heavy rotation. I'm all for the for the genre growing and expanding, but when your lyrical flow can be compared to your average nursery rhyme (excluding the all too common references to oral sex or illegal drug activity), we have a problem. This is coming from the perspective of someone that was alive when hip hop began in the mid 70's.. yes.. I may have been a zygote.. but I remember. So to all the Fan Club Presidents of Soulja Boy, Plies, Ying Yang Twins, Yung Berg.. and to all the established artists who switched up their style to try and stay relevant.. (I'm looking at you L.L.).. let's compare notes.. shall we.. PRO BLACKNESS? OR PURE WACKNESS. See if you can pick the one that has lyrical quality... CHOOSE WISELY GRASSHOPPER..
Lyrics from "Get Silly" - V.I.C.
My chain too silly/my wrist too silly/the girls throw me dish cuz my rims big billin
Lyrics from "Bust It Baby" - Plies/Ne-Yo
First time we had sex/it was like a movie/both of us fell asleep/woke up woozy/love how she say my name/love how she do me/found myself thinking about her sh*t/kinda blew me
Lyrics from NI**ER - Nas
They say we ni**ers/we are much more/but we choose to ignore/the obvious/man, this history don't acknowledge us/we were scholars long before colleges.
If you chose "Get Silly" your reading skills should be at a 3rd grade level, you probably still pee in the bed, and grape or red cool aid is your drink of choice.
If you chose "Bust It Baby".. you have the word "GOON" tatted on you inner forearm, you still wear the removable gold fronts, and you probably tried out for "From G's to Gents" but your parole officer wouldn't let you leave the state.
If you chose "NI**ER" .. take your GOLD star and proceed to Level 2. You will be issued a Hip Hop Elite badge and nighstick to keep wackness in hip hop to a minimum. This gives you the right to handcuff anyone caught listening or knowing the words to anything in the Shawty Lo playlist. Go forth and prosper!
"Hero" - Nas
5 comments:
Give me my gold star because if I hear Get Silly one more time I am going to take off my belt!!! I loved this article. Let me tell you, I like Nas but I don't normally run out to purchase his music. I purchased his new CD this weekend and was blown away. It is actually very good. The song Ni**er got me a little choked up. It is quite refreshing to hear music with a message.
There is going to be bad music and good music. The V.I.C. of this age is nothing but the old school Luke Skywalker and PLIES (Lies) is nothing but the old JT Money. The only difference is they (radio-yeah I said it) play it 24/7. Back in the day we had to sneek and listen to N.W.A. and if we got caught our ears would get caught.
Did you just say JT Money??!?!? That is so funny! You are so right though. Do you remember "Scrub the Ground", Bi**h Betta Have my Money"? Don't act like you forgot. Now that I think about it, all the music I listened to in the South while I was in college was so nasty but I guess we didn't hear it on the radio or see the half naked chicks in the video's 24/7. Some of the most educated people I know have the nastiest songs on their alumni website's right now and I can't lie, if I had a page on the website I know I would have some of that music on it too. But I am grown now and I still think Nas needs more airplay on the radio so I still need you to give me my gold star! :)
True it wasn't in front of us but it was all around us for show and tell and now everybody going to hell LOL
Love Nasty Nas. Did you hear about him petitioning The Fox news network for their racial rhetoric?
http://www.gettogetha.com/blog
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