Kingdom Knock

Yo whats good fam just droppin some thoughts here on iron sharpens iron. Right now im sittin at the day job killing time so i figured why not drop in a line or two to get the day moving. Anyway i was just thinkin bout how the music mainly the hiphop and r&b side of the industry and the fans have changed. Back in the days when hip-hop was just on the come up the music had so many deviations and so many options it seemed like you could find a new favorite artist every other week, which made the game seem so fresh and new with every listen. I remember the first time i heard the Roots illadelph half life boy was my mind blown! from the sound scape to the rhyme schemes i was just in aww of what i was hearing not to mention the creativity involved in a project like that. See back in the days being a hot commodity in hip-hop was not based on record sales it was based on the actual music that was being made, thats what drove us to the stores, drove us to read all the liner notes and "want" to be the first one to let your friends know about the latest ill spitter that wasnt on their radar. I was in a studio session not long ago with my fam and we got on this topic of how things are sooo based on album sales as opposed to real skills. The moment jayz uttered the words "whose the best mcee Biggie , Jayz or Nas" the culture went into a frenzy, not over who had the most money or the biggest house but we immedialty began to defend our favorite by quoting actual lines from our these mcee's to prove to whom ever would listen why this person or that person should be deemed the best! Which only pushed you to devour and seek out the most potent verses and lyricist around to uphold or add to your argument. Its not that im not still in love with hiphop but to a degree i get why and how Nas could come up with a concept like HipHop is dead. Your status was never measured by your record sales then, critical acclaim meant as much as a plaque on your wall and artists with little to no radio spins got as much love as artists that were in heavy rotation on the daily. It was more about the vibe of the art and the feel, i found it interesting when 50 cent stated that he was a better artist than some of his peers such as jadakiss, and fat joe he based it solely on there soundscan numbers only to state years later, after losing a "sales" battle to kanye west and having two disappointing albums himself how the culture was now "too" driven by record sales when this is the very monster he seemed to cater to when things were on the upswing for him. I said that to say that at some point this industry and the fans have to start investing back into the "art" of hiphop as opposed to the fly by night catchy hooks and blahzay blah verses that are here today and gone tomorrow. Dont get me wrong who doesnt enjoy a good party but honestly most artists it seems are too afraid or dare i say lazy to push themselves to make timeless records instead of goin for the flavor of the month. Im not saying this to hate on the current crop of artist cause HipHop is big enough for us all but there does need to be a balance and right now there is none. I love this culture and i think it has alot to offer but i think it starts with the fans, if we accept anything thats just what we'll get. Have a good one! JonBlaQ OnOurGame.com/OnOurGameent