Kingdom Knock

It's January 2010, and my small sedan is packed with basketball players 6'4, 6,4, 6'7, 6'8, and 6'11, headed to basketball practice during my first stint as an assistant basketball coach. I polled the car to see who everybody's favorite rapper was. "Weezy", "Weezy", "Drake", "Lil Boosie". Needless to say I was not surprised with Lil Wayne or Drake. Lil Boosie threw me for a loop because the dude that named him was straight out of Jamaica lol. So I said, "aight cool". It was quiet for a split second, so I throw in Jay Electronica's "Victory Mixtape". My car rocked from all of the head nodding all the way to practice and back. This was the first time they had ever heard of Jay Elec and was surprised and thrown off by his skilled lyricism. Moreover, one of the kids was born and raised in the 3rd Ward in New Orleans so when he heard "the Magnolia Projects in the 3rd Ward slum..um", he about lost his mind. I had to calm him down because he was the 6'11 kid lol. I could not help thinking that Jay Electronica would bring back the lyrical aspect of Hip Hop that had been missing for almost a decade. I was like, "when Jay Elec drops his LP, it will force these emcees to spit something with substance". However, I waited, and waited, and waited with disappointment because the LP never came. Then I find out he signs with Roc-Nation, is involved with a Rothschild, and then I hear sparingly from him by way of a feature or two. I am one that is very aware of a window of opportunity, so I thought it may be lost forever in the realms of Hip Hop lyricism. Drake could not do it now Jay Elec could not do it though they were the ones in the best position to do so! Fast forward to the fall of 2011, and I am listening to Jango Music (Pandora’s alter-ego), which is where I also placed some of my singles, and I hear a song called "Growing Apart". This track immediately drew me in and I was like, "who is this"? It was some artist by the name of Kendrick Lamar. I loved what he did with "Growing Apart" so I said, "let me go further". I listened to "Ignorance Is Bliss", and "HOC" and at the conclusion of that, he was immediately my favorite artist on Jango! I would go on to listen to work off the "Section.80" album that he had out as well such as "ADHD", which encouraged me to purchase both "Overly Dedicated" and "Section.80".

In 2012, I was anticipating "Good Kid Mad City", and wanted to get an actual tangible CD. When I put it in I was not disappointed and from then on, in the back of my mind, Kendrick Lamar is the chosen one to bring balance to the force "so to speak". He will be the one to bring lyricism back into Hip Hop and make these current industry commercial rap arist step up lyrically or they would be lost in the fray. I listened to that CD every day for a month or more and then at least once or twice a week after that. I love it but some people did not get Kendrick and said that the CD was a disappointment: I thought it was ingenious! We still received sub-par rap music on the radio unfortunately and I thought to myself, oh well. K Dot gave it a shot and I can still look for him to give us some dope verses. "We Up" (50 Cent), "Push Thru" (Talib Kweli). Also, we got a jewel or two like Lupe Fiasco's "Food & Liquor 2". Then, in 2013, there began to be trembling in the culture. Kanye West would release "Yeezus" which lacked in so many areas I can't name. He can do much better than that though I am not a huge fan of his. During that same time J.Cole dropped "Born Sinner" and that album within itself would force rappers to have to step up lyrically and producers to produce better! It was and is an incredible work and I thought to myself: it's J. Cole: he will be the one to bring balance! Jay Z dropped "Magna Carter Holy Grail" but I was not too impressed with that effort. That effort paled in comparison to J Cole! Not even close! "Yeah...it looks like it's going to be J Cole...J Cole is the...". As soon as I became used to the fact that J Cole may be "The One", I begin to get emails about Big Sean's "Control" and how Kendrick just flipped the Hip Hop industry upside down. I listened and pondered...listened and pondered. Kendrick's verse was immaculate! I have come away thinking: "Kendrick is The One"! Ironically on that same track was an emcee whom I originally thought was the one, however, Kendrick's verse has caused all of the dialogue and rebuttals. Judging from the current responses and those that are sure to come, this will rekindle a fire in the Hip Hop community the likes that we have not seen since the East Coast/West Coast beef; or the Nas vs Jay Z beef. Peace & Love Bron