Hip Hop’s Leader Of The New School
Before I begin, allow me to apologize for the previous article posted on this blog titled “The Greatest MC of All Time”, or some such nonsense like that (authored by my boss Craig), which many of you had to painfully endure. As someone who actually knows the Hip-Hop industry in its current incarnation, I felt it necessary to respond.
If you were to truly look at the biggest and most revered Rap/Hip-Hop artists of the CURRENT generation, the names you would constantly hear are Jay-Z, Eminem, Kanye West, and the widely misunderstood Lil Wayne. As you can see, the elderly gentleman (by “elderly gentleman” of course, I refer to “MC” Craig) – who made the feeble, yet valiant argument for Rakim – is a little out of touch and unable to connect with the “new school”, or new generation of the hip-hop industry of today. In a world where the biggest names of the genre are beginning to push the age of 40, (like Craig), there has been a void, an evident disconnect between these artists and a younger audience.
Before we can actually get into an educated discussion of things, some framework and foundation should clearly be established, so sit back, as “Hip-Hop 101” is now in session.
First and foremost, the definition of “Hip-Hop” is too inclusive of a term, and should not be used to consider all of the artists who are currently compiled into the genre; however, for lack of a better term I will use it henceforth. For the most part, fans of the real genre would consider most of what is on the radio to be some fusion between pop, house, and rap. Real “Hip-Hop” occurs in waves. These waves reflect whatever sound is “hot” at the moment and are often circuitous. Therefore artists, regardless of their geographic location, must try to reproduce that sound in order to evolve with the changing times. For a while the New York gritty sound monopolized the genre until the industry became overly saturated with it, and the time came to move on to something new (#ontothenextone as real hip-hop heads would say). Texas had its short run as did E-40 and the “bay area” sound. However the next big wave that took over – and the one most prevalent today – is referred to as the “Southern Movement”.
The Southern Movement was something fresh and new, something that everyone – from kids to grandparents – could take part in. No longer was hip-hop about the harsh realities of street life, about being a thug, and about being angry (often referred to as “Gangsta Rap”). The focus shifted more towards dancing, partying, and having a good time.
Coupled with the plummet of record sales, and the leaking of songs prior to their intended release en masse, Hip-Hop began to see a lot more “one hit wonder” type artists. These artists would achieve one, two, sometimes even three popular songs, but lacked longevity and would quickly fade away into obscurity. Some became more household names such as DJ Unk while others such as The Pop It Off Boyz and the G5 Boys were known only by there one contobution to the dance floor. Nevertheless it seemed as though everyone was hitting the drawing boards in an effort to come up with the new gimmick and dance to cash in on this craze.
It was in 2006 that Souljaboy first appeared on the scene, a 16 year old that had written and produced the smash hit “Crank Dat”, with its subsequent dance that swept the nation. Everyone from Regis to Oprah to YOU (yes YOU) felt the craze and the desire to scream out “YUUU”. The song exploded and was even called the electric slide of the new generation. It held no boundary. Regardless of race, age, or economic standpoint, anyone and everyone could be seen on YouTube participating in the dance, often in very unconventional settings. Lawyers were “crankin dat” in the office, the mailmen was “yuuu-ing” while delivering mail, and even an entire second grade class(teacher included) were doing “the souljaboy” in what should have been their instructional time. Yet Souljaboy had no intention of merely becoming the average southern one hit wonder, and seizing the popularity of YouTube, Myspace and other social networking sites, he was the first in the Hip-Hop world to utilize them to connect with his audience. Fans and haters alike could watch him doing his everyday tasks while – through the internet – his following began to grow at alarming rates. Suddenly kids had an artist of their own, someone from their generation that was taking over the industry and was putting it in the crippler crossface. Although he was never a lyrical emcee, each single released had the same success. Presently, there is no song that girls in the Hip-Hop club scene get more excited to hear at a party than ‘Donk’.
As is often the case in the “Hip-Hop world”, once you become too large of a star, others try to diminish your shine. Soulja’s success put the older artists in a state of frustration, confusion, and anger. They asked “Who was this kid that didn’t have to say anything lyrically to gain such a large following?” Everyone from Ice T to Nas has felt his impact. Chants that “Hip-Hop is dead” were repeated in song after song, while Nas even used it as an album title. Ice-T began to post videos on YouTube telling the child prodigy to “eat a d*ck” and that he was the reason for the demise of a once reputable genre. While there were many others who played their role in changing the direction of the hip-hop, artists began pointing fingers at Soulja. They were clearly and visibly upset that they no longer had the same influence and that the sound they brought them their fame, notoriety, and success was the process of transformation. Simply put, older artists were now the ones forced to get back to the drawing boards.
After about two years of struggle trying to find his place in an industry dominated by an older generation who, largely, did not want him to survive, Souljaboy’s track record is what made other’s within the hip-hop community take notice. Whether they liked him or hated him, his music reached and moved the masses. Soon some of the biggest stars within the industry began knocking down his door to be on remixes to his smash hits. Everyone from Lil Wayne to Young Jeezy and everyone in between felt the need to hop on the “Turn My Swag On Movement” and bless the record with a verse of their own. It could be heard on every college campus, at every stepshow, at every party, and was quickly becoming the hip-hop anthem for 2008. “Kiss Me Through The Phone” was in heavy rotation on both the hard hip-hop radio stations and the pop/mainstream radio. The Birdwalk had the children and the adults up and dancing again to another Soulja jam. Hate it or love it he was here to stay.
You see, Hip-Hop is not just a genre of music, it is a culture that transcends barriers of color, creed, and socio-economic status. While there will be many people who disagree with this my views in this blog posting, those who are truly immersed and fluent in the culture and language of Hip-Hop know my statements to be true. Readying for his third studio release, Souljaboy has remained consistently on top of the charts, relevant in both club and radio, and remains one of the biggest artists on the web with millions of visits with each video he posts. Whether you hate to love him or love to hate him Souljaboytellem’ is here to stay and has truly earned the title: Leader of the New School.
Nate “H.B.K.” Jones
Cutting Edge Entertainment’s resident Hip-Hop expert
P.S. PRETTY BOY SWAG IS THE HOTTEST UNDERGROUND SONG OUT RIGHT NOW! & ALL THE WAY TURNT UP IS THE HARDEST SONG IN HIP-HOP STREETS
About Post Author
It seems like you’re confusing commercial success with talent.
Yes, Craig is old, bitter, and nostalgic. And yes, it’s downright silly for him to say that rappers like Eminem have no skill or talent. But I can’t believe anyone would seriously argue that SouljaBoy’s talent as a musician or a lyricist is comparable to someone like Rakim. And maybe I’m crazy, but I don’t think that 20 years from now, I’ll hear anyone saying “SouljaBoyTellUm, now that guy was a genius.”
You’ve made the difference between Rakim and Soulja Boy abundantly clear: Rakim has longevity. The Soulja Boys of the world make disposable music: popular one day, littering airwaves and ringtones…and easily replaced the next day by the next song concerned only with catch phrases and dance crazes.
When you’re young, relevance is club and radio play. These things, however, are mattering less and less and it certainly never mattered to grown-ass adults. Ask yourself: in 10 years, will you be able to listen to Soulja Boy without being completely embarassed?
For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Samik and I used to be a Cutting Edge Employee years ago. This morning when I woke up and read Craig’s blog about Rakim, I felt that there are those who remember what Hip Hop was about before the current diluted state of the genre…I felt a sense of pride.
Craig and I have had many discussions over the years as to the state of Hip Hop and who our favorite Emcee’s were/are and on today’s date (the passing of one of my all time favorites The Notorious B.I.G.), I felt the need to post a response, because I was thinking what would these Emcee’s say about the current state of Hip Hop?
As a record producer, I fully understand the reason why Soulja Boy can be considered to be a “genius”, but I believe that ingenuity to be in his marketing ability, not his lyrical content. Can he make a hit record in today’s marketplace? Of course, there’s no doubt in my mind! Sometimes the public needs to forget about everyday issues, hit the dance floor and pray that ‘Donk’ comes on while you’re out there with a girl. He is making a better situation for himself and those around him and there is nothing wrong with that, in fact it’s what we all want isn’t it?
Where I have an issue is that he and a few others that I won’t name hurt that sense of pride I feel whenever I hear one of their songs. What used to make people band together, form movements, and “Fight the Power”, now is a hollow, disposable shell of its’ former self, and that’s a little painful to watch. I feel something whenever I recite a line from a Big verse, or a Jay verse or a song from Wu-Tang. The lyricism and wordplay is unique and intricate, there’s substance there. I can listen to “Triumph” by Wu-Tang to this day, and even though I’ve heard it millions of times, I can listen to it all the way through reciting it line for line, because there’s substance there. It’s not a disposable record.
I can go on and on about this and there are rays of light here and there. I’m a big fan of Drake because he’s a real dude, in person and on record. I respect his contribution to the art form and it gives me hope that someday this wave will end and people will want something with more substance (especially because I love making those types of records). Jay really took me back when he made D.O.A. (Death of Autotune) because it was on some real *stuff*.
In closing, I believe everyone is entitled to like what they like. And for those who like that “real” Hip Hop sound, there are still acts like Black Milk, Reef the Lost Cauze, Loose & PT, Jay Electronica, Lupe Fiasco, Mos Def who put out the music that they are true to, and if that’s what Soulja Boy is doing, then good for him. I just wouldn’t count on him being around for too long.
– Samik
R.I.P Big
This post is absurd, and to post it on the anniversary of Biggie’s death is almost blasphemous.
Comparing Soulja’s ‘music’ to real Hip Hop is like comparing a child’s crayon scribblings to Rembrandt or DaVinci.
I’m glad you shared your opinion, Nate, but I, personally feel you are so wrong I won’t even waste adjectives on it.
Souljaboy is weak. He lacks good, quality producers, lyricism, flow, rhyming patterns, rhyme difficulty and every other nit-pickey category existing in rap today. Maybe you’re unaware, but RAKIM introduced the multi-syllabic rhyme to hip-hop, and was one of the first to switch up rhyme schemes. If not for Rakim, we would not have Ludacris, who is known for long, complex multi-syllables.
The issue is that people mistake Pop/Dance music that includes a rap verse as Rap/hip-hop. Flo Rida is not an MC. Souljaboy is not an MC. Ludacris is hardly an MC. They may rap, but they don’t make Hip-hop music, they make Pop and Dance music!
Sure, as far as Pop/Dance music is concerned they are some of the top artists, because they make people move in the clubs. I will give you that.
Lil’ Wayne should be considered a rapper, and an attempted MC, but the truth is he is trash. Who would ever wanna “Fillet Mignon that p****” anyway? That hardly makes sense! Unless you’re a cannibal…
No, to me, an MC or a real rapper raps about life and the world. Not DANCING and sexy ladies, we save that for DANCE MUSIC–what a novel idea, eh? Jay-z and Em occasionally cross this boundary, as do many others, but for the most part they have rapped about their lives and their views on the world.
I’ll give it to you again, though. Em and Jay-z, though spectacular, are growing old and this generation needs someone new. Who is it? Who should it be? I’ll give you two MC’s who have the capability to be the real game’s new leaders–yes, by real game I mean true rap, not trashy, vulgar dance music.
1. Jay Electronica. Download his song Exhibit C and you’ll understand. It’s amazing. And if you’re too lazy to download it, I’ll give you a piece now:
They call me Jay Electronica
F*** that.
Call me Jay ElecHannukah
Jay ElecYarmulke
Jay ElecRamadaan Muhammad Asalaamica RasoulAllah Supana Watallah through your monitor.
Souljaboy would never be able to come up with a few lines like that, with as many rhymes, multi-syllabs, intricate meanings, or the flow that Jay Elec does.
2. Lupe Fiasco. He is one of the few rappers to have true intelligence and use it without mercy in his rhymes. He is not afraid to make political illusions. He renounces gang life and new hip-hop, rapping:
“Now I ain’t tryna be the greatest (the greatest)
I used to hate hip-hop… yup, because the women degraded,
But Too $hort made me laugh, like a hypocrite I played it,
A hypocrite I stated, though I only recited half,
Omittin the word “b****,” cursin I wouldn’t say it,
Me and dog couldn’t relate, til a b**** I dated,
Forgive my favorite word for hers and hers alike,
But I learnt it from a song I heard and sorta liked,
Yeah, for the icin, glamorized drug dealin was appealin,”
Lupe is boss, and on his newest album dropping sometime this year he preaches that people are not losers, but lasers and that we shine with our own individuality. Souljahboy can’t even spell individuality.
That’s not all the good, true MCs out there, but only enough to prove my case pretty darn well for now. If you want to further debate it, I’ve got way more knowledge and opinion up sleeve about true hip-hop than you’d expect from a sixteen year old white kid.
– Joe Tomlinson
*Get well soon, GURU!
P.S.
Today marks thirteen years the game has gone on without Christopher Wallace. Rest easy BIG
Nate I have a few things I would like to share (perhaps I will need to write a response blog about the way I feel rappers and what not).
1. When you refer to the Southern Movement, I would like you to consider T.I A.K.A “The King of the South.” By your definition of the south, T.I clearly does not fit the mold; lyrically, I challenge you to find me a list of songs that follow the criteria you have created. (Don’t look to hard because you cannot find too many) Overall, he is a “dirty” rapper and how can a rapper who just spent a year and a day in jail rap about having a good time or whatever you use in your blog.
2. What part of Lil Wayne should we understand? A very over produced rapper, he is more concerned with quantity rather than quality. I know you will rebut with “No Ceilings”, which clearly does not belong in the pile of garbage Lil Wayne has to offer. He makes catchy beats, and clever dirty rhymes (and i will admit I saw him in concert last summer), but I cannot stand this “little rock faze” he is currently a part of. Notice that Eminem is featured on the best song of Rebirth 🙂
3. Hello Samik! So glad to hear from you and see that we see eye to eye on this topic. You did steal my thunder on Drake, but let me elaborate a bit more. Drake is quite an anomaly, well at least his story is. Drake’s best decision was to start rapping with Lil Wayne, because it gave him the chance to outshine one of the “hottest rappers” in the game, and get his name out there faster. The kid from Degrassi really can rap, but his biggest mistake was signing with Young Money. Sure they gave him the 5 album deal, and I am sure a great deal of money, but it may perhaps have not have been the best thing for him. Drake in my mind has already out shined Weezy and Drizzy Drake is continuing to be the new voice of Rap. (Download “Over” although I am sure that you have already heard it)
4. Rap music has sadly turned into something that is completely controlled by the internet. Soulja Boy is only popular because he took advantage of this. He had a catchy tune, and blew it up all over the internet. Rap is completely ruled by the underground and mix tapes, and a “popular artist” is a term that jumps from rapper to rapper as soon as they put out a catchy song. They feel pressured to put out more music to surpass their competition (much like Lil Wayne) which lessens the quality.
We all know that Em is my favorite, but perhaps I will be a bit more careful and able to defend my solid points when my blog rolls around.
Foltzy <3
I love the kontroversy that surrounds this post, which is exactly why i wrote it. Clearly most of you feel a particular way about the young man but all of you are missing the main point of the article.
First, however, I feel I must address the first few comments that were posted: Music is given power through the memories YOU create behind it. The only reason that you all feel so strongly about the past state of hip-hop is because that is what you grew up hearing. Those songs were songs that you can remember rapping with your friends, listening to on your first date, or your first time………………kissing a girl to. One of my pet peeves is that people are so quick to say “well it used to be” BUT ITS NOT ANYMORE!
The current generation of hip hop youngsters does knows little of who artists of the Rakim age are, and more importantly DON’T CARE. Their attention span would not even permit them to listen to and appreciate it the way that generations of the past were able to. And this is not to their own discredit, it is to say that the music that they are exposed to reflects their world: the style of dress, the slang, the SWAG(even though I hate the world) of the time. The same way that I would not expect you older hip-hop cats to show up wearing clothes from the Fresh Prince era, why would you expect these kids to have to same taste in what they like from an artist? Simply put THINGS CHANGE…’GET OVER IT'(drake reference for ya).
The music that they are growing up on is what they will come to appreciate into adulthood, not for its “quality” as some of you put(which is as subjective of a word as you could find because the ear of one is not the ear of another) but because of the memories they will come to ascociate with the songs they are currently listening to.
Second, never did I make the argument that Souljaboy is my favorite artist, nor did I state that he is the best rapper alive. I happened to grow up during Reasonable Doubt/Vol. 2 times (and I hope you all crying for the old hip-hop actually know what i’m referring to). Therefore, I have been alive when Biggie Smallz was Biggie Smallz and not the Notorious BIG, I was a avid lover of the music when Bad Boy Records was the only thing played on the radio on ever station from Craig Mack to Mase to the Lox to Puff Daddy to Faith Evans to Black Rob to Carl Thomas (get your hip-hop thesaurus), I was alive and remember EXACTLY what I was doing when they announced the news that TuPac was dead. But because I lived through all this and still am emersed within the CULTURE of hip-hop not just the msuic, Jay-Z will always be the best rapper EVER TO DO IT(we’ll save that for the article after the next). BUT in an industry where you have to ‘sell your soul'(again grab your thesaurus if you don’t get the reference)to go platinum, I can’t comprehend how you can quickly pass judgement on a 19 year old kid you paved HIS OWN WAY into the music industry. He did it without major producers, without big artists pushing him, and all the while has still remained consistent with dropping hits. ‘MEN LIE WOMEN LIE NUMBERS DON’T'(hope you picked up on that one too). What were YOU doing at 16?……exactly
We all love Drake and claim he is the panacea for the lack of the lyrical ailment in recent hip-hop but where would he be without being backed by Wayne? There are plenty of extremely gifted emcees that just will never break out BECAUSE THAT IS NOT WHAT PEOPLE WANT TO HEAR RIGHT NOW. Yes I know and am aware of who Jay Electronica is, but J. Cole is just as great of an emcee(listen to The Warm Up) but lets be honest there have always been ‘great emcess’. B.o.B, Cory Gunz, Charles Hamiliton and Wiz Khalifa are just are creative and equally as lyrically impressive but only time will tell whether the hip-hop’s next wave will take us into a more lyrical trend. People just aren’t as concerned with the lyrical content of hip-hop as they once were. For this reason artists like Talib Kweli, Mos Def, and Common, who have put years upon years into the game will never be mainstream music
ALL THAT SAID… we are arguing from different places. To know hip-hop and to live hip-hop are two different things. I grew up in the middle of the two generations, The Biggie/Pac Era and now I live in the Soulja Era, so I can see where all of you are coming from BUT, it is remarkable how at the end of the day how much hate people have for this KID. Respect that he made himself, produces his own hits from the start to finish, and is own of let’s say 6 artists who can still actually sell records. He doesn’t have to be your favorite artists but you can’t deny his influence, the fact you all took time out of what should be productive days to write these elongated responses does nothing but illustrate the fact that:
WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT SOULJA IS HERE TO STAY AND IS LEADER OF THE NEW SCHOOL ….BOW!!
This is Hip-Hop’s New School:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMwi8vFXUpo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuX6QB-SUHA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLFPB_lqnuY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94xa0NBeN0g
R.I.P. Biggie Smallz
P.S. if you didn’t get the majority of the references your either out of date, don’t know the current state of things, or maybe even don’t know what you are talking about.
Mr. Kontroversy
Joe I’m sure you know a few things and I applaud you for not being one of those people who think they know hip-hop because they listen to 96.5 but what you are arguing is what SHOULD BE in your opinion and not WHAT IS
Lupe is great content wise but I wouldn’t even go as far as to place him as one of my top 10 artist of today. He doesn’t have both angles of what it takes to be successful in the industry. You have to be able to parlay your talent well in both the lyrical aspect and within the wave of what the mainstream hip-hop audience wants. And thats not to say he should ‘dumb it down’ but to achieve that he needs to find a way to make himself something people actually want to listen to. Also let me reiterate the fact that I listen to everyone and everything: so let me kick it to you like this. Lupe can’t even deny Soulja’s influence. On Enemy of the State(since foltzy wants to bring up mixtapes) the hardest song that Lupe laid verses to was on a SOULJABOY SONG! He went as far as to say in an MTV interview that “the south always has that heat before it up comes up north so I wanted to find the hardest song down there before it would made its way here”(i’m looking for the interview now). When artists take time to select beats to rap on for mixtapes they choose what is the hardest song out at the time……soulja…
P.S. Men Lie Women Lie Numbers Don’t, we can all argue we want this and that for hip hop or hip hop should be this but at the end of the day Lupe has never achieved anymore more that Gold(500,000 copies sold).
Hmmmm, good points, Nate, very solid points. When I first read some of the stuff you wrote, I feared you were one of those guys that listened purely to mainstream stuff, so I apologize for being a bit rough and much kudos for you’re Enemy of The State reference, as well as the references you fit in(darn good mixtape, eh?).
But you’re right, we’re looking at it from totally different angles that can’t really be compared. Mainstream and Underground rap will always be different. It’s my fault for comparing them, really. I still don’t know if I agree Souljaboy is the voice of the new age, but then again you know the culture better than I. I live in suburbia, far from the culture of hip-hop, so I can only judge based on the music.
Heck, I’ll support both our points with one verse from Jay’s Moment of Clarity:
The music business hate me
Cause the industry ain’t make me
Hustlers and boosters embrace me
And the music i be makin
I dumb down for my audience
And double my dollars
They criticize me for it
Yet they all yell “Holla”
If skills sold
Truth be told
I’d probably be
Lyricly
Talib Kweli
Truthfully
I wanna rhyme like Common Sense
(But i did five Mil)
I ain’t been rhymin like Common since
When your sense got that much in common
And you been hustlin since
Your inception
Fuck perception
Go with what makes sense
Since
I know what i’m up against
We as rappers must decide what’s most impor-tant
And i can’t help the poor if i’m one of them
So i got rich and gave back
To me that’s the win, win
The next time you see the homie and his rims spin
Just know my mind is workin just like them
(The rims that is).
I would never consider Souljaboy the best rapper/MC out there, but as far as him making it himself and getting sales, good for him. He may sell more than a lot of other artists, but I’d never place my money on him in a freestyle battle against someone like Del Tha Funkee Homosapien. And I’d still never try to boast him as a technically good rapper. He is far from it. But I guess you’re right about the culture. He’s what people are listening to nowadays, along with Weezy. Sad but true. We are comparing too mostly separate categories: the technically skilled and the mainstream popular.
It’s like Jay Elec. says, “I gotta family you gotta lot of fans, that’s why my people got my back like the Verizon man.” Souljabouy may have more fans and sell more, but his fans will PROBABLY RARELY defend him as vehemently as a fan of someone like Jay Electronica or Brother Ali would defend their favored artist.
It’s all opinion, and that’s the best part of Music-it’s all that you make of it.
Joe Tomlinson
*”I gotta lot of family you gotta lot of fans.”*
Although I am the youngest and probably the most naive employee at Cutting Edge, I feel that I have some points create a new view of this arguement.
First of all, I think that Craig’s view of Rakim being the greatest MC of all time is justifiable. He excelled in every aspect of the Hip Hop genre, and helped culptivate an era. On the other hand, I also agree with Nate that Soulja Boy is one of the “hottest” rappers in the new school generation. All in all, in my perspective, Soulja Boy is the Digital Underground of the new school. Digital Underground rapped about all the things that Soulja Boy raps about today, and they both recieved the same amount of success. Basically, I think that every generation will have a Soulja Boy or a Digital Underground and they will always recieve fame and success, but there will always be MC’s like Rakim.
P.S. Please correct me if I’m mistaken.
Dirk
I agree dirk. The Digital Undergrounds and the Souljaboys are what the general public enjoy, while the prehaps more serious music goer might prefer the Rakims and the Nas’
I wasn’t going to respond to this until I heard Tribe in the car today, and thought to myself, “these guys have nothing on Soulja Boy!”
That’s a joke, kind of like I thought the poster might be joking as well in his Soulja Boy worshiping, which would have been funny. But he isn’t joking, which is also funny in a different way.
I think my favorite part of his response is his waxing poetic about the glory days of Bad Boy, including the great Puff Daddy. Now that guy was a real musician. Only the purest of musical talents could come up with such a poignant anthem as “I’ll Be Missing You.” Or any of his other catalog of remakes of classic songs.
(see, here again I am joking)
Look, the bottom line is that this isn’t actually a hard question. A person, having never heard either Rakim or Soulja Boy, if asked which of their songs required more TALENT to write, would probably laugh at you for asking the question, regardless of his generation. In other words, Rakim’s superiority to Soulja Boy AS A MUSICAL TALENT (as compared with a salesman, which you seem to view as the same thing), is objectively obvious.
As others have ably pointed out, there are other hip hop talents today for whom this might not be so easy a question. I for one think it’s a mistake to say that the best have come and gone. But Souljaboy? Really?
Your effort to defend your choice is admirable, but it’s not too late to say you were actually joking. It’d help your credibility as a “hip hop expert.”
“Ask the teenagers, OG’s, and ask the kids.
What they definition of classic is:
Timeless. So age don’t count in the booth
When your flow stay submerged in the
fountain of youth.” -Rakim
I am not joking. I am completely serious. Yes there are people who are more lyrical and better EMCEES than Soulja but, they are not better businessmen and not better at marketing themselves. Which is okay because the hip-hop world will always need both.
Yes there is a difference that I completely acknowledge but at the end of the day as I have repeatedly one cannot deny that he is a major part of the hip-hop world CURRENTLY.
It appears that many of you are upset because you don’t like Soulja and are taking that bias and misunderstanding the purpose of the article but again we’ve all heard the age old adage:
ANY PRESS IS GOOD PRESS
“Everybody feel a way about K, but at least you feel something’!”- Kanye West