HHDX: You said something about a generation that’s not being represented. T.I. and Jeezy talk about cooking drugs, but many of the people who listen to them don’t do that. The college student or the normal cat isn’t represented in music like that.

Naledge: It's all about balance. I don’t knock what T.I. does and what Jeezy does, because I feel it’s just as authentic as what I do. But what I do knock is these cats who listen to T.I. and Jeezy and whoever else you want to characterize– whether it’s the trapper rapper, the pimp rapper, the gangsta rapper...What they're doing is seeing that it’s profitable, so they're adapting to a lifestyle that they never seen and never lived, just for the sake of selling records. And that's wack to me, it's wack as fuck. I wouldn’t want somebody to perceive this college stuff as just being an image to portray. I would rather you go to college and not rap, than just take on this fake image of being preppy just for the sake of selling records. That’s why I feel like me being authentic in what I do, it’s something that provides a balance to the landscape, because I’m real. I hustle just as hard as those dudes do. And I feel like if they were dealt the cards that I was dealt they would...It’s no reason a kid, who has two PhD’s for parents should be selling drugs. There's no reason I should be on the corner, there’s no reason I should be doing dumb shit. There's no reason I should be gang banging. When I was younger if I tried to hang out on the corner, there were cats that would smack that shit out of me, like, “You got a good thing going for you; what are you doing?” And that's kind of what I’m doing with my music. I’m saying it's OK to come from where you come from, and just be you, because that is more accepted in the hood than faking. That’s why I think our music wins, because it’s authentic; and it’s nothing that you can say to tell me differently. Because this is the life that I’ve lived. And that’s what I’m rapping about.

Mr.Sandman

Credit to http://www.hiphopdx.com

Before I even get into this I just want to state that these are my thoughts on hip-hop music and not a debate on what is "real" and not "real". As the great B.Siegel once said "everything is already real." I'm not a purist, backpacker, G, hipster, thug, blood, crypt or Buddhist. But I am an emcee and these debates that have been poppin' up lately on the art form I've been blessed to be a part of is just callin my name. So I wanted to share my thoughts.
So there's been a lot of talk lately about Nas's album title Hip Hop Is Dead. Many people, including Young Jeezy (for those that don't know he and Monie Love had a spat, live on the radio about it, amongst other things) feel its disrespectful to the new breed of rappers, in particular to the south. It is viewed as a purist statement, a pining for the good ole days of boom baps, backpacks and the like. To say hip hop is dead is to take away from all the current emcees coming up, all the producers and djs giving us beats to move to, all the people who make a living off or contribute this art form right? Yes and no.
I say yes, he is wrong for saying that because that's such a general blanket statement. I remember Sports Illustrated doing a cover story a few years back on how the NBA was dead, Jordan was gone and the "showtime" b-ball we all came to love had been replaced by the most boring shit on earth. A few years later we had Kobe, Lebron, Melo and all of a sudden it was revived. But as the saying goes, the game never changes, just the players. Hip Hop itself has always been alive and well, so is it that the players have changed so much and these old heads that either quit the game or on their way out is just salty at the new guard? That could be it. Or it could be that the players before were really passionate about the sport and really wanted to leave a legacy behind as opposed to cashing in and being famous. With that being said, Nas wasn't wrong for calling his album this. And I'll tell you why.
Hip Hop is dead man. As far as the idea of what it was suppose to be at least. See America has this tendency to take things from the black community, rape it and make it their own and then turn around and say "it was never yours and it's racist if you don't agree." Nah fuck that. I'm sick of that game man. This is what it is, and yes, its changed and people of every race and creed are in here now but this is what the intention was - The idea of hip hop was for the young people of urban America to have a voice. That voice might be one of introspect (Nas), gangsta shit (Jeezy, Cube) dancin' and partyin' (Kid n Play, Hammer--don't laugh they are all relevant) education and revolution (KRS, Immortal Technique) and so on. But now what's happening is that there is only one voice that America wants to hear now. And that's the voice of the coon. The caricature of the black man at his worst. The savage, gun totin' nigger who sells drugs and kills other niggers and brags about it. The voice of the "streets" they say.
Well let me tell you about the "streets". It’s filled with thugs just like its filled with church ladies and good hardworking people. But to them, that's corny. That's not hot. Who wants to hear some nigger tryin’ to sound smart and say something that might trigger someone to think different. No no no. We want the coon. The ignorant motherfucker, whether he be southern, east coast, west coast or whatever. Just as long as he is talkin about ignorant shit and it’s got a dope beat then that's what's up.

But in the same breath will big up a band (Radiohead, Gnarls Barkley) for being dope ARTISTS. Bands that make terrible mindless music they play on the radio aren't hot. They aren't making any groundbreaking music. Ok, so why don't they hold the same standard up to Hip Hop? Is it that this music is so disposable and dumb that we shouldn't expect our emcees to make songs that move our souls and not just our feet?

And who are "they" usually? You know the people who determine what's current and "now"? The bloggers and magazine editors and trend jumping scenesters and djs who usually don't live in the hood unless it’s a gentrified hood and even then be scared to death when someone who looks like one of their favorite rappers is walking down the street late at night. I say that because these kids don't seem to understand that music has never ever been just music.

Nah son, that shit is more powerful than any teacher or mentor in the hood. These kids idolize, mock and devote their lives to the ideology of rappers. Pac said it best when he claimed that many of us were raised by rappers. And yeah, that's fucked up and where are the parents and rappers shouldn't be made to role models etc etc. That's a lame excuse man. The fact is they DO and if all they have to listen to is kill your own people (yeah, I said "your own people", because let’s face it, the first rapper to make a whole album dedicated to killing white people is going DOWN) then motherfucker HIPHOP is DEAD.

The idea that we could use this music to uplift urban youth and speak about the problems of the community. The real community which consists of my grandparents and little brother and cousins and friends who don't sell coke and might still die this year want to hear some intelligence and learn about black heroes and laugh about the good times and not be made to feel "corny" because of it, then the whole point of this as an art form is dead. And maybe that's what old head was saying by naming his album that.


So please, don't just say Nas is just some bitter old head with no point. And don't make Jeezy out to be the reason the hood is so fucked up either. And don't make it into some east vs south shit like y'all (media whores) made it out to be last time because (once again) black men will get shot and they'll be the same people calling us savages. But most importantly and above all don't believe that the only voice of the ghetto is one of murder and drugs. When you dismiss the kid who wants to say something different or is talking about how fucked up things are as a corny purist who can't let go of the 90s, what it says is we don't want to hear no black person try and change their surroundings for the better.

I'm not saying go buy a bunch of fucking Tribe Called Quest records and hold hands, but damn man, stop denying that people have a point when they say the current state of this art form is one sided and stereotypical to what my mother told me was the savage. The ignorant nigga as our mascot? I say no. Because what y’all call the streets just ain't niggers with guns. And until the powers that be recognize that, then my dude, Hip Hop is dead.
- Sharif Lacey aka Reef The Lost Cauze

We have finally established what is a good storyteller and the revelance to hip hop, hence what is a true definition of an emcee. The next idea that has to be ventured into is the idea of the eventually "Falling off" term.

Eroding - process of wearing or grinding something down.

This is where most of the confusion lies with the term of eroding of an artist skills. This is meant when one says that he/she is falling off. Place this idea in perspective, you favorite artist does not rhyme the way you enjoy anymore, hence you state that he/she has falling off. Let us look at the factors in which why an emcee will never sound the same, and why the listener is the main culprit in creating this label.

Change: When you are 17 and 18, your perspective on life is far more different when you are 28 or 32. You have experience friends leaving, death, and the grind of responsibility altering your spending habits and living regime. It would be impossible for one person to say the same things all the time if there surroundings are always changing.

Peers: Imagine that your peers that are around you, the ones that kept you sharp on your toes, either have left, dont have the same interest, or have experience changes as well. Then that affects you. You are only as good as the competition around you. People only excel if excellence is within there grasp, or perish when igorance is at there whim.

Fans: This has to be the most ignorant out of the bunch. When an artist puts out material, the public gets a hold of it, the material at best is outdated by a year or two. The artist has already went thru changes, and the main problem is the fans dont see this change. The fans dont understand that they are the ones that have to adapt this growth for the good and bad. Their ears dont get used to change, hence they claim falling off. When in fact they are the ones who fell to death ears.

If you look at hiphop as an art form, and emcess as storytellers then an emcee can never fall off. They just will tell different stories from time to time. So finally will address who is in the top ten, and who will never be in it.

Mr. Sandman