Friday, February 26, 2010

Sneak Preview: Magazine.

First article for the magazine I'm currently working on. Feel free to email me at bridgingthegap13@yahoo.com to provide criticism.
Here's the logo the dude KZA made. Apologize for the bad quality picture, after all this is a sneak preview right?
Not so sure if "Full Circle" will be the final title, I mean Hieroglyphics did have their full circle album.. I didn't want to make it seem as if we are trying to emulate their title.
Enjoy!
..........


"Hip-Hop Is Dead."
"Lil Wayne Is The Greatest Rapper Alive."
"If underground artists are so good, then why are they underground?"
-The Misinformed.

As I walk through an average day of school, multiple times in the day I find myself chuckling at these idiots who are making outrageous comments about the current state of hip-hop, and the number of poorly informed people within the community makes me wonder. Is this the current state of hip-hop? It can't be.
I searched and searched through the vast depths of my head till I found an answer.
Hip-Hop is far from dead, what's dead is the community.
I asked some people, why is hip-hop dead to you?
"Nas said it's dead!" -Misinformed #1
My response: Guru of Gang Starr implied it was going downhill back in '98.
"If heads only knew how I felt about the rap game they'd relocate, and change their fuckin name." And you're clearly misinterpreting Nas's quote.
"Because the songs on the radio don't change!" Misinformed #2
My response: The songs on the radio are falling in quality, but whose fault is that? The listeners for encouraging this music.
The bottom line is, most of the community has become underexposed to the true hip-hop and this is why the definition has changed. Those accustomed to listening to the radio in it's golden age are complaining that hip-hop is dead when really they need to evolve and expand their horizons. The underground is shining more than ever.
Which brings me to another interesting point the misinformed say, "If underground artists are so good, then why are they underground?"
First and foremost, like it or not, music is a game of luck. No matter how talented a rapper is, there are chances they may stay underground forever. They could have the most impressive lyrics, the best beats, but they may still be stuck in the underground. It's a game of luck and connections. My response, if mainstream artists are so good, then why aren't they lyrically better than the underground? Believe it or not, there are underground artists that can contest to a Hov verse.
The most ridiculous argument I've heard is the greatest rapper alive topic.
In newspaper a kid told me Lil Wayne is the greatest rapper alive. I usually don't participate in these dumb debates, but I told him I could name off 10 rappers of the top that were better than him. He tells me, "You haven't heard Lil Wayne's mixtapes! Nas hardly releases shit!"
I felt retarded for even trying to argue. These people are narrow minded. According to these kind of people, since legendary groups such as Pharcyde are over with, that makes them not among the greats. To make things clear, there is no such thing as the greatest rapper alive. If there was, it certainly isn't Lil Wayne. But if people refuse to see this, that's the real problem with the hip-hop community, the inability to recognize talent.
True hip-hop isn't dead, it's just been hit hard with unfamiliar substance that have changed it's makeup. It's a complex hole the community has been dug into. In my opinion, the golden age is gone. But it lives through the underground. As for the mainstream? It'll just keep getting redefined till the community can change itself.
Hip-Hop isn't dead, Lil Wayne isn't the greatest rapper alive, underground rappers are talented, &anybody who can't see this is clearly misinformed.


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