Hip Hop today and what it used to be

The other day I opened one of my dresser drawers to find something, but what I discovered was something unexpected…..

It was an old 2Pac CD that an ex boyfriend had made for me with random songs of the best Hip Hop artist of all time. I was looking on http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best_rap-artists.html earlier and discovered that 2Pac is actually 3rd on the list which means I have to listen to the first two a little more in depth: Run DMC and Public Enemy. Since they are the top 2, I can imagine that they’re worth my time to be familiar with, although 2Pac will always remain my favorite. Maybe it’s because I’ve known his music longer or the fact that he was taken from the rap game so suddenly. However, I do think he knew he would be shot and killed through the lyrics in his rap. He seems to foreshadow his own death in songs like “Hit em Up”. Here’s a link to the video just so you can see how deep he rapped and just what he rapped about… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4HjsZqOaQ0 .

What isn’t so obvious in the video, is that Notorious BIG is who he’s really bashing in the song. He’s actually bashing the whole Bad Boy record label, which Puff Daddy/Diddy owns now. B.I.G. and 2Pac were friends prior to this song but the East and West Coast fued began which put the two on opposing teams. California’s Death Row Records and New York’s Bad Boy Entertainment were in the middle of a war. The ironic part about it is that 2Pac was actually born and bread in New York. During this era, the beef between rap artists is actually what fueled their influence of Hip Hop. Their environment made their lyrics more raw because they were living the beef. That’s the difference between those artists and the Hip Hop arists of today. They’re trying to relive what the others lived, but it’s just not happening for them. The environment around Hip Hop artists of this generation isn’t as dangerous as it was. Although some Hip Hop artists today are dealing with the beef and violence…..Stay tuned.

Hip Hop, but R & B is ok sometimes….

This blog is clearly for Hip Hop, but there is a time and place for R & B. The only thing bad about that, though, is that it makes me more aware that I’m single. I mean, come on. All it talks about is sex and relationships. Love and all that mess. But I can’t deny that it speaks to me. I’m listening to “Suffocate” by J Holiday right now. He’s a great singer. Pandora is the best radio station ever. That’s the reason I’m writing this blog right now. It plays all the stuff I like without me even having to do any button pushing 🙂 I could listen to R & B about half the day. With R & B, I like to listen to Chris Brown, Trey Songz (But I cannot listen to him live. He sucks. Not very good for the reputation), Alicia Keys, Usher, John Legend. But then have to switch to Hip Hop. The genre just speaks to me more. It’s just more real. And the beats are sick! They are a big part of the song, so when they’re good, it makes me groove to the song more. My favorite Hip Hop artists are Lil’ Wayne, Jay Z, Eminem, Wiz Khalifa, 2Pac, Kanye West, T.I., Kid Cudi. There are more, but I’ll stop now.

You can find me in the gym head banging to the music in my headphones at least 3-4 days a week. Music, HIP HOP, is the only thing that makes my workout such a success. That’s really not a joke either. Without Hip Hop, I don’t work out.  And those are two entities I take very serious. The truth of the words in Hip Hop draw my ear to my headphones and motivate me in the gym. Hip Hip also has a way of changing my day around from a bad day to a good day, but it’s kind of hard to explain how….Basically, take whatever genre is your favorite and multiply that by a million, and that’s how much I love Hip Hop.