Here’s my question. If you are a rapper supporting Barack Obama, why would you choose to do so in a song that uses profanity, lines like “hillary is a irrelevant bitch” and the like, knowing you and your song are going to be subject to so much scrutiny? (????) Well, for those of you living under a rock, Ludacris dropped a mixtape song entitled “Obama Is Here.” (Listen to it here). With the lyrics on the record, it’s like an open invitation to Bill O’Reilly and others to throw stones and turn this whole thing against the Obama campaign. Newsflash: it’s not helping.
We may not think that they are paying that much attention, but in the midst of this election campaign, the hip hop community need to be just a little more savvy when shouting out Obama or “supporting” him. the wrong move will backfire on the entire campaign. Now, I’m not even one to get political, but even I know that.
In a recent interview on an Arizona radio station, Rick Ross spoke about the corrections officer fiasco that has boosted him into the center of scandal. But while most sites are reporting that he has yet again denied it, I want to analyze his quote. He says, and I quote,
“In the game, it’s real competitive. Competitors have to do what they have to do to eat. We making the best music. Y’all seen the BET Awards, y’all saw the magazine. We the biggest in the game, we the best in the game. Just keeping it real. And anytime, somebody can attack my character, like I said, you get nothing from the boss. I don’t give haters the pleasure.”
“When you get to my level you are a great conversation piece. I’m big on the blogs. I’m big on the magazines. and I appreciate that as an artist. That’s why I’m in the game. I got in this game. I got in the game to introduce people and to make great music. And that’s what it’s about.”
He goes on to say, “Keep the rumors coming. We gonna keep the records coming. We gon’ keep the music coming. Like I said, I’m one of the realest sources of this real street music in this game. Straight out of Miami, straight out of M-I-Yayo. One of my closest homies was on America’s Most Wanted.”
Now I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m loving this so much, I’m not gonna stop talking about it until I get a clear YES or NO from Rick Ross. I need him to say “no, i was not a corrections officer.” just like that…in a complete sentence! Seems like he’s saying a whole lot of words that amount to absolutely nothing. This is not a denial. It is a calculated publicity move to avoid the question. At least that’s what it sounds like to me.
I’m a big fan of these lists. Actually, lists were something I always encouraged when I was at the Source. Top 100 Lyrics (it’s a classic list if you’ve never seen it, you need to) back in 2002, Top 25 Producers, I can go on and on about how many of these we put together back then. Well, here’s my own two cents, so I’ll start the dialogue for me and my peeps to weigh in. I’m ready for the arguments, so here we go.
I never agree with the lists I see from others, so here’s my own. It’s the top 5 in the game…not 5..dead or alive…it’s not that deep. These are the 5 who are holding it down, (today), in my opinion, off the top of my head. I might even change my mind in a day and update this. I’ll start from the bottom and count up.
5. Game - The Game is really growing on me. I always thought he was a decent rapper, but now I’m thinking he’s probably better than we give him credit for. I think there are a lot of issues with rapper’s credibility these days, their questionable career moves, etcetera, etcetera…but if we’re talking straight rap…words into a microphone…i think Game is kinda good.
4. Royce - Okay, so let’s put the nepotism out on the table. You know that Royce is like fam so I’m gonna say that first. But I will opt to say he’s on this list just because he is that good and not just because I hear his music all the time. Remember, I’m talking rap here, not who’s on fire or has the biggest buzz. Rap, straight bars, wordplay, flow, lyrics, yada yada. I could have said Eminem but I figured since their rhyme style is so similar, I’d go with the person that doesn’t hate me. hee hee.
3. Nas - Okay, I finally listened to some of his new songs, and I admit, Nas still has it. He’s the thinker rapper, and he’s still delivering material that opens the eyes of the hip hop community. That should stand for something so i’ll give him points for that. Plus, Nas has one of the best voices for rap also. Voice is very important although some pretty bad voices have been so good at the other things that they’ve canceled out this category.
2. Fabolous - Anyone who neglects to put Fab on their list is sleeping. I keep hearing guest appearances on different songs, and think, wow Fab actually keeps getting better. In terms of his writing, his metaphors and similes, his delivery and most importantly his wordplay, I really feel that Fab is killing everyone else. Where he falls short occasionally is in the subject matter area. I think if Fab got more personal on his rhymes and let us know exactly who he was and what he’s gone through, he would finally earn his place in the top tier. People never really talk about him when they talk about the best, but he is better than like 98 % of people makin records.
1. Andre 3000 - My vote for Andre as the best is a testament to the fact that flow and delivery are the two most important characteristics to today’s emcee’ing. I’m not saying that lyrics aren’t important…well, actually, yes, I am saying that they are less important these days. Think about it: if someone has great lyrics but a horrible delivery and you compare then to someone with average lyrics but can spit the heck out of them, then the average person wins because it sounds more like flava in your ear. In Andre’s case, his flow is ridiculous, and he rides every track I’ve heard him on perfectly. Lyrically, he adds to that by delivering complicated yet still comprehensible rhymes (you know I can’t listen to three syllable words unless there’s a punchline that goes along with it). That’s my vote. Plus, he got all y’all boppin your head to a Farnsworth song.
What do you think? Please don’t crucify me for leaving Weezy off. I’m sure he would have probably been in the top 10. Well, I’m not sure, but I still think he’s good, just not the first five. I know the Lil’ Wayne fan club is going to throw darts at my head.
I’ve been sitting by watching how Nas has taken this whole anti-Fox News protest, spinning it into one of the biggest publicity moves of his career. Bravo! For that, I want to commend him, because in this horrible music sales climate, I have to say, that hip-hop is suffering so much, I support anyone who figures out a way to SELL RECORDS…watch here…
BUT
Let me digress… It’s starting to bother me how quickly people (mainly the media) jump on the bandwagon of a so-called “good cause.” For one, we’ve all known for years how conservative (whether or not it’s disguised racism is not for this discussion…for that one, my legal expertise would call for more research)…how conservative Fox News is. I have often gone on Fox News to defend hip-hop’s position when it has been attacked. I sat across from Bill O’Reilly when he tried to knock one of ours for giving back to the community. I went on the Big Story with Jon Gibson when they tried to call another artist…an R&B one…a gangster rapper and contributed to him losing a major endorsement. When they’ve attacked hip-hop in the past, I have, and so have many others, gone there to make sure hip-hop has a voice. Now, if some of our artists choose to never represent hip-hop to these audiences (the Fox News-es and the like) then I will say that is the choice they have. But when you take a stance, and you decide to take a stance for a cause like this, I am going to question your intentions, because it means that if this issue came up and you weren’t promoting your album, you’d be sitting on the sidelines not doing much. Now let me say that Nas isn’t wrong for this….he is for his own cause. Because he has an album to sell and promote. We are all ultimately doing things for our own cause? What is bothering me is how quickly the media (a lot of bloggers who just want to be down) jump on his bandwagon and start covering this story without giving it any context. So everyone is just applauding and giving this super-duper coverage without posing any questions. So my beef is more so with journalism and the hip-hop media right now. Here are a couple of times when I would have liked to hear Nas say something…
1. when BET did the panel hip hop vs. america.
2. when Don Imus called the Rutgers basketball team nappy headed hos. (did he say anything? correct me if I’m wrong)
3. when hip-hop lyrics came under fire at the congressional hearings last September.
4. when the Rolling Stones Keith Richards said some dumb shit about hip hop.
5. when 60 minutes did their report on “Stop Snitching” and we were left with Cam’Ron as our voice
So…I’m asking…does it matter that he’s doing this a week after his album dropped? Do we care that he will go on the Colbert Report, an anti O’Reilly show, but will not go on Fox News (insiders at the network told me that he’s turned them down a few times) and represent hip-hop when it’s getting attacked. Or even go on a black show like Hip Hop Vs. America and put his 2 cents in. I’m just asking you all.
I have been thinking about this Rick Ross thing, and it’s funnier than I initially thought, so I came up with some reasons why Rick Ross should have just come clean.
1. People who “hustle” or sell drugs or whatever Rick Ross has claimed to do always have a “cover,” so being a Corrections Officer could have easily been a cover for him. Then he could have straight flipped it, and been like a crooked cop (even though COs aren’t really police) and made music about that, ultimately selling more than he does because he really doesn’t sell that much in this climate.
2. When did having a job become unacceptable in hip-hop?? If Ross indeed were a c.o. before his rap days, then at least, he had checks coming in. It could have easily inspired other aspiring artists to stay focused on their dreams because dreams can come true and one day maybe they too could own a house with a pool that has a very not so attractive face at the bottom of it (see that MTV cribs episode for clarity).
3. Akon had already set a precedent in these type of incidents, and Ross is not even as big as Akon, so why would he follow his lead and risk the backlash. It’s not like he has a song that says he WASN’T a corrections officer.
4. Computers, research, documents are all pretty easy to find for…um….RESEARCHERS…didn’t he know someone was going to go find them? Doesn’t Rick Ross know he would have been exposed in a matter of days?
5. Milli Vanilli
6. Imagine the press he could have gotten behind a story (which he could have made up since we know he’s already capable of lying) about a corrections officer who met some drug dealers in jail and then ultimately was able to turn his boring ass day job into a life of luxury.
7. There would have now been a very good reason why he grew that atrocious beard in the first place. He could have said that he used to whip a lot of ass in jail and the criminals would be looking for him so he hid behind the bush on his face.
8. He could have said that that’s how he met Foxy Brown. Plus, I’m sure they could both use friends in the system.
9. In hip-hop, there are a lot more worse things to be than a corrections officer, one of which is being a fraud.
10. Maybe he has some better pics of himself back then, and he would have been able to circulate them to make up for the one above….where, by the way, he looks a lot happier than I’ve ever seen him look in a rap video.
Despite conflicting news reports over whether Ricky Rossy Ross was lockin up hustlers instead of being one, there’s been some sort of a confirmation that he was in fact sweating in that horrible brown uniform. Yes, folks, it appears as if the Miami boss was indeed on the other side of the law. Now, normally, I really wouldn’t care. But, remember, he did go on record and deny it–not once–but quite a few times. According to thesmokinggun.com, the rapper worked as a prison guard for 18 months starting in December of 1995, says sohh.com. Now for some reason, I can’t help but laugh at this story. First, the fact that hip hop would care so much that one of its celebrated stars was a fraud (oh yeah, like he’s really the first), and second, that he would actually say that someone superimposed his head on some old guy’s body. This is a funny one, guys. lol.
Now y’all now I’m the first to say something about folks because, well, I can. But this time, I don’t care how crazy you all think I am, Erykah Badu is my new hero. As most of you already know, Badu blasted bloggers on the okayplayer message boards (entitled “Pregnant With Insults”) for criticizing her decision to have babies by more than one father. Badu was responding to numerous comments about her rumored pregnancy from hip hop artist Jay Electronica. If pregnant, this would be Badu’s third child out of wedlock, each from a different father (her 10-year old son was with Andre 3000 and her 4-year old daughter is from the D.O.C.).
Being someone who has two kids from two different men (yeah, what!), I can understand her frustration. Why the hell is everyone so judgmental about what she decides to do with her own life?? And more importantly, how many dudes is out here with multiple random baby mothers, and no one says anything about them.
It’s the DOUBLE STANDARD again. And it really bothers the heck out of me. Now, me (another unwed mother) being fascinated with this topic and waiting to see what haters are saying, I went ahead and read a lot of the blog comments and I could see why she is so damn pissed. People are saying all types of disrespectful and vulgar things about her, for basically…having sex with men she was in relationships with, and then having children. And guess what I don’t believe that those criticizing her commenting are church-going spouses. What very few folks are saying is that it’s only because she’s a WOMAN!!! What is this like 1925?? It’s 2008, let her do her.
Yes, I too am very entertained by Kanye’s (note: the photo above is not of Steve Urkell, but KW) blog posts. But it really serves as evidence as to why artists need publicists. His latest entry dismisses the rumors that he is going to anger management, in his very unique Kany-esque way. He titles his blog, “No anger management … if anything I need anger enhancement!” Punctuated with a loud “LOL!”
If he had consulted a publicist, manager or whatever, they might have told him that using a lot of questionmarks and exclamation points in his entries–in blog world–almost always translates as emotional, and could possibly be perceived as angry. I wish he would stick to the cool art stuff in his blog and stay away from the trigger happy media responses.
For the record, I don’t think Kanye needs anger management, just better management in general.
