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nas is probably one of the last rappers you can count on to come out with bangers actually
very true.
but at least he evolved past the coonery...
which is more than i can say for most of these swaggots... ? ?
what's with all the negativity, my man? this thread is for every type of hip-hop/rap imaginable (southern trap, gully nyc street shit, west coast gangsta, weirdo swag, underground hip-hop, british grime, crunk/hyphy/snap/jerk, experimental/progressive hip-hop, houston chopped and screwed, world hip-hop, old school to new school, etc.) if you don't fuck with some of it, that's cool. i used to be a big time underground head (Rawkus/Def Jux/Stones Throw/Rhymesayers/Anticon/Babygrande records, Living Legends, Murs, Boot Camp Clik/Sean Price, 2Mex, Lif, Sole, El-P, Sage Francis, ? Visionairies, Hieroglyphics, Aesop Rock, cloudDEAD, the Wu/Killarmy/Black Knights, Swollen Members, Atmosphere, X Clan, etc.) i eventually grew out of that for many reasons.
1. most underground hip-hop heads are stuck in 1995 (musically and mentally.) that shit stopped being progressive or fun. they are always bitter at anything they deem to be "not real hip-hop" and they literally hate almost everything that doesn't fit in this box (and they rarely listen to anything outside of hip-hop.) the closed-mindedness was unbearable to me. and i got tired of hearing underground hip-hop songs where they diss invisible mainstream artists they never call out by name. blah blah blah, yes the radio plays bullshit. get over it. (this always tripped me out too. do underground rappers want to be on the radio? wouldn't that make them not underground anymore?) the whole b-boy, backpacker, tagger, rap crew BS is pointless in 2012. snap outta that shit.
2. why are most underground fans and rappers so hard? they try to put up this fucking Immortal Technique machismo tough guy front when they rap. it's fucking pathetic. you are not a goon and i honestly don't care if you are.
3. the music isn't exciting! like, at all. it's so stuck on that Prince Paul, DJ Premier, Pete Rock, RZA sound. everyone wants to fucking sound like that and by copying the greats (Kool G, Rakim, early Nas, etc.) it keeps the genre at a standstill (meaning it keeps it from evolving and actually growing.)
the only "underground" heads i probably still fuck with are MF DOOM, J Dilla, Kool Keith, Madlib, Flying Lotus, etc. they don't let the limitations of underground hip-hop keep them from creating whatever they want. i respect that they think outside the box.
one last thing: do you wonder why so many underground rappers are fading away atm? because people don't care about hearing the same regurgitated political/social commentary over and over. you can be lyrical, for sure, but for fuck's sake, be CREATIVE.
the internet has helped blur the lines between underground and mainstream and i couldn't be more hyped for it. if you honestly don't give a shit about anything i'm saying, that's fine. post what YOU like, but please, keep the negativity out of here.
it's all love and it's all hip-hop.