Ptownjungle - I got you my man. Honestly, I have to admit you probably posted one of the most intelligent, articulate and wholly argumentative statements I've seen thus far. I know exactly what you're saying, and to be quite honest I think my posts about Big and Pac are often misunderstood. My roommate often has this conversation with me. He's one of the few people left in this world that can truly appreciate real hip hop. We're a dying breed, guys. Anyways, whenever he plays a classic by Big or Pac, he'll say to me, "Yo, you're not down with Pac, right?" And my response is always, "Oh I'm down with Pac. I'm just not down with his image or so called supporters." Trust me man, I realize Pac and Big made contributions to the world of hip hop. Saying they didn't would be moronic. I think, and of course this is my opinion, that a solid 80 to a good 90% of supposed hip hop fans, like I said earlier, don't know the first thing about hip hop. I understand your basketball argument, but it doesn't exclude ignorance. It's on the same playing field as audiophllia. Is ignorance bliss? Well we sure as hell know it's not. You can claim you're into good sound and buy some Beats. Anyone with a serious interest in good sound knows that's utterly moronic. I would compare hip hop fans to skullcandy users. "Whoa, look at the pretty colors. They make a statement!" (hip hop wanabes) "Whoa, Wiz Khalifa is sick, but I know Pac and Biggie are the kings of hip hop. I'm not sure why I know that. Probably because everyone else says so... Whatever, I'll look cool if I play some Pac!"
It's almost exactly the same. In fact, it's pathetic. I apologize for coming off as an elitest. But you know what? I consider myself an elitest when it comes to many things. Anyone who claims to be unbiased in every category is a liar. Hip hop is just one thing I absolutely refuse to let go. There's too much to be said, too much to be expressed and understood. Too much to be explained, and interpreted. It's not as cut and dry as everyone thinks. At least the real stuff isn't. You can't really find a meaning to any song put out by Soulja Boy, other than maybe him expressing him lament *not gonna say it.* Anyways, I still feel on a personal level that Nas had more to say. When I write this, I don't mean it in a literal sense at all. I think Nas had more to say simply because he was and still remains unheard by many. The same applies to Gza, and Rza, even ODB (even though he's dead), Method Man, KRS-One, MF DOOM, Rakim, Eric B, the members of Felt, dead prez and countless others.
You've heard the lyrics, "emcees get a little bit of love and think they hot, talkin bout how much money they got, all yall records sound the same i'm sick of that fake thug R&B rap scenario all day on the radio, same scenes in the video." It's absolutely ridiculous how spot on this verse is when it comes to describing hip hop today. I think I've said enough for now, haha.
