KRS 1 on Kanye vs 50

Before you read this piece by KRS-1 I want everyone to give this man a round of applause. When I first listened to 50s album I was like damn, the same old stuff. Gunplay this, kill that. Then I listened to Ye's album and I had a breath of fresh air. KRS 1 says some very true things in this article. The main thing that stuck with me was when I went back to my hometown (Flint, MI) to visit family, I was listening to Ye's album. It just didn't feel right, so I took the CD out. I was just telling myself that it was wack. I popped in 50s album and for some reason it stayed in longer, but I didn't pay it any attention at the time. Then I left Flint later that weekend and came back to my home (The 'burbs). I wasn't feeling the 50 again, but I felt good listening to Ye's album. This may sound funny, and even ridiculous but it's true. Take a look at what KRS-1 had to say.

"By KRS-ONE
At the 2007 Hip Hop Honors I was asked by AllHipHop.com about my musical
preferences this year—50 Cent or Kanye West? I chose 50 Cent. At the time my answer was spontaneous and said without much thought. It was simply a quick honest answer. However, the next day I get a Google alert that somehow my comments "dissed Kanye West". This could not be further from the truth. As I've said repeatedly and on many occasions, "rap is something we do; Hip Hop is something we live", and when you
ask KRS about his musical choices his answers are going to reflect the life that he (KRS) actually lives. If I have to compare 50 Cent's album "Curtis" with Kanye West's album "Graduation" I am more motivated by "Curtis" than I am "Graduation". Of course, I
totally respect "Graduation" and what it means to and for Hip Hop. But personally, I relate more to 50 Cent's subject matter more than I do Kanye's.

I like both albums. I personally went to Circuit City and bought two copies of each album the day they came out and listened to them both. After listening to both albums I found myself rewinding several of 50 Cent's tracks—track 2, track 3, track 4, the rhyme style on track 5, track 12, the joint with Mary-track 15, track 16 and track 17. For me, ALL THAT SHIT WUZ HOT! On the other hand, when I listened to Kanye's album I found myself rewinding only track 1, track 6, and track 10. Honestly, I felt that Kanye's album related more to women whereas 50's album related more to men, maybe that's why I gravitated more toward 50's album? Maybe I'm just too "old skool?" Maybe I'm just a New York nigga at heart? Maybe I'm still stuck on that "gun talk?" Whatever. In any event, I totally respect Kanye's message and his album was clearly a breath of fresh air for Hip Hop. Even Kanye's musical production style was superior to 50's in my opinion. But for motivation, hard beats and rhymes, or when I'm driving through the "hood" for me 50 Cents album "Curtis" simply delivered more "bang" for the buck.

When I stated that I preferred 50's album over Kanye's album the Allhiphop.com interviewer seemed shocked and surprised. This caused me to think about my response a little more. Why did I choose 50 Cent? I began to think about this with more depth. First, when it comes to Hip Hop and its cultural preservation we must never equate record sales with artistic excellence. Just because Kanye out-sold 50 Cent does not mean that Hip Hop as a community has made a choice as to its cultural direction. In fact, I would argue that Kanye out-selling 50 Cent has more to do with the record buying public's demand for more soulful, thoughtful and innovative music than it has to do with Hip Hop making a statement about itself. Hip Hop is about the mood of the streets; all of it, the so-called "conscious" streets as well as the so-called"gangsta" streets. True Hip Hop (cultural Hip Hop) is not about the selling of a CD. So one must ask, did Hip Hop buy Kanye's album or did the American public buy Kanye's album?

Secondly, let us not equate the "conscious" Hip Hop movement with CD sales. Remember, we are still getting ripped-off contractually by those corporations that exploit and sell our music with nothing going back toward Hip Hop's actual preservation. Just because you put out a "conscious" album does not mean that you are a "conscious" person. Your album presentation does not make you an "activist" or a "gangsta". It is your actions in real life that determine your propensity for revolutionary thought or rebellious activity. The questions are; what have you done with your success to support and preserve Hip Hop's actual cultural preservation? How does Hip Hop's existing organizations benefit from your success? If 50 Cent actually builds Hip Hop's museum/archive with the money and influence made from his "gangsta" music and Kanye (as an example) buys more Gucci and gold chains with his money and influence who has really served the
culture? Please, let us keep things in perspective here.

Finally, let me make this last point very clear. KRS ONE is an artist that has produced both "Criminal Minded" as well as "Edutainment" and this is what I have found to not only be the key to my own professional longevity, this is also what has kept Hip Hop itself vibrant and self-sustaining for over 30 years. Hip Hop thrives upon its variety of styles and diversity of ideas. Remember, Hip Hop is a continuous international urban conversation; it is not a dictated lecture or a one-sided statement. It is an on-going urban discussion about life and living expressed through art and culture. EVERYTHING ABOUT HIP HOP IS GOOD! Our music and art reflects life itself.

When I hear artists like 50 Cent, Fat Joe, Camron, Jadakiss, Snoop Dogg, etc I hear courage, fearlessness and victory over the streets. And when I hear Kanye West, Common, Talib Kweli, etc I hear vision, innovation, and the pursuit of life's higher ideals. ALL OF THIS IS HIP HOP! And all of it is good. ALL OF IT! Not one style over another or one style better than another. All of it together is Hip Hop, and you will not have true Hip Hop without this balance of ideas and expressions. Hip Hop cannot be one thing or it will cease to exist as Hip Hop. The key word here is BALANCE, and I am proud to say that in 2007 with the release of 50 Cent's "Curtis" and Kanye West's "Graduation" Hip Hop has achieved such a balance. The struggle now is to convince mainstream media to honor such a "balance" in its public presentations of our culture and lifestyle. Yes, I remain Hip Hop's "teacha" and authentic cultural voice; and yes, I will continue to promote both spiritual and political thought through Hip Hop. Like most people I too seek the "Good Life", but let's just keep it really real; "NIGGA MY GUN GO OFF!"

Big respect to both Kanye and Curtis!

KRS ONE—the Teacha"

Triple Lip

Big ups to Kanye West for his success on his latest LP. Big ups for handing it to 50 in the sales department thus far (in America).

Thats as far as the accolades go though. Kanye has been marked as many things over his career... some good, and some not so good. Many people seem to overlook the fact that this dude always has his mouth open complaining, whining, or feeling entitled to something. He complains when he can't perform at Award Shows. He complains when his record isn't the best. He complains when he isn't the hottest out right now. My goodness! Dude is talented, but his big headedness and cockiness has gotten to his head. Dude's album isn't even 5 mic material. It's better than 50s, and it's better than most rap music that is out today. That still doesn't give him the right to complain and cry as much as he does.

Ed Lover did mark Ye on his list. Top 10 list of people who needs to shut their mouth. I agree, and I'm glad Lover put him out there like that. Ye needs to shut that triple lip and just do his thing, because when he gets humbled down (and everyone gets at least one humbling experience in their life) he might just kill himself. He may do a Eddie Kane... or David Ruffin move. He is not as hot as he thinks he is. Dude thinks that he is Mercury on wax.

I'm not hating on the dude, I am merely stating the obvious. Sometimes I wish that 50 would have out sold him just to see what he would have done. I honestly think he would have cried to Soundscan... probably would have thrown a tantrum on TRL or something.

Kanye you are a talented dude, but you gotta get past that ego of yours. It just may be your downfall. Can that mouth of yours be wired shut again?

Keep Hip Hop Alive, One Bar at a Time.

Over and Out, DocBoone.

American Gangster Part II

Ok, I told you to stay tuned. This American Gangster thing seems to be blowing up pretty quickly now. The movie itself seems to be one of the greats this year. Who knows... maybe even this decade. As far as Jay-Z being inspired to go back at it, hardcore... this might be true. If you've heard Blue Magic you got a taste. In my opinion it was okay... not great, but it was okay. After to listening to more tracks I think that Jigga might have shrugged off B for a minute to go back to his roots. It's the grown up version of the old Jigga. He's even supposedly throwing shots at LL... but that's a different story. Let's go Jigga.

Check out the track Roc Boys from American Gangster. The track Dead Presidents 3 is supposedly a FIRE track as well. Uh oh... what really inspired this man? Who knows... maybe it WAS the movie. Maybe it was all these wack cats out here picking up the mic.



Jay got people waiting on November and apple cider now. Hopefully this work doesn't get highjacked to the point where Jay has to push it back. That would hurt. Or maybe there is another stash somewhere. You all can have the baking soda, and oregano, but when that real white stuff and sticky hits the streets it should cause an epidemic of people Jay flashbacks.

Get with it people.

Keep Hip Hop Alive, One Bar at a Time.

Over and Out, DocBoone.

Duel in Dallas

Ok... first I wanna say that I'm back from my leave of absence. I've been way too busy to focus on blogging. So since I've been gone, I have a lot of things that are on my mind right now. I'll try my best to transcribe and interpret them onto blogspace.

First, this Dallas Cowboys and New England Patriots game. I am a die hard Dallas Cowboys fan, always have and always will be. I'm not upset that the media is all over this game. No thats cool. The thing that I'm upset with is that even though both teams are undefeated and quality teams, its getting blown out of proportion now. It's being considered this great matchup, this great duel... blah blah blah. I honestly think my Cowboys are coming for the juggular. The media is covering this from all aspects, but every analyst predicts that the Patriots are going to win. Ok, now at what point do you say, since everyone thinks the Patriots are going to win... maybe we can move on to something else? I could see if the predictions were mixed. At this point everyone is still saying the Patriots are going to win... thats what they have been saying since Tuesday, and thats what they will say on Sunday. How many times, and how many ways can you say that one team is going to beat another. Sure its the game of 2 unbeatens... and maybe it's me tired of seeing my team being inferiorated (I think I just made that word up). Maybe it's just the media going overkill on a matchup. This is not a Playoff matchup, or the Super Bowl. This game wont even determine an entrance to the playoffs... ITS WEEK 6!!!!

Enough about football now. I got that off my chest.

Keep Hip Hop Alive, One Bar at a Time.

Over and Out, DocBoone.

American Gangster

Jay-Z to return this November as an American Gangster... Stay tuned.

Keep Hip Hop Alive, One Bar at a Time.

Over and Out, DocBoone.

Appreciation or Depreciation?

I had a conversation a few weeks ago with an educated black man about many decisions that African American or even young people of America make with their income. It made me think. We got rappers, NBAers, actors, etc. who make tons of money on top of more money, but what do they do with all that money? Are they letting it appreciate or are they making sure that it depreciates?

I almost felt like Bill Cosby in this conversation although me and the other guy shared agreeing minds. We were at a fancy hotel in San Francisco, and we were sitting out front doing some people watching. Valet was working hard parking cars, bell boys were hustling to carry bags, and the people at the register had a permanent smile. The confusing part was the type of people who were checking into the hotel. 97% of the people who we saw were of Caucasion background. It was funny, and we both questioned at first why there were no brothers or sisters jumping out of the Range Rovers? What are all the Black people doing with their money? Look at this Hip Hop industry and the people that represent it. You see the cars, the jewels, and the grills. At first glance you would be like damn, why are they wasting their money? Everything that you see has a depreciating value.

What most people don't know or see is that many of these people are actually pretty damn smart with their money. Jay Z ranks number 1 on the Forbes Hip Hop's Cash Kings list. There really is no need to go down the list of all the things that Jay Z is doing outside of music. But one person who surprises me is Yung Joc. He came in at No. 20, but still... that's pretty good for something like $10 million. Yung Joc's latest album, Hustlenomics pretty much says it all. The man is a hustler, just like most of these cats out here. How many people do you know who owns Exotic Car dealerships? Not one of them, but 2 of them? Very smart.

Now, to switch up speeds for a second. It's easy to talk about all the rappers and other entertainers, but what about the Average Joe's of America.

Even Average Joe's have some issues that need to be ironed out. We get a little money and the first thing we want to do is go shopping. Shopping is cool, but it's not the brightest investment when we just want some Sean Jean jeans, or a chain. It's always funny when I see the Cartier glasses, Prada loafers, etc, and your mom's address on your mail. It's all about how you look these days first... what you're doing with yourself doesn't always take precedent over that. If you go to a club these days and have mean swagger with some clothes that are in Vibe magazine, you're set. Doesn't really matter what your mouthpiece is like. This all means that many of us all are superficial, shallow, and ignorant. Appreciation or depreciation?

All in all... at some point us, as a race, African American... need to step it up. We need to get our priorities right. We need to stop thinking that stuff aint for us. We need to stop thinking that only White people are supposed to own stuff. Hell, we need to stop thinking that only Arabs can own gas stations. We don't even own our own neighborhoods. People who don't speak our language are the ones who own our neighborhoods, and they just got to America.

Just a thought that i felt I needed to express in written language.

Keep Hip Hop Alive, One Bar at a Time.

Over and Out, DocBoone.

50 Cent making change.

Many of you may have heard by now... 50 Cent is losing the desire. Dude isn't burnt out, but more so disaapointed. I would be too if I was talking crazy to hype my album up, and then was embarrassed. Kanye's first week's album sales are going to smash 50's. Better yet his album sales as of now, not even a week of sales, are killing 50's. All of this has 50 just a little down. He really needs a shoulder to lean on... Young Dro, do you care to help a brother out? The man has really claimed to not have "it" in him anymore. Out of disgust from his major recording label, he plans to not promote through tours if he does put out another album. He'll be back. Dude loves money too much.

The reality of things is that 50's record label hate his guts. If you compare his pubbing to Kanye's there was no contest... not comparable. Kanye's album was getting pubbed on Monday Night Football for Christ's sake. Kanye had tracks being scored on the hit show Entourage, let alone having a cameo on the show. What was 50 doing? Sitting in a studio drinking Vitamin Water, while downloading Kanye's album off the net. Interscope could care less about 50 Cent, and that's why no one really knew that 50's album was coming out besides when he was throwing up ridiculous comments about him retiring. Confident or just strategizing? Don't know. Right now, it looks as if he was just strategizing.

As far as which album was better I listened to both albums. Many people may disagree (die hard Kanye and 50 fans), but neither album was as solid as expected. That's usually how things work though. Without a question Kanye's album is way more easier to listen to, and sounds better. 50 came with the same old shoot em up, Vitamin water making my money tracks. There was nothing new or exciting about the album. Kanye kept it Kanye with his album. Very smooth and laid back, but the album overall sounds very familiar. Personally, I'm going to hold off on buying either one of these.

Too bad, so sad... Looks like 50 better hit the lab and come up with some more flavors for Vitamin Water.

And that's all that I have to say about that topic.

Keep Hip Hop Alive, One Bar at a Time.

Over and Out, DocBoone.

False Identity?

“Fake thug no love, you get slug CB4 Gusto, ya luck low…”
Nas – The Message; It Was Written

Why is it that there are SO many “thugs” these days? Everywhere you look there is someone with his hat bent to the left or to the right. There is always someone with his jeans hanging low. What about the cats who can talk a good talk about the streets, and what they will do if…

Where does all this come from? Is this a product of what Hip Hop produced? Maybe, but Hip Hop doesn’t deserve all of that credit. It would only be fair to disperse the fault throughout the music world and the sports world. There are probably most certainly more prospective areas to blame as well, but the two biggest are sports and music. Athletes and other entertainers have probably the strongest impact on people and their views. Everyone wants to be like 50 Cent, Allen Iverson, or Kanye West. Hell, a lot of people even wanted to be like Michael Vick at one point or another.

Some people like to believe that children are easily impacted when they aren’t properly reared. They believe that when there aren’t enough influences for children (i.e. dad locked up or dead, mom and dad working crazy hours, etc) they are easily influenced by things that may be detrimental. Could be true. May be true. Might not be true. Who knows? Does growing up in a household where your dad is absent mean anything about what you’re going to be involved in later in life, or how you perceive yourself as a young man or woman? I think it plays a part in the way you will perceive yourself growing up most certainly, but I wouldn’t go as far to say that you are destined for trouble because of it.

I don’t want to stray too far away from my original question though… Why is it that there are SO many “thugs” these days? I remember back in the late 80s and early 90s to even the mid-90s, you couldn’t as much as wear a baseball cap… let alone wear it cocked to a side. Your favorite colors had to be gray and white, or some other primary color. You definitely couldn’t wear red or blue though, and for damn sure you couldn’t wear red bottom and a red top… and likewise for blue. I am happier than anyone these days that those laws are not still around, because red and blue are some of my favorite colors. If this were the early 90s, I’d probably be somewhere beat up or shot because of my outfit. Now that those laws aren’t around anymore, people have taken advantage. White kids with blue fitted hats cocked to the left or right, black suburban kids with red and blue sweat suits with one of the legs pulled up. They all look like they just came out of a rap video with Cash Money. The part that takes the cake though is that many of these people have never seen drugs, guns, violence outside of their parent’s arguing, and many other things that these entertainers talk about. It’s just like fake studio rappers. I see your gums bumping, but I don’t see your actions coinciding.

A lot of young people today don’t realize or understand what connotations the colors and the sideways hat had across the land of America in earlier times. There are even a lot of older people who still wear their hats turned to one side in representation of what they used to do, what they used to be around, or what they wanted to do when they were growing up. Even though people are not banging anymore, the colors and left and right still have a connotation. Do people still care? Not as much… depending on where you are.

Everybody’s a thug these days, or at least want to look like one. On second thought, maybe looking like a thug isn’t the right phrase. I’ll rephrase that and say that everybody wants to pose as something or someone that they are not.

Like Andre 3000 said, “You white tee, well… to me, looks like a nightgown. Make your mama proud, take that thing two sizes down.” You can still wear your white tee’s and top shelf jeans with your Air Force 1’s, but try looking a little more presentable. People don’t want to see your Hanes, and you can still be cool with a pair of jeans that fit properly. In most cases parents do not agree with what their child wears, but a fight everyday isn’t worth it. So what really can the parent(s) do?

Hip Hop is still going to exist with or without fitted hats, Air Force’s, sagging jeans, etc.

I’m still stuck asking myself, why are there so many “thugs” these days? What’s up with the false identity?

Keep Hip Hop Alive, One Bar at a Time.

Over and Out, DocBoone.

The Future?

Now an anonymous little birdie put a bug in my ear. They told me that if you listen hard enough, there’s a group of people who are trying to change the game a little bit. They told me… don’t worry, they rap. Then the birdie said, DocBoone… they rap to a different tune though. It’s some rock, mixed with some blues, there’s a pinch of reggae in there, and some soul added as well. When you add some pretty stable lyrical content in there you have what some call… The Future. Word is that they reside in VA. I haven’t traveled out there personally, but I have checked them out. If you not feeling rock, blues, reggae, or anything outside of Soulja Boy and the Superman… then you wont feel this. What I recommend for you though is to give The Future a listen… uncover your 3rd eye and check this out.

Future's Website

Check them out on Myspace

I just thought that I would share this with you all out there who are checking in me.

Keep Hip Hop Alive, One Bar at a Time.

Over and Out, DocBoone.

Bleeding EarDrums

The day came, and the day has gone. Now it’s time to soak this all up. Between Common, UGK, Pharoahe Monch, and a handful of other CDs that have come out this summer… it has been a great summer for music in my opinion. But then again, what does my opinion count for. My opinion couldn’t hold water if it was a Slurpee mug. At any rate, Talib Kweli released his anticipated album on Tuesday, and the man dropped harder than most probably expected.

The Beautiful Struggle was cute. It got us all by for the moment for the thirst of lyrical complexion from Kweli… it wasn’t enough though. It left many thirsting for more, pretty fast. It lacked a few things lyrically and production wise. This time around with Eardrum, Kweli made sure that everyone feasted off of his work in the kitchen. The album bangs out 20 tracks, including 3 bonuses. A lot of work went into this album… At times I could have swore that I tasted a sock while listening to this album. That’s how much umph he put into this one.

If people are arguing that no one in Hip Hop talks about anything in their music, then they haven’t listened to Eardrum. “This ain’t my full potential, only using 10% of my mental on instrumentals.” That’s what Kweli is stating on the opening track “Everything Man.” With 20 tracks total on an album you would expect there to be times of inconsistency. Production, content, and mood is consistent throughout.

One of the realest tracks of the album, “Give ‘Em Hell,” Kweli entertains you while questioning religious views. This is a deep song, and like “Jesus Walks,” this song takes a dive out there, but hits everything. It’s very filling. “Who is King James, and why did he think that it was so vital to remove chapters and make his own version of the Bible? They say that hell is underground, and heaven is in the sky, and they say that’s where you go when you die… but how they know?”

Overall this album will qualify as one of the top 3 albums of the summer once the leaves begin to fall. With production from Kanye, Will.I.Am., Pete Rock, Hi Tek, and even Justin Timberlake. Guest appearances from Jean Grae, Kanye, Raheem DeVaughn, Roy Ayers, Norah Jones, KRS One, Lyfe, and Musiq. This album has 5 mic written all over it… or atleast 4 and a half. I’m urging everyone to go BUY a copy.


Keep Hip Hop Alive, One Bar at a Time.

Over and Out, DocBoone.