Rhymes & Life: My First Election Day (Nov. 4, 2008)

After several visits from both campaigns, seeing the iconic “HOPE” Obama poster plastered all over campus, an onslaught of Facebook posts attacking each candidate, and playing Q-Tip’s lead single “Gettin’ Up” in my headphones walking to classes, Nov. 4 was finally among us.

Like with any big life moment I’ve had since Summer 2000 (when I first heard a rapper named Eminem, and subsequently fell in love with the genre and culture), I could trace Nov. 4, 2008 back to specific hip hop record.

That record was “The Renaissance” by Q-Tip.

Sure “The Renaissance” was one of the best albums in 2008, and was one of the most anticipated albums in sometime, what makes that album so memorable was its release date. Nov. 4 was not only the day the Tribe Called Quest alum released his long-awaited (9 years to be exact) sophomore LP, but it was also the day our nation elected Barack Obama as President.

Say what you will about Obama and his polarizing first term as president (personally as a recent college grad making $10.50 an hour, I’m grateful I can still be on my parents’ health care plan), but you cannot take anything away from the historical event that took place on Nov. 4, 2008.

I was a freshman at Bowling Green State University at the time, and it was my first time in a very politically charged, left wing-leaning environment. I was never really involved in politics prior to going to college, but all of a sudden, it seemed to matter (maybe it’s because I was finally eligible to vote?) Some of my favorite moments as a Freshman at BG was hanging out with my friends, watching the Presidential Debates in our dorm room and mocking everything the poorly spoken John McCain said, and laughing every time my friend said how handsome Obama was.

Like much of my college experience, I remember nothing about classes on that particular Tuesday. I’m assuming I did go, because I knew my mom was going to pick me up to take me home to vote, and she almost certainly inquire about my class attendance. But I do remember vividly waiting about ten minutes at the polling place, casting my vote, then rushing back to BG before the record store closed so I could get the new Q-Tip album.

For the rest of night, I sat in my dorm room playing the album front-to-back a few times while playing my roommate in Madden 09, and maybe finishing up some homework, before the results were announced. I was blown away by the production – that classic boom bap that Tribe mastered in the early 90s, but with subtle modern twist. The guitars of “Johnny is Dead,” the vocal cuts and bassline on “Won’t Trade” and spastic drum patterns of “Manwomanboogie” echoed throughout my dorm room for at least a month straight.

And after probably no less than 20 times of playing the moody “You,” it was time to see who won the election. I remember it not being as close as people had predicted, and Obama locked it up relatively early (compared to the Bush races, at least), but it still didn’t take away from the excitement of my first Election Day. 

After the announcement was made official that America had voted it’s first African-American President, it was one of the most surreal moments I’ve ever been a part of. In my four years at college, seeing people celebrate the first black President by running around campus and pulling fire alarms, was easily the most memorable moment. While I played Nas’ “Black President” and Young Jeezy’s “My President,” outside was chaos, but in a non-threatening jovial way.

Obama’s acceptance speech at the end of the night was truly incredible. After the initial pandemonium that had occurred moments after the announcement, campus drew to a deafening silence while Obama spoke for the first time as President Elect. 

So like I said earlier, people who gave Obama their undying allegiance in 2008, may not support him anymore, or may not be as optimistic as they were on the day he was elected, it was still an amazing day. And every time I play Q-Tip’s “The Renaissance,” I go back to that time of hope, optimism and excitement for what the future will bring.

Life & Rhymes: The Rise & Fall & Re-Rise of Hip Hop in America, Pt. 2

The Ten Albums That Fixed Hip Hop

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Now, if you're reading this and haven't read Pt. 1 of this "Rise & Fall & Re-Rise of Hip Hop," then you need to click HERE and check that out. To continue from Pt. 1, hip hop was great at first, but took a heavy blow and declined into a practically soul-less, money-making business scheme that did nothing for the genre of rap and hip hop. BUT, alas, many artists took to the plate and hit the pads and boards and came out with what I consider the top ten albums that fixed hip hop. Below  you will find the albums, ranked in order of effectiveness of 'fixing' hip hop, with a review of the album and how it helped steer hip hop back in the right direction. To me, I think it is these guys that us hip hop heads have to thank for bringing hip hop on the right path. Check it out:

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10

"Goblin" - Tyler the Creator [2011]; Ok, so Tyler the Creator isn't the greatest rapper ever (no offense), but you gotta' give him props for completely reinventing the sound of mainstream hip hop; not single-handedly of course, but who would've thought that five years ago so many people would listen to songs with as many curses as he uses and how many obscene topics he raps about. "Yonkers" became a big hit after it dissed superstars B.o.B, Haley Williams, and Bruno Mars for their songs "Airplanes." Thanks to Tyler, the whole sound of mainstream hip hop took a small shift from poppy, commercialized beats to more intense and dark-sounding loops, and repetitive hooks to hook-less songs that are reminiscent of the "I don't give a f***" mentality of a young Eminem.

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9

"Best Day Ever" - Mac Miller [2011]; Mac Miller did similar things to hip hop that Tyler did. They are two completely different artists, so how can they be compared? Well, for one, they're both hot, new artists who emerged onto the hip hop scene out of nowhere and took it by storm. Although smoking is a topic heavily used by Mac Miller, his "Best Day Ever" mixtape garnered national attention and brought him into the mainstream spotlight. You can't deny Mac is dope; he's even throw down crazy verses on some 9th Wonder beats and other notable underground features. Mac Miller has talent and help to curb the mainstream sound from poppy to something more centered on microphone skill, something that was lost for a few years.

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8

"Be" - Common [2005]; Now Common has been dope since he was Common Sense, but who really on the outside (mainstream) knew Common? With Kanye West as the producer, Common's career was revitalized with his phenomenal lyricism and message on this 2005 masterpiece. How did it fix hip hop? Kanye West was huge back in 2005, he dropped "The College Dropout" a year earlier that launched his solo career, and was preparing the release of his sophomore album, "Late Registration," which would boast hits like the radio-friendly, "Gold Digger." But the important thing to note is that this album wasn't like albums that came out at its time. This album was nominated for four Grammy's, which really brought this album to the attention of the mainstream audience, which helped to reinsert alternative hip hop and conscious hip hop into the popularity of the hip hop community.

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7

"Donuts" - J Dilla [2006]; Sure, I'll admit, at the time of its release, "Donuts" was practically unheard of by the mainstream population, although a great deal of hip hop fans mourned J Dilla's death just three days after the release of this album. And although many heard this album upon its release, the majority of its listeners, including myself, did not hear this album until well after its initial release. It was then that this album gained national praise by the underground hip hop community where many consider it the greatest instrumental album ever created. Rhapsody rated it as the third greatest hip hop album of the 2000s and was rated very positively (mostly 9/10's) across the board. Dilla is one of the most unknown, but known hip hop artists ever, and by that I mean, most people have heard Dilla's stuff, they just don't know it was Dilla. For example, Drake rapped over a Dilla beat on one of his mixtapes, but how many people know that it is Dilla? Dilla revolutionized the production side of hip hop, a whole decade after Pete Rock first made it truly famous.

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6

"Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor" - Lupe Fiasco [2006]; This album is a masterpiece. What this album really did for the genre was productively bringing alternative hip hop to the forefront of mainstream rap. For a time, it was cool to sound like Lupe, and by that I mean with sample-filled beats and smooth, intelligent vibes and meaningful lyrics and subject matter. Songs like "Hurt Me Soul," "Kick, Push," and "Daydreamin'" were radio hits and enjoyed by fans across the hip hop community. Lupe helped to expand the hip hop genre into something more alternative and creative, which really helped draw in a whole new audience to hip hop. This album is dope and definitely created a bridge between underground and mainstream hip hop.

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5

 

"Late Registration" - Kanye West [2005]; Along with the release of Common's "Be" a few months earlier, the soul-sample filled beats and diverse lyrical tactics employed by the young, new Kanye West really floored hip hop. He brought a whole new feel to hip hop, both lyrically and with his instrumentals and production skills. He mastered and popularized the 'chipmunk-sound' in sampling and brought a truly hip hop sound to the mainstream. Sure he had some radio hits like "Gold Digger" and "Touch the Sky" but those records are dope and deserve praise for bringing the art of sampling a mainstream audience.

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4

"Recovery" - Eminem [2010]; After flushing away the drugs from his body, Eminem came back to the spotlight after half-a-decade of slacking off with his music. Although, personally, I don't find "Recovery" to be Em's best piece of work, it did have a huge impact on the hip hop world. Eminem was back, and that meant one important thing - the 'king' was back. Many hardcore Shady fans attribute the rise of commercial 'mainstrem' rap to the hiatus of Eminem. Although this may be partially true, I don't know if I could put the crutch with the entire Shady camp. He did, however, brought more hardcore rap and creative, witty, and insanely-crazy lyricism back to the genre, which was almost non-existent in his absence. With his re-emergence, the bar of flow and lyricism was raised a lot higher.

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3

"The Blueprint 3" - Jay Z [2009]; This album made the list because of one song: "D.O.A. (Death of Auto tune)." That song, coming from a legend, a great like Jay-Z, truly put a damper on the overused auto tune (vocoder) effect, most notably made famous by rapper/singer T-Pain. Now, there is nothing wrong with using auto tune once in a while, but making an entire album out of it... c'mon now. Jay-Z took something everyone thought was cool (auto tune) and made it uncool... that takes a lot of power, something Jay, thankfully had. So thank you Jay for fixing this. 

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2

"A Kid Named Cudi" - Kid Cudi [2008]; Ok, hear me out. This album served a similar purpose to "Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor" because the main thing about Kid Cudi is that he brought alternative hip hop to an all new high. Before Kid Cudi, who was rapping with dreary vibes over hypnotic beats and talking about night-terrors and his life's struggles with such a captivating tone? Kid Cudi took the underground sub-genre of alternative hip hop and pushed it to the forefront of the rap world. How many kids did you hear back in '08 and '09 talking about Cudi or listening to Cudi? Cudi was spellbinding and brought a widespread amount of youth into the genre of (alternative) hip hop. He then followed up with his album "Man on the Moon: The End of Day" in 2009, which went on to be certified Gold. We have Cudi-just like Lupe-to thank for allowing alternative hip hop to re-surge in the mainstream world of hip hop and rap. 

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"Hip Hop Is Dead" - Nas [2006]; This album brought to the attention of the hip hop community that something was seriously wrong with rap music at the time. Nas spelled it out in his 16-track album that hip hop was nothing like it used to be and something needed to be done about it, and who better than the veteran Queens spitter, Nasty Nas to deliver the proverbial slap in the face. It wasn't very effective in the long run as many rappers took to rhyming saying that hip hop wasn't dead, contrary to what Nas though, however, it did create a stir in the hip hop community, so it is worthy of recognition as an album that helped to fix hip hop. But without this album at the early onset of rap's downfall, no one might've realized how bad of a direction rap was going in and, who knows, maybe we might've not been able to enjoy the great change in hip hop music that we have been able to experience.

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I hope after reading these two articles that you would agree with me in that hip hop is back to being great again. If you have any questions or comments or disagree (or agree!) tell me by commenting or emailing me at hiphopspeakeasy@gmail.com. Also please check out my website by clicking the link below. Lots of dope hip hop albums, reviews, interviews, news, & more! Peace!

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THE HIP HOP SPEAKEASY

Life & Rhymes: The Rise & Fall & Re-Rise of Hip Hop in America, Pt. 1

An Introduction

Hip hop has come a long way since its inception in the latter half of the '70s. From break-dancing kids, taking up the streets of inner cities with their boomboxes and crews, to hip hop music becoming, seemingly, the #1 genre in America. A few years ago, and still today, almost every hit single played on the radio station is a hip hop (or at least hip hop influenced) track. So with all of this success, you would think people would be happy with the state of hip hop, right? Wrong. If you're like me, a true hip hop head, you would know that for years and years, many fans of the genre have been bashing the "bubblegum rap" and "mainstream" hip hop that has plagued and basically trashed the image of the genre we all know and love.

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The Divide

In a very general, blanket-statement, hip hop can be divided into two types: mainstream & underground. The difference? Mainstream gets airplay and national recognition, while underground, not so much. Now, back in the day, I'm talking the Golden Age of Hip Hop from the late 80s to the mid 90s, the hip hop that was widely regarded as "good" hip hop was stuff that many underground lovers today enjoy. Nas' "Illmatic," A Tribe Called Quest's "Midnight Marauders" and "The Low End Theory," Pete Rock & CL Smooth's "Mecca and the Soul Brother," these were all considered dope. The recognition and praise was widespread, making the divide between 'mainstream' and 'underground' seemingly nonexistent. It was here that rap was at its pinnacle. Hip hop was in its Golden Age, in its finest years, and there was hardly any "whack" stuff out. In my opinion, the onset of advanced computer technology, the MP3, and the realization of hip hop as a money-making scheme, rather than a soulful musical genre, all led to the divide between what we call 'mainstream' and 'underground' hip hop. The 'underground' stuck to the music, to the love of the art, while the 'mainstream' sought after the forever-famous "road to riches and diamond rings." 

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Pitfalls and Shortcomings

I personally believe Nas was a year or two too early when he said that "Hip Hop [was] Dead." In all actuality, I never really thought hip hop was dead, 'cause I always played stuff that I felt was dope hip hop, but hip hop did see some unfortunate pitfalls and shortcomings in the latter half of the 2000s. Now, I don't want to bash any artist in particular, but what is really important to note about the rap music that came out about five years ago was what? -- centered around money, cars, jewelry, partying, girls, etc... Now subject-matter isn't everything in the genre, as beats play a big part in the sound of the music, but c'mon. I understand if your record label is making you put a hot radio hit or two on your album, but to make every song sound the exact same, with repetetive hooks, thoughtless lyrics, and copycat rhymes, it was just too upsetting. To see hip hop burst out of New York City and California with such creative innovation, and within a decade to see the creativity practically come to a standstill, where artists sounded so similar they seemed to blend together and were nearly indistinguishable when featured together was upsetting. To further prove my point of hip hop's pitfalls and shortcomings, you can even ask Time magazine who questioned in 2005 if 'mainstream hip hop was dying.' It almost seemed impossible for hip hop to ever return to its glory days when creative lyricism and true heart and soul was put back into the music... that was until the turn of the 2000s to the 2010 decade...

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Hip Hop is Reborn

Call it a shout out, but there are so many artists to thank that helped turned the life of hip hop around, because it definitely took a turn for the better in the last few years. I am a huge hip hop fan, and have been for several years... but I'm not one-dimensional, nor am I ignorant, nor am I a 'hater.' I took a short few decades of a musical genre and did some studying, listening and analyzing to give my educated opinion on the state of this music that we call rap and hip hop. I truly feel this way, that hip hop was at its best, then, rather quickly, dropped into something almost embarrassing to compare to older hip hop, to something we can all be happy with. Again, I don't mean to bash any artist in particular, it is just how I feel. But, I am glad hip hop is back and I look forward every week to the new albums that come out that give a breath of fresh air to hip hop. All of you still hatin' on hip hop by saying that all these rappers suck and these mainstream guys are crap and are sticking to stuff like Biggie & Pac, it's time to realize that there is so much good hip hop out right now, you just gotta' know what to look for and where to look. So, in my opinion, I think hip hop is going to last and is going to be dope for a very long time.

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Please check back tomorrow for Pt. 2 of this article where I break down the top 10 albums that aided in the resurgence of hip hop (in my opinion)!
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I hope you enjoyed my article and please check out my website at

www.hiphopspeakeasy.com

Rhymes: Grammy Re-ca=

Oh the Grammys you fucked up again, Im glad I chose to play Left 4 Dead 2 instead of watch your lame excuse for an award show...

Best Alternative Music Album
David Byrne & Brian Eno – Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
The Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix [Winner]
Death Cab for Cutie – The Open Door
Depeche Mode – Sounds of the Universe
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz!

Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
Beyonce – Single Ladies [Winner]
Melanie Fiona – It Kills Me
Lalah Hathaway – That Was Then
Ledisi – Goin’ Thru Changes
Jazmine Sullivan – Lions, Tigers & Bears

Best Male R&B Vocal Performance
Maxwell – Pretty Wings [Winner]
Anthony Hamilton – The Point Of It All
Musiq Soulchild – Sobeautiful
Pleasure P – Under
Charlie Wilson – There Goes My Baby

Best R&B Performance by a Duo Or Group w/ Vocals
Jamie Foxx & T-Pain – Blame It [Winner]

Best R&B Album
Maxwell – Blacksummers’ Night [Winner]
Anthony Hamilton – The Point Of It All
India.Arie – Testimony v.2: Love & Politics
Ledisi – Turn Me Loose
Charlie Wilson – Uncle Charlie

Best Contemporary R&B Album
Beyonce – I Am… Sasha Fierce [Winner]
Jamie Foxx – Intuition
Pleasure P – The Introduction of Marcus Cooper
Trey Songz – Ready
T-Pain – Thr33 Ringz

Best Rap Solo Performance
Jay-Z – DOA [Winner]
Drake – Best I Ever Had
Eminem – Beautiful
KiD CuDi – Day N Nite
Mos Def – Casa Bey

Best Rap Song (A Songwriter’s Award)
Run This Town (Jay-Z, Rihanna & Kanye West) [Winner]
Best I Ever Had (Drake)
Day N Nite (KiD CuDi)
Dead & Gone (T.I. & Justin Timberlake)
D.O.A. (Jay-Z)

Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group
Eminem, Dr. Dre & 50 Cent – Crack A Bottle [Winner]
Beastie Boys & Nas – Too Many Rappers
Fabolous & Jay-Z – Money Goes, Honey Stay
KiD CuDi, Kanye West & Common – Make Her Say
Kanye West & Yonug Jeezy – Amazing

Best Rap/Sung Collab
Beyonce & Kanye West – Ego
Keri Hilson, Kanye West & Ne-Yo – Knock You Down
Jay-Z, Rihanna & Kanye West – Run This Town [Winner]
The Lonely Island & T-Pain – I’m On a Boat
T.I. & Justin Timberlake – Dead & Gone

Best Rap Album
Eminem – Relapse [Winner]
Common – UMC
Flo Rida – R.O.O.T.S.
Mos Def – The Ecstatic
Q-Tip – The Renaissance

And Taylor Swift won Album of the Year... According to a couple of reports, Kanye didnt show because he is working on his next album.

But here was one highlight of the night, that CBS fucked up with their censoring but good news BRL brings you the UNCENSORED performance of Drake Lil Wayne and Eminem doing "Forever" and "Drop the World"

Rhymes: Best Hip Hop Singles of the Decade (30-21)

#30 Lupe Fiasco - Hip Hop Saved My Life [2007]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3YV1hzALHs
While Lupe's first single (Super star) received more commercial success and his third single (Paris, Tokyo) recieved more critical acclaim from hip hop purists, but his second single off his second album is one of the best songs of the decade. Lupe tells a tale of an aspiring emcee trying to make it in the game, very inspirational.

#29 Scarface - On My Block [2002]

Off of 'face's classic 2002 album, the fix, the legendary Geto Boy emcee speaks on life in Houston Texas over those timeless keys.

#28 Eminem - Stan [2000]

Marshall Mathers' third single off of his arguably best album is my personal favorite Eminem single. Mr. Mathers' storytelling on this track is top notch, and his live performance of this song at the Grammy with Elton John is one of his most memorable moments of his career.

#27 Kidz in the Hall - Wheelz Fall Off ('06 til) [2006]

Off the duo's debut album, School was My Hustle this is one of the more obscure songs on this list, but this song is phenomenal. Double O's task of sampling a classic song (93 til Infinity) is often considered taboo, mainly because the song will rarely live up to the original, but this is not the case. Naledge drops some lyrical gems over the incredible soundscape laced by Double O.

#26 Dead Prez - Hip Hop [2000]

This incredible song was released at the beginning of the decade and was one of my first introductions to what is often called "Conscious Rap" but being a ten year old all i cared about was that crazy bass line.

#25 Blu & Exile - Blu Colla Workers [2007]

Amazing video and song, this is truly hip hop in its essence. I kept hearing people talking about Blu and how great his album was, I finally caved and for some reason this was the first song I listened to from the classic 2007 album, entirely produced by the MPC wizard, Exile, and I didnt listen to another song from the album for a couple weeks cuz I couldnt stop listening to this song.

#24 Common - The Corner [2005]

Often dubbed as Common's comeback single, his first release with Kanye West, few songs and albums giving me the feeling hearing them for the first time, that this song and Be did.

#23 Louis Logic - The Great Divide [2006]

Off of his sophomore album, Misery Loves Company, classic song and video.

#22 Beanie Sigel - Feel it in the Air [2005]

Beans' best song from his best album. I had this song on repeat for a lot of my freshman year in high school.

#21 Q-Tip - Gettin' Up [2008]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG1tNxDWOQQ
This is how a legend comes back after 9 years of shelved albums and disappointment. This song is vintage ATCQ.