"Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please." - Mark Twain

The State of Hip-hop

Six years ago, I wrote “Hip-hop is Dead” when I was on a trip to San Antonio, Texas. At the time, hip-hop lyrics were weak, beats were not creative and the heavyweights (Jay-Z and Eminem) decided to “retire”. It had appeared that Hip-hop's better days were in fact over. Months later, Nas released his own “Hip-hop is Dead” which reflected the same sentiment which I had wrote about. Truly great minds think a like. But in 2005, hip-hop sold out by rappers turning out corny lyrics and club bangers. Hip-hop was created on the streets of New York City to pass along a message to the masses. Now it was about getting people on the dance floor. Back in Boston, the underground scene had pretty much vanished as people gave up and turned to other things in life. But for hip-hop in general, you either made it to the DJ's CD players in the club and commercial radio or you were a failure.

Fast forward five years. 2010. The heavyweights have returned. New and long-time rappers who put meaning into the lyrics return to the scene. Chicago based artists Kayne West and Common proved that hip-hop can still be popular and does not need to be a club hit with its house music like repetitiveness to sell. While some artists fell off, others stepped in to thrive. Producers started popping up with and put more originality into their beats and cuts. This lead to a resurgence in underground hip-hop scene around the country. But it is more powerful in the Northeast where hip-hop began.

It turns out that real hip-hop was not dead but hibernating. But while commercial hip-hop was still picking up more one hit wonders, the underground hip-hop movement was growing once again with artists putting out songs that started to draw people back to the clubs for shows. While traditional commercial radio continued to shun the underground movement, the satellite and online radio became the main source for artists. The Show Off radio show on Shady 45 on XM/Sirius radio hosted by producer Statik Selektah, AOL radio, Pandora and more. Because of the lack of label support (mostly due to the consolidation of major record labels and the dying brick and mortar record stores), artists turned more to online web sites to help distribute music. Mixtapes and singles that used to be found on cassettes and vinyl could be downloaded for free from web sites like djbooth.net. iTunes and Amazon MP3 store became the main source to purchase albums from artists. Of course, the long standing tradition of bypassing the sales chain still happens at shows. While mainstream rappers had strong online and store sales, underground hip-hop artists were showing strong sales as well.

For me, it started with a video game. Midnight Club 3 reflected the regrowth of East Coast underground hip-hop with tracks from Reks, Apathy, and Kali as well as commercially successful rappers like Fat Joe, Twista, Fabolous and Lil Wayne. In 2010, Reks, a long time underground MC from Lawrence now residing in Florida, who released his mixtape “In Between the Lines 2” featuring production work from producer Statik Selektah and additional lyrics from Slaine, Jaysaun, Termanology, Ea$y Money, and more from the Boston area as well as other rappers from around the country. 7L and Esoteric released their CD “1212” to rave reviews with features from Wu Tang Clan's Inspectah Deck, Sadat X, Vinnie Paz, Alchemist, and Celph Titled. Lawrence natives Termanology and Statik Seletah released “1982” that brought hip-hop was back to the point where even mainstream could not ignore it. MTV put on the video “You Should Go Home” featuring Bun B from Houston into rotation and online. The 1982 album also featured mainstream rappers Cassidy, Xzibit, and Styles P. Other long time Boston MCs Mr Lif, Virtuoso and D-Tension also released new albums. Reks came out with his full album “R.E.K.S.” that earned Underground Album of the Year honors with tracks produced by Statik Selektah, DJ Premier and others. Slaine followed up with a new album “A World with No Skies 2.0” featuring “99 Bottles” from the movie “The Town” which he acted in along with Ben Afflick. He also has a second video on mtv.com “Borrowed Time” with one half of the Skitzofreniks, Checkmark.

This has also caused an abundance of MCs who are not as good as they think they are. They are trying to jump on the band wagon and perform on stage. It makes me think of one of the few episodes of “American Idol” that I watched. The woman sang in front of the judges and were then torn apart by the judges. When she spoke in front of the camera right after, she talked about how the judges had no idea what they were thinking and her mom and friends believe she is a great singer. Well, just because your friends approve what you can do, does not mean that the overall response from those who evaluate talent believe in you. Simon Cowell torn this woman part and brought her to tears basically telling her that she is not that good. Being a label executive over in England, it would say Cowell knows more about what would know the difference between singing talent and YouTube fodder. Those who are serious about making in the rap game can take the criticisms and work on their skills lyrically and on stage. They would be open to seek out advice from veterans who have been around for awhile. It is fact that some people can take criticisms very well while others do not. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. Fidel Castro was cut from a minor league baseball team.

The biggest issues currently plaguing hip-hop is greed. This is not something that is new. But greed from artists, producers and promoters is holding back what could be. Pay-to-play is still an issue effecting young, local talent from performing on stage along with those who are big draws. Even though the underground scene has come a long way in a short time, it still needs support from college radio, satellite and online. Evidence of the sudden growth of underground hip-hop is found in the music stores where the number of local hip-hop albums grew other the past year. 1982, Edo G, Slaine, Masstapeace, Moe Pope, DJ Deadeye, the 2010 underground album of the year R.E.K.S. And many more. Proof that real hip-hop is not dead.

Dedicated to Heavy D

Arab Spring, Summer, Fall

A revolution has taken place in the Arab World. Gone are the dictators and fake presidents and they are replaced with councils. However, changing a country from a monarchy to a democracy takes time. Through social media and smart phones, rebel groups planned protests and events attacks on the existing governments. Starting in Tunisia and spreading through out the Arab world, long standing governments started to fall. Some were aided by outside forces like NATO. But now these councils with access to a large amount of weapons, oil and people are stuck in a "what now" place. The transition to democracy is not easy and people are not patient. But we only need to look back into the past to see into the future.

Without the use of the Internet or smart phones, a band of rebels ousted a King back in 1776. The actual rebellion started in 1772 when individual states began to separate themselves from the monarchy. It was not until 1788 that the United States of America Constitution was ratified and adopted by these thirteen states, who had their own Constitutions. Change does not happen rapidly, even with the invention of social media and telecommunications. Tunisia, Egypt and many other Arab countries are just starting to learn this.

Citizens of these Arab countries have come together to form political parties and to take up the arguments on behalf of their beliefs for the new Constitution. At the heart of most matters is their common religion, Islam, and how it should play a role in the Constitution. Distrust of each other political parties is also slowing down elections and the creation of Constitutions. Former government allies and the country's military have formed an uneasy partnership to help shape what is left over after the head of state has been overthrown. The civilians who started and lead the rebellion remain impatient when it comes to change.

Other countries have not been so lucky to get to that point. In Syria and Yemen, protesters take to the streets weekly to campaign for the head of their country to resign. Their protests are often met with bullets from the government's security forces. With protesters coming under fire, NATO calls for the resignation of the country's leader. In Libya, NATO went as far as sending planes to bomb Libyan defenses to help the rebels overthrow Muammar Qaddafi. Even with Qaddafi and his loyalist chased out of Tripoli, he still vows and encourages loyalists to fight on against the rebels.

While Syria is dealing with unrest in its capital, Palestinian protesters appeared at the Syria-Israel border to protest Israel's occupation of disputed territories. When the protesters started to knock down a boarder fence and cross into Israel, soldiers began to fire. Since that May incident, the boarders have been quiet but there has been unrest politically. Turkey has placed sanctions on Israel and will use a military escort to bring supplies to the Hamas controlled Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, the Fatah controlled West Bank is pushing for recognition of Statehood for a fragile Palestine. Violence came to the Israeli embassy in Cairo when protesters tore down a security wall surrounding the embassy and then proceeded to ran sack the building, tossing documents out the windows. While the temporary Egyptian government sent troops to assist Embassy workers out of the building, protesters light fire to a police vehicle and removed the Israel flag from the building. Israel is on unstable ground in a very unstable region.

What comes next for a region that is seeing the old leaders being removed from office and replaced with former allies of old leaders and the military? How many more will fall and will the civil unrest find its way to the semi-democratic country of Iran? Israel's security hangs in the balance as it watches its allies fall. While the protesters have preached nonviolence during its initial protests, we see on TV that things do turn violent. As we go into the Fall months, the people of these countries will ultimately decide where these revolutions go. They will decide how long they can tolerate their new government that they initiated the change for. Some countries are already showing signs of unrest.

No Holds Barred

Politics
Tea Party Movement - The rest of the nation called. They want their fifteen minutes back.
Sarah Palin - Most politicians ride the fence. You are still riding a bus to nowhere. Go home.
Mitt Ronmey - The GOP just arrived and they are done with you. Just go Independent.
Rick Perry - Christian Conservatism is great for Texas. Don’t mess with the Northeast. After all, WE started the Revolution.
Black people - How much Change has Obama given you? Only the change in your pocket, huh? Maybe Tupac was right that we were not ready for a black president.
Michele Bauchmann - How many blowjobs did it take to pass high school history?
Hilary Clinton - Are you sorry you lost the coin flip, twice, and stayed with this administration?
Joe Biden - You are the most honest guy in Washington DC and most politician hate you for that. The public loves it only because you remind us of that crazy relative.
Music
Lil Wayne - Your contributions to the history to hip-hop is about as significant as Can-i-bus. If you want to know what a real beef record is, listing to Wyclef Jean “Whats Clef” and Nas “Ether”. Until then, go back to crying about having to go through security.
Tyler, the Creator - Who are you? Another MTV created artist who is going to be dropped by your record label when you turn 22? Your name is only a little more original then if you called yourself Tyler, the Rapper.
MTV - Too late, Adam Levine already beat me to it.
Axel Rose - Get over yourself. You were the front man to one of the greatest rock bands of all time. Now your aging fans and their kids want to play Guns N Roses’ songs on Rock Band.
Everyone trying to be a rapper, producer, singer, promoter - I’ve been watching you all for a year. Most of you suck and are too ignorant to notice. If you are pissed reading this then you know its about you.
Movies
To everyone acting, directing, production or just giving the green light to the remake or sequel of any more 80’s movies - UPS is hiring.
George Lucas - Stop messing with Star Wars! You wrote the holy trilogy and then it was just down hill from there.
Sports
Theo Epstien - I dare you to shake down the Red Sox to stay. You couldn’t sign a good free agent if Jose Bautista came walking through that door with a pen and contract. I’d like to see what JP Richardi can do with a $200+ million payroll.
Boston sports fans - If you don’t remember the 90s, they are about to repeat. The championship run is over.
Red Sox Pink Hats - Leave Johnny Damon alone. He is no longer a Yankee and won you a championship. Show some respect.
NBA owners and players - Stop haggling over millions. Some of your fans spend their entire welfare check just to buy your shit.
Professional Boxing - It was a good run but no one cares any longer. UFC is here.
Weather
God - Tropical Storm Irene wasn’t enough for the people of the Northeast to realize how good they have it over the rest of the world. Can I order a Category Two?