yes, i fully agree.
benzino is just too stupid to run a serious business... i didn't read the source too much cause i'm from germany. but what i learned is that benzino isn't able to run a objective magazine...and the source list sucks. to me J Prince or Micheal Watts should be on top this(last) year.

ray

I am still waiting for the real CHRIS LIGHTY to drop a post on this site (the DEF POETRY joint above was cliche cutesy though - no homo).

What would we have done without Hustle Simmons? Folks would have made up another one (Quincy Jones IV anyone?) What would we do without Liar Cohen? I bet there would be some people doing a lot better.

I challenge you CHRIS to come back to the table, this forum that you have started here with real tangible ideas for the progress of Hip-Hop. It can't be just about consumption. As a veteran of Hip-Hop commercialism there has to be something else that you love your job for, some truth that it gives you (other than what you stated on your last post that the music biz has NO rules).

The SOURCE did build a brand based on being a real voice for Hip-Hop. Them dudes lost thir way years ago when the integrity of what they published was placed on the aucion block for the highest bidder. Why not drop a real joint about a situation where you saw someone up for auction? How did that make you feel? Were you a bidder or just a spectator? That's Hip-Hop too I guess.

And speaking of the S-Dots... Do the S-dots even compare to the original Gucci sneakers that they intimated?

You mean imagine the 70's? But I get your point about being an optimists about Hip-Hop and your right...good post!

Forward looking individuals such as chris are successful because they can recognize and revel the past BUT can also embrace the need to "reinvent" it as well. Too many people dwell on "how it was" instead of "how it is & can be".

Chris,
Write whatever the hell you want to write and don't worry about the Billy's of the world and/or what the audience of this blog thinks that you should be writing. I always say that people who write blogs for their audience are not bloggers, but writers who can't get a book deal.

The Mad Dater,
"Because there's a Bastard in all of us"

WHAT if there was No . . .
Bambaataa (Brought Spirituality into HipHop)

RED Alert (Brought the Attitude )(also Violator RODE IN on his back)

DJ Kool Herc (Brought the STYLE)

JAZZY JAY (He Really STARTED DEF JAM )!!?!

Without Them there would be NO HipHop . . .

and RAP would have never become successful without a culture behind it

You know im right

CHRIS,

Please challenge the bloggers with some substance.
The business of Hip-hop,is the business of POP. The answer to "Where would we be with-out Hip-Hop?" Where we are now, losing the culture to POPULAR MUSIC. It's all good because, we are able to feed our families. However,we are constantly being put under duress to meet bottom lines. In the process we are selling our soul,Hip-HOP,like some cheap WHORE. Let's ask this question. Similarly, to the SOURCE losing their BRAND

Who hands is Hip-Hop going to be in 20 more years?

OPEN THE FLOOR TO THIS CAM/JAY Z SITUATION. THE LYRICS ARE WAY PAST BATTLE RAP AND MORE ON SOME SREET SHIT..DAME GAVE UP THE PUBLISHING INFO SO AS TO ALLOW CAM TO PIECE TOGETHER THE SECOND DISS TRACK/I'M A BITER NOT A WRITER....DAME HAS DEMONSTRATED WHY THE HIP HOP ELITE...JAY,CHRIS.STOUTE.PUFF...EXIT VENUES WHEN HE ENTERS.....LYOR WANTED JAY TO INHERIT THE ROC YEARS AGO AND JAY TURNED IT DOWN.. AS WELL DAME OVER ACTED THE STRRET ATTITUDE AROUND THE ELITE FURTHER WEDGING THEIR RLTIONSHIP......DAME SHOULD CHECK HIS SELF AND RELEASE THE BITTER ATTITUDE YOUNG ENRTPRNRS LIKE SELF NEED HIS DOLLARS AND ADVICE...HOWEVER IT IS TOO LATE..JAY WILL BE HARD PRESSED TO KEEP HIS MONSTERS OFF DAME/DIPSET WITH LYRICS TARGETING THE ROCS IMPLICATION IN CAMS SHOOTING....HOPEFULLY JAY CAN IDENTIFY THE BITTERNESS AND STAY AN ICON FOR YOUNG CATS LIKE MYSELF TO ASPIRE TOO....GOOD YEAR FOR HIP HOP THUS FAR ESPECIALLY IF THAT PRODUCTION DEAL COMES THRU....

Chris..the whole damn City is talking about Cam and jigga plesae drop your thoughts about the situation.

Hmmm a hip hopless world? wow!
Ain't no telling...It could get ugly OR perhaps simply DIFFERENT.
Many folks would have had no outlet for expression. And what the heck would I have been listening to on my walkman on that long walk home from school?

Artists would be stifled, history would still be his story & the voiceless would want to just SCREAM...is my guess.

Pimps, dope dealers and gangsters may have had to keep their day jobs-hence nobody would have ever heard about Too Short's freaky tales.

If there was no hip-hop:
Pain would manifest itself in other ways with a great potential to be less productive and profitable than it is. Poverty would not be emulated on screen at theatres near you, only on the evening news. It's likely that we wouldn't see many juxtoposing images to counter the onslaught of corporate media bias.

HOWEVER someone at some point in time would create other means, by any means. We would have developed a medium whether or not it was called hip hop...because hip hop is a continuation of other (oral, musical, artistic & political)cultural traditions. It could not have been stopped.

But a few things are certain, if there was no hip hop there would be less bootlegging and my hard drive would have more space on it. And maybe Puffy never would have had the chance to ruin New Edition...and I'd still have them to listen to at least.

(note: Puff is cool, but the "old men at the club" comeback album was not up to NE fan standards-real heartbreaker)

Intro......

See the problem is man....
Niggaz be hating man....
I don't know why man.....
Cuz I'm the best man......

Verse 1

Doggie I'm not a rapper...
I dress real dapper....
Your girl I'll slap her.....
Cuz she wanted me to autograph the condom wrapper..

Doggie I'm not your friend.....
And homie I'm not your boy.....
I push expensive toys......
Have you singing Happy Happy Joy Joy

Call me the Pink Panther.....
When I was 1 I had pink pampers...
And my mommy put my dirty clothes inside my pink hamper....

I like to rock purple....
I used to watch Urkel....
And I liked Oprah in the movie the Color Purple.....

We the syzurp boys....
We make a lot of noise.....
And in 3rd grade me and Jimmy shared the same toys.....

Goo Goo Gagga....
Dadda Dadda.....
And for Halloween I dressed like Ali Babba.....

Chorus (Jim Jones)

Cuz we the Dips....
Don't fuck with the Dips........
Aye! (Juelz Santana)

Cuz we the set....
Don't fuck with set.....
AYE! (Juelz Santana)

Put it together and you got...
DIPSET...DIPSET...DIPSET
AYE!!!!AYE!!!!!AYE!!!!!!

Verse 2

Homie it's no homo.....
We ride on big momo's
And I think my moms voted for Mario Cuomo......

Homie you not hot....
I'm Like Hot Sauce....
And the movie DreamGirls featured Diana Ross....

Doggie i'm off the leash....
That means I'm off the chain....
When I was 13 I rode on the back of the #4 train.....

Goonie Goo Goo
Doggie Poo Poo
And in fourth grade my class went to the Bronx Zoo Zoo....

We saw the monkeys....
We saw the gorillas.....
And my favorite cartoon was Magilla Gorilla

See my style is hot....
And I left the ROC....
And no matter how much I brush I can still taste Dame's Cock! (no homo)

Cuz Dame is my boy....
And Dame is my man.....
And I wish they would bring back American Bandstand....

Cuz I liked Dick Clark(no homo)
I used to eat Clark's(no homo)
And in the 80's Jamaicans used to wear Clarks.....

Chorus (Jim Jones)
Cuz we the Dips
Don't fuck with the Dips
AYE! (Juelz Santana)

Cuz we the Set
Don't fuck with the set!
AYE!

Put it topgether and you got .....
DIPSET...DIPSET...DIPSET!!!!!
AYE!!!!AYE!!!!!AYE!!!!!!

Outro (Jim Jones)

Yeah Killah I see you man.....
This is Jones nigga!!!!
Capo status all day on you punk ass niggas....
See this is Harlem man!!!!!
Even though I grew up in the Bronx man.....
It's not a game fuckers.....
I got a new name for the 06....
Call me Capo Gustapo Liquid Drano man.....
Cuz I'm flushing your team man.....
no homo
I'm eating your food nigga.....
no homo...
Excuse me I gotta sneeze man ....AHHHH CHOOOO!
Bless you Jimmy (Camron)
no Homo

The End............

Well Said!

is that song is on the 'PURPLE LIKE BARNEY' mixtape?

hmm... okay, so here's a thought: Black music/Rap has taken the music industry 'by storm' but there are now less black people then latinos. In fact 1 in 7 Americans are Latino. So we should all have our eyes open because they will be next. They are the major minority.

Also while its great some african-americans have done well in music, what about other industries? The same problems have plaugued the ghettos & projects of this country for decades with no end in sight.

Yo b....
I don't know b...
I guess I gotta go to the press b...
To let niggas know I'm the best b.....

Verse 1

Doggie,I hold a press conference
I conference the press
Just to let em know dipset is the best..

From Jr Writer to Hell Rell
To my man Zeke who is locked in a jail cell....

Cuz this is the movemnet....
We stay with the movement....
I went to the doc he asked when was my last bowel movement....

I told him no homo...
He said when did you go though...
I told him ask Jimmy cuz he just wiped my asshole.....

I had the runs....
I had diarrhea.....
And Dame's Ultimate Hustler show was a bad idea....

He tried his best...
He went all out....
And if Graff don't sell his house he'll have to move out....

Chorus (Jim Jones)
Cuz it's the press
Aye!(Juelz Santana)
And it's a conference
Aye!
And the Dip Movement is nothing but nonsense!!!
AYE!AYE!AYE!!!!!

Verse 2

Doggie it's no comment...
The comment's none....
And we ain't been hot since Diplomats Volume 1....

Cuz we got lazy....
We ain't trying...
(Jim Jones) But Killah Juelz is Platinum....
Jimmy stop lying.....

He ain't even gold...
He put a brick....
(Jim Jones) Yo Cam what's that in your mouth?
That's just Dame's Dick.....

His nuts on my chin....
I'm just taking it in....
I just dissed Hov...
Oh the trouble I'm in.....

And Dame's a dry snitch....
But he's my bitch....
And if you diss him you'll be in a deep ditch....

Cuz life is the Dash...
Dame hold on to your Cash....
If shit gers rough move in with your cousin Stacey Dash....

Chorus

Cuz it's the press...
Aye!!!!
And it's a conference....
Aye!
And the Dip Set Movement is nothing but nonsense!!!
AYE!! AYE!!! AYE!!!

No hip hop would mean our kids would be getting perfect scores on their SAT's! Instead of winding up locked up, dead or fucked up in the life, because they think that what their favorite artist says on an album is true. It seems that HIP HOP is in the wrong hands, the "king makers" are all white the rest of them are brothers who are puppets to the king makers.
HIP HOP = THE NEW COTTON.

get at if you have something valid to say

I have to disagree with this last post in the sense that we can somehow blame hip hop for low test scores or the prison population. I understand the sentiment, but I feel like that is too broad a blanket statement that is not fair to responsible/socially conscious artists.

The prison system itself is modern day slavery, but that has been the case long before HIP HOP. So let's not feed into that theory. HIP HOP was born out of the struggle, it did not create it...now I agree that it is not being used to its full positive potential as a tool for social change, but who ever said it was supposed to? If we want to change the rules of the game then we have to make moves & let that be known...In the meantime, there will be people who are going to play the game that's going to get them paid and not worry about the rest.

Patience, Fam, Patience -

Hip-Hop is a seed that still hasnt born fruit, give it time. Everybody wants to point the finger at a child(Hip-Hop)and call it a responsible adult. Never before has the Streets of America been able to tell its un-edited story to suburbia and its future Aristocrats. You need to be patient, and let the current record buying population(General Market) be infused with the struggle and the pain. They will grow up to understand and attempt to correct the racism of their forefathers, i.e. Bill Clinton, Trust.

As soon as a cat crosses over he's called a sellout, Shit, sell it all out fam. Thats the only way to plant the seed, 10 million buyers isnt the 90 million viewers the media confuses and lies to about our situation on a daily basis, but i'll take those ears over the 5 block radius of my hood.

For instance Bob Marleys music built the one-love phase, that eventually planted the seed of acceptance, that opened the door in the mind of the Hippies that ran the music industry to let Rap/Hip Hop in the door, so yall sit back and be patient and let Rap/Hip Hop bear its fruit.

- Patience, Fam, Patience

Hip hop is not your mother, not your classroom or your place of employment. Mofuckers need to stop worrying so much about "the state of hip hop" and need to worry about graduating, paying their bills, raising their kids and holding down a decent job. Why do we obsess so much over a form of entertainment? Its music. I put it on in my car on my way to work and I dance to it when I go to clubs. If you are over the age of 23 and still complain about "fake gangsters" and the "lack of positive voices in the struggle"... you are either A. a backpacking intern at some rinky dink record label. B. Pissed off nobody signed you when that shit had a market back in the mid '90s. C. Extremely irresponsible.

Rappers have every right to rap about shooting snitches, moving weight and banging out groupie whores just like Motley Crue has every right sing about devil worship, snorting mountains of cocaine and banging out groupie whores... just like Scorcese has every right to make movies about murder thirsty mobsters... its all relative. I grew up in the bronx listening to that thugged out forties and blunts shit and I FUCKING LOVED IT. And I still can't get enough of that gangster ass music... Just like people love scarface.

These artists are painting a picture of a lifestyle that most of us don't live but can identify with. If they feel that embellishing their stories might make for a better song than shiiitt.. DO IT! Lie like a mofucker! The hell with all these critics that are stuck in a time warp. Entertain me!

To those that feel rappers are responsible for 'educating' us... Pick up a newspaper, go to class, and have a convo with your uncle charlie. I'll be that sick white boy in my moms corolla driving by you pumping 'I'll whoop yo head boy'...

YOU KNOW I WILL!

www.dirtyjax.com

No matter what you do! people will allways complain. I think you have to see it as positive critism, it will make you stronger. And I dont wonna Imagine, the world without music.

Keep on going.
Monique Mijnals

Must have really Gotcha

rap/hip hop is petty, arrogant, and obscene. It is barely music with its feeble minded lyrics over stolen background music. It is an insult to music, it is poisoning our society and influencing people to act like little thug, criminal ghetto jack asses. I can`t believe blacks as a community think its a good idea to be portrayed this way. If you are smart you will disassociate yourself with the hip hop ghetto thug scene completely.

I can't believe it, my co-worker just bought a car for $34355. Isn't that crazy!