The Streets Are No Longer Hot in the Streets…

Does anyone remember when the first deadly sin of Hip Hop was crossing over? Rappers spit reams of disdain for those who would hand the culture over to corporate America for a buck and anyone who did was a sell-out.

I know that times have changed and crossing-over is now protected by the Hip Hop Bill of Rights. Artists who attempt to conquer a large, diverse market have to extend diversity in their track list. A couple songs with R&B chicks, something with rock undertones, niggas singing their own hooks; that\’s what we have. Those who have the ability to incorporate more than the street folk into their audience are King. They perpetuate images of living in fancy houses, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on jewelry and vacationing in the Hampton\’s with some seriously un-Hip Hop like compadres.

But is that where you should be getting your daily dose of griminess from? What of the actual dude on the street? You know, the guy you can check in ciphers at schools, skate rinks and battles across the country who catches niggas like deer in the headlights of his flow? Folks check for him because of his talent. Not because he\’s got those limited edition AF1\’s coming out. You would think folks down with the cause would feel this dude; support this dude. But guess what? We don\’t.

This past weekend was the World Series of Hip Hop; a battle competition that was not producer or hook driven. It was two rappers, two mics and a tight fit on a hot ass stage. The reviews are mixed about the competitors and their performances and that\’s understandable. That is not what distresses me. What distresses me is the general apathy for the event in the Hip Hop community. I hear, hear and hear folks complaining about dudes rhyming about pushing bricks knowing they live in Malibu and the last brick they saw was the Peruvian stone their interior designer picked out for their new 3-story fireplace. That\’s not gangsta they say. I\’m not suggesting that you need to rhyme about illegal activity to pull the streets; but battle rap and those who create and express Hip Hop for the low low are the foundation of what gets tidied up, watered down and presented to the masses. If we don\’t support the dudes on the corners honing their verses, who is going to be the next man representing your beloved genre to the world? He\’s going to be that same studio concocted bullshit that you claim you are tired of.

So as you flip thru your brand new Ice Cream catalogue, expound on the brilliance of the vocoder and stare down your nose at anyone who cant push more that 200,000 units; know that there are dudes out there who are developing the next hot musical strategy and they probably aren\’t doing it from a corner office. They do it in hoods all across the nation for the love of the genre. Until, of course, they too get picked up by a major, given a fake name and swag and their own personal map to cross-overville.

Damn this industry really suck sometimes.