Friday
26Sep2008
Business Isn't the Same
Friday, September 26, 2008 at 12:16PM 
I hate to admit that in some ways, I've become the guy who talks about the music of his youth is so much better than what the "kids" today listen to. But dammit, I'm right!!!!
I can remember running home after school to try and catch the 1 hour of hip hop they would play on tv. I loved it. It was so new and different that everything else and I craved it before I knew what a craving was. I'm not going to pretend that I know why it spoke to me so much or say I was ahead of the curve on anything. I just loved it. KRS-One, Public Enemy, Nice & Smooth, Special Ed, Eric B & Rakim, 3rd Bass, Big Daddy Kane... I could keep listing names all day. It just felt fun, and energizing. One of my favorites of those days was Eric and Parish...EPMD. Get the BoZack. You got to Chill, Crossover, Headbanger, on and on and on and on. I remember being heart broken when they broke up but got my smile back in '97 when they brought it back. They really frame the sound that I remember as a kid growing up.
Now we have a bunch of guys who can't sing but try to thru vocoders and auto tuning. It's like listening to Max Headrum. The sad thing is I hear these "artists" talking about how pioneering they are. The same 4 or 5 recording artists just play musical chairs doing guest spots on each others songs, using the same beats, the same effects, and all saying the same shit. The sad thing is to listen to guys...scratch that... clowns like LiL' Wayne and 50 cent who can barely find the beat to stay on. Clowns.
I don't get too bothered because as popular as they all think they are, I rejoice in the fact that in a year or two they'll be an after thought similar to those other shit rappers who we've seen rise in fall in less than 5 minutes. Silk the Shocker, Mystical, Mia X, and just about every other clown from 7 or so years ago are all gone. Give it another few years and LiL Wayne won't even be remembered enough to be made a joke of. That's how timeless the current crop of rappers that get airplay are.
I still put in EPMD and not to remember better days gone by, but because it's good music. So today, I thru on my Epmd albums and did a warm up tribute to Eric & Parish Makin' Dollars!!
Fun Fact: Bill Sienkiewicz rendered the Fisherman Hat Duo on the cover of Business As Usual
Reader Comments (25)
Hell yeah Skottie. I agree 100%. Lil Wayne is one of the WORST "rappers" t step on the scene. He steals lyrics... he even jacked lyrics from ALIYAH!! What a damned loser. And 50... don't get me started up. I just don't understand what the hell people are listening to nowadays... Hip Hop is NOT Hip Hop anymore, it's a gimmick. I'll stick with the stuff that had, and STILL has a message.
Great stuff on the blog too man. Keep up the madness. Peace.
- Dayne
Nice illustration.
I totally relate to all that you said about the 90's and missing that shit.
However, times have changed and Weezy ain't gonna be forgotten.
(I do wonder how long it is gonna take for vocoder effects to die!)
Bill Sienkiewicz is AMAZING! He did a lot of awesome album covers (i.e. Bobby Digital).
My brother and I have talked about this at length. Growing up I used to enjoy Eric B. & Rakim, Run DMC, the Beastie Boys, House of Pain, Maestro Fresh-Wes, and a slew of old school hip-hop leading to Enter the Wu-Tang(36 Chambers).
We came to the conclusion that Rap is now where Metal used to be in the '80s. For every Black Sabbath or Anthrax or Rhapsody* you had about a hundred other hair bands just putting out utter garbage that people just couldn't stop throwing money at. It takes a while for the cycle to move around from the hardcore and purest vision of a medium to the blatant and outright commercial and back again. If anything, it acts as an encouragement for kids to seek out the true wheat and ignore all that chaff out there. And with the abundance of crap on MTV and MuchMusic these days, that's a lot of sifting indeed.
Stac
*(Yeah, yeah, it's a fantasy metal band. But hey, taste is subjective.)
A friend of mine follows your blog and linked this for me. (I'm about to do the same) :)
1st of all, Great EPMD cover!
That's straight up B-Boy!
I could not agree more with Stac & the rest of the comments. I still remember the days when PE & Anthrax were pushing the enevelope and Native Tongue was the crew. shit, I was one of the many hoping that Black Star was going to save us. Talib still has some struggles in order to get his stuff promoted & put out there. (sigh)
If I may, here's a shameless plug for my crew, the http://www.AntFarmAffiliates.com" REL="nofollow">AntFarm Affiliates & my boy, http://www.RisingSunQuest.com" REL="nofollow">Rising Sun Quest. There is hope for Hip Hop and in my heart, its in dudes like Quest and the others in the AFA. I hope you give 'em a listen. I promise, wackness will not be found. ^_^
~
One.
I agree with you big time man, Hip hop isn't what it used to be, hell you could even say it's dead,I don't call the likes of Lil Wayne and 50 Cent rappers, there pop stars, they make club music, plain and simple, they make music thats easy to dance to so that all the 19to 21 year olds can get drunk and act like total fucking idiots, not to mention the damn pigeon hold that ya get these days when you say you listen to hip hop, they ultimatly asume that you listen to those jokers,its a shame THAT they are the ones that people first think of when it comes to this music genre.but like a good solider I will sit back with my heads listening to the likes Gangstarr, Slug a.k.a Atmosphere, De la Soul, the roots, and of course the Beastie Boys, waiting for those jokers to fade out.
Not a day goes by that I dont play
Nas-illmttic
Company Flow- Population control
Jay-Z (not Hov)- Reasonable doubt
Liquid Swords, the purple tape and tical
Mobb Deep-The infamous
Red Man- Muddy Waters
Mos Def- Black on Both Sides
and all the other dope thats to ill to mention. so Scottie I feel your pain man Hip Hop is hurting right now.
You're sick! I'm loving the direction your work is taking. Warm up, you bastard. Just got to make us non-Skottie Youngs feel like we're not doing enough.
I had Public Enemy on cassette tape (remember those?). And, when CDs came out, that was my first CD. Sigh... days when Flava Flav was less of a joke.
Hip Hop isn't dead, just stop watching MTV or listening to corporate run radio. Hip hop is still alive and well in people like Peanut Butter Wolf, Cage, and Dalek.
Just because MTV plays the same 5 artists all year doesn't mean those are the ONLY cats out there droppin beats.
You are an old fart, but I one up you in my old fartiness! Naah, that's cool, I get it. "You're a Customer" still pops up on occasion in my iPod.
Bill killed that cover, by the way.
Thats the truth right there!!!
I do agree with what you're saying quite a bit, but also I'll remind you that 'nostalgia is a file that smoothes the rough edges of the past'
There's still good hip hop today. Lupe Fiasco the first to come to mind.
The difference is today to be popular with music downloads,music ringtones, etc, having a catchy single is more important than ever, therefore the content of what the you're listening to is often sacrificed.
You still have good artists out there, they just aren't as mainstream as good artists used to be, but it's good in a way that their fan base in a niche market of actual music lovers, not idiots who listen to watered down quality 56kbps jingles.
I don't wanna rant to I'll just use Emphasis.
You fucking nailed it right between the Eyes. I couldn't agree more man.
i feel your pain!!!
man, I just agree with you ! As young as I am...
Theres still alot of good hip hop...you just shouldnt expect to see it on tv. all the mass want now is fads. Nothing new, Im sure the past decades of hip hop had equally as bad music just that all that is remembered is the good true MCs (and vanilla ice).
I'd check out lyrics born, cunninlynguists, tonedeff, and packfm to name a few true artists though.
Wow...I have been waiting to hear a post like this for ages! I also used to love the old Hip Hop (Kool Moe Dee anyone?) Even though my musical preferences have expanded into strange and wonderful places (my ipod's variety would make me appear schizophrenic) I can't really listen to any of today's hip hop at all. I guess it is the good ole' days for me, but thanks for bringing back some nostalgia! "Special Ed"...I can't believe I forgot about him!! And, as always, fantastic illo's!!!
Hmmm, dont know if I can agree here, although I will admit, hip hop isnt what it used to be, I m not a big fan of weezy, but I dont have a problem with fifty cent. I also like bone thugs n harmony alot, beasty boys, whoodini, eazy e, dre, I guess Im kinda open minded, not to picky here
That's a lil harsh, Skottie, but on one side i understand where ur coming from. SOME of the new stuff is rather good, but a majority IS a bunch of crap. Some stuff comes out and it becomes a fad and then its gone. I still like to listen to the Hip Hop that i grew up on namely Tupac Shakur, Notorious BIG, and Jay Z. What they did in their back then was even considered to be crap or a fad, but today some still go strong, like Nas. There was talk about if Hip Hop was over. I don't think so, but those that made a difference in the 80's and 90's should dust off their mics and make a comback.
It is sad to see what hiphop was and what it has become now, only a few groups or mc's really bringing meaning to what they are saying I hate the radio, clubs, or any other spot that play the mainstream garbage
I had this impression of you as at least a slight hip-hop head, but then you went on a tangent on your podcast (1st show, I think) about how ill the Kanye and Wayne joint was, and I decided that you were clueless. Thanks for rectifying that, and sorry for jumping to conclusions (glad to know I was wrong). Yes, hip-hop is trash these days. It began a slow and steady decline circa 1997, and while it took a long time to get to this point, I have a hard time listening to much of anything new these days. 50 is pure, unadulterated garbage (TOS didn't even go wood, did it?), Wayne is unbelievably over-rated (to the point that the mere mention of his name irritates me), and the south continues to sh** on the entire industry with the incoherent catchphrases and no-talent production that it thrust upon us.
Incidentally, here's another comic/rap cover ... Mark Texeira painted the cover to Flesh-N-Bone's debut solo.
Skottie Young: Playing the role of crotchety old man, so you don't have to!
You really summed up how I feel about current top-selling hip hop. I have about 4 or 5 Eric B. & Rakim tracks on my iPod's gym playlist.
Even some of the classic artists had missteps as time went on, though.
KRS-ONE tried to update himself when he came out with DUCK DOWN, completely selling out his socially conscious approach.
Rakim screwed himself up ever since he jettisoned Eric B. He had a chance to work with Dr. Dre and squandered it.
I blame the current state of hip hop on the dirty south movement, personally.
Unfortunatly as we get older nothing is "new" anymore. I completely agree btw, 50 cent, kanye west (I F***ing hate you kanye.....so bloody much,...not that I really hate his music, ok, so maybe I do harbor some anamosity about it, but his ego is just something I can feel all the way up in canada. Seriously, I feel like if I had a pin I could probably end the world by popping it...) little wayne...god! nothing is as good anymore. You are probably already aware of this guy, but Aesop rock, he really is rocking the tunes lately, and is really quite talented.
cheers,
David (aka Atlas)
Nice Post
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http://www.autorewrite.com/" REL="nofollow">article rewrite
there's still dope stuff out there, but there's no "YO! MTV RAPS"... so it's back to word of mouth.
but YOU know that (how else you know to rock Aesop?)!
great stuff!
Boon docks!
Ah, when rap was good...it wasn't even really called hip/hop back then.
I need to find a Lords of the Underground CD somewhere round Ottawa.
Keep up the awesome work.
Carl