well................. let me just say that while i am also bothered by the style that has invaded the airwaves, there have been many artists that have come to the forefront in the last year that are very good for hip hop....
let me start with little brother and 9th wonder's production.... say what you will about kanye west and the soul samples..... but they really do employ a different style, and 9th has been the best producer this year by far in my own opinion. little brother really does sound like a newer, fresher more skillful tribe called quest... to me, and i think that they have been a breath of freseh air to the landscape of hip hop.
and the aforementioned rjd2 has been the shining star of the underground! this guy has amazing skills when it comes to matching and layering samples... the entire def jux rosterhas turned el p into the entrepeneur of the year! this man had better be included in the sources end of year power rankings... for an underground label to explode the way his has, he is just master p for the so-called backpaker crowd. (i cant stand that term..... )and then you had talib's quality, which once you get past the initial style-shock (at first i felt like no hi tek=wack album, but in the long run i was proven wrong) and then the roots came in and messed everyones head up with phreneology. i have my complaints about this album (we all have complaints about everything, no matter how much we love it!) but dag...... they really took it to a new level this time around. and what about people like the jedi mind tricks?
kanye west and just blaze almost made rappers i cant stand (freeway and camron, the whole dipset actually) tolerable because their production is so nice.
anyhow, you have valid rants dark.... but there has been a renesance of sorts this last year that got overlooked due to us focusing on the radio juggernaught. in all honesty, the radio is becoming friendlier to other sounds, in large part due to the roc.... the door got broken down for production that wasnt party oriented to get spins, and they actually ruled hip hop as a label this year. production wise, i think that we are in very good shape, and the fact that the paty and club tracks are still the vast majority in the commercial world, and ballin and pimpin, screaming and shouting still dominate, those of us who manage to break through can honestly say that we are our own men; we will occupy our own space.
so while we had the chingys and murphy lees and (gag) bow wows and air force ones and that HORRIBLE genuine song, we had plenty of reasons to feel good about hip hop this year. 9th wonders remixes, rjd2s TRUE interpretations of old soul classics, the jedi mind tricks purist vibe.... it wasnt a bad year! and it is a very good time to be a producer.
