um, no, your wrong capkom. the REASON i am listening to more older music now is BECAUSE of the way it is now. EVERYTIME i buty something new it SUCKS. PERIOD. Little Brother was the exeption. REASON NUMBER 2: i am a producer; my time is better spent listening to either things i can sample, or inspire me musically. Q tip made a comment to the source a few years ago: "i'm tired of people saying whats "hot" and what isnt... how about it being GOOD?" thats the point here. just because something is "hot", that doesnt make it good, well made, intelligent, inspiring, etc. by definition, "Hot" defines what is getting radio, club, and MTV play, according to the way things are thought. um, yeah, I KNOW THIS IS HIP HOP we are discussing here. i was asked what i listen to. nad yeas, i have a very open mind. Beyonce- who i cant stand- the beat for her new song is amazing..... i dont care for joe buddens, but that beat is one f the best club beats i have ever heard. nas's "made you look" had a great beat. the problem is this: except for the creative hook, the lyrics are garbage. i just dont like what's being released as a whole, and the artists i do like either arent coming out with new albums or are turning more towards an mtv image. i love old d.i.t.c, black moon, pharoahe monch, blackstar, roots, i just bought jay-z's reasonable doubt, love the hell out of ready to die, outkast's first three albums, etc. but that doesnt help me as an artist. im not into jacking the beats or lyrics of others, and sooooooooooo.... i listen to what does inspire me, because my time is far better spent MAKING music than it s LISTENING to it because the majority of artsist that are coming out are either talented but misguided, have no moral standard (but always seem to give thanks to some god in the credits, not that they actually live for that god) outside of "if it feels good, do it", are spoiled, inconsiderate, disrespectful, talentless, or any one of a multitude of character traits i happen to find unrewarding. i may sound like that uncle at the party, and often times i am- because i challenge people to think a little bit beyond the garbage that society shovels down their throats. some people dont like it, i know, but if everyone else can have their fill of "money, cash, hoes" with no regard to anyone that nmay be affected by it, then i am entitled to have a say of my own. i am 22, by the way, and probably quite a bit younger than some heads in here. i am not a hater, just a man who wishes hip hop could look at itself and realize the greatness and blessing it is to our culture and not satyrize itself on such a continual basis. the current state of hip hop as a whole is an outright joke.