LoL! I just been reading this for the first time and I have absolutly no usefull comments ..... isnt that great!
But really, I get the impression people are talking to themselves or their best selective reflection...something...
It's like you have to dig and respect 2pac ( FOR EXAMPLE!) for all the good things he has done 'n achieved, lets certainly not forget all the good music he has made...
Really, it helps to commence a perfectly christian like thread, but the truth is that I respect 2pac just as much as the next person 6 feet under simply because I dont know him and clearly state to dislike his music and/or lifestyle ( wether there's a reason for it or not ). If I was to pass his grave I wouldn't dance on it, now that's hating'. I'd keep still and move because I'm on a graveyard and I'm simply not interested, it's complete indifference. Some people dont understand, especialy because they consider him to be the king of hiphop, to me this implies that you're living in a completly different world. It's about the perspective of the individual, I can respect that, the individual that is, not the music nor it's industrial modus operandi or the credibility/skills.
These are harsh words that get taken personal and it troubles the opposite's course of fixation, mine remains unaffected. Their perspective to this side of the hiphop, where majors drain money like leeches, in fact, where majors dominate and monopolise every aspect belonging to commercial hiphop, has been completly created, and if not, formed n shaped by the rnd department. Now these "managers" can fetch any crappy product and force-market them into a lucrative exploit. This succeeds and the ultimate goal is achieved, the ghetto rapper gets to live the american dream, the major lives it up a bit more. Main thing is, our rapper is out the ghetto or can permitt a good life in it for as long as the fame lasts.
^^^^^None of this has to do with respect....
The thing is, to get back at the Jay-Z issue, if I'm at a club I could be dancing to Jay-Z ehm, no ... dancing to Beyonce's track ( the one with jay-z rapping lame ) sweatin' my balls to it all night long. It doesn't happen often because I prefer to go clubbin' to different music. But when I get into a conversation on the subject of hiphop, Jay-Z doesn't even exist in my book, nor do all the chart bombing hiphop exploits. Maybe it's a personal definition of what I assume is underground, while a lot of cats into Kanye, Jay-Z, the lot, consider them being underground. In most cases I'll ask for their definition of underground rap since they WERE underground once. In my book you're either underground or not, if your exploitation is biased for the charts you're no longer underground. Dont confuse indy with underground, that simply means people want to keep the money they earn and are patient enough not to do things the easiest and quickest way. They want to bring the music they like and exploit their idea's on their own scale and terms and its the hard way doing it all yourself. But at least you know what your talking about and you make yourselves as less depending on anything. See what happens when you give a struggling kid from the ghetto the wellfare he dreams off....he knows nada on nothing besides rapping or playing beatmachine, get in the process of succes and receives the bill afterwards to his shocking surprise. Cars, houses and the stuff is nice but have stay real and open up a serious can of asswhooping perspective to maintain this like a job. Your rep is fragile overthere, too much airplay makes you boring, before you know it you're out and it wasn't even your fault, its just that the PR on your case has exploited you to the max making you an almost obsolete product. I bare one thing in mind on whole entertainment industry and me in it, I want to do this till I'm 50 and working 2/3 years in it for the 5 minutes of fame just isnt worth it...
I certainly do not respect Jay-Z for the music he makes, for his lyrics, for his proclaimed " underground " title given here or where ever, for his company's achievement and especialy not because he gets to bang with Beyonce ....simply because all this has nothing to with respect and If I am up for good hiphop I know I wont find it while I'm at Club whatever. I would respect the man if I saw him helping an old man cross the street or feeding bread to a duck at the ghetto pond.
Lets do this last one over; the same statement trick, but without Beyonce.
I certainly do not respect Eminem for the music he makes, for his lyrics, for his proclaimed " underground " title given here or where ever, for his company's achievement or his movie. I would respect the man if he stopped rapping about his mother.
I certainly do not respect Kanye West for the music he makes, for his lyrics, for his proclaimed " underground " title given here or where ever, for his company's achievement and especialy not due to his attitude. I would respect the man he wasn't as racist as the ignorent white man talking 'bout them niggas.
I can go about this, but on a last note... Honestly, in general I have to say that i hear more things coming out of a underground biased person than a pimpy chart addict riding the new hypes. This is because most in their underground scenes, backpacker or not, will put more effort in finding about what or who they like from the realms of the underground. But I wont respect them for taking effort, it has nothing to with it. On the other side, you'll have to excuse me for stereotyping, but one as to claim underground to be bla,bla,bla...the pimpy chart addict, will know as much about the music he likes as the backpacker next to him because that music cant be avoided. It hard not to know when all these artist mentioned here in the thread are on the mtv, radio, internet, magazines, book, biographies, movies, ringtones, signatured sponsor gear, your gf's head or at the clubs spinning their records every weekend over and over for two months in a row till the next hype comes on.
To you people who know Im adressing to and I guess from an underground perspective, there's simply more to hiphop, I know and most you do not, even if they claim to have listen to some underground material which they obviously didn't like or wouldn't like in the first place.
To those peeps, grow up and learn to debate... then you gain the respect by itself, by your self.
Or you can go to soundclick.