If you are what you say you are a Superstar you have no fear - Lupe Fiasco
The other night I sat back and watched the legendary "Up in Smoke Tour" featuring the all star line up of Ice Cube, Eminem, Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre accompanied by artists like Mc Ren, Xzibit, D12, Nate Dogg, Kurupt & Devin the Dude among others. Apart from the fact that while watching it I had a great feeling of nostalgia (im 23 now so when i first bought this in 2000 i was 15 years old!) I also thought to myself will we ever see rap stars of this magnitude ever again? My answer is no and this is why
Run DMC, Public Enemy, KRS-One, LL Cool J, Beastie Boys, Slick Rick, Eric B & Rakim, A Tribe called Quest, De la Soul, N.W.A, Ice T, Geto Boys, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Nas, Jay-Z, Notorious B.I.G, Tupac Shakur, Busta Rhymes, Eminem, 50 Cent...etc
All of the above are rap superstars and artists that for better or worse changed the game of hip hop and music in general. Some did it with just one album (Nas' Illmatic) others did it without any mainstream radio or TV exposure (Ice T) and others did it by becoming immortalized legends due to their early passing (Tupac & Biggie) but all are definately superstars in their own right and I can honestly say that other then 50 Cent & T.I. no rappers today have even come close to reaching this type of legendary status.
If you were to make a list of the current rap stars today the list may look something like this:
Lupe Fiasco, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, Young Jeezy, Juelz Santana, Fabolous, Yung Joc, The Game, Gucci Mane, Ludacris, Kayne West, 50 Cent, T.I.... dammit i just lost the will to live
now other then maybe Luda, Kanye, 50 & T.I. none of these rappers today seem to have any superstar qualities to them. The underground is just the same (if not worse) I'm sorry but rappers like Brother Ali, Slug, Sha Stimuli, Copywrite & R.A. The Rugged man are stuck trying to make hip hop from a certain era (early 90's) and not doing a very good job of it. Im not saying these rappers are whack they just bore me. I'd rather listen to Jay-Z's American Gangster then Brother Ali's The Truth any day of the week but that's just me. That's why I will still listen to music from artists like Jay-Z and Snoop and even 50 Cent to some exent because they are SUPERSTARS. There are reasons why they became larger then life and personas you could either love or hate, they have an appeal that goes beyond being a great rapper or a great artist they have CHARACTER which is what alot of these rappers today lack.
Rappers like Joe Budden & Cassidy have mic skills that are underniable but yet lack the qualities that made rappers like Big Daddy Kane & KRS so appealing to begin with.
Lupe Fiasco is another one. While no one can doubt the dude has talent what does he really say in his raps that makes you want to change the whole way you was living and switch ya stlye up. When I first got into rap it was rappers like Redman, Method Man, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Tupac & Biggie that made my say FUCK IT THIS IS MY SHIT!! I need this in my life this shit speaks to me so personally and makes me feel passionately about it.
Maybe it's the general state that hip hop is in that allows it to keep certain rappers from even being heard the same way they were (Dead Prez could have been as big as Public Enemy had they come out at a different time) that stops us from seeing any real rappers we can truly relate to at the forefront.
I mean since when was conscious hip hop Lupe & Kanye? Im sorry but their shit is very watered down and made for every day people which is all well and good but it's not going to make you change your attitude toward anything or open your mind up to some next shit like say a Brand Nubian record would. The lack of balance and diversity in subject matter in mainstream hip hop has led to this chaos where rappers who aren't even that conscious get labeled that just because they are not rapping about bitches, guns and money. When NWA and Ice T came with their brand of rap it was different & unique plus they were being censored out the arse but now you've got Young Jeezy slinging packs on the radio and it's okay? Gangsta rap ain't even that no more it's become commercial. But less than 15 years ago they were trying to ban it. I guess they realised they was more money to be made by secretly supporting it and making it florish while pertraying it as bad music to the public(which let's face it did more harm then good) then actually trying to fight against it even C Delores Tucker knew that.
When Eminem dropped The Marshall Mathers album every and I mean every hip hop head under the sun was fucking amped. Before Stan became annoying and before The Real Slim Shady had being played to death I remember the hysteria that gripped me and my friends at school when we the heard that shit. And even though Eminem was selling millions of records it was still raw hip hop and it still spoke to us a way that the stuff out now doesn't. (Somehow I don't think people are talking about Graduation quite the same way as when The Chronic 2001 dropped but heh maybe that's just me)
What we have now I'm afraid are overrated rappers, broke disgruntled has beens and dudes that really should just quit rapping because if you haven't broken through and you've been rapping for 15 years you really need to put it to rest (UPS is hiring!!)
So please may we have a standing ovation for the last rap superstars of our generation and hope to god that we may have some future rap superstars out there in the world somewhwere that just haven't been heard yet.
Luckily I know a few personally so Im good
Peace out y'all another rant about the game done and dusted im gonna watch Wrestlemania
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