

Yes, Hip-Hop is Dead (For You)

Reports of our death should be exaggerated as much as possible. original source file



Posted by jsmooth995 at August 24, 2007 11:59 AM

Long live hair bands! Posted by: Jackson West at August 24, 2007 12:46 PM thanks for the laugh :-D "People talk about Hip-Hop like it's some giant livin in the hillside" mos def Posted by: baddestbadass at August 24, 2007 2:26 PM Dope. Posted by: Johnnyunitus at August 24, 2007 2:28 PM Mutual fund hip-hop! Ha! Posted by: Hashim Warren at August 24, 2007 3:11 PM Right on, Jay. BTW, your cat steals the show. She (or he) is Earl to your LL Cool J circa '86--screwed-up face and all. Or maybe in the vein of Hurricane to Run DMC, pre-Afros. Your cat is hip hop, and that is no lie! Posted by: bitter monk at August 24, 2007 4:18 PM hell yeah...we should do these people like the Soup Nazi on Seinfeld. "GET OUT OF MY LINE! NO HIP HOP FOR YOU!" Posted by: Maurice Garland at August 24, 2007 4:53 PM damn why am i not invited to the funeral. i love the chick Posted by: nyc at August 24, 2007 5:35 PM Yeah............You should post this on nobodysmiling.com Posted by: jonrud00 at August 24, 2007 6:53 PM AMEN. Posted by: D. Twyce at August 24, 2007 7:02 PM Jay, this is so funny, I got my girlfriend over here hysterically laughing because I was saying the same exact thing to her a couple months back. Maybe it isn't so bad if all these people are running around saying that Hip Hop is dead, because those are the same people that we don't want in it! Then we can have it back. --Thelonius Posted by: Thelonius at August 24, 2007 7:02 PM GOTTA AGREE WITH BITTER MONK RIGHT ABOUT NOW...ALL EYEZ ON KITTY THIS GO ROUND (SORRY PAC) KEEP UP THE TIGHT WORK! Posted by: TERRI! at August 24, 2007 9:17 PM Yeah, man why not let it die for the masses and let it thrive in the underground again. I'm tired of seeing folks wearing do-rags for all the wrong reasons. Dude you hair is bone straight, you can't be trying to get waves? Since when did thugs do gang beadery? How come back pack rap became a bad word? When did wearing pink, wearing shirts so big that they looked like moo-moos, and wearing your Grand Momma's, Momma's earrings in both ears become socially acceptable? Dude i'll smack the Actor out of you! Next scene please! Posted by: The Outabodies at August 24, 2007 9:24 PM HIP HOP

R.I.P.

197? - 2007 I swear your cat looks like it is pondering your

words when you say them. Posted by: Jay B at August 24, 2007 11:32 PM damn speakin the truth again!!

political regaeeton... lol Posted by: trusouth at August 25, 2007 12:16 AM Jay, another great video. Excellent use of cat, I agree the cat does steal the show. I do notice that the cat receives no credit during the video, you should probably rectify this, before that kitty lawyers up. Posted by: Thomas at August 25, 2007 12:31 AM hahaha, thanks for the great video Posted by: Hip Hop Community at August 25, 2007 8:15 AM hilarious Posted by: B at August 25, 2007 8:17 AM Yo J, Can you do something with the video the redhat magazine people just put out on the history of music? http://truthhappens.redhatmagazine.com/2007/08/24/dance-on-the-grave-of-drm-with-this-awesome-cartoon-requiem-video-mashup-challenge/ It's a "mashup challenge," which... I could understand if you're not interested, but you worked magic with Chocolate Rain... Cheers,

CMP Posted by: Cristóbal M. Palmer at August 25, 2007 1:28 PM Thanks for another great blog Jay. You should hook up a paypal account for donations. I'm broke as a joke but I definitely got five on keeping this site bumping. Thanks for not hopping on the dumb down and spreading knowledge. The president kind of ruined the theory of knowledge is power but it still stands. One love Posted by: Julian at August 25, 2007 9:09 PM The problem is though that it can be hard to sort out who is in this for the money and the fame and who is in it for hip hop. Its kind of like some of the most famous artists, you know they love hip hop and could live without the expensive toys. But they do like those toys, so as long as its an option, they will rap and be rich. Also, just because someone was born a hustler, that does not mean they do not love hip hop. It kind of leaves the question, we know that most of the recent artists are a bunch of fakes, but what about some of the recent legends? Take Sean Carter. If the money left hip-hop, would he stay? Would he still put out new stuff? Or just sit back and enjoy? I think he would, I know his background and he did not grow up wanting money, he wanted music. But considering he is the best living example of someone to blend hip-hop and popular styles, its a tough call. You know Sean Combs would fold, he's definitely about the money. Young Joc, Young Dro, this Hurricane Chris guy, yah, they are about money. But what about TI? Is he about money and fame, or hip hop? I cannot figure it out, he seems like someone who likes the music but then he goes and tells XXLMag that its just a job. And he never stops talking about the money, and calls this "a game." Seems money, but if we stripped away all the money in the music, would he stay? Kanye West? You know he could probably produce any music, with his love of sampling popular music like Daft Punk (most recently), and could definitely live as just some kind of urban fashion guru. So why does he ever release music himself? Does he love hip hop, or is it really about the money? And then there is the dilemma I hit most often. Being a college student, I see plenty of "independent" MCs. There probably are a few out there that really do love the music and just would not compromise for the money, and the money would need to come with no strings if they were to take it. But then there are the two classes I hate most: the "independent" rapper who says he would never sell out but would at the drop of a dime, and the rapper who only is there so he/she can pretend to love the music, they really just want to seem "alternative" or "underground." I hate them the most. I guess I should not try and tackle so many different problems in the music at once, but who here would vouch for a popular artist in the past 20 years as the real deal? And what artist? I vote Eminem and Jay-Z, but I do not know. Posted by: Allen at August 26, 2007 1:55 AM And its another thing to wonder about as to who really is killing hip hop. Some say its snap music, but to say the southern scene is entirely to blame would be stupid. Lets look at what really brought it to the front page: Nas and "Hip Hop is Dead." Thats the album that really kind of announced to the world "yes, its been done." But who produced that album? will.i.am, Kanye West, Scott Storch, and Dr. Dre. Kanye and Storch are nothing if not pop-hop. Dre was maybe the first of the most popular "gangsta" rappers, Storch is a admitted pop-hopper, and West, well, "Louis Vitton Don." But as I said before, West does not have to be in hip hop, and I do not know enough about will.i.am to say he is in it for the money and fame. Dre, well he is a legend for sure, but is he in it for the music or not? I do not know. And these are the producers of the main track! And here is a new track title: "Hip Hop is confusing right now." Posted by: Allen at August 26, 2007 2:22 AM Outstanding as usual J.

Now, perhaps the unwashed masses will leave the dead to rest. I just hope they don't walk out of the building and leave a bunch of crappy tribute albums behind... Posted by: Merv Griffin at August 26, 2007 4:41 PM Hip Hop is dead! Long live Hip Hop! Posted by: Paul Dateh at August 26, 2007 6:37 PM quality stuff, b. simple short. seems genuine. keep 'em coming. Posted by: hadji at August 27, 2007 3:25 PM I think people have taken the "Hip-Hop is Dead" sloganeering/catchphrase/propaganda/WHATEVER to a point where it's not defined at all, and nothing more than a thing to shout; a pretentious variant on "G-G-G-G-G-UNIT!" even. Hip-hop isn't dying, it doesn't need a "savior", at the most, it's just shifted away from lyricism in the "mainstream", which is what most "underground hip-hop heads" associate with good hip-hop. Honestly, people crying out that "Hip-Hop is Dead" could be a good thing, because it makes rappers want to become "Hip-Hop's savior", whether Hip-Hop needs it or not. At the very least, it can be used as inspiration for rappers to "elevate". But man...wouldn't it be great just to have hip-hop all to ourselves? A vague thought, but I think you know what I mean... Posted by: Jos-B at August 27, 2007 11:00 PM Jay Smooth for the President! for the hip hop nation. Say Meow to Tyka 4 me ;) Posted by: koko at August 28, 2007 11:58 PM Your cat is too cute. Well done. Posted by: calinative at September 8, 2007 7:58 PM It's not that hip-hop is dead.. it's just that there was the illusion for a while that hip-hop was bigger than it actually was... now those in it for the fashion are moving on to the next shiny morsel, they like to decry the rich culture they just finished nostril raping as being dead.... it's human nature....

Find a plot of land...

move in en masse

pollute the landscape

move on... Posted by: Bitcloud at September 12, 2007 8:27 AM Amen...I want hip-hop to die so I can get it back. Posted by: Sam at September 12, 2007 6:26 PM LMAO @ "Go make some revolutionary Reggaeton." Posted by: Canela at September 24, 2007 5:44 PM My feelings exactly. I was actually considering making a song called "Hip-Hop Is Dead (For You)", and then I realized I don't rap. But, still it's the exact concept. Hip-Hop is only dead to those who believe that it is dead. http://wheretheyat.blogspot.com/ Posted by: G-Harp The Producer at October 11, 2007 6:24 PM Hip-Hop dead? Well, at least Rock and Punk won't be

lonely anymore. Posted by: EJ at December 5, 2007 1:51 AM Wait, Jay smooth is white?!? I swear I did not know.... all these years listening on the radio I thought you were a brother.... Posted by: Kazembe at December 30, 2007 12:42 PM No, you had it right the first time, Kazembe :) My parents are mixed though. Posted by: Jay Smooth at December 30, 2007 5:19 PM Hip Hop, DEAD? I don't think so, the culture itself is alive and well and stronger than any other culture (ex. punk and rave), REAL hip hop in the form of music is mostly an underground sensation, while mainstream "gangsta" rap is the one taking over the radio stations, music channels, and so on. Those of you who "claim" hip hop is dead are mostly the ones that don't know shit about the music and culture and are most likely just another hater who can't deal or stand hip hop's success for the past 30 or so years. And the one who said "long live hair bands" LOL that was funny, hair metal IS DEAD. Posted by: Rap lover from the 415 at January 7, 2008 3:10 AM hip hop is grossly out of style and has been for some time.don't you people ever notice the people laughing atyou when you're trying to be cool?i used to go to partys where people played hip hop but now people just shake they're heads and leave when someone fires up a hip hop cd.trying to be black ain't fashionable anymore,i can't understand why it ever was.but like disco,rap and hip hop will pass just like a hard terd...........lololololololol

P.S. try growing the fuck up Posted by: ghettotrash at June 26, 2008 10:59 AM i like how jay sparked intelligence into people who would, on any other message board, be typing in a defunct, anti-literate fashion. and about the cat above me?...well...you can motivate all of the people some of the time...but.. Posted by: ghettoblast at July 8, 2008 9:08 AM And you're not invited to the funeral! Yeah okay, now that makes a little more sense. Posted by: Thirdeyehigh at November 29, 2008 4:57 AM Please, Jay, oh please!...do a video on your cat. I want to know everything about him (or her) (which I personally believe is a her because of it's feminine ways) but either way! Your cat is hilarious to watch. I want to know his or her opinions on hip hop, obama, and just everything else. It will go on my myspace page for sure!!! Posted by: Adri at February 24, 2009 9:29 PM All rap and hip hop Posted by: Hugo Vega at January 9, 2010 11:26 AM I wish more people would write blogs like this that are really fun to read. With all the fluff floating around on the net, it is rare to read a blog like this instead. Posted by: See Lea at December 16, 2011 7:37 PM Hello. And Bye. Posted by: XRumerTest at July 13, 2013 12:49 AM Post a comment