The Eminem vs. Mariah feud just won’t die. In the latest installment in this highly unnecessary battle, Em releases a diss record entitled “The Warning” in which he spews hate toward the R&B superstar for what seemed to be her poking fun at him in her latest video “Obsessed.”  It makes me wonder just how long this back and forth thing can actually last. The funny thing is that Mariah, in her video and in interviews, won’t address Eminem by name or admit that she is poking fun at him in her video “Obsessed” (I think it’s pretty obvious). Still, for some odd reason, Eminem is hell bent on letting everyone know that there was SOMETHING that happened between the two of them, at some point in time (regardless of whether it was a million years ago).

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I haven’t been compelled to blog in a long time. 

In an era where everybody is twittering and text-messaging their lives away, a well-thought out essay that extends past 140 characters is quickly becoming a thing of the past.

But when our universe lost its brightest star on June 25, 2009, I felt a deep, overwhelming sadness that I haven’t experienced in many years and I felt moved to say….something.

My hero, Michael Joseph Jackson, is dead. 

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That is today’s question. Let me first say that I always have to commend Jay-Z for giving hip-hop something to talk and think about. But with the new song that he recently released and the interviews that he’s done the last two weeks to support the song, this question is begged.

Recently, Jay-Z unleashed his song “D.O.A.” on the hip-hop community. The track, which stands for “Death of Auto-tune,” takes aim at the overuse of what has become a popular staple in recent hip-hop hits.  ”This is anti-Autotune, death of the ringtone/This ain’t for itunes, this ain’t for sing-a-long,” he raps. Later on in the song, he continues, “I know we facin’ a recession/But the music y’all makin’ gonna make it a great depression.”  After the song caused a bit of a stir on the radio and internet, Jay-Z blew it out by showing up at NYC’s Hot 97 Summer Jam as a surprise guest to perform this past weekend. The industry went nuts. Now, auto-tune is the devil.

Last Monday, interviews with radio personalities such as Angie Martinez further added hype to Jay-Z’s song and comeback. In an interview with Chicago radio station WGCI, Jay-Z called the use of autotune in hip-hop a “gimmick.” He said, “I just think in hip-hop, when a trend becomes a gimmick, it’s time to move on.”

Of course, because it was Jay-Z that decided to do a song about it, so many hip-hop heads immediately jumped on the bandwagon. But the interesting thing is, I distinctly recall the use of autotune getting much criticism when Kanye dropped his last album, “808’s and Heartbreak” in November. If auto-tuning it was so bad, then why didn’t Jay drop a record about it back then?

Maybe because it wouldn’t be setting up his album as it is now. Jay-Z’s upcoming “Blueprint 3″ is set to drop in September. I understand Jay-Z’s concern with originality in hip-hop, but if he was so concerned, then where was he when BET attempted to discuss major issues in hip-hop on the television show that this here blog is named after (Hip-Hop Vs. America)? Do we ever see Jay-Z defending the culture the same way we see folks such as Talib Kweli? Do we ever even hear from Jigga when he’s not about to drop?

Ironically, during Jay-Z’s summer jam performance, he himself was surprised. T-Pain unexpectedly joined Jiggaman on stage. The irony, is that the Autotune phenomenom of recent years can be attributed to T-Pain. But of course, Jay-Z wasn’t talking to T-pain, right? And chances are, he will never truly come clean about who he was talking to. T-Pain? No. Kanye? Never!

Well, it seems as though what we could possibly have here in ”D.O.A.” is the same thing the song set out to destroy: a gimmick. Think about it. Why is it that, now, almost a year after the auto-tune phase has been beaten like a dead horse, does Jay-Z decide he’s going to address it? It’s not that what he’s saying is without merit, it’s just that it’s a little too late.

During the interview, he mentioned that he saw a Wendy’s commercial using auto-tune, and they were ”joking on it,” he described. And when the interview began to address some individuals Jay might be directing the song towards (ahem, DJ Webstar–remember the “Chicken Noodle Soup” guy who used Auto-tune recently), Jay responded, “He’s a young guy. So he doesn’t have a full understanding of what I’m saying. Maybe he’ll understand one day.”

So in conclusion, is auto-tune played out? Hmm, probably so. But wasn’t it played out last year around this time. Um, probably so. What people seem to be leaving out is that while Jay- Z takes aim at auto-tune users, young guys, and Wendy’s restaurants, he’s forgetting to give some credit to the one thing that is giving him something to rap about these days: auto-tune.

–KIM O.

For another perspective on this Jay-Z “Auto-tune” phenomenon, check out Dr. Todd Boyd’s blog (the Notorious Ph.D.).

HATER!

Definition (via Hip Hop): A noun used to maliciously describe someone who is well within their rights to not like something and make them seem irrelevant.

Nobody wants to be known as a hater. Nobody. Well, except for me.

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Remember several years ago when street credentials actually superceded talent? It didn’t matter that your wordplay was slick if your gunplay racked up more toe tags than the Vietnam war. Why dodge bullets when you could actually catch them with your chest and sell a few hundred thousand more copies of your latest gangster rap album/paraphernalia?

Your story > Your skills.  Read the rest of this entry »

Recently, I have rediscovered my appreciation for hip-hop journalism. As someone who has been working as a journalist in hip-hop for over 10 years, I realized that, while some of us have been able to survive the slow death of publications and make our transition to the web, the art form of hip-hop journalism has somehow lost its sense of direction. But in studying the internet over the last couple of years, I have been able to distinguish good ole’ hip-hop coverage from the overdose of “content” out there.

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When Nas made the lyrical suggestion that hip-hop was dead a few years back, he pissed off more than a few heads. But, having written a book called The Death of Rhythm & Blues back in ‘88, I know pronouncing the death of any cultural movement, is usually intended more as a wake up call than a eulogy. Near the end of the first decade of the 21st century I don’t think hip-hop is dead, but that the definition is used so loosely now that it may have lost its meaning.

I remember a time before hip-hop, when Technic turntables were used one at a time, when rappin’ was what cool radio jocks and Isaac Hayes did, and baseball caps were for outfielders not gangstas. So I have a little perspective on this game. I remember how “fresh” (in every sense of the word) hip-hop culture felt in its ’80s incarnation, bringing essential rawness, grit and even soul back to a black popular culture that had gotten too slick, too corporate and too self-consciously commercial. And, truth is, you could make that same criticism today about much of what passes for commercial hip-hop.

Hip-hop, as I understood it, was rebel music, representing a outsider culture. It was music that spoke for people on the margins of society, people voice less in America who demanded to be listened to. It was about “making it” of course, but also it had a very underdog quality. Very “them” against “us” which gave it a lot of its passion.

So now the game is dominated by brand name icons, CEO’s of success (and excess) who speak the audience very top down, who are selling products which enrich their pockets but only have a fleeting relationship to enriching the lives of their customers. I’m not trying to romanticize the past, but to say that the perspective of hip-hop has changed so completely that it might not be the same thing it was.

I respect both Lil’ Wayne and Kanye West immensely, but most of what I hear on New York Hot 97 is really dance music. Great tracks and stick in your mind hooks abound, but both lyrically and flow-wise what I’m hearing isn’t up to the standards of ‘87 or ‘92 or ‘97. I’m not saying people aren’t making hits or that stuff isn’t sounding good in a club. I’m just not sure it’s hip-hop musically, culturally or lyrically.

So for me hip-hop isn’t dead. It’s just that every damn thing that people wanna call hip-hop isn’t and hasn’t been for quite some time. Hip-hop is a label that people stick on products — music, video games, vodka, perfume — to sell to people. But I don’t think there’s a rebellious way to smell good or wear a suit. I think we are actually in a post-hip-hop period–and that’s fine with me. History moves on and cultures evolve. But perhaps we should all be looking at every product comes our way and asking a few very simple questions: Is this hip-hop? Why and how is it hip-hop? And does it being hip-hop actually even matter?

catch ya down the road

NELSON GEORGE is the executive producer of BET’s American Gangster, and has just published City Kid: A Writer’s Memoir of Ghetto Life and Post-Soul Success” (Viking). The book will be in stores April 2.

Be sure to check out Nelson George’s, A Survivor’s Tale, featuring BET News’ Samson Styles. It is the second in a series of fictionale tales based on true events that George is producing and directing.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been analyzing this 50 Cent vs. Rick Ross thing and the more attention I paid to it, the more I realized that I, like many hip-hop fans, are pulled into a story when there is “beef.” Read the rest of this entry »

 Lately, there seems to be an infatuation with the girlfriends of hip-hop artists. These women have become overnight celebrities in their own right, whether it be through the art of a TMZ video or a Youtube upload that has virally spread around like an internet wildfire. Not that this is a new phenomenon. I remember the doubt that fans had when Ms. Melody, former wife of KRS-One, decided to put out a rap album. Despite any talent that she may have had (arguable or not), no one wanted to ever give Ms. Melody any props for being anything else but KRS’s wife.

But these days, the girlfriends of rap artists are getting media attention for being just that—girlfriends. No rapping, no singing, no nothing; just the high honor of being the chosen one in the sea of women in which artists dive. So the question becomes, can being someone’s girlfriend transcend you into stardom or will these girls get the short end of the stick when, and if, the relationship fizzles out?

Kanye West is one celebrity whose girlfriends always seem to get their 5 minutes of fame. His latest, Amber Rose, a shaved-head, light-skinned aspiring model with a fierce body and a permanent cigarette attached to her fingers, seems to be the most intriguing of all, especially as the lesbian rumors continue to pour in. Blogs also say that Amber is a former stripper, and if pictures soon surface, I predict her star will rise even more so. But it still remains to be seen whether Amber’s appeal transcends being Kanye’s girl. In the past, former Kanye girls have become partially successful—depending on how you look at it. Alexis Phifer, the most recent ex, is an aspiring clothing designer, and Brooke Crittendon is a current cast member of the BET reality series, Harlem Heights.

In the case of Joe Budden and his girl Tahiry, who was just recently photographed for the cover of King magazine, the scales seem to be tipping in her direction. Unbeknownst to Tahiry, she became the star of Joe Budden’s video blogs–the reality tv-type material that became popular on his Youtube channel. Since the couple started broadcasting their private lives on the internet, Tahiry has become the latest hip-hop darling. But while a possible reality TV and modeling career could be awaiting her, will she ever grow outside of the Joe Budden girl role?

In an era where the role of women in hip hop has been reduced significantly, it remains to be seen whether dating a rapper (yeah, I said it) is the fastest way to come up. Please, let the comments begin…because I smell a part 2 coming.

–KIM OSORIO

After watching the Grammys, it was great to see Lil’ Wayne come home with awards. To see hip-hop win these awards, it’s a great thing. Hip-hop is the #1 form of entertainment. Every other form of entertainment takes something from hip-hop, whether it’s movies, sports, wrestling. Hip-hop just stays growing bigger and bigger. But in America, we take it for granted. Read the rest of this entry »