(Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

By Gee King

It’s been too long since the music world got to experience a true Kanye season. Last year’s Cruel Summer run provided only a sampling of the energy we’ve come to expect when a new Yeezy project is in the air. The year before that was Watch The Throne, which presented a relatively sedated ‘Ye as he wisely followed his big brother Jay-Z’s lead and kept his outbursts to a minimum. But 2013 promises to bring the first full-blown Kanye experience since 2010’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and fans and critics are already beside themselves trying to figure out what to expect.

Now five solo albums deep, Kanye has mastered every aspect of his creative process with a precision no rapper has ever matched. From the mysterious international sabbaticals he takes to center his creative spirit to the Hawaii-based studio boot camp he records in, Kanye’s perfectionist quirks have consumed every detail of his creative life. Both fans and critics adore his dedication and the superior product it begets, but they also struggle to grasp the mindset of a genius who loves contradiction and controversy more than fame and fortune.

Why does he have to be such an ass? Why can’t he give interviews like a regular celebrity? Why can’t he just be happy with the money and notoriety? That’s what he wanted in the first place, right? While the Lauryn Hill’s and Dave Chappelle’s of the world fled the spotlight for the “simple life”, Kanye has spent most of his career complicating things; sacrificing his sanity to prove the insane nature of the world. The fallouts of his many infamous episodes taught him the power he holds when he speaks his truth in spite of political correctness or common sense. But what stage will he crash with his next heroic dose of truth? Or, more importantly, what does he have to say this time that will be worth his and our time?

The rants he’s been letting off at live performances since last December have given some insight into where his mind and heart are set at the moment. His pro-creative, anti-corporate sentiment is nothing revolutionary, but hearing it from one of the world’s biggest pop stars is more interesting than hearing it from scorned underground artists who never tried their odds against the mainstream machine. ‘Ye’s latest rant was against the celebrity culture that sees no issue with paparazzi stalking idols and selling gossip. “I’ma a terrible celebrity,” he shouted while performing at a private Adult Swim event. He went on to mock the notion that the purpose of his upcoming Saturday Night Live appearance was to “humanize” himself in wake of his recent run-ins with paparazzi. “At what point did I become unhuman where I had to turn myself back? Or maybe I was demonized. Maybe I was treated inhumane.”

With a baby with tabloid queen Kim Kardashian on the way, the paradox of celebrity is clearly the most pressing issue in Yeezy’s life. So we should expect an album that attacks mainstream America’s obsession with the rich and famous with a polarizing brilliance that only Kanye can provide. Sadly, the music he’s been previewing for audiences lacks the sonic and conceptual electricity that songs like “Diamonds,” “Power” and “Runaway” offered in the past. It’s too early to judge from iPhone concert-footage, but “Awesome” sounded like a step back from his latest group and solo work. To be fair, fans didn’t know how to digest 2008’s 808s & Heartbreak though in retrospect, it stands as one of his most important albums. Besides driving Mr. West’s emotional rollercoaster to it’s lowest lows, the auto-tuned album created a lane for the Drake’s and Kid Cudi’s of today while blowing the roof off of Hip Hop’s creative limits.

All of it leads back to his original mission: “I’m tryna make some music that inspires people to be the best they can be,” he told the Adult Swim audience. “And I don’t want nobody to ask nothing else of me.” As long as the music is great, it sounds like a fair deal. And a full-blown Ray J diss is non-negotiable.

(photo: John Ricard / BET)

By Jake Rohn

In a recent interview on Big Boy’s Neighborhood on Power 106 in Los Angeles, ATL rap star Future raised the ire of many while attempting to defend Lil Wayne’s lyrics on the “Karate Chop (Remix),” telling the host that he felt the controversy “brought a positive energy to the situation.” The “Turn On the Lights” rapper received a collective side-eye from the masses for something many rappers have been suffering from of late, foot in mouth disease. Read the rest of this entry »

(Photos from left: Judy Eddy/WENN.com, All Access Photo / Splash News)

By: Jake Rohn

Chris Brown and Rihanna give new meaning to the phrase “on-again off-again” with their relationship, which doesn’t seem to function unless it’s dysfunctional. The tumultuous twosome have taken to social media to throw quasi-subliminal shade at each other. While this is nothing new for anyone who has followed their rocky love affair, there are some folks that argue the superstar couple is sending the wrong message with their on-going feuding. Read the rest of this entry »

(Photo: Â Enrique RC, PacificCoastNews.com)

By: Jake Rohn

In a recent interview with AILindstrom.com, rapper Wiz Khalifa spoke out against religion in hip hop, calling it a fad. The Pittsburgh native think there should be a separation between religion and rap. Read the rest of this entry »

(Photo: Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images for BET)

By Gee King

As hip hop matures through adulthood, many of the culture’s elders are growing increasingly concerned for it’s legacy. The corporatization of hip hop as a fashion and musical entity has turned the mostly Black street culture to a global force that sells products and ideas to all races. Considering the history of appropriation and whitewashing that’s affected most forms of American popular culture, it makes sense that veterans like Scarface and Killer Mike are speaking out in an attempt to stop rap music from suffering the same fate that befell rock ‘n’ roll and the blues. Read the rest of this entry »

(Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

By Jake Rohn

Some of you might not be old enough to remember, but hip hop soundtracks used to be an event. Songs like the Nate Dogg and Warren G karaoke classic “Regulate” and Snoop Dogg’s “Murder Was the Case” remix made soundtracks like Above the Rim and Murder Was the Case bigger than most albums. In fact, the Murder Was the Case soundtrack was 10 times bigger than the movie itself. So where has that musical impact gone? What ever happened to the blockbuster soundtrack? It looks like Jay-Z is taking a shot at giving the genre a much needed shot in the arm. Read the rest of this entry »

(Photos from left: Mark Davis/Getty Images for NAACP Image Awards, Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

By Jake Rohn

In barbershops across the country, the multi-generational argument persists with no end in sight: ’80s vs. ’90s. It’s one of those agree to disagree situations where, depending on your age, your opinion is likely to hold firm. But when it comes to finding success beyond hip hop, the MCs of the ’80s seem to be way ahead. Read the rest of this entry »

(Photo: Instagram via badgalriri

By Gee King

Now that Chris Brown and Rihanna have officially split, the young stars are free to grow as artists and people without the burden of their troubled relationship clouding the public’s view of their art. By detaching themselves and their careers from one another, both can enter true adulthood by evolving beyond the interlocked bad boy and bad girl images that made them two of the most polarizing figures of pop culture’s last half-decade. Read the rest of this entry »

(Photo by Roger Kisby/Getty Images)

By Gee King

When Dr. Boyce Watkins’ critique of Tyler, the Creator’s “Felicia the Goat” commercial got Mountain Dew to pull the ad from the airwaves, it was hard to tell whether the controversy was the result of hateration or a generation gap. Now that both perspectives have been shared (Tyler’s through a Billboard article, Watkins’ via a YouTube vlog), hip hop must address issues way deeper than corporate sponsorships and racial stereotypes. With Tyler dedicated to protecting the free expression of his creativity and Watkins desperate for rappers to rethink the long-term consequences of their art, MCs and fans have to revisit the age-old question: “What are we really doing this for?” Read the rest of this entry »

(Photo: David Santiago/El Nuevo Herald/MCT)

By Gee King

Some of hip hop’s biggest stars are feeling the after effects of last month’s controversy over Rick Ross’ lyrics on the Rocko hit “U.O.E.N.O.” It seems the precedent that Reebok set when they dropped Rozay for refusing to apologize for lyrics that many believed promoted rape kicked off what could be a slow and ugly divorce between mainstream rappers and corporate sponsors. Rap has never been rated PG, and as the corporate music industry co-opted the culture in the 1990s, mainstream content grew increasingly violent and vulgar. Now, with almost every rapper on the airwaves guilty of dropping potentially offensive lyrics at some point in their careers, no rapper is safe to collect mainstream corporate dollars without the possibility of being protested. Read the rest of this entry »