Long live hair bands!

thanks for the laugh :-D

"People talk about Hip-Hop like it's some giant livin in the hillside" mos def

Dope.

Mutual fund hip-hop! Ha!

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!

hell yeah...we should do these people like the Soup Nazi on Seinfeld. "GET OUT OF MY LINE! NO HIP HOP FOR YOU!"

damn why am i not invited to the funeral. i love the chick

Yeah............You should post this on nobodysmiling.com

AMEN.

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

GOTTA AGREE WITH BITTER MONK RIGHT ABOUT NOW...ALL EYEZ ON KITTY THIS GO ROUND (SORRY PAC)

KEEP UP THE TIGHT WORK!

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!

HIP HOP
R.I.P.
197? - 2007

I swear your cat looks like it is pondering your
words when you say them.

damn speakin the truth again!!
political regaeeton... lol

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.

hahaha, thanks for the great video

hilarious

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

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

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.

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."

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...

Hip Hop is dead! Long live Hip Hop!

quality stuff, b. simple short. seems genuine. keep 'em coming.

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...

Jay Smooth for the President! for the hip hop nation. Say Meow to Tyka 4 me ;)

Your cat is too cute. Well done.

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...

Amen...I want hip-hop to die so I can get it back.

LMAO @ "Go make some revolutionary Reggaeton."

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/

Hip-Hop dead? Well, at least Rock and Punk won't be
lonely anymore.

Wait, Jay smooth is white?!? I swear I did not know.... all these years listening on the radio I thought you were a brother....

No, you had it right the first time, Kazembe :) My parents are mixed though.

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.

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

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..

And you're not invited to the funeral! Yeah okay, now that makes a little more sense.

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!!!

All rap and hip hop

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.

Hello. And Bye.