Official Rap/Hip Hop Thread 2.0

[Governor Dudley]

I hear people saying Yelawolf is generic. Name me 3 other rappers who sound like him.

[markdeez33]

I knew about J Cole back in 2002 when he was known as The Therapist.... he used to post on Canibus-Central

He stood out in the rain to hand Jay a demo and that's the history, but Bis is his biggest influence.

Here's a track I upped on my youtube channel (I never post anybody else's music except for mine or my homies/artists) but this was a rare track I had on my hard drive for years from CC.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j2eiHWbSo8

[markdeez33]

I hear people saying Yelawolf is generic. Name me 3 other rapper who sound like him.

All he did was

Take beats used by Three Six Mafia
Bite Eminem's trailer park trash steeze
Bite Big Boi & Andre 3000 for his delivery
Add some grime in his voice to try to sound aggressive (stole that from Em too)

It'd be cool if he did ANY of these things better than the artists he stole it from, but he doesn't, he's a watered down rapper and extremely bland.

[ManualRam]

I'm from Georgia and I don't sound **** like Yelawolf... nothing whatsoever

I embrace REAL HIP HOP culture, not the bull that they push now.

what does that even mean? you embrace real hip hop culture? why is that a prerequisite to making hip-hop music? if you can rap then you can rap, doesnt matter how "hip-hop" you are.

and umm....i'd leave your music out of it. what makes your music more hip-hop than yela's?
im trying to be respectful here.

props for shouting out supa though.

[markdeez33]

I'm from Georgia and I don't sound **** like Yelawolf... nothing whatsoever

I embrace REAL HIP HOP culture, not the bull that they push now.

what does that even mean? you embrace real hip hop culture? why is that a prerequisite to making hip-hop music? if you can rap then you can rap, doesnt matter how "hip-hop" you are.

and umm....i'd leave your music out of it. what makes your music more hip-hop than yela's?
im trying to be respectful here.

props for shouting out supa though.

Supa is my dude. He just retired from the game. I'm on the last album that he'll ever be featured on. The new Snowgoons - Savage Bros/Lord Lhus album "Iron Fist" there's a track called "South East" on there, its the last feature that Supastition has ever done, he is retiring from Hip Hop after many years, so its all love that he'd do one final appearance for my crew.

Simple & plain I respect the culture. When I say I embrace the culture, I mean it. None of these dudes study the history of Hip Hop. I respect an artist like J Cole because you can tell through his music that he respects the art. If you asked Wiz Khalifa or Yelawolf about classic tracks like The Symphony or if they even knew who Melle Mel was, or who Kool Herc was, those dudes would have no clue.

Also what about the pillars of Hip Hop? The only pillar of Hip Hop that I truly do not embrace is breaking/b-boying just because I would look like a total idiot trying to break LOL but everything else is represented in my music. To them a DJ is a guy who puts out street mixtapes, they don't know anything about real DJs - guys in the studio cutting and scratching with live turntables, hell, they probably don't even know what serato is (even though that's a DJ crutch)

I'm just saying if you're going to go full force into an industry, then you need to respect and appreciate those that came before you. These new artists don't do that.

You think basketball players don't respect Larry Bird or Jordan or Bill Russell or Chamberlain?

You think baseball players respect Babe Ruth? Mickey Mantle? Ty Cobb?

You think wrestlers respect Gorgeous George? Lou Thesz? Buddy Rogers?

Every form of entertainment/art the new guys respect their elders EXCEPT for Hip Hop, and I think its a sad thing. These new guys know nothing of the culture. I am a student of the game and I wear that badge with pride and dignity. They don't. They are part of the industry machine that has long forgotten its roots and it disgusts me.

[ManualRam]

supa's retiring? thats a damn shame. i thought he was just continuing on as kam moye.

and you sound like you graduated from KRS' temple of hip-hop.
hip-hop is a genre of music. thats it. and this is coming from a guy who participated in all those "elements."
breaking doesnt make you hip-hop, neither does graff writing. DJ'ing certainly doesnt. in fact if you still encounter people who participate in those "pillars," they most likely arent into hip-hop.
i used to run with a writing crew that would rather listen to pink floyd...and that was in the mid 90s. i also used to pop, and all we would listen to is latin breaks and funk. those pillars are mutually exclusive. they dont form like voltron to create hip-hop.

rapping is one aspect of hip-hop music. you dont need to be a hip-hop historian to be good at rapping.

[Governor Dudley]

I hear people saying Yelawolf is generic. Name me 3 other rapper who sound like him.

All he did was

Take beats used by Three Six Mafia
Bite Eminem's trailer park trash steeze
Bite Big Boi & Andre 3000 for his delivery
Add some grime in his voice to try to sound aggressive (stole that from Em too)

It'd be cool if he did ANY of these things better than the artists he stole it from, but he doesn't, he's a watered down rapper and extremely bland.

You sound like one of those underground haters 10-12 years ago who said Eminem bit his style from Cage and Esham.

Only thing you said that comes close to being legitimate is that he sounds influenced by Andre. All that other stuff is foolishness...he bit Eminem trailer park 'steeze'? Dude is a skater covered in tats and makes songs about box chevys and being a backwoods redneck. When was Em ever on that kind of sh*t?




Way too much generalizations and hating tbh.

[markdeez33]

Nah Supa is done from what I've heard. He was up in Charlotte a few months back kickin it w/ my boys from Snowgoons who were in from Germany and some other friends of mine and he said he was done and they are getting his last verse feature.

And no, I didn't graduate from KRS temple, but I respect KRS to the fullest, and he's one of the greatest emcees to ever do it, and he could teach this new generation a thing or two about Hip Hop, for sure.

I'm a firm believer that you're not going to get a firm grasp on Hip Hop music if you don't understand and respect the history, which most artists today don't, and that's why I can't listen to 95% of artists.

Everything is dumbed down, watered down, synthetic, and not from the heart these days. That's why I can appreciate artists like J Cole, and I can frown upon artists like Wiz Khalifa/Yelawolf/and so on and so forth.

I'm not saying they're wack, I'm merely stating an opinion, that anybody in the underground hip hop scene would agree.

If I signed to a major label (which I had the opportunity to sign to Universal Music Group for my last album, Bootstrap Theory, but it fell through at the last minute due to the numbers game), I wouldn't let them re-arrange me at all, I think that's just ridiculous.

They need to let artists make art and fall back, which they don't, they put their grubby paws all over the music and it becomes diluted.

People say boom bap doesn't sell well, that's because they don't market it correctly. Major label execs know even less about Hip Hop than these artists they're signing. They don't know a Kool Keith from Keith Urban... you see what I'm saying?

If you don't know the game, then why are you in it? That's all I'm saying. We live in such a technologically advanced age but it makes us weaker as people because so many of our skills as humans are unrefined, and I see that in the music business too.

[NBA Fan 1234]

Yelawolf came to my college last year with Kid Cudi and Wiz Khalifa (way before he blew up). Wiz was the best out of the three, but Yelawolf was pretty good. While I don't like him that much, he does have flow sometimes.

I just downloaded Royal Flush by CyHi and two mixtapes by Mickey Factz. Both of them were pretty good. I know I'm a little late on both, but my friends kept telling me to give both a try. I had a bunch of songs by them anyway so I knew what I was getting into. I would recommend both.

I can't wait until Pusha T's mixtape comes out later this month. My God was really good.

[markdeez33]

I hear people saying Yelawolf is generic. Name me 3 other rapper who sound like him.

All he did was

Take beats used by Three Six Mafia
Bite Eminem's trailer park trash steeze
Bite Big Boi & Andre 3000 for his delivery
Add some grime in his voice to try to sound aggressive (stole that from Em too)

It'd be cool if he did ANY of these things better than the artists he stole it from, but he doesn't, he's a watered down rapper and extremely bland.

You sound like one of those underground haters 10-12 years ago who said Eminem bit his style from Cage and Esham.

Only thing you said that comes close to being legitimate is that he sounds influenced by Andre. All that other stuff is foolishness...he bit Eminem trailer park 'steeze'? Dude is a skater covered in tats and makes songs about box chevys and being a backwoods redneck. When was Em ever on that kind of sh*t?




Way too much generalizations and hating tbh.

LOL I've actually been on tour with Cage before, strange guy.

I think Esham is a **** joke and I've never done anything more than laugh at his music.

I don't think Eminem bit Cage at all, I think Eminem is an amazing lyricist and his legacy is set in stone. Cage doesn't even rap like he did back in those days anymore either, he's on some indie alternative vibe.

I'm not saying the sound of Yelawolf or conceptualized arrangements are anything in the realm of Eminem, I'm saying his persona and image. Eminem's image was of a drugged out white trash kid from the trailer park. Yelawolf is a drugged out/drunk white trash kid from the trailer park. The only difference is Yelawolf is from the south and doesn't diss his mom every five seconds, but you can clearly see the influences if you have a pair of eyeballs.

[j4remi]

Nah Supa is done from what I've heard. He was up in Charlotte a few months back kickin it w/ my boys from Snowgoons who were in from Germany and some other friends of mine and he said he was done and they are getting his last verse feature.

And no, I didn't graduate from KRS temple, but I respect KRS to the fullest, and he's one of the greatest emcees to ever do it, and he could teach this new generation a thing or two about Hip Hop, for sure.

I'm a firm believer that you're not going to get a firm grasp on Hip Hop music if you don't understand and respect the history, which most artists today don't, and that's why I can't listen to 95% of artists.

Everything is dumbed down, watered down, synthetic, and not from the heart these days. That's why I can appreciate artists like J Cole, and I can frown upon artists like Wiz Khalifa/Yelawolf/and so on and so forth.

I'm not saying they're wack, I'm merely stating an opinion, that anybody in the underground hip hop scene would agree.

If I signed to a major label (which I had the opportunity to sign to Universal Music Group for my last album, Bootstrap Theory, but it fell through at the last minute due to the numbers game), I wouldn't let them re-arrange me at all, I think that's just ridiculous.

They need to let artists make art and fall back, which they don't, they put their grubby paws all over the music and it becomes diluted.

People say boom bap doesn't sell well, that's because they don't market it correctly. Major label execs know even less about Hip Hop than these artists they're signing. They don't know a Kool Keith from Keith Urban... you see what I'm saying?

If you don't know the game, then why are you in it? That's all I'm saying. We live in such a technologically advanced age but it makes us weaker as people because so many of our skills as humans are unrefined, and I see that in the music business too.

I agree with everything in this post 100%. I don't get how people give cats a past for not knowing where they come from and respecting it. In terms of not letting yourself be re-arranged though...you'd get shelved...which is a sad truth about the world of hip hop today.

[markdeez33]

Nah Supa is done from what I've heard. He was up in Charlotte a few months back kickin it w/ my boys from Snowgoons who were in from Germany and some other friends of mine and he said he was done and they are getting his last verse feature.

And no, I didn't graduate from KRS temple, but I respect KRS to the fullest, and he's one of the greatest emcees to ever do it, and he could teach this new generation a thing or two about Hip Hop, for sure.

I'm a firm believer that you're not going to get a firm grasp on Hip Hop music if you don't understand and respect the history, which most artists today don't, and that's why I can't listen to 95% of artists.

Everything is dumbed down, watered down, synthetic, and not from the heart these days. That's why I can appreciate artists like J Cole, and I can frown upon artists like Wiz Khalifa/Yelawolf/and so on and so forth.

I'm not saying they're wack, I'm merely stating an opinion, that anybody in the underground hip hop scene would agree.

If I signed to a major label (which I had the opportunity to sign to Universal Music Group for my last album, Bootstrap Theory, but it fell through at the last minute due to the numbers game), I wouldn't let them re-arrange me at all, I think that's just ridiculous.

They need to let artists make art and fall back, which they don't, they put their grubby paws all over the music and it becomes diluted.

People say boom bap doesn't sell well, that's because they don't market it correctly. Major label execs know even less about Hip Hop than these artists they're signing. They don't know a Kool Keith from Keith Urban... you see what I'm saying?

If you don't know the game, then why are you in it? That's all I'm saying. We live in such a technologically advanced age but it makes us weaker as people because so many of our skills as humans are unrefined, and I see that in the music business too.

I agree with everything in this post 100%. I don't get how people give cats a past for not knowing where they come from and respecting it. In terms of not letting yourself be re-arranged though...you'd get shelved...which is a sad truth about the world of hip hop today.

You're probably right about being shelved. When Rakim gets shelved... when Joell Ortiz gets shelved... you KNOW something is wrong with the industry.

But honestly I'd take being shelved over being raped... I'd still see some major label money and royalties, then I could go back to the indies and get our own money. Right now we're working on distribution thru E1 but I'm not sure how that's gonna work out especially since I already have publishing thru BMI, etc. this industry is a lot of craziness

[Governor Dudley]

Yes, Em didn't bite Cage but people said he did due to a couple of superficial similarities the two shared. That's the point I'm making.

Em and Yela are not similar at all image wise. They were both poor and white, and that's where the similarities end. Yela is a skater and looks like he's from that culture.. he didn't take anything from Eminem.

[ManualRam]

Nah Supa is done from what I've heard. He was up in Charlotte a few months back kickin it w/ my boys from Snowgoons who were in from Germany and some other friends of mine and he said he was done and they are getting his last verse feature.

And no, I didn't graduate from KRS temple, but I respect KRS to the fullest, and he's one of the greatest emcees to ever do it, and he could teach this new generation a thing or two about Hip Hop, for sure.

I'm a firm believer that you're not going to get a firm grasp on Hip Hop music if you don't understand and respect the history, which most artists today don't, and that's why I can't listen to 95% of artists.

Everything is dumbed down, watered down, synthetic, and not from the heart these days. That's why I can appreciate artists like J Cole, and I can frown upon artists like Wiz Khalifa/Yelawolf/and so on and so forth.

I'm not saying they're wack, I'm merely stating an opinion, that anybody in the underground hip hop scene would agree.

If I signed to a major label (which I had the opportunity to sign to Universal Music Group for my last album, Bootstrap Theory, but it fell through at the last minute due to the numbers game), I wouldn't let them re-arrange me at all, I think that's just ridiculous.

They need to let artists make art and fall back, which they don't, they put their grubby paws all over the music and it becomes diluted.

People say boom bap doesn't sell well, that's because they don't market it correctly. Major label execs know even less about Hip Hop than these artists they're signing. They don't know a Kool Keith from Keith Urban... you see what I'm saying?

If you don't know the game, then why are you in it? That's all I'm saying. We live in such a technologically advanced age but it makes us weaker as people because so many of our skills as humans are unrefined, and I see that in the music business too.

you're so all over the place that i dont even know how to respond, but i'll try anyway.

-again, you dont need to be a hip-hop historian to rap well.
-i listen to "underground" (i hate that term. i thought that died along with the rawkus era), but i still recognize that yela is good at rapping. his content might not be for everyone, including me, and his voice can be maad annoying, but i still recognize that he's really good at rapping.
-good luck getting on a major label if you're unwilling to compromise.
-boom bap DOESNT sell well. it does not appeal to kids and females. thats just a fact.
-if someone doesnt know the history of hip-hop, but is good at rapping, then so be it. sometimes its better to not be exposed to so much hip-hop. you dont become so jaded, dont hold yourself up to certain standards and are less likely to consciously or subconsciously bite. that artist is able to create, what he thinks is a true persona or unique rhyme style.

[markdeez33]

Yes, Em didn't bite Cage but people said he did due to a couple of superficial similarities the two shared. That's the point I'm making.

Em and Yela are not similar at all image wise. They were both poor and white, and that's where the similarities end. Yela is a skater and looks like he's from that culture.. he didn't take anything from Eminem.

Apples and oranges, apples and oranges. Eminem obviously liked being bit by the dude, so he signed him. It is what it is. I just think he could've signed way better talent.

[j4remi]

P.S. Manualram, since you're the only cat around these ways that knows him, I'm hearing from the team that A-butta's Thank You video will be getting some spin on MTV come spring time...you weren't a fan of the track but I'm happy as hell he's getting some much deserved attention after all this time.

[Governor Dudley]

Yes, Em didn't bite Cage but people said he did due to a couple of superficial similarities the two shared. That's the point I'm making.

Em and Yela are not similar at all image wise. They were both poor and white, and that's where the similarities end. Yela is a skater and looks like he's from that culture.. he didn't take anything from Eminem.

Apples and oranges, apples and oranges. Eminem obviously liked being bit by the dude, so he signed him. It is what it is. I just think he could've signed way better talent.

Like who?

[ManualRam]

Yes, Em didn't bite Cage but people said he did due to a couple of superficial similarities the two shared. That's the point I'm making.

Em and Yela are not similar at all image wise. They were both poor and white, and that's where the similarities end. Yela is a skater and looks like he's from that culture.. he didn't take anything from Eminem.

im one who believes em did bite cage.
just look at the transition from infinite to SSLP.

cage had been rocking that crazy, drugged up white boy with violent wordplay imagery style since like 92.
peep the mud bonez tapes before he even linked up with pete nice.

[j4remi]

-if someone doesnt know the history of hip-hop, but is good at rapping, then so be it. sometimes its better to not be exposed to so much hip-hop. you dont become so jaded, dont hold yourself up to certain standards and are less likely to consciously or subconsciously bite. that artist is able to create, what he thinks is a true persona or unique rhyme style.

This is an interesting outlook on it...my only problem is that, the cats who paved the way deserve respect whether you know their music or not. If not for the old school cats, there wouldn't be the avenues there are to success. Also, it's not impossible to come up with unique sounds while giving and taking on the influence of those who came before you.

I'm actually a bit taken aback that you, who has hated just about every new emcee on the scene, defend Yelawolf...I think he comes off generic consistently and his only redeeming quality is diversity in flow...but his delivery is even killed by his voice. His bars are meh to me and I don't see him as a unique character in this thing...but I respect your opinion on these things.

[markdeez33]

Nah Supa is done from what I've heard. He was up in Charlotte a few months back kickin it w/ my boys from Snowgoons who were in from Germany and some other friends of mine and he said he was done and they are getting his last verse feature.

And no, I didn't graduate from KRS temple, but I respect KRS to the fullest, and he's one of the greatest emcees to ever do it, and he could teach this new generation a thing or two about Hip Hop, for sure.

I'm a firm believer that you're not going to get a firm grasp on Hip Hop music if you don't understand and respect the history, which most artists today don't, and that's why I can't listen to 95% of artists.

Everything is dumbed down, watered down, synthetic, and not from the heart these days. That's why I can appreciate artists like J Cole, and I can frown upon artists like Wiz Khalifa/Yelawolf/and so on and so forth.

I'm not saying they're wack, I'm merely stating an opinion, that anybody in the underground hip hop scene would agree.

If I signed to a major label (which I had the opportunity to sign to Universal Music Group for my last album, Bootstrap Theory, but it fell through at the last minute due to the numbers game), I wouldn't let them re-arrange me at all, I think that's just ridiculous.

They need to let artists make art and fall back, which they don't, they put their grubby paws all over the music and it becomes diluted.

People say boom bap doesn't sell well, that's because they don't market it correctly. Major label execs know even less about Hip Hop than these artists they're signing. They don't know a Kool Keith from Keith Urban... you see what I'm saying?

If you don't know the game, then why are you in it? That's all I'm saying. We live in such a technologically advanced age but it makes us weaker as people because so many of our skills as humans are unrefined, and I see that in the music business too.

you're so all over the place that i dont even know how to respond, but i'll try anyway.

-again, you dont need to be a hip-hop historian to rap well.
-i listen to "underground" (i hate that term. i thought that died along with the rawkus era), but i still recognize that yela is good at rapping. his content might not be for everyone, including me, and his voice can be maad annoying, but i still recognize that he's really good at rapping.
-good luck getting on a major label if you're unwilling to compromise.
-boom bap DOESNT sell well. it does not appeal to kids and females. thats just a fact.
-if someone doesnt know the history of hip-hop, but is good at rapping, then so be it. sometimes its better to not be exposed to so much hip-hop. you dont become so jaded, dont hold yourself up to certain standards and are less likely to consciously or subconsciously bite. that artist is able to create, what he thinks is a true persona or unique rhyme style.

I'm not all over the place, I'm merely touching different bases in the same realm, branching out on a slew of topics that I felt needed to be addressed in a quick manner.

I had a deal with a major label, I just said that. I have the contract in my office. We turned it down because they weren't offering what I considered to be a significant amount of money and their terms were ridiculous. They wanted the rights to my publishing (impossible considering I already set up my own publishing) and they wanted to hold back on royalties for a certain amount of time, it was just a bad deal, and that's what 99.9% of artists are getting from major labels these days, BAD DEALS, which is why its more lucrative and intelligible to run your own label or sign with an indie.

That's the problem with Hip Hop, in that it has to relate to kids and females, well, the last time I checked heavy metal was selling pretty good and I don't think it relates to children or females either. Its all a matter of marketing and developing a strategy to pertain to said listener. These labels are too lazy to develop such strategies and that's why you have independent labels that are flourishing and becoming more of a mainstay in the industry.

I think if you don't hold yourself up to a standard or a certain degree, then why are you making music? The goal of an emcee should be to continue to improve his craft each and every time he touches the microphone. I wake up every morning and write 100 bars before I do anything. That makes me a better lyricist and a better artist overall. Had I not been in tune with the culture and with the nuances of other successful individuals, I would've never picked up on this craft work. Most artists today care more about being the flavor of the month than building a solid legacy, that's the problem with the music industry in general. Its about RIGHT NOW to them, not about yesterday, and certainly not about tomorrow.