Mos Def on current rap: "I don't think we need more Crack Commercials"

[Tommy Gibbs]

bruh, i legit do not understand that shyt at all.

i be seeing threads on here about sales and i be looking like "why is this important to y'all?!"

you'd think these nikkas was these artists' wives looking for the rent money the way they be counting their (sales) money

Can you imagine 31 years ago when Illmatic dropped and you're in a circle of friends talking about the album and someone says, "What were the first week numbers?". I've honestly never in my life been concerned with an album sale, chart position, or plaques. Mfers act like it's badge of honor to listen to an album that everyone else is just to fit in.

 

[Damnshow]

He's right, but America is in a deep trouble of celebrating stupidity and admiring ignorance. And it's not just in current hip hop, it's everywhere. In many other countries as well.

It's like being stupid a norm these days, and even encouraged in society.

 

[I love Latina women]

Can you imagine 31 years ago when Illmatic dropped and you're in a circle of friends talking about the album and someone says, "What were the first week numbers?". I've honestly never in my life been concerned with an album sale, chart position, or plaques. Mfers act like it's badge of honor to listen to an album that everyone else is just to fit in.

no not at all

nikkas would be looking at me like i had lost my mind if i asked that shyt

same here.

sales have never been my interest at all. always the quality of the music and the creativity.

yeah, folks who are stuck on sales are stuck on stupid.

 

[Mac Ten]

oh ok

it's gotten way worse now, of course

but to a lot of us hip hop back then, the late 90's was a dark period.

a lot of people speak highly of it now, for a variety of reasons

but 88 to 96 was the golden year

97, 98, 99 had some great and even classic albums, but the overall vibe of the culture and quality had really gone downhill and gotten watered down

hip hop had gone mainstream, and it become more and more about money and less about creativity and quality

sales become more of a talking point

that's why when i see these dudes on here constantly talking about how much an artist sells, im like "why do y'all care? what do you get from that?"

they spend more time discussing how much or how less an artist sells than they do the actual art

Back then, u had to support cats by buying their music…


A lot of cats got that big money and down the line it became a laissez faire era where as long as u have money, u can do what u want under that


97 doesn’t get enough props like that.

Cash Money was still in the underground shaking and scratching. Once they took over, the culture became cartoonish and goofy.


Puff helped open the doors for those cats by bringing in the flash in hip hop

 

[Mac Ten]

hell yeah, those songs were solid gold!

same here. i use to make mixtapes and i had put those songs on so many of my mixtapes


man, i bought two copies of Black on Both Sides in the same year.


another classic

Was u smoking to those songs???


A lot of stuff came to light years later after listening to that album.


Mos Def released a gem in a time where folks had Gold teeth in their mouths while sporting a fresh wife beater.

 

[I love Latina women]

Back then, u had to support cats by buying their music…


A lot of cats got that big money and down the line it became a laissez faire era where as long as u have money, u can do what u want under that


97 doesn’t get enough props like that.

Cash Money was still in the underground shaking and scratching. Once they took over, the culture became cartoonish and goofy.


Puff helped open the doors for those cats by bringing in the flash in hip hop

the internet had a huge role in changing the purchasing of music once the new millennium hit.


97' was started the downward spiral.
96' was the last great year.
88' to 96' = the golden era

there wasn't one particular person that brought the culture down, it was a variety of things happening and people getting involved

integrity got compromised and labels got greedy. the saw a formula that worked and they divided and conquered and capitalized off of our culture

 

[I love Latina women]

Was u smoking to those songs???


A lot of stuff came to light years later after listening to that album.


Mos Def released a gem in a time where folks had Gold teeth in their mouths while sporting a fresh wife beater.

nah. but i was drinking some. not heavily tho


yasiin is a wise man and he's an observer


gold teeth got nothing to do with it my man.

don't get caught up in appearances and stereotypes

im from down South, a lot my fam got gold in their mouth and some of the smartest and most down to Earth people i know. very well read and intelligent.

to quote 3 Stacks

"Now question is every nikka with dreads for the cause?
Is every nikka with golds for the fall? Naw
So don't get caught up in appearance
It's Outkast, Aquemini another Black experience"

 

[Mac Ten]

nah. but i was drinking some. not heavily tho


yasiin is a wise man and he's an observer


gold teeth got nothing to do with it my man.

don't get caught up in appearances and stereotypes

im from down South, a lot my fam got gold in their mouth and some of the smartest and most down to Earth people i know. very well read and intelligent.

to quote 3 Stacks

"Now question is every nikka with dreads for the cause?
Is every nikka with golds for the fall? Naw
So don't get caught up in appearance
It's Outkast, Aquemini another Black experience"

U was playing Mos Def down South???


Wow.

I bought the gold teeth thing up due to Cash Money though.

Salute to you for playing Mos Def then.

It’s ironic how Mos made an album with Mannie Fresh. It would be good to hear Mannie on some classic 99/00 vintage Cash Money beats

 

[Mac Ten]

the internet had a huge role in changing the purchasing of music once the new millennium hit.


97' was started the downward spiral.
96' was the last great year.
88' to 96' = the golden era

there wasn't one particular person that brought the culture down, it was a variety of things happening and people getting involved

integrity got compromised and labels got greedy. the saw a formula that worked and they divided and conquered and capitalized off of our culture

Yes they did…

The producers were getting between 100-500k a beat.

Cats didn’t think long term.


The South did their own thing and realize that that the slow tortoise will always win

 

[I love Latina women]

U was playing Mos Def down South???


Wow.

I bought the gold teeth thing up due to Cash Money though.

Salute to you for playing Mos Def then.

It’s ironic how Mos made an album with Mannie Fresh. It would be good to hear Mannie on some classic 99/00 vintage Cash Money beats

yup

man, me and my folks, we ain't care about where an artist was from. it was about if the artist was talented and made great music.

the beauty back in the day was that each region had their own sound, so you looked forward to hearing something different, at least me and my friends did


yasiin made an album with Mannie because Mannie is talented and yasiin knows/sees that.

creative artists like yasiin and Mannie link up and work together because they both share that love for the great music and admire each other's talent as artists.

 

[Mac Ten]

yup

man, me and my folks, we ain't care about where an artist was from. it was about if the artist was talented and made great music.

the beauty back in the day was that each region had their own sound, so you looked forward to hearing something different, at least me and my friends did


yasiin made an album with Mannie because Mannie is talented and yasiin knows/sees that.

creative artists like yasiin and Mannie link up and work together because they both share that love for the great music and admire each other's talent as artists.

Props on this part !!


I’m open to bumping other regions.


If the music is hot, I’ll giving it a chance.

 

[I love Latina women]

Yes they did…

The producers were getting between 100-500k a beat.

Cats didn’t think long term.


The South did their own thing and realize that that the slow tortoise will always win

nothing stays the same

the inevitable happens and things change

sampling became a huge problem and sampling laws cracked down and put a huge stifle on artists sampling and that played a huge role in production


The South's time at the top was only a matter of time. what goes up, most come down. Every other region had their moment, and it was the South's time

 

[I love Latina women]

Props on this part !!


I’m open to bumping other regions.


If the music is hot, I’ll giving it a chance.

that's what's up

gotta keep an open mind when it come to this music shyt.

it's always something good, great and or interesting in almost every genre of music you listen too. even if it's just a hook, a guitar solo, a beat or a verse.

you can't limit yourself when it comes to great music.

music is universal

 

[Peak]

He’s policing art a bit though


Plus I need that get money music



I could understand if he was about talking that destructive drill music



Yelling people names that have passed away on 808 beats saying you smoking on them etc the world needs to be done with that for sure



But if it’s Payroll talking about trapping I need that

 

[Amestafuu (Emeritus)]

Music is spiritual. The messaging in it and the intent matters. Why do you think music is such a prominent part of the modern church? The power it wields is not for abuse.

Me personally I think rap has had no balance of content in ages and also people have adopted street culture directly through it as well. Abusing its power and reach. I also don't believe rap was designed to be destructive I think it's an elective problem by the crowd and the content they gravitate to. A topic we still refuse I discuss because it is critical of rap fans. But the culture won't heal until people are individually willing to reject the overtly negative content