Ball Hoggers or Go-to-Players?

I've been researching this for a while now, and I've discovered that, with exception to Lil Wayne, the average age of Mainstream rappers with an album out in the last year, is 37 years of age. Here's the list:

1. Jay-Z                         Age 40        
2. Method Man             Age 38
3. Mos Def                    Age 36
4. Talib Kweli               Age 34
5. Raekwon                   Age 40
6. Kanye West               Age 32
7. Ice Cube                    Age 41
8. Snoop Dogg              Age 38
9. Ludacris                    Age 32
10. Fat Joe                      Age 39
11. Jadakiss                    Age 34
12. KRS-ONE                Age 44
13. Nelly                        Age 35
14. Eminem                   Age 37
15. DMX                       Age 39
16. Rick Ross                Age 34

Now this is a touchy subject because some of these cats are emcees that I love, some not, but its funny how a lot these brothers have managed to stay somewhat on the pulse of the industry for damn near 20 years! In 20 years, I could go from freshmen in high school and graduate college twice.

Going from college to the NBA, I could go from freshmen to the league 5 times, and still would never see any playing time because the veterans are still starting. Are these cats really that good, or are we a comfortable society that would rather deal with what's familiar? Kobe doesn't even have a 20 year career, Jordan played from 85-98 with off and on periods... Kobe's and Jordan's are rare breeds like the Beatles and Michael Jackson. While others come and go, these guys remained the best of the best. I don't know if I could say hands down, Snoop, Nelly, Cube, Raekwon, DMX, are among the best.

And this brings the discussion of what determines the "best" in hip hop? Sales? Lyrical content? Style? Swagger? Business ventures outside the game? How do we determine the best? The only stats we can really accumulate from Hip Hop are monetary stats. How many concerts did one sell out, and that has a dollar price on it. How many #1 albums did one create? That has some monetary figure attached to it as well.

So, its really interesting to see these one hit wonders, come and go like seasons, never get the same shine and marketing as these mega acts get, and we wonder why the music sounds flat and uninteresting. Well, just like the media, when you have only a few corporations running all of the information we consume sonically, and visually, the messages become blurred, and it becomes a sort of generic, molded, pot of goo. The formula has worked, and we are comfortable with it. These artists have a name, and we know they can at least bring in some sort of revenue, so, we'll push them.

The young cats are beginning to do everything by themselves, and its being praised as being a good thing, by the hustlers, and a bad thing, by the veterans, who's money is being jeopardized. Its sad because these vets that are in the game, in my opinion should have been set up a powerhouse record company, and distribution company for themselves, and created an easier lane for the generation behind them. Instead you have this new group, getting signed by Shady Records under, Aftermath, under Interscope, for pennies.

This is where the ball hogger statement come in, because in actuality, some of these artists that are still out, their time has come and gone. But they still hold on to the rap rap game why? Because they don't have anything else. They didn't invest their money into other things like Nelly and Jay did. They didn't set up shop to where they would have a steady flow of income, instead they bought the material shit, that got old, and they needed more. They signed bad deals that never really made them any bread, and now they have to take care of a family. Our brothers could have bee taken over the game long time ago, and not been relying on outside influence to change the vibration of the music to this watered down, simplified lyrics and beats, pop shit. The bar is not being forced to be raised, the torch is not being passed because the cats who have the torch have no intentions on getting out the game.

Just imagine what the music would sound like if these brothers came together like Voltron and decided that they would all stick together and not have to need a record company to dictate the music they put out, but yet and still they could get on the mainstream media just as easy because they have money and influence, and they have the audiences attention? Hip Hop would be as rich as some of these oil companies, or even some of these movie studios. But that's not it, there is something going on that makes these brothers go for self, and say, get yours and I'll get mine. Do you, I'll do me!!!!

That fucked up mentality has gotten the culture segregated and powerless. During the Civil Rights Movement we were together and wanted integration, we wasn't cool with being separated. And today we have integration, but we've never been more separated from ourselves, than we are right now. I'll remain the optimist and say that, if we don't come together, Hip Hop will not survive 10 more years. If these All Star, front runnners do not make any moves and set up for the next generation, you can forget having a culture and a music unique to the people who struggle. You can forget a generation coming up with the understanding of truly making music, and not just making money. You can forget everything that James Brown, BDP, Bizzy B, Cool Herc, Kane, Fab 5 Freddy, Rock Steady Crew, and all the originators of the music we so enjoy, taught us, because all of that will be in vein. So, if we keep he rock in the vets hands, and they out for self, what do we do?

360˚