Malke’s Blog

As we all know, hiphop has become a mainstream genre. It’s one of the reasons us old rap fans are less interested in what’s going on in the rap game. Everyone and their mama listen to rap, and everyone and their friends are rappers.

For some reason, don’t ask me why, I watched MTV’s “Paris Hiltons new BFF” the other day. Gay/bi gossip blogger Perez Hilton came on to determin who was real and who was not.

Being real is not an expression exclusive for hiphop, but hiphop took it to the mainstream. So here a gay or bisexual blogger that blogs about Hollywood gives himself the right to say who’s real and who’s fake.

What the fuck?!

I’ve never seen Perez Hiltons blog, and I have no desire whatsoever to do so, but from the short segment of the show that I saw I can definately say that Perez Hilton is a fake and a phony. Not only that. The entire segment was about Paris Hiltons new BFF. Since when does it require from someone within 2 miles of Paris Hilton to be real? Paris Hilton, and Perez Hilton, are probably the fakest people in Hollywood. And that’s hard to acomplish considering that most of Hollywood is fake.

This is an other of endless examples that hiphop went mainstream and that the mainstream has taken over hiphop. On this blog, I will start analyzing what went wrong and how hiphop can be saved.

I realize that this list is very shaped after my own opinions. Some icons are lower down than groups that are personal favourites. But remember, this is MY opinion…

1. N.W.A
NWA gave gangsta rap its name and made it blow up. Every member of the group could’ve made it big solo, except for DJ Yella. Yella started producing porn anyway, so he’s probably set. Dr Dre produced NWA and went on to be the most successful producer ever. Eazy-E is titled the godfather of gangster rap. Ice Cube is one of the most popular rappers ever. There is no doubt in my mind that MC Ren would’ve been eaqually successful in the right enviroment. N.W.A started this gangsta shit, and this is the mothaf*ckin’ thanks they get.

2. Wu-Tang Clan
Most groups blow up because one of the group members already have a successful solo carreer. The Wu-Tang Clan blew up and made its members have successful solo carreers. You have to acknowledge that and give them proper credit.

3. Lost Boyz
Lost Boyz made 2 classic albums, and a third real good album. The third album was interrupted by Freakie Tah getting shot to death and it was more of a left-over-material type of album. The Lost Boyz was basically Mr Cheeks rapping and Freakie Tah doing adlibs. Not sure what Spiggs and Pretty Lou did but oh well… The Lost Boyz was a dope group and one of the best rap groups ever. Many say Mr Cheeks made the Lost Boyz, but I disagree. Mr Cheeks solo albums has been solod, but not classic like his Lost Boyz work.

4. Doggpound
Snoops success made the way for Doggpound, but they could just aswell have made it on their own. Daz and Dre on the production with Kurupt in his good days and Snoop on every other track. Doggpound created a strong reaction with “NY NY” and even though they were always in Snoops shadow they are respected and generally labeled as one of the best rap groups ever.

5. Cypress Hill
Nobody can deny the success that Cypress Hill had back in the day. Cypress Hill sold units and became a household name. Had they followed up with more classic albums, they would’ve been up there with NWA and the Wu.

6. Run-DMC
Run DMC were pioneers in hiphop and even though they have been credited for it, they haven’t been credited enough. I was never a big Run DMC fan, as it’s not really the kind of style I generally listen to, but they deserve all the credit they get and then some!

7. Geto Boys
Scarface, Willie D and Bushwick Bill. There’s no need to say more than that. This group broke new grounds for the south.

8. Public Enemy
Public Enemy are legends in the rap game. They helped bring hiphop to the mainstream media before NWA or the Wu-Tang Clan was even started. Public Enemys political content made them controversial but made the way for new acts to speak their mind in an attempt to better society.

9. A Tribe Called Quest
Allmusic calles A Tribe Called Quest “the most intelligent, artistic group of the 1990s”. ATCQ has always had political content in their rhymes and they have been breaking way in new directions when it comes to artistic direction. They didn’t try to be like everybody else, everybody else tried to be like them.

10. The Dayton Family
The Dayton Family held it down for the Midwest for a long time. With songs like FBI and What’s on my mind, they broke new grounds for their city. Dayton Family are still legends in Flint and they are still legends in the rap game.

Almost made the list (in no percitular order) : The Luniz, Outlawz, 213, The Roots, De La Soul, 2 Live Crew, Naughty By Nature, Three-6 Mafia, Mobb Deep, The LOX, Goodie Mob, Outkast, Bone Thugz N Harmony, The Fugees, Beastie Boys.

Rumor is that 50 Cent is selling out Lloyd Banks to the highest bidder.

To be more clear: 50 Cents contract with Shady/Aftermath is expiring and he is looking to maximize his profit. Maybe Shady/Aftermath/Interscope aren’t interested in having 50’s G-Unit label under them any more. After all, artist after artist has been flopping. It would only be common sense if Shady/Aftermath only wanted to keep 50 as an artist and G-Unit as a group. Lloyd Banks hasn’t done all that well. This scenario is what it looks like, at least.

But the funny thing about this rumour is that it says that 50 wants to keep Tony Yayo.

If 50 drops Banks and Buck, but keeps Yayo, that’s a very dumb descision business wise. Yayo is probably the one that’s sold less and is the less popular artists.

I’m guessing that Lloyd Banks wants to move to a new label. Maybe he feels that he’s in 50’s shade and that he can’t really do his thing on his current label. On G-Unit, everybody expects Banks to do albums that sounds like 50’s stuff. If Banks goes to Def Jam or some label like that, he can do his own thing. After all, Banks is the only G-Unit rapper that has more of a clean NY style and is more of a Jay-Z or KRS-1 than a 50 Cent or Tony Yayo.

A third scenario is possible here. Maybe Banks said something that hurt 50’s feelings. Maybe he wouldn’t go get a soda when 50 mentioned he was thirsty. Maybe he wouldn’t kiss his feet when he mentioned they were dirty. We all know 50 gets his feelings hurt real easy. Maybe that’s what has happened. If that’s the case, 50 has managed to get his feelings hurt by 2 out of 3 group members as well as one of his major artists (Game). And if THAT’S the case, maybe 50 will realize that other people aren’t the problem. He is.

1. 2pac vs. Biggie
This one’s obvious. It got heated – too heated! But damn, that’s beef! And it could’ve been even better for the listen ers. Biggie could’ve been more active.

2. East vs. West
2pac vs. Biggie made this beef bigger than what it already was. But this wasn’t just about 2pac vs. Biggie or Death Row vs. Bad Boy. This beef is probably the #1 cause to all that tight music coming out around the time of the beef. Alot of incidents started this beef, but the west were probably the ones that were more aggressive on wax. Ice Cube and Death Row with Suge & 2pac at the front were on the offence.

3.  Dr. Dre vs. Eazy-E
 Oh shit! You forgot about this one, didn’t you? What’s wrong with you? Two legends beefing. Dre was the winner music wize, but Eazy won the beef. Even tho I like beef, it’s just when it’s on wax. I’m glad Dre and Eazy squashed their beef before Eazy passed.

4. Ice Cube vs. NWA
Even though both sides delivered classic diss tracks, only one track is among the top 3 diss tracks of all time:

5. Canibus vs. LL Cool J
Canibus is one of the best battle rappers out there. After saying “Yo LL is that a microphone on your arm? Let me borrow it” on a track with LL Cool J, LL felt disrespected. And that’s how it started…

6. 50 Cent vs. Ja Rule
This beef helped blowing up 50 Cent when he came to Aftermath, and it was the start of Murder INC’s problems. Both rappers came hard at eachother, but 50 heavily outsold Ja whom became a little quiet after the beef. This leads the rap game to the opinion that 50 Cent won the beef.

8. The Game vs. Yukmouth
The Game took some cheap shots at Yukmouth on his message board, and the beef was started. In my opinion, Yukmouths disses were much better than Games.

7. Eminem vs. Benzino
Benzino decided that white people shouldn’t rap and started a campaign against Eminem, using his magazine The Source as a weapon. Even tho Eminem was (rightfully) hurt bad by the racist tapes, he clearly won the beef. Benzino lost The Source which meant his career and XXL became the largest HipHop magazine.

9. Jay-Z vs. Nas

The Jay-Z and Nas beef is suspiceous. People have been saying it was a fake beef to boost record sales. I don’t really know the truth here, but either way it was a good beef. Iäd say Nas won it beeftrack wise, but Jay-Z came out the more successful man.

10.  Ice Cube vs. Cypress Hill
Another classic hiphop beef. Two west coast icons going at eachother. The beef was squashed and I honestly couldn’t say who won it…

Nas and Damian Marley are gonna do an album together. I think they’ll go well together, and I hope for more stuff like this:

Bishop Lamont has been dropped from Aftermath. No, not dropped as in dropping an album. He’s been dropped, kicked out, released. It’s too bad because Bishop Lamont made some good stuff during his time on Aftermath. But like everything, it came to an end.

The reason that Aftermath has to drop rappers like Bishop Lamont and others is because they signed too many artists. When Dre, Em and 50 was on top alot of artists was signed. They thought everything they touched would turn to gold, or platinum. They were wrong.

After a few flopps coming out of Aftermath, reality has caught up with them. They now realize that they can’t sign any number of rappers and make them sell units based on the label they’re signed to. Eminem, and moreso Dr. Dre, has to focus on their artists and put an effort into producing, promoting and pushing them.

Bishop Lamont’s “Grow Up”:

What’s beef? Is beef when two rappers are trying to determen who’s the toughest? Is beef what a proud man starts when someone disrespected him?

Or is beef when two rappers want to sell more records by getting more media coverage?

It used to be all 3. What’s beef in 2009?

The last personal beef was probably Ja vs. 50 or 50 vs Game. Or how about Game vs. Yukmouth?

Rick Ross vs. 50 is a publicity stunt.

West Coast vs. East Coast got everybody scared. It’s time to man up and protect your pride when you need to. You can’t be friends with everybody, but that doesn’t mean you gotta go kill the people you dislike.

Bitter? Conservative? Maybe…

That new C-N-N album is tight! It’s what I needed! It’s a flashback to when rap was rap and not hitpop.

That new C-N-N album is the best album of 2009 this far.

The new C-N-N album, Channel 10, is not a classic. It’s not on an all-time toplist. Still, it’s bringing me some faith in this rap shit. That pretty much sums up the state of hiphop right now…

I interviewed Capone a couple of years back and he was talking about how him and Noriega are just as good solo. I could tell he didn’t mean it. I could read between the lines – they wanted to go solo for a while and reunite in another CNN album. That album is Channel 10 and us rap fans has been waiting while CNN has been on ice to persuit solo carreers.

So what makes Channel 10 so good? Well… CNN has managed to bring their old style into a new forum. The old topics and the old flow are mixed with new beats that still gives flashbacks to the old days.

CNN hasn’t dropped a classic with Channel 10, but they’ve done the best they could do right now.

Go cop it.

Yes, it’s true what you heard. Crooked I has been shot! Fortunately, the Cali rapper survived and is well.

Most important is, ofcourse, that Crooked’s well. Crook’s a real cool person that hasn’t done anything (that I know of) to deserve getting shot.

So who shot Crooked? What will it lead to?

I don’t know who shot Crooked I. It could be street related, and it could also be rap related. But who in rap would want to shoot Crooked I? Well… the obvious answer is Suge. Suge sued Crooked when he left Death Row and even tho no disses has been thrown (how many rappers disses Suge anyway) things has been cold between them. But murder? Well… Suge’s been beat down twice lately. His reputation as hiphop’s bad guy is fading away. Having someone shot could be Suge’s twisted way to gain his reputation. And yes, I believe Suge would have someone shot to save his reputation. But no, I don’t think he did.

If Suge wanted someone shot, he’d have 2 prime targets: The 2 guys that beat him down. So no, I don’t think Suge is behind Crooked’s shooting.

Daz has threatened Crooked in the past, but that was while Crook was on Death Row. That’s over and forgotten. Same with Snoop… and Snoop would never risk his carreer to have Crooked I shot. Crooked’s not a threat to him – yet.

Does anyone else in the rap game have a reason to shoot at Crooked I? Maybe some old Death Row affilliate who feel Crooked ripped them off or wants to impress Suge by shooting at one of his “enemies”. But it’s not likely. Crooked’s not an enemy of Suges. He never dissed Suge or Death Row and Suge has other problems on his hand (such as his reputation and empire falling apart).

I think Crooked’s shooting was street related. Crook never struck me as a guy that beefs on the streets, but he’s probably haning around that type of cats and he could’ve been caught up in a shooting that wasn’t related to him.

With all that sorted out… what will this do to Crooked in the future? Alot of rappers who was shot became huge rap stars, but I don’t think Crookeds carreer will benefit all that much from this. Had this been a rap related shooting there might be a hyped up rap beef around the corner, but just the street rep from getting shot isn’t working anymore. Nobody will go platinum just by rapping about how they got shot (anymore). Crooked’s entire carreer is depending on his long awaited solo debut and its promotion. Crooked I’s first priority should be and is to find a label that can handle him the way he needs to be handled.

So let’s hope Crooked’s ben on his feet and back in the studio in no-time. Hopefully we can get some tight music coming out of this and maybe Crooked realizes that life’s too short to wait 10 years to release a solo album…

I’m gonna keep with the toplists.. This time: “What happened?”. Here we go…

1. DMX
What happened to DMX? He was a very successful rapper – one of those who could’ve claimed the throne of NY. What happened? Well… Drugs happened. It’s a tragedy for him and for the rap game…

2. Sam Sneed
Sam Sneed could’ve been highly successful. After suffering from brain cancer, Sam made a small comeback producing some tracks. Still, without the cancer, he could’ve been more successful than he actually was. Does his absence spell Suge Knight?

3. Coolio
Coolio is more than a one hit wonder. Correction: 2 hit wonder. Coolio’s been around since back in the day and had a few successful hits. They were followed up by wack singles which made him disappear from the public eye. What happened? What’s he up to now?

4. Death Row Records
2pac got killed and Suge got locked up. But Suge got out… What happened? Death Row is over with and in the past. If they would’ve released albums they might’ve had the money now. Even showing up in court or not threatening their own lawyers could’ve been enough to save the label. What happened?

5. Xzibit
Yeah, I know. X has been pimping rides for a while now. But whee did his music carreer go? X i known for being an ass in interviews, so the maybe the media turned on him. Or maybe he lost his most dedicated fanbase when he made music with the most popular rappers at the time (Em, Dre, Snoop etc). But that can’t explain it… I’ve got a feeling we haven’t seen the last of Xzibit tho.

6. Ski-Lo
Remember this guy? He used to wish he was taller, wish he was a baller… Yeah he was a one hit woder but it was a mega hit and he could’ve built on it. He didn’t.

7. Pras
Pras was the weakest member of Fugees. His solo efforts was very weak. However, he had a huge hit record in “Ghetto Superstar”. I guess his lack of skills caught up with him. Guess what Fugee member would benefit the most from a reunion?

8. Canibus
Canibus never had a big mainstream success. He always had a dedicated underground fanbase tho. Where is he now? I haven’t heard about him for a very long time. He used to be in the military. He still in Iraq or something?

9. Ruff Ryders
Ruff Ryders was a leading label. They had plenty of big name artists. Most of those artists are now silent or fighting on the underground scene. I actually don’t know if i.e. Jadakiss is still on the label. Maybe they just toned down the label love thing. That was probably a bad move. What happened to A+ (I believe he’s now known simply as “A”), that asian rapper and everybody else that was on the label? And what’s Swizz Beats up to?

10. Yukmouth
Yuk released his last album on Rap-A-Lot this summer. He’s been quiet since then. This is one of the “What happened?”’s that I can actually dig into. I’ll see if I can get at Yukmouth and see what’s up.

I probably forgot a bunch of rappers here… LL Cool J, The Alchemist, KRS-1, Eastwood, Twista and Fatal are some of the rappers I was gonna include in the list but didn’t…