 
 The show was great! Of course they wouldn't let me bring my camera into the venue!!! Please tell me how is it that some ppl always seem to get theirs in and I NEVER can???? I took these on my newfangled camera phone...I know they aren't the best, but hey....@ least I'm sharing! he he! I don't think I could ever tire of seeing KRS 1 do his thang. He performed ALL the hits ("South Bronx", "Loves Gonna Get Cha", "Black Cop", "Sound of the Police"....etc) and even let his men's and them get their man. *
I remember the guy that introduced himself as the "newest member of BPD" last time KRS was in B'more. Dude was from Philly....I distinctly remember that, but the funny this is....at that time he was part of a group ...& was on some gangsta ish. Seemed to be an odd "opener" for the teacha. I guess he is reformed....Not sure what's up with that, but he most def held his own on stage with the legends last night. I wish I would have caught his name so I could fimd his website or something. * I really loved the fact that Bizzy did his thang. That was so very cool. I'd never seen the chief rocker in action. I must say....I HAD A BALL watching him up there. I've talked to Bizzy on numerous occasions and he is always so reserved....LOL! FRONT! The man STILL has it in him! I loved it! * Not really sure how to put this into words, but I'ma try my best....(don't shoot me if you dont agree)..............last night I realized that the early pioneers recognized that hip hop was going to continually change. Nothing EVER stays the same forever...why would you want it to. So IMO .....all these so called "Hip Hop purists" out here are actually stiffling hip hop's growth with all their talk of how wonderful and authentic the "Golden era" was and how the South is ruining Hip Hop. By acting contrary to what the originators would have wanted...these people are in effect the people that are making it possible for the garbage to exist. While I def feel their pain, I think it is time that we reevaluate the way to "save" hip hop. *
The golden era was authentic to the times. All the MCs I know...pride themselves on having an original or unique style. If a person TODAY raps like he is in the 4th member of a Tribe Called Quest folk will say "he/she rhymes like...." or "he/she sounds dated".....why would you compare a young artist of today with anyone from the 90's?...why would an MC do that to himsellf? The 80 & 90's had its own set of issues - the fall out from "Regan-nomics", end of the cold war, end of disco, riots, end of welfare, etc. The kids of today don't have the same sensibilities of a person that grew up in the 80's. A lot of these kids raised themselves. This is the crack generation..... Today's kids are bombarded with images of expensive "things", socially acceptible drug use, open bi-sexuality, staggering A.I.D.S. rates, rising prison populations, G W Bush, etc. 90's babies grew up totally different. Today's artists prolly aren't compelled to talk about their love for Hip Hop b/c it is soooo mainstream...just about everyone loves it.....so why would they talk about loving it in every other song? They'd start to sound corny..That's WHY! & b/c young people simply don't talk like that. Never mind the fact that it's already been said ...so many different ways. Back "in the day"...people professed their love for Hip Hop so much b/c it wasn't everywhere and b/c it was a badge of honor to be "down" with something different. It was a lot of folk's Punk Rock.... The more mom didn't get it..the BETTER!!! Today's ghetto reporters are not likely to make a song about crooked cops b/c it's just not that controversial in 2006. Crooked cops have been part of our collective consciousness for at least 20 years. ITS OLD NEWS!!! The issues have changed and thus the perspectives will as well. * *
"But can what can be done?"...you may ask:
I think the beauty of the so called "golden era" is that there was something for everyone. Consious, Miami Bass, Gangsta, West Coast albums would ALL drop on the same day. Also....There was an amazing thing called the "request line", but new industries have been established to take Its place...so I doubt its coming back. You following me? If not....stop reading this post. * IMO....If you REALLY want to change the subject matter...you must change the youth's perspective. It's time that the people who appreciate substance in their Hip Hop STAND UP & really support it. Make it the sh*t! *
Those of us that know that Hip Hop could "SAY" so much more must be careful not to fall into the trap of "downing" something OUR generation thinks is BAD. Its time to put in in the hard work needed to shine a light on what many KNOW is "ghood". Eh yall.....Remember when elders used to do that to us? LOL! Are we gettin old? * I listened to the words that KRS 1 used when he was intro-ing Bizzy's set..... from it....I realized that without the willingness to accept the fact that change is part of the evolutionary process......we would have never met KRS-1. His style [modeled after other MCs he admired] would have been deemed too revolutionary b/c it was not the "party N bullshit" anthems the MCs of his youth were spittin. People would have been looking at him like, "What you mean you want to record a rap? hahahahaha" MC-ing would have remained party chants over breaks ....without substance, deeper meaning and profound messagess....no hooks to tie the song verses together.... no ad-libs....[add on] none of the stuff that MY generation has come to recognize as Hip Hop. I watched Busy perform and felt so nostalgic and happy. I watched KRS exert more energy than the average MC a fraction of his age and felt the same way. They both were on something totally and qualitatively different, yet at the end of the day....I could appreciate both without reservation. Its the same thing I feel when I look at rap today. I take from it what matters to me. Change when it comes to Hip Hop is INEVITABLE and last night proved it! It's up to us [those that KNOW] to shape the minds of the youth so that will keep the art alive. Teach them how to take from their dismal situations and create something ghood. Let's stop beating up on the kids for not having something to say or for not knowing how to express their frustrations about their life. They are talking about what they know * ....that is the saddest part.
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Agreed to the fullest... I mean, I understand how alot of purists feel (I'm a pseudo-purist myself), but they just kill me alot of the time.
The only thing worse than folks from that time mad cause it's not the same anymore, is people who didn't even grow up in that time bitchin' about it (LMAO). Especially when they come with the delusions of grandeur like "there was no wack music back then, everything was classic, blah blah blah..." Sometimes I wish I could take them back to the early '90s and show them a bad episode of Rap City when damn near NOTHING good would come on, or play them a few of the terrible albums that came out back then. I'm sure it would be a shock to their systems.
But uhhh... YEAH! Big ups on this blog right here- I cosign the hell out of it.