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  • » Name: Brillyance
  • » Age: 25
  • » Location: Long Beach, CA
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Viewing Posts Tagged "Chicago"   View All

Chi-Town Stand up


May 28, 2007 | Tags: Hip Hop, Common, Chicago, Good Music, Kanye, Lupe, Kidz in the Hall, Rhymefest

                First and foremost let me say rest in peace to anyone lost in any war, fighting for something they believed in. My uncle James died fighting in Vietnam. We often forget the sacrifices people make for their family, community, and their country, so I figured I’d take the time out to remind people the purpose of Memorial Day, it’s more than just a reason for a 3 day weekend, and cooning in Miami.



                So normally I don’t speak on topics everyone else is speaking on. I’m gonna make an exception. There’s a lot of talk going on this site about Kanye. Is he the new primo? Is he garbage? Will his album be dope? Me personally I think ‘Ye’s music is good (no pun intended). I’m gonna go a step further, while everyone complains about the south running things, due to their huge presence on TV and radio, I’d say quality wise; Chi-Town is definitely on top of the game.



“They ask me where hip hop is goin; it’s Chicagoan, poetry in motion like a picture now showin”
Common “Chi-city”



                As I remember, Common represented for Chi-Town first in the hip hop world. A lot of people say Twista did with regional hit, but I’m out west, I’m sorry, I never heard of it. Nobody has been as consistent as the artist once known as Common Sense. As we anticipate “Finding Forever” most believe Common is one of the greatest emcees of all time (Me being one of them). But ask any Lakers fan and they’ll tell you, One man can’t do it all by themselves. After Common came, Chi-town gave us Twista, Crucial Conflict, Psycho Drama, and others that were ok at best, Stephen Garbonavich (garbage) at worst. Things would remain the same until Jay-z producer with “a Benz and a backpack” arrived.



                While Common gave the heads great music from Chi-town, Kanye was Chicago’s first mainstream hip hop superstar, and he didn’t forget where he came from. When Kanye hit it big, he didn’t forget the people back home. He did the production on Common’s classic (yeah I said it) album “Be” and tried hard to help Bump J blow (too bad the highlight of his career was a video game soundtrack and a McDonalds’ commercial) Kanye continued to blow himself up with features and production everywhere, and his two dope albums “College Dropout” and “Late Registration” putting it down for Chi. He also helped bring out another artist who had been putting it down for the windy city…..Rhymefest.



                Rhymefest had much to boast about before he dropped his album “Blue Collar” which was most definitely hella dope. You may not know it, but before ‘Fest dropped an album he was a dope battle rapper. Don’t believe me? Ask Eminem. Rhymefest got his major break when a big time dude from his city asked if he could “borrow” some of his lines for a song he wanted to do, “Jesus Walks”. ‘Fest agreed and went on to get a Grammy for the song he loaned his lines to. Kanye could’ve down played the whole incident, but he shouted Rhymefest out several times, and went on to do several tracks for Rhymefest’s album “Blue Collar” which is hella dope, if you don’t have that go pick it up.



     One of the harder questions to answer last year in the hip hop world was “What’s better, Lupe Fiasco’s Food and Liquor or Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor?” Some dude told me about Lupe Fiasco in the midst of me whooping his ass on NBA 2k7 online. I checked his mixtapes out, they were cool I guess. When Lupe’s album leaked however….I was blown away. I haven’t heard a debut CD that good since “Illmatic”. Food and Liquor quickly took over my IPOD (yea, I still had one of those garbage ass things then). When I heard dude (Lupe) say that wasn’t his CD, he was coming out with different music I was confused. I didn’t know if it was a good thing or a bad thing. He could come out with a CD that was better, or he could come out with some trash aimed more for the mainstream. I waited, and waited, and waited. When the album did drop, I didn’t know which one was better, but I knew they were both dope. Lupe Fiasco may have made his first TV appearance on a Kanye song, and got a Kanye beat for his album, but he didn’t get in the game off the strength of Kanye. He turned down signing to Def Jam, to keep a promise he made to one of his peoples back home. Lupe’s CD was executive produced by Jay Z, but he came in the game on his own, just like a young Nasir Jones did several years prior.



     While Meka and William argue whether Kanye is the new Premo, I’d rather argue he’s the new Dr. Dre to Chicago, the gatekeeper. If an artist wishes to come out of Chicago, you have to get at least one Kanye beat, and a nod. Nevertheless, one group pushes on without the Kanye connection. When I heard Rawkus was coming back, I was extremely excited. Unlike El-P (whose new album “I’ll Sleep When Your Dead” is hella dope) I liked Rawkus (probably because I didn’t have to deal with them on the business side of things). I heard there first act was a group called Kidz in the Hall. The name alone sort of scared me away. One day, while going through the best hip hop album review section on the net (take a wild guess where) I ran into a review of Kidz in the Hall “School was my Hustle”. The reviewer said (if I remember correctly) that the emcee of the duo, Naledge, spoke on revolution way too often, there was good beats and good tracks overall. The reviewer gave the album a 3 ½ out of 5. Based on the review, I decided to go check the album out for myself. I’d give it a 4. Not only do Kidz in the Hall not have a Kanye connection, they come from the opposite end of the college spectrum. They’re not college dropouts, there Ivy League graduates. WOW. The music is definitely dope, and it promotes positivity, you can’t hate on that.



     With Common, Kanye, Rhymefest, Lupe, and Kidz in the Hall, Chicago is bringing the best music to the rap game right now. They’re not involved in the “Hip Hop is Dead” argument, they’re not involved in the “The South Killed Hip Hop” argument, they just bring good music, and you can’t hate on that. Twista is ok, I’m not big on him, and I’m sure they’re other underground kat’s I didn’t mention, but I only speak on what I know, and I KNOW these dudes are dope. They may not sell millions of albums, but if skills sold truth be told, they’d probably, sell more albums than 5 Jay-zs. Well, probably not, but they’d move units.



 



P.S. Can the dude who works for L’Oreal or whatever it is stop emailing me? Seriously, it’s bad enough you’re an idiot; you emailing me from you work email could get you fired if I make that call, so stop it.



Go pick up Kidz in the Hall “School Is My Hustle” I’ve shouted these dudes out all over MySpace, I’m gonna continue to promote dope music.


The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the writer and not necessarily those of HipHopDX.com or Cheri Media Group.

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