• » Name: Meka Soul
• » Location: Los Angeles, CA
• » Member Since: 04/09/07
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Slap-Boxing With Jesus

Rap Groups, An Endangered Species

For all this jibba jabba of this blogger being nothing more than a nihilistic, biased “hater,” mentions of what I actually do enjoy have come and gone without much notice, save for my affinity with sneakers, video games, illegally obtained music and – like every red-blooded, heterosexual male – ass and titties.

Talk about being an eligible bachelor. Ladies, if you’re interested, you know how to find me.

In any case, one of the few things I like more than talking shit about your favorite quasi-homosexual rapper is the kinetic rhyming oomph of a really great rap group. While most humps like to slob on the knob of some random-ass overrated rapper, I prefer the stylings of a two- (or more) man army. Pause?

Whereas a solo artist usually relies on some wild presence on the mic, I like how the members of a group draw energy from each other, bouncing beats, rhymes and life like a tennis match. That shit is something you’ll never catch when one rapper is surrounded by a cornucopia of bag handlers, each of them screaming over each other as if doing so would promote them to some sort of higher holding position. I know I’m not the only one who’s been to a concert and wanted to throw those shitbag motherfuckers off the stage, Prince Be-style.

I give shout outs to artists like Heltah Skeltah, Raekwon and Ghostface, Camp Lo, my Long Beach brethren Brillyance’s favorite group, Clipse (kidding, of course) and countless others who, despite the obvious benefits of going solo, have continued to work together for so long. It’s that form of brotherhood that agitates me more whenever I see some no-talent blather like he’s just received a Fisher-Price My First Rhymebook set in the mail the other day. I could give three shits about someone who rocks glasses straight out of the Geordi La Forge collection.

For all the talk about crews falling apart at the seams, I commend those that have managed to keep bringing that same fire for years. What sucks is when groups actually split up, only to rarely see that same level of success when its members go for dolo. If anything, I wouldn’t feel any remorse if this ass-backward trend of shitty solo rappers became a thing of the past. As long as there are more Soul Positions and Tanya Morgans and less Boosies and Webbies, perhaps this hip-hop shit will be all right after all.

***

As a bonus, I’ve included one of my favorite group/duo songs of all time. If this shit happens to get played at a titty bar I’m at, I may be compelled to empty out the most-of-the-time slim contents of my checking account, make it drizzle, then proceed to slap fire out of a stripper to get my rent money back. I doubt it, but whatever.

Camp Lo - Luchini AKA This Is It

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