Dear Jean,
You don’t know me. I interviewed you a few times, and once waited for you for three hours in the blistering cold, but you just didn’t show…
Okay, this is not my version of “Stan” (though here come the haters). The second part is true, but Talib‘s folks misinformed me that you were gonna be there for an interview, and you weren’t. No harm, no foul. However, while I’m not going to drive off of a bridge like homeboy in Em‘s song with this announcement of your retirement, I must say, that if you’re losing your faith in Hip Hop, then so am I.
You see, Miss Grae, I’m with you. You aren’t appreciated enough by Rock The Bells, by Warner Brothers, or by whomever else it is giving you the cold shoulder, but we – your fans, we’ve got you. We want you to succeed, and if Radiohead can do it without the labels, or Saigon can change his mind about quitting and take his masters with him to boot, then so can you.
One of the best things about you, Jean, is you’ve never quit. None of these labels have seemed to understand you, and it would be a grave mistake to conform to the ways of the game now.
You have never flooded us with would-be records just to stay relevant. Instead, you have given us glimpses at your greatness and asked us to wait along with you. I’ll revert back, as I’ve told you previously, to the song “You’ve Told Me.” I had missed that feeling from pre-Internet Hip Hop. I miss hearing “Ether” played three times in a row, while driving my mother’s car, and having to pull over just to process it. I wanted to remember it. I miss making pause tapes of O.C. records over the phone while publicists played me chunks of records that never came out. I miss visiting family in northern New Jersey and having my Aiwa Walkman on me at all times to see what Funkmaster Flex would play next, and go back to my city in the Midwest and brag about what I’d heard. You do that today, and you can’t deny our patience.
I am not trying to lump you into that “emo rapper” category either, but I need you. 2Pac and Joe Budden work, but your songs go where theirs never have. As I play this outstanding Jeanius album you’re finally releasing next month, “Don’t Rush Me” is my medicine. “I’m on the right path to who I’m gonna be at last.” What a beautiful line. You don’t back sharing your personality with gun-talk, though you said you’ll stab somebody in the background. You give us everything you’ve got, and a lot of the honesty and a vulnerability that men are afraid to. I’m not trying to tokenize you either, because this isn’t even about gender. This is about rap, and your reality raps have got me through plenty of days, weeks and issues – which is something that great artistry is about. “P.S.,” “Twice Around,” “Love Song” are not just songs, that’s truly art. I played the advance of Jeanius with me all weekend on a road trip, and this album was worth the three year wait. I heard it then, got it now, and I still plan on supporting next month – if for nothing else than the cover art concepts that reinvigorated this project, the type of thing that nobody’s thinking about – or bothering to do anymore. In a digital age, you’re keeping it real.
Speaking of art, let us not forget about the nature of great art. We all know Ras Kass‘ views on this Van Gogh Theory. I’ll use a more contemporary example in Nina Simone. Yeah, I’d heard “Sinnerman” a few times as a kid growing up, watching a few films and listening to a few samples. However, it was through Talib Kweli‘s “For Women” that I properly discovered “Four Women” and went a step beyond. With your amazing mother being a true musical luminary, I truly hope that you realize that whether or not you leave us now, the appreciation you’re getting right now dwarfs in comparison to your inevitable legacy. Your words are timeless, and your emotion is tangible to us all. Whether this generation embraces your art or not, I assure that amidst this popcorn culture of music, your art will endure, so please don’t stop making it.
Along with Talib, Mos Def, RJD2 and Little Brother, you also have achieved so much as a one-time “underground Hip Hop” artist. I remember seeing you in The Black Book at a time when you were still with one limited edition album out. Around the same time, you were in Maxim, and becoming the president of the last class of that independent glory that is still cultivating tomorrow’s Hip Hop. Don’t give up. You’ve achieved this much not because of any of your publicists, but because you’re a genuine artist, with charisma and unpredictability. It comes across in your interview answers, your album interludes and your own writing. The greats of rap, living and dead, had this trait, when we live in era of publicity mongers with no mastering of no ceremony.
I’ve been writing about Hip Hop almost as long as you’ve been rhyming (and producing on the low) in it. I’ve seen a plethora of artists come, and I’ve only paused to recognize when I few of them are going. So much possibility about where this thing of ours is headed will be compromised without your critical voice in the mix. Moreover, you’ve provided guidance to a legion of fans who needed it, and speaking merely for myself, I don’t trust enough of the voices filling the void. So don’t leave one.
Keep Livin’ (And Recordin’),
Jake Paine
Senior Editor, HipHopDX.com
Photos by Mina Jasarevic.