Once upon a time in a universe far, far away, HipHopDX used to host blogs. Through Meka, Brillyance, Aliya Ewing and others, readers got unfiltered opinions on the most current topics in and beyond Hip Hop. After a few years, a couple redesigns and the collective vision of three different Editors-In-Chief, blogs are back. Well, sort of. Since our blog section went the way of two-way pagers and physical mixtapes, Twitter, Instagram and Ustream have further accelerated the pace of current events in Hip Hop. Rappers beef with each other 140 characters at a time, entire mixtapes (and their associated artwork) can be released via Instagram, and sometimes these events require a rapid reaction.
As such, we’re reserving this space for a weekly reaction to Hip Hop’s current events. Or whatever else we deem worthy. And the “we,” in question is the entire DX Staff. Aside from tackling stray topics, we may invite artists and other personalities in Hip Hop to join the conversation. Without further delay, here’s this week’s “Stray Shots.”
Winners & Losers Of The 1st Quarter
Justin [Editor-In-Chief]: We’ve passed three months within the year. A lot of albums have come out from Kanye to Flatbush Zombies that were well received. Even some bad albums came out this year. When you think about the first quarter of 2016, who was the winner whether it was a person, label, trend. Let’s name the different winners and losers. Let’s start with Ural. Big winner so far for 2016.
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Ural [Senior Features Writer]: Big winner on a major label front. I think I’d say, Kendrick Lamar. His Untitled Unmastered project.
Trent [Managing Editor]: Low risk, big pay off.
Ural: Exactly. The fact that his leftovers are killing most people’s albums is telling at this point. Especially considering how epic 2015 was in terms of releases. Kendrick was the lead conversation for that as well. After Kanye’s album, the other anticipated albums this year probably belong to Drake and possibly A$AP Ferg after the album tracklist dropped this week. K. Dot is winning by keeping the conversation going around his music.
Justin: Not to mention his Grammy success.
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Ural: Even the performance. That’s probably the most talked about Grammy performance of this decade.
Justin: Victoria?
Victoria [Senior News Writer]: I think Anderson .Paak did great with Malibu. He definitely kicked off the year and later signed to Aftermath which hopefully becomes a good thing for him. I think BJ’s album did really well. It’s not being talked about I guess but it was a good project.
Justin: Great project.
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Trent: That’s a future Grammy nomination.
Victoria: Shout out to The Dream Junkies too. Considering Kendrick and Collegrove, they picked an interesting time to drop an album. They still charted on iTunes.
Soren [News Editor]: Mine might be a little unconventional, but N.W.A getting inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. These guys, in my opinion, are the most important and influential rap group of all time. They’ are The Beatles of rap in my opinion. They had the most important mind in the business through Eazy-E, the best artist in the history of rap through Ice Cube and the best producer of all time in Dr. Dre. They only released three studio projects and their influence and legacy alongside the monumental success of Straight Outta Compton. We see the impact all day, every day in rap. They’ve been winning since 1987. They only had one album with Cube, an EP after he left and another album. That’s astounding.
Trent: My big winner is Desiigner. The report just came out that he charted higher than any Future song that’s ever dropped. He’s openly throwing Future all types of Atlanta shade from New York. Just look at this fuckin’ mixtape announcement. He’s still able to walk around this space and gain new followers. He still able to be brought out on big stages by the rest of his G.O.O.D. Music camp. He’s on one of DX’s top rated albums of the year with Kanye. This is a candidate for Rookie of The Year with minimal impact. He’s flying super high off of one song. I know we’ve seen this before, but the only person that can shoot him down is himself. Shout out to Desiigner for giving us a dope interview at SXSW. I’m anticipating his next move.
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Justin: I have a few new artists that I’d like to say are winning. Miles Chancellor from Philly who is around 19 or 20-years-old released one mixtape a couple of years ago, refreshed his team and started to work with a new team out of Philly. He went down to SXSW, his EP No Man’s Island jumped 500 percent in views after his trip. He made an impact there. Miles has a sound that’s unique to him and represents the sound that’s pervasive in Hip Hop, but also the city where he’s from.
The other is The Boy Illinois. He just got off tour with Lupe Fiasco nationwide. Now, he’s opening up for Jay Electronica from that tour. He had a super solid SXSW as well. He released one of my favorite songs this year called “Back Again.” He shot the video in D.C. with a rapper called Alpha who I hadn’t heard of who is also dope. He also shot the video in front of Ben’s Chili Bowl, which is one of my favorite spots to eat when I’m in D.C.
It’s also good to see Fat Joe and Remy Ma back together. Remy did Hot 97 Summer Jam. She’s been on Love & Hip Hop New York with Papoose. In my opinion Remy and Papoose have done an incredible job in redefining what it looks like to be a couple on a reality show but also reinforcing black love on television. Plus, “All the Way Up” is my second favorite song this year. I get hyped every time that comes on. It’s a New York sound that sounds trappy and they got French Montana on the hook as well. Those three have stood up to me.
Big losers for this year. Ural, who do you think?
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Ural: A part of me wants to say Kanye. I think the idea for the roll out of The Life of Pablo was genius in terms of using Tidal and the updates. However, I will say that the project itself might be considered his first “alright” album considering the whole media storm around him. The Twitter rants and the grandiose Madison Square Garden Yeezy release. The album didn’t deliver for me. Like Lecrae mentioned, he cashed a check his character couldn’t cash. Kanye didn’t control the music conversation this year. That’s a big disappointment for me considering everything that’s happened.
Justin: Really? What makes you think that Kanye didn’t control the music conversation? He was everywhere. His Metacritic scores don’t agree whether it’s ball-tickling or not. I really hear people mainly talking about that album and it did 250 million streams on Tidal. His whole plan was to make it in front of people live.
Ural: Honestly, that’s because of who Kanye is and not necessarily the music on its own merit. Considering everything this year, it’s Kanye releasing music instead of Kanye releasing something that’s really musically mind blowing. It wasn’t anything exciting.
Justin: It’s “gospel,” though.
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Soren:: He and Lecrae should do a song together.
Ural: It’s like Kanye isn’t as exciting with the music like I’ve known him to be over the years. Even if you look at his last album Yeezus the roll-out and music was exciting. It’s was more interesting on both ends. Even the whole thing about Desiigner. Yes, Desiigner is cool and yes, he has a bigger hit than Future. However, the reality is Desiigner getting Future show money or at least a string of critically loved albums at this point? Kanye use to be the guy at the forefront of the music conversation outside of everything else. It doesn’t feel that way anymore.
Victoria: I’d probably say Future because he had such a monster 2015. The hype for Evol was really big. He had DJ Khaled hyping it up and people were hyped for Purple Reign. Now, no one is talking about him anymore like that. Evol wasn’t Dirty Sprite 2. Nobody is talking about him anymore.
Justin:Unless it’s a meme. Like “This is what Future looks like when Desiigner comes on in the club.”
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Soren: I thought Future as well for similar reasons. I also think Evol had some moments. It’s hard to say because Future is one of the premier artists in terms of popularity and exposure. But, I also think he should have been proactive against Desiigner. I think that. When someone comes out and appropriates your style and does it in a way that people react to it in the way of “Panda,” you have to come back hard. I’m surprise given his lineage with Dungeon Family and everything, he didn’t do that.
Trent: That would have been dope.
Soren: That’s why I view him as a disappointment this year because, he’s been around the game long enough to know that if someone is doing that and stealing your thunder, it doesn’t matter. They’re getting the attention and you’re not. Even if they’re getting off from replicating and copying you. I think he should have done or said something. That hurt him. I do believe the material he’s releasing this year doesn’t stand next to what he’s released last year. More significantly, it’s the David and Goliath thing. He just should have come out swinging and crushed him from the start. That’s hurt him.
Justin: And not to mention, his ex-fiance is now engaged to a Super Bowl winning quarterback. And taking pictures in empty NFL stadiums with his son.
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Soren: I wasn’t going to go there.
Trent: My loser has to be Macklemore. He took a respected hiatus after ruling the rap space. People can scream good kid m.A.A.d city all they want, but 2012 and 2013, he collected them checks from his album. To make an album like This Unruly Mess I’ve Made took himself out of the mainstream pop conversation intentionally. I reviewed the album and liked it for the most part. I understand where he was going for the most part. Nelly was once quoted between Country Grammar and Nellyville cycle “who cares if someone is calling me a pop artist or pop star, that means I make popular music.” Why not be the life of the party rather than the life of the cypher? Macklemore is a real Hip Hop dude. He understands the culture more than the bulk of the average or casual fans that only identify with him because he’s white. At the same time, he made it, embrace it. He was on the Super Bowl and American Music Awards. He dominated that. Eminem would shun it too, but blaze it with music. Macklemore made an album that just totally alienated everyone. He made an album that alienated his happy-go-lucky fans who liked him because of all the hooks he didn’t perform on The Heist and alienated the fans that didn’t like him because they called him a culture vulture on songs like “White Privilege II.” Now, you’re on an island by yourself without fans. I’m surprised that Ryan Lewis rocked with it.
Ural: He was stuck between a rock and a hard place. More than Eminem and Nelly, the conversation was deeper than just the music itself.
Justin: It’s like he sold himself out in reverse.
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Ural: In his defense, he didn’t ask for what happened with Good Kid m.A.A.d City nor the backlash. And, I will say that as a rap album, I loved it better than The Heist.
Trent: Not to go off point, but I am going to slander him because he’s my loser. Look at The Heist and all the singles that came from it. Macklemore ain’t perform none of those hooks and those were the best part of his songs. Not the verses. He’s a so-so, wishy-washy rapper at best. The hooks and beats were hot. This was his time to really show himself and he dug himself in a corner. He put himself in the background and the biggest story around him was relapsing from hotboxing in a car.
Ural: I think the best thing he could have done was laid low even longer. Maybe another year or two.
Justin: I don’t think we can come up with solutions, but he needed more balls. Big loser for me, Kanye West as a rapper. One of the things I loved about him when he came in on College Dropout during “Last Call” is when he shouts out Talib Kweli for taking him on tour which helped him most in his evolution as a rapper. Throughout the course of his career, I think he’s blossomed into an artist we haven’t seen before on a large scale in our era. We haven’t seen anyone go from production to music, to the top of music, to fashion. I mean, getting respect in fashion.
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I was talking to this 22-year-old the other day. She was like, “Kanye West? You mean the guy that makes the sneakers?” I was like,”The guy who makes the sneakers? You have at least 12 years of incredible albums and you know Kanye West as the guy who makes shoes?” For that to exist is an incredible accomplishment. She wasn’t being cynical or anything. She was being 22-years-old and barely allowed in the bar. But, I remember watching him during the Yeezus promo run that happened after the album dropped because North was born during that process. He was on Big Boy talking about that album. Big Boy asked him to freestyle and it was the most disrespectful thing I’ve ever seen from an incredible artist showing the art of emcee. In the same promo run, he said the last thing he wanted to do was sit in a room and make a beat. This was when he was really fighting for fashion. During that one freestyle clip, it was almost as if he hadn’t heard of rap before. It was awful. Regardless of how you feel about Yeezus, it’s whatever. When I listen to The Life of Pabloand I listen to the bars, they’re non-existent.
Ural: Chance had the best verse on the album.
Victoria: I know right?
Justin: He has a line on there where he says, “Me and Ray J loved the same bitch, yeah he might have hit it first, only problem is, I’m rich.”
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Trent: It fades like an echo.
Justin: I’m like Ray J is rich too. He’s been on television since I had homework. He’s rich. They only got the opportunity to bone the same chick because they’re both rich. It was a weak line that he threw out there because he was proud of it. I guess the guy in the Big Boy freestyle would have been ecstatic about that line. When you listen to the end of “30 Hours” and it’s trailing off. He has an awesome line about Matt Barnes. He can’t seem to get it off or figure out the flow. It’s frustrating because you know there’s genius in there. There’s the song “Highlight” where he wishes his dick had a Go-Pro. This is some of the most narrow perspective that I’ve ever gotten from Kanye West. Right after the most incredible verse from Chance that you mentioned earlier and the gospel awesomeness that “Ultra Light Beam” is, we hear about the perils of fucking a model with a bleached asshole. This guy has dropped all the Source mics he accumulated overtime. He is like Sonic The Hedgehog running and hitting a spike. He can’t get all those rings back.
Ural: Even the Taylor Swift line from “Famous” felt unnecessary. It had to burn for her to win her second Album of The Year nomination for The Grammys and respond with such grace.
Trent: I would say that, but the same thing applies for everyone’s favorite of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. The ratings stand up, but Kanye’s bars have been slipping since Graduation. I do like Pablo, but his bars on The Life of Pablo do suck. He pulled off that Ray J line because he sounded fly. It’s trash and false. You’re only rich? I thought you would be wealthy by now.
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Ural: I thought that being rich was a prerequisite to talking to Kim K anyway.
Victoria: And being black.
Ural: Considering the $52 million dollar debt situation, Ray J is still cashing from Bad Girls Club and all of those VH1 Reality Shows
Soren: How about he’s still cashing from The Kim K porno.
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Is Mainstream Ready For Lecrae….or the other way around?
Trent Clark: So Lecrae doesn’t want to be boxed in as a Christian Rapper or positive rapper? That’s what you got from him, Victoria?
Victoria Hernandez: Yeah. He just wants to be known as a rapper. He can spit bars and knows what good production is. I think that he wants to be concerned in the same vein as anybody else who does the same. He doesn’t want to be separated just because of his content.
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Trent:The content is what gave him a voice in the first place right? Anyone can rap, but it takes someone special to create their own mountain or record label. He’s got a little higher because of his content.
Ural Garrett: We’re also looking at perception of Christianity in a post-Bush evangelical America. They’re called the “New Christian.” I think Lecrae represents that in the best way possible. At the show last Sunday, you had adults there with tattoos and enjoying the clean versions of popular secular songs like “Hotline Bling” and “Look At My Dab.” We know what their lifestyle actually represents. That what Lecrae is good at representing. With these “New Christians,” there’s no moral superiority there at all. Without the feeling of that moral superiority, you can really go far as long as you’re yourself.
Soren: Building off of that, it’s important to realize that Lecrae is really talented. If he was wack, it wouldn’t matter. Because he’s very skilled, talented can make songs and does all the things that makes one a good artist, that’s the ultimate thing that matters.
Ural: This idea isn’t really new. We could technically say that early MC Hammer was a Christian rapper before the pop and Death Row stuff. Or even Kirk Franklin.
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Trent:All the rappers have the God song.
Soren:DMX had prayers on his albums.
Ural: The point I’m making about Hammer is that he never cursed in his rhymes, it was family friendly, again before Death Row and the Christian feel was there. This is how he got a broader audience. The difference between Hammer or Kirk Franklin and Lecrae is that, but he takes a time to deal with social issues which is something that most Christian artist in general stray away from.
Trent: Let’s look at some figures right quick. How many people know Lecrae outside of his general Christian rap fanbase? Does he appear in the Kendrick and J Cole conversations? I know that’s what he’s reaching for, pun intended.
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Ural: I would say that most of the church going people I know are familiar enough with him.
Victoria: I think people are really learning about him. When Church Clothes 3 came out, Royce Da 5’9 and S1 gave him a shout out on Twitter among others. He’s starting to become noticeable in that conversation. He may not be compared to Kendrick, but he’s friends with him.
Trent: I’m talking about the casual fan.
Ural: Even with that question. You have to ask yourself how his music is getting out there. Clearly, he’s not getting radio play outside of Christian radio or when whatever station turns Gospel on Sundays. However, he did manage to open up for Kevin Hart after Trey Songz at last year’s Essence Music Festival.
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Trent: How did the audience take that? He’s a Grammy Award winner and all, but how did the audience react to him.
Ural:It was a weird moment from what I remember and he definitely had fans. But, the fact that he made it there is telling.
Soren: And the fact that he made it to Essence Fest. That’s a huge non-directly religious look.
Ural: If he’s going to take it to mainstream, all he needs is a viral hit or popular enough single to place him within that conversation. If he gets that, then he might be onto something. All he’s missing is a large enough radio single. He has everything else.
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Trent: Especially when he’s winning Grammys in his space. Apologize for the random ass analogy. If I’m the best Orkin Man in town, I’m not going to flip the script and try to be a concert promoter. It’s two different lanes. The Hip Hop that’s driving Snapchat and all streaming platforms is already a crowded market full of one-hit-wonders, then why abandon that safe haven.
Justin: That’s the same problem I have with No Malice. Here’s what No Malice told us when we asked is Christian Rap or Gospel Rap is a bad word cause that’s how I feel.
Soren: There’s a stigma.
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Justin: It’s interesting that people who are so close to their faith are stiff-arming it for whatever reason. Here’s what he said: “What I’ve experienced because I’ve messed with Christian Rappers, I mess with Christian rappers and one of them is named Bizzle. I really love the way he does things, I respect the genre. I don’t believe that’s what I am. Remember where you were when you were called and I need to talk to that same platform. God didn’t turn his back on me and say naw, I’m not dealing with you. He came and got me, showed me the truth. So I have to reach back and extend my hand to my brother. What I’ve seen from Christian rap from my observation is that they rap about the truth and those who understand what they’re saying. I think it’s meaningful and purposeful, but this is not what I do, though.” From his perspective, rapping and marketing his music toward the Christian community is difficult for getting outside of that.
Ural: I remember growing up in the church and them somewhat embracing rap, but it felt mad amateurish compared to the secular music that was already out at the time. Artists like Gospel Gangstas.
Trent: I remember T-Bone who used to rap fast.
Soren: Grits were really good.
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Ural: I think it’s about perception and where it’s at today. I don’t think most people today who are into Christian rap hang around Christians all day and only listen to things only about their faith. It’s more open to the possibility that you may see a Lecrae and Kendrick collaboration in the future without much issue.
Justin: We know that 77 percent of Americans identify themselves as Christians. Identify with being Christian. That’s a big market on its own. You listen to Malice now or when he was with The Clipse, contextually in his verses, it’s not that big of a difference. It’s basically the same thing. He left The Clipse because he didn’t want to promote the message, but his verses aren’t really that different. I don’t think we’re going to see a difference in the music Lecrae is making. I think we’ll see him collaborate with different people and try to make his music available to people outside of being staunch Christians or super-active Christians. I think it’s a bigger risk separating himself from his base. He’s opening himself to a portion of his base to question that. I don’t think he’s going to be able to stand out any more from the rest of Hip Hop. Today, I saw a video we posted this week on the site with female Christian rappers goin’ ham in this video. They spit the hardest bars I’ve heard all week. This is one of the tracks I wanted to play during the music meeting if we didn’t have all of those guests. I think it’s risky business because I’ve never seen this work with Christian rap. Every time someone tries to get too far from their base or separate themselves from what made them famous.
Trent: Do you have a belief he’s talented enough to occupy the same space that gets someone on the BET Awards and whatnot?
Victoria: I don’t think he as an artist is going to change himself. I think he’s just trying to be himself. There’s a lot of negative stereotypes about Christian rappers and being self-righteous and being just about the church. I think Lecrae and Reach Records’ vision is bigger than that. They’re trying to make good music.
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Trent: I think what hurts Christian Hip Hop is the lack of edge. I’m the one that posted that song. It was definitely hard and tough. All the bars were great. Kudos to all of them. However, compare them to a normal cypher like a TDE cypher where you can drop muthafuckas and cut people’s heads off or do Freddie Krueger metaphors, it’s a lopsided tally when it comes to the bit and way you can cut deep.
Justin: Even if you listen to Lupe’s Food & Liquor, he didn’t curse that much.
Ural: Looking at Lecrae’s space, he gets flack for even working with Don Cannon or associating himself with more secular rappers. That’s edgy in its context.
Trent: It’s only edgy because the people who criticise him are just going to shun him.
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Soren: It ultimately comes down to the music and building on Trent’s point, it’s more about the feel of the music. That determines what Lecrae is able to achieve with the next phase of his career because going back to some of the older classic rap, Rakim almost never cursed and he’s regarded by many as the best rapper ever. LL Cool J had plenty of albums where he never used profanity. Justin just used Lupe as another great example. There are a lot of artists that don’t use a lot of profanity who either in their time or all time are concerned, great artist.
Trent: I get that, but at the same time, I wouldn’t put Lecrae in that category.
Soren: It is possible.
Trent: I’d put him in a category with someone like Murs who didn’t use profanity for a time as opposed to LL Cool J.
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Justin: Lecrae is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi which is the name of my fraternity. I want to say this because your piece on Lecrae was really great. This is something in the story that he said that stood out to me: “I feel like in terms of my music, I want people to wrestle with the complexity of it and the beauty of the complexity and not kind-of write it off like I get it, it’s Christian, indie or whatever. I want you to like it because it’s its own thing. I want you to sit with it, wrestle with it and it’s own unique package. So when they send out Grammys for that type of stuff, I think that’s why people want to win album of the year, because it transcends all the little pockets. It’s just good. Let’s keep it real, he’s never going to win a Grammy for Album Of The Year. That’s just not going to happen. He’s going to have to do a lot of changing. He’s going to have to stop rapping for example. There’s only been two rap albums of the year ever and both of them had a whole lot of singing.
Ural: One technically isn’t even categorized by The Grammys as a rap album.
Justin: Two, if you’re looking at The Grammys as a barometer, they’re very specific in how they categorize music in one space or another. I don’t see him being able to win a rap Grammy, to be honest. I just don’t see it happening. People want to win it because it’s the biggest award. It’s just really interesting to me and I’m sure I’m taking the wrong thing from what Lecrae and Reach are trying to do in terms of branding or expansion of their brand. For me, they’re stiff-arming what got them there.
Victoria: I don’t think they are, I think they’re trying to be themselves. I think there’s a broader picture than just Lecrae and Reach. You have the Dream Junkies and even John Givez who used the “N” word in his album last year and the Christian community was really on edge. There are a bunch of newer guys coming up who aren’t afraid to push those boundaries who aren’t as established as Lecrae that I think that could have an impact. Lecrae’s first album came out in 2004, so he’s established and making this reach now, but people already see him as a Christian rapper. This is about telling your story without the stigmas or labeling.
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Trent: You listen to a Lecrae project and it’s not 100 percent Jesus this or be saved that. He’s making albums like a Lupe, but not at the same quality thread. I don’t see exactly what they’re going to be doing differently.
