Stray Shots: Dr. Dre’s Domination & Joell Ortiz’s Comfy Renaissance

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. 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 myself, Omar Burgess and Andre Grant. Collectively we serve as HipHopDX’s Features 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.”

Dr. Dre’s Dominates the Forbes “Cash Kings” List 

Andre: If you’ve been paying attention to the Forbes Cash King list, then you know it was a blowout this year. Off of the Beats By Dre acquisition by Apple, Dr. Dre came home with an astonishing gross amount of $620 million “Not only is that the highest annual total of any entertainer ever evaluated by FORBES, it’s more than the combined earnings of all 24 of his companions on the 2014 Hip-Hop Cash Kings list,” said Forbes. Not bad for a man in the headphones business. Think about that sentence, though, “it’s more than the combined earnings of all 24 of his companions on the 2014 Hip-Hop Cash Kings list.” Combined. That’s mega millionaires and some of the hardest working people in the game like Jay Z, Puffy and the man who’s tripled his worth in the past few years Drake not keeping up. Why? Everything in any business is selling. Period. There’s the art form and the culture, but none of that makes money in a vacuum so it’s no surprise that a windfall of that size can only come via a direct sale of a company, organization or infrastructure. 

And now the grand commerce of the world moves through Hip Hop in an order of magnitude or three away from mere endorsement deals or liquor contracts. Dr. Dre has set a bar for the merging of Hip Hop in a meaningful way with tech, and if I was an established star, I would be looking for other ways to merge my career in with innovative technology of some kind. And I’m not just talking hardware. The real money is in software. Facebook bought Instagram in 2012 for a cool 1 billion, then turned around and bought Whatsapp for an astronomical 19 billion. Plus, now that Apple has devoured Beats we assume two things will standout in the near-future: the acquisition of Beats guerilla marketing strategy, and the shifting of Beats music into some Apple run music service. So, what’s important in 2014 is communications, because whether by song or by IM the real money is in that lane, and Hip Hop would be wise to jump on the gravy train.

Omar: For those of us monitoring how Internet works, it’s become clear everyone (HipHopDX included) loves a good list. That’s not just a web thing; it’s a society thing. Whether you’re talking about cowry shells or monetary denominations, there are certain situations where we humans want to compete and see who has amassed the most. That’s where the annual Forbes “Cash Kings” list comes in. Blame the opulence of the late ‘90s and early aughts. Blame the likes of Jay Z, Sean Combs and 50 Cent for emphasizing wealth and sales over skills. Regardless of whom you’d like to blame, we’re here now. And current discussions about the best or even most popular Hip Hop are cleaved right down the middle between the albums and artists we like versus those who have the most wealth and highest sales. If we’re lucky there’s an occasional overlap.

But as a fan, what I’m seeing is that the act of rapping or producing is merely an entry point to become an arbiter of culture. Dr. Dre—far and away 2014’s Hip Hop Cash King thanks to Apple’s acquisition of Beats Electronics—ascended on the strength of his production prowess, but he’s wealthy because he sells high-end headphones. And even during years when Dre isn’t releasing music, the royalties from artists under the Aftermath/Shady umbrella (like Eminem and pre-2014 50 Cent) keep rolling in. The same can be said of Pharrell and Sean Combs. What’s interesting to me is what to expect from the people who are still rapping. If you’re Nicki Minaj (ranked eleventh by Forbes) or Kendrick Lamar (fifteenth on the list), how long before you wait to transition out of “just being a rapper.” In its current condition, the major label recording system provides inconsistent and diminishing profits for elite rapping ability. Minaj has already landed movie (The Other Woman) and television (Saturday Night Live) roles while expanding her pink empire. Meanwhile, if I’m J. Cole or Kendrick, some of my best rapping material has been given away for free. No disrespect to Forbes, but I’ve used this space before to express my disdain for letting outside corporate contributors dictate what we as Hip Hop fans should value. I wonder if a skilled emcee at the tail end of this list would feel the same way watching peers perceived to be lyrically inferior continue to grow their net worth?

Does Joell Ortiz’s House Slippers Hint at a Mature Hip Hop Renaissance?

Omar: I’ve been aware of the negative stigma of being an “old rapper” since at least 1996, when Tupac admonished, “All you old rappers trying to advance / It’s all over now, take it like a man / Niggas lookin’ like Larry Holmes flabby and sick / Tryin’ to player hate on my shit, eat a fat dick…” ‘Pac took shots at De La Soul, whose oldest member was only two years older than him. That illogical math aside, there has historically been an issue of how to skillfully age, evolve and remain entertaining within a youth-driven culture. For whatever reason, rappers have been linking that growth and evolution with their wardrobe. At the age of 33, Jay Z attempted to “get his grown man” on in 2002 via the button-down, collared shirt with “Change Clothes.” Some 12 years later, we find fellow Brooklynite Joell Ortiz linking his metaphorical comfort zone with house slippers.

In all honesty, there was some interesting internal debate leading up to Ortiz’s House Slippers appearing on HipHopDX with a 3.5 rating. After years of successfully trying to outrap his peers while being confined to one style of Hip Hop, Ortiz wanted to grow. But alienating a fan base by doing an about face is tricky business, and Joell still needed to appease the throng of fans he’d won over with intricate, metaphor-heavy rhymes over sample-based beats. So listeners ended up with a mixed bag of extremely personal songs and Joell attempting to make music that struck the balance between reflecting his aspirations without compromising his artistry. To answer the question though, the album doesn’t hint at a mature renaissance. Mostly by their mere existence, emcees who rose to prominence in the ‘90s are leading that mature renaissance. They haven’t acquiesced to the notion that the age of 35 is the cut off point for being a rapper. And by virtue of being in their 30s, the only sensible thing is to rap from the perspective of a grown-ass man. If done properly, this pushes the culture forward and provides more options for listeners of all ages. There’s something disturbing about men in their mid-to-late 30s trying to appeal to and mimic people half their age, but I digress. As it relates to Joell Ortiz, he’s been grinding long enough to earn the luxury of experimenting with a sound more reflective of where he is in life. House Slippers wasn’t perfect by any means, but it was a welcome step forward for someone that will hopefully keep rapping into and past the age of 40.

Andre: I know we gave it a 3.5, but House Slippers is probably the most I’ve related to an NYC album in 2014. It’s not the idea that Ortiz is an old man now (though, I will say he’s been grinding his whole life), but he’s an old man now. And his norm-core album cover (he of the shiny rayon button up and office worker pants) was a brilliant little jab at the cheeky, cracked teapot world of Rap fans expectations. We know Rap is old, and we know rappers get older, but we don’t care what you’ve done yesterday. All we care about is what you’ve done today. And it sucks. It denies artists the ability to grow and change into a new audience. We’re obsessed with youth over here, but age ain’t so bad itself. As Jay said about James Dean, we can’t all die leaving a “good looking corpse.” 

Plus, 2014 has been a renaissance for the older mans album. If you check out our own list of the best ranked albums this year, we’ve given 4.5s to Dilated People’s Directors of Photography, Common’s Nobody’s Smiling, and Damian Nkosi’s Thoughtful King, and both Pharoahe Monch and Blueprint got 4s as well. We’ve come a long way from Chuck D thinking he was “too old” to rap before the creation of Public Enemy and it’s a great thing, too. You know what comes after youth? Money. Just ask the Doctor mentioned above. Not to mention  less chance of two of our superstars being gunned down over a supposed beef, and more chance that we’ll have ambassadors to speak on issues related to the culture like Ferguson or otherwise.

Omar Burgess is a Long Beach, California native who has contributed to various magazines, newspapers and has been an editor at HipHopDX since 2008. Follow him on Twitter@omarburgess.

Andre Grant is an NYC native turned L.A. transplant who’s contributed to a few different properties on the web and is now the Senior Features Writer for HipHopDX. He’s also trying to live it to the limit and love it a lot. Follow him on Twitter@drejones.

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