This past May during an interview with TheMostInfluential.com, up-and-coming New Orleans emcee Jay Electronica responded to a comment Wu-Tang Clan head honcho the RZA had made years prior in Rap Pages about the lack of intelligence in the South.
“I took offense with RZA in that [comment about the South],” he said during the interview. “Peace unto RZA. That’s my brother, and RZA had a great effect on me. I wouldn’t be who I am if it wasn’t for RZA and the music he made with Wu-Tang Clan. But also RZA, you said some crazy, wild shit…[A comment like the RZA’s] would be like me coming to New York or another place and saying you’re of a lesser intelligence because you’re not knowledgeable about my circumstance or environment.”
MTV’s Sway recently caught up with the Abbot to discuss Jay Electronica’s controversial remarks. The RZA clarified his previous statement, saying that he was speaking out personal experience with his extended family, who comes from the South.
“I know I said a few things about the South throughout my career in different periods,” RZA told Sway. “I remember I did an article in Rap Pages years ago, ’cause me and Master P had a talk about this years ago. I was speaking on the education level in the South, how brothers drop out in the sixth grade – some of them because they have to go to work, some of them because of the poverty, some because they’re not interested in the education system, how their dialect in speaking and how their vocabulary was limited…just a lot of crazy things that people from up North had evolved from. When I was doing this article, I was talking about my own family at first.
“My family comes from the South. My grandpa, my grandma, they’re frying fat back in the kitchen, Grandpops didn’t have more than a sixth-grade reading level…my grandma was a welfare mom. A lot of my family from that generation was basically lost…but up in New York, my family was able to get knowledge of ourselves, and so you’d see brothers like me, GZA, Dirty and that generation of cousins and youth all reading books and studying and perfecting our mentalities.”
The RZA later added that he was simply pointing out an observation on the geographical disparity with respect to education. At the same time, however, he says that he feels the expansiveness of the Internet and of Hip-Hop culture brings new educational opportunities to all regions of the United States.
“The truth is the truth, first of all: the South has evolved later than us [up North],” he explain. “You can get a book in Harlem off the streets. Books like Stolen Legacy [and] The Isis Paper, you can find this stuff in the streets of Harlem…[or] Brooklyn. Just walking around in Manhattan. In the South, they won’t find that in the bookstores nor the streets; they have to research it. With Internet knowledge, there’s a better chance for education for all. But I’ve felt and I’ve seen…I got cousins out there that still live in the South. They have not picked up on the wavelength of where their mind should be. But hip-hop has helped it all evolve. Hip-hop, to me, is a blessing and a mercy for the black community first, then I’ll say for the urban community, and just for American culture.”
Watch the video below for the whole interview, courtesy of MTV.com.
BRRR!
And before NWA there was Schoolly D from Philly….PSK
nigga shut the fuck up,lil wayne! is from NO and he runs the rap game well he own the rap game…
he sells 3 mill and u sell 30k so shut the fuck up,everybody want weezy on their album but who want rza…
nigga ur carrer is over why hating on da south,lil wayne! being inventing gangsta rap and runing it for like 10 years and u say no talent…
nigga wu are irrealevant nobody wanna hear u moaning like some 40-50 years widows,fuck all ny…
dem NY niggaz being riding lil wayne’s! dick for years,where u being at…wu niggaz r making NY sound more of a bitch they should be ashamed of themselve…
LIL WAYNE! HAS A BIGGER FAN BASE IN NEWYORK THAN U’LL OR U WERE EVER BE…
niggaz lil wayne! running ny from da south he got all ny rappers on his dick they beg him for verses they know they can’t shit without him…
I BET ON MY IPOD THAT IF BIGGIE WERE ALIVE HE WOULD’VE BEEN RIDING LIL WAYNE’S! DICK AND BEGGING FOR VERSES JUST LIKE JAY\EM \\NAS OR ALL OTHER FAKE ASS OLDIES…
LIL WAYNE! IS DA GREATEST OF ALL DA TIME FUCK HATERS
LOL you can’t even spell man, your grammar is terrible. I’m glad that you have found someone like Lil Wayne to satisfy your elementary brain level. How can you talk about Biggie, a man who died, and say he would ride some ones dick, you have no respect. You should stop listening to music, or at least stop talking about it.
Hey dickhead you are proving RZA right with your illiterate Lil’ Wayne Dick sucking.
RZA is talking about education and expanding minds while your bullshit statement is full of typo’s Probably because your keyboard is sticky wit Lil Wayne’s cum.
And that shit you said bout Biggie was outta pocket. Lil’ Wayne cant even battle. Biggie would eat him up then whip his ass. Then again they’d probably be making songs together because as much of a fiend Lil Wayne is he does have a good hip-hop business mind.
However you are a jackass.
Can you type a sentence without cursing? Oh I’m sorry “cussing”. SMH, Tell your girlfriend who is probably typing this to leave you. Lol
Holla
You have got to be from the south. put some shoes on and read a book. SMH to you and your ignorant, no I mean “Ignant” family.
Holla
Harlem Stand up
Lil Waynes’s hype clearly precedes him. Greatest rapper alive?? not even close. you’d also have to include unsigned artists in that debate. you seem to have no shame in riding wayne’s dick. GZA spits more knowledge in one verse than wayne does in one album. other than metaphors and glorified retardation, what does wayne bring to the table? answer: nothing. we have southern rap (some not all) for retardation and pretty much every rapper out there spitting metaphors. But on the bright side he’s one of the richest rappers today (which isn’t saying much).
What the hell is wrong with you kid?! How do you figure LIL WAYNE INVENTED GANGSTER RAP?? Dumbass! Have you even heard of NWA? My God the simplest person can tell you that…..Even people who don’t listen to rap music can tell you that….Old rednecks grandmothers can tell you that. Man kill yourself!!
u sound stupid talkin bout weezy the greatest ever(LMAO)…yall niggas will take anything the industry or the radio shoves down yall throats…..plus he bein getting ghostwritten….he constantly plays himself…first tellin the lady on tv he a gangsta(not),yellin gang names on tv(kids dont need to see dat crap),and sayin them wack ass metaphors like he sayin somethin(da fuck outta hea);i cant spit not one of his verses, unlike one of the greatest mcs that came and went….get a grip,fam….and im from va…..rza was talkin reckless, cause i been readin up on the five percent nation, the holy tabernacles, etc….plus i been had books….aint no slow dudes from down south..i been gotten over the stereotypes….ny cats will tell theres cornballs up there,like anywhere else…im just saying
Rza’s right, hip hop saved life’s from coast to coast and kept niggas out of jail and from dealing with poverty. If you nice, you nice, East Coast, West Coast, Mid West, Dirty South, shit don’t matter. Niggas need to get past that regional bullshit and keep making real shit. Like Rakim said, “It ain’t where you from / it’s where you at”.
He really doesn’t sound so intelligent himself. How would he know about our current education level.
He’s basing his opinion on ppl that were born in the 50’s.
Don’t get it confused. You niccas up north are no different from the rest of the states.
I’m in the military…I know a lot of ppl from all over this country.
So all your going to do is state random facts? I guess you don’t read either. lol
Holla
Handdyy you lil homo troll, get the fuck out my internet with all dat Whoopi Goldberg dickriding,
Read a book and suck on some intellect
“…I think them niggas slow down south”
i dont kno i still dont like the way he’s saying that. there is some truth to what he says though but he’s still sounding kinda like an asshole but oh well cuz i dont feel like going into a detailed explaination
Well I guess you are from the south huh?
“…I think them niggas slow”
Being from New York, I must say that the majority of Black colleges are actually in the South so there is a heavy population of young blacks who migrated to go to college and stayed afterwards therefore creating more of an intelligent middle class. They also get married and create a family whereas in New York, it’s more of a do or die make it or break it town like LA where people come to grind and get paid. That causes a lot of families to break up, people to go for self and the knowledge doesn’t get spread out. The knowledge that Rza refers to is knowledge of self, from the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, that educated many brothers that fell through the cracks, which is very common in big cities such as New York. The fact that cities like Atlanta and Charlotte have become Major business hubs, you will start to see the migration of professional class. Rza can’t compare his grandfather’s generation with his as Im sure he advanced as he wants his kids to.
RZA was only stating whats true. Niggaz in the south are deprived. Definitely, NY you can find books on the street and a lot more newspapers. Niggaz in the south just have to work a lot harder cause the nation is still screwin young ppl out of their education. He ain’t sayin that niggaz ain’t make cause he did say he spoke to Master P who is one of the originators b4 Cash Money and all that. You also got Jermaine Dupri. And you got J Prince and so forth but them niggaz had to go the extra mile. The south was and is always at it’s own pace. Go do yall research Florida has the most ‘F’ schools and some of the highest dropout rates in the country. And the internet has made it easier and niggaz still don’t take advantage.
Im from queens but i live in VA( Ny is mad expensive nowadays va is cheaper) and i could say from my experience i agree with RZA out of the many black people i know, only three i know wants to expand their minds. Niggas in the south only care about stupid shit and claim their “crips or bloods” when there is no crip or blood faction in Va, at least to the extent of my knowledge, Niggas in NY read books, and not children’s books, they read Decartes and Voltaire and they live in the ghetto! I think i made my point
Handddyyyyy suck waynes dick much?
RZA is right in some regards but wrong in others
hiphop really isnt doing much these days to educate the young in the south. lets be honest here. soulja boi aint teach me to do shit but how to pull of some shitty dance moves.
ludacris tried to make a southern conscious album and it was dope. BUT, nobody bought it (theater of the mind). so now he went to these poppy songs that talk a whole lot about nothing. i still respect luda all day.
This is why I gotta cop that new Nappy Roots album droppin on the 15th. I know they will be able to bring back some conscious southern hip hop. And that Big Boi album as well. I mean we have a few other like Mike bigga (killer mike) and jay electronica but because they are trying to send a message that shit gets shit the fuck down.
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First & foremost you up north cats just mad because very little music from your region matters anymore. As much as you hate on Lil Wayne he is the hottest cat in hip-hop right now.I guess Biggie blew us away with his intelligent rapping…Who gives a fuck about Versace or Cream wallies anyway? Everytime the south starts running the rap game ya’ll cats hate….Even if niggas are making up stupid dances down here u copy…Harlem Shake Or chicken noodle soup anyone? lol AS far as Rza’s comments…THEY WERE TOTALLY FUCKED UP.Comparing your grandparents to current southerners…Sounds like incognito hating to me. Just because you watch kung-fu movies & preach 5 percenter teachings doesn’t make you smart.I’m a well educated Black man from COLUMBIA,S.C.!!!!!!! Last time I checked ya’ll got fake-ass gang sets up there too.QUIT HATING ON THE SOUTH!!!!!! SON!!!! GOD!!!
He is not the hottest cat. He kisses men. Come on man!!!
You actually think Wayne can touch G. Rap or Rakim or Big Daddy and these cats are in their 40’s and their wackest shit (Which they really don’t have) will smoke what you think is the hottest bullshit verse from Gayme. Osh kosh begosh rap. Come on man…..
Music is evolving now back to the old school of the boom bap. No one wants to hear that bullshit hip pop anymore.
Look at Roc Marciano’s new album. That’s what NY is supposed to sound like!!!!
It’s rare that I comment but…this has kinda forced my hand. First, I’m a massive Wu-Tang fan. I think they are the hip-hop group of all time and the period between 36 Chambers to Wu-Tang Forever, including all of the solo joints, which, let’s face it, were group albums that featured one particular member, was unprecedented in hip hop. RZA is one of my favorite producer’s of all time. With that said though, I gotta call bullshit on this statement, even though he tried to sugar coat it. I’m from New Orleans. That fact may cause some of you anonymous posting types to say that I’m biased, but I have, and always will, call a spade a spade. If you haven’t heard of Jay Electronica, even if you are one of the most prominent hip hop producers of all time, you must have been under a fucking rock. Seriously. Now to the more egregious of the RZA’s statements, his “facts” about the South. To me, he feeds into stereotypes about Southern niggas that have been perpetuated by up north cats for a long, long time. Not just in hip hop, but just society in general. Some of that has merit. I mean, we can talk about the industrial revolution and post-civil war era migrations all day but that’s what a book is for. In case you haven’t picked up on it yet, I’m pretty damn smart. Contrary to what RZA believes, that somehow because we can’t walk down the ave and see some dude selling books on a blanket the South is somehow remedial is borderline enraging, but I’ll just call it short sighted. There are things called Libraries. Oh, and there’s dumb niggas everywhere. Someone also alluded to the fact that the majority of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (of which I am an alum, yeah, Southern niggas get degrees too…shocking) are in the South, founded and spearheaded by the most prominent African American thinkers of their day. So, I feel Jay’s rage because we’ve been having to defend ourselves from the narrow-minded insults of (some) northern dudes for ever. Despite the fact we had Scarface killing shit for years and Master P, regardless of what you say about his lyrical skills (for the record, he has none), revolutionizing the business aspect of it. 50 Cent’s whole mixtape blueprint can be attributed to Master P’s grind, even Uncle Luke and 2 Live Crew’s (please google that shit if you disagree and feel stupid afterwards).
To wrap it up, Jay has a right to be upset but he could have verbalized it in a much better way. If you don’t think Jay Electronica has a big piece to play in hip hop in the future, punch yourself in the throat (goes for the RZA too).
It’s not where you from, it’s where you at. That shit is corny but it’s true. Geography does not dictate how educated you are. Socioeconomic status might (which could lend itself to more in the South, but this is a discussion for another day). I know alot of up top dudes that are dumb as fucking bricks. I know alot that are sharp as razors. Same goes for down here fam. Don’t be so quick to exclude a nigga just because of where they from.
I’m still hoping for a Jay Electronica/RZA collaboration…that shit would be mind meltingly disgusting.
*steps off soap box*
exactly bro.
Well put. Couldn’t agree more. It’s nice to read an intelligent comment for once.
You just metaphorically lumped all these bloggers up with that one post, well done.
*claps*
“It’s not where you from, it’s where you at. That shit is corny but it’s true”
quote of the day!
does the name OUTKAST ring a bell??
Do Lil Wayne, Gucci Mane, Bow Wow, Master P, Soulja Boi, Birdman, or Mike Jones ring a bell? You gotta admit the South hasn’t given it’s best in the 2000’s. Snap Music and Crunk Music are two major examples of this, as is the overuse of autotune from T-Pain and others. Peace to Outkast, Tech N9ne, and Kyle Lucas though, Scarface as well. There are good South artists, but the ones that get the most attention are the ones that basically are living breathing stereotypes of what suburban people think hip hop is. Guns, Bitches, Drugs, and Money. You probably don’t even own an Outkast album do you?
I’m from tha South & they was just on the 5 0’clock News talkin about something like this, sayin from N.C. to Cali that they are goin to have all students around the Nation learning on the same level,because were so behind Japanese & Chinese government. But Rza needs to know that everybody down here aren’t the same,it’s all in what a person wants in Life. U got some people that want something out of life,then you have them that just don’t give a fuck that want to be ignorant.Thinkin tha fast life is what it’s All about. In the Word of the Notorious B.I.G “fuck a dollar & dream” – Big Poppa. And on another note Master P ass didn’t start shit in the $outh Lil J did, just didn’t get the respect he deserve because them brothers at Rap-A-Lot was educatin they weren’t sellin out makin bullshit rap album that white corp America wanted “Makem say uhh”, Check sum of them early releases by Pro black The terrorist,Ghetto boys,Raheem,Willie D.’s Controvesy album to name a few.Like Devin said Muthafucas gonna Criticize if Write or wrong deep song.
his WHOLE point there was him saying that not everyone in the south is the same you special, special person, maybe he’s wrong though…its apparent that that is so!
I agree on RZA, the Westcoast and Eastcoast build up all this shit, and the dumb fucks (yes, the South) had to ruin everything up. Fuck your dumb wayne and those other shitty artists that are in the south, except for Jay Electronica..either way he’s from there but he’s the only one thats real from there.
Little do U know tha South & West coast iz Connected, we fucks wit one another it’s yall thats ego trippin shit we bout that paper.Yall just want in. If it wasn’t for sum of our artist throwin yall a life line U wouldn’t exist!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Clipse? little brother??? come on new york say it with me outkaaaaassstttt!!!!!
At the end of the day we all know what the South is mostly about and the influences that region is brought to the game over a long period of time. A large percentage of it is’nt about knowledge of self or God.
so but yall pompass arrogant muthafuckaz generalize a whole region when all of us down here ain’t trappers or booty shakers its a lot of us down here with knowledge of self all an extensive knowledge of the culture hell i don’t think every muthafukka up there wears timbs with shorts thats a stereotype and a sneak diss when you speak on ya emcees like nas don’t compare him to gucci compare him to scarface or andre 3000 or phonte i swear yall niggas be so full of yall selves my question to newyorkers why yall an’t came back with nothing to save yall shit raekwon is just one dude bruh
DAPLUVA… carefully read, out loud, what you typed.
props to rza for not backing down and suckin jay off an apology
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I think this is issue is too jumbled up in the first place. If you’re speaking within the arena of Hip Hop, that’s one thing. If you’re speaking as far as a society overall, that’s another. The south didn’t kill Hip-Hop, commercialism did. The South were just more commercial and the quote unquote Machine put their dollars behind the artists that were easily digestible and could gain mass appeal. Diddy and the whole Swizz Beats keyboard era was the beginning. It’s just that the South took the baton and ran with it and many of the NY executives from the 90’s moved to Atlanta and that’s where their ear to the streets were. Plenty of intelligent artists are in the South that don’t get no play. It’s all over. As far as what Rza is saying I think he’s referring to the street element because street dudes in NY, back in the days, were very much into knowledge, well read, although they would still do dumb shit. Out in Cali it was like Odog said “what you tryna kick knowledge?” So it’s more aesthetic than anything else cuz they all end up locked up or dead over dumb shit. If Rza means average people then he’s wrong because like Hannibal pointed out, most of the colleges are in the South and most of the families remain together in the South, therefore the tradition and knowledge is spread. On the Hip Hop tip, if you want to compare, when the South get intellectual, they are hard to beat. New York might be the Last Poets or Gil Scot Heron, very witty with wordplay, but a Goodie MoB Soul Food or a Scarface Never Seen a Man Die or Now I Feel Ya, or an Outkast record is like Curtis Mayfield. Introspection at its finest. In the end it sound cliche but we’re all brothers and it’s a dumb argument especially with all the moving around, going to college, marrying people from out of state, overseas, everybody moves around. peace
Real talk right there man, great post, great post.
Couldn’t agree more, good post.
Wonderful post, insightful points. THIS is what HipHopDX commenters should aspire to.
RAKIM said, “IT AIN’T WHERE YOU’RE FROM/ IT’S WHERE YOU’RE AT!” (ERIC B & RAKIM, ‘I KNOW YOU GOT SOUL’, circa 1987).
and if anyone wants to come with a stupid reply, i’m not from the south of AMERICA; i’m from LONDON, UK.
thanks for telling us where youre from… when we wanna hear about issues in england, well be make sure to contact you first
THAT SHIT IS FUNNY AS HELL……
An when the rest of the world stops having to hear about america an having your gun toteing fat twisted world oil stealing bullying capitalists warmongering BULLSHIT the better ..ya loud mouth’d fat fuckers ….catch ya breath an run fatties !!! aeroplane !!! 50 years of bombs, terrorists an whole towns destroyed by the IRA funded by who ??? …….America . SO NEXT TIME YOU ADDRESS US REMEMBER THE LANGUAGE YOU SPEAK AN WHO PUT YOU THERE TO BECOME THE THE PEOPLE YOU ARE IN THE 1ST PLACE ..was it france ????? was it fuck!!!!!
the more you talk about hip hop the deeper the grave digs yo, how about we now worry about the state of hip hop and keep makin that ol school 90s good feel shit i swear to god we can make this happen we jus gotta think positive, ppl worry too much, we need to bring back that ol school like a fuckin revolution, idgaf jus make it happen!
how about we not* worry is what i meant
Jay Elect. is not even seeing Rza or Gza knowledge wise, so he needs to back down. RZA & GZA are masters of language and knowledge! BONG BONG! Maybe Electronica should play RZA in Chess.
Ur an idiot. chess really? Damn that’s retarded.
Quit hating on Niggaz gettin money and u don’t like
The music don’t listen u whiney bitches.
Fuckin pathetic u had yo turn east coast now its our
Turn share tha fuckin wealth quit acting like hoes
well currently the south is in control of the culture of hip hop… so the music you hearing now is pretty dumb down and is mostly simple… just dope beats and less complicated lyrics now… and it aint a bad thing you got a few artists spitting lyrics but majority of artists thats getting shows and gettin popular is in the south and dance records is whats popular now… maybe if people that love lyrics and old school hip hop go out and support the very few artists thats spitting dope lyrics with substance maybe the problem will change up but in the mean time in the words of wacka flocka ‘OH LETS DO IT” OR CRANK IT UP OR THAT SUPERMAN BULLSHIT Hahaha
Nah man…the corporations are in control of the ‘hip-hop culture’, and the southern rappers are the easiest to control because they worship money due to a lack of education and self-knowledge. No disrespect fam, but that’s the truth.
the crazy thing is, all yall up north cats suppose to have this ‘Knowlegde’, yall got alot more than triple the population of the south, and nowadays yall can’t even help your fellow up north rappers move units. All that ‘knowlegde’ and nothing to show for it nowadays. I don’t like souljia boy, but i respect the fact he became a millionare before the age of 21. He probably didn’t read as much books as you, but he still created music that probably got niggas in your hood dancing.
we don’t worship money in the south, but we realize the fact that we can’t do shit in America without it, so we grind and get it to support ourselves and our fam, just like Rza’s southern relatives probably did for him.
One more thing, yall better be thankful for that southern blood in Rza, without that, he probably wouldn’t have been able to produce that dirty funk shit like The 36 Chambers.
People need money to survive, you’re right. The question is, what extent of self-disrespect and negative influence on others are you willing to go to in order to get your money. Up North, that ‘knowledge’ that you speak of has evolved into certain morals that are excersized up north, therefore you don’t have as many rappers, or business owners, or preachers, or even politicians who are willing to stoop as low as people in the south to get their money. Up north there’s a certain sense of ‘self’, a certain sense of ‘I deserve respect because I am a respectable person’. Down South it’s just a total abandonment of self-respect. The way the chicks dance, the way the guys talk, the way the rappers throw money all over the place and ‘make it rain’ in the club. All that shit is ignorant. I’m not saying that ignorance doesn’t happen everywhere, but it’s WAY more prominent down south. There’s no sense of responsibility for young people, or women, or society, and it’s looked at like it’s cool. Black people down south had to overcome so much bullshit that it’s absolutely disgraceful to see the way young people act down southin the year 2010. It’s not by mistake. It’s a strategic method to keep people down south ignorant to force a imbalance of power with Southern politicians who are pre-dominantly republican. Hip-Hop started to break these strategies in the 80’s and 90’s with groups like NWA, BDP, Ice-T, Wu-Tang Clan, groups who started to make young black people feel self-aware and empowered. Once the South took over rap, all that shit went out the window in a matter of years. Yes, they’ve made more money off Hip-Hop than any previous era, but they also mentally and psychologically set back the culture about 20 years for that ‘money’. The frustrating part is, there’s rappers down south like Trick Daddy, Lil’ Wayne, T.I., Rick Ross, etc that HAVE KNOWLEDGE. They’re much smarter than the young listeners who are buying their shit, and if they wanted to they could impart that knowledge on a whole generation that is listening to their every word. But they don’t wanna risk losing any money. It’s just greed. Even someone like Soulja Boy. Listen to him in an interview, he’s not a dumb kid. He seems like a good-natured well-raised kid. But listen to his music, does he reflect any of that? Absolutely not. What does he talk about? Money money money money money money money money money money. I realize you’re from the south and feel a responsibility to defend where you’re from. But if the place you’re from is being negatively effected by something then you need to take a stand against it. Fuck these rappers. They’re money-hungry pricks. They’d throw your kid off a cliff if it meant a check for them. Don’t support that shit. They never got nothin’ positive to say to nobody, and YES they DO have a responsibility to the kids. They kids are allowing them to be rich by buying their weak ass romper-room music. The least they can do is mix in some positive things for the kids to hear. You can knock a guy like Nas all you want for not ‘getting his money’, but you know what? He’s mature and wise enough to say ‘fuck the money’, your people are more important. When did money become more important that family and community? That’s the one thing blacks and hispanics had in their favor is that they weren’t money-slaves like wealthy white people, and now that’s out the window. Sheep following sheep to the fire.
ppl will change… the music will comeback… music now a days isnt “music”…
file this one under “who gives a shit”
Sad to see black people talk about their own ppl like
That its shameful we all from tha south because we
Have accents and our own slang and way.of life were
Stupid. LOL. That’s stupid.
Shit
Out of all the southern rappers, Jay Electronica is one of the most knowledgeable. I don’t think he makes southern rap look intelligent at all, he just makes himself look intelligent. He isn’t getting much help from the south to start some mental uprising in their music.
Where is this great music from NY? They don’t have any artist to compare. Maino, fab, and whoever else, Raekwon who makes his living off of selling cocaine on wax be serious for one second, I’m from ATL, why are so many people fleeing NY if the education is so good? Our educational system is not the best, and you guys don’t have a Black school of higher education that I know of. I just would like to know those great mc’s that are up there now that are so much better than what the south has been offering. And to the dude who got laughed at when he spoke its because of that fake ass east coast accent, most people from NY don’t speak in that mannner!!!
“When New York niggas were callin southern rappers lame, but then jocking our slang”
CATS THINK WE SLOW DOWN HEA…..MESS AROUND AND GET CAUGHT BY THEM JUMP OUT BOYS…Y CAN’T NIGGAS JUSS GET MONEY TOGETHER WHEREVA WE @?
and you just proved what rza was talkin bout.. yall got street smarts (some of yall) down south, but, just generalizing, a LOT of yall do not have book smarts.. too many country bumpkins.. go to school my brother…
man fuck lyrics get money.niggaz sound like haters.i fuck wit nas juve and the whole west coast.who gives a fuck its about getting paper.wu had their time now its the south so what.get money stop hating if new york aint selling albums make better music change the game.
RZA speaks the truth, he’s not saying anything about rappin’ but us brothers in the south are not attacking this game of life in the right way. If you are hustlin’ in the hood then take some of that money and buy piece of your ‘hood and then it could really become “your block” and that’s what I call “gettin money” We have to wake up and realize our true potential by learn some things that will feed us for a while and not for a week. Jay-Z is being called every name in the book by his street homies but one thing I never heard him being called was “dumb” Jay is trying to conquer something bigger than rap, he’s shooting for the stars… Smarten up my fellow “down south” brothers. We can still be hard and get along enough to put our “scratch together and buy the ‘hood and make decisions of our own.
Believe it or not homey, there are people who aren’t as fascinated with money as you. I think that’s part of the stigma attached to the south, is that they will do ANYTHING for money. Money is good…we all need it in this country in order to survive…but if it’s the most important thing to you, then you’re a shallow person. Family, love, knowledge, cultivating your soul, providing for others not just financially but emotionally and psychologically, being a good example for children..those are the important things in life. Those are the things that make life better for everyone instead of just you. At some point, you have to detach yourself from the ideas that American media has imposed on you, like money-worship.
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Uuuuuummmmmm, let’s see………..J. Prince, Tony Draper, Luke, Baby and Slim and Master P….Southern Brothas who started extremely successful companies. P set the blueprint for large distribution deals while maintaining your master recordings. Outkast, UGK, The Geto Boys, David Banner………Southern street and book educated lyricists with plenty of social commentary. Banner has a college degree. Seems to me the South has plenty of smarts. There are uneducated people in every region so the comments aren’t really valid to me.
ay mane im from the south and i will rep it to the day i die. i love the rza and wu tang for the matter but yo there is ignorant people everywhere. i know ny niggaz that are ignorant, shyt i used to live in newark nj for almost two years and there is alotta ignorant niggaz up there just like it is here in NC and many other parts of the south. when i was up there they were purposely mispronouncin the names of the cities and towns just to be funny, i guess they was trying to make fun cause we gotta lotta villes and boros down here you know. muhfuggas was even asking did we still use out houses and shyt… see that kind a shyt is what make us southerners mad as fuck mane. now on the rza defense i will say that the facts are this: the south, from va down to fl over as far as california has the lowest high school graduation rate and the highest drop out rate. here in nc we’ve gotten better over the years. it use to be 56% high school graduation rate, now its like 67% which is an improvement but compared to the northeast its still lacklster. do you know new jersey has the highest high school graduation rate? almost 94% graduate in nj and ny is like 85% so those areas have alot more people finishin the basics. many southern states are reading below or just at the average reading level in school so this is some facts yall can feed on. but yo peace to everybody yo! when this country fucks up dont nobody say oh that was the south or the northeast… nope we are all one big fuck up!
plus the whole knowleadge of self thing most southerners dont practice that. most of us are christians. we dont really do the whole 5% nation thing.
you can’t say “the south” in general like that, its racist to assume the entire south is slower than Northern folks.
Here is something for you, read all them books you want & obtain a vast vocabulary but….
when you need a cotton shirt, could you farm? when you need milk, could you milk a cow? when you need eggs, could you raise a chicken farm? etc.
cause i’m sure you know a lot about things you are passionate about & for people to not know about the same things would seem ignorant but if you don’t obtain the knowledge of the things i’m talking about well… does that make you ignorant?
Get all the education you want, In the end you still a nigga!!!
4 degrees and a Ph.D — still a nigga
That’s just the way you americans think ……. sad
Thats whats up NC!! Dont’ get me wrong. I’m all for education. Long as you holdn down your family being a provider, taking care of yours, and showing your kids that the streets aint where its at, is really all that matters. We still have to remember, we still a nigga. Some of us brothers/sisters get to thinkn we better than others (blacks) because we got a lil more education or we speak proper english. I guess its proper because that’s what the white man taught us. In the end when the shit hit the fan, they still look at us the same, no matter what region u from, how light you are or how much education u got.. fuck up and they will quickly remind you that, U STILL A NIGGA!!
@mec-one nah man that just how fuck up amerika is
What a way to say a whole lot without really saying anything ……. smh ….. can I get the cliff notes on this
Outkast
On the real, RZA’s comments are mad disrespectful. How are you gonna say an entire region is uneducated? ODB was educated? I respect dirty as an emcee but he was mad ignorant. Dude had like 13 kids and was on crack. C’mon son. The south is the home of some of the most presigious universities and colleges. RZA’s comments are why cats can’t stand New York dudes. They arrogant and think they so knowledgeable and all this. Man RZA owes the entire south an apology. U WRONG RZA C’mon son!!!! St. Louis Stand Up!!!!!!
It’s not disrespectful, its true. It might offend some people but that doesn’t make it less true. I’m from New York, and I go down south all the time because my people live down there. They look at me like I speak a different language. They ask me questions all the time like “Where did you get that word from?”. It’s a fact that the southern parts of the country are behind educationally, because they weren’t even aloud to learn how to read until a hundred years after people up north were already reading. The schools down there are behind, the everyday conversation level is far lower. If you’re from up north and you go down south you’ll notice a stunning difference that can’t be disputed. To me, it’s almost disrespectful NOT to acknowledge this difference because then you’re not acknowledging slavery and the lack of rights that southern people, mostly black people, had in this country.
Now this doesn’t mean that there’s no brilliant or intelligent people down south, of course their are. But the education level of the average person up north is much higher than the average person in the deep south. It even comes out in music. Listen to southern hip-hop and listen to north eastern hip-hop. I’m not saying one is ‘better’ than the other, that’s your own personal preference, but there’s no debating the content of north-eastern hip-hop is more substantial. For anyone to deny these facts is ignorant.
ain’t nobody up north fucking with outkast wu tang knows this ask raekwon and ol dirty
st. louis ain’t the south. c’mon son
St. Louis is in the Midwest not the south. Plus, your argument would be more convincing too if you used correct grammar – ‘They’ shoud be ‘they’re’. Ignorance is nationwide.
Damn Smurr…you read my post and that was the only grammatical error you could come up with? You really reached for that one.
Fuck all dis Da RZA And Jay Elect Need 2 Make an Album with some Real Rza Beats
word to that
I kind of get some of what RZA is saying. Of course there are intelligent people in the south. Someone here already mentioned all of the historically Black colleges in the South. And of course there are intelligent MC’s in the south. That’s a fact that no one can dispute. Just look at Outkast, Jay Electronica, Little Brother, Cee-Lo, Tech N9ne, K-Rino, etc. etc. Florida also has a lot of really dope MC’s like Presto. BUT, at least as far as Hip-Hop is concerned, I don’t think anyone can deny that we get more Gucci Mane’s, Birdman’s, Soulja Boi’s, etc. from the south than we up north. Up north, we get a lot of Rappers talking about 100 different ways to shoot people. There’s a little bit more lyricism involved as a whole, but I guess it’s still just different forms of ignorant shit lol. I’m speaking of the averages of course. For example, up north, how many Immortal Technique’s or Talib Kweli’s do we get compared to how many 50 Cent’s? For the South, how many Jay Electronica’s do we get compared to how many Gucci Mane’s that we get? Looking at things like that, the North does come off a little better. It’s almost undeniable. If you want to know the truth though, I’m from Philly, and I think that the West is putting out more good, thought provoking Hip-Hop than anyone right now. Seattle’s got an emerging scene, with Macklemore and Blue Scholars, then you Have Chino XL, Ras Kass, People Under The Stairs, Zion I…they’re killing it right now. So’s the Mid-west, particularly Chicago (Lupe, Common, Kidz in the Hall, etc).
Back on point though, there is a stereotype in America about the South…where people up North think that the South is just a bunch of ignorant hicks and country bumpkins. I’d be willing to bet that the over-all average reading level of people up North is higher than that of the South, but that doesn’t mean that everyone in the South is ignorant, and when you make certain comments, like the ones that RZA made, you’re sure to offend people. People take things like that personally. I do agree that the South may have progressed a little bit more slowly than the North did education-wise, but the South now has some of the best institutions for learning in the country. It’s made up of more than just Bumblefuck-Nowhere, South Carolina (I can talk, because I go to Bumblefuck Nowhere, South Carolina every summer lol). People need to realize that progression has been made, and that ignorant people exist everywhere. Not just in the South. people up North can be just as ignorant.
There is no bias here, but statistics say that the quality of education is better in North-Eastern States, than every other place in the Nation. Now can you categorize an entire region and make a statement like RZA made without explaination. NO, because every world has a ghetto where education is poor and people are deprived. For example, I have friends from New Orleans who have stated that a private school education in New Orleans is equivalent to a public school educaton in Atlanta. I know several people who migrated to Atlanta from the East Coast who cannot pass Board of Regents exams in order to graduate and earn college degress in Georgia…so statsitically yes, there are more oppurtunities in the North Eastern Region to recieve a quality education. Does that mean that those opurtunities are being taken advantage of by every one there and that everyone in this region is less advanced than others in that region…hell no!
Your argument would be more convincing if you spelled receive and opportunity correctly.
I am from the Northeast region of the country and I agree – the best education systems (albeit still limited and faltering for minorities) are located in the Northeast
I admit that I usually rely on the spell checker to catch spelling errors, when I am using Microsoft to submit documents for the job that earns me six figures yearly, that I utilized the three degrees that I earned to get, in the South. Don’t be petty, please.
He and whoever agrees with him show how ignorant and unintelligent they really are.
Southern States: (Old South) Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, North Carolina, Georgia…New southern states added: Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Florida, Tennessee, South Carolina….
Booker T. Washington: Virgina Madame CJ Walker : Louisiana
Benjamin Banneker: Maryland Charles Drew: Washington D.C
Jesse Jackson: S. Carolina Condoleezza Rice: Alabama
Barbara Jordan: Texas Thurgood Marshall: Maryland
Martin Luther King Jr: Georgia Harriet Tubman: Maryland
Rosa Parks: Alabama
And More!!!
If intelligence and education translates into music, songs like “superman you” and names like “lil wayne” dont help too much.
That is not true for the southern region as a whole. Certain cities and states in the south have poor school systems, just like in the north, mid west, and west coast. The more rural areas, and poorer cities have a high drop out rate. But the more populated cities such as; Atlanta, Houston, and Dallas, are no different than north. Did he forget that most of the historic black colleges are in the south. That Martin Luther King Jr, John
Lewis, Andew Young, Maynard Jackson, and many other great black men and women that paved the way for our race to have the opportunitys and rights that we have today are from and were schooled in the south. Young Jeezy is from the same neighborhood as Martin Luther King Jr., I say that to say, that you can’t judge a whole region because of a few, or even several bad apples that have been in the lime light. When you think of the south, don’t think soulja boy, gucci, shawty lo, waka flocka, or even lil wayne. Think of Jay Elec, OutKast, Goodie Mob and the whole DF (remember the beautiful poems that Big Rube spit over thier tracks), ScarFace and the Geto Boys, The D.O.C, UGK, Ti, Ball & G, BoB, Killa Mike, and many more. OUT.
It’s pretty obvious that not everyone from the South is stuck on stupid. You got cats like LB, Outkast, Jay Elec, Scarface, Good Mobb, Luda, T.I., etc who got mad jewels to drop lyrically and on a personal level but let’s face it, the ball is on the south right now since the south is running hip hop currently and there isn’t any kind of educated music coming from the south that’s being promoted on radio and tv. I know that is off base with what RZA and Jay wa stalking about, but musically a lot of shit coming from the south may play on the radio allday, sound good in the clubs or something to play for the hoes, but how much of it is really encouraging our kids to take stock of themselves and look at the bigger picture? As dope as Jay Elec is, I never heard Exhibit A or C once on the radio and that shit ain’t right, I’m from the east too and shit like Exhibit A is taking out anything on Jay-Z BP3 bullshit and almost all his songs hit the airwaves. But they will play some song about tricking on hoodrats nonstop.
COSIGN EVERYTHING
I still laugh at kids that buy Jay-Z albums. That aint hip hop.
Jay-Z is not Hip-Hop? that’s the dumbest thing I ever heard. That’s like sayin’ Kobe can’t hoop. Don’t let your personal dislike for someone outweigh your intelligence as a person.
Its funny how some heads get offended by the truth at hand. I’ve lived in the south(GA, NC) and the North(NJ, DC). I can speak first hand on the fact there are stupid people everywhere, no matter where you are from. However, the situation is different simply based on the type of life people live in different regions. Rza was 100% in what he said that ACCESS is the whole reason for this. Things are just different, don’t get mad. Rza didn’t say Southern heads were stupid, The level of exposure to these different things, you are talking about a completely different level of understanding. We can even take it to the point where alot of heads in the South will look at latin folks and automatically think they are Mexican. Where as, you have heads in the North who can look and tell whether someone is Puerto Rican, Cuban, Panamanian, Columbian, Mexican, Honduran, whatever based on subtleties they observe and know BECAUSE OF ACCESS! Its all about access, and some people just don’t know. How can anyone argue with that?
you suckas in the north can’t help but hate, thats why your music ain’t selling shit. eat a dick with that STUPID music you making and can’t sell ; you not smart enough to figure that out yet huh
It’s funny, because comments like this from people from the South only make The Rza’s point more valid. Everytime someone from the south speaks, the word ‘money’ comes out of their mouth. Stop being a slave to that green piece of paper. It’s just fuckin’ money. Grow up.
Man i just wanna say first off fuck all that shit yall talmbout in the east man. Ya’ll had yall harlem renaissance and all that back in the early 1900’s and since then yall music has evovlved and has intellectual meanings and all that but lets think about why.
When langston hughes is sitting in his apartment studying and reading i got fam in east texas thats working hard to make money and buy their own land so they not dependent on the white man share cropping and all this stupid shit. we done gone through way more then yall so instead of being able to pursue a “proper” education we out here tryna survive, cuz the prejuidices of the regions aren’t equal. So from generation one ya’ll have been able to build on your status up there it took us 3 and 4 generations after slavery to find our own base and from there learn how to survive on our own. And the reason the south don’t care what yall talmbout as far as lets have a meaningful message before trying to get this money,is because money is king out here. in the south without money you dont have status and maybe that standard was set by the white folks and we’re playing into their hand but thats how it is. and every nigga in his subconscious out here, without money we wont be able to reach out and better ourselves because the resources arent there. in alot of cities the public schools aint doing shit for our kids but telling them its ok to be average, money is the only sure way to be able to open doors for yourself out here you cant depend on social groups or non of that we depend on christ maybe thats why they say we bible thumpers out here idk, but that shit yall talkin aint bout nothin, if yall really concerned build some fucking private schools out here wit yo bitch ass
Reading your post about taking a long time for Blacks in the south to get things together compared to up north, I’d at the point that during jim crow area and after it a lot of Blacks went north. Which would have slowed things down a bit.
of course if we are talking about today I would say it doesn’t matter what part of the country you are in if you are in a ghetto or other hard area we are all basically facing the same type of stuff (even white people in trailer parks)
And money is king everywhere. But that doesn’t mean it has to be the main content of your songs (even if that’s why you are rapping) Drop some knowledge and maybe people will grow a little wiser.
it’s all true! here’s a list of the dumbest states in north america.
41 Tennessee
42 Hawaii
43 Alabama
44 Alaska
45 Louisiana
46 California
47 Nevada
48 New Mexico
49 Mississippi
50 Arizona
now compare that to the smartest.
1. Vermont
2. Massachusetts
3. Connecticut
4. New Jersey
5. Maine
6. Virginia
7. Montana
8. Wisconsin
9. Iowa
10. Pennsylvania
11. Nebraska
12. New Hampshire
13. Minnesota
14. Rhode Island
15. New York
I THINK A LOT OF FOLKS STILL CAN’T COMPREHEND WHAT RZA WAS TRYING TO RELATE. I DON’T BELIEVE HE WAS SPEAKING ABOUT CONVENTIONAL EDUCATION, ‘CAUSE HONESTLY A LOT OF THOSE BROTHERS DON’T EVEN HAVE HS DIPLOMAS. WHAT HE WAS REFERENCING WAS LACK OF KNOWLEDGE OF SELF. SHIT. HONESTLY IF YOU LISTEN TO THIS KID JAY ELEC’S STUFF, I DON’T GIVE A FUCK WHAT ANYONE SAYS, THAT’S “UP TOP” SHIT HOMIE KICKIN’. THAT NYC, NEW JERU, THAT PHILLY SHIT. C’MON PEOPLE THE DUDE IS REFERENCING ELOHIM, THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD (SWT). THE NIGGA KICKIN’ KNOWLEDGE LIKE ANY BROTHER BORN AND BRED IN THE NORTHEAST WOULD HAVE EASY ACCESS TO.
NOTHIN’ AGAINST BROTHAS FROM THE SOUTH, BUT THE SOUTH IS THE BIBLE BELT, AIN’T NO “JAY ELEC-HANUKKAH, JAY ELEC-YARMULKAH, JAY ELEC-RAMADAN, MUHAMMAD AS-SALAAM-ICA, RASULULLAH SUBHANAH WA TA ALA THROUGH YOUR MONITORS”.
FUCK OUTTA HERE!!!!!
WITH THAT SAID, JAY ELECTRONICA IS MY FAVORITE MC. HE’S TALKIN’ THAT SHIT MY POP PUT IN MY HEAD, THAT KNOWLEDGE OF SELF, THAT THINKIN’ OUTSIDE THE BOX, FINDING FAITH IS WHAT’S NOT THE NORM (AL ISLAM/ NATION OF GODS AND EARTHS).
SALUTE TO ALL THE BROTHERS/SISTERS IN THIS LAND REGARDLESS OF WHERE YOU’RE FROM SEARCHIN’ FOR THE TRUTH AND NOT SETTLING.
Knowledge of self? Yet relating his comments to the failure to receive a “proper education.” I am an educator in the deep South… I read most of those books RZA mentioned before I was in high school… Knowledge of self has nothing to do with structured education… And his justification can be read as, “well I was disrespecting my own family not just other people….” The South “evolved slower…” This brother should expand his reading list… A simple apology would have sufficed… “just because I didn’t wanna learn your grammer you say im better off in a slammer…” Ice Cube “They Schools don’t teach us shit….” Dead Prez “You must learn…” Blast Master Chris
I think his emphasis on knowledge was on black history and culture. He mentioned the book “The Stolen Legacy” and this book would be difficult to come by in Southern states because it’s content would be seen a racist due to educational sanctions that are put on teaching true black history in the south. Black history has to be taught within Americas context. In the east they have a stronger foundation of knowledge about where they came from and it isn’t tainted by a westernized perception. That isn’t coming from a bias because I am from the west and I went to Marcus Garvey private school…But I know what I saw a secret information that was hidden from us they know as common knowledge. I currently live in Lubbock TX, and if you mention anything about black history without mentioning Abraham Lincoln or JFK then you are labeled as a descending voice or someone who is militant and out to start a revolution.
I am from NJ and grew up in the 80s and went to college in the 90s. I am currently an educator in Jersey, and when students transfer from many of the southern states they are tested and unfortunately a majority of them lack many fundamentals let alone the background needed for the rigors of education today. I remember my parents and relatives saying this was true in the 40s and 50s and sadly it seems to hold true still. A good friend of mine relocated to NC and her and her husband teach. She has been there a couple of years and say how she would be chastised for “pushing the students to hard and stressing them out”. We both began in a district that stressed high expectations and standards of our students (and yes it was an urban area)and we pushed them because we have a vested interested in producing intelligent, critically thinking black men and women who can easily navigate the 21st century world whether they are in Harlem, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Dubai or Brisbane!
RZA, peace to that brother, but he has been saying wreckless things about the South for years. It’s due to his own ignorance about the South. First off, please stop equating knowledge of Afrocentric novels with intelligence. They aren’t one and the same. While all you NY rappers were reading books by GM James and Dr. F.C. Welsing, you should have been reading up on the business of music. Because most of the rappers from NY were getting screwed from your era (and before your era). Now they have nothing but fame to show for it.
When Northerners come down and say they have cousins “without knowledge” then maybe you just have dumb ass cousins. Enlighten them. We all have dumb ass cousins somewhere. But don’t base your entire experience on your own limited dealings with your uneducated family members or random idiots you meet in the street. Anyone with knowledge or education (down South) isn’t always able to sit down and “shoot the shit” with you. Plus, when most of you come down here all you ever really want to talk about is how great you think your city is. We have storied traditions down here too. And, the reason why you have a thirst for knowledge is because of your Grandpops. He ate the bacon fat to survive to get your nappy headed azz to New York. Y’all get a little knowledge and disrespect the foundation. More ignorance.
I remember once where Rza said that the South was the last to get in on the cocaine game. When that just doesn’t make since period. Geographically, it just doesn’t make sense! California (not the south but near Mexico), Texas, and Florida allowed places like NYC to get their feet wet in that particular line of business. If nothing else than for the simple fact of being near the border. Not to mention we had access to it first. So when your Alpos and Bumpy’s and whomever got it, they were late. We have stories of dealers down South who were much bigger and made more money. But they kept theirs mouths shut to keep what they had. That’s a fundamental difference between us and the North.
I couldn’t believe someone as intelligent as Rza would think that, but he did. It’s a different type of intelligence down here. And as far as his remarks about the South getting things last in the rap game? He should show some respect to people who were much smarter than he was (and he did some great things business wise so that’s saying something). Show respect to people who did things on their own terms business wise. J Prince from Rap-A-Lot Records. Guys like J Prince have been in business since 1986. That’s two or three years before Gza and Rza’s first botched record deals. The Southern rappers have been on equal footing business-wise with their Northern counterparts for years. But, the media loves to romance the idea of New York sophistication and imagined dominance. People like Rza are just another NYCer who actually drinks his city’s “own kool-aid”. Just more New York centrism. Part of the love-hate relationship the world has with it. But, the dominance has slipped away from it. I doubt it will ever go back.
With all due respect Rza, but I had to say it. You shed light over the years, I trust that you will respect the light from down South and take heed. Tread lightly my brother. Peace.
that is the most well explained and intelligent comment i seen thus far.because i wanted to get real ignorant in my comment on RZA.i could not have said it much better.that is what happens when you give a dummy to much information.