One the eve of the most important Presidential Campaign, I am sad to hear that Democratic Presidential Nominee Barack Obama's grandmother passed away toady. Madelyn Payne Dunham was 86 years young. If you have been anywhere in the United States over the past 21 months or so, you know how much of an impact that his grandmother had in the shaping of his life. I'm deeply sadend with the news and my thoughts and prayers go out to Barack Obama and his family during this troublesome time. I know that the election is tomorrow and he would have loved for his mother, and grandparents to be alive to see him get elected president, but they are all together now celebrating what we are going to find out on Wednesday!
The other day I stopped in 7 Eleven for my daily fix of Arizona Green Tea,( you can't beat 99 cents for 24oz yessir!). As I was going to get my daily dose of green tea goodness, I passed by the magazine rack. I noticed the XXL put out The 10 Freshman Hip Hop Class of 09. I seen a couple of familiar faces, (Curren$y, Wale, B.O.B. Ace Hood, Charles Hamilton and Corey Gunz ), so I picked up the magazine and decided to buy it.
Don't worry I'm not going to talk about the articles itself, I rather you read the magazine or get the scoop from a more known blogger. What I do want to say that I'm happy with the direction the Hip Hop is going in. The one thing I will say about the "Talented 10" is that they are all different and offer different things. Meaning I feel they are just being themselves. Not trying to portray some character of a fictional persona. They come off more genuine. So that leads me to believe that maybe other aspiring artist, such and myself will start to follow suite.
Its time for aspiring artist to start focusing on their craft rather than what sub- category of hip hop their music belongs in. Think about it there are too many categories.. Don't worry if your music isn't Gangsta, Conscience, Backpacker, Hipster, Underground etc., good music is just that Good Music!!! Think about this, the cats that rise to the cream of the crop all have one thing in common…they just did them regardless of what anybody thought. They didn't box or pigeon-holed themselves into a category that capped their talent!
As I was reading the XXL article I started to think about these questions:
As an Artist.....Am I comfortable in my craft?
As an Artist.....Am I being true to myself?
As an Artist.....Am I compromising my music for the sake of getting noticed?
As an Artist.....Am I throwing a new spin on the same topics, or am I spinning a new subject from the same topic? ( hint hint the last one was a trick question lol)
Rather you like it or not, being an Emcee means you are in a position to teach. What will the message be in the lyrics that you'll put out there to the public? These are question I think that aspiring artists should ask themselves. I think that is how the game continues to evolve. People should continue to "explore" their talents and be true to themselves rather than trying to get in where you fit in.
So in closing, Kudos to the "Talented 10" Freshman! I don't know how successful any of you will become, but it nice to know that the some artist aren't' afraid to be themselves! Question is are you?
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