That Feeling You Get

"From the South,
to the West,
to the East,
to the North,
C'Mon Spoonie Gee and Go Off, Go Off
Yes Yes Y'all.
Freak Freak Y'all.
To the Beat Y'all.
It's so sweet Y'all"

Spoonie Gee, Love rap 1980

I have sooo much Hip-Hop in my head that I sometimes get confused by who said what. So please excuse me if speak around the point only to eventually come back to it. I'm paraphrasing but someone once said, "this Hip-Hop shit ain't that hard...it's just a beat and a rhyme". The essence of Hip-Hop is 5 fold. Dj, Emcee, B-Boy and B-Girl, Graffiti and Culture. 1973 Bronx NY. "Kool Herc ain't never get a royalty check"...Black Thought, Web from The Roots Tipping Point album.

I'm not a writer. If I spell shit wrong I meant to. If I use big words in the wrong context blame it on the Keith Murray in me. If I rant political, blame it on the Chuck D in me. If you don't know what the fuck I'm talking about, blame it on De La Soul's 3 Feet High and Rising in me. If I slur in my blog blame Meth and Red's "How High". I'll always have a story for you so blame Kool G. Rap or Slick Rick. If I sound like a cool dude blame Tribe. If I sound like a dirty old man blame ODB(RIP). If I'm "Dreamin" Blame Big K.R.I.T. You get the point.

I wanted to rhyme, I really did! Until I heard Rakim. At that point I figured it's just better off I enjoy this shit cause I'll never be that dude. No, I'm not a quitter, I was a tarot card reader. Seriously, it's 2011 and while the art of being an emcee has progressed, I can still stack Rakim against anyone and he'll always be top 5. He's your favorite emcee's EMCEE. And I do mean emcee's of the highest caliber because there is a difference.

I was introduced to Hip-Hop in Catholic school in West Oak Lane, Philly, 1979, 4th grade after recess, between 12:30 and 2:45pm(sometime between September and December...it's beautiful when you can nail your memories down!!). Overheard a pretty chick in my class named Rochelle spittin something everyone else seemed to know only I didn't know it. Fuckin nerd!! All I knew was she was cute and what she was sayin had me sprung.

Fortunately I came from a family who loved music except my Dad who was Wilson Pickett, Ray Charles and Otis Redding to the bone and no one else ever dammit existed. But Mom's, Big Bro and Big Sis(both 10 years older than me) had that hot shit!! But none of them knew what kind of gibberish I was talking about. "The macaroni's soggy, the peas are mushed and the chicken tastes like woooood". Lucky for me there was a Record Town record store nearby and when I said that line to the clerk he knew exactly what I was talking about. Rapper's Delight, Sugar Hill Gang. $3.99 and I had $4 in quarters I stole from my Mom's purse while she was snoring on the couch with the plastic on it with half her Afro mushed on the left side.

I can remember the 1st time for more things in Hip-Hop than I can remember some "what should be some really important shit" in my life. I know time and places, who I was with, was I on punishment, damn she had a fat booty, etc. When I speak of a "feeling you get", it's predicated on time and place and what's going on in your life. Please understand that I know I cannot explain to a 15 year old why Illmatic, Criminal Minded and Long Live The Kane are dope. What I and other heads my age appreciate musically has a lot to do with BEING THERE. The simplicity of a dope beat and a dope rhyme. I do not need hooks to appreciate my Hip-Hop. RC LaRock, The Micstro...Public Enemy, Timebomb...Kane and Biz, Just Rhymin With Biz... Masta Ace, 4 Minus 3...Fuck a hook! If you are indeed a true Emcee I'll give you 4 minutes of my time(or almost 10 minutes for the Micstro)

"Ya see now everybody around the nation,
I'm gonna give you some inspiration,
some inspiration,
and stimulation,
cause I have to fulfill my obligation"

This by no means is an Ol'Skool blog. I'm not an expert on the current music industries business practices. I could care less about what sells to a brainwashed public. I am concerned about where Hip-Hop is headed since Pop influence has turned some probable dope emcee into "hook writers". I'm only here to offer my opinion and I welcome anyone to an open debate about music and culture that has defined my life. I'm not here to argue though my opinions may come off strong and you may be called stupid once or twice. There are several current artists who are lyrical monsters that get none or not enough radio burn that in my opinion truly represent the culture. Jean Grae and Benjamin Starr come to mind. There are artists who have been in the game for years still puttin out hot albums that no one knows about(Rah Digga, The Book of Rashia...Pharoahe Monch, W.A.R. We Are Renegades).

If you come for debate, please don't waste our time if you haven't baptized yourself in a culture that truthfully is only about 32 years old as far as recordings are concerned. It's not that difficult in this day and age to look up an artist and hear their music instantly over the internet(unless your broke ass on some dial up shit). However if you haven't baptized yourself in this culture and you believe that this radio bullshit, singles only lasting 3 months and then never heard from again, nicki mirage(misspelled and not capitalized on purpose), lil pain and flake(ditto)(...and yes this is a run on sentence) are what Hip-Hop is about and more importantly true representatives of our people, then this is probably not your place for debate.

One love heads. Stay Positive and feed your damn kids!!