couple problems i have with rap

[flossb15]

First of all, why do the old rappers have to retitre, why cant there be mutual respect like in any other genre
For example in Country - Would you say anything to Willie Nelson if he wanted to suddenly drop an album?
or in Rock N Roll - i dont here One Republic dissing Aerosmith or U2 saying retire so that the new cats can eat

The way i was raised is if your good your good and your life/career depends on your hustle
So if Kool G Rap, Jay-Z, Nas,LL or FACE or the elders want to drop an album cause they feel like it whats the big deal, it should have NO effect on thenew-comers...I truly feel there is enough room and money for everybody, its up to you to realize your potential

2nd WHY IS RAP THE LEAST MUSICAL, BUT HELD WITH SOOOOO MANY RULES
I really dont understand it - I mean RAP is basically derived off other people music - but it is upheld to
first - not have any ghostwriters
NO biting (even though it was founded on stealin)
No Snitching and a gang of other rules

RAP has become a walking contradiction, BE YOURSELF, BUT IF HALF THE GAME RAPPED ABOUT THE STUFF THEY WANT TO RAP ABOUT NO ONE WOULD LISTEN TO IT...I meanselling Ki's etc etc, c'mon now...and to quote Joe Budden - If everyone selling ki's and being the boss, where the lacky's @???

I dont know, just had to get some things off my mind

 

[hugebird]

@ your thinly veiled Save-a-Hov attempt.

 

[mace40]

I'm with you, floss. Another one to add to the list is the ridiculous standard "keeping it real" is held to.

If other genres of music were held to representing only what they had actually done in their own personal experiences (hip-hop's "keeping itreal"), the rest of music would have no Bob Dylan, no Black Sabbath (no metal at all, really), no Johnny Cash, etc., etc..

Rap's overwhelming amount of contradictions is only outdone by the Bible.

 

[starvin harlem]

As far as subject matter, last time I checked the other genres of music, clearly directed towards other demographics don't have communities pleagued withthe same !@*@ we deal with in the "hood" . . . So of course Garth Brooks or Aerosmith ain't gonna sing about sellin Ki's or busting they gun. . . But if you go to the neiborhoods these rappers claim to be from or represent, thats what goin on . . . As long as theres crack in the hood, theres gonnabe a guy who's gonna rap about it, thats the fact . . .

Yall don't remember what Chuck D referred to hip hop as?? . . . If you do remember, then you should understand . . .

Son said it best here . . .

And as a matter of fact, they want us *****z
to smile and laugh - I guess they never seen a bloodbath
Brothers and sisters are dyin, babies are bein taken out
So what the #%#! they want me to rap about?
About how happy I am, to be livin in the slums
where little shorties walk around totin big guns

 

[mace40]

As far as subject matter, last time I checked the other genres of music, clearly directed towards other demographics don't have communities pleagued with the same !@*@ we deal with in the "hood" . . . So of course Garth Brooks or Aerosmith ain't gonna sing about sellin Ki's or busting they gun . . . But if you go to the neiborhoods these rappers claim to be from or represent, thats what goin on . . . As long as theres crack in the hood, theres gonna be a guy who's gonna rap about it, thats the fact . . .
The music-"hood dealings" cycle serves almost exclusively to perpetuate itself. The sheer amount of kids on here who pull out gun talkor threaten violence on the next man proves that beyond a shadow of a doubt.

And as far as neighborhoods these rappers "claim" to be from. That's all it is. An unsubstantiated claim that they know the radio stations orlabel execs aren't going to argue with, seeing only dollar signs, and not the ghosts of artists dying for living the "hip-hop" lifestyle.

I guess I agree with you, but from a different angle.

 

[hugebird]

I honestly wish that I could find a post with people questioning peoples' street cred, and direct them to this thread, and have them give answers on whyit's a necessity to have lived what they rap about.

I feel that rap will never be accepted as an art form by many until it's treated like an art form by the people making it and the consumers.

 

[thecoldest343]

No Snitching and a gang of other rules
i wont even waste my time and i see you like outkast

 

[x Buddha Bless x]

This thread disgusts me, just about everything you want to happen I am against when it comes to hip hop music and as a culture.

First of all, why do the old rappers have to retitre, why cant there be mutual respect like in any other genre
For example in Country - Would you say anything to Willie Nelson if he wanted to suddenly drop an album?
or in Rock N Roll - i dont here One Republic dissing Aerosmith or U2 saying retire so that the new cats can eat
Ok Ya boy Ol Man Jigga did that to himself he was probably the last or only chance to help that mindframe of older rappers continuing to rap intheir older ages. He started off with KC and said he'd switched up content to a more "mature" content. The album gets reviews he didnt expect anddoesnt want to go out like that so he gives up on "mature" rap and goes to AG. I thought KC was trash but I didnt oppose dude switchin up content.Now that he has given up on that path for the most part their aint really no chance for old rappers to make it pass the age of 40 in this game(unless NaS makesa drastic turn around). Ol Man Jigga said it himself this is ayoung man's sport. Also yall got some fickle minds dude is a hypocrite cuz it wasn't only6 years ago that Jigga was dissin Jaz-O for being a 40 somethin year old washed up rapper. He made fun of him for being old and still rapping claiming hecouldnt move on. Yet now 30 is the new 20 or some bull shh like that dude doesn't make up his mind. There really isnt an age limit on rap it just dependson ya content if Kool G Rap is 40 somethin do I wanna hear about how he bust his gun? No, I got classic albums from him already speakin on that not to say onlyyoung ppl should be rappin about that but its not believeable to me at all and it shows his stance on the message he wants to send out to ppl(Ireally dontwanna hear that). Sometimes you need to know when to hang it up if you really dont got nothin to say. Take Lupe for instance dude is done after 3 albums Ithink he should atleast do 6 but he knows his limits he dont wanna be out here washed up spittin the same shhh. I remember watchin some Curtis vid and he wasbasically statin how much time dudes got left in the game and had 40 as the cut off age for the most part with how these rappers have fallen off he isright(ironic cuz he fell off n he no where near 40)

@ your thinly veiled Save-a-Hov attempt.
Basically, at the end of the day if the ppl dont like it they wont support it no matter what ya name is. I still listen to Big Daddy Kane jointsthat he release and if its dope n the content is right I dont gotta a problem. If you washed up n its clear you fell off you must be in it only for the moneyand that type of drive in hip hop will not produce quality music(there are clear examples of it)

The way i was raised is if your good your good and your life/career depends on your hustle
So if Kool G Rap, Jay-Z, Nas,LL or FACE or the elders want to drop an album cause they feel like it whats the big deal, it should have NO effect on the new-comers...I truly feel there is enough room and money for everybody, its up to you to realize your potential
You haven't been lookin at hip hop sales recently, there are no longer mutiple stars in this game. That is strictly monetary, truth is thereaint really enought money around thats being spent but Iwont even speak much on that sooner than later these young new rappers are going to be going for theseolder dudes heads a la LL vs Kool Moe Dee.

2nd WHY IS RAP THE LEAST MUSICAL, BUT HELD WITH SOOOOO MANY RULES
I really dont understand it - I mean RAP is basically derived off other people music - but it is upheld to
first - not have any ghostwriters
NO biting (even though it was founded on stealin)
No Snitching and a gang of other rules
1st bold
The thing that sets hip hop music outside of most other genres is the lyrical talent. Singers dont gotta worry about writin shh, most rock n roll bands dont.In rap the rappers lyrics are his instrument. Do you wanna listen to an indie rock band that don't play their instruments? just posing as if they were?Rapper's lyrics have to do a lot with their lives and I dont want the next man writin rhymes about your life for you to spit or you spittin somebodyelse's story that shh is weak and is false promotion leading fans astray and you play yaself trying to be something you're not(see NaS on how ppl getat him for spitting stories he only saw). I personally feel all "artists" that have ghost writers in rap should have a disclaimer before their albumsstating all of these stories are fictional or did not happen to me. I dont really agree with rappers who have ghost writers and try to pass it off as this shhis me, Im nice. Those rappers aren't and never should be considered Mcs they are entertainers like Diddy. Finding out ya fav rapper dont spit his ownrhymes is like finidinig out that thats not Stevie Wonder's voice when he's singing, its like finding out Whitney houston had some girl singing backstage when she performed live at concerts. A rapper's lyrics are his instrument.
2nd bold
That statement is lunacy. Hip hop is founded on sampling other songs, yes. Now do they make money off of those samples for free? NO I said it before in thatthread about bititng this shh aint right n its cousins with the ghost writing thing. Biting is not right, I mean the whole reason hip hop has made it this faris cuz when it was starting before it got poplar it was about being better than the next Mc, ypu dont get props for spittin somebody else's shhh. Dontconfuse biting and sampling, that is just showin disrespect to hip hop. If you really wanna play it that way every artist that bites should pay the artist theybite from plain n simple and the artist should be credited on the album with the line. Yall seem not to take lyrics seriously like its not important and if hespits somebody else's shh who cares. If thats the case he should be payin to use the next man's rhymes.
3rd bold
I'd like to see these gang of other rules and please elaborate on this stop snitching thing cuz Stop snitching isn't a hip hop thing 1st itdoesn't have to do with the music at all unless you're claiming and calling other ppl out on comitting crimes. That stop snitching "movement"is a ghetto america thing and the only reason you'll see it in hip hop is some of the popular hip hop artists are raised in ghetto america so thats howthey think, thats how they are some areformer criminals so thats the reasoning behind that. You should know that, just cuz its a general thing dont expectevery hip hop artist takes that stance. Theres been many artists that have spoke out against what Cam said with that stupid stop snitchin shhh he said in thatinterview. All rappers dont follow that code I aint ever hear Mos Def say that shhh and if he did he'd mos def explain himself.

I dont kno how you can complain about the need for rapper to keep it real. These are the things that make hip hop so special, Brittney Spears wouldnt have acareer is she had to keep it real. Why would you want a bunch of artists that are impersonal with their craft that they supposedly love? Otherwise its justmusic to make money off of and if thats the way you like it then fine but thats not how it is. Hip Hop artists love the music so they have to keep it real, whywould you want to be fake? if you love it?

It goes like this you got a rapper he's nice with the punchlines wordplay n all that. You see if he can evolve past the mixtape circuit, if he cant theboom forget about it but if he can you see how what his content is if it comes off as if this is how I feel. If he doesn't do that then he's justanother mainistream rapper, if he does then you see how he evolves from album to album and see how creative he gets and how original he is. If he dont thenhe's just a rapper that keeps it real but hasn't shown growth. If he does and his music just gets better then you enjoy it and see if he has a limit ifhe will fall off. Most artists dont make it past that. You can be into party music, you can be into that 1 hit wonder shh, you can be into the underground shhbut if it aint real then its just hollow music and I dont want to hear that shh I been stopped watchin BET, listenin to Hot 97 n Power. I just guess some ofyall dudes need to 1st understand why things the way they are before you attack why you dont like it. I love hip hop so just because the mainstream or businesspov says it doesnt matter becauz of this or that dont mean shh to me why compromise the integrity when theres nothing wrong with it? Keepin it real aint justfor the hood.

 

[starvin harlem]

Stop Snitching has nothing to do with hip hop directly . . . It goes way further in history . . . Even along the underground railroad, safe houses wereguarded, cats wasn't pointing them out, and if they did they too were punished in whatever way . . . Black Panther party, and COINTELPRO, and its usedwithin EVERY police department, The "Blue Sheild" . . . The mafia . . . Don't just make it seem like its some black thing that "WE" useto keep our people living under the rule of drug dealers, murderers, and rapists . . . There's alot of racial overtones in the objections towards hip hopthat the thread starter is using . . .

 

[mace40]

^ Be that as it may, what movement, people's movement, government movement, international movement... whatever, has glorified nihilism andanti-establishmentism to the degree that hip-hop's oft-cited "Stop Snitching" mantra has to the obvious detriment of its own people, be theyblack/white/yellow/purple/green?

 

[flossb15]

Its not just HOV that gets the ol just retire treatment ....its every rapper from HOV to WU as of recently, its disgusting to see people want the good toretire because they cant shine, its all ego to me

2nd - If you dont feel this post then chances are the people you currently like dont get the just do with the fans, which means they complaining about retiringpre-mature or say they dont care if they about sales but be the main ones wanting to be on a major to move units

Reading the Joe Budden interview did spark this up, but read deep into the post thats only 1/4 of it

Starvin - But other neighborhoods do have problems, you're stereo-typing - Its just that the black community chooses to go over the top with the samesubject matter, look we can shift the blame our entire existent, at some point we have to man up - And its not the fact that I mind the Ki's but its theamount of it that gets thru...And Even chuck d had subject matter, so that goes to show you can do it

Bhudda - Once again your making a contridiction - ONE MAN CANT SAY I DONT WANT TO DO IT AND THEN the whole industry agree...and if it does happen that way andthe dummies follow, then they were lost, confused or not sure of themselves anyway

And your hanging it up doesnt make sense, since ONLY IN RAP THEY SAY YOU SHOULD HANG IT UP IF YOU DONT HAVE NOTHING TO SAY...I have a problem with that because- i'm willing to bet the many Garth Brook Albums have the same subject matter on all of them, but NO ONES tripping on that...and how many times can BEYONCEsay shes in love or U2 wanna save the world??? So thats a weak argument in my book

WOULDNT IT BE GOOD IF BRITNEY SPEARS DINDT HAVE A CAREER

I mean the first major rap hit was ghostwritten lol so once again the culture was started on that type of steez
r&b , country and rock n roll do cover songs all the time and its NO big deal...its a different voice feeling the same way and trying to get a pointacross, so its all good

 

[x Buddha Bless x]

Bhudda - Once again your making a contridiction - ONE MAN CANT SAY I DONT WANT TO DO IT AND THEN the whole industry agree...and if it does happen that way and the dummies follow, then they were lost, confused or not sure of themselves anyway
You didn't really get what I was basically saying I meant that Ol Man Jigga was the last chance to make rapping past 40 popular. I alreadystated rappers who rap past 40 but dont get it twisted ppl will still say they should retire. If Im right you want ppl to stop saying older rappers shouldretire and thats never gonna happen. Theres no rule that says you must retire, these rappers can rap past 40 if they want to like I said some have been for amin now. The thing is you're really saying how come its frowned upon and thats what I replied on cuz of content and essentially rap being a young man'ssport. I aint make it that way. If Jigga had succeeded with KC things would be different, if he continued on that path after he failed with KC there would be achance of it still being popular and eventually ok but he gave up on it. I dont know what else you want, ppl will say w/e they want especially if they dontlike it. So to sum up ppl will say old rappers should retire if they want to but that doesnt mean old rappers will stop just they wont do as good mainstreamwise. I explained all that in my previous post.

I mean the first major rap hit was ghostwritten lol
And look where hip hop is now business wise, you talkin like I dont kno this #$%@ the Sugar Hill gang they aint no hip hop artists. Its clear thatformat aint survived that well up to now if you look at sales and they will get worse, much worse.

so once again the culture was started on that type of steez
r&b , country and rock n roll do cover songs all the time and its NO big deal...its a different voice feeling the same way and trying to get a point across, so its all good
Did you miss the part where I explained how hip hop is different from those other genres and that the lyrics are technically the rapper'sinstrument? What you say thats its ok in other genres holds no weight, hip hop is not those other genres and never will be. Also that whole part I was talkinbout keepin it real and the Brittney Spears example was towards somebody else who said that the whole "keepin it real" should be added to the list. Iwas not implying that its good that other genres dont keep it real and its good that B. Spears has a career, read it over man. You asking the same questions indifferent ways. Its almost like you want hip hop music to be a bunch of dudes who are fake, bite, and have ghostwriters. I dont want nothin to do with that.

Ghostwriting & biting will never be accepted in hip hop its just allowed because its for certain ppl to make money it has nothing to do with the musicexcept for the fact if they(some) didnt bite or have ghostwriters their music would be trash but then again if you look at the music today in hip hop a lot ofthe music sucks anyway and I assume they writin their shh so maybe some ppl shouldnt even pick up the mic.

 

[targiu23]

What about to get big you have to diss someone.

 

[triple homicide]

My beef with the rap game is "why da hell i gotta continue making club song after club song in order to get on?" I like what Joe Budden said aboutmaking club songs on da MM3 dvd.

Also, the word real...people have attached a whole different meaning to the word.

 

[flossb15]

bunch of dudes who are fake, bite, and have ghostwriters. I dont want nothin to do with that.
Hell nah - i dont want that, but the game is already fake - thats one of the problems i have with it...all this gun slinging and tony montana drugtype dealing...like when did you have the time to do this on the level you say you did it at???

I dont want biters in hiphop - but me and you have totally different meanings of whats biting and whats not, and we already discussed that

Ghostwriters - i really dont care in 2 cases 1) they give credit where credit is due ex... Diddy or Dre - you know they aint writing and its cool and 2) Theynot saying they the best ,BOW WOW, other than that i could care less if the music is good

At the end of the day its entertainment, i'm too old to take it as anything else but i still have good hopes for it...

 

[used to be rich]

First of all, why do the old rappers have to retitre, why cant there be mutual respect like in any other genre
For example in Country - Would you say anything to Willie Nelson if he wanted to suddenly drop an album?
or in Rock N Roll - i dont here One Republic dissing Aerosmith or U2 saying retire so that the new cats can eat
My Take:

This dilemma faced by most rappers is a result of their own doing.

Many of these rappers claim to fame is who they were and what they did before they started doing music. This is something we don't see in other genreswhere your talent level is what becomes your claim to fame. This is very important for several reasons. Your personal life will not always directly interferewith your music. Unlike hiphop, in which your personal life and street credibility can have definite adverse effects to your career. And this isn'tunjustified due to the fact that these rap artists are identifying with people who are really living the lyrics that the rappers rap about.

These rappers pigeon hole themselves, and the combination of this and not evolving creatively makes a very valid justification of people wanting them to hangit up after there time is done.

There's been a minority group of rappers who have managed to evolve with the game and continue to be creative. One example is Dre3000.

But too often the time comes when you have a rapper who's been saying the same exact thing in nearly the same way since they came out. And it gets to thepoint where really, what more can you say? Especially if you have progressed up the socio-economic ladder. At this point, the "My Gun Goes off,"I'll sell so many drugs" yada yada, your credibility is gone. Most likely the dudes who who once identified with with you, still respect yourcontributions, but they aren't trying to hear you rap about their life when you are far removed from it. I think a good sign of this is when an artist hasto use the facade of a concept album to justify rapping about things that are not real to him, therefore they don't exist.

Some people have mastered their craft, and they are good at what they do. I guess if it aint broke don't fix it right? Well something apparently has brokenbecause before certain artist didn't have to justify their albums. They just dropped an album and the people took it for what it was.

I don't think every rapper who's getting old should retire, because their fan base grows with them. But when you stop evolving creatively it may justbe time to enjoy the rest of your life in your beach chair.

Out of all the music genres, the measure of success, longevity, and stardom in hip-hop has the least to do with music.

That's why other music genres don't face these same issues.

And your hanging it up doesnt make sense, since ONLY IN RAP THEY SAY YOU SHOULD HANG IT UP IF YOU DONT HAVE NOTHING TO SAY...I have a problem with that because - i'm willing to bet the many Garth Brook Albums have the same subject matter on all of them, but NO ONES tripping on that...and how many times can BEYONCE say shes in love or U2 wanna save the world??? So thats a weak argument in my book
Riddle me this patna? How many Garth Brooks albums have you owned or listened to completely? Or are you just saying what you believe to be true. I'll keep it funky, I never used to listen to country music and I still don't, but I was kicking it with this white chick, and she vibed to it, so shegot me to listen to a few cuts. You probably have no clue to the amount of diversity some of those albums have. I mean the emotion, story telling, andsubject matter surpasses in my opinion about 80 percent of hip-hop. Not to mention many of these artist play instruments and sing. You can sing the same songwith the same lyrics in so many different ways. As far as hip-hop, besides the flow, there's nothing else that sets your voice aside.

And yeah Beyonce can be redundant, but the chick actually dances, performs, puts on a Tina Turner type of show. That's reason enough for her to haveextended longevity.

I'll just say it like this, there's a reason that thing's are the way they are. There's a reason that Celine Dion's old%@$! still sellsout venues. There's a reason that these old country fogies will blaze a sounscan chart.

And the reason just isn't hip-hop fans, it's hip-hop itself. However, it's still a relatively young art form, so we'll see how things evolve. But I hope you don't plan on rapping at the age of 65, because as of today, things aren't looking too bright.

Out of all the rappers today, I'd say that probably twenty percent (that's pushing it) have talent. But there's a bunch of no talent bums rapingthe art form.

Hell Disney employs some artists with more talent than 75 percent of rappers today. Just peep them High School Musical Sales.

 

[used to be rich]

Intentional Double Post.

My problems with rap:

I think it takes the least musical talent to be successful. And it's not because the artists aren't talented. But there is no reason to learn musictheory, how to play an instrument, for some how to write lyrics, because there is someone right there to do it all for you. If all you know how to do is writewords to a rhythm, you are nothing more than a glorified poet. A poet is an artist, but an artist isn't a musician.

With that said, Rap Concerts. Now some can be entertaining, especially when you know someone is going to act a monkey. But I'm not entertained by anentourage of dudes running up and down a stage and basically letting the crowd recite the lyrics while the rapper just waves his hands, or screams inconvulsions. I'll pay money to see Beyonce sing and dance and any other female entertainer that is nice on the eyes and will give you the potential for anipple slip. But I just can't get down with seeing a performance when the person isn't really entertaining #!#$. People pay money to see MichaelJackson because he could/can do things that not the average person can do. Same with Janet, and many others. People want to see something out of theordinary, something hard. But to me there is nothing hard or special about holding a microphone and nodding your head. Yes, some of these people may havegood communication skills, but that doesn't = entertainment.

This is what I really don't like about Rap music. There are a lot of "artists" who have become financial wealthy based on their before musiclife, and after music life. For example, Jay has become the average kid growing up in the 90's role model because they've seen him financiallyprogress. But dude came into the game with dope money. He was able to accomplish what Big Meech and Company couldn't. But why is it that some cats, somecats on this board as a matter of fact, will dismiss Meech as a no good drug dealer, but praise Jigga Man as Young Baby Jesus?

Now don't get it twisted. I'm not knocking drug dealers at all. And the initial point that I intended to make in the last paragraph is that, insteadof flaunting money and bragging about how you got it in an illegal way, why don't these Millionaires use the voice that they have to teach the youth somevalues, and how they too can make money without having to risk their freedom and life in the process.

Charles Barkley said he wasn't a role model, but he was. The same way TIP, Jeezy, Jay-Z, and Diddy are.

I'm not saying spread your wealth. That's your brotha, you made it on your own. But you've also managed to learn some legal aspects of money andhow to be legit with it. Why not give your time sharing the knowledge that you've soaked up in the process. Instead, these millionaires saturate the gamewith mental poison.

It's some dudes that could learn a lot from Dave Chappelle about Social Responsibility.

With all that said, I love rap music. Rap music raised me, but it was my mother and uncles that guided me.

 

[frankie calentino]

Id like to see a bigger focus on instruments and song composition.

 

[fortheloveofthegame8]

xBuddha Blessx ... I think you completely nailed the answer to his question. I couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[x Buddha Bless x]

Used to Be Rich is speaking some truth.

 

[digitalo22]

No one is really saying you HAVE to retire at a certain age, but the industry is a lot different now. So although older cats (legends) are still droppingmaterial, their sales these days pale in comparison to what they have achieved in their past, although they may still be dropping acceptable material (qualitywise). Is that proof they fell off? Not exactly, these days it seems like only gimmick rappers can achieve success in the industry while in the 90's therewas room for gimmick rappers AND quality product to succeed but the difference between let's say Jay-z and Wu-Tang is (or even Willie Nelson), at one pointJay-Z has officially retired and called it quits. Why exactly would someone do that? attention? sense of achievement? Wouldn't you want to play it safe notknowing where the future may take you? So in a way I would say cats pull the retirement card thanks to Jay-Z. Good music is good music period. If there areartists I feel aren't up to par, it has nothing to do with sales numbers or age so if I don't feel the content then there is plenty of material that Ican choose to listen to as opposed to telling people to retire.

My only real problem with music is the internet. The internet turned the industry to #%!@ with all the bootlegging that goes on, so now people who actuallylike music and would like to spend time making music with hopes of making money someday can't really afford to, beacause after all we have to eat. I knowthat applies to me and a lot of other people. It's either follow your passion for music and stay broke, or get your hustle on and put music on the backburner. That's why I got props for cats who do their thing simply for the love of it damn well knowing there probably will never be a big payoff, *%%* allthe gimmick mother$+$@%@%# ONLY after loot. You think Soulja Boy can create a CD where he plays ALL instuments, like Madlib does? If hip hop was a job whereresumes got reviewed prior to getting let into the game, then Souja Boy's App would have gotten laughed at and thrown in the trash and Madlib would have 5grammy's. It's a damn shame the way things work out sometimes but at the end of the day, I have plenty of material that I'm feeling, so I'mgood.

Biting=big no no. (I know some of ya'll consider it paying homage, whatev' I'll let that slide)
Sampling=ok