Black and Ugly as Ever, However…

“First things first, I Poppa, freaks all the honey’s, dummies, playboy bunnies, those wanting money.  Those the ones I like, cause they don’t get nathan, but penetration unless they smell like sanitation.  Gar-barge I turn like door knobs.  Heartthrob?  Never, black and ugly as ever; however…”

Biggie is considered the G.O.A.T by many because of his brilliant
rhymes, impressive rhyme patterns and his visually vivid story telling
ability; everything else about him was a plus.  He was a true lyricist,
arguably the crème de la creme, during a time when artists fought
literally and figuratively for microphone supremacy, while allowing the
fans and their peers to anoint them “The King Of” based on their music
alone, as opposed to being self appointed by self proclamation based
solely on what one thinks of himself.

Though there appear to be a lot of “successful” rappers today if we
base it on the material possessions they flaunt and the sums of money
that’s too much to fold, perfectly placed to poke out of both front
jean pockets as seen in music videos; however, I wonder how many would
have existed during the time in hip hop when what a person rapped about
mattered?  Or better yet, I wonder if rap stardom was solely based on
an artist’s lyrical ability as it once was, which of today’s artists
would be a marquee name?

Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t fault the business aspect of rap
because it is a business (and everybody want to get paid), but it would
be irresponsible of me or anyone else not to acknowledge that the
commercialization of the music appear to have altered the motivation of
the artist, leading to the stagnation of the art.  And since those
individuals and corporations who are benefiting the most from the
commercialization of our music are not from our community, they don’t
feel a responsibility to our community.  So they exploit our community
(with our help) using the same vehicle we created to voice our feelings
about societal ills negatively affecting our community, which we used
to do so poetically.  Oftentimes, I recollect the day when rap stars
were born and not manufactured.

Read the rest of the story on AllHipHop

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