Up All Night

This Nas album has had my head spinning all weekend.
I have been thinking about statements made by Hov on Funkmaster Flex in the midst of the Jim Jones attack, Wayne’s comments, as well as Jeezy’s.

The issues this album is putting on the table are of the highest importance.
We must protect Hip-Hop.
Protect it from those who mean it harm and from those who are unwittingly damaging it.


When asked about Jones, Jay asked the simple question. “Who is Jim Jones”, and in essence ‘why do I have to answer to him.’ What has he [Jones] done to earn the right question me and my motives?
I thought the same thing when Wayne attacked Jay. Why should I listen to Wayne’s attacks? Not sarcastically, but seriously shouldn’t we make sure the people hurling accusations and making these proclamations are fundamentally qualified to do so.

Back to the Flex interview, Jay told Flex that we needed a Hip-Hop Board that would keep people like Jim Jones from attacking him. Obviously a self serving suggestion but one whose underlying idea I agree with.

People are running around claiming Hip-Hop and no one questions them. The term is thrown around unchecked. And although I am against censorship or cultural elitism there must be some system of checks and balances. Because without it Hip-Hop will become so diluted and exploited it will lose its power.

I look at it from a marketing standpoint. Hip-Hop is a brand. You must control your brand. You can’t have an open door policy with no policing. That is a recipe for disaster. The trick is to make users feel like producers while excluding interlopers and enemies. That does not exist in Hip-Hop. So you have people with no appreciation or knowledge of the culture’s history talking out of their ass. Spreading misinformation and discontent.

I am not saying you can’t speak your mind but if you are an MC who does not know about NWA, RUN DMC, KRS ONE or Too $hort I am simply not going to take you seriously. Just as I would not take advice from a tax lawyer who has not studied the new tax code. Or fill a prescription from an unlicensed pediatrician. The same way I only let CPA handle my books. There must be some way I can make sure you are qualified to practice and speak on your craft. The qualified have no reason to worry. The blowhards and posers should worry.

I need to make sure I am not giving too much credit to an MC who has no respect for A Tribe Called Quest. Make sure I am not going into business with a bunch of interns turned label owners who have never seen a P& L. Make sure the writer whose review I am reading is not the punk guy at AMG who got assigned to Hip-Hop because of budget cuts.

Which brings me back to the Wayne comments. He made those comments and his supporters never submitted any supporting evidence. His detractors never asked for it. We went immediately into a juvenile ‘he said/she said’ discussion. On some level we, as a community, should have chimed in on whether there were grounds for Wayne’s comments. And if so, what were they? Then moved to counterpoint from Jay.

Jeezy said Nas is not from the streets.
How did he arrive at that conclusion? Based on what facts?
We have to make people think before they talk. Because if we don’t the uninformed will be lead down the wrong path. Jeezy’s statement is a classic example. An 18 year old whose first introduction to Nas was Nas Escobar may agree with Jeezy. They may have no idea about Nas’s years in Queensbridge. And if Jeezy is spreading that misinformation, with the platform he has, that is a big problem. Someone has to check him.

The Hip-Hop Board