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| Rick Ross proclaims himself a boss |
It's a new year and 2012 is finally behind us. As I sit here in my office writing this article I'm reminded of what actually is behind us. Well, the whole end of the world thing didn't happen like many people thought is behind us. The death of the great Whitney Houston is also behind us. Speaking about death, there's a few things that I wouldn't mind seeing dying this year (2013). With that being said I will like to take this time to share my thoughts in this regard as it pertains to Hip Hop music and it's culture.
The first thing that I would like to see die this year is men and boys wearing skinny jeans. Sometimes I say to myself, how did we as a people get to the point where firm fitting jeans are OK. I mean, to see a woman wearing them isn't all that right either (for all my conscious brothers and sitters out there) but to see a man rocking them could and in my opinion has somewhat blurred the lines between what has now become acceptable behavior.
Speaking of behavior, I also would like to see some of your favorite websites slow down on all the street fighting videos. Most of which are videos of inner city youth beating each other down for little to no reason. I know people are attracted to sex,violence and rock and roll. So with that being said, I would like to see the mentality that dictates this behavior come to an end. This way if the fights never happen, the video phones can never catch these negative images. And if the images are never captured then the websites can't promote them.
Since we are talking about images. I would love to see the over played, over used and often praised drug lord depictions come to an end. Think about it, when drugs and the whole drug dealing element reared it's ugly head in Hip Hop, rappers where singing songs like" Dope Man" by N.W.A. This song portrayed drug dealers on the block doing what it is they do. Ultimately rappers took on this image and promoted this foolishness for years. Notable rappers like: The Clipes, Scarface, Spice 1, Biggie Smalls, 2pac, Mob Deep, Warren G, Ice T. and the entire Ruthless Records empire. That's right, Dr. Dre and Easy E are responsible for signing many of these so-called drug dealers/rappers. From Bone-Thugs-n-Harmony to 50 Cents both Dre and Easy have been benefiting from these types of images for years.
Now-a-days rappers have left the corner to become the so-called boss instead of the pusher. Remember, these are only images portrayed by the artist themselves." Most of today's rappers would never sell drugs now would they"? Which brings me to this point. Year after year rappers like Rick Ross can promote the same brand of drug cartel rap and people has continued to eat it up. His new project titled Mastermind promises to be filled with the same foolish imagery as illustrated by the promotional trailer.
Look I'm just saying enough is enough. I thought the only thing that you could get from selling drugs is being dead or in jail. If you're going tell street tales though-out your entire career- please tell the whole truth. Drug lords do die! And in 2013 I hope we will see the demise of this style of rap music.
Look I could go on for days in-regards to the things that I would like to see change in the world of music. All in all I just want to see a positive shift in the attitude and moral in our community. The people that listens to these artists and their music are very impressionable (even the so-called adults). Hopefully one day we the people can dictate the music rather than having the music dictate to us. Or is it the other way around???? Until the next time have some fun and get something done.
