Big ups to anyone who sees the hidden message in the hook. Remix of Mickeymao's track distractions. The beat is produced by Matt Blade,

Hip hop is dying. And yes, I know Nas has said that before, and his album of the same name created a bit of a stir, but nothing has changed, and those with an interest in the pop culture machine quickly sidetracked any real conversation about the subject to make it sound like Nas was hating on the south. I can not know Nas' true intentions with that album, whether he truly cares or it was a publicity stunt. But what I can do is interpret what I think hip hop is dying means.

There is a plague amongst artists. Dudes are coming into hip hop thinking of it as a quick way to make money rather than a combination of art forms. These dudes know nothing of the culture, nor anything about hip hop other than sometimes the producing/rapping side of things. These guys seem to think that getting signed to a record label, hitting the mainstream and making millions of dollars is the definition of success for an artist. They do everything possible to sound like all the guys you hear on the radio, neglecting to think about two things:

1)Nobody cares about you if you sound exactly like somebody else, because that guy is already on the radio. Why would anybody want to play you if they can play the real person instead. And 2) The labels have already manufactured an image for these superstars. I have a large amount of respect for the labels and the singers/rappers they work with, but these guys are not artists. They follow more of a science-business mix. They hone in on what sort of style they can sell, then they kick the machine into full gear and watch as people are bombarded with words and images telling them that a certain artist is hot. Then, the labels follow the formula to repeat. This isn't hip hop, this isn't art. You can photocopy the Mona Lisa all day long and it doesn't change the fact that art isn't your talent.

Yet, despite this, I still hear people telling me that you are not an artist if you haven't gotten signed. Then, when I challenge them on their views, they back it up by saying that they are correct because CEO's and radio personalities would agree with them. Wake up. Of course a CEO is going to tell you that you can only be legitimate if you work with them. Of course these guys will tell you anything to make you buy into their system. Even then though, your average wannabe rich rapper will still trust the system, and trust the CEO's and labels, who make money off exploiting people, while still buying into the don't trust the police bullshit. Police are there to try to keep the peace, yes there are bad apples, but for the most part, they are there to help you, while the CEO's are their to screw you. Yet, you still believe the CEO's? Again I must say it: wake up.

But again, I said hip hop is dieing, not just rap. Graffiti is dieing. The B-Boy is almost forgotten. The true art of turntablism has been pushed back underground, and even there it is harder to find in many places then it once was. Yet, none of this is discussed. All you hear is this bullshit about Nas saying the south is killing hip hop and the south saying Nas is jealous of their money. First off, that's a horrible attitude. Instead of denying being the decay of an art form like any true MC would, you get Young Jeezy and Lil Wayne on the radio talking about how Nas just wants their money. Second, no, the south did not kill hip hop. What has been hurting the rapping part of the art is how suddenly everybody wants to sound like the stereotypical south rather than sound unique, or sound like themselves.

This brings me to my next thought. The loss of originality, but unfortunately, I'm out of characters, ask me for the rest if you want to read the rest of this