Everybody has placed their bid for the artist that is going to “win” on September 11. The Kanye v. 50 hype is a common discussion. Music heads (i.e. BlindI) are gunning for the Louis Vuitton Don, but there are a lot of people on Team 50. I’m wearing a Ye’ jersey of course, because it’s all in good fun, but I’ve been trying to figure out why this whole thing is annoying me. Then a light bulb went off.

Instead of worrying about who’s album is going to be dope the focus nowadays is on who is going to sell more. All that does is reinforce the sell sell sell by any means(or by any bullshit) notion rather than putting the pressure on rappers to deliver. It’s a true example of quantity over quality.

That mentality is appropriate for today’s music consumer market. Why? Because we all think we are A/R for a music label. Non-industry heads are tracking the Billboard and Soundscan charts like our check depends on it. Who gives a f**k who sells more? It doesn’t go toward our debt. It’s a mere ego stroke for a rapper that wins and a reflection of their demographics’ buying power. And that’s where it stops for the average Joe.

Publicity stunt style, if 50 loses he is not going to execute a play-play retirement because of Kanye. Maybe he’s already considering retirement and will skate out the biz under the competition umbrella. And if he wins….NOTHING. Exactly my point.

The priorities have shifted. I know the quality music climate has fizzled out, but the fans are different. They no longer cop the album in the first place, but if so it’s normally a bootleg. The experience of running to the store, buying the album and hurrying home to open it up is damn near nonexistent. Remember listening parties? Well equipped with your fellow music heads, liquor or another substance of choice, a couch and/or lawn chair and a NEW ALBUM. A track-by-track set and actually looking at the album insert to see who produced. Caring about the samples that were used and seeing how well the producer flipped the original.

Now folks just want to play music exec rather than worry about what really matters: DID YOU WASTE YOUR $$$? Some of the best albums in the world “flopped” according to today’s standards. Chew on that. I am one of few that doesn’t spoil the albums I am excited about so I can get my Tuesday release thrills.

So I’m gonna do that with Kanye on Sept. 11. No bet placed. Nothing invested in their battle but a smirk. Popping the CD into the boom box like it’s 1995. If you’re not a music exec poser holler at me. There’s room for you on the couch.

Am I Supposed To Like Hip-Hop, If Hip-Hop Doesn’t Like Me? How do I call myself a womanist if I purchase records that call women bitches and hoes? And, as my comrades will tell you, I’m not the one listening to 50 or UGK or Lil Sambo. But even the artists who have distanced themselves from the mainstream when it comes to talent and content find common ground with their “gangsta” counterparts when it comes to disregard and disrespect for womanhood.

But please believe, I know it’s not the music. It’s the men. I shouldn’t be shocked to hear Kanye and the rest regarding women with less reverence than they show to a piece of jewelry. I can’t be surprised at the rappers, ’cause this is exactly what goes on in the streets. Is it art imitating life or vice versa? My theory is that it’s a bit of both and that the industry is designed to oppress and exploit the Black, Brown and poor. Thus, misogynistic music is always gonna find it’s way to the airwaves.

To hell with the rappers. We need the real men to change the game. Y’all are killing the sisters, for real. Black dudes, Latinos, White guys….everybody needs to come correct with the women and do it NOW. And if you want to be a positive person, you need to surround yourself with positive things. Music has hypnotizing effects; if you put “bitches and hoes” in your brain 24/7, what sort of output do you expect?

Maybe I’m being naive to expect men, especially Black ones (oooohhhhhh) to give enough of a damn about women to make some changes. But I, along with my girls (who are not trifling, gold-digging nor chickenheadish) are just fed up with the way we get treated these days. Cats seem to think we all want their money (even those who got none)or that we are just objects to be played with and set to the side, or that our feelings are irrelevant. From the club, to the bedroom to the streets, it seems that a lot of fellas think that lifestyle you see in this videos is real. Stop letting Viacom and Russell and some ignorant-ass rappers do your thinking for you. Women are the ones that carry your seeds and all the negativity we are shown will be reflected in our future generations.

And before some of y’all start wining, yes, there are some bitches and hoes in the world. But like Jeru said “a queen’s a queen and a stunt’s a stunt; you can tell who she is from the things she wants”. Identify the good women, isolate the hoes and keep it moving.

This is kind of an obscure one in the memory. But this is when I actually liked the Peas.

DAYUM AMY!!!
Amy Winehouse and her drug addict husband Blake Fielder-Civil are in grave danger of emulating tragic stars, Sid Vicious and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen, according to the singer’s father-in-law. Giles Civil, the step-father of Miss Winehouse’s 25-year-old husband, believes that the couple will kill themselves if they continue to drink excessively and take drugs.
Speaking just days after the couple were pictured bruised, bloodied and battered following a vicious argument in a top London hotel, the well-spoken school head has pleaded with them to get help.

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