What happened to Rap music???

In 1995 I watched a riveting drama called, "Above the Rim". It dealt with a talented high school basketball star, who was torn between a straight laced path to the NCAA, and the lure of life on the streets. It starred Tupac, Marlon Wayans, and the dude from Cool Runnings.



No, not this guy

This guy.



This movie was pretty bad-ass, and the acting in it was excellent, most notably Tupac. Tupac stole the show with his gritty performance as Birdie, the tough talking gangster, who always wore really cool looking bandannas. The soundtrack of the movie was comprised of mostly Tupac tracks, which needless to say, had a profound impact on my life. I started living my life under a certain creed after that day. WWTD, or What would Tupac do?  The answer to that question was always, most indubitably something gangster, and although I was not a gangster I still wanted to pretend. I loved listening to Tupac. His lyrics were so genuine and raw. He rapped with such passion, that you couldn't help but get sucked into his songs. I bumped Tupac constantly, despite the fact that I didn't quite understand some of his lyrics. I remember thinking slanging rocks was just a hip way of saying skipping stones...

Thug Life

Rap music isn't the same anymore. Artists nowadays opt for simplified auto tuned nonsense, rather than socially aware, heavy-hitting poetry. Who knows maybe I'm just getting old, but I think rap sucks these days. Take Drake for example. Drake emerged from the mean streets of Ontario, and finally caught his big break at the age of 12, by being cast as the 6th most likable character on "Degrassi the next generation". Drake preaches chivalry, and how men need to respect women, despite calling them bitches constantly, contradicting his entire thought process. He also coined the phrase YOLO. If that's not enough to dislike someone, I don't know what is.

Sidenote: If you don't know what YOLO means, it stands for You only live once. It's utilized by today's youth to justify idiotic and reckless behavior.





30 star tattoos on my face YOLO







Drake is the protege of Lil Wayne, who along with his own collection of moronic looking face tattoos, has a nasally rap delivery that ENT's would best describe as Acute Sinusitis. For people who don't know much about rappers, he's the stupid looking dude who comes on ESPN's First Take from time to time, to argue with Skip Bayless about Tim Tebow.



Umm...Sports

Wash your face...

What's with these two? This is popular? This is worse than Kanye. Not old Kanye, but new Kanye. The 808's and Heartbreaks Kanye, not the College Dropout Kanye. Shutter Sunglasses Kanye, not spitting it Through the Wire Kanye. You know what I'm talking about. There just aren't good rappers anymore ( Lupe Fiasco being the exception). Instead of Biggie and Tupac, we have Souljah Boy, Plies, Tyga, Gucci mane, and others I don't even feel like naming.

At this point you might be thinking,  Haters gonna hate. Well, if that means, intelligent people are going to be annoyed by your stupidity. Then Yes, haters are most certainly going to hate.

It pisses me off that Tupac is dead, even though he is most definitely still alive, but you know what I mean. The rap game lost an icon back in 96'. An icon that will never be replaced.



RIP