We Gon' Make It

Ah, to be white and in Hip-Hop. Lord knows it hasn’t been easy for
white emcees, who’ve had to battle against the legacy of Vanilla Ice, the obligatory comparisons to Eminem, and, quite frequently, their own wackness in order to be recognized as legitimate Hip-Hop artists. Even those deserving of success (R.A. the Rugged Man, Bubba Sparxx, really no one else I can think of) continue to meet with commercial failure, despite the fact that the record buying public is largely white (apparently we prefer our cultural appropriation without the middle man). However, the production side of hip-hop is becoming a white man’s game. I suspect this is because more white people have the money to buy records, samplers, turntables, and music lessons. That, and they know they shouldn’t be rapping. Of all the crackers making slaps right now (Scott “I’m a Gangsta” Storch, the dude from The Runners, that guy who committed suicide) The Alchemist is the one killing it most consistently. On Prodigy’s new “mixtape” (cmon’ dunny, that shit is an album) Return of the Mac, Al laces some of the best production P has seen since The Infamous, giving “Hollywood Hav” a good reason to get back in the studio and cook up some more one-bar loops (ouch). Seriously though, these beats are rich, soulful and grimy as fuck, providing P with the perfect backdrop for his, uh, rhyming (hey, at least his voice is still dope). If Al keeps producing like this, he’s gonna be the next Premier; he’s already beating Preme at his own game (That Nike “Classic” Remix was nice, but let’s be real, it sounds like every other beat dude has produced in the last 10 years). With Preme’s seal of approval, and that of, apparently, all of the QB projects, Al’s gonna be around for a long time (after all, nothing grants legitimacy like the support of the hood.) So maybe there is hope for us crackers in rap after all. We’ve just gotta put down the mics and start paying for those piano lessons.


ps. In case you all were wondering, this is my first post on this site (and on any blog, for that matter). Big ups to Mike for letting me in. Hit me up with your thoughts, good or bad.
"I love the hate, gives me a new purpose."