Hip Hop is Dead

I feel something is horribly wrong when a convicted felon with diamond teeth and a fourth grade education declares himself "best rapper alive".

Yes, Lil' Wayne, again I am calling you out.

No matter how many times, and how many interviews you stress that it simply "ain't about the money, fame, or the bitches" (by the way, we love that, really), your lyrics and over all presence say nothing more, or less.

What happened to hip hop?

By 1988 there was a new wave of musical expression. It was angry, violent, racist and above all; passionate. I feel rap music today has become effortless and lazy. There is a whole new different set of priorities and its all about product placement and money.

Groups like NWA and Public Enemy raised the bar for hip hop. They gave everyone a reason to be angry and to disrespect authority. It was punk rock for black kids.

Now? You have stale, monotonous "rap mogul's" such as Drake; who continue to stress how hardcore and tough they are, when, forgive me, Drake was on the Teen Nickolodeon sitcom Degrassi, where he played a handicapped high school football player for about three seasons.

Your street cred just plummeted below ground level my friend.

How do people forget Mos Def? Not only is the man multi talented and educated but he does everything with purpose and motivation. He was one of the main spokesmen for hurricane Katrina, has written and published spoken word poetry for the last ten years, acted in various roles from Broadway to HBO, yet he, god forbid is someone who MTV keeps under the radar.

We can congradulate Mos Def all we want, but he is not selling out arenas, stirring up controversy or going to jail for drugs and weapon possession, so mainstream media wants nothing to do with him.

Essentially, hip hop with purpose is costing us money.