Over the past 2 years, alot of various rap artists with skill and notoriety have rose to fame. I remember them coming from their hot tracks on mixtapes. Although, there was alot of shit goin on in the industry with less emphasis on lyrical talent and moreso "club bangers", there were many artist who had showed some signs of changin the game. I was sitting here thinking about the current state of hip hop and came to a realization. Every artist that was hot on mixtapes has had a GARBAGE album I'll give you some examples starting with the earliest:
Fabolous: Listen to some of his Triangle Offense freestyles and some of his mixtapes....then go listen to his 2(?) albums. Tell me you don't see the difference.
Joe Budden: Wether you hated him or liked him you can't deny that he was hot. Listen to The Best of Joe Buddens mixtape by Cutmaster C. Although, I thought his album was real deep (check the cut 10 Minutes and Calm Down) and I really dug the classic tracks on the album, it was a Joe Budden that varied from his mixtapes. We were expectin to get "The Jump-off" instead we got "Regular Joe".(which I don't think is bad but it kinda cut into his sales)
Cassidy: All I have to say is Freeway Battle. From the 100s of freestyles he's laid down on various mixtapes, you'd expect some straight hotness from the album. I felt like a dummy, running around disputing the fact despite his single "Hotel" was lollipop type commercial, his album would be full of mind bogglin punchlines. I wasn't expecting anything hot from the beat area because Swizz Beats isn't the most consisent producer out there. Two words comes to mind when you listen to his album: The Fuck? Man this has to be one of the most disappointing albums of the year. The first half of the cd is full of "I need a girl" type tracks that were redundant and boring. The next half is full of songs from mixtapes (Pop that cannon, Let me talk to ya, Blood pressure) and just filler tracks. I just wanna smack someone for even letting this garbage come out into stores..
Lloyd Bank$: Mixtapes were blazing. Especially Cassidy vs Lloyd Banks. Then I'm listening to his album. Now I'm one of the few that liked the G-Unit album, but Bank$' album was subpar than even that. What does that tell you??? (Actually now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure that 50 isn't stupid enough to let Bank$ get more shine than him because the masses will realize that 50 is garbage, and Lloyd is literally the best lyricist out of G-Unit.)
Jadakiss: D-block pretty much ran the mixtape scene during late 2003. After judging from his efforts on D-Block City the mixtape, I was greatly anticipating his album. Also his previous lp "Kiss tha game goodbye" had a decent showing. On the contrary, his new album sucks massive horse cock compared to his mixtape cuts. There are only about 5 cuts on the whole album worth listening to fully. Not even appearance from D-Block members....and even Eminem (aka the Great White Hype) could make this Jadakiss album hot.
Do you see the trend? Who makes the decision that you will spit your hottest lines on damned mixtapes and spit your most cookie cutter lines on your debut lp? The rap game is at an all time low. I don't even listen to the radio anymore because I don't "pop cris" and "party with video hoes all day". And I'm pretty sure most of the population doesn't either. The game has switched up from hood beats and ghetto anthems to pop songs and more reliability on production than actual lyrical talent and flow. It's actually sad when you see a bunch of white guys(ducks) in the mall walkin around spittin some of the lyrics to Slow Motion(not saying it's a good song, it sucks ass) and you wonder what the game has turned into. This commercial shit is not the essence of hip hop. I remember when rappin was more of an art form...than just a "Job". You actually had to have some talent to get signed. Tell me who the fuck signed The Ying Yang Twins?? Who the hell allowed Three Six to get airtime? You know the game is fucked up when 50 cent is supposedly the "hottest" rapper out. Anyway, does anyone else feel the same way I do? Any opinions on the matter?
Fabolous: Listen to some of his Triangle Offense freestyles and some of his mixtapes....then go listen to his 2(?) albums. Tell me you don't see the difference.
Joe Budden: Wether you hated him or liked him you can't deny that he was hot. Listen to The Best of Joe Buddens mixtape by Cutmaster C. Although, I thought his album was real deep (check the cut 10 Minutes and Calm Down) and I really dug the classic tracks on the album, it was a Joe Budden that varied from his mixtapes. We were expectin to get "The Jump-off" instead we got "Regular Joe".(which I don't think is bad but it kinda cut into his sales)
Cassidy: All I have to say is Freeway Battle. From the 100s of freestyles he's laid down on various mixtapes, you'd expect some straight hotness from the album. I felt like a dummy, running around disputing the fact despite his single "Hotel" was lollipop type commercial, his album would be full of mind bogglin punchlines. I wasn't expecting anything hot from the beat area because Swizz Beats isn't the most consisent producer out there. Two words comes to mind when you listen to his album: The Fuck? Man this has to be one of the most disappointing albums of the year. The first half of the cd is full of "I need a girl" type tracks that were redundant and boring. The next half is full of songs from mixtapes (Pop that cannon, Let me talk to ya, Blood pressure) and just filler tracks. I just wanna smack someone for even letting this garbage come out into stores..
Lloyd Bank$: Mixtapes were blazing. Especially Cassidy vs Lloyd Banks. Then I'm listening to his album. Now I'm one of the few that liked the G-Unit album, but Bank$' album was subpar than even that. What does that tell you??? (Actually now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure that 50 isn't stupid enough to let Bank$ get more shine than him because the masses will realize that 50 is garbage, and Lloyd is literally the best lyricist out of G-Unit.)
Jadakiss: D-block pretty much ran the mixtape scene during late 2003. After judging from his efforts on D-Block City the mixtape, I was greatly anticipating his album. Also his previous lp "Kiss tha game goodbye" had a decent showing. On the contrary, his new album sucks massive horse cock compared to his mixtape cuts. There are only about 5 cuts on the whole album worth listening to fully. Not even appearance from D-Block members....and even Eminem (aka the Great White Hype) could make this Jadakiss album hot.
Do you see the trend? Who makes the decision that you will spit your hottest lines on damned mixtapes and spit your most cookie cutter lines on your debut lp? The rap game is at an all time low. I don't even listen to the radio anymore because I don't "pop cris" and "party with video hoes all day". And I'm pretty sure most of the population doesn't either. The game has switched up from hood beats and ghetto anthems to pop songs and more reliability on production than actual lyrical talent and flow. It's actually sad when you see a bunch of white guys(ducks) in the mall walkin around spittin some of the lyrics to Slow Motion(not saying it's a good song, it sucks ass) and you wonder what the game has turned into. This commercial shit is not the essence of hip hop. I remember when rappin was more of an art form...than just a "Job". You actually had to have some talent to get signed. Tell me who the fuck signed The Ying Yang Twins?? Who the hell allowed Three Six to get airtime? You know the game is fucked up when 50 cent is supposedly the "hottest" rapper out. Anyway, does anyone else feel the same way I do? Any opinions on the matter?
