CDBurns

LOL!!!!!! Shut that down quick. I don't have anything more intelligent to add to this one. Cynique nailed this one.

We are homeschooling our children and the program "Handwriting Without Tears" is excellent. In regard to rap, everyone can do whatever they like. That doesn't mean they do it well which is why I used the two videos above. I've gone over the reasons why it is art including the fact that it has been integrated into Broadway, Lincoln Center jazz, and performances at the Moma and other art galleries. Not that it requires validation from you, but when Nikki Giovanni and other great poets acknowledge it as art... You get my gist. I think the last two Roots albums are solid concept albums. Who in music still makes concept albums? Hardly anyone. I had a music professor tell me I should feel about spoken word they way you and he feel about rap and music. He said that my training should make me hate spoken word people who call themselves poets because they have no understanding of versification, line length, meter, etc. He has a point... But to take things away from the craft created by people who haven't been trained is to create an elitist almost isolated form of art. This is the reason jazz almost died, its the reason gospel is almost gone, traditional gospel, and its definitely the reason literature and other art forms are suffering. All of this is not to convince you, it's to conclude my participation in this. Rap is an art form akin to a gateway drug that leads to other things. Rap allowed DJ Quick to now produce RnB. Rap has allowed Jay Z to be featured in the MoMa and write songs about Picasso. Rap allowed The Roots to infiltrate nighttime television and create skits like Black Simon and Garfunkel. Rap allowed David Banner to use his Masters degree to develop plans of action to improve Mississippi. Rap has created Justin bua as a street graf artist who is now a respected artist in elite circles. The same with Mr cartoon. These are the things I love about rap. I love that kids are trying it and doing it. That doesn't diminish it. It keeps it alive. It just has to find its way out of this corporate phase. The art is only 40 years old. People don't get their own lives right in this amount of time.

No one really takes any art form very serious anymore. Which is why book sales are sinking, music sales are not very strong and the purchase of art is now being subsidized by internet auctions on eBay or random websites. Your point of view is everyone's point of view about most things. When I look at people around me they don't like or respect much of what is around. Hence the US lags behind other countries in the creation of art careers. It's a sad state. I'm passionate about Hip Hop, books and art, so I go out of my way to buy all of it. I'm sure you have something you make sure you buy...maybe. My dollar is my vote for the importance of things I think should be important. My blogs and responses promote these things. That's the best I can do and I enjoy it. That's what great about life. To answer your question about whether dancing and emceeing make the world better, yes it does. Crumping and clown dancing prevents gangbanging, just like jookin in Memphis keeps some kids off the street. I've seen dancing unite cultures. I've seen rapping inspire a new generation of entrepreneurs and turn on mental lights in my classroom. Hip hop isn't for you and that's just fine.

I'm finding a lot of events are not what they could be. I also find that most of these things are great money makers for those involved and nothing more. They don't have any real numbers or research to verify the success or failure of a campaign. It simply is regurgitation of the same info. It's like I used to tout Gary Vaynerchuk as a social media guru... Then I realized he was a millionaire before he began and that the majority of the social media "success" stories all tend to come from the well of more established media people, if you catch my drift. Do you need social media, yes. Does it help build a brand? Yes but certain forms are not very good or as advertised. If you know this you start to win a little bit.

Lol at the culture vulture... Is that hip-hop inspired? Lol, I agree with Cynique on Smiley. He is simply another guy with a platform that is often underutilized and without a real focus. His covenant was a good idea, but ultimately stalled probably like his book company. Dancing doesn't hurt him as he doesn't really stand for much anymore.

I am definitely not mad at him for taking the check. Doing so didn't hurt anyone at all. But it definitely shows how Hip-Hop continues to permeate everything in the world...

I was a subscriber to BE. One of my virtual mentors, Paul C Brunson just earned the host spot on the Our World syndicated show for BE. With that said, I stopped subscribing to BE because the magazine didn't really speak to me. The various "stories" or examples used to discuss debt or entrepreneurship always seemed to feature people/couple who made six figures and were facing debt around 20-30K at the worst. I kept a lot of those magazines and I still look in there to make a point. There was hardly ever any information for first generation college grads who had done everything right, but through no fault of their own ended up in serious debt from college and from actually attempting to eke out a living. My wife and I eventually got fed up with the lack of advice for starting a business with nothing, which is what I eventually did with my sneaker company and online shop. It doesn't surprise me in the least that they are taking the corporate position. As far as I'm concerned that's what they've always done. They are just staying the course. It's unfortunate that you didn't have a voice, but that pretty much sums up why I no longer subscribe. How is that you end up at the conference and not on the panel? It always seems to me that the people who really need to be heard, aren't given the platform. They have to take the platform or build their own to reach the masses.

I guess he's attempting to lose weight Troy. Dancing is an incredible workout, lol. Seriously, he can't be taken seriously as a journalist if he dances? Hmmm, I don't know. Dancing doesn't diminish his ability to write or report, does it undermine his credibility to Black folks? Probably not. I didn't even know he was doing this until you posted. I tend to think Dancing is more of a "their" reality tv show. I've never watched a season and I don't know anyone who has. Let the brother get a check, HA.

Not quite accurate. Mos Def, Talib, Common, Black Thought are all ten times better than Lil Wayne (this is subjective of course) but most people realize that the conscious emcees are also better lyrically. It really is a case of commercialization and mainstream music being promoted at the expense of better emcees. This song gets 1000 more plays on mainstream radio Than this song: Let's be serious... which song is better. Hell which song can you decipher the lyrics? LOL! The consicous rappers are all better. Oddly enough T.I. is not "conscious" rappers, but he makes more positive anthems than most people. He has a great amount of balance. He can get ratchet and drop some very good songs. All of these emcees have club bangers as well positive stuff, but the problem is the songs are not being played equally. It's like shelf space at the book store, if gangsta lit is selling then you will see gangsta lit on the tables while books that are more literary languish.

It definitely does. But this one really defines the co-option... what's worse is Busta Rhymes actually participated in the new one. smh

Okay the easy way to update the AALBC page is to give you the Amazon page. http://www.amazon.com/Christopher-D.-Burns/e/B004WTS8SG/ It's about as current as it gets with the correct links to each book I've written. An excerpt of something I've written that has broad appeal would be the One Hour To Wealth book, but I really want to push Archie's Psalm because there aren't any Black coming of age stories for featuring Black boys. I have business lectures but not really any book trailers or the like. But here are a couple of websites from when I was going to get started working on my writing again: http://sheliagoss.com/2012/08/23/archie%E2%80%99s-psalm-by-christopher-d-burns/ http://joeypinkney.com/5-minutes-5-questions-with/5-minutes-5-questions-with-christopher-d-burns-author-of-archies-psalm.php The most recent publication is the non-fiction paperback, One Hour To Wealth. But since I've never really pushed any of the books they are all "new". I would like to build the brand and without using too much of your time, set me up a package and I'm ready to get started.

I don't complain about commercialization as much as I do about the pushing of one sound into the mainstream. 25 years ago you would hear Public Enemy, Kwame, Big Daddy Kane, X Clan, Kool G Rap, NWA and the Geto Boys on all on the same radio station. You had balance. Today, there isn't any balance, so when you hear a person who loves Hip-Hop address the commercialization of it, that pertains to the repetitious songs that clutter the airwaves and leave people like Common or Talib to streaming or to be found by seeking out a different form of music. The only thing you get on mainstream radio is Lil Wayne and it's not because the beats are the best of the crop, it's literally being forced on kids. (Lil Wayne is just an example, you can insert Two Chainz or Young Thug or any of the commercialized stuff). Kids don't even know a song like How To Kill God is available to them. It used to be WBLS or Hot 97 or whatever radio station would have an hour a night dedicated to local or other styles of Hip-Hop. Those shows are gone. This is obviously a problem with Clear Channel's control of the airwaves. So commercialization is bad because of this. No one who loves and admires Hip-Hop is saying that they don't want Young Thug, they are saying we want more choices. We want a Roots song along with a Lil Wayne song... not Lil Wayne all damn day. Let me put this in a way even you will probably agree with. When you watch VH-1s or MTVs countdown there is pop, soul, rap and every genre except country represented. When you watch BETs countdown it's pretty much a hoochiefest and bunch of the exact same sound. So kids watching BET only have one image to aspire to while the kids watching VH-1 aspire to be guitar players, singers, rappers or use all types of instruments in reaching for a career in music. All the BET kids see is a dude hopping around on stage using "witty, puns". Mos Def plays the Timpani throughout the song Quiet Dog while he raps. Was this video played on mainstream radio? No, neither was the video. The Roots play their own instruments, but none of their videos make the BET rotation so the BET kids don't know that rappers actually play with live instruments. The only person kids may have seen is Kendrick Lamar performing with Imagine Dragons, but people don't realize he has a band! (At least he is a rapper who has something to say with his party songs) When something is controlled by corporate america we know the outcome is never positive. Since I am acting as the voice of the Hip-Hop crowd I'm telling you right now that we don't think there have to be standards. What we want is equality in the presentation of the music. In the past when you had Two Live Crew you also had Public Enemy. Kids and adults (you Cynique) today can't tell you who the conscious rappers are because they aren't being introduced to them although these artists are selling records and shows and are not really underground at all. (I do have to say that Lecrae is at the top of the charts, but if you turn on BET his video isn't being played and it definitely isn't on the radio. That is the issue here and this is what we want as the standard: equality.) Whenever I've addressed any of the commercial artists I said I personally don't like them, that doesn't mean they aren't rap/Hip-Hop, I just draw the distinction for the purpose of saying that the music being made is easily tossed to the side. it's disposable. To this day It Take a Nation of Millions is still thought of as a groundbreaking record, not just by Hip-Hop heads but by anyone who reports on music. Will Lil Wayne be thought of the same way in 25 years? Probably since kids aren't being introduced to Mos Def or Pharoahe Monch. I've never said that certain songs are not authentic.. ever. Don't put that on me. I said I don't like it and it's wack. I can't claim authenticity for an artist. I can only say it's wack. P.S. Hip-Hop is only as edgy as Rock and Roll once was. Once again we are discussing a new artform that is still only a few decades old. We are just now beginning to see elderly Hip-Hop artists. What I find interesting is this conversation probably couldn't take place about any other music genre which speaks to the influence and power Hip-Hop has (or it should have).

I definitely think you will see that if I get to work, lol. I'm not saying that in education Hip-Hop or using rap will make things better, I'm saying the disconnected and indifference to the music leads to a separation between teacher and student. We both know there are alternative methods in teaching and that a diversified approach is always required, but there is something amazing when a kid feels like what they love is important and connected to an educational tool. Does it have to be this way? Yes, this generation is not as focused and they are distracted, to keep their attention Hip-Hop is definitely a great tool. My instruction though comes from a very strict teacher who taught me poetry in a very strict and formal way. I have found that the foundation of all literature is poetry and because of Hip-Hops closeness to poetry some serious connections can create a solid tool for improving literacy. I do agree the term is used so much that it makes it difficult to discern what is or isn't Hip-Hop, but isn't that evidence of how influential the culture is? In regard to it being for young adults, I think it is, but as the artists grow up it's changing and shifting. I responded to your comment on my site with what I think fits perfectly here. You asked if it was worth saving. This was my response: "It is definitely worth saving. Bonz Malone once said on a De La Soul album that Hip-Hop is the only music genre that creates jobs for "mfs" that don't even love it." He's not right in making that statement, but his point is very good. We have to save it because it is the most profitable creation (outside of the internet) in the last 40 years. Hip-Hop is beginning to take back what belongs to it, but it will be a long process. I think The Roots on Latenight is a gigantic step towards bringing balance back to the culture. Their active participation in creating a discussion on the culture is expanding because of their status. Questlove has had a NYT bestselling book. Talib, with Pharoahe Monch and 9th Wonder have formed a collective named Indie500 #Indie500. This will begin to shift some control back to the artists I think. 2 Chainz's second album was a flop, which is a good thing. His art is about nothing and does nothing. While a lot of the new releases are dominating the airwaves the stuff isn't selling, but Kendrick Lamar and J Cole are both getting set to release more Hip-Hop that is vital and important. While it seems that Dr. Dre founding a school at USC is not really beneficial to the Hip-Hop community, it shows the growth of the culture and maturation. That's a good thing. Just like the celebration of Nas' Illmatic 20 Years being given a black tie performance at the Lincoln Center with a full orchestra also shows that the change in the air. It's up to my generation of Hip-Hop to begin resting control away from the corporate powers and that is happening as we speak. It will take time, but it's happening. A very good sign of this is rapper Lecrae releasing a chart topping crossover album. The guy is a really a gospel rapper! Even Cash Money, who I don't really care for, is one of the best business models in Hip-Hop. If they could take the effort they place into literature and actually change some of the stuff they release, the change would happen faster. Sorry about the long response, but I'm optimistic." In regard to West and Dyson, I tend to place both in the section of people capitalizing on the culture and somewhat overdoing it. There isn't a right way to do whatever you want to do, but when I say use it in education, my essays I started on my site that you read one of, is actually the parts of a book that I published with my students at a local high school. The book was called Redefining The Labyrinth: http://www.cbpublish.com/?s=Redefining+the+labyrinth These students are of the Hip-Hop generation. What I did was take a lot of commentary from rap and we looked at older essays from Shadow and Act and by writers from the Harlem Renaissance. The students then had to create commentary that addressed social issues ala early Hip-Hop. They took it one step foreward and made the title of each chapter an allusion to a song in Hip-Hop. Long story short, Hip-Hop is associated with young people, but I think as we move along we will begin to see the development of more Last Poets and Gil Scotts out of Hip-Hop. We will also see more control by the late 30 to early 50s crowd in the next few years. I just feel that things are going to shift.

I need a bit of guidance. When I first had my page placed on your site I was at least actively thinking about writing as a career. I was still coaching and teaching then though so I never really capitalized on it. Now I'm 5 books in and I've never done anything towards a writing career and I know the books are good. I'd love to work with you on building a plan. I run a business so I know that there are costs involved, I just don't know what to promote or how to begin. I'm ready to get started.

I don't have any essays about the mores or values in Hip-Hop, that's a good idea though. R&B is a title, Hip-Hop is definitely a lifestyle and a culture. Hip-Hop, as Troy would state, began with Kool Herc and has its roots in dancehall toasting and the DJ. As it began to develop, it was not about just the music, but the Graffiti, Turntable techniques, Rap and Dance. Those things associated with it became synonymous with a particular segment of the community. When you dressed a certain way, spoke a certain way, drew a certain way, etc, people automatically identified it as belonging to Hip-Hop. It didn't matter that the artform was born in New York, the things associated with it were automatically recognizable anywhere. I do tend to get personal in regard to Hip-Hop so hearing that it is overrated always amazes me. I care that you don't give a damn, because I think as a writer Hip-Hop has a lot to offer to the literary world. I've been able to do some incredible things utilizing Hip-Hop in the classroom. It has allowed me to connect to my students in a way many of my older peers just haven't been able to... I don't hesitate to say that because of the indifference and disdain for the music by older teachers this has contributed to a lot of the problems in education (not all obviously, but a lot of the communication is broken down. Especially in regard to Black kids and literature). I was posting a web book on my site, but I got away from posting it and working on it as I began to launch my sneaker company. I avoid putting a lot of links on Troy's site because I don't want people to leave his site and move around. I'm sure he would thump me upside the head for thinking like that though, lol. Here is a link to some of those pages I've written: http://www.cbpublish.com/winter-in-hip-hop-essays-and-thoughts-on-the-problem-in-hip-hop-a-web-book/ http://www.cbpublish.com/winter-in-hip-hop-track-2-intro/ http://www.cbpublish.com/winter-in-hip-hop-track-3-and-it-goes-a-little-something-like-this/ http://www.cbpublish.com/winter-in-hip-hop-track-4-years-ago-a-friend-of-mine/ Here is an old paper I wrote about Gil Scott and his influence on Hip-Hop: http://www.cbpublish.com/get-to-know-in-honor-of-gil-scott-heron/ I think taking some time and hanging out on a few websites might help a bit with looking at Hip-Hop in a different light. Do you know Hip-Hop is at the forefront of bringing Afrobeat to the masses? Femi Kuti works with Questlove of the Roots. The Roots basically established the first site on this site. Hip-Hop, the people in the culture, are doing some very good work, important work. www.okayplayer.com http://ambrosiaforheads.com/ http://themusicsnobs.com/ These are some very good sites to look at in regard to Hip-Hop. I hope this helps some.

Okay I'm about to bid on this in the next day or so, but my problem is what to promote... I can't pass up a deal.

Still think that's a dope song, but this was pretty corny, lol.

Cynique below culture is defined. So the obvious answer to your facetious question is yes. the quality in a person or society that arises from a concern for what is regarded as excellent in arts, letters, manners, scholarly pursuits, etc. 2. that which is excellent in the arts, manners, etc. 3. a particular form or stage of civilization, as that of a certain nation or period: Greek culture. 4. development or improvement of the mind by education or training. 5. the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group: the youth culture; the drug culture. In regard to my sensitivity, you say potato... I call it giving the conversation more depth especially since Troy's message board is indexed and used as search material for the search engines. I feel it's my duty to provide a completely different perspective on Hip-Hop in this exchange. I'm okay with accepting this task. I have done so in the classroom and outside of the classroom and it has enabled me to have really good discourse with people younger than me who only know mainstream artists. Everything to me is an educational moment. My time spent on Troy's board is a part of the one hour a day I get to leave the business world alone and do what I really like to do which is write and talk about topics I love. I love music. This is not pining for validation. I've been writing essays about this topic for years without sharing it or trying to attain an audience. I wrote those essays because I thought it was needed so if anyone ran across them it was available to read. I tend to get invested in conversations because everything is fodder for my own blog and writing. It's a good thing. I think what happened with my response to you is your indifference (at the end, not early on which you basically addressed genres and music in general) is such a typical thing with older people that I lumped you into that category and wrote you off based on your ho hum response, and your much ado statement did kind of irritate me (+1 Cynique, lol). Once again, I pick and choose what to respond to based on how it will help me generate content for my blog and how it piques my interest level. I do appreciate this exchange and forum.

Cynique, before I wrote a word you and Troy were simply having a hatefest on Hip-Hop. Neither of you took the time to try and define it, but you both were giving the culture the blues. Your idea that it is much ado about nothing, is exactly the problem that creates a disconnect between this generation and the Civil Rights generation. The dismissive tone leads me to think that you wouldn't even spend your time attempting to reach a kid who only understands and listens to hip-hop or even an adult who only listens to Hip-Hop. Which means that we don't have a connection being made between the generations. For the record, Hip Hop is a culture. I assumed that you knew that consisted of 4 facets DJing, B Boying, Graffiti and Rapping. For the sake of discussion Hip Hop is rap music. Boom, there it is. There is your simple answer. Now Troy go back and reread what I wrote about those artist. I said that many of your singers today who are held in high regard were born from Hip-Hop. In other words, without the Roots, there wouldn't be a Jill Scott. D Angelo was a part of the Soulquarians and was a writer and producer in Rap. Erykah Badu was a rapper first and a 5%. I didn't say they were Hip-Hop I said they were born from it. I also gave countless examples of Hip-Hops influence on culture and genres, which neither of you took the time to address and talk about. Troy let's be serious, do you think I overlook the negative aspects? Why would I sit and debate or talk about the negative when you guys seem to have a very good grasp on the negative aspects? That would be simply talking and adding to the same conversation, which accomplishes no insight into a new point of view. When I say Modern Classic it is in regard to rap. I think what Ras Kass did is worthy of mentioning and discussing. The beat is banging. A rap classic would be Rapper's Delight, my use of modern was to state that it deserves attention. I should have clarified myself there. I do apologize. I also need to clarify that when I say Hip-Hop in regard to rap that I think of Hip-Hop as a more vital and important art than rap. How can I make this distinction? Easy, this is something that everyone in the culture does automatically and we know that we are analyzing what is being said, how it's being said and if it carries any weight or relevance on social issues or a very uinque sense of wordplay. If I've said once, I've said it several times throughout my commentary, mainstream rap is shitty and sucks. Some underground rap sucks. This is the same with every music genre, but no one talks about any other artform with such venom. Cynique I don't think you are interested in me bringing up the positive aspects because you don't care about the music at all and you don't think it's music. It's just talking. That's fair. Troy, you keep bringing me back to the negative that you said I am overlooking. I've written a series of blogs about the mysoginistic and negative influence of Hip Hop. I've gone as far as stating that if Hip-Hop fixed itself, Black people become stronger. But what good would it do this conversation if I simply restated the negative aspects here along with what has already been posted? You would have a message board that simply regurgitates the same position over and over and where would the fun be in that. I repeat, if you say Pop music sucks, we can start this again and I will ultimately take the opposite position to what I see as the majority. I love music. Take a look at the Get To Knows on my blog and you will notice that my choices run the gamut from Country, to Pop, to Jazz. I am simply fighting for my position here so that there is an alternative to the same rhetoric. BTW, the Dej Loaf is wack, lol and it is contemporary and popular, but that bring us back to the discussing of how corporate America rapes our culture.

I think what is being discussed here is whether Hip-Hop has added value to the musical cannon of Black art. My answer is yes. What you seem to be saying is Hip-Hop hasn't improved or generated jobs or a livelihood for those that created it. Which is a completely different discussion that moves us towards analyzing the corporatization of Black art and the co-opting and stealing of culture. No Black musical artform has sustained where it was created. Detroit is a broken city. Motown didn't save it. Memphis is a broken city and Stax is finally being redeveloped by White Memphis; before it didn't save South Memphis. Harlem is gentrified and wasn't saved by Hip-Hop. Kansas City, New York and Oakland weren't saved by Jazz, but white people support the music at a higher rate than Blacks, just as in Hip Hop, right? So my view isn't romanticized at all, it's based on the positive aspects that Hip-Hop has generated in a very short time. Some of Black musics best artists in the last 30 years evolved from Hip-Hop: Erykah Badu, D'Angelo, Musiq, Anthony Hamilton, Jill Scott and this list of impressive and very gifted performers has grown and continues to grow with groups like Foreign Exchange and Zo! I've already given examples of how Hip-Hop influenced and shaped Broadway plays and what you call blight and what many others called or thought of as blight has developed into Banksy and a new artform labeled street art and is given credibility by museums in LA and NYC. Hell even Jay Z has performed at the Moma. Has Jazz done that and sustained? Not really... I would even say that Jazz has been resurrected by Hip-Hop. I love Jazz and have an extensive collection, but to be honest, my mother didn't bring me to Jazz. Hip-Hop did. Had Miles Davis not made Doo Bop, I may not have ever head of Miles Davis! (If Miles found Hip-Hop valid enough to experiment, excuse me if I state that Nicholas Payton can beat it talking about something he obviously doesn't understand outside of the musical or lack of music he thinks Hip-Hop has. I also think Brandford Marsalis would have something to say also since he created Buckshot LeFonque and also along with Terrence Blanchard used it on Spike lee's Mo better Blues soundtrack with Guru). Mystic brew the sample for Electric Relaxation by Tribe Called Quest brought a new generation to Jazz (well this happened with other Hip-Hop cuts but you get the idea). It also led to Jose James being signed by Blue Note and Blue Note releasing albums with serious Hip-Hop influence (just to bring up a new artist again). Has gospel done that? Not really. Rock has, but not to the same extent. Hip Hop has built up other musical artforms, not torn them down. So is this romanticized? No it's real. I can't stress enough that I want Hip-Hop to be greater and create economy and jobs. I wish there was a retirement plan for the emcees and djs, but like old blues and soul artists, it seems that all of Black music tends to die penniless and unloved if we focus on the negative and that is what it seems that you and the others here want to do. Soul Food is a great track on Cadillactica. In regard to not wanting to download the track from Ras, in another board you say the new generation is dumbed down. So instead of touting the fact that Ras Kass is introducing young people to new information and getting them to look up and use the internet for more than just Facebook, you say "I listened once and moved on," that's you. You are a well read person who uses Cress Welding just as casually as a verb! Everyone isn't like us and I find it inspiring that the emcees are still working hard. I also love that the culture of Hip-Hop is reaching across cultures and bringing dance and art to different people. I guess we are coming to an end on this post, and I have to say that I love the engagement. I may pull these posts and create a new series of blogs on my own site. I do hate mainstream rap and how it dictates the dialogue though. In regard to who I would like to see live? The last concert I went to was Sade and before that the legends of Hip-Hop. I did blog posts on both. I love music and while I would obviously want to see Stevie Wonder, why would I even compare an emcee to a man who has a catalog of work like that? I'm surprised you'd even ask that question... Concerts are great, but I'm in my car more than I am anywhere except my home and I listen to all types of music. If you were to make the statement "Jazz (country, rock, pop) as a whole is wack" we would be into another long back and forth. Which is okay with me.

The only thing you have on me in regard to Hip-Hop is that you were birth in the area and had direct access to it. That is something I simply can't replicate so by default, your experience is more vital, but not any more authentic or better than mines. You stated that you didn't like it in the original post and that you preferred Gregory Porter and other artists. I took that as your decision to not support the art form. Hence my analysis. I never said that Hip-Hop doesn't have any negatives, quite to the contrary I stated that it had failed to create a connection to the past that sustains and builds. I say that because as we both know, Hip Hop is just reaching it's maturity. My birth in Hip-hop derived from listening to the Cold Crush Crew and Punk rock rap. Now this is in the south, in Memphis where Soul music dominated. The Bar Kays practiced in the gym that we used to play ball in. I went to church down the street from Stax and lived on a corner where American music was and where guys like Chips Moman established the Memphis sound. Now with that as my foundation, it was Hip Hop and Kool herc that caught my attention and changed my life. Just as you used a quote from George Clinton, I gave you an example of the man performing with the same people who sampled his music. He was paid for that. I also gave you Jonah Ellis as an example of how many of those artists were paid. Now when sampling started(became prominent) of course there were multiple problems with clearance and a lot of people weren't paid, but neither were the emcees. But this is a problem that exists in more formats than just Hip-Hop. I respect that you were raised around the culture, but to state that it isn't positive is to choose the negative aspects and focus on that instead of looking towards the moments where the artform builds and unifies. Is the mainstream saturated with garbage? Of course it is, but if you are a purist then you can say the same thing for film, books and any artform. The problem is Hip-Hop is being tossed around as a label for a variety of things that shouldn't be labeled as such. We both agree on this. As far as old artists and emcees I'm more versed in the older artists but I'm equally as informed about the newer ones which is why I can say emphatically that the culture is still there beneath the surface and a lot of amazing work is being done. You aren't interested in the newer stuff which is why I continue to say that I can't really discuss this with you because if I say Ras Kass' "How To Kill God" and Big KRIT's "Cadillactica" are modern classics, you'll say "huh?" or you will look it up and say damn those are interesting which is really the point of this dialogue. I don't ignore the negatives, but when I see such a generalized topic (which i know is the foundation of discussion) "Hip Hop as a whole is wack" I have to respond. You knew this would happen and that's the sign of a good teacher. Trust me though DJ Red Alert, Marley Marl, Grandmaster Caz(s), Flash, all of the OGs, I'm well versed in and can speak about Sedgewick Ave and Cedar just as quick as I can speak about DJ Quik and his underground tapes, or Ball and MJG out of Memphis, and Scarface out of Texas as well as 2Live Crew out of Miami and Common and No ID from Chicago. I love the culture and study it so that I can speak about the positives because if I don't share and discuss the good, all there is the negative commentary that is out there. Is Young Thug wack, yep. Is 2 Chainz wack? Yep. Are the majority of the mainstream artists wack? Yep. But I love the idea that Savion Glover is Hip-Hop. I love the fact that In The Heights has elements of Hip-Hop. I love the fact that Bobbito Garcia and Stretch are hip hop and carry the culture all over the globe and it's positive. What I am always reaching for is an understanding that those elements of the culture are still here and being upheld by guys reaching back and putting Rakim and Big Daddy Kane or Slick Rick on tracks with Mos Def like in Auditorium. Hip is not wack and the fact that you fired back with such life altering experiences shows me you have a passion for the culture so I can understand your frustration with it. We probably both want it to be a lot more than it is, but we also want people to read more and care more. It's a tough thing to face.

I avoid these dialogues because I am Hip-Hop and I consider myself a person who grew up in the culture. I admire it and love it and defend it often, but doing so with people who I don't think really know Hip-Hop and couldn't talk to me about the variety of artists in the culture that have delivered line after line of beautiful lyrics and developed the turntable and sample into instruments of creativity, while also generating a form of dance that is now incorparated into classical dance, seems a little bit like a waste of my time. You guys aren't of the culture and you don't care for it, so anything I say will be battled back by your own perceptions which is what debate and discussion is. So I won't go into a lot of detail here, just list out a few of my thoughts. 1. Blurred Lines isn't Hip-Hop. Just because there is rap in it, doesn't make it Hip-Hop 2. My favorite emcees are the GZA, Genius of Wu Tang, Nas, Pharoahe Monch, Common and Mos Def aka Yasiin Bey. 3. My favorite DJ is Premier and Ali Shaeed Muhammed 4. My favorite hip hop track of all time is Cell Therapy (I have others and this changes daily, lol) 5. The Roots are the most creative artists in Hip-Hop 6. Eminem is dope 7. Outkast has shown the maturation of Hip-Hop artists better than almost anyone in the culture outside of Nas (Life Is Good is Hip-Hop for the adult crowd) 8. Red Bull has done a lot to save B Boying (kind of absurd right... and Chinese people) 9. Pop Rap music has done more to damage the culture than anything invented 10. Hip-Hop is a culture that is still vital and as I and other grow older it takes on the values that we bring to it. However the culture is still in it's infancy and the first generation of Emcees and B Boys are now in their 60s. Hip Hop hasn't learned how to transition from youth to adulthood and that is what is concerning to me. Everything you guys have talked about above is basically opinion based like my post here is opinion based. But Troy, the artists who pulled from samples were paid. You can go back and look into a number of cases where bands like Funkadelic and even James Brown were paid royalties. I know this for a fact because I've seen guys like Jonah Ellis who wrote Yarbrough and Peoples hit "don't Stop the music" buy Mercedes with their royalty checks from Hip Hop samples. In other words that's not actually true. These artists also were taken on tour in some instances and featured in concerts reviving their careers specifically in the case of dr. Dre and George Clinton who actually was featured on Ice Cube's Bop Gun. Like I said though I have a deep knowledge of this culture. I've seen Justin Bua transition from being a B Boy to a respected artist instead of "just" a graffiti or street artist. I've seen Crazy Legs open dance studios and take Hip Hop all over the world. Your whole point with Pharrell and this Blurred Lines thing is basically just another shot in the dark at the culture because you just don't like it. The thing is Hip Hop has opened more doors to a variety of cultures than any other musical artform created. If you don't think so, then consider the fact that people who love Hip-Hop are often the first ones to support and buy old Blue Note albums because of guys like Madlib who was given the complete Blue Note catalog as a DJ and producer from Hip-Hop. Consider Common bringing the Last Poets back to the forefront with The Corner. Consider Public Enemy actually performing with Metal band Anthrax in the 80s. Hip-Hop ability to utilize a variety of forms has enhanced culture. Even the Ailey Rep has incorporated elements into its performances and while people weren't watching Esperanza Spalding bridged classical, hip-hop, jazz and blues to garner a grammy. Hell even Nelly infiltrated Country Music. What I am glad about is that at least you all are honest in saying you simply don't like it. I respect that... but to have a full blown conversation about the culture that you don't care for seems a bit weak especially when the conversation is based on Blurred Lines which as I said earlier isn't even Hip-Hop. And for the record Blurred Lines is a piece of shite, lol. When I think about Hip-Hop this is what is in my mind outside of emcees and deejays:

We've been writing and saying this over and over using our own statistics and information. This video captures the point effectively and I've shared it over and over, yet I still see people I've talked with sipping the Kool Aid. I still think you have to have a Facebook page, but I've gotten more traction out of twitter because it allows for a direct connection to "influential" people. I think I'm going to have to get a green screen and start doing videos. People just interact with those a lot more than they do the written word. Actually I take that back. When I wrote that last Facebook article it proved that engagement actually goes up with content that engages a direct audience. People are reading, but only when it relates directly to what they are doing.

I actually posted about the Fake likes a while back. It is what led me to write about the likes on Facebook in greater detail. I thought I shared it with you on a different post somewhere. It is a great video, but we both already knew it and we both verbalized this a while back. The video does show much more effective it is to place the exact same sentiments into video form. You know I hadn't even checked out my author's page on AALBC. You can drop 100 Black and White questions. It's no longer in print, although there are copies on Amazon. You can also add the picture for A Man's and add One Hour To Wealth. When you can. Here is my updated page on CBP: http://www.cbpublish.com/authors-writers/author-christopher-d-burns-mfa/ I also need to coordinate a campaign with you for one of my books. I don't know which one yet. I need to get serious about writing. At least half as serious as I am about sneakers.

I also wrote a book similar to Cane. It took me about 11 years to finish. Like all of my other books I've done a poor job of putting it out there. I think we all aspire to create texts that cross a variety of literary styles. You are right though... the net pushes what is profitable and that's okay. We are doing what we can and if people actually took the time to visit more than 1 "popular" website a day and interact, then everything would improve. The problem is actually getting people to do this. If we can figure that out, things change beyond just this site and our individual circles. Here is an assignment I created for my AA Lit course at Southwest TN. College a few years back. Maybe those lurking will use it as a prompt or as a means of discovering Cane. My novel Archie's Psalm and more directly "It Often Deprives Me of My Sleep" were heavily influenced by Cane. http://www.cbpublish.com/jean-toomers-cane-assignment/