"Clearing Out My Mind"

So, let me start with a full confession. I ain't never won a Grammy. I haven't had a number 1 single. Or a number 1 album. And I don't truly know the work it takes to even put out a song. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/745134700824830189/ However, what I am is a fan. I’m someone who’s been a fan of Hip-hop, and music in general, for as long as I can remember. I've listened to more music than I care to remember, and I've forgotten more lyrics than most people know. So as a fan, I do feel qualified to express what I feel artists need to do in order to connect with fans they’ve lost. So with all that being said, here a few short words of advice I would give to Nicki Minaj in order for her to regain fans like me that she may have lost along the way. #1: Remember that she’s Nicki f**king Minaj. This is undoubtedly, the most important thing Nicki NEEDS to do. She has to remember who TF she is. She isn't some new up and coming artist. She isn't some one h...

https://www.breezejmu.org/culture/pusha-t-comes-back-strong-on-daytona/article_bd43da7a-6410-11e8-afc9-f3a2b9a4c9b4.html A couple months ago, I came on this platform and made the assertion that J. Cole was so far and away above the rest of the rap game it wasn't close. I made the point that Cole had become so comfortable in his position that it was clear he was rapping in a pocket which is only accessed when an artist knows they have no real competition. I'm here today to let y'all know I spoke too soon. Now, although I do still hold the overall belief that Cole is number 1 in the game today, I was wrong to suggest it's a landslide. Now, please don't get it twisted; he's still head and shoulders above your favourite rapper. However, he ain't alone anymore. Since I wrote that article two months ago Pusha T has gone on an absolutely magnificent run of bodying any, and every beat put before him. In just over 6 weeks, President Push has pro...

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/452330356318580201/ Okay, let's get it out in the open right now.  So, spoiler alert, breaking news, full disclosure... Yes, I am a Logic Fan. Controversial. Yes, I know. We can get into that later. So as someone who respects Logic's craft, ability and musical resume; I continually find myself blown away by the disconnect between him and a lot of fans within the world of hip-hop. What's even more perplexing is to my eye it's unknown what we chalk this up to. Logic isn't someone who has just jumped to super-stardom over night. No. He has an extensive catalogue which dates back to his time as the rapper "Psychological" (I wasn't a fan back then).  But since his re-brand to the rapper we know now he's done nothing but deliver. Now I will admit, his two 2019 releases - "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" & "Supermarket" respectively - were both extremely underwhelming. Like honest...

https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/14/entertainment/drake-raptors-win-new-music-trnd/index.html This one really hurts. Cause deep down I'm a huge fan. A huge fan! And I do truly, TRULY hope that one day he can again consistently produce the caliber of music which made me and millions of others cap so hard for the better half a decade. But I cannot tell a lie. Aubrey Drake Graham dropped his, quite frankly, stellar 3rd studio album "Nothing was the Same" (NWTS) in 2013. And since that day nothing has been the same in his career. Now I'll be the first to admit, this is not a take shared by many and I appreciate that. But to me the rapper has been unable to live up to that high point and since then has been on a steady, depressing decline. It has gotten to the point where  I personally find it offensive to the game for people to still consider him a top 10 rapper in the game. Now I will give Aubrey this. He would likely disagree and would have all the numbers to prove ...

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/631137335254069087/ For the past three years, I have contested that Travis Scott is modern hip-hop’s Kanye West. In my opinion Travis had followed in Kanye’s footsteps in terms of leading the sound of modern hip-hop. I believed, and to some extent I still do believe, that Travis Scott had  reinvented, refined and perfected the sound of modern day hip-hop; which all artists were attempting to copy and mimic; similar to what Kanye West had done throughout the early 2000s. Although I still believe Travis is a present reincarnation of 2000s Kanye, I may have been wrong to assume that he was the only reincarnation. Over the course of the last two years in hip-hop we have seen Tyler, the Creator elevate himself into another stratosphere. To the point where he now exists in the solar system of not just hip-hop’s, but music greats. Dating back to his odd future days Tyler has been able to cultivate a following which is maybe only bested in the modern...

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/562387072200244280/ Ask most people with any level of knowledge or credibility within the Hip-Hop world and they'll probably have Jay Z's verse on "What's Free" as Rap verse of the year for 2018. Or at least within their top 5. And they would be correct to do so. Go even deeper and you could make the argument that Meek Mill's verse on that track was one of, if not, the best verses on his long-awaited return home album "Championships" .  However, at least in my circles, what seems to go unspoken and untouched is Rick Ross' verse on this track.  Furthermore, i t feels like we've received a criminally low musical output than what we usually expect from Rozay. Additionally, we're nearly halfway through 2019 and we are only now seeing signs of life on the Rick Ross music front; with all sign pointing toward an imminent release of the long, LONG, awaited "Port of Miami 2" . And as I ponder on th...

Between the Golden State Warriors, Lebron James in the Finals and of course Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, what’s clear is that within modern youth society we have a love-hate relationship with the idea of dynasties. If you’re a fan of that player or team, you love to see it. If you’re almost anyone else with a vested interest in the field, we typically search for any excuse to diminish, shun, or ultimately break-up such dynasties. Rather than celebrating the fruits of hard work and greatness we more often see both overt as well as covert attempts to undermine the success. This same dynamic is beginning to play out in the world of hip-hop and specifically in the world of raps “Middle Child”, Jermaine Lamar Cole (J. Cole). Think about it over the past 5 years all we’ve heard is that the Warriors’ dominance is bad for business. The Patriots in the Superbowl every year is boring or that Lebron was only in the Finals every year cause the competition was weak. Haven’t we seen the...