Kanye vs. 50 Cent

In the hip-hop world the biggest buzz has been of, “Kanye vs. 50 Cent.” This may be one of the biggest hoaxes the music industry has ever seen but not really in a bad light. Fully equipped with a rolling stone cover and tons of interviews and media buzz the kanye vs. 50 beef might be the most publicized rap battle ever but rap has always been a competitive field and that competition drives the artists just as much as the audience. It will go down in music history as the awakening and realization of conscious hip-hop. The fact that Kanye’s album did sell more says a lot about whose listening. It was a battle of gangster rap and conscious hip hop with the later as the victor.

I came across A blog by Jonathon Cunningham on the Southern Florida music blog, “crossfade,” tries to convince me that the entire thing is a hoax based on a video of the rolling stone photo shoot, I’ll link it below. It defiantly is a hoax, but do you really need that video to know? These are two multi-platinum adult artists; do you really think they have anything to prove? It’s time for people to realize that ever since Jay-Z’s blueprint (which is itself a blueprint for hip-hop) the hip-hop industry has been a controlled substance. Jonathon acts like it’s a bad thing to fake a bit of competition but all it does is get people who are into the music even more into the music. I can’t see a problem with strategically promoting your album, it’s art to the max.

I will say in a side note that Kanye was not the first conscious rapper; I think Common and Talib Kweli, his good friends whose albums he has produced, will be noted as the pioneers. In the end, Common is far too old to be the face that would turn ears to conscious hip-hop. In my opinion though the best conscious hip-hop album to date has come from Philadelphia and is entitled, “Game Theory,” by The Roots. If you’ve not heard it, it’s definatly time.

Cross Fade Blog

-be smith

---