Can’t Stop Won’t Stop – A History of the Hip-Hop Generation is a good book that “presents the hip-hop generation in all its grime and glory with breadth, wit, and style.”

“Hip-hop is the voice of this generation. Even if you didn’t grow up in the Bronx in the ’70s, hip-hop is there for you. It has become a powerful force. Hip-hop binds all of these people, all of these nationalities, all over the world together.”
—DJ Kool Herc, from the Introduction

Title: Can’t Stop Won’t Stop – A History of the Hip-Hop Generation
By: Jeff Chang
Introduction by: DJ Kool Herc
Website: http://cantstopwontstop.com/book

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He was apparently called ‘Puff’ to reflect his ‘huff and puff’ mood when he got upset.

In 2001, after a weapons and bribery charge, he changed his name from ‘Puff Daddy’ to ‘P.Diddy’. In 2005, he changed it again from ‘P.Diddy’ to just ‘Diddy’.

Unfortunately, he was unable to use the name Diddy in the UK where he is still known as P.Diddy.

For his non-musical interests, such as acting, he uses his real name Sean Combs or ‘Sean John’ for his clothing lines.

His birth name is Sean John Combs.

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A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that rapping is easy (which it is not). The flow and rhythm involved in rapping can take years to master, and that too if you have the aptitude or the talent for it.

Nevertheless, these are 5 tips every aspiring rapper should keep in mind:

1. Become acquainted with all rap styles: East Coast, West Coast, South. Listen carefully to rappers from with different styles and note their rhythm, flow and lyrical structures. A good ear for different rap styles is probably the number one thing you can have to be a good rapper, and will eventually help you create your own individual style.

2. Invest in a dictionary. While this may not sound very “hip hop”, but a strong vocabulary can really set you apart from dozens of other aspiring rappers. If you don’t know a word, look it up, and learn to use it in appropriate situations. Cleverly rhymed words that depart from the norm are the best weapons in the arsenal of any rapper.

3. Don’t be very strict about your song structure. You don’t have to start from verse to chorus to verse and so on. Experiment with different writing styles, and let the tune come to you naturally in whatever order it appears. If you get the chorus before the verse, or the outro before the chorus, don’t worry about it; the song structure can always be modified and tweaked later on.

4. Record yourself rapping as often as you can. This is the best form of feedback you can get. How you sound in person may be very different from what you sound like in your records.

5. Practice your timing. Rap is all about rhythm, flow and timing. Note how rappers like Eminem will accentuate the the lyric at the end of a beat. Little tricks like this make all the difference and really sets you apart from the crowd. Get a few beats (or make your own) and practice rapping to it using any random words that pop into your mind (it doesn’t have to sound good or professional), varying your timing to see what sounds the best.

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In the UK, urban music has long been dominated by hip hop and grime artists, who’ve consistently taken the top spots in the UK charts consistently over the years. While hip hop artists aren’t quite as big in the UK as they are in the US, there are still names that are known nationwide.

So if you are interested in knowing more about hip hop from the United States, I suggest that you check out these artists:

1. Chipmunk

This UK rapper’s real name is Jahamaal Fyffe, but he chose the more pronounceable (and slightly ridiculous) stage moniker of Chipmunk. Chipmunk won the best UK newcomer at the MOBO awards in 2008. His new album, “I Am a Chipmunk” is dropping this November and has built up a lot of hype. While he is a newcomer, his style has already won him a lot of fans and is definitely one artist worth checking out.

2. Bashy

Real name Ashley Thomas, he sometimes also goes by the stage name “Twat”. He released his debut solo album in Jan 09. Previously won acclaim for the controversial track “Black Boys“.

3. Wiley

Wiley is a MC and producer whose real name is Richard Kylea Cowie. He is well known as being one of the pioneers of the sub-genre of Grime. Also well known as one of the founders of the Roll Deep Crew. Wiley found mainstream success with the single “Wear My Rolex” released in 2008.

4. N-Dubz

A MOBO (Music of Black Origin) award winning hip hop trio comprising of Dino “Dappy” Contostavlos, Tula “Tulisa” Contostavlos, and Richard “Fazer” Rawson hit the UK charts with their debut album, “Uncle B“, which was certified platinum. They have been going strong consistently after hitting the mainstream.

5. Ghetts

Ghetts real name is Justin Jude Clarke Samuel. This East London rapper is one of the pioneers of Grime and has received a lot of mainstream coverage. His debut album will be released in 2009, named “Rebel With a Cause” after winning a lot of fans with his underground mixtapes.

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After the kind of success Asher Roth has had since the launch of his debut album, Asleep in the Bread Aisle – which is one of my favorite hip hop albums of this year – you can expect a massive influx of college educated white rappers in the scene.

And I’ll bet you my last dollar that most of them will meet with some measurable amount of success.

Simply put, the kind of values, the lyrics rappers like Asher Roth write about is something the majority of America (and much of the music buying public around the world) can associate and identify with.

I went to college. The lyrical content in songs like I Love College appeals to me. It’s nostalgic; I remember the parties I had in college when what Asher Roth sings – never pass out with just your shoes on, don’t have sex if she’s too gone, and when it comes to condoms, put two on -  were actual values.

Does it make me any bit less of a hip hop fan?

No. The stereotpye that hip hop has to be “badass” or from the streets to be good has to be erased from the public consciousness. Just because a talented MC isn’t from the hood doesn’t belittle his talent or skill. Kanye showed us so; the hottest rapper right now has a certain fixation with college (or his inability to finish it). This kind of thinking is the reason why Metal has never hit the mainstream, and why Rock n Roll has an audience limited to middle aged accountants who long for “the old days”.

For hip hop to grow up and become a truly global phenomenon that the majority can embrace, these kind of prejudices need to go. Race, your income level, your education level shouldn’t be detriments to pursuing hip hop. Eminem is white; he’s also the finest rapper since the mid 90′s.

The world is changing. The key word today is diversity. In 50 years, America will have a white minority, a majority of Hispanic and black people, along with Asian immigrants. To cope up with these changes, music has to evolve too, as does hip hop.

Only time will tell if hip hop has matured enough to appreciate this globalization.

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According to the New York Post, 50 Cent is to planning on performing a free show near the Queens project where he grew up, as a kind gesture from the artist.

Parents from the surrounding community, however, are worried that things might get ugly. 50 performing in his old neighborhood is bound to stir up some emotions – most of all jealousy, and revenge – and suspect that there might be shootings or other violent crime.

Others, you can be sure, are choosing to stay away because of some absurd fear of 50 Cent’s lyrial content (which, we presume, their kids have already heard a 100 times on the internet).

Nevertheless, it could definitely turn ugly. Estimates indicate that over 10,000 people might show up for the free concert which would be a logistical and security nightmare for the local law enforcement agencies.

What do you say: should 50 forgo the concert out of concern for the safety of his audience, or should he move the concert elsewhere, or preferably, make it a paid concert to discourage trouble-makers (and keep the kids out)?

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The San Francisco Examiner has a nice opinion piece today by Gregory Kane about whether hip hop, rap, and black centric movies (Kane chooses Tyler Perry’s “Medea Goes to Jail” as a reference in the article) promote racial stereotypes.

I am not black, so perhaps I am not the best judge of such a dividing issue. But being brown skinned, I can look at racial stereotypes from an outside perspective – from a viewpoint that is neither black, nor white.

I personally find that its only the rare art or artist that can transcend stereotypes. Nearly every movie, song, album, book, has some form of stereotype or the other. You have the dumb college quarterback, the recent immigrant who struggles with English – few artists can resist the temptation to use a stereotype, rather than put in more effort to create a truly unique character.

I am reminded of Robert Downey Jr.’s character in Tropic Thunder. Downey plays Kirk Lazarus – a 5 time Academy Award winning Australian actor, who undergoes a skin darkening procedure to play an African-American character. Downey mocks the use of stereotypes in movies by making his character an over the top racial stereotype.

Watch this video and you will know what I am talking about:

The Tropic Thunder filmmakers have done a tremendous job of deconstructing and mocking the racial stereotypes. Gregory Kane in his article references “Medea Goes to Jail” – a simple, stupid comedy that depends on racial stereotypes for its laughs, and not on innovative dialogue or truly funny situations.

And that, I think is the whole issue: filmmakers, artists, musicians taking the minimum effort route and creating stereotypes instead of putting in the work to make truly memorable characters. When someone uses a stereotype, I attribute that to creative lazyness, and nothing else.

What do you opine, my readers? Does hip hop really, truly promote racial stereotypes?

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So when the annual Brooklyn Hip Hop festival comes to town, you can be sure of a mega hip hop treat with non stop partying for over three days.

As far as hip hop festivals go, this is one of the biggest, and as mentioned above, Brooklyn being the home of so many high profile East Coast rappers lends this festival a great deal of stars.

The festival kicks off on the 20th of June at the Empire Fulton Ferry State Park. Head out to StubHub.com to claim your tickets.

Btw, here’s the full line up for the festival (thanks to Brooklyn Vegan)

Full Lineup
Pharoahe Monch
DJ Premier
Styles P
dead prez
Smif N Wessun
Grand Puba
J Period
Torae and Marco Polo
Tiye Phoenix
Keys N Krates
DJ Misbehaviour
Metermaids

hosted by Ralph McDaniels

Second Stage
Donny Goines
Nyle
Eagle Nebula
Brown Bag All Stars
Children Of The Night

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Nothing. Absolutely, truly, nothing.

Seriously, check out this pic. Since when did country music start being bling bling? Swift is looking cute as fuck though, so I’ll forgive this trespass on hip hop territory.

(picture courtey: MTV Newsroom)

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So what does Warren Buffet and Lil Wayne have in common?

Ans: They’ve both beaten the recession.

In this current economic scenario, the one sure shot investment was gold. And diamonds. And platinum. Basically everything that is taken out of the ground and is, thus, in a limited quantity.

While financial geniuses all over the world (and especially on Wall Street) were falling head first into recession, their fancy financial instruments, derivatives, et all failing left right and center, rappers, whose primary investment is pimpin bling saw their net worth rise with each fall in the stock market.

Gold prices shot up manifold as soon as the housing bubble burst and the stocks came tumbling down. In a recession that has humbled financial geniuses like Vikram Pandit (CEO, Citibank), made GM bankrupt, befallen Lehmann Brothers and Bear Stearns, rappers like Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, and anybody who aspires to blingdom saw his stock rise up significantly. This happens if your primary investment instrument is a large gold studded diamond watch that hangs around your neck and gold viking helmet.

That's What I'm Talking About

So moral of the story?

Do this:

Avoid This:

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2. Bling-Bling: The Origins