Freshmen Orientation

There has been a lot of talk about these new "freshmen" that were sent here to save hip-hop. Sounds like a BET episode of "Heroes" if you ask me. Maybe I am old and set in my ways, but is all this hype needed?

Yes, I admit that hip-hop is in a tailspin. It is more profitable to be commercial rather than artistic. The Current School has a total lack of respect for the Past School and the Old School pioneers, and the so-called best rapper of the era is nothing more than a punchline and metaphor slinger.

Can this new class really take the culture on its back and reach new heights? No...not really. I say this because nothing ever lives up to its hype (i.e. Hatton-Pacquiao, Kimbo Slice, Blueprint 2, any Joe Budden album). So far only a few of these new names have shown me something new.

Charles Hamilton is definitely not living up to all the talk, at least in my mind. Is he scared to release an album? This cat must have like 300 mixtapes in rotation, sorry Weezy looks like theres a new mixtape king. He sounds like the spawn of a reproductive session between Ma$e and BG. He just really hasn't impressed me yet. How come he can drop a diss record on Soulja Boy, but back down to Rhymefest and Wale. Anybody can out-rhyme Soulja Boy, come at a real spit kicker.

I really haven't heard too much from Blu or Cory Gunz. Mickey Factz, Big Sean, Nippsey Hussle, Mistah F.A.B., OJ Da Juiceman, and Nicki Minaj haven't really said anything to catch my ear, so I'm not going to make the effort to search them out. First impressions are everything to me, you got to have me at hello. I still remember the first time I heard B.I.G., Nas, Wu-Tang, L.L., The Fugees, etc... Classics get you from the first line they utter.

Fear not folks, there are a few I think have promise. If there was someone I can say could be the voice and fill all the gaps, that would be Drake. The cat can sing and rhyme over any music. His only drawback for me was that he is a Wayne protege, but now it seems like the student is better than the teacher. Wale is extremely dope, I just hope he finds his niche. Asher Roth can spit his ass off when he's not fighting Eminem comparisons. Bobby Ray seems like he is budding into a genius like his ATL mentor Andre 3000. Kid Cudi, I'm still 70/30 with him. I like most of his material, but he hasn't had that one for me.

All in all, who the fuck cares. Music works in a cycle. One person is hot for a second then gets bumped from their pedestal by someone newer and fresher. I think this has been a hot topic because hip-hop itself is still so young, and for so long it was thought of as art and more than music. Every form of musical expression has gone through that metamorphosis, and now hip-hop fans must come to terms that its only entertainment.