Oh, I Think They Like Me

Yeah, shit got a little dicey for me last week because I actually posted people's personal e-mail addresses from that faggoty video channel. After some editing and some discussions XXLMAG dot com has allowed me to keep grinding, but not before I was told about the do's and don'ts inside the media world. Since I come from the no holds barred world of self-publishing I needed to learn the ropes of real world major media publishing...

Lesson #1 - Don't get my ass sued. XXLMAG dot com will NOT be paying my legal fees.

Lesson #2 - Choose your battles smartly. The majority of the constituency over here isn't the type to rise up against the machine that exploits the culture. They're waiting to hear the next diss track.

Lesson #3 - Stick to what the people like. Anti-Southern rap diatribe.

Lesson #4 - Strt riting posts lik a txt msg reetahd. Ppl luv this.

Okay, okay, that's not true. What I did learn is that XXLMAG dot com readers are a serious bunch and they love Lil' Wayne's swagger even with all the homoerotic undertones he throws around (not saying that there is anything wrong with being a ghey rapper). Fifty Cent and Cam'Ron have a lot of fans here too. Kirby Dominant and Chris Sinister... Not so much. I'm learning the landscape over here and I think I'm ready to go all in with y'all.

I'm never going to change the way that some of you feel about your favorite rappers, but I remember how I felt about Santy Claus when I was a child so I will cut you a break. For those of you that come here to this site and you are of drinking age, there's no reason for you to remain ignorant and disconnected. Hip-Hop and rap music are being targeted for extinction and the people that will be affected the most are the folks that are your age. Hip-Hop and rap is being attacked from so many angles that in order to properly defend it you have to do the knowledge of it. Kids from the North and West need to learn about DJ Jimi and Luther Campbell and the origins of Miami Bass and Go-Go music. Dudes from the South need to study cats like Kool G Rap and the Cold Crush Brothers. If you love Hip-Hop and rap, if you really, really love it, then you will respect it as it grows older. Just like you respect your father and your mother. Just like you respect something valuable that you are collecting that will appreciate with age.

The biggest problem that Hip-Hop and rap culture are dealing with are the polarizing forces that won't let the culture mature. Not that every artist or every theme has to be on some grown man shit, but the fact that those voices aren't given mainstream access is critical. How much further might some of us be economically if we weren't constantly being told to buy something to increase our self worth? Since when has consuming increased someone's net worth? Saving their own money is how the Trump's of the world stay rich.  It's like immediate gratification is the only theme that we are constantly given. If I keep spending all my money to put some 'D's on my lifestyle how the hell will I ever accumulate some wealth? I want to get rich too.

There have too many get rich quick people with their hands on Hip-Hop and rap. Maybe this is why some of you are treating the culture as if it's a disposable item instead of a valuable commodity. Would you throw a drawing by Picasso under the bus because it was old? Then why would you do that to YOUR art and YOUR culture? And at the same time why don't you demand that YOUR artists create art that is valuable for your attention? This Hip-Hop and rap music shit is in our hands, especially YOUR hands. Are y'all niggas ready to hold tight to this shit as we go all in?