First Try

I love Hip Hop music in different ways.  Whether it be the soulful bootyshakin' beats, provocative female-degrading lyrics, or random dance fads, I love the music genre as a whole.  However a lot of these qualities of Hip Hop thin out the true soul and passion put into music.  In R&B and Soul, it's easy to see passion when you listen to that kind of music; you know when a singer is really singing their soul out or not, as if the song they're singing is a part of them that they're releasing.  They hit tones and octaves not normal to their regular speaking voice.  They squint their face as if the lyrics they sing are painful, yet pleasurable at the same time.

One thing I love about Hip Hop is that it's nearly impossible to tell passion just from looking at a performance.  It's all about the lyrics.  A performer can make the most genuine, painful/pleasurable face ever, but the lyrics could be about banging a hooker with blingbling and a gun.

That leads me to first albums/mixtapes of Hip Hop artists.  People say Hip Hop is washed up, full of stupidity involving only money, hos, bling bling, and violence.  These people are correct - a lot of commercial hip hop concerns only those bootylicious topics.  BUT what you can't say is that Hip Hop is completely engulfed in that stuff.

This REALLY leads me to first albums/mixtapes of Hip Hop artists.  When rappers want to make it big, they put their HEARTS and SOULS into the first tapes/cd's they make.  Some people spend years perfecting lyrics and sounds to make it as presentable to listeners as possible.  They open their hearts and show you their lives through the lyrics they spit on each track.  Listen to Nas's Illmatic, and you'll be blown away.
Eminem's Infinite.
Blu's Below the Heavens.
J. Cole's Come Up and Warm Up.
Biggie's Ready To Die.
Jay-Z's Reasonable Doubt.
Even Kanye's College Dropout.  Amazing stuff.

I'm not saying everyone's first albums/mixtapes are good.  But definitely take the time to listen to an artist's first album/mixtape before you judge their arrogant superstardom.  As much as I hate Kanye's stupid arrogant selfish antics in his recent albums and in public, I still have a place in my heart for him and his music because of College Dropout.

With that said, due to this theory of mine, I have been listening to J Cole's Warm Up NONSTOP.  Can't stop listening to it.  He definitely pours his soul out on each track.  Doesn't try hard to be good; he just is.  I highly recommend his mixtape.  And as sad as I am that he got signed with Jay-Z, I'm extremely happy that a dude as talented as he is is with a huge name like Jay-Z.  No matter how commercial he gets (like Drake - RIP), I will always have a place in my heart for this mixtape, along with all those other classics.

I <3 Hip Hop.


College Dropout fan forever,
Charles