A New Cool

Its amazing to think back when intelligence was actually a sought-after trait in HipHop and society as a whole.


I was reading up on fellow HipHop head Wise Intelligent and his outstanding new book 'The Manufacturing of a Dumbed Down Rapper'.

I started thinking deeper about the subject. He's 100% accurate by the way!

I'm now old enough to remember when Public Enemy was literally the #1 HipHop group in America circa 1990/91. MTV AND BET actually played and promoted their videos. When compared to current scene of 2011, that time, which us HipHop heads refer to as the 'Golden Era', now seems like eons ago.

Of course, I have nothing against new music. There is an increasing number of quality emcees out there, who are intelligent, creative and cool (our culture's apparent obsession). These artist include, but are not limited to, Jay Electronica, Mikah 9 and Project Blowed

, Megabusive, Planet Asia, Blu, Tech N9ne, and the Shapeshifters.

I love all these cats- some of them have been out trying to break through for nearly 20 years! What I do oppose is ignorance and the current 'dumbing down' of society- both in terms of art and 'real' life that is blocking their shine. These emcees are highly talented and should be getting a lot more exposure in mainstream music fourms.

With enough of us 30-somethings reaching positions of influence, there's a chance the art can initiate its own renaissance. For one, I heard Common (Sense) is working again with producer No I.D.. Mike Rappaport's new 'Tribe' documentary is priming the waters for a long-long-long over-due Native Tongues collaboration. DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince are working together again. Even Digable Planets is active maintaining their own version of coolness of the tour circut.

I'm really looking forward to the second half of 2011 now because things seem to be looking up. Like Kris Parker said, "Things come around 'cause they really never left."

Stay Fresh Will.

I'm just thinking about Will Smith and his 'I am NOT a Scientologist- really!' position. Apparently he recently refused the film "Django Unchained" seemingly due to his unoffical relationship with the group.

Not that there's anything wrong with Scientology, or any other religion of peace in my humble opinion. The way I look at it, as long as you don't preach ill will against yourself or others, you're fine with me. Having said all that, I just think Will is a weird dude. Not in a bad way of course :)

As an AVID, life-long HipHopper, I've followed Will's career since the beginning. I've heard the old, old block party mix-tapes and seen all the interviews, videos and movies. Something just seemed to change with Will after Quincy (Jones) got him out to LA for the "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air". One one hand, anyone would change once they become a millionaire, but it seems deeper than that with Will.

Once he took the part in "Six Degrees of Separation" I really started to notice him acting a lil' funny. I'm not necessarily trying to link him to that character either. Its just when you look at his choices in movie roles, there seems to be a theme of weirdness. Its as if he's trying to make some point (religious and/or scientific) without actually coming out and admitting exactly what.

I'll close by saying Will Smith is one of, if not the, most talented men in Hollywood today. He has this raging will (pun intended) to constantly 'perfect' himself. As he admitted in the past, this is due to his being cheated on by his first love (sounds familiar!). This explains why he reads and works out relentlessly (sounds familiar!). I just hope the rumors of his reunion with DJ Jazzy Jeff are true! We need that New, Brand New Funk!